The San Diego Brewers Guild announced its inaugural San Diego Beer Week collaboration craft brew, the San Diego-style ‘Capital of Craft’ IPA. Months in the making, the IPA coincides with the Guild’s milestone 20th anniversary and is a collaboration among the non-profit’s more than 100 brewery members. The craft brew will debut on November 3rd at Guild Fest’s VIP Brewer Takeover and will be available to retail accounts throughout San Diego County. A portion of the profits from the beer will be donated to the Guild.
A true collaboration, the recipe for the San Diego-style Capital of Craft IPA (7%) was collectively developed by some of the Guild’s founding brewery members: Coronado Brewing Co., Karl Strauss Brewing Co., Pizza Port Brewing Co., Stone Brewing, San Diego Brewing Co., AleSmith, Oggi’s (formerly Stuft Pizza & Brewing) and San Marcos Brewery and Grill. The ingredients were donated by the Guild’s affiliate members— the San Diego Super Ale yeast used came from White Labs, BSG CraftBrewing provided hop varietals (Vic Secret, Idaho 7 and Motueka) and malt (Maris Otter and Dextrin), while Star B Ranch and Hop Farm gave whole cone Cascade fresh hops on behalf of the San Diego Hop Growers Association. The resulting golden amber ale has a tropical and citrus aroma, with tasting notes of pineapple, passion and citrus fruit. It’s resinous with a clean dry bitter West Coast finish on the palate. The malt yields a light bready/biscuit quality.
“San Diego Beer was founded on the basis of camaraderie and the thought that a rising tide lifts all boats,” said San Diego Brewers Guild President Jill Davidson. “We are excited to celebrate that spirit and 20 years of the San Diego Brewers Guild the best way we know how; with a delicious beer.”
As a tribute to the San Diego craft beer community’s collaborative spirit more than two dozen of the Guild’s brewery members, including representative of its founding members, took part in the brew day held on Friday, September 29th. The 60-barrel batch was brewed at Coronado Brewing Co.’s production facility in Bay Park. The IPA’s name, Capital of Craft, was one of many contributed and subsequently selected via a vote by the Guild’s 108 brewery members.
The Guild’s Capital of Craft IPA will make its debut at the VIP Brewer Takeover on Friday, November 3rd. The event is part of Guild Fest, the 15th annual, historically sold out two-day kick off to San Diego Beer Week. The 10-day celebration of San Diego beer and the County’s independent craft brewers (November 3rd to 12th) is the Guild’s largest community event and features 500+ beer-centric events. The craft brew will also be available on draft at select establishments throughout San Diego County. The Guild branded tap handles were crafted using old ebony fret boards provided by El Cajon-based Taylor Guitars.
Coronado Brewing Co., where the beer was brewed, and distributor Crest Beverage will donate a portion of the profits from the Capital of Craft IPA to the Guild, to support its ongoing mission (since its inception in 1997) to support San Diego’s independent brewing culture. Now the largest regional Guild in the United States, the non-profit San Diego Brewers Guild counts 108 brewery members, plus 71 allied retail and 138 affiliate members.
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