San Diego Brewers Guild Names Belching Beaver’s Smith New President

San Diego Brewers Guild, a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization that promotes local small businesses and entrepreneurs of craft beer, this week appointed its Board of Directors and determined event dates for the 2023 calendar year. Belching Beaver Brewery Director of Marketing Haley Smith was appointed President, and the 15th-Annual San Diego Beer Week will take place November 3-12. Executive Director Paige McWey Acers made the announcements.

The complete 2023 Board of Directors (also here: https://www.sdbeer.com/about)

President – Haley Smith, Belching Beaver Brewery
President Emeritus – Rick Chapman, Coronado Brewing Co.
Vice President – Jake Nunes, Burgeon Beer Company
Treasurer – Bryan Carpenter, LevitZacks CPA
Secretary – Chris Leguizamon, Pure Project
Director – Erik Fowler, White Labs Brewing Co.
Director – Tim Parker, Chula Vista Brewery
Director – Marc Martin, Thorn Brewing Co.
Director – John McMullen, Resident Brewing Co.

Smith assumes the role of President after last year serving as Vice President and Secretary. She replaces Coronado Brewing’s Chapman. Burgeon Beer’s Jake Nunes was appointed Vice President after serving as a Director in 2022. LevitZacks’s Carpenter has served as Treasurer since 2016. White Labs’s Fowler and Chula Vista’s Parker return for their second year as Directors. Pure Project’s Leguizamon joins the board for the first time and has been appointed secretary. Thorn’s Martin and Resident’s McMullen are first-time board members as Directors.

“There is certainly no shortage of beer knowledge on our 2023 Board,” McWey Acers said. “Haley is a superstar within the industry and I am excited to see her lead a talented group of board members, representing all member breweries in America’s Finest City and The Capital of Craft ™.”

San Diego beer events include:

• 2nd-Annual SD Beer Weekend – June 9-11
• 45th-Annual Homebrew Con – June 22-24 *Produced by American Homebrewers Association
• San Diego Craft Beer Con – August date TBD
• 9th-Annual Brewers Guild Golf Tournament – September 7
• 15th-Annual San Diego Beer Week – November 3-12

The Brewers Guild also sponsors a Tap Into Knowledge educational series throughout the year, and the first event on January 25 is “New Year, New Laws” to discuss how the State of California’s new laws affect breweries as employers, as well as changes to Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) laws.

Individual brewery events for throughout the year are posted on the Brewers Guild’s calendar.

“The craft beer industry is still recovering from the pandemic and there is a lot of work to do,” Smith said. “But I embrace the challenge, look forward to helping all our member breweries, and make sure one of the nationwide beer spotlights remains on San Diego.”

San Diego County is known as The Capital of Craft™, a moniker that was trademarked in 2015. San Diego has the most craft brewery locations among all counties in the United States with more than 150. The Brewers Guild, which is celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022, was founded in 1997 with 15 breweries.