Homebrew Summer: Beach Bones

Few local breweries have remained as devoted to keeping strong ties to the homebrewing community as Escondido’s Jacked Up Brewery. That family-run operation has its own homebrew-supply store, regularly holds homebrew competitions and always participates in San Diego Beer News‘ annual Homebrew Summer initiative. The latter means a lot to us, as does the fact owner and head brewer Michael Poulson goes the extra mile, bringing multiple recreational fermentationists’ recipes to life in his brewery and to the people via his business’ taps. On Friday, September 20, Jacked Up will tap its second Homebrew Summer pro-am creation of 2024, an IPA dubbed Beach Bones. It’s the product of David Zizkovich (pictured above), who took best-of-show honors with that beer in the company’s most recent amateur competition. Dry-hopped with Mosaic, Simcoe, Galena and two forms of Citra, it has a lot to offer in the aromatics department. Take a look at the recipe, which can be downloaded below, then make plans to go-go to Esco for a taste of the genuine article.

New pro-am beers will continue to debut weekly, so check back with San Diego Beer News on a regular basis (or subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter and we’ll send all the recipes and release information straight to your inbox). Cheers and happy homebrewing!

David Zizkovich
Homebrewer

How does it feel to have this beer produced on a pro scale?
I was stoked when Jacked Up approached me to brew my West Coast IPA that won Best of Show at their April homebrew competition. When I arrived on brew day, Michael and I collaborated to modify the recipe for their one-barrel system and utilize on-hand ingredients. Although brewing on their one-barrel system was similar to homebrewing methods, it was convenient to take advantage of some of the larger commercial equipment to help move the beer through the process. Thanks, Jacked Up, for giving me the opportunity to brew with you! 

Michael Poulson
Owner & Head Brewer, Jacked Up Brewery

What led you to select this beer recipe?
Every year we have our annual homebrew competition. This year, we partnered up with BSG & White Labs as sponsors. We have five categories and they change up every year to keep things interesting, except for the IPA category. We always include IPA because its the most popular style. In each category we have first-, second- and third-place awards as well as best-of-show, which is judged from all the first-place winners. The judging is blind and adheres to BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) style guidelines. This year, David, who has been entering in our competition for a few years and winning awards with various beers, won the Best of Show Award with Beach Bones. The beer speaks for itself. It’s a great IPA, and it stood out to us because it was really crisp, clean and well-made. David is a great homebrewer and definitely knows how to make good beers, and we were excited to team up with him to brew his IPA as part of SDBN’s Homebrew Summer program. One tip we have for homebrewers attempting to brew this recipe at home is to remain patient and let it rest for 10 days, then dry-hop. That will really make the aromas come out. 

Jacked Up Brewery is located at 800 West Grand Avenue in Escondido