Three decades of continuous operation in any line of business is something special, but in the case of the brewing industry it’s particularly impressive. A company with such longevity would not only have been well ahead of its time and the modern craft-beer renaissance, but also fighting the good (and admittedly difficult) fight over the past half-decade, since the stifling pandemic and a host of economic challenges besieged the country’s breweries. In short, it takes grit, determination, ingenuity and really good beer to make it 30 years, and AleSmith Brewing will be celebrating all of that during its anniversary party this Saturday, November 8 from 2 to 11 p.m. The Miramar company will also be celebrating its fans as well as someone without whom reaching this milestone would have been impossible: Skip Virgilio.
Well known throughout local brewing circles, Virgilio currently oversees beermaking operations for beer-centric restaurant concept Gravity Heights, which is based in Sorrento Valley and operates a second location in Mission Valley. He has been that hospitality concern’s brewmaster since it was but a twinkle in the eye of veteran restaurateur Arturo Kassel, who brought Virgilio – a friend whom he’d logged many hours downing quality beer in his garage – aboard because of his vast brewing industry experience.
In 1992, Virgilio kicked off a career in beer as Brewmaster for since-shuttered Pacific Beach Brewhouse. That experience and the years of homebrewing that preceded it gave Virgilio the confidence to start his own brewery, and in 1995 he did just that, teaming with business partner Ted Newcomb to open a small company going by the name of AleSmith in the heart of Miramar. Sited in a 3,000-square-foot strip-mall suite and equipped with a brew kettle designed for soup-making and open dairy-tanks serving as fermentation tanks, the original AleSmith was different from its current iteration in almost every way, except for its commitment to producing high-quality beers. Even without the aid of modern technology, Virgilio racked up scads of brewing-competition awards for his beers, some of which are still produced today, most notably Speedway Stout.
But times were tough in those early years, as most consumers hadn’t heard of, and therefore had little interest in, the then-exotic Old World ales he was producing. While there was certainly no lack of effort on Virgilio’s and Newcomb’s part, nor respect for what they were doing from their peers, they decided that if the brewery were to survive, it would have to do so in the hands of someone else. Enter Peter Zien, an avid homebrewer who volunteered at AleSmith, saw its beauty as well as its potential, and purchased the company from its founders in 2002.
Under Zien, the company kept Virgilio’s legacy alive through the most appropriate medium: his beers. It also grew many times over, first expanding into neighboring and adjacent suites at the original Cabot Drive location, before moving to the 110,000-square-foot production facility (and home to the largest brewery tasting room west of the Mississippi) on nearby Empire Street – which now goes by the name AleSmith Court – in 2015. That facility is outfitted with a 85-barrel brewhouse, a far cry from the makeshift 17-barrel setup the company started out on. AleSmith is now one of the largest brewing enterprises in San Diego County. In addition to producing its own beers (including the wildly popular Pale Ale .394, which was conceived in collaboration with late San Diego Padres Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn shortly before his passing in 2014), hard ciders and a recently launched line of canned ready-to-drink cocktails, the company also contract-brews products for numerous beer brands.
AleSmith has come a long way, but through all the growth, advances, twists and turns, Virgilio’s principles and fingerprints have remained all over the business. As such, Zien and company wanted to honor Virgilio as AleSmith eclipses the 30-year mark, inviting him to join them to brew a batch of the original owner’s renowned Belgian-style strong dark ale. Dubbed Grand Cru, the 10% alcohol-by-volume beer dates back to 1999 and was a staple of AleSmith’s then largely high-alcohol portfolio until the mid-2010s when the company began to switch its focus to mid- and low-alcohol beers of the hoppy and refreshing variety in light of consumer trends.
“I’m honored to be recognized and included in AleSmith’s 30-year anniversary celebration,” says Virgilio, who says he misses Newcomb and stresses that he could not have started the business without him. . “So much has changed since 1995. I don’t know where to start, but I’m pleased to see that AleSmith is still standing after all these years and in this challenging craft-beer environment.”
“Since taking the reins in 2002, I’ve felt privileged to help continue Skip’s and Ted’s legacy, with the support of our talented team and the San Diego brewing community,” says Zien. “Skip is a visionary who helped fashion San Diego into the craft beer capital it has become. He worked closely with our brewing team to recreate Grand Cru as authentically as possible, bringing a beloved recipe back to life for this occasion.”
Grand Cru will be available in four-packs of 16-ounce cans and on draft, along with a tap list stocked with core, seasonal and limited-edition beers during the 30th Anniversary Tiki Bash. As the name implies, the free, all-ages event will have an island theme driven home by tiki-decor and beer slushies. There will also be a silent disco, paint-and-sip, multiple food vendors and live music from Someday Bloom, The Resinators, Jet West and Project Out of Bounds. An event within an event, the Anvil & Stave Beer Experience will also take place from 2 to 6 p.m. inside AleSmith’s speakeasy, where a curated selection of cellared beers will be offered along with the opportunity to purchase some of the company’s rarest bottles of barrel-aged beer.
Looking beyond the anniversary to San Diego Beer Week, AleSmith will hold its annual Speedway Grand Prix, an event showcasing different, inventive variations on the aforementioned coffee-infused imperial stout. Two of this year’s variants were developed in collaboration with Julian Apple Pie Co., while another, Café Brûlot (Speedway Stout with cognac-soaked French oak chips, orange and lemon peel, Tahitian vanilla and Cassia cinnamon), was actually pitched by yours truly. The Grand Prix will take place on November 13 and 14, and tickets are available online.
AleSmith Brewing is located at 9990 AleSmith Court in Miramar