Homebrew Summer is back

Last year, San Diego Beer News (SDBN) rolled out its inaugural Homebrew Summer, a program designed to connect local homebrewers with professional beermakers throughout the county. Over the sunny season, a dozen San Diego breweries teamed with recreational brewers to bring their homespun recipes to life and tap their beers at their tasting rooms, while 13 other breweries shared homebrew-scaled versions of some of their most popular recipes via the SDBN website. It was such a smashing success that Homebrew Summer is back for a second year, and it’ll be even bigger and better this time around.

Beginning tomorrow—the first official day of summer—SDBN will begin sharing homebrew versions of commercial recipes from local breweries. But that’s just the start.

Just like last year, pro brewers were able to select amateur recipes submitted by local homebrewers. Over the next three months, those beers will be brewed and tapped at release events where the homebrewers can share their creations with friends, family and the beer-loving public. As they become available, we will alert you about the releases and share the recipes for those diverse beers.

Going a step further, this year we allowed breweries to go beyond the bank of homebrew recipes and team up with homebrewers they have pre-existing relationships with. In most cases, pro brewers asked their regulars if they’d like to brew a recipe on their commercial system. This turned out to be the most popular way local breweries chose to participate in Homebrew Summer for 2022. And that’s not the only element of Homebrew Summer that’s new this year.

Slow Food Urban San Diego‘s “Slow Beer” committee and the San Diego Brewers Guild are working with area farmers and producers as well as homebrew club QUAFF (Quality Ale and Fermentation Fraternity) to hold a homebrewing contest where competitors will brew with locally harvested and produced ingredients. Entries will be judged based on beer quality and commercial viability as well as how they represent San Diego through their flavors and incorporation of indigenous items. Winning homebrewers will team with local breweries to brew their beers as part of the first-annual San Diego Estate Beer Project Pro-Am Competition, which will take place at Guild Fest, the official opening event of San Diego Beer Week. Entries for the QUAFF competition will be accepted through July 30, and interested homebrewers can register to compete online.

The above is the first step toward the hopeful creation of San Diego “estate beers” on a professional level. SDBN is proud to be able to expand its Homebrew Summer coverage to include the pro-am collaborations, beers from which will debut at participating breweries in addition to their presence at Guild Fest.

Just like last year, Homebrew Summer is brought to you by our partners at Ballast Point Brewing and Home Brew Mart. The following is a list of this year’s Homebrew Summer participants…

Breweries Contributing Homebrew-scaled Versions of their Beers

• Abnormal Beer Co. (Rancho Bernardo): Secret Safari Citra Pale Ale
• Ballast Point Brewing (Miramar): Copper ESB Extra Special Bitter
• Blue Fire Brewing (San Marcos): Wheat is Tight Juicy IPA
• Booze Brothers Brewing (Vista): Ramble On West Coast IPA
• Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad): Juice Press Hazy IPA
• Duck Foot Brewing (Miramar): Hop Em Sock ‘Em West Coast IPA
• Helix Brewing (La Mesa): Puff Puff Pale Ale
• Hodad’s Brewing (Serra Mesa): Throwback Brown American Brown Ale
• Pacific Beach AleHouse (Pacific Beach): Beer of the Rising Sun International-style Lager

Breweries that Selected Homebrewers’ Recipes to Brew at their Facility

• Barrel & Stave Brewing (Vista): Last Road Cold IPA by Eli Palma
• BattleMage Brewing (Vista): Misnomenclature Cold IPA by Louie Ilievski
• Belching Beaver Brewery (Oceanside): First Mate Island Blonde Ale by Chris van Hamersveid
• Culver Beer Co. (Carlsbad): Hello World Oatmeal Stout by Jacob Gottlieb and David Lord *
• Deft Brewing (Bay Park): Ryght Time Roggen Place Roggenbier by Jim Connor, Jacob Gottlieb and David Lord
• Lighting Brewery (Poway): Big Danky Thang Double IPA by John Bell III
• Second Chance Beer Co. (Carmel Mountain Ranch): Danky Lil Thang Session IPA by John Bell III
• White Labs Brewing (Miramar): God Save the Queen English-style Porter with Honey by Jared Rowley

* – The recipe for this beer will not be shared

Breweries that Reached Out to Homebrewers to Brew their Recipes

• 13 Point Brewing (Lemon Grove): Belgan-style Witbier with Lemon by Jeremy Kaspar
• Gravity Heights (Sorrento Mesa): Schmooze Juice Roggenbier by Patrick Leon and Thu Ha Le Leon **
• Helia Brewing (Vista): Wish You Were Kölsch by Rocky Ciarmoli and Trista Hattlestad
• Home Brew Mart (Linda Vista): TBD **
• Hopnonymous Brewing (Kearny Mesa): It’s Pretty Lit Cold IPA by Chris Angel
• Mission Brewery (East Village): Golden Milk Stout by Jose Dias
• Nickel Beer Co. (Julian): Lion’s Blood IPA by Brandon Hernández
• Oceanside Ale Works (Oceanside): Gypsy Trucker IPA by Tom Chandler and Andrew Stewart
• Rip Current Brewing (San Marcos, North Park): QUAFFbrau Pilsner by Harold Gulbransen
• South O Brewing (Oceanside): Acai Bowl Fruited American Wheat Ale by Trent Musho
• Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station (Point Loma): Mango IPA by Spencer Wiederkehr

** – Gravity Heights’ homebrew partner won a brewing competition organized by QUAFF

*** – Home Brew Mart’s homebrew partner will be determined by an homebrewing competition conducted by company this summer

NOTE: This list does not include breweries taking part in the San Diego Estate Beer Project Pro-Am Competition