In 2017, Ryan Brooks teamed with the owners of Coronado Brewing Company, where he worked as brewmaster, to establish SouthNorte Beer Co. Brooks’ mission was to celebrate craft-beer culture on both sides of the border, specifically San Diego County and Baja California. Over the past three years, he’s made good on that aim, brewing beers that medaled at the Great American Beer Festival and other competitions, including his Mexican-style lager, Sea Señor. That and SouthNorte’s other beers have primarily been available on draft but, in the midst of the pandemic, the company has pivoted to increase production and focus on canning more of its beers.
While Coronado Brewing’s Bay Park headquarters remains the primary production center for SouthNorte’s beers, Brooks has become something of a “gypsy brewer,” relying on longstanding relationships with local brewers to contract brew packaged ales and lagers for off-site accounts, primarily major grocery chains. Recently, he contract-brewed at AleSmith Brewing’s Miramar facility and Barrio Logan’s Thorn Brewing, where he reunited with former co-worker and Thorn’s current director of brewery operations, Shawn Steele.
Brooks has also teamed with numerous brewing companies and businesses in Baja, including Tijuana’s brewery-equipped Telefonica Gastro Park. While some of SouthNorte’s beers have been produced there, that food-and-beverage collective has become so popular that squeezing in brew days has become increasingly difficult; another reason the founding brewmaster has taken to getting by with a little help from his friends. But for him, relationships within the industry have always been key.
“My favorite part about SouthNorte is being able to travel through Mexico and collaborate, speak at seminars and judge beers,” Brooks explains. “When I go to Mexico, it makes me feel like how it was in the San Diego scene 12 or 13 years go. Everyone is excited and the love for learning is everywhere. I really enjoy sharing what I’ve learned over the years, especially when I see the younger brewers excel and create stunning beers.”
Lately, Brooks (pictured avove) has spent the majority of his time on this side of the border, slinging beer throughout San Diego County in a sales capacity. He says it’s been a challenge, especially in the age of COVID-19, but he’s passionate about talking beer with account reps who are also interested in it. Soon, he’ll be talking about ¡Ay! Chelita, a new West Coast IPA scheduled to debut September 1. It’ll be brewed with neomexicanus hops, varietals originating in New Mexico, which have been cultivated anew by hop growers in recent years. Two other new SouthNorte beers are also scheduled to be released in 2020. (For the scoop on that, tune into The Indie Beer Show’s live podcast this Thursday, July 9 at 6:30 p.m. PT.)
Another new development for SouthNorte is a brand-new commercial which debuted last week. Not on the company’s Facebook page or an Instagram story. On mainstream television. The 30-second spot features a couple whose quality of life as pandemic shut-ins is greatly enhanced by a refrigerator full of SouthNorte beer. It was developed under the leadership of Breanne Heal, the company’s new Vice President of Sales and Marketing, who spent over eight years at Constellation Brands before coming to SouthNorte. It’s the first TV commercial for a local brewery since Constellation Brands ran spots for Ballast Point Brewing in 2017.
When asked if SouthNorte might construct a tasting room on either side of the border, Brooks says “absolutely.” He and the ownership team have had several opportunities over the years that either fell through or proved not to be the right fit. At present, Brooks is working with The Hornbrew Shop, a homebrew supply store in Tijuana run by Gerardo Grijalva, in an effort to erect a shared brewing space where SouthNorte’s beers would be on tap. But that, like Brooks’ efforts to establish relationships with distribution companies south of the border—and just about everything else—has been pushed back due to the pandemic.
So, for now, Brooks remains hopeful for the future…and very busy selling beer throughout San Diego County.