They say you don’t buy beer, you just rent it. To some extent, the same could be said for local brewer Cosimo Sorrentino. When he started his pro-brewing career with Monkey Paw Brewery in 2013, he was the ultimate company man, putting in long hours split between that since-closed East Village brewpub and its sister business, South Park Brewing. That lasted nearly four years years, until he left that job—and the country—to take on an exciting opportunity brewing in Copenhagen.
Local beer fans lamented the award-winning brewer’s departure. They also celebrated his return to the San Diego scene in 2020, even if it came with an asterisk. From the moment he stepped back on San Diego soil, Sorrentino was clear that he’d be leaving again at some point and that any job he took would essentially be in a stopgap or consulting capacity. A man of his word, he recently accepted a new job that will spell his second exit from his hometown.
Sorrentino will be heading to Texas to serve as the new Head Brewer for Lazarus Brewing, a six-year-old operation in East Austin. This comes after a year-and-a-half of heading production at North Park brewpub, The Original 40 Brewing, where he came on to replace original head brewer Chris Gillogly. During his time there, Sorrentino continued brewing popular house beers while also introducing a number of new offerings. This figures to be his approach at his new gig, as well.
“I am looking forward to joining the team at Lazarus Brewing. They are a family-owned-and-operated brewpub that is currently building a second location. Their current project is just over 2,000 barrels per year with all beer sold in-house from serving tanks. That’s an average of over 1,000 pints per day,” says Sorrentino. “The second location will triple production with no plans to package and distribute.”
As appealing as Lazarus Brewing was to Sorrentino, he is also excited about joining the Austin craft-brewing community, which is over 50 breweries strong. It’s a fast-growing scene with notable operations that includes key players Jester King Brewery, Austin Beer Works and St. Elmo Brewing.
“Austin is an up-and-coming market with the arrival of several tech companies brining young, well-paid beer-drinkers by the thousands. The beer scene is well established but still has room to grow,” says Sorrentino. “The community seems very inviting and collaborative, and it doesn’t hurt that my new digs will be two blocks from Dan Anderson at Zilker Brewing.”
Anderson is a San Diego brewer who trained under Doug Hasker at Gordon Biersch’s Mission Valley brewpub (which has since been taken over by local Mexican-food operation Puesto) and Carli Smith at now-shuttered Rock Bottom La Jolla, before charting a course for Austin in December of 2020.
When asked about Lazarus’ current beer portfolio, Sorrentino’s response is extensive…and a little telling. “They focus on classic styles, including a large selection of lagers. Barrels and fouders are already established and used for mixed-culture brews,” he says. “And they don’t do pastry stouts, milkshake IPAs or smoothie sours.”
Before heading out, Sorrentino will remain at The Original 40 to usher several upcoming releases onto its taps. Those beers include an IPA brewed with rice and contemporaries from Del Mar’s Viewpoint Brewing dubbed Snap, Crackle, Hop, which will tap April 22, followed by a rice lager called Tachi debuting April 29, and Rafiki’s Ritual bourbon barrel-aged stout, which will be released on Sorrentino’s last day, May 7.
The Original 40 Brewing is located at 3117 University Avenue in North Park