In March, Connecticut-based Athletic Brewing took over the warehouse, barrel-aging and sour-beer production facility formerly occupied by Ballast Point Brewing. Located on Trade Street in Miramar, that building comes in at 80,000 square feet, providing ample room for Athletic to up production of its non-alcoholic near beers. The first steps toward that were updating the facility, installing a new packaging line and assembling a West Coast brewing team. Since accomplishing those goals, Athletic has gone beyond core-beer production, introducing one-offs devised by its San Diegan brewers as well as a high-profile collaboration brew produced in concert with a popular California chef. The latter is an IPA inspired by early-morning after-shift imbibing experiences of Chris Cosentino (pictured below), co-owner of Cockscomb in his home of San Francisco as well as restaurants in Napa and Portland, Oregon.
“It’s not every day you get to work with and create with such a talented, seasoned, creative individual,” says Athletic co-founder and Head Brewer John Walker. “The collaboration felt so natural and so easy, and I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that we both com from the restaurant and beverage industry. We speak the same language and we’ve both been in each other’s shoes at one point or another.”
That extends beyond hospitality to the world of athletics. Cosentino is also an active cyclist, which made him perfectly suited to confab with Athletic. The current socially distanced state of the world meant the recipe—which includes lemon verbena, bay leaves, triticale, organic Vienna malt and Cascade hops—had to be developed over email. And once a prototype was brewed, it was shipped to San Francisco for Cosentino to taste before he and Walker compared notes and further refined the beer. And when it came time to brew large proportions of the finalized recipe, Athletic received an assist from the chef and his industry contemporaries.
“Using non-traditional brewing ingredients can be difficult at times, especially when searching for huge quantities of seasonal items like fresh lemon verbena and bay leaves,” says Walker. “Chris was able to introduce us to some other amazing chefs from the East Coast, who helped us find the highest quality and freshest ingredients, and we were all able to come together to make this special beer work. It was a treat to work with such an incredible group.”
As is the case at its Connecticut headquarters, the Trade Street facility is equipped with a pilot system, which is used for experimenting with new processes, flavors and recipes. Seasonal beers are borne via this small-batch apparatus, which Walker says is just as useful in building unity among the brew team.
“Originally, we had planned on having a traveling-brewers program where teammates from either facility could travel to the other, learn more, meet the other crew and hone a multitude of skills on different platforms,” says Walker. “The state of the world changed that plan for us. Fortunately, we were able to pivot and build a different program. Instead of traveling, we have teammates from opposite coasts and departments come together virtually to collaborate on new recipes. Once the recipe is achieved, one brewery will make and package it, and then the team will present it at our Friday virtual tastings. It’s an awesome way to work together separately, explore our abilities, learn techniques and bring great ideas to life.”
So far, the program has resulted in a mango-habanero single-hop IPA, maple brown ale, West Coast IPA, red ale, pilsner and a coffee-infused porter that will be recreated on Athletic’s larger brewhouse next year. Other beers that have shined during Friday tastings have been a pumpkin-spice beer called Dark and Gourdy, a Veteran’s Day IPA dubbed At Ease, the proceeds of which were donated to Catch A Lift, a nonprofit working to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of military veterans. Similarly, funds were raised for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute via sales of an IPA called Closer By The Mile.
On top of helping charity causes, Athletic’s brew crew has something else to be proud of—winning North American Brewer of the Year at the International Beer Challenge. That win came last month as a result of the company winning the No and Low category for its Free Wave IPA, and earning silver medals for Both Run Wild IPA and Downwinder Gose.
Though its utilization is far different under its current occupant, it would appear the Trade Street facility is being put to good use in a variety of ways.
Athletic Brewing is located at 7606 Trade Street in Miramar, but is not open to the public