This Friday will mark the start of the twelfth annual San Diego Beer Week (SDBW), and while COVID restrictions will mandate that it play out differently than in years past, a special beer that’s been part of the festivities since 2017 will be back: Capital of Craft. A collaboration IPA brewed with a different recipe conceived by an annually changing roster of San Diego Brewers Guild member breweries, it serves as the “official beer” of SDBW.
The 2020 edition, which comes in at 7% alcohol-by-volume, was brewed at Burgeon Beer Co.’s Carlsbad headquarters. With a pandemic threatening to push San Diego County back into the dreaded purple tier, getting to that point was no easy feat. It required ingenuity and extra steps, including supplier BSG CraftBrewing shipping sample ingredients to each of the eight collaborating breweries, who then developed the recipe for the beer virtually.
“Creating the recipe on Zoom calls was an interesting twist this year, but it worked out really well,” says Resident Brewing Brewmaster Robert Masterson. “With as many breweries that were involved with the collaboration, there were many opinions on the direction of the beer. I think we came together and built a great San Diego-style IPA with some great hops.”
Idaho 7, Cashmere, El Dorado and Galaxy hops joined two-row, Rahr Northern Pilsner and Malting Co. of Ireland Stout Malt and San Diego Super Yeast from Miramar’s White Labs (which, like BSG, donated ingredients to the Guild for this beer). The focus was to create something new and modern while retaining some old-school West Coast IPA characteristics such as hop-bitterness. 2020’s Capital of Craft IPA comes in at 62 on the international bittering unit (IBU) scale.
The brewers who determined this year’s recipe hailed from Normal Heights’ Automatic Brewing, Burgeon, Chula Vista Brewery, Vista’s Five Suits Brewing, Modern Times Beer, Oceanside’s Northern Pine Brewing, Resident and South Park Brewing. Representatives from all eight interests were on-hand for the brew day, which marked the first in-person collaboration Burgeon has held since the onset of the pandemic.
“The collaborative spirit is second to none here in the craft-beer capital of the world, and we were honored that Burgeon was chosen to host this year’s Capital of Craft IPA mega-collab,” says Burgeon Marketing Director Mackenzie Graham. “This year has brought new challenges to the industry and it was our goal to host a collaboration that celebrates the resilience, creativity and camaraderie demonstrated by San Diego’s craft-beer community. Masks and social-distancing couldn’t hide the smiles worn by all who participated.”
“We were very stoked and honored to be chosen to collaborate and brew with such a rad mix of newer San Diegan breweries as well as established ones, too,” says Chula Vista Brewery Head Brewer James Hodges. “It was great to talk to everyone and glean tidbits of how they like to do things in their brewhouses.”
For many participants, this collaboration went beyond the typical informative interaction and beer-fueled fun of a shared brew day. Being together with others sharing their passion and an understanding of the challenges presented by these difficult times for San Diego County’s small businesses was helpful and inspiring.
“While launching our family business in the midst of a pandemic left us feeling like the deck was stacked against us, the one sure thing we’ve relied on is the support from those within the craft-beer community,” says Nick Corona, the co-owner and Brewmaster of Five Suits, which debuted over the summer. “This collaboration epitomizes the type of support, goodwill, and cooperation that the world needs more of right now.”
“Even after such a difficult year, San Diego breweries and their supporters have stood together,” says Northern Pine CEO and Brewer, Aaron Ortega. “We still proudly represent the ‘Capital of Craft’ title and that is something to celebrate.”
Capital of Craft IPA will tap at venues countywide beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 6. It will also be available in commemorative cans. More information is available online.