San Diego breweries are known for many things—industry camaraderie, brewing award-winning beers, developing a namesake style of extra-dry and aromatic India pale ale. The county’s breweries are also known as generous businesses that readily and frequently assist charitable organizations and causes by producing beers and holding events that raise awareness and money for people in need. Over the next few days, two local beer concerns, Kilowatt Brewing and Pacific Beach AleHouse, will debut beers brewed to make a difference at a pair of special events.
The first of those beers will be Gr8ful Eight, a collaboratively conceived “cold” pale ale that brought representatives from a half-dozen local brewing companies together to celebrate Kilowatt’s eight years in business while helping out a local non-profit. That organization, the Lupus Foundation of Southern California, has long benefited from the support of the local brewery community care of the Beer to the Rescue charity campaign established in 2014 to bolster its efforts to educate and support citizens of San Diego and Imperial County that suffer from lupus, a chronic and life-threatening autoimmune disease affecting more than 1.5 million Americans.
The collaborators who worked up Gr8ful Eight include Half Door Brewing, Karl Strauss Brewing, The Original 40 Brewing, Seek Beer Co., SouthNorte Beer Co. and Thr3e Punk Ales Brewing. The beer will be tapped at Kilowatt’s eight-year anniversary party, which will take place at the company’s headquarters in Kearny Mesa from 3 to 11 p.m., Saturday, August 12. In addition to Gr8ful Eight, that event will feature an array of specialty beers aged in bourbon, wine and bitters barrels. The LFSC will receive proceeds raised over the life of the collaboration beer, which will also be available at Kilowatt’s tasting rooms in Ocean Beach and Oceanside.
Further coastal, Pacific Beach AleHouse will be tapping a hoppy beer to help out their extended family, Jenn and Richard Meyer. Jenn helped open the brewpub in 2006, worked there for eight years and has remained close with her former colleagues, frequenting her former place of work. When the team there learned her son, Jack, had been diagnosed with leukemia, they got straight to work figuring out how they could be of assistance.
The answer was Captain Jack Jack IPA. A classic West Coast IPA brewed with Motueka and Cascade hops, Head Brewer Dan Enjem says it offers gooseberry, lime, grapefruit and white-wine aromas and comes in at 6.7% alcohol-by-volume. The beer will be tapped during a special fundraiser that will go from 7 p.m. to close on Monday, August 14. Sales from the event will go straight to the family. From there on out, Pacific Beach AleHouse will donate 30% of proceeds from Captain Jack Jack to the Meyers to assist with Jack’s treatment.
I knew we had the capacity to help out their family in a time of need and the brewery has always been a great outlet for this as well as Eric Leitstein, who is one of the most generous owners I have ever worked for.”
Luke Corsano, General Manager, Pacific Beach AleHouse
This isn’t the first time Pacific Beach AleHouse has helped out a former employee. Over the years, they have also been instrumental in helping the Big Josh Foundation, which was established when former bartender Joshua Gellback was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and sadly lost his battle to the disease in a matter of months. Sill, the foundation that bears his name lives on and continues to do good for others.
On any given week, local breweries throughout the county hold fundraisers and add charity beers to their menus. Be on the lookout as there is nothing quite as satisfying as having a great beer that helps a great cause.
Pacific Beach AleHouse is located at 721 Grand Avenue, and Kilowatt Brewing’s headquarters is located at 7576 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard in Kearny Mesa