Home Brew Mart celebrates 30 years
Birthplace of Ballast Point Brewing brings back staff, beers for September 17 event
Three decades of continuous operation is a major milestone for any business. When that 30-year span involves constant evolution and serving as the launching pad for a brewing company that has been named the best on the planet at the World Beer Cup and grown to be one of the 50 largest craft-beer interests in the country, it’s cause for a celebration of mammoth proportions. That’s just what Home Brew Mart, the birthplace of iconic San Diego suds operation Ballast Point Brewing has in store for its 30th Anniversary Celebration, which will take place at that hallowed recreational-brewing supply outlet on Saturday, September 17.
“We’ve been talking about how to celebrate the 30th anniversary since last year,” says Home Brew Mart General Manager Nick Tringale. “We landed on having a party with a release of a few beers that we brewed specially for our anniversary and bringing back some employee-loved beers as well as some of the long-time Home Brew Mart employees to help us brew them.”
The aforementioned staff include current employees as well as those who have since moved on but played important roles during their tenure at the Linda Vista business. Some went on to make their marks elsewhere. Former Home Brew Associate Doug Pominville went on to head brewing operations at Barrio Logan-based Thorn Brewing before moving to New Hampshire, where he now directs production for 603 Brewery. Former Assistant Managers Daren Rudy and Larry Monasakanian are now the co-owner of Ataraxia Aleworks in Kearny Mesa and Sales Manager for North Park-based Fall Brewing, respectively. And after decades serving in key roles for Home Brew Mart, Ballast Point and the San Diego Brewers Guild, former Vice President of Special Brewing Colby Chandler takes breaks from retirement serving as a columnist for San Diego Beer News.
In addition to Home Brew Mart staffers old and new, homebrewer Lucas Orr was also brought in to craft a beer for the anniversary event. That pro-brew day was the Best in Show prize for a homebrew competition held by Ballast Point this spring. Orr’s winning recipe was for a Belgian-style golden strong ale called La Finta Nona, which translates to “the false grandmother” in Italian. That beer and the first beer ever brewed on Ballast Point’s original brewhouse, Copper ESB, will both be made available at all of Ballast Point’s Southern California, including local venues in Miramar and Little Italy.
As part of SDBN’s Homebrew Summer program, we have included the homebrew-scaled recipe for Copper ESB so that readers can download it and attempt to recreate it at home.
Rebrewed / Specialty Beers
- Belgian Quad, Belgian-style Quadrupel 9.2%)—Jason Carlson, Home Brew Lead
- Big Eye, American India Pale Ale (7%)—Scott Smith, Assistant Manager
- Black Marlin, Porter (6%)—Jason Carlson, Home Brew Associate
- Brett Grunion, Pale Ale with Brettanomyces (5%)—Doug Pominville, Home Brew Associate
- Copper ESB, Nitro English-style Extra Special Bitter (5.5%)—Pete Ahern, Found & Brewer; Jim Johnson, General Manager; Derek Lauridsen, Assistant Manager
- DB Brown, British-style Brown Ale (6.6%)—Jason Carlson, Home Brew Mart Lead
- HB Hefeweizen, Hefeweizen (4.5%)—Daren Rudy, Assistant Manager
- La Finta Nona, Belgian-style Golden Strong Ale (9.5%)—Lucas Orr, Homebrewer
- Lutra Amber, Amber Ale (6.1%)—Matt Davis, Home Brew Mart Lead
- OG Mild, English-style Mild Ale (4%)—Colby Chandler, Manager; Ryan Glenn, VP of Operations (Ballast Point)
- Oh My Stars, India Pale Ale (7.5%)—George Cataulin, Lead Home Brew Associate; Matt Davis, Home Brew Mart Lead
- Pineapple Upsidedown, Stout (9.5%)—Jason Carlson, Home Brew Associate
- Pink Jabroni, Hibiscus Kölsch (5.5%)—Braydon Wiley, Home Brew Advisor
- Schooner, Wet-hopped American Pale Ale (5%)—Larry Monasakanian, Assistant Manager
- Sun Kissed Saison, Belgian-style Farmhouse Ale (6.4%)—Nick Tringale, Home Brew Mart General Manager
Archived Beers
- 2014 Navigator, Doppelbock (8%)
- Indra Kunindra Batch #1, Export Stout with Madras Curry, ,Cumin, Cayenne, Coconut & Kaffir Lime Leaf (7%)
- Hout Series #1, Sour Ale with Black Currant (6.5%)
- Hout Series #2, Gueuze (7%)
“It’s really exciting to celebrate an incredible 30 years by getting back to our roots. We had an amazing opportunity to bring in some of our original brewers and employees to collaborate with,” says Tingale. “Hearing their stories and chatting with them reminds me why I love this company so much. It’s about the people.”
Tickets for Home Brew Mart’s 30th Anniversary Celebration are available online. The event will take place during business hours from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Home Brew Mart is located at 5401 Linda Vista Road, #406 in Linda Vista
COPPER ESB | English-style Extra Special Bitter