With the onset of fall comes the plummet of temperatures from 90 degrees to a brisk 88, the changing colors of the leaves adorning the two trees on your block that aren’t palms or eucalyptus, and the promise of the 10-day November fete that is San Diego Beer Week (SDBW). A tradition for local and out-of-town ale-and-lager lovers since its 2009 inception, this year’s party period will take place from November 7 to 16. Over that span, breweries, bars and restaurants will hold various events, tap an array of specialty offerings and find creative ways to celebrate the local craft-beer community.
(Photo: James Eggleston)
Fittingly, the volunteer trade organization that established SDBW, the San Diego Brewers Guild (SDBG), will lead the charge. As it has since 2017, SDBG worked with local breweries to coordinate the production of a beer sharing the name the association invented and trademarked for San Diego County – Capital of Craft IPA. Coming in at 7.2% alcohol-by-volume, this San Diego-style IPA (a dryer interpretation of the West Coast IPA) is hopped with Waimea and Chinook. The latter is a nod to classic IPAs while the former and the Riwaka varietal utilized in the dry-hop represent current trends. The majority of the ingredients for Capital of Craft were donated by RahrBSG, with Miramar company White Labs contributing its WLP077 Tropicale Yeast Blend.
The recipe for this year’s commemorative beer was collaboratively developed by brewers from Bay Park-based Coronado Brewing, Scripps Ranch-based Harland Brewing, Vista-based Pure Project Brewing, Oceanside’s South O Brewing, Santee’s Sunny Grove Brewing and Thousand Oaks’ Tarantula Hill Brewing (which operates a satellite brewhouse in San Marcos), along with the crew at host business Mission Brewing in Miramar. A couple of the participating breweries were requested for service by Mission’s team, while the others were selected via a lottery including names of local beer companies that hadn’t participated in previous Capital of Craft collaborations.
This year’s edition of Capital of Craft IPA will debut on-tap and in cans at Mission and retail outlets on November 3. It will also be available at SDBW’s official opening event, the Capital of Craft Beer Festival, on Saturday, November 8. Taking place from 12 to 4 p.m. (11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for VIP ticketholders) at the Harley-Davidson Festival Grounds in Bay Ho, the event will build on the format and success of the first run of this fest, which took place last year in the parking lot of Kearny Mesa’s Kilowatt Brewing, and benefit from a partnership with a pair of veteran local event coordinators, SDS Events and Westward Entertainment.
This year’s festival will include a commemorative cup that can be filled with unlimited tastings of beers from more than 35 local breweries and beverage companies, all of which are members of the SDBG. There will also be live music from Flash Pants and tunes of the recorded variety from DJ Twon Burgundy, plus food from local vendors, including Bread & Cheese Eatery, Doggos Gus, Full Belly BBQ, LuLu’s Cookie Bar and Suds n Buds Pretzels n Pints. Tickets are available online (and can be purchased at a discount if you enter SDBEERNEWS at checkout).
In addition to the festival, SDBG is organizing a pair of events during the latter half of SDBW. The first is a Battle of the Guilds, an annual event that was previously held at North Park beer bar, Toronado San Diego, before that business closed in 2020. One of SDBW’s most popular happenings, it will be resurrected at Barrio Logan’s Tiny Giant Taproom on Thursday, November 13, and feature beers from member breweries of participating brewers guilds from throughout California. Many of those operations will be in Irvine that week attending the California Craft Brewers Association’s annual summit, providing the opportunity for them to make a short drive to take part in the festivities.
The SDBG is also setting up a hike (or walk for those who prefer to take things slower) of Annie’s Canyon in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, followed by beers at Culture Brewing’s taproom in Solana Beach.
“We’re trying to do events that celebrate the communities and are accessible for all, then use local taprooms to round them out and have a good time,” says SDBG Executive Director Erik Fowler. “Last year, we held similar neighborhood clean-ups in North Park and Grantville, so we are building off those with this recreational event.”
While the SDBG has filled its calendar, the most ingenuitive and focused SDBW events are typically held by individual businesses. If you would like to learn more about what they have in store, subscribe to San Diego Beer News’ weekly email newsletter, which includes a brewery event calendar. You can also check the events section of your local or favorite breweries’ websites, peruse their social-media accounts or, better yet, drop in for a beer and ask what they have coming up.