Portrait of a Brewer: Patrick Mcilhenney, Mcilhenney Brewing

There are hundreds of talented brewing professionals giving their all to help maintain the San Diego beer industry’s storied reputation. While these industrious practitioners share numerous similarities, each is their own unique person with individual likes, dislikes, methodologies, techniques, inspirations, interests and philosophies. The goal of San Diego Beer News’ Portrait of a Brewer series is to not only introduce readers to local brewers, but dig in to help them gain a deeper appreciation for the people making their beer and how they have contributed to the county’s standout craft-brewing culture, all while presenting them in the finest visual light care of exceptional local lifestyle photographer Matt Furman.

Today’s featured brewer is…

Patrick Mcilhenney
of Mcilhenney Brewing

What is your current title?
My title is Co-owner. Since the formation of the new business, I have not been brewing beer. I am there for good advice and moral support. Oh, and the capital to help get started.

Where did you grow up?
My father was a Marine. My mom moved from San Diego back to family in Tucson, Arizona, to have me while my dad was overseas. At six months the family moved back to Oceanside. I lived in Vista from ages 5 to 12, then spent a year-and-a-half in eastern North Carolina. Culture shock would be understated. Then back to San Diego, Normal Heights and finally Lakeside for High School. I’m close to being a native Californian, but I wasn’t born here. Timing. I fell in love with Alpine, though, from meeting kids in high school. All the high-school kids in Alpine went to Lakeside. I visited them in Alpine enough to become an honorary Alpinian.

What was the first beer and/or alcoholic beverage you ever had?
I’m told – and there was photographic evidence – that I drank a small amount of Schlitz from a can at two years old and liked it a lot. Alcohol fell out of favor until I was in high school. where I made some bad wine in my bedroom using a gallon jug of Welch’s grape juice and bakers’ yeast. [shudder]

What was your a-ha moment that turned you on to craft beer?
Since my fondness of good beer superseded craft beer, I’ll tell you about my first Bavarian Lowenbrau. I was not impressed with the available beers in East County. I found a fresh, not light-struck and skunky green bottle and thought it was much, much better than the BudMillerCoors beers of the times. I was pissed that beer could be that good and they were only selling these American lagers. Criminal. When I found out I could make my own beer I was all in.

What led you to consider a career in brewing?
I got a seasonal firefighter’s job in Garberville in northern California. You had to drive through a little town called Hopland that had a brewpub, Mendocino Brewing Company. I really liked the concept and decided I would do something similar someday. My “real” career was that of a fireman. I, in fact, had to consider my fire department job as my primary job and any other activity had to take second place. I started the brewery to complete my personal commitment that I would open a brewery someday, and to give a means to an end to all the studying I did.

What was your first brewing/brewery position?
I pestered Skip Virgilio of AleSmith fame to volunteer at his brewery on my days off from the fire department. It was unpaid and entailed doing whatever needed to be done at the time. I offered cleaning services as a way to get some exposure to an operating brewery. I never worked at any other brewery besides my own.

What breweries have you worked for over your career and in what roles?
I did not work at other breweries, except AleSmith, but I did study successful practices of successful breweries. Some very key decisions on how to operate were decided early. The main concept of the business would focus on quality. Buy good ingredients instead of spending on advertising. If it’s good enough, word-of-mouth advertising happens and is free.

Who have been the individuals that have helped you the most to learn and advance in your career, and how?
I’d like to send some love out to Tomme Arthur, Tom Nickel and Skip Virgilio. These guys helped me in various ways through the years. Mostly they were good examples of good men and they were smart, too. My wife Val and her incredible sense of taste and smell helped excel the recipes into good beers. There were plenty of people to thank and credit with my fire-department career but you’re not here for that. I was very self-motivated and learned on my own, homebrewing, seminars on how to open a brewery or brew pub and classes at UC Davis on Brewing Science, Microbiology and Sanitation. Part-time work at Beer and Wine Crafts to learn about ingredients was quite useful.

What singular piece of advice would you give to someone interested in becoming a professional brewer?
I can’t give just one bit of advice because you won’t be a successful professional brewer without a couple of traits. The first thing is to learn all there is to know about brewing/fermentology. Learn every phase of making, conditioning and packaging beer. It’s all important. And, instead of trying to tell people how good your beer is, focus on quality. Everything else will be so much easier and better if your beer sells quickly. Good beer sells.

What ultimate career goal would you like to achieve?
I started in the fire department with the goal of being promoted to the rank of Battalion Chief, in charge of several fire stations and deploying proper tactics and strategy on an emergency scene. But in the brewing world, I have surpassed any goal I started with. I was a successful brewery owner with a good reputation and a very highly rated brewery worldwide.

What is your favorite beer you’ve ever brewed, be it on a professional or amateur level?
My favorite beer to brew must be Pure Hoppiness. A new style of beer in its day, a double IPA. The real story behind the development of that beer is intriguing. I was working on making a highly aromatic, strong IPA as a homebrewer. I would make my best attempt and pour a glass for Val, and she would inevitably reply with, “It’s good, but can you make it hoppier?” So, the next batch had more dry-hopping but with the same response…not hoppy enough. Then I added a hopback for dosing with whole-flower hops. Still not enough, but I was close. The end recipe was finally achieved when she no longer asked for a hoppier version. Mandarin Nectar was another favorite because it tested several brewing techniques.

What is your least-favorite beer you’ve ever brewed on any level?
I skipped over this question because I couldn’t really think of any one beer that was a least-favorite. I always enjoyed brewing and enjoyed challenges that made you think, so if it was harder to make it was more fun for me.

What are your favorite and least-favorite hop varietals at present?
Ah, hops! My least-liked hop variety is hands-down Ahtanum! Chalky, putrid, foul-smelling garbage. My favorites right now are Nelson Sauvin, HBC 586, Riwaka and Strata. Mosaic, Simcoe and Necteron are strong contenders, as well.

What are some of your favorite brewing ingredients that aren’t hops?
Goldpils Vienna malt is a relatively new favorite base/flavoring malt. Its biscuity flavor is delicious. The new enzymes and yeast that enhance hop aromas are game-changers. It really pushes boundaries.

If you weren’t a brewer, what do you think you would do for a living?
So many options, so little time. My first job was as a paperboy. Then I bagged groceries at a military commissary, was a gas station attendant and a carpenter. I had brief stints selling auto parts and working as an overnight delivery driver for a microfilm company. So clearly I was qualified to do just about anything, that’s why I went into firefighting. Knowing what I know now, I would have gone into brewing earlier. The appeal of self-employment is rewarding.

In your opinion, what non-brewing position is of great importance at a craft-beer company but often gets overlooked or less credit than those making the beer?
The make-or-break functions in the cellar – transfers, dry-hopping and carbonating – are just as important to a successful brew as brewing itself. I think the packaging – kegging, canning and bottling – are equally important. Without these functions being carried out cleanly and skillfully, you can ruin a beer in no time.

What is your favorite beer style?
If I said “Pastry Stout” would you be surprised? I spent a freakishly long time studying hops. I so very much appreciate an effervescently floral, disturbingly dank, aromatically tangy West Coast IPA that should be called “San Diego Pale Ale”! There! I said it!

If you could wipe one style of beer off the face of the earth, what would it be?
I know brewers all over the world, so if I were to pick a beer style to jettison off the planet, I would hear about it from someone and rightfully so. But I can answer with how nice it would be to go to any brewery and get good beer. In my travels, I find too much mediocre-or-worse craft beer. That needs to go, along with Rolling Rock.

What single brewing company’s beers and/or ethos/style has been most influential on your style?
I took time to study other breweries. If a certain facet of their business was successful, I adopted that part to incorporate into mine. Sierra Nevada Brewing had cutting-edge practices that were and still are great. From the beer styles they brew and the environment to advertising and marketing, they stand out to this day.

What is your favorite San Diego County brewing company?
I can’t be throttled down to just one brewery. So many of them are special in different ways. So, in no particular order, my favorite is: PizzaPortBurgeonEppigNorthParkBurningBeardCraftCoastPureProjectFallStoneLostAbbeyCoronadoLaJolla Brewing Company.

What is your favorite brewing company outside of San Diego?
There are special breweries in the world like Cantillon that are hard to beat. But I like Grains of Wrath in Camas, Washington.

What three breweries that you haven’t yet visited—local or elsewhere—are on your current must-see bucket list?
I have been wanting to visit El Segundo Brewing. I’ve met the crew away from their brewery and they make beers I like. I also would love to visit Alvarado Street Brewery, again because they make beer I like. And then there’s Other Brother Beer Co. because Kevin used to work for us.

What are your favorite local beer events?
The return of the San Diego Brew Festival has a very nice location, Liberty Station. The ease of parking and plenty of grass makes for a comfortable environment.

If you were to leave San Diego (which you did to move to Washington State), where would be the next-best place you’d want to brew?
I have found the Pacific Northwest to be a wonderful place to spend the summer but not for the water. My criteria for establishing a brewery outside San Diego would center around abundant hard water and an absence of other breweries. Prescott has great water but plenty of breweries. How about Northern Arizona, someplace in need of a brewery.

Which musical genre or artists are on your brew-day soundtrack/playlist?
Classic and contemporary rock is a must. Rush to Foo Fighters. Pink Floyd to Dave Mathews. All loud.

What motto rules the way you brew and approach brewing in a professional brewhouse?
Quality always sells. Cleanliness is next to godliness. Make the best beer possible and the rest becomes easier.

What do you consider your greatest professional accomplishments?
In the beer world, I would rank winning World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival medals. It’s very rewarding each and every time. And being ranked the fifth-highest rated brewery in the world was also very rewarding and exciting. In the fire department, being voted Employee of the Year was another proud professional accomplishment.

What are you proud of having achieved in your personal life?
I’m proud of the family I’m a part of. I’m happy to have taught my son, Shawn, how to brew good beer and to have a profession he can support his family with.

When you’re not at work, what do you like to do for fun?
My hobbies include cycling, kayaking and off-roading. I’m down to only four bikes but they’re a good mix. I have a kayak you pedal to get around and a new Bronco two-door, a serious off-road vehicle.

Where do you like to drink off-the-clock?
The Casino Inn has fond memories and I know if I’m there I don’t have to work. Home is a close second.

What is your favorite beer-and-food pairing of all time?
It’s extremely difficult to top birthday bacon (thank you Tyson Blake) paired with just about anything, but I’m going to go with fried chicken and Pure Hoppiness. Using the beer to cool off the steaming hot chicken is the best.

If you could somehow plan your last beer dinner before dying, what would you drink and eat, and who would you invite to join you?
It would be better if I could eat and drink like I did in my twenties so let’s just say I could hold enough to consume all these goodies. I’d hope the menu would have courses like chips and guacamole with Bells Bluff to start off. Then a nice spinach/arugula salad with Honey Hill to contrast, followed by roasted fennel and Bestest Buds to drink. Then some barbecued ribs and beans paired with Muntz, and a final course of a pecan-crusted chocolate torte and a snifter of bourbon barrel-aged Molotov Special. The guest list would look like this: Val, Shawn and Jamie with Cameron and Emma, my mom, my dad and Marty, Tim, Kerry, Kitty, Nate, Tom, Mike, Tomme, Doug and Teresa , Donald, Jenny and Colin, Michael Layborne, Vinnie and Natalie, David, Carol, Curtis, Mitchell, Dylan and Christi, Brandon and Carly, Ken Grossman, Paul Harvey, Walter Cronkite, Paul McCartney, Dolly Parton and anyone that wanted to come. A man can dream, OK

Who do you think you are (a purposely broad question)?
I think I am here to help. I am a smartass, wise-cracking, sarcastic man that works to get smarter every day. I care and I try. I know who I am but just as importantly, who do you think I am? Go Padres!

If you’re a brewer at a San Diego brewing company and would like to be featured in our Portrait of a Brewer series, drop us a line at [email protected].