Portrait of a Brewer: Peter Zien, AleSmith Brewing
A forefather of San Diego's brewing scene gets personal about himself, his 30-year-old company and stealing macrobeer from his parents
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.
Today’s featured brewer is…
Peter Zien
of AleSmith Brewing
What is your current title?
Owner & CEO
Where did you grow up?
St. Paul, Minnesota up to age seven, then La Jolla through high school.
What was the first beer and/or alcoholic beverage you ever had?
A Coors lifted from my parent’s pool party in the summer of 1976.
What was your a-ha moment that turned you on to craft beer?
Tasting New Amsterdam beer from New York.
What led you to consider a career in brewing?
My love of homebrewing and wanting more.
What was your first brewing/brewery position?
Owner of AleSmith Brewing, a position I’ve held since July 16, 2002.
Who have been the individuals that have helped you the most to learn and advance in your career, and how?
Tod Fitzsimmons taught me the ins and outs of the brewery at AleSmith. Arlan Arnstad, the Sales Director at Stone Brewing, taught me the ‘behind the curtain’ stuff needed to be successful. Chad Heath, another former Sales Director at Stone and the current COO at Karl Strauss Brewing, freely offers advice and is my go-to “smart guy”. And Greg Koch, co-founder of Stone and the guru and visionary for San Diego craft breweries, taught me to look around the corner.
What singular piece of advice would you give to someone interested in becoming a professional brewer?
Follow your passion and let the artist play, but stay mindful of the all-important business side of brewing commercially.
What is your favorite beer you’ve ever brewed, be it on a professional or amateur level?
Olde Ale. I developed it when I homebrewed, and it has become one of AleSmith’s most medal-winning beers.
What is your least-favorite beer you’ve ever brewed on any level?
A Finnish Gotslandrika I homebrewed.
What are your favorite and least-favorite hop varietals at present?
I love the new varieties that find their way into most everyone’s best-selling IPAs, but remain a big fan of the original four “C’s”: Cascade, Chinook, Centennial and Columbus. Some brewer (maybe me) is going to shock IPA drinkers by bringing these bad boys back.
What are some of your favorite brewing ingredients that aren’t hops?
Kettle sugars and syrups for malt monsters. And coconut is a great addition to many different specialty styles.
If you weren’t a brewer, what do you think you would do for a living?
An artist, beekeeper, coffee roaster or baker…or maybe all of them.
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?
Warehouse and Packaging. Beer doesn’t leave the brewery without these men and women.
What is your favorite beer style?
Pick a favorite child dilemma. My style choice changes seasonally. I love any style made with integrity and desire to be the best in its class.
What single brewing company’s beers and/or ethos/style has been most influential on your style?
Sierra Nevada Brewing is a company that is dependable, brews for the right reasons, is obsessed with producing a clean beer free of off flavors and aromas, that has achieved amazing growth while remaining true to its ethos.
What is your favorite San Diego County brewing company?
Harland Brewing for quietly brewing great beer and making a name for themselves. North Park Beer Co. (NPBC) for displaying that West Coast breweries can also brew fantastic hazy IPAs.
What is your favorite brewing company outside of San Diego?
August Schell Brewing in New Ulm, Minnesota
What three breweries that you haven’t yet visited—local or elsewhere—are on your current must-see bucket list?
Guinness, Samuel Smith’s Brewery and Theakston Brewery
What are your favorite local beer events?
The annual Speedway Grand Prix at AleSmith and the Rancho BEERnardo Festival hosted by the Rancho Bernardo Rotary.
Which musical genre or artists are on your brew-day soundtrack/playlist?
Alternative and metal. Many an AleSmith beer have been brewed to the sounds of At The Drive In, Stone Temple Pilots, 30 Seconds to Mars and The Cure.
What motto rules the way you brew and approach brewing in a professional brewhouse?
Extreme cleanliness, finest available ingredients, solid recipe preparation.
What do you consider your greatest professional accomplishments?
Training over 170 beer judges through the Beer Judge Certification Program, many who sit today on the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) and World Beer Cup panels. Also, entering four beers at GABF in 2008, and receiving four medals and the Small Brewery of the Year trophy.
What are you proud of having achieved in your personal life?
Carving a path from law-school graduate (USD class of 1988) to the brew kettle; a 180-degree flip in lifestyle!
When you’re not at work, what do you like to do for fun?
Grow heirloom tomatoes and peppers in our garden, tend to my beehives, bake bread and construct LEGO models.
Where do you like to drink off-the-clock?
My living room or the AleSmith tasting room.
What is your favorite beer-and-food pairing of all time?
Horny Devil Belgian-style strong golden ale and coriander-crusted seabass
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?
We’d have .394 Pale Ale, NPBC Hop-Fu! IPA, Alvarado Street Triple Cone triple IPA and Speedway Stout with Coconut and Vietnamese Coffee, with a five-course dinner designed and executed by San Diego chef Schuyler Schultz (Churchill’s Pub & Grille), dining with my wife Vicky along with Jimi Hendrix, Jesus Christ and Thomas Jefferson.
Who do you think you are (a purposely broad question)?
A humble, kind person who remains focused on finding meaning to all of this.
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].