Portrait of a Brewer: Will Cleary, Craft Coast 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.

Today’s featured brewer is…

Will Cleary
of Craft Coast Brewing

What is your current title? 
I am the brewer at our downtown Oceanside location.

Where did you grow up?
I grew up in inland Encinitas in Olivenhain.

What was the first beer and/or alcoholic beverage you ever had?
The first beer I ever had was a few sips of my dad’s Bass Pale Ale. 

What was your a-ha moment that turned you on to craft beer?
Early on, I remember my dad buying Newcastle Brown Ale and Heineken. Those beers definitely showed me there was more out there than just American macro-lager and made me a little more curious about beer styles. But the original spark started, as I imagine it did for many San Diegans, when I had my first Stone IPA. 

What led you to consider a career in brewing?
I’ve always been really drawn to hands-on types of work, but I wanted to find a balance between white and blue collar. I went back and forth in work fields when I was younger, looking to get the perfect blend. After testing the waters in a few different jobs and going to school for audio engineering, I ended up getting a spot at Pizza Port on the restaurant side to make a little money when recording local bands wasn’t all it was chopped up to be. I ended up working just about every position on that side of the building and, as a result, learned quite a bit about beer. The more I learned from chatting with the brewers and watching the brewery operate on my lunch breaks, the more I understood it took a steel-toe-wearing, biochemist-minded person to make it, and that became my goal. In about a year-and-a-half of being there I was in the brewery and I’ve been brewing ever since.

What was your first brewing/brewery position?
My first brewery position was as a cellar worker washing kegs at Pizza Port in Bressi Ranch.

What breweries have you worked for over your career and in what roles?
I started at Pizza Port Bressi, was there about six-and-a-half years, and worked my way up from cellar worker to lead cellarman. After my time there I went to Mason Ale Works as the head brewer in San Marcos, but left shortly thereafter to work at Craft Coast with my longtime friend and the business’ owner, Blake Masoner, who I came up with at Pizza Port.

Who have been the individuals that have helped you the most to learn and advance in your career, and how?
The list is endless when it comes to the people that have helped me become the brewer I am today, but the ones I’d say have had the biggest impact are Michael Aubuchon of Koakai Brewing, Anthony Tallman and Derek Van Leeuwen at Burgeon Beer Co., all the fine people at Pizza Port, and Blake and the Craft Coast crew. Mike has always been someone that brewed beers I looked up to, beers I wanted my recipes to be like one day. And he has always been there as a close friend when it came to developing my own recipes and sharing his wisdom. Anthony and Derek have always been friends that helped me not only with those last-minute brew day pinches we all find ourselves in, but with think-tanking over new beer styles, brewing procedures and techniques to come. Seeing their brewery flourish and grow has been an inspiration, and they have always held themselves and their team to a higher standard. When it comes to Pizza Port, I could not even begin to talk about myself in this industry without thanking them first. From Gina and Vince Marsaglia, who started that amazing family, to all the folks I shared time with in their production brewery, pubs and restaurants. They have always been there for me and showed me how amazing this beer community is. And, last but not least, there’s Blake. He and I have worked alongside each other since the beginning of my brewing career, and I was fortunate enough to come work with him again at his pride-and-joy brewery and restaurant. Blake has always been one of my closest friends and, more often than not, like my older brother in this industry. We’ve talked about every aspect of beer there is to chat over and shared too many pint-filled nights to recall. We’ve chopped it up at celebratory steak dinners after brewing award ceremony wins and Taco Bell for breakfast mornings after the losses. All in all, we both always agreed to put out the best work we were capable of, and having someone just as passionate about their craft as I am to push that limit is gold. 

What singular piece of advice would you give to someone interested in becoming a professional brewer?
It’s a labor of love. When you understand that and walk it, you will be a great brewer.

What ultimate career goal would you like to achieve?
I’d like to own my own brewery someday; one for the locals or a small town.

What is your favorite beer you’ve ever brewed, be it on a professional or amateur level?
I’d say my favorite beer I’ve brewed is Sad Cowboy IPA. It’s just how I like my West Coast IPAs: a little bit of resiny dankness with orange pithiness, and a good balance of the crisp malt bill and clean bitterness so it just keeps drinkin’. And the name’s just too good to pass on a pint.

What is your least-favorite beer you’ve ever brewed on any level?
I did a beer called “Breakfast with Elvis” that was a stout with peanut butter cookies, peanut powder, Nilla wafers, dried banana chips and banana wafers. Thankfully, I didn’t end up adding bacon for technical reasons. It felt like I was committing beer sin when I was done brewing it and then it drank so astringent that I felt like it stripped the enamel off my teeth…haha! Lessons were learned.

What are your favorite and least-favorite hop varietals at present?
I love Nectaron and Krush, and have steered away from a few hops over the last few years, but I won’t throw shade. They always seem to go through a cycle and come back around. OK, maybe Chinook…haha!

What are some of your favorite brewing ingredients that aren’t hops?
Water profile – it’s the big difference.

If you weren’t a brewer, what do you think you would do for a living?
I’d be a firefighter or something in engineering.

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?
Bartenders for sure. They are the face and vibe of the taproom, and without them it doesn’t really matter how good the beer is.

What is your favorite beer style?
West Coast IPA

If you could wipe one style of beer off the face of the earth, what would it be?
Somehow I’ll get crap over this, but pumpkin ales.

What single brewing company’s beers and/or ethos/style has been most influential on your style?
It’s gotta be the mothership, Pizza Port.

What is your favorite San Diego County brewing company?
Mcilhenney Brewing

What is your favorite brewing company outside of San Diego?
I have so many, but I gotta say Grains of Wrath Brewing.

What three breweries that you haven’t yet visited—local or elsewhere—are on your current must-see bucket list?
I honestly don’t have a bucket-list brewery lineup other than going to have some pints in Switzerland with my boy Johnny Johur at White Frontier Brewery.

What are your favorite local beer events?
Burgeon’s Anniversary Invitational for sure, and even though it’s a little further than “local”, the June Lake Autumn Brew Festival in the town of the same name is one of my favorite beer events, hands down

If you were to leave San Diego, where would be the next-best place you’d want to brew?
Probably Bend, Oregon. If I’m moving, I’m going to the mountains.

Which musical genre or artists are on your brew-day soundtrack/playlist?
I’m all over the place with music, but somehow Creed finds me.

What motto rules the way you brew and approach brewing in a professional brewhouse?
A friend once told me, “Beer wants to be good…all you gotta do is give it a chance.”

What do you consider your greatest professional accomplishments?
When I got to Craft Coast, Blake had already hung some medals on the wall, but when we got a World Beer Cup bronze for Old West IPA together in Nashville, that was probably my greatest beer moment. 

What are you proud of having achieved in your personal life?
I feel like I’ve set a lot of goals and achieved them, but I always told myself I wanted to be a professional at something and to call oneself a professional it takes 10 years or 10,000 hours, and this year I’ll be hitting 10 years brewing. 

When you’re not at work, what do you like to do for fun?
I like to mountain-bike, dirt-bike, camp and go golfing with my girl, but she will casually beat me on my best day at the links…haha!

Where do you like to drink off-the-clock?
I’m a creature of habit and stay pretty close to home, so it’s generally Green Cheek Beer Co. in Oceanside or Craft Coast. But my night cap is always Frankie’s for a planned or unplanned espresso martini.

What is your favorite beer-and-food pairing of all time?
Italian steak sub, calamari with spicy marinara and a crispy Peroni. I’m telling ya’, its something.

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?
I thought this question would be easy, but it’s complex. My girl, all my friends and family in the middle of the desert around a campfire, ribeyes and lobster tails on a camp stove, and Miller Lites ice-cold out of the cooler. Yeah, that would do.

Who do you think you are (a purposely broad question)?
“Simple Man” – Lynyrd Skynyrd

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].