When listing the businesses that have been most influential to San Diego’s ascent into a craft-brewing superpower, many of the county’s old-guard breweries are mentioned, but so, too, is a local supplier, the reach of which spans across the globe. In business supplying yeast to brewers, winemakers and distillers for the past 26 years, White Labs is a bona-fide institution, and while most suppliers would be satisfied with the solid reputation this Miramar-based interest has built with its customers, the niche business has gone to lengths to help make fermentation sciences easier for the public to understand and appreciate.
Key to those efforts was White Labs building a tasting room in 2012 as well as its establishment of an in-house brewing operation to supply that venue. These initiatives, along with a variety of inventive, interactive educational events geared toward the general public, have opened a number of eyes and palates over the past decade. But the company believes it can reach more people and that the way to do so is through their stomachs. So, they are have significantly enhanced their Miramar tasting room and will debut the new White Labs Brewing San Diego Kitchen & Tap to the public on Friday, February 11.
“White Labs has always looked for ways to make fermentation more accessible and interesting to all,” says Head of Education and Craft Hospitality Erik Fowler, who is overseeing the kitchen project. “For a decade, we’ve been showcasing yeast and fermentation in beer with White Labs Brewing, and the logical next step was to inspire a larger audience by showcasing the relationship between beer and food.”
To do that, White Labs has constructed a commercial kitchen adjacent to its tasting room, from which it will offer a menu of shareable items that can be ordered from the main bar. Key among those offerings will be pizza made using brewer’s yeast.
“Brewers and bakers have a long history of sharing ingredients, most notably, yeast. We’ve evolved this relationship by using yeast grown in our own lab to add a uniqueness to our pizza dough that has since been lost in most commercial doughs,” says Fowler. “In addition to our house-made pizzas, we are excited for our artisan cheese board featuring some of the domestic artisan cheeses that sparked the American cheese revolution, served with other fun fermented accoutrements.”
Fowler says that over his past seven years working with his White Labs colleagues on ways to demystify fermentation, no medium has proven anywhere near as successful as food. He’s seen it first-hand in the pairing and sensory classes he has coordinated at the company’s Miramar facility and at White Labs’ original Kitchen & Tap restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina. The beer-equipped eatery was a cornerstone of the company’s East Coast expansion in 2017, and its menu helped inspire that of its sister location.
While having an on-site food option will be helpful for day-to-day operations, the new venue’s utility will go beyond standard food service. “Having a kitchen now opens up the doors to many events we previously didn’t have the capability of hosting,” says Fowler. “We aim to bring back our popular Fermented Pairings series by using in-house talent as well as the many partners we’ve worked with over the years, including The Good Seed Food Co., Smallgoods Cheese Shop & Café, and many more, from coffee roasters to fermented sauce-makers.”
The new kitchen will also allow White Labs to offer on-site food options for private parties and corporate events, including tours, guided tastings and fermentation classes.
The kitchen addition comes just ahead of the ten-year anniversary of White Labs’ tasting room. Fowler says the company has numerous celebratory initiatives in the works, much of which have to do with its brewing department.
“We’ve reinvested in this side of the business between installing a new draught system and bringing in former Modern Times Beer and Stone Brewing brewer Craig Tump to oversee beer production,” says Fowler. “We’ve made great strides and have an aggressive brewing schedule set for 2022, including some rad collaborations, employee beers, plus can and bottle releases. Stay tuned.”
White Labs’ hours of operation are 2 to 8 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday, 12 to 9 p.m. on Fridays, 12 to 8 p.m. on Saturdays, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. The grand-opening weekend will feature three new-release beers: Hibiscus Hansen Hefeweizen, Latte Frankenstout and a specialty brewer’s cask.
White Labs is be located at 9495 Candida Street in Miramar