You know your city is big on craft beer when the mayor makes it his civil duty to attend the kick off event to San Diego Beer Week. The San Diego Brewers Guild Festival, held exclusively for San Diego breweries with live music and local food is an eye opener to how important craft beer is to San Diegans.
Drink local
Promoting locally brewed beers is the whole point of San Diego Beer Week, but seeing the list of breweries makes you wonder, “why?” Because there are some serious players down south. Big names include Stone Brewing Co., Karl Strauss Brewing Company, Ballast Point Brewing, Green Flash Brewing Co., Coronado Brewing Co., Pizza Port – 12 medals and 2 brewpub/brewer of the year awards at the Great American Beer Festival, and many more.
[quote2 align=right]The president of the San Diego Brewers Guild, Marty Mendiola, tells it as it is, “we really are blessed to be in San Diego and have such good beers.”
It’s not just the beer makers, creative services like Brew Hop, the custom brewery tour, and Tap Hunter, an app that tells you whats on tap and where, are both born from San Diego.
Beer ‘communiconomy’
Aside from the taste and festivities of craft beer, it’s also a driving force for San Diego’s community and economy; communiconomy, as our host Jace Milstead coins it.
[quote align=right]Jerry Sanders, mayor of San Diego, strongly supports beer in his city, telling us, “our economic development teams are actually proactively going out to other breweries around the state and trying to entice them into San Diego.”
Jerry also states, “we think it’s a great industry to grow here,” and that “it really is community.” He feels so strongly about the issue that he proclaims, “we’re gonna make sure that San Diego positions itself as number one.”
San Diego Beer Week continues until November 13, concluding with a closing event, “Beer Garden at The Lodge at Torrey Pines” from 12 PM – 3 PM featuring San Diego craft beers paired with food created by local chefs.
Jace on scene
Watch our host Jace Milstead as he takes you around the kickoff festival and interviews the breweries, the president of the guild, and the mayor of San Diego.