AleSmith Brewing – Iconic San Diego

I sat down with Peter Zien, owner and CEO of AleSmith Brewing, at their expansive, 100,000 square foot plus facility at 9990 AleSmith Ct. last month. Brewing operations were moved from the Cabot Drive location in March 2015, allowing scaled up production on a new German-made 80 barrel system. Mikkeller occupies the old Cabot Dr. facility as reviewed last month.  The new equipment took some tuning and experimenting before it was producing optimal beers, according to Zien. Beer making doesn’t scale in a linear fashion, and the new equipment was much more efficient. For example, the sugar yield from the system is 15% higher for the same grain load, requiring an adjustment in the amount of barley used. But the new system gives him greater control over the final product, like giving an artist sharper brushes. I also asked Zien fi there was a theme to his beer making, pointing out that AleSmith isn’t known for the West Coast IPA style.  He laughed, because the brewery was once known for its hoppy offerings. He continued by saying that his goal is to make all of the classic accepted beer styles with the highest handcrafted quality. 

The tasting room was opened later in 2015, providing the opportunity to fashion a new experience for an expanded customer base.  Zien wanted to maintain the connection of the brewery to the customer.  The tasting room is laid out with numerous waist high pub tables, great for small groups, with picnic tables outside for larger groups.  There is also a bar area near the taps.  In addition to being able to taste the beer and view the beer making system, there is a barrel room, where one can sample various barrel aged beers and mix ales aged in different barrel styles.  There is outside capacity for two simultaneous food truck operations, with at least one in service every day.  To help pace myself during the beer tasting, I tried some excellent lumpia and pancit from Grandma’s Lumpia.  While I was there, I saw that construction was in progress on a new 120-person event venue, to complement the tasting room. 

AleSmith is also home to the Tony Gwynn museum, dedicated to the memory of the former Padre great, who died in 2014.  San Diego Pale Ale .394 is AleSmith’s tribute to Gwynn. It is not well known that Gwynn was involved in the creation of the beer, discussing what he liked and wanted to improve over the course of three different batches. Zien told me that he felt pressure to make a great beer to match Tony’s fame and what he meant to the city. Fortunately, the 394 pale ale is highly rated in many online beer reviews. AleSmith’s next collaboration will be a Mexican lager with the band Sublime.

I stared beer sampling with the Spezial Pilsner, the latest example of working on world-accepted styles.  It is a German Pilsner, differing from from a Czech Pilsner with a much more malt forward flavor, and the milder German noble hops not as noticeable.  This is a great craft beer that even the average Bud drinker could enjoy. The Nut Brown Ale is a classic English brown, it is pours a very dark amber.  It is nutty, a tiny bit smoky, and very sweet; very easy to drink.  Their IPA is simply called IPA; it hits you with very bitter fruity hops up front, maybe a hint of apple along with citrus.  It stands up to other West Coast offerings.  One of my favorite names for a beer is Old Numbskull; a very big hoppy, malty, and boozy barleywine.  It pours very dark with not a lot of carbonation and tastes of roasted cherries, raisins, and red wine. I took home a bottle, which is etched with real gold on the label, according to Zien.  I expected more of the same IPA flavor when sampling the AleSmith Double IPA; instead I was greeted with a well-carbonated resinous IPA that hid the high alcohol content behind a piney bouquet.  Robust Porter was also well carbonated with lots of coffee notes, but also some sweetness, very smooth overall. My final taster was Noël, a Belgian Quadrupel infused with cinnamon, while retaining the characteristic banana and esters of a quad. That last one might be worth saving for Christmas. 

Two beers that I regularly drink are the .394 Pale Ale, and Horny Devil, a Belgian Strong Pale Ale.  We made beermosas with Horny Devil for Mother’s Day Brunch. It’s high alcohol, sweetness and coriander, make it a great choice to add a little orange juice.  The .394 Pale Ale is a great beer to get your friends interested in craft beer. It is a solid pale ale with a bit of fruit and hop balance; and a great back story.

AleSmith has turned itself into a San Diego icon, with decades of award winning consistency and a big, big presence in Miramar; worth a visit by locals and tourists alike.

Peter Zien in front of the bar and tap line at AleSmith.

This article was originally published in the Clairemont Times on page 13.