Duck Foot Brewing – Gateway Brewery

Introducing craft beers to your friends who are accustomed to mass-produced pilsners like Budweiser can be a challenge, especially here in San Diego, home to the intense West Coast IPA style.  Duck Foot Brewing, located at 8920 Kenamar Drive, Suite #210, is the perfect destination for the uninitiated. Duck Foot brews all of their beers gluten-reduced, but that’s not why their core line up could have the motto “No craft beer drinker left behind” according to co-owner Matt DelVecchio.  Because all of Duck Foot’s beers are gluten-reduced, a core group of their new customers are people who haven’t been able to drink beer for some time. For this reason, both Matt and his co-owner Brett Goldstock ensure that their core line-up, the left side of the board at the tasting room, is balanced and “approachable.” The right side of the board is much stronger, with more experimentation.  This makes Duck Foot line-up the ideal gateway brewery to introduce friends and visitors to San Diego’s craft beer scene. 

Gluten-reduced means that some specific proteins in from wheat and barley have been removed from the beer after the brewing process.  Unlike, sugar-free or fat-free, the term gluten-reduced doesn’t indicate lack of taste.  In taste tests conducted by Dr. Chris Hamilton of Hillsdale College in 2014 using the same processes as Duck Foot, there was no impact to taste from gluten-reducing process.

I talked with Brett and Matt Goldstock at the Duck Foot tasting room in Miramar to learn more about their work and vision for the future.  They will be celebrating their 2nd anniversary on July 8th with a party featuring the release of Mega-Duckzilla Triple IPA (tickets available on their website).  Along the way to this milestone, they have already expanded their facilities twice to accommodate their growth.  They are operating with a 15 barrel system and 200 barrel fermenter capacity.  Their location in a cluster of breweries that includes AleSmith and Ballast Point has certainly helped, along with the local appetite for gluten-reduced beer.  They have also launched a barrel-aging program.  Many of the barrels will be tapped for the anniversary party, but they were mum on what’s cooking; but I would bet on some stouts, at the least.

The tasting room itself has a friendly lay out that lets the visitor see the brewing equipment, if one is so inclined.  The scene is dominated by round wood pub tables and the tinted windows to a surprisingly green exterior view.  Food trucks service the brewery Wednesday through Saturday evenings. There are snacks such as nuts, chips, and jerky available as well.  I found it to be a very relaxing venue.

Matt DelVecchio set me up with a flight of tasters.  The Looker Great is a great summer blonde ale, crisp and light with a bit of honey, decent body. The first time I tried The Rojoe I thought it was a Märzen, but it’s more of a mix of amber and red styles. It is malty, with coffee and nut flavors, more bitter than a Märzen.  “Choco Nut Lust” Chocolate Hazelnut Porter is sweet and very mellow, with no bitterness at all.  This is a nice desert type beer with lots of caramel and chocolate. The Contender was my favorite.  It is a bit sweet up front from the caramelized malts, but the grassy, piney hops kick in. The hops really dominate the overall. Leaves a dry aftertaste that was memorable.  Duckzilla is the Duck Foot’s big IPA, a very interesting blend of wheat ale and IPA styles. The hopping is well balanced, balanced out by the wheat ale flavors. It’s not that bitter for a double IPA.  London Calling Imperial Porter is one of the big beers on the menu and San Diego International Beer Fest gold medalist. You really taste the roasted grain and burnt chocolate first, but then some vanilla kicks in. This is another excellent chocolate desert beer from Duck Foot.

Duck Foot brewing has moved far beyond just making great tasting gluten-reduced beer; they can be that gateway brewery that gets your friends hooked on craft beer.

Duck Foot Brewing - Matt and Jeff.

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