 | |||||||||||||||
| Location | 9990 AleSmith Ct. San Diego, California, USA | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opened | 1995 | ||||||||||||||
| Annual production volume | 30,000 US beer barrels (35,000 hL) | ||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Peter Zien (independent) | ||||||||||||||
| Active beers | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Seasonal beers | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Other beers | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
AleSmith Brewing Company is an American craft brewery located in San Diego, California. [1] It specializes in handcrafted ales in a variety of styles. As of 2015 it produces about 25,000 barrels of beer a year.
The brewery was founded in San Diego in 1995 by Skip Virgilio and Ted Newcomb. Skip Virgilio was AleSmith's original brewmaster. Peter Zien became brewmaster upon purchasing the company in July, 2002. Zien is a BJCP "Grand Master level 1" beer judge, the only one in San Diego County. [2]
The original brewery is located at 9366 Cabot Drive in San Diego's Miramar area. In 2015 the company added a larger brewery and tasting room, also in Miramar, at 9990 AleSmith Court. At 25,000 square feet, the tasting room is billed as the largest beer tasting room in San Diego County. Brewing operations at the new facility will eventually expand the company's brewing capacity ten-fold, according to Zien. [2]
Beers from the brewery have been rated on RateBeer.com website as #1 Top Brewer in the World 2006 and again in 2013. [3] In 2008, AleSmith was awarded "Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year" at the Great American Beer Festival. [4]
In 2015, AleSmith announced that Danish gypsy brewer Mikkeller had partnered with them to turn the original facility, located on Cabot Drive, into Mikkeller San Diego. [5]
The company has won ten medals in World Beer Cup competition, including six golds. They won for Wee Heavy (gold, 2020); Belgian Strong Ale (bronze, 1998); Winter YuleSmith (gold, 2004); Vintage AleSmith Old Numbskull (gold, 2008); AleSmith Decadence '05 Old Ale (gold, 2008); AleSmith Wee Heavy (gold, 2010); AleSmith Decadence '09 Weizenbock (bronze, 2010); AleSmith Decadence '10 Old Ale (silver, 2012); AleSmith Old Numbskull (bronze, 2012); AleSmith Old Ale '13 (gold, 2014). [6]
At the 2008 Great American Beer Festival, AleSmith Brewing Company won the Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year Award. By 2013, the AleSmith team had acquired 16 GABF beer medals: [7] Belgian-Style Strong Ale (silver, 1998); Stumblin’ Monk (bronze, 2000); Wee Heavy Scotch Ale (bronze, 2004); AleSmith IPA (bronze, 2005); Wee Heavy Scotch Ale (silver, 2005); Vintage Speedway Stout (silver, 2008); Old Numbskull Barley Wine (silver, 2008); Decadence ‘05 Old Ale (gold, 2008); Wee Heavy Scotch Ale (gold, 2008); AleSmith IPA (silver, 2011); Old Numbskull Barley Wine (silver, 2011); Decadence ’10 Old Ale (silver, 2011); Grand Cru (bronze, 2012); Decadence ’10 Old Ale (bronze, 2012); Old Numbskull Barley Wine (gold, 2013); Decadence ‘12 Quadruple (silver, 2013); Nut Brown (bronze, 2019)
AleSmith's beers are inspired by the brewing styles of Great Britain and Belgium. Some AleSmith beers, such as their Cream Ale and Robust Porter Beer, are only offered on draft or in kegs at the brewery. The majority, however, are available in 22-ounce or 750 ml bottles. These brews are listed below.
| Name | Style | ABV | IBU | Original Gravity | Serving Temp. | Serving Glass | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anvil ESB | ESB | 5.5% | 30 | 1.055 | 45°-50° | Pint | ||
| Grand Cru | Belgian Strong Dark Ale | 10.0% | 17 | 1.088 | 50°-55° | Tulip | ||
| Horny Devil | Belgian Golden Ale | 10.0% | 25 | 1.081 | 50°-55° | Tulip | ||
| IPA [1] | American IPA | 7.25% | 73 | 1.066 | 45°-50° | Pint | ||
| ‘Lil’ Devil | Belgian Pale Ale | 5.75% | 24 | 1.050 | 45°-50° | Tulip | ||
| Nut Brown Ale | Brown Ale | 5.0% | 17 | 1.054 | 45°-50° | Pint | ||
| Old Numbskull | American Barleywine | 11.0% | 96 | 1.106 | 50°-55° | Tulip | ||
| Speedway Stout [1] | Imperial Stout | 12.0% | 70 | 1.114 | 50°-55° | Tulip | ||
| Wee Heavy | Scotch Ale | 10.0% | 26 | 1.102 | 50°-55° | Tulip | ||
| X - Extra Pale Ale | American Pale Ale | 5.25% | 35 | 1.048 | 45°-50° | Pint | .394 IPA | 6% |
| Name | Availability | Style | ABV | IBU | Original Gravity | Serving Temp. | Serving Glass |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decadence | Year Round | Varies | Varies | Varies | Varies | 50°-55° | Tulip |
| Evil Dead Red | September/October | American Amber | 6.66% | 24 | 1.073 | 45°-50° | Pint |
| My Bloody Valentine | January/February | American Amber | 6.66% | 24 | 17.5°P | 45°-50° | Pint |
| Olde Ale | Spring | Old Ale | 11.0% | 25 | 1.110 | 50°-55° | Snifter |
| Summer YuleSmith | July/August | Double IPA | 8.5% | 105 | 1.080 | 45°-50° | Pint |
| Winter YuleSmith | November/December | American Amber | 8.5% | 48 | 1.090 | 50°-55° | Pint |
| Name | Style | ABV | IBU | Original Gravity | Serving Temp. | Serving Glass |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BA Grand Cru | Barrel Aged Belgian Strong Dark Ale | 10.0% | 17 | 1.088 | 50°-55° | Tulip |
| BA Old Numbskull | Barrel Aged American Barleywine | 11.0% | N/A | 1.106 | 50°-55° | Tulip |
| BA Speedway Stout | Barrel Aged Imperial Stout | 12.0% | N/A | 1.111 | 50°-55° | Tulip |
| BA Wee Heavy | Barrel Aged Scotch Ale | 10% | N/A | 1.096 | 50°-55° | Tulip |
AleSmith's bottles are often accompanied by the trademark AleSmith anvil.
Big Rock Brewery is a Canadian public company and the largest brewery that is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As of March 2020, it was also Canada's largest craft brewery. Additional brewing operations are located in Vancouver, British Columbia; Etobicoke, Ontario; and Liberty Village in Toronto, Ontario. Big Rock distributes a variety of beers and ciders throughout Canada.
Sinclair Breweries Limited is the parent company for Orkney and Atlas ales. Orkney Brewery was founded in March 1988 at the old schoolhouse in Sandwick, Orkney, one mile from Skara Brae and was one of Scotland's first microbreweries. Atlas was formed in 2002 and merged with Orkney Brewery, where both beers are now brewed. Owned and run by Orcadian, Norman Sinclair, Orkney Brewery is Orkney's oldest brewery.
Stevens Point Brewery is a regional American brewery located in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. The brewery is the fifth-oldest continuously operating brewery and the third-oldest privately owned brewery in the nation.
Full Sail Brewing Company is a craft brewery in Hood River, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1987, Full Sail was the first commercially successful craft brewery to bottle beer in the Pacific Northwest for retail sale, and one of Oregon's early microbreweries. The first beer packaged was Full Sail Golden Ale, followed in 1988 by Full Sail Imperial Porter, Full Sail Amber Ale, and Wassail Winter Ale.
Spoetzl Brewery is a brewery located in Shiner, Texas, United States. It produces a diverse line of Shiner beers, including their flagship Shiner Bock, a dark lager that is now distributed throughout the US. The brewery is owned by the Gambrinus Company, a family-owned company based in San Antonio, which also owns Trumer Brewery in Berkeley, California.
Genesee Brewing Company is an American brewery located along the Genesee River in Rochester, New York. From 2000 to 2009, the company was known as the High Falls Brewing Company. In 2009, High Falls was acquired by the capital investment firm KPS Capital. Together with newly acquired Labatt USA, KPS merged the two companies as North American Breweries. Along with this change, High Falls Brewery changed its name back to the original "Genesee Brewing Company" operating under the North American Breweries name. In October 2012, North American Breweries was purchased by FIFCO.
Rogue Ales is a brewery founded in 1988 in Ashland, Oregon. Rogue has pub locations in Oregon.
BridgePort Brewing Company was a brewery in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It operated from 1984 until 2019. Brewery operations ceased in February 2019, and the brew pub closed on March 10, 2019.
The Malt Shovel Brewery is an Australian brewery owned by Lion, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Kirin. It is located in Camperdown, New South Wales. Malt Shovel is best known for its James Squire range of beers. The beer is named after the convict turned Australia's first brewer James Squire, who also went on to grow Australia's first hops and is said to have created Australia's first commercial brewery.
Brasserie de Brunehaut is the trade name for Brunehaut brewery, located in Rongy-Brunehaut (Hainaut), Wallonia, 80 km south/southwest of Brussels, Belgium, near the French border.
The Lost Abbey Brewing Company is a brewery in Vista, run by Director of Brewery Operations Tomme Arthur. The Lost Abbey specializes in producing Belgian-inspired beers, barrel-aged beers, and sours. The Lost Abbey is co-located with Mother Earth Brewing.
Mikkeller is a craft brewery founded in 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark that was originally based on the so-called "cuckoo", "phantom" or "gypsy brewer" ethos; that is, the company does not operate an official brewery and, instead pays a brewery in Belgium to produce their beer. The company now operates several brewpubs, such as Warpigs in Copenhagen and Mikkeller Brewpub London. Mikkeller was founded by two home brewers: Mikkel Bjergsø, a high school teacher, and journalist Kristian Klarup Keller. Both sought to introduce their home-brewed beer to the public and to "challenge beer friends with intense new tastes", drawing inspiration from the American breweries that "aren't afraid to play and break all the rules".
San Diego County, California, has been called "the Craft Beer Capital of America". As of 2018, the county was home to 155 licensed craft breweries – the most of any county in the United States. Based on 2016 sales volume, three San Diego County breweries – Stone, Green Flash, and Karl Strauss – rank among the 50 largest craft brewers in the United States. San Diego County brewers pioneered the specialty beer style known as Double India Pale Ale, sometimes called San Diego Pale Ale. Its beer culture is a draw for tourism, particularly during major festivals such as San Diego Beer Week and the San Diego International Beer Competition. San Diego County breweries including Stone Brewing Co., AleSmith Brewing Company and Ballast Point Brewing Company are consistently rated among the top breweries in the world.
Sun King Brewing is a brewery in the Cole-Noble District of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It is the largest brewery in Indianapolis and the second largest brewery in the state. In 2011, Sun King won eight medals, including four gold medals, total at the Great American Beer Festival. Sun King was the first commercial brewery to open up in approximately 30 years in Indianapolis.
Newburyport Brewing Company is a brewery in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
No-Li Brewhouse is a brewery and restaurant in Spokane, Washington, United States, co-founded by brewmaster Mark Irvin and beer industry executive John Bryant, expanding on Irvin's Northern Lights Brewery. The brewery is known for its emphasis on local sourcing and local production; in 2013 it was designated a "Spokane Style Beer" producer. Formerly known as Northern Lights Brewing, the company markets such beers as Born & Raised IPA and Big Juicy IPA.
A barrel-aged beer is a beer that has been aged for a period of time in a wooden barrel. Typically, these barrels once housed bourbon, whisky, wine, or, to a lesser extent, brandy, sherry, or port. There is a particular tradition of barrel ageing beer in Belgium, notably of lambic beers. The first bourbon barrel-aged beers were produced in the United States in the early 1990s.
Carol Stoudt is an American brewmaster who founded Stoudts Brewing Company in Adamstown, Pennsylvania in 1987. In addition to owning the company, she was the brewmaster, salesperson, and mentor. She was one of the first female brewmasters since Prohibition in the United States and the nation's first female sole proprietor of a brewery in 1987.