Blue Fire Brewing

Tommy Gordon tastes his wares.

Tommy Gordon and his brother Charlie didn’t exactly pick the easiest time to open a brewery when they opened Blue Fire Brewing last September. “There were numerous challenges that we came across in building our brewery and tasting room,” says Tommy. “From shipping and supply chain delays, rising construction costs, and all the other uncertainties surrounding covid... We were incredibly fortunate to partner with some talented local tradespeople that helped guide our construction — which we oversaw ourselves — throughout the entire process.” He credits collaborations with Kellogg Plumbing, Krecu Construction and Davis Electric for helping get the brewery up and running.

Such partnerships have continued with the beers brewed at Blue Fire, as exemplified by their latest brew, Controlled Burn, which was released as part of the first SD Beer Weekend. To mark the occasion, the San Diego Brewers Guild offered members the chance to brew any style beer with Zamba, an exclusive hop blend from BSG Craft Brewing. The blend produces an aroma and flavor of pineapple, mango, and stone fruit which worked perfectly for Controlled Burn, a 7.2% juicy-style IPA. To add to the tropical notes and hoppy profile of the IPA, Gordon added El Dorado hops to the blend, which upped the flavors and aroma without increasing bitterness — resulting in a surprisingly sippable IPA, all things considered.

Blue Fire ignites with some teamwork.

Blue Fire Brewing

Controlled Burn joins another collaboration on Blue Fire’s tap list, Prickly in Pink, brewed in conjunction with San Diego Pink Boots Society. Combining a prickly pear puree with the Pink Boots Society hop blend resulted in a 6% hazy IPA with notes of papaya and grapefruit and a bright, sweet flavor courtesy of the cactus fruit.

“The Pink Boots Society is an awesome organization, and we were stoked to support it with the purchase of their 2021 hop blend put together with Yakima Chief Hops. We reached out to local chapter member, Angela O’Brien of Booze Bros/ Owl Farm, and asked her if she wanted to head the brew day for our Pink Boots Collab. She came through with an amazing recipe and included some other wonderful ladies from the chapter,” explains Gordon.

Blue Fire is one of 12 San Diego breweries that used the Brewers Guild’s Zamba blend. Other participating breweries include: Pizza Port Bressi Ranch, Stone, Kairoa Brewing Company, Ballast Point, Oceanside Brewing Company, Athletic Brewing Company, 13 Point Brewing Company, Double Peak Brewing Company, Mission Brewery, and Culver Beer Company and Dogleg Brewing Company, which worked together on a release. Based on the hop blend, many of the SD Beer Weekend beers are IPAs, but the list of releases does include a non-alcoholic brew, an extra pale ale, and a hazy sour.