Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Home Brew Mart to debut The Homework Series

Ballast Point taps its homebrewing component for a new line of suds

Home Brew Mart (5401 Linda Vista Road, Linda Vista) is one of the most significant locales where San Diego’s craft brewing renaissance is concerned. Opened in 1992 by homebrewing entrepreneur Jack White, it is the supply outlet where many of our county’s fermentation pioneers purchased their first brewing kits and the ingredients for the prototype beers that have become legendary calling cards for our region.

For many beerophiles travelling to San Diego, this small retail space (which is about to grow and undergo a remodel that will both expand the tasting bar while delineating it from the store component thanks to acquisition of the neighboring suite) their first post-Lindbergh stop and ranks right up there with the likes of major operations such as Pizza Port, The Lost Abbey, Alesmith, and Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/21/40525/

A brewhouse installed at the rear of Home Brew Mart in 1996 is where the beers of White’s now more prominent company, Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits, originated. That operation, which was named the best small brewing company on the planet at the 2010 World Beer Cup, has gone on to open a second facility in Scripps Ranch that includes an award-winning distilling operation, and is currently searching for sites in which to install facilities that will house a 150-barrel brewhouse, as well as a five-barrel pilot brewery that will be overseen by specialty brewer and former Home Brew Mart manager, Colby Chandler.

Recognizing Home Brew Mart’s place in local history as well as its contributions to San Diego’s status as the craft beer capital of the United States (it’s the first place the infamous Sculpin IPA, Tongue Buckler, Indra Kunindra, and Victory At Sea Vanilla Coffee Imperial Porter, as well as industry-leading chili and spirit barrel-aged beers were brewed), upscale grocery chain Whole Foods Market recently approached White and company, encouraging them to brew a special series of beers under the Home Brew Mart brand to be sold at their stores.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/21/40527/

Dubbed The Homework Series, the beers will be developed by brewers operating the aforementioned pilot system. The first batch of those brews is an India Red Ale—a hoppy 7% ABV beer given additional character and nice balance by substantial caramel malts—which Chandler pulled from his personal homebrew archives. He first brewed the beer as a homebrew at his house and then at Karl Strauss Brewing Company’s La Jolla brewpub so that he could serve it at his wedding held at Karl's Sorrento Mesa location. Back then, it was known affectionately known as "Ball and Chain Ale."

Chandler says the malt bill was inspired by Oktoberfest brews and built to stand up to a “slamming” hop profile. CTZ hops added during the boil meld with late kettle additions of Centennial hops to provide an IPA-like bitterness. For those who would like to know the specifics on that and the rest of the beer’s make-up, they’re in luck. The entire recipe will be included on the bottle label, a very cool value-added that I can’t recall seeing on any other beer packaging.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/21/40528/

Batch #1 of The Homework Series was brewed on February 7 and is expected to hit shelves next month. Though Whole Foods was a key instigator, helping to get the series off the ground and launched in a timely manner, the beer will not exclusively be available at its locations, and will definitely be available at Home Brew Mart as well as Ballast Point's primary brewing facility's tasting room (10051 Old Grove Road, Scripps Ranch).

Back at Home Brew Mart, they're currently without a brewhouse. The system was extracted last week for delivery to the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park, where it will be the centerpiece of their upcoming exhibit, Bottled and Kegged: San Diego's Craft Brew Culture. That interactive examination of the history of craft brewing in San Diego will run from April 5 to January 20 of next year.

Ballast Point is hardly in a place where it can go without one of its brewery operations for that long. Fortunately, the move coincides with the installation of a new hybrid, three-vessel, 15-barrel system built by Escondido company, Premier Stainless Systems. That brewhouse includes a 15-barrel kettle, 20-barrel mash-tun, and 30-barrel hot liquor tank. Made for multiple and high gravity brews, it will be installed next week and represents the latest happy, hoppy chapter for a true San Diego brewing institution.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Trump names local supporter new Border Czar

Another Brick (Suit) in the Wall
Next Article

Escondido planners nix office building switch to apartments

Not enough open space, not enough closets for Hickory Street plans

Home Brew Mart (5401 Linda Vista Road, Linda Vista) is one of the most significant locales where San Diego’s craft brewing renaissance is concerned. Opened in 1992 by homebrewing entrepreneur Jack White, it is the supply outlet where many of our county’s fermentation pioneers purchased their first brewing kits and the ingredients for the prototype beers that have become legendary calling cards for our region.

For many beerophiles travelling to San Diego, this small retail space (which is about to grow and undergo a remodel that will both expand the tasting bar while delineating it from the store component thanks to acquisition of the neighboring suite) their first post-Lindbergh stop and ranks right up there with the likes of major operations such as Pizza Port, The Lost Abbey, Alesmith, and Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/21/40525/

A brewhouse installed at the rear of Home Brew Mart in 1996 is where the beers of White’s now more prominent company, Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits, originated. That operation, which was named the best small brewing company on the planet at the 2010 World Beer Cup, has gone on to open a second facility in Scripps Ranch that includes an award-winning distilling operation, and is currently searching for sites in which to install facilities that will house a 150-barrel brewhouse, as well as a five-barrel pilot brewery that will be overseen by specialty brewer and former Home Brew Mart manager, Colby Chandler.

Recognizing Home Brew Mart’s place in local history as well as its contributions to San Diego’s status as the craft beer capital of the United States (it’s the first place the infamous Sculpin IPA, Tongue Buckler, Indra Kunindra, and Victory At Sea Vanilla Coffee Imperial Porter, as well as industry-leading chili and spirit barrel-aged beers were brewed), upscale grocery chain Whole Foods Market recently approached White and company, encouraging them to brew a special series of beers under the Home Brew Mart brand to be sold at their stores.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/21/40527/

Dubbed The Homework Series, the beers will be developed by brewers operating the aforementioned pilot system. The first batch of those brews is an India Red Ale—a hoppy 7% ABV beer given additional character and nice balance by substantial caramel malts—which Chandler pulled from his personal homebrew archives. He first brewed the beer as a homebrew at his house and then at Karl Strauss Brewing Company’s La Jolla brewpub so that he could serve it at his wedding held at Karl's Sorrento Mesa location. Back then, it was known affectionately known as "Ball and Chain Ale."

Chandler says the malt bill was inspired by Oktoberfest brews and built to stand up to a “slamming” hop profile. CTZ hops added during the boil meld with late kettle additions of Centennial hops to provide an IPA-like bitterness. For those who would like to know the specifics on that and the rest of the beer’s make-up, they’re in luck. The entire recipe will be included on the bottle label, a very cool value-added that I can’t recall seeing on any other beer packaging.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/feb/21/40528/

Batch #1 of The Homework Series was brewed on February 7 and is expected to hit shelves next month. Though Whole Foods was a key instigator, helping to get the series off the ground and launched in a timely manner, the beer will not exclusively be available at its locations, and will definitely be available at Home Brew Mart as well as Ballast Point's primary brewing facility's tasting room (10051 Old Grove Road, Scripps Ranch).

Back at Home Brew Mart, they're currently without a brewhouse. The system was extracted last week for delivery to the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park, where it will be the centerpiece of their upcoming exhibit, Bottled and Kegged: San Diego's Craft Brew Culture. That interactive examination of the history of craft brewing in San Diego will run from April 5 to January 20 of next year.

Ballast Point is hardly in a place where it can go without one of its brewery operations for that long. Fortunately, the move coincides with the installation of a new hybrid, three-vessel, 15-barrel system built by Escondido company, Premier Stainless Systems. That brewhouse includes a 15-barrel kettle, 20-barrel mash-tun, and 30-barrel hot liquor tank. Made for multiple and high gravity brews, it will be installed next week and represents the latest happy, hoppy chapter for a true San Diego brewing institution.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Beer Touring: Rip Current Brewing

Next Article

Roll out the barrels

Rapid pace of new brewery openings to continue in 2016
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader