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

Game On: Karl Strauss Pro-Am Competition

Annual competition gives amateurs a taste of pro brewing

At a recent SDSU Alumni Association panel discussion on the business of craft brewing, AleSmith owner and brewmaster Peter Zien professed how important San Diego’s homebrewing community is to the success of craft beer in our county, praising the amateur sect's thirst for adventure and ability to take chances with innovative small batch brews. Since becoming a pro brewer, Zien (who was a well decorated homebrewer and the head of local homebrew club QUAFF during its most successful days) has maintained strong ties in San Diego’s homebrew circles and says that has been invaluable.

Sponsored
Sponsored

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/23/44283/

Zien is not alone. Most of our county’s professional brewers feel the same way and go out of their way to chat with homebrewers, answer their questions, lend helpful advice, and support their recreational efforts. Nearly every one of them started out as homebrewers, so communicating and conspiring with amateurs is a way to stay true to their roots and remember the passion for the craft that led them to, in most cases, make the move from more lucrative careers to do something they love.

Few, if any industries offer as many opportunities for amateurs and professionals to collaborate. Some seriously high quality beers have come out of such team-ups, including Ballast Point’s Indra Kunindra India-Style Export Stout and Ken Schmidt/Maui/Stone Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter. Last month, I attended an American Homebrewers Association (AHA) rally and homebrewing competition at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, where 30 homebrewed beers vied for first place with the reward being the opportunity for the winning homebrewers to brew their blue ribbon beer on Stone’s system and have it distributed throughout the country. The winners, Robert Masterson and Ryan Reschan, will debut their coconut IPA, which will be brewed in collaboration with Stone and San Marcos’ Rip Current Brewing Company, this summer.

I think these types of collaborations are awesome and am psyched that another competition is currently underway. Karl Strauss Brewing Company is accepting entries for its annual Pro-Am Competition. Like the Stone competition, it is being held in association with the AHA and the winning beer will be brewed on Karl Strauss’ professional system and released this summer (August). Additionally, that beer will be entered in the pro-am competition at the country’s biggest brewing melee, the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado.

Last year's winner, Jim Roberts, enjoying clean-up detail more than any of Karl Strauss' full-time employees likely ever have.

All entrants must be AHA members and Southern California residents 21 years of age or older. There is no cost to enter and brewers can submit any style of beer for consideration. Entries are being accepted until 5 p.m. on May 31, and winners will be announced on June 14. Complete rules, style guidelines, and an entry form are available online.

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Mary Catherine Swanson wants every San Diego student going to college

Where busing from Southeast San Diego to University City has led

At a recent SDSU Alumni Association panel discussion on the business of craft brewing, AleSmith owner and brewmaster Peter Zien professed how important San Diego’s homebrewing community is to the success of craft beer in our county, praising the amateur sect's thirst for adventure and ability to take chances with innovative small batch brews. Since becoming a pro brewer, Zien (who was a well decorated homebrewer and the head of local homebrew club QUAFF during its most successful days) has maintained strong ties in San Diego’s homebrew circles and says that has been invaluable.

Sponsored
Sponsored

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/apr/23/44283/

Zien is not alone. Most of our county’s professional brewers feel the same way and go out of their way to chat with homebrewers, answer their questions, lend helpful advice, and support their recreational efforts. Nearly every one of them started out as homebrewers, so communicating and conspiring with amateurs is a way to stay true to their roots and remember the passion for the craft that led them to, in most cases, make the move from more lucrative careers to do something they love.

Few, if any industries offer as many opportunities for amateurs and professionals to collaborate. Some seriously high quality beers have come out of such team-ups, including Ballast Point’s Indra Kunindra India-Style Export Stout and Ken Schmidt/Maui/Stone Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter. Last month, I attended an American Homebrewers Association (AHA) rally and homebrewing competition at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, where 30 homebrewed beers vied for first place with the reward being the opportunity for the winning homebrewers to brew their blue ribbon beer on Stone’s system and have it distributed throughout the country. The winners, Robert Masterson and Ryan Reschan, will debut their coconut IPA, which will be brewed in collaboration with Stone and San Marcos’ Rip Current Brewing Company, this summer.

I think these types of collaborations are awesome and am psyched that another competition is currently underway. Karl Strauss Brewing Company is accepting entries for its annual Pro-Am Competition. Like the Stone competition, it is being held in association with the AHA and the winning beer will be brewed on Karl Strauss’ professional system and released this summer (August). Additionally, that beer will be entered in the pro-am competition at the country’s biggest brewing melee, the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado.

Last year's winner, Jim Roberts, enjoying clean-up detail more than any of Karl Strauss' full-time employees likely ever have.

All entrants must be AHA members and Southern California residents 21 years of age or older. There is no cost to enter and brewers can submit any style of beer for consideration. Entries are being accepted until 5 p.m. on May 31, and winners will be announced on June 14. Complete rules, style guidelines, and an entry form are available online.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Operatic Gender Wars

Are there any operas with all-female choruses?
Next Article

Mary Catherine Swanson wants every San Diego student going to college

Where busing from Southeast San Diego to University City has led
Comments
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