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

Five new golden locals

San Diego rocks the rockies

Puesto Cerveceria's Negra is golden.
Puesto Cerveceria's Negra is golden.

“American’s Finest City had yet another fine performance in the Rockies this year,” enthuses San Diego Brewers Guild Executive Director Erik Fowler, referring to the awards handed out at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival in Denver. “What I particularly love is how the five local Gold Medal winners from this year were all different than the five from 2023. The quality of craft beer is certainly spread throughout the County.” 

One of those Gold Medal winners was Puesto Cerveceria, for its Puesto Negra in the International Dark Lager category. Born out of the local Puesto Mexican Kitchen Chain, brewery operations began in 2019 when the business took over the former Gordon Biersch site in Mission Valley and hired its brewer, Doug Hasker. Puesto Negra is a dark Mexican lager with notes of roasted chocolate. Hasker describes the idea behind the award-winning beer, “We made an effort to make this beer delicate, yet complex.  We feel we have a great balance of light two-row malts, caramel malts, and small amounts of carafa roasted and light chocolate malts.”

Another gold medalist was Pizza Port Imperial Beach — the business will host its 26th Annual Strong Ale Festival at Pizza Port Carlsbad on December 6 and 7 — for its Indie Roo in the Imperial Stout category. The 8.5% ABV stout features medium roast flavors and cacao nibs to balance out the sweetness of its higher alcohol content. For Tom Finney, Head Brewer at Pizza Port Imperial Beach, the win was especially pleasing on a personal level, “This was a tribute beer to my good friend Justin Bridle. He loved big-bodied stouts with deep and rich roast coffee/chocolate/tobacco notes. He moved from San Diego back to Baltimore and got sick. I was able to make the beer and ship it to him for him to try before he passed away. He was truly the inspiration for this beer.”

Sponsored
Sponsored
Culture's Three-Citrus goes for the gold.

Gold in the Contemporary Gose category went to Culture Brewing out of Solana Beach for its Three-Citrus Gose; the name refers to the three fruits it uses — Meyer lemon, yuzu, and lime. As with a traditional Goses, Three-Citrus is made with salt, but Culture’s iteration uses locally farmed sea salt from off the coast of Baja. Culture brewing, which was founded by home brewers, has expanded from Solana Beach to locations in Encinitas and Manhattan Beach, but still strives to keep it local. Owner Tony Dellamano explains, “We embrace the small-batch brewery mindset, and just try to be good citizens and partners in our neighborhoods.”

Oceanside's Green Cheek scores big in the Rockies.

The other San Diego-based gold medalists were Chillzner from Craft Coast Beer & Tacos in the International-style Pilsner category, and Jeff’s Baltic Porter by Green Cheek Beer Co. in the Strong Porter Category. San Diego County also won four silver medals: Athletic Brewing’s Free Wave Hazy IPA in the Pale Non-Alcohol Beer Category; Athletic Brewing’s Tropical Sour in the Specialty Non-Alcohol Beer category; Pure Project’s Mount Eden in the Specialty Saison category; and Roleur Brewing Company’s Domestique Blonde Ale in the Belgian-Style Ale or French-Style Ale category.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

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

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again
Puesto Cerveceria's Negra is golden.
Puesto Cerveceria's Negra is golden.

“American’s Finest City had yet another fine performance in the Rockies this year,” enthuses San Diego Brewers Guild Executive Director Erik Fowler, referring to the awards handed out at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival in Denver. “What I particularly love is how the five local Gold Medal winners from this year were all different than the five from 2023. The quality of craft beer is certainly spread throughout the County.” 

One of those Gold Medal winners was Puesto Cerveceria, for its Puesto Negra in the International Dark Lager category. Born out of the local Puesto Mexican Kitchen Chain, brewery operations began in 2019 when the business took over the former Gordon Biersch site in Mission Valley and hired its brewer, Doug Hasker. Puesto Negra is a dark Mexican lager with notes of roasted chocolate. Hasker describes the idea behind the award-winning beer, “We made an effort to make this beer delicate, yet complex.  We feel we have a great balance of light two-row malts, caramel malts, and small amounts of carafa roasted and light chocolate malts.”

Another gold medalist was Pizza Port Imperial Beach — the business will host its 26th Annual Strong Ale Festival at Pizza Port Carlsbad on December 6 and 7 — for its Indie Roo in the Imperial Stout category. The 8.5% ABV stout features medium roast flavors and cacao nibs to balance out the sweetness of its higher alcohol content. For Tom Finney, Head Brewer at Pizza Port Imperial Beach, the win was especially pleasing on a personal level, “This was a tribute beer to my good friend Justin Bridle. He loved big-bodied stouts with deep and rich roast coffee/chocolate/tobacco notes. He moved from San Diego back to Baltimore and got sick. I was able to make the beer and ship it to him for him to try before he passed away. He was truly the inspiration for this beer.”

Sponsored
Sponsored
Culture's Three-Citrus goes for the gold.

Gold in the Contemporary Gose category went to Culture Brewing out of Solana Beach for its Three-Citrus Gose; the name refers to the three fruits it uses — Meyer lemon, yuzu, and lime. As with a traditional Goses, Three-Citrus is made with salt, but Culture’s iteration uses locally farmed sea salt from off the coast of Baja. Culture brewing, which was founded by home brewers, has expanded from Solana Beach to locations in Encinitas and Manhattan Beach, but still strives to keep it local. Owner Tony Dellamano explains, “We embrace the small-batch brewery mindset, and just try to be good citizens and partners in our neighborhoods.”

Oceanside's Green Cheek scores big in the Rockies.

The other San Diego-based gold medalists were Chillzner from Craft Coast Beer & Tacos in the International-style Pilsner category, and Jeff’s Baltic Porter by Green Cheek Beer Co. in the Strong Porter Category. San Diego County also won four silver medals: Athletic Brewing’s Free Wave Hazy IPA in the Pale Non-Alcohol Beer Category; Athletic Brewing’s Tropical Sour in the Specialty Non-Alcohol Beer category; Pure Project’s Mount Eden in the Specialty Saison category; and Roleur Brewing Company’s Domestique Blonde Ale in the Belgian-Style Ale or French-Style Ale category.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

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

Trophy truck crushes four at Baja 1000

"Two other racers on quads died too,"
Next Article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again
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