One of the most pointless gestures has to be creating a craft beer brewery map which shows the locations of all of San Diego breweries; each and every issue of the map is out of date by the time the ink hits the paper.
When Brewers Journal was in San Diego in February, the count suddenly became jumped from 117 to 119 – all on one night. By the time you read this, it will no doubt be at least 120, with California’s total around 600.
And the great thing is – or scary depending on your perspective – economists believe that San Diego’s population of 1.45 million (3 million total in the huge county) can easily sustain 200 breweries. That’s a lot of beer and that’s a lot more breweries than any other city in the world.
And it’s just not locals who are quenching their thirst in San Diego. Stone Brewing is the third leading tourist attraction in San Diego. What makes this even more impressive is when you think of the city’s other attractions which includes the world famous San Diego Zoo & Wild Animal Park, SeaWorld, Lego Land, numerous surfing beaches and four professional sport teams. Want more than Stone’s? Competing bus tour companies will take you around on beer tours – much like the wine tours in northern California.
The industry is populated by old hippies and young millennials, who seem to have one major thing in common – a thirst for beer at a young age stymied by a restricted 21-year-old legal drinking age, making home brewing the only option. From college dorm rooms and parents’ garages, they kept notching up their skills until they created a local industry now worth just shy of one billion dollars – doubling in value over the last three years.
Why did this happen in San Diego and can the same results be duplicated elsewhere? The Brewers Journal thinks it can be and in a series of articles in the next issues, we will be exploring this idea while profiling some of the city’s local breweries, starting with one too new to be on anyone’s radar – yet.
New kid on the block
You’re leaving a brewery on a foggy San Diego Saturday evening when your beer app goes off – San Diego has just gone from 118 craft breweries to 119 with the grand opening of Pure Project. What else can you do but turn the car around and head for Pure.
Even with satnav it’s difficult to find, not helped by the fact it’s located on a commercial park in a north San Diego suburb. That said, despite the nearest homes being more than a Californian walk away, the place is packed and jumping with a slight spill-over crowd.
But as you eye over the rather eclectic choices of the 12 brews being offered – with some drawing flavour inspiration from the tropics such as hibiscus – you have to wonder if its brewers will still be in business six months from now.
In such a crowded market as San Diego, each new brewery has to do something to set it apart; be it having the ‘hoppiest’ IPA ever made, a brilliant location, exotic food trucks or being dog/kid friendly. Pure Project’s niche is that it thinks its in Costa Rica.
While the Central American tropical country is not exactly on anyone’s beer tour, husband and wife owners Jessie and Agi Pine have drawn their inspiration from their three years living in the coastal village of Manuel Antonio.
They have been helped considerably along with this dream thanks to the talents of brew master Winslow Sawyer, who developed his skills at Boulder Creek Brewery, a northern Californian brewery which burned down last year.
While in Costa Rica, Agi and Jessie drank what the locals did – pilsners – but their taste buds started craving something made with all the different tropical flavours which surrounded them.
With the idea of introducing Costa Ricans to the potential taste and market of craft beers, the couple started home brewing. During a visit back in the States, they met up with friend and beer lover Mat Robar, and the trio took the idea even further – raising funds to build a brewery in Costa Rica.
Mat moved down to Costa Rica to help set up a small-scale brewery, bringing brew-system parts and yeast cultures in his luggage. Manual Antonio Brewing Company was born on a tropical patio during the rainy season.
They created three beers, two of which are still with them: Valle Pura Vida which is a blonde ale brewed with ginger and citrus peel, and their Milagro coffee stout, which was developed in partnership with a small local coffee roasting company.
However, the dream ran hard into reality when the they realised that the village of Manual Antonio didn’t have a sewage system and a septic tank would not be able handle the flow of wastewater their brewery would create. One of the first projects they would have to do then would be to build a water treatment facility which was prohibitively expensive.
“We couldn’t produce beer at the volume we wanted without creating an environmental impact,” says Mat.
It was back to the States.
Pura Vida – Pure Life
In setting up Pure Project, the three partners decided that instead of focusing on a specific style of beer, they would focus on ingredients. “We use the word ‘pure’ because it comes from a saying in Costa Rica, ‘Pura Vida’, which means ‘pure life’. We wanted to bring that back with us,” says Jessie. “But, while it is always our goal to source organic and sustainable whenever possible, our beers are not certified organic.”
Along with Milagro coffee – they’re still buying beans from the same Costa Rican roaster – on opening night other ingredients included grapefruit, ginger, Valencia oranges, Himalayan pink salt and hibiscus from Burkina Faso.
Instead of buying equipment, Pure Project made use of a new concept developed by the H.G. Fenton Company, called Brewery Igniter, which leases out a fully equipment brewery for around US$8,000 a month.
According to SD Metro, typically, a start-up microbrewer must invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in brewing equipment, manage construction expenses and logistics, and wait for a liquor license and their equipment to be delivered before they can brew, pour and sell their first pint. Brewery Igniter takes care of all of this except for the liquor license which takes about two months.
For Pure, from the announcement of their new brewery to the grand opening, took around six months. While Pure’s team felt this wait was a “long time”, compared to other recently opened San Diego brewers this was a near-record time.
For the majority of San Diego’s new breweries, two-years is about average. Considering leases would have been signed – and rent being paid out – equipment ordered and deposits paid, this is a genuinely ‘long time’ without any money coming in from beer sales.
And indeed, Pure Project’s seven-barrel Premier Stainless brew system was ready to brew this last October only because Brewery Igniter had ordered it months before.
As great as Brewery Igniter has been for Pure Project, Brewers Journal has to wonder about Pure’s medium and long-term plans for the location. Directly next door to Pure is another space being prepared by Brewery Igniter. With doors opened, will each others’ thumping-loud music bleed into the competing brewery and drive customers away?
And, while Winslow said that having a brewery next door to theirs would be great, with a sharing of ideas, Brewers Journal questions whether the sharing of customers will also be considered great.
Marketing hit & miss
In talking with the three partners, it quickly becomes evident that the three are looking at Pure Project as much more than a beer, but as a statement of their lives and personal environmental views.
While many breweries should have as a mission statement: ‘We get you sloshed’, Jessie, Agi and Mat’s would be: ‘Join us on our journey’. How this will play against Stone’s ‘Arrogant Bastard’ on women’s panties is anyone’s guess.
In talking with San Diego State University’s beer programme which concentrates on the marketing aspect of beer, the university questioned Pure Project’s brand name and logo.
“There is considerable competition in San Diego’s craft beer industry and you need to think how you can stand out. Having a name, logo, and logo colour which would look more at home on bottled water or face cleaner will be a tough one,” says SDSU.
An interesting marketing idea Pure Project has started is a ‘Founders Club’. There are three memberships varying in price from $250 for the Founders Club Lite – opened to 60 people – to the Founders Club Platinum – open to five – which will set you back $2,500.
Pure Project believes that the total value of the Platinum membership is $8,500 and includes creating your own brew with the team to having a party for 20 of your closest friends. A five per cent lifetime discount is given for Lite membership, 10 per cent for Premium, and 20 per cent for Platinum.
During Pure’s opening, Brewers Journal watched what people were ordering. With such a different variety than most San Diego craft brewers, many customers were buying four or eight samplers and sharing with friends.
The question is, however, will samplers turn into pints? “What they have is interesting,” one customer told Brewers Journal, “but I don’t think I would want to drink a pint of any except for maybe two or three of their beers.” These comments were echoed by others in the party.
That said, Pure Project seems to be already building a fan base. If these customers are willing to stick with Pure Project as it grows and develops its beers, Pure in time should be a fine addition to the San Diego scene.
Beer list:
Sensei – Kolsch style made with rice
Romeo & Julius – Cream ale with orange and vanilla
La vie en rose – Saison with hibiscus and honey
Badlands – Rye pale ale
Grass Fed IPA – West Coast India pale ale
No Reservations – Double IPA with agave
Valle Pura Vida – Blonde ale with ginger and citrus
Evangeline – Gose with grapefruit
Center Pointe – Session pale ale
Milagro – Dry stout with coffee and vanilla
Road Less Traveled – West Coast Brett IPA
Midnight in Moscow – Russian Imperial porter
