AleSmith Brewing Company is an American

craft brewery Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

located in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It specializes in handcrafted ales in a variety of styles. As of 2015 it produces about 25,000 barrels of beer a year.

History

The brewery was founded in San Diego in 1995 by Skip Virgilio and Ted Newcomb. Skip Virgilio was AleSmith's original brewmaster. Peter Zien became brewmaster upon purchasing the company in July, 2002. Zien is a

BJCP The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) is a non-profit organization formed in 1985 to recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills. The BJCP certifies and ranks beer judges through an examination and monitoring process. Purpose The BJCP has ...

"Grand Master level 1" beer judge, the only one in

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

. The original brewery is located at 9366 Cabot Drive in San Diego's Miramar area. In 2015 the company added a larger brewery and tasting room, also in Miramar, at 9990 AleSmith Court. At 25,000 square feet, the tasting room is billed as the largest beer tasting room in

. Brewing operations at the new facility will eventually expand the company's brewing capacity ten-fold, according to Zien. Beers from the brewery have been rated on RateBeer.com website as #1 Top Brewer in the World 2006 and again in 2013. In 2008, AleSmith was awarded "Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year" at the Great American Beer Festival. In 2015, AleSmith announced that Danish

gypsy brewer A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

Mikkeller Mikkeller is a microbrewery founded in 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark that was originally based on the so-called "cuckoo", "phantom" or "gypsy" ethos; that is, the company did not operate an official brewery and, instead, collaborated with other br ...

had partnered with them to turn the original facility, located on Cabot Drive, into Mikkeller San Diego.

Awards

The company has won ten medals in

World Beer Cup The World Beer Cup is an international beer competition organized by the Brewers Association, a trade group representing America's small and independent craft brewers. It is the largest competition in the beer industry and has been described as " ...

competition, including six golds. They won for Wee Heavy (gold, 2020); Belgian Strong Ale (bronze, 1998); Winter YuleSmith (gold, 2004); Vintage AleSmith Old Numbskull (gold, 2008); AleSmith Decadence '05 Old Ale (gold, 2008); AleSmith Wee Heavy (gold, 2010); AleSmith Decadence '09 Weizenbock (bronze, 2010); AleSmith Decadence '10 Old Ale (silver, 2012); AleSmith Old Numbskull (bronze, 2012); AleSmith Old Ale '13 (gold, 2014). At the 2008 Great American Beer Festival, AleSmith Brewing Company won the Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year Award. By 2013, the AleSmith team had acquired 16 GABF beer medals: Belgian-Style Strong Ale (silver, 1998); Stumblin’ Monk (bronze, 2000); Wee Heavy Scotch Ale (bronze, 2004); AleSmith IPA (bronze, 2005); Wee Heavy Scotch Ale (silver, 2005); Vintage Speedway Stout (silver, 2008); Old Numbskull Barley Wine (silver, 2008); Decadence ‘05 Old Ale (gold, 2008); Wee Heavy Scotch Ale (gold, 2008); AleSmith IPA (silver, 2011); Old Numbskull Barley Wine (silver, 2011); Decadence ’10 Old Ale (silver, 2011); Grand Cru (bronze, 2012); Decadence ’10 Old Ale (bronze, 2012); Old Numbskull Barley Wine (gold, 2013); Decadence ‘12 Quadruple (silver, 2013); Nut Brown (bronze, 2019)

The beers

AleSmith's beers are inspired by the brewing styles of Great Britain and Belgium. Some AleSmith beers, such as their

Cream Ale Cream ale is a style of American beer which is light in color and well attenuated, meaning drier and with a somewhat higher alcohol content than regular beer. First crafted in the mid-1800s at various breweries in the United States, cream ale r ...

and Robust

Porter Beer Porter is a style of beer that was developed in London, England in the early 18th century. It was well- hopped and dark in appearance owing to the use of brown malt.Dornbusch, Horst, and Garrett Oliver. "Porter." The Oxford Companion to Beer ...

, are only offered on draft or in kegs at the brewery. The majority, however, are available in 22-ounce or 750 ml bottles. These brews are listed below.

Year-round brews

Seasonal Brews

Barrel-Aged Brews

Artwork

AleSmith's bottles are often accompanied by the trademark AleSmith anvil.

References

External links

AleSmith Brewing Company
{{coord, 32, 53, 31.44, N, 117, 8, 40.87, W, region:US_dim:160, display=title Beer brewing companies based in San Diego County, California Manufacturing companies based in San Diego