A man who just five years ago began as an unpaid intern and had been brewing beer in his home has worked his way to becoming a multiple award-winning head brewer for Pizza Port in Ocean Beach. Yiga Miyashiro joined the Pizza Port franchise in 2006 as an intern to learn more about the craft of brewing. He diligently worked his way through Pizza Ports in Carlsbad and Solana Beach, as well as at Pizza Port’s sister brewery, Lost Abbey, in San Marcos, holding every brewer-related position available from assistant brewer to keg delivery driver. When he finally got his shot as head brewer at the newest Pizza Port in Ocean Beach in 2010, he took off with recipe ideas for the restaurant’s brews, adding a new chapter to the legacy of the already-growing Pizza Port franchise. “Most of the recipes are ones I wrote, but there’s a handful of recipes that we have across all of the Pizza Ports,” Miyashiro said. “The great thing about Pizza Port is that we have a lot of creative flexibility in the beer-making process.” On Oct. 1, that creative flexibility paid off in the form of multiple award wins at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver — the world’s largest commercial beer competition — including prestigious titles of “Small Brewpub of the Year” and “Small Brewer of the Year.” Despite the “small” titles, Pizza Port and Miyashiro took home big wins for their quirkily-named brews, including a gold medal for the “Skidmark Brown Ale,” silver medals for the aptly-named “Achievement Beyond Life’s Experiences American Stout” and “Rhino Chaser Imperial Red Ale,” and a bronze for “Z-Man Stout.” “If you win anything there at Great American Beer Festival, it’s a big deal,” he said. “It’s such a competitive competition, I was extremely excited and completely caught off guard.” Miyashiro was unable to celebrate at the festival in Denver because he and his wife had something else special to celebrate — a baby boy, born just four days before the competition. He did, however, watch the awards ceremony on a live news feed online. “There are no words for it,” he said. “I was so excited I woke up my son screaming.” He credited much of the wins to Pizza Port owners, siblings Vince and Gina Marsaglia, for being so accommodating to his beer-crafting wishes. “The owners are 100 percent supportive of what we do. They help us make all the beers we want to make, and that helps us achieve all that we have,” he said. “They’re really the unsung heroes.” Miyashiro’s quality and brew style has remained consistent since he started brewing his recipes at Pizza Port in May 2010. His brew-making style focuses on ales with drier, cleaner finishes — “a beer that you want to have two or three of,” he said. “I have grown to have a greater appreciation for all of the different styles,” said Miyashiro. “I’m always trying to hone my skills and recipes.” Miyashiro is brewing up a lot of “fresh-hop beers” — brews that contain hops freshly picked off the vine and delivered wet. Miyashiro described these beers as having more of a grapefruit-like floral character that is fresher and brighter than typical dry-hopped brews. His favorite beer to drink? “The one that’s in my glass,” he said. To check out Miyashiro’s brews, visit Pizza Port in Ocean Beach at 1956 Bacon St. For more information, visit www.pizzaport.com or call (619) 224-4700.