California Wild Ales is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the brewery’s tasting room in Ocean Beach on Saturday, May 21, from 2-8 p.m. at 4896 Newport Ave.
As part of the festivities, the brewery is releasing several new beers including the brewery’s first canned lager, a double hazy IPA (IIPA) made in collaboration with Thorn Street Brewing, a new barrel-aged fruited sour featuring prickly pear and passion fruit picked in Ocean Beach, and two limited release dark sour wild ales made in collaboration with Lost Cause Meadery.
California Wild Ales invites Ocean Beach residents and the greater San Diego beer-loving community to raise a glass with them on May 21.
“The first-anniversary party (aka OB-One) salutes a significant milestone of San Diego’s funkiest brewery coming to San Diego’s funkiest neighborhood,” said Bill DeWitt co-founder of California Wild Ales. “To celebrate, we decided to throw a party with new beers, collaboration brews, specialty brews, and the debut of a new barrel-aged sour, OB-One.”
Since opening their barrel-aged brewery in 2016, owners DeWitt and Zack Brager have pursued an unusual path in the San Diego brewery scene. Conceived initially as an all-sour barrel-aged bottle club, the two eventually decided to open their doors to the public in late 2017. After operating a tasting room at the brewery in Sorrento Valley, the team set their sites on Ocean Beach.
Since then, the brewery has added “fresh” beer-flavored beers to its extensive sour lineup. Although California Wild Ales still focuses on barrel-aged sours, they have also introduced a lager, hazy IPA, West Coast IPA, and a rotating hard seltzer.
“We knew from the start that OB was the place for us. Our funky sour beers and this funky coastal neighborhood are a perfect match. We can source fruit from the surrounding area, turn it into something unique and hyper-local and serve it right here at our tasting room,” said DeWitt.
Named to honor a penny-farthing bike-riding neighborhood celeb named Ricky Persky, Bike Lane Lager was the first of the beer-flavored beers beyond sours that California Wild Ales tapped and the first beer the brewery has made available in cans. Bike Lane Lager features German pilsner malt, malted wheat, and Noble hops, including Hallertau Blanc, Magnum, and Saaz. The lager is now available in four-packs of 16-ounce cans and available at both California Wild Ales’ locations and select retail outlets.
To create its commemorative IIPA, California Wild Ales teamed up with OB resident and head brewer at Thorn Street Brewing, Shawn Steele. The IIPA, named Over the Hill was made using the 2021 San Diego Brewers Guild hop blend and Southern Passion hops giving this beer a juicy explosion of flavor. The aroma profile includes passion fruit, guava, red berries, melon, tangerine, and grapefruit.
Finally, as part of the one-year anniversary event, California Wild Ales will offer two limited-edition anniversary dark sours. One, a single barrel dark sour with blackberry and vanilla available only on tap. The other, a double barrel-aged dark sour with hazelnuts made in a barrel provided by Lost Cause Meadery will be available on draft and in limited 375ml bottles at the Ocean Beach location.
“Our dark sour base is something we have been waiting to debut and this is a perfect time,” said Brager. “We are beyond thrilled to celebrate this important milestone and work with leaders in the industry such as Thorn Street Brewery and Lost Cause to expand our product line. The barrel gifted to us by Lost Cause Meadery is extra special to us because it was the barrel that was used to make mead to commemorate the birth of the owner’s first son.”
For more information about this event or a look at the tap lineup, visit californiawildales.com or call 855-945-3253.
