One undeniable perk to living in San Diego is our access to a wide variety of great breweries and the brewers who make it all happen. One of those brewers is AleSmith Brewing Company’s Tod Fitzsimmons. AleSmith has been a San Diego fixture since 1996. Founded by members of San Diego’s very own homebrew club, Quality Ale and Fermentation Fraternity (QUAFF), AleSmith has a reputation for creating some of the best beers in the country. With offerings like the coffee-laden Speedway Stout and seasonal Evil Dead Red, Tod and AleSmith have consistently earned ratings among the top 100 beers in the world by RateBeer.com and BeerAdvocate.com. Success like this earned AleSmith the title of Small Brewery of the Year in 2008 by the Great American Beer Festival. Recently, I had the chance to sit down with Tod to discuss the culture of success at AleSmith. What jobs did you hold before coming to AleSmith? “I used to run my own courier service for businesses in the area. Through my deliveries I came into a job at a lab testing water and soil samples. The job provided a steady income but I knew it was only temporary.” How did you get into brewing? “Probably like most people that homebrew, I picked it up as a hobby. I liked the combination of science and art. You get to play with formulas and calculations, but the end result is purely an expression of your personal artistic creativity. I started homebrewing in 1993 and began attending regular QUAFF meetings in 1994.” Tell us about your experiences with QUAFF “QUAFF is great. I still attend meetings from time to time. In the very beginning, I was more of a passive member, attending regular meetings and learning as much as I could. As time went by, I started to volunteer my time with the club newsletter. I did this for about a year before I became the club VP. Most VP’s are groomed to take over club president and I was no exception. I served as QUAFF president for two years. While I was the VP and president I tried to emphasize our club’s participation in homebrew competitions and education through the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). Overall, QUAFF was a great place to gain some experience making and competing beers, learn how to properly judge a beer competition and, of course ,meet some great brewers.” How did you come to AleSmith? “AleSmith was started by friends and fellow QUAFF members Skip Virgilio and Ted Newcomb. At the time I was still working at the lab testing water and soil samples, although I was being repeatedly let go and rehired. During my down time in between layoffs, I began to volunteer my time to AleSmith doing odd jobs around the brewery. As time went on, I began to keep steady hours volunteering at the brewery. Eventually, I approached Skip about a permanent paid position, as my lab job was no longer a stable income source. It wasn’t until a couple of years had passed working at the brewery that I was offered the chance to become a brewer at AleSmith.” Do you have any formal education in brewing? “I do not. I’m proud to say that I’ve learned all I know through my homebrewing experiences, my membership in QUAFF and through on-the-job training at AleSmith.” Who comes up with the recipes at AleSmith? “It’s a mixture of people and sources really. Some of our recipes are originals from Skip and Ted, some recipes are collaborations between Peter and myself, and others are purely my own creations. For example, Speedway Stout, not in its present form, was an original recipe created by Skip and his friends. Once Skip sold the brewery to Peter, Speedway began to morph into the version you see today. Lil’ Devil was a collaboration between Peter and myself. Evil Dead Red is my recipe. Basically, we try to create recipes that positively answer the question: Do I want to drink a pint of this?” How do you explain the award-winning culture at AleSmith? “I’d say by staying as true to uncompromising quality as possible. We have a much different vision for our brewery than most. We very much believe in quality over quantity, and we are very happy being a small artisan brewery. We like to stay true to the classic beer styles for the most part. Again, that comes down to making beers that you would want to drink a few pints of. We are always working to make the best beer we can, and we are constantly tweaking our recipes to make that happen.” Do you have any advice for aspiring professional brewers? “My advice would be to make sure you learn the business of brewing, not just the brewing process. Brewing is the least of your worries when you attach the professional tag. Find partners who are business-minded and that you work well with. Don’t be blinded by the brewing and forget the business side.” What is your favorite AleSmith beer? “That depends on my mood. I am definitely a hophead, so I tend to gravitate towards our hoppier beers. You would normally see our IPA, Nut Brown or Lil’ Devil on my home tap.” Thanks to Tod Fitzsimmons for sitting down and taking the time to talk beer! If you’ve never had an AleSmith beer, or it’s been a while, I suggest you grab a bottle and sit down over a nice meal or with friends and break it open. Cheers! For more information about AleSmith Brewing Company, visit: www.alesmith.com Tony Clarke and his wife, Liz, own Airdale Brewing Company, located in San Diego. www.airdalebrewing.com