Melanie Pierce is the Events & Promotions Coordinator for Pizza Port. Right now she’s busy setting up for the fourth annual Brewbies Festival, which begins tonight at 5 p.m. and continues with a second session tomorrow at noon for $25 online or $30 at the door.
How did the idea for the festival come about?
I had the idea to throw a benefit, and I’m good friends with the people at Keep A Breast. At Pizza Port we put on a bunch of beer festivals every year, but most aren’t necessarily geared towards helping a non-profit with 100% of the proceeds.
What makes this event unique?
I’d say that because it’s action sports-oriented, it really caters to the younger crowd. At the same time though, beer nerds are really happy with the amount of quality beer, especially pink beer, that we pour. Also, I’ve never seen a festival with so many girls; the girls outnumber the boys which is pretty unusual.
The Brewbies Festival is known for showcasing pink beers. How many will you have this year?
We’ll have a total of 19 pink beers and one mead, which is really exciting because many of the brewers made them just for this event. Here’s the list: Alpine Beer Co. Nipple, Automatic Brewing Thank You Mam, Avery Brewing Co. Andy’s Areolas, Ballast point bOOb Check, Beachwood Brewing & BBQ Brewbie Tuesday, Breakwater Brewing Rasbiscus Mead, Cismontane Nopolito de Trigo, Coronado Hibiscus IPA, Fezziwig’s Belle’s Boysenberry, Hangar 24 Cherry Berliner Weisse, The Lost Abbey (it’s a secret…), Noble Ale Works Rosalita, Pizza Port Carlsbad Hakuna Ma Tatas, Pizza Port Carlsbad The Breast IPA Ever, Pizza Port Ocean Beach Saison des Seins, Pizza Port San Clemente Double Entendre, Pizza Port San Clemente Motorboat, Pizza Port Solana Beach Nip Wit, Rip Current Tube Rye-der, and Societe Brewing Co. Brewbē from Societe Raspberry Wheat.
A big part of fundraising is the event’s raffle and silent auction. What sort of prizes will there be?
We’ve got pink bikes, skateboards, t-shirts, backpacks, sunglasses, and hats from a bunch of companies like Blackbox and Rip Curl. There’s also gift cards from local businesses like Toronado, Ritual, La Cantina and The Compass. As for the silent auction, we have an Electra bike, Nixon, Vestal and Rip Curl watches, Padres gift packages with signed hats and field level seats, a 6-liter bottle of Russian River Temptation, a signed Kris Kroll skateboard, and tons more!
How much money have you raised over the last three years?
We’ve raised more than $50,000 over the past three years, and I’m just hoping that this year’s event raises more than last year.