Elizabeth “Liz” Bradshaw is the event specialist at Green Flash Brewing Co. I’ll leave the job description up to her: “As part of Green Flash’s in-house Marketing Department, I collaborate with my colleagues to identify, develop, plan and execute brand-appropriate events in San Diego and across the country. I am busy conceptualizing and executing a long list of consumer events in the Tasting Room and Brewery (the new Green Flash Supper Club series and our regular film screenings are two great examples of new event initiatives I am spearheading with the team). I also work with the regional sales reps to coordinate and help promote on-premise events at bars and restaurants in key markets across the country. In addition, I am responsible for production logistics involved with large scale beer happenings like GABF as well as regional beer festivals and beer weeks. While it is my job to coordinate all of the events, we rely on teamwork to make everything come together. I work closely with the rest of the marketing department, our national sales representatives, brewers, production staff and tasting room crew and everyone is a part of the event process.”
Green Flash is doing a benefit for The Washington St Skate Park this Saturday. Can you tell us more about that?
On Saturday April 27th from 3pm – 9pm, Green Flash will be Brewing it Forward for a local cause! We’ll be raising money for the Washington St Skatepark Association – the 1st public skateboard park in San Diego that is solely sustained by its founders, volunteers and skate enthusiasts. One dollar from each pint of beer sold in the Tasting Room, funds raised from an on-site art exhibition & a skater-centric raffle will benefit the organization Event is free to enter and family friendly!
What events do you have planned for May?
May is a busy month for us at the brewery and around San Diego. On May 7th, we’re releasing our summer seasonal Saison Diego, and we’ll be celebrating the launch of what we like to call our “beach house ale” with an event in the Tasting Room – fun activities include a custom photobooth for a live instagram/twitter competition, a keep the glass promotion and a food pairing from one of our favorite trucks. During American Craft Beer Week we’ll be hosting the California premiere of the brand new feature documentary Crafting a Nation as part of our Green Flash Film Series. The film takes a look at how the American craft brewing community is rebuilding the economy one beer at a time! The director Thomas Kolicko will be on site and holding a Q&A following the film. Tickets for the May 13th event are just $5 and can be found at greenflashfilms.eventbrite.com. We’re also inviting all local fans to join us in the brewery at 5pm on Thursday the 16th to take part in American Craft Beer Week’s simultaneous nationwide toast celebrating craft breweries across the country. We encourage all to wear Green Flash gear and we’ll have some fun giveaways for everyone who comes out for the occasion. If you can’t make it to the brewery for the events, you can find us at the Bugs and Beer event at the Natural History Museum on May 1st and as part of the craft beer block at the North Park Festival of the Arts on May 18th.
You recently traveled to New York with members of the Green Flash crew. How was your trip?
Earlier this month, we hosted the 1st ever “Green Flash State of Mind Tour” and eight of us traveled to New York for five days of tap takeovers, beer dinners, cask festivals and a great Brooklyn pub crawl. We all divided and conquered the Metropolitan area – Brewmaster Chuck Silva, owners Mike & Lisa Hinkley and the crew hit 18 venues, took over 200 lines around the city and basically made sure we were very much seen about town! The venues all embraced our #iflashny slogan on social media. It was awesome to see how excited the east coast was to have us out there, fans were eager to have Green Flash bottles signed by Chuck, posed for multiple photo ops and we introduced our beers to many new-to-the-scene craft beer fans. A highlight for me was driving up to the Blue Point Brewing Co’s annual cask festival in Patchogue, Long Island where we got to meet and greet breweries we rarely see in San Diego. We talked to beer fans who couldn’t believe we came out to Long Island for the event – it was great. We outfitted all bartenders in these great I FLASH NY band-style tour t-shirts and passed out key chains – these things were a definite hit!
Have you seen any demographic shifts in the tasting room over the last year or so?
I think less demographic shifts and more just a general steady growth in the number of people that visit the tasting room every week. We definitely have a diverse crowd that comes through the brewery, and our tour program has grown considerably in the past six months. We now have a team of tour guides, offering both public and private tours daily during Tasting Room hours.
Do you think the ‘brewery bubble’ will burst any time soon? If at all?
While I don’t really claim to be a business expert – I personally don’t think it will ‘burst’ any time soon in terms of the nationwide popularity of craft beer but I imagine that the rapid pace of new start-ups may slow down. At the risk of stating the obvious, ever since I started at Green Flash almost two years ago, I’ve seen the number of breweries in San Diego grow considerably. I think what will be interesting is to see which ones are still booming in five – 10 years. I can see the beer scene continuing to boost tourism in the region especially with all the guided tours offered and the huge number of events held during San Diego’s beer week. I am looking forward to being involved with the scene and building success with the team at Green Flash for a long time!