My advocacy for the local brewing industry is well known. Even when I’m not writing about the brewers and beers of this county, I’m jawing to anyone who’ll listen about how exceptional both are. Over the past several years, I bent the ears of local television producers, trying in vain to get them interested in spotlighting craft beer on their news programs. Not just in one-time segments or during San Diego Beer Week, but as a regular feature a la “Wine Wednesdays” and other predictably scheduled programming. But I wasn’t able to get any traction…until a handful of staff at San Diego 6 / The CW took a chance and, in doing so, showed how compelling craft beer can be in America’s Finest City.
It all started quite innocently, with AM content editor Lindsay Hood reaching out after seeing a copy of my Complete Guide to San Diego Breweries. I took the opportunity to tell her about the Beer to the Rescue lupus charity campaign I was organizing and, coming from a family severely impacted by the autoimmune disease, she asked me to come on San Diego 6’s morning news to help promote the first pair of Beer to the Rescue events. Hood and some of her associates even came out to the inaugural event at Benchmark Brewing Company where I met San Diego 6 evening anchor Neda Iranpour. She was interested in doing a segment about the craft beer industry. It all started out that simple.
Iranpour’s first segment went so well that she went on to produce more. Last month, she had a pair of segments air within a three-day span, and she is currently working on a half-hour show devoted exclusively to San Diego beer. Back on the morning news, Hood and I worked up a monthly San Diego Beer News segment wherein I update viewers on the latest major industry happenings across the county with morning anchor Marc Bailey. Those segments air on San Diego 6 News in the Morning at 8:40 a.m., the third Friday of each month.
And the exposure for local brewers doesn’t end there. San Diego 6 devoted time on its morning show ever Thursday from April 30 to May 28 as part of a free promotion called Spring for Beer. Set up as a poll where viewers could go online to vote for their favorite local beer of the season, it allowed three brewers per week to come to the studio and acquaint themselves with the public via the small screen. Last Thursday, the winners were announced, with three small breweries coming in on top. Dos Desperados Brewery won gold for its Gunsmoke Habeerneros IPA, Fallbrook Brewing Company took second with its Java Hill coffee cream ale, and Bolt Brewery rounded out the top three with its Citra Pale Ale. A second seasonal competition called Fall For Beer is already in the works for autumn.
This represents a great deal of exposure for local brewers, and certainly more than any single channel has provided to date. It’s refreshing to see and an honor to be a part of.