One morning, standing in a green room awaiting a television segment with the owners of Fallbrook Brewing Company and Bolt Brewery, I watched both gentlemen take a shine to each other. It made sense. After all, they represent the only two breweries to be established in the extreme North County town of Fallbrook. While Chuck McLaughlin’s FBC has been holding down the civic fort for the past two years, the initial version of Bolt opened in Fallbrook back in 1987, with current owner Clint Stromberg acting as assistant brewer to then-founder Paul Holborn. That was the first brewery to open in San Diego post-Prohibition (yep, even before Karl Strauss Brewing Company came along in 1989), and though it closed less than a year into its original life, it held a spot in the hearts and history of San Diego beer and its fans. In late-2014, Bolt and Stromberg resurfaced in La Mesa, but it still has plenty of love for the old neighborhood. Enough that, in that green room, Stromberg and McLaughlin came up with the idea to collaborate on a locals-only Fallbrook beer.
Many months have passed and Stromberg fell out of the equation, but McLaughlin ran with the idea and other friends with Fallbrook roots. That group included his FBC lead brewer Lucas Nelson, Coronado Brewing Company brewmaster Ryan Brooks and Ironfire Brewing Company president John Maino, who came together to brew a dry, “San Diego-style” saison. Coming in 7% alcohol-by-volume, the beer gets its SD-ness care of an assemblage of hops introduced via a BYOH method that saw each brewer bring their own pellets to the party. Polaris, Equinox and Citra coalesce along with a variety of Fallbrook-grown ingredients, including avocado blossom honey as well as citrus—grapefruit, oranges, lemons and prickly pears—the quartet took a field trip to a local grove to pick themselves. McLaughlin’s enjoyment of the collaborative process went far beyond the beer-making. Each of the members of the aforementioned team were instrumental to him as he worked to open—and keep open—his small-town main-street brewery.
Dubbed Fallbrook Homegrown, the beer will make its official debut at FBC’s second anniversary celebration, a three-day affair taking place from August 21 to 23. Admission is free and live music and food from mobile vendors will be available each day. Musical acts will include Lee Koch, Tackey Little Hat Shop, Dulaney and Miller, plus Nelson’s band, Moonpool. Sunday’s festivities will start earlier than the other days (11 a.m.) and go by a “Sunday beer brunch” theme that includes coffee from The Swell Cafe, “beermosas” made with FBC beer and fresh squeezed juices, and a blend of kombucha and beer called “beerbucha.” Information about the anniversary events can be found on FBC’s website.
Editor’s note: The first paragraph has been revised to include mention of Paul Holborn, Bolt’s original founder.