In 2012, film producer Sheldon Kaplan released SUDS COUNTY, USA — a feature-length documentary focused on San Diego Beer — to audiences in San Diego and around the world. He had been working on the project for years with a shoe-string budget, and now, a second film — SUDS COUNTY 2: The Boil Over — is in the works. Here are 17 things to know about the project:
1. The crew includes three local Emmy award winners: Kevin Tostado (Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story), Mike Towe (Editor), and Reagan Matthews (Production Consultant).
2. Full-scale filming is scheduled to begin in June, continuing through the fall. The movie will be released some time in late spring 2017.
3. Filmmakers are planning to use as much local San Diego music as possible, as they did in the original movie.
4. A version of the film will be released in full 4K resolution.
5. The budget for the film is estimated between $250,000 and $300,000.
6. To raise funds, director/producer Sheldon Kaplan and co-producer Kevin Tostado are turning to Kickstarter for a campaign that will run April 25 through May 20. The Kickstarter campaign can be accessed by searching on Kickstarter or by going to SudsCounty.com
7. Eventually, SUDS COUNTY 2 will be available on iTunes and Amazon Video on Demand, assuming the Kickstarter campaign reaches its goal.
8. The film is a labor of love. The producers say the budget above is “the bare minimum to tell the story we want to tell,” and that by the end of production they will have worked for less than minimum wage.
9. Rewards will range from t-shirts, to download keys for the first Suds, to exclusive brew days at local breweries. The goal is to encourage community involvement, as this project is as much about education as it is about entertainment.
10. The spine of the film focuses on the evolution of the San Diego IPA over the past 30 years, including the various shifts of the style internally.
11. The crew is planning to grab footage at several California breweries helmed by former San Diegans, including LA’s Arts District Brewing, where former Pizza Port San Clemente brewer Devon Randall is plying her trade; Monterey’s Alvarado Street, where Amplified Ales co-founder J.C. Hill brewed a GABF gold medal-winning IPA in 2015; and Paso Robles’ Silva Brewing Co, founded by former Green Flash brewmaster Chuck Silva.
12. Elsewhere in the United States, light will be shed on Mother Earth’s Idaho project; Stone’s new brewery in Richmond, Virginia; Green Flash’s outfit in Virginia Beach, Virginia; and Wyoming’s Melvin Brewing, where former San Diegan Kirk McHale’s acclaimed 2×4 double IPA is heavily influenced by his time here.
13. International travel plans include visiting Stone Brewing Berlin; White Labs’ operation in Copenhagen, Denmark; plus trips to the Netherlands and the UK, where San Diego has a stellar reputation. They plan to visit Brasserie St-Feuillien in Belgium where Green Flash’s West Coast IPA recipe is brewed for distribution throughout Western Europe.
14. If they meet Kickstarter “stretch goals” the producers will fly to Japan to document the huge amount of San Diego beer being imported into the country with a local crew. In Saitama-ken Kawagoe-shi, brewery COEDO has created multiple collaborations with Ballast Point and Coronado Brewing Co.
15. Baja brewers will get their time in the spotlight, as many say that San Diego has been the incubator for their craft breweries. Producers met with Baja brewers at the recent Ensenada Beer Fest, where some San Diego breweries were pouring beer as well.
16. Local coffee roasters who have collaborated with local breweries will also be featured, as well as their rise which has mirrored that of San Diego beer. Several local beers feature local coffee, while Modern Times even has their own roaster and sells coffee online.
17. San Diego’s legendary homebrewing club QUAFF will receive special attention in regard to recent breweries that have been founded by club members, a long and ongoing QUAFF tradition. An especially large number of San Diego pro brewers were/are members, including Tod Fitzsimmons, Bill Batten, Anthony Chen, Jeff Campbell, Ryan Crisp, Bryan Crecely, Skip Virgilio, Ted Newcomb, and Peter Zien (AleSmith), Pat McIlhenney (Alpine Beer Co.), Scott Stamp and Lee Doxtader (Callahan’s, San Diego Brewing), Paul Segura and Sean Albrecht (Karl Strauss Brewing Co.), Chris White (White Labs), Jim Crute (Lightning Brewery), Dan Selis (Mission Brewery), Doug Duffield and George Cautaulin (Ballast Point), Dean Rouleau (Prodigy Brewing Co.), Doug Constantiner (Societe Brewing Co.), Matt, Rachael and Jim Akin (Benchmark Brewing Co.), Mark Purciel (Oceanside Ale Works), Paul Sangster, Guy Shobe, Alex Stevens and Chris Stawney (Rip Current Brewing Co.), Bill Randolph and Pat Horton (Stumblefoot Brewing Co.), Alex Van Horne (Intergalactic Brewing Co.), Derek Gallanosa (Abnormal Beer Co.), Tom Nickel (Nickel Beer Co.), Liz Chism, Curtis Chism and Jeffrey Crane (Council Brewing Co.), Peter Perrecone (Belching Beaver Brewing Co.), Brett Goldstock (Duck Foot Brewing Co.), Jonathan Wise (32 North Brewing Co.), George Thornton (The Home Brewing Co.), Jeff Wiederkehr (Burning Beard), Joaquin Basari, Marcel Favela and Martin Favela (Border X Brewing Co.), Ray Astamendi (Fall Brewing Co.), Kevin Rhodes (Groundswell Brewing Co.), Stan Sisson (Julian CiderWorks), and Kelsey McNair (North Park Beer Co.).