{"id":10915,"date":"2015-05-25T14:37:52","date_gmt":"2015-05-25T21:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/?p=10915"},"modified":"2015-05-25T14:44:07","modified_gmt":"2015-05-25T21:44:07","slug":"ccba-spring-conference-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/2015\/05\/25\/ccba-spring-conference-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"CCBA Spring Conference Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Mike Sardina<\/strong><\/em>
\n\"CCBA_colorlogo-jpeg\"<\/a>– “Ruler of the Underworld” @ Societe Brewing Company
\n– Vice President of the San Diego Brewers Guild<\/p>\n

Sitting in a room with 400 other people, Tom McCormick, the Executive Director of the California Craft Brewers Association (the \u201cCCBA\u201d), is up on stage at the CCBA\u2019s Spring Conference. Tom has arguably been one of the most vocal and ardent supporters of California beer for the last decade or so, and when he is speaking, this group of people listens. \u201cI need to correct a statement I made earlier,\u201d Tom says. \u201cCalifornia brewers don\u2019t just some great beer in this country, they brew the best f#ck!ng beer in the United States.\u201d Based on the reaction of the Conference attendees\u2014most of them representatives from brewery members of the CCBA\u2014they clearly agreed.<\/p>\n

\"@cacraftbrewers<\/a>
via Instagram @cacraftbrewers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beer is big in California, but of course, we here in San Diego already know that. We\u2019ve got 107 operational brew houses in the county. Across all of California, there are now over 550 independent, craft breweries, and projections have it at 600 total by the end of the year. The CCBA Conference, a bi-annual event that is held once each spring in Southern California and once each fall in Northern California, is the opportunity for the brewing community to get together to learn about the industry, to catch-up with old friends, to network with new friends, and enjoy some great beer.<\/p>\n

The two-day Conference held last week featured about a dozen educational workshops that covered important topics, including a legislative update on policy issues facing breweries in California, as well as a practical workshop on ABC (California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control) issues surrounding festivals and events and social media use. The drought, and concerns about water, was a major topic covered at the Conference. There was a panel for start-up breweries and breweries in planning, a workshop on brewhouse safety, and a workshop that covered the basics of distribution laws in California. There was a technical workshop on barrel-aged beers too\u2014Tomme Arthur (The Lost Abbey\/Port Brewing Company\/The Hop Concept) and Patrick Rue (The Bruery) shared technical insight and provided a guided tasting of beers like \u201cGrey Monday\u201d and \u201cRed Poppy.\u201d At 9:30 a.m.<\/p>\n

\"CCBAeconFlyer_hiRes\"<\/a>The Conference highlights came on Tuesday afternoon, when Lori Ajax, the Chief Deputy Director of the California ABC engaged in an open discussion about what the regulatory agency can do better in order to help promote the brewing industry in California. With an economic impact of $6.5 billion in 2014, beer is clearly important to our state. It is an encouraging sign to see more overall recognition of this fact\u2014at the governmental level and at the consumer level, alike.<\/p>\n

<\/a>The Conference concluded with a keynote presentation that was all about San Diego beer. Gina Marsaglia (Pizza Port Brewing Company), Lee Doxtader (Callahan\u2019s Pub), and Chris Cramer (Karl Strauss Brewing Company), with a combined 74 years of brewing experience in San Diego, sat on a panel with Vinnie Cilurzo to discuss the then-and-now of San Diego beer. Karl Strauss began operations in 1989, and Callahan\u2019s and Pizza Port were quick to follow. These three pioneers of San Diego beer discussed the significant changes they have witnessed\u2014in the licensing and permitting behind running a brewery, the sourcing of equipment and ingredients, the educational level of consumers, and the types of beer that people like to drink. \u201cBack then, people thought that dark beer came from the bottom of the keg, and that light beer was at the top,\u201d Lee Doxtader joked. \u201cThey thought the beer was darker because it was down there at the bottom.\u201d Go out in San Diego\u2014to any brewery Tasting Room, beer bar, or finer restaurant\u2014you\u2019ll find a thriving and vibrant brewing community, with awesome local examples of both dark and light beers. Poured out of separate kegs. We\u2019ve come a long way.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\"Vinnie<\/a>
Vinnie Cilurzo (Russian River Brewing Company); Gina Marsaglia (Pizza Port Brewing Company); Chris Cramer (Karl Strauss Brewing Company); and Lee Doxtader (Callahan’s Pub and San Diego Brewing Company).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The California Craft Brewers Association is hosting the first California Craft Beer Summit this fall in Sacramento, on September 11 \u2013 12, 2015.<\/p>\n

Every single craft brewer in California is invited to participate. The event will be the first of its kind, an interactive and experiential event that focuses on all things California Beer.<\/p>\n

The event will include a trade show, educational seminars, beer and food pairings, and of course, a beer festival.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit:\u00a0http:\/\/www.californiacraftbeer.com\/2015-craft-beer-summit<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mike Sardina – “Ruler of the Underworld” @ Societe Brewing Company – Vice President of the San Diego Brewers Guild Sitting in a room with 400 other people, Tom McCormick, the Executive Director of the California Craft Brewers Association (the \u201cCCBA\u201d), is up on stage at the CCBA\u2019s Spring Conference. Tom has arguably been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10915","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-san-diego-beer-beverage-news","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdtr4y-2Q3","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10915\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}