SAN DIEGO – Coronado Brewing Company and Pizza Port Brewing Company are two of San Diego’s pioneering breweries, and over the years the two have forged a deep and lasting friendship.
“I’ve known Gina, Vince, and the Pizza Port crew since back in the early days of the San Diego beer scene,” says Rick Chapman, Co-founder, Coronado Brewing Company. “Recently we got to talking and we realized we’ve never brewed together. We laughed and immediately got to work on this collaboration. Both of our brands have a lot of similarities—we’re both laid back, love our coastal lifestyle, and don’t take ourselves too seriously. It seemed like a home run to partner up.”
Gina Marsaglia, Co-Founder, Pizza Port Brewing Co., says, “We are so fortunate to have known Rick and the Coronado crew over the years and when the mere mention of a collaboration opportunity came up we immediately started the creative process. Seeing it come to fruition has been the best way to celebrate the amazing relationship we have built throughout time. Cheers!”
The concept for the two-part collaboration series centered on the theme “beers between piers”—a fun play on words as the two breweries are both peers in the craft industry, and the physical breweries are located to the north and south between beach piers. From there, the concept evolved to have Coronado Brewing releasing the first beer in the series: South of the Pier IPA, and Pizza Port releasing the second installment of the series, North of the Pier IPA.
“When we first met with the Pizza Port crew, we immediately knew we wanted to brew two different takes on IPAs. Both of our breweries are known for brewing IPAs, so we thought we’d have fun playing on the idea of North and South with the hop profiles,” says Mark Theisen, Head Brewer, Coronado Brewing Company.
Coronado’s take on the collab, South of the Pier IPA, is a classic west coast IPA brewed with Mosaic, Amarillo and southern hemisphere Waimea and Motueka hops. The beer is dry-hopped with two pounds of hops per barrel for a bright, tropical aroma with lingering sweet orange citrus notes.
“What I really love about this IPA is the huge fruit-forward aroma and flavor with a crisp, dry finish,” says Theisen. “We kept the malt bill simple to really let the hops shine and keep in line with that classic west coast profile.” Pizza Port’s take on the west coast IPA will feature northern hemisphere hops to play off the North of the Pier name. “We wanted our version to showcase Pacific Northwest and newer European hops to have a slightly different take on what we brewed with Coronado’s version. It was fun to showcase the difference in northern and southern hop profiles with our two beers,” says Sean Farrell, Director of Brewery Operations, Pizza Port (and former head brewer for Coronado Brewing Company).
South of the Pier IPA debuts at Coronado’s three locations and select Pizza Port locations on Friday, January 17. The beer will be available in 16oz can 4-packs and on draft, throughout Coronado’s distribution network. Pizza Port’s version of the collab, North of the Pier IPA, will release in May 2020, available in 16oz six-packs at its pub locations and wherever Pizza Port beer is sold. For more information about South of the Pier IPA, visit www.coronadobrewing.com. Stay Coastal. Cheers.
Beer Label Copy
Coronado Brewing and Pizza Port go way back. This collaboration celebrates the decades of friendship spent paving the way for craft beer in San Diego. The first release, South of the Pier IPA, is Coronado’s take on a West Coast IPA; brewed with a hefty dose of Southern Hemisphere hops for a bright, tropical aroma and crisp, dry finish. So, let’s raise a pint to good times, great friends, and Beers Between Piers (and peers)!
About Coronado Brewing Company
In 1996, when craft beer was still a foreign term and San Diego County was home to only a handful of breweries, the Chapman brothers Ron and Rick opened a brewpub in their hometown of Coronado. Today CBC stays true to its San Diego roots, brewing abundantly hoppy West Coast-style ales, which are available today in 14 US states and 12 countries. In addition to the long-established pub in Coronado, the company opened a tasting room inside its San Diego production facility in 2013, and a tasting room and restaurant in Imperial Beach, California in 2014. Coronado Brewing Company was honored in 2014 with one of the brewing industry’s most prestigious awards—World Beer Cup Champion Brewery and Brewmaster for a Mid-Size Brewing Company, and more recently, a bronze medal at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival for its Weekend Vibes IPA (American IPA category, 362 entries) and silver medal for its Freebooter Barleywine (Barley Wine-Style Ale category).