Mom always said you were a special little snowflake. But Mom wasn’t talking about craft breweries and she didn’t know there would be a blizzard’s worth in San Diego. With all those snowflakes, a couple are bound to be pretty similar.
Jacob McKean, founder of Modern Times Beer, hopes to be one of the special snowflakes. Modern Times is well on their way, too, laying out how they will break the mold over a series of four blogs on their website (scroll near the bottom). Aside from ideology, the blog details their cans- a collaboration with Helms Workshop to produce 16oz cans that “’are so devastatingly tasteful, a koozie would be a crime,’” says Jason. A more recent development is their coffee roasting. McKean says he’s always been a coffee hobbyist. The former communications specialist for Stone Brewing Co. found a coffee roaster on Craiglist and jumped on the opportunity. Considering it takes 20lbs of coffee per batch for their Black House Stout, uniting both passions under one roof was a no brainer. They will be roasting the coffee for the beer as well as selling it bagged and are one of only a handful of breweries in the country making their own coffee.
Jacob recently enlisted a couple other local know-it-alls to aid the cause. Matt Walsh will be the head brewer, a guy who has spent time as head brewer at Lost Coast, Speakeasy Ales & Lagers and Karl Strauss Brewing Co. He will maintain the quality, consistency and generally oversee a smooth production. Derek Freese, head brewer at Monkey Paw Pub & Brewery will manage the tasting room as well as do some sales work. Alex Tweet was a brewer and cask czar at Ballast Point, responsible for a couple specialty casks called “Indra Kunindra” (a curry stout) and “Victory at Cereal” (utilizing Cap’n Crunch). He will assist with the barrel program and office work, as he’s had some corporate experience.
The 12,000 square foot Point Loma location (3725 Greenwood St) hopes to be open this summer.
Here is a photo of their fire engine-like coffee roaster:
UPDATE: Modern Times Beer
UPDATE: Modern Times Beer
