JUNE 2015 BCBusiness 57
At first, when i hear that my tour of San
Diego's microbrewers will involve
a chaueured Lincoln Navigator, I
sco. How indulgent, I think. But in
Southern California—where everyone
and everything is separated by miles
of blacktop, and public transit is as
rare as rain—I quickly come to appre-
ciate the personalized service oered
by Brew Hop, the city's original brew-
ery tour company. Especially after a
second ‚ight of beer, at 4 p.m. in the
afternoon, with no food in sight.
Tony Wulfekuhle, an ex-marine
from Iowa, is behind the wheel in
early March as we shuttle between
three of San Diego's more popular
local brewers: Mike Hess Brewing,
Coronado Brewing Company and
Modern Times Beer. Wulfekuhle,
now in his late 20s, ‹rst became
aŒliated with Brew Hop in 2007 as
a customer—on one of his furloughs
from the Navy. When he left the Navy
to attend San Diego State University a
few years back, the craft beer enthu-
siast decided to oer his services as a
Brew Hop tour guide to help pay his
way through school. "The hardest
part, though, is not drinking," he says
with a trace of a midwestern drawl,
"especially when it's a beer you've
never had."
In the eyes of many craft beer a‹-
cionados, San Diego (named "Ameri-
ca's Beer Capital" by Time magazine)
Beer
Number
One
W
BCBUSINESS.CA
HOT HOOD, COOL BEER
Mike Hess Brewing operates
out of North Park, a popular
neighbourhood in San Diego
for craft brewers
T r a v e l
Best known for its surf, sun
and zoo, San Diego also has a
growing reputation for being
the mecca of craft beer
by Matt O'Grady
J U N E 2 0 15
O
OU T OF OFFICE
INSIDE
Cibo Trattoria + Propaganda Coffee ... Salmon Party! ... Lunch with Charles Chang
San Diego County alone has
nearly 100 breweries micro-
breweries and brewpubs–more
than all of B.C., and up from
just 37 in 2011
