I was in San Diego, CA last month. My main reason for going was to attend the annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International. The conference was excellent and, in addition to learning about current research being done by fellow Regional Scientists, it was an occasion to re-connect with old friends and colleagues. It was also, however, an opportunity to participate in an event not connected with the conference – a panel discussion focused on the future of craft breweries and cities.

The panel discussion was organized by my friend, Julie Wartell and her colleague Vince Vasquez. Earlier this year, Julie and Vince, had published a book titled “Craft Breweries and Cities: Perspectives from the Field“. They had invited me to contribute a chapter on the topic of craft breweries as neighborhood assets. I happily accepted their invitation and, along with it, the challenge of saying everything I wanted to say on the topic in no more than 15 double-spaced pages.  For those who are interested, my chapter explored the role that craft breweries play in the adaptive reuse of abandoned buildings, neighborhood transformation, and serving as neighborhood gathering spots (aka Third Places). The panel discussion was partly an event to promote Julie and Vince’s book, but also to open up the topic (and discussion thereof) to a broader audience. In addition to myself, Julie, and Vince, Russ Gibbon of Blue Dome Consultants joined us on the panel.

Our host for the event was Blind Lady Ale House (also known by the acronym BLAH). Established in 2009, BLAH describes itself as “one of San Diego’s original indie beer bars and a pioneer in the Farm to Pizza movement in San Diego” and “one of San Diego’s earliest “nano breweries.” Blind Lady is located in Uptown San Diego, and is a vibrant hub of activity. They have live jazz every Thursday, vinyl nights on Friday and Saturday, and industry night on Monday. Our panel discussion that evening was followed by a performance by the Barnacle Boys. Speaking of our panel discussion, each of the panelists spoke about their respective chapters for about five minutes each. In addition, Jeff Motch, the owner of BLAH, provided his insights on the current state of the craft brewing industry.

I have read a lot of books about the craft brewing industry. Many of these have been written by academics, while others have been authored by well-known brewery owners (e.g. Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and Tony Magee of Lagunitas Brewing Company). In the latter, the authors focus on their own personal story and their journey to starting and growing a successful craft brewery business. The book by edited by Julie and Vince is a little different, however. Yes, there are contributions from academics such as me, and a chapter co-authored by Greg Koch of Stone Brewing. Many of the contributions, however, are from what might be broadly termed practitioners; people who work with the craft beer industry in some capacity. These include Kevin Ham (Director of Economic Development for the City of Vista, CA), Dustin Hauck (Hauck Architecture) who helps design craft breweries, Russ Gibbon (Blue Dome Consultants LLC) who assists craft breweries in navigating the swamp-like regulatory environment, Omar Passons (a former land use attorney), and Bart Watson (Chief Economist of the Brewers Association).

As an academic, I found the chapters by practitioners to be especially fascinating. This is mainly because they bring a completely different perspective to a topic than that often brought by those of us in academia. They bring a voice that, while different, is equally (maybe more) valuable. These are individuals who work with breweries and who are focused on finding solutions to problems and challenges. They do this by bringing their unique knowledge and expertise to the table. In many respects, they are focused on making the world a better place by getting things done – in many of the cases discussed in this book, the “getting things done” is assisting with the opening of a new brewery. As someone who researches and writes about the craft brewing industry, most of my focus is on the brewers and the breweries that provide me with beer. Contributing to this book and participating in this panel discussion was a reminder that there are many other people who are working, often quietly in the background, to help the industry be successful.

Further Reading:

Wartell, Julie and Vince Vasquez. Craft Breweries and Cities: Perspectives from the Field. Routledge Publishers.