Karl Strauss recently re-released its original Amber Lager. A day later, I slid into a booth with a pint. One sip and I was taken back in time.
I turned 21 the same month Karl Strauss opened its doors in 1989. A few months later, I walked from Comic-Con into Karl Strauss and ordered an Amber Lager. My taste buds popped, my face lit up, and everything I thought I knew about beer changed. I very literally grew up with the San Diego craft beer industry.
From Karl Strauss, I found my way to Hops! Brewery and Bistro at UTC in La Jolla, where craft beers from near and far were served. I distinctly remember a Scottish ale that became a favorite. A fun, San Diego beer history fact: Paul Segura (brew master, Karl Strauss) was the head brewer for Hops! and his assistant brewer was Chuck Silva (Green Flash).
As hop bitterness took off with the ubiquitous Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in the mid-90s, I added Karl Strauss Pale Ale (later called Pintail Pale) to my list. Love of hops led me to Stone Brewing (1996) and Pizza Port in Carlsbad (1997). These pioneers of craft beer, along with Coronado Brewing and AleSmith, not only changed the way we drink and view beer, but they also made beer a cornerstone of the San Diego experience.
The number of brewers who got their starts at these founding breweries is astounding. It speaks volumes about the relationships and nurturing they have done to help each new generation of brewers find their place in the market.
But mapping the history can be unclear. Luckily, we don’t have to. That’s the work of Judith Downie, curator of the Brewchive at Cal State San Marcos. Downie has collected artifacts, oral histories, videos and documents to preserve San Diego’s beer history and help tell the story to others.
Touring the Brewchive collection with Downie is not only a stroll down brewery lane, it is a history lesson.
ILB: How many of San Diego’s Breweries do you have documented?
Downie: Every single brewery that even thought about opening up in San Diego, I have a dossier for, going back to 1868.
ILB: Who was the first?
Downie: Chollas Valley Brewing in southeast San Diego.
ILB: Any we have never heard of?
Downie: Barrel Rescue for one. They were only open one day. They built their brewery, and then their landlord jacked up the rent. They pencilled it out and said, ‘We can’t do this.’ So they opened for one day so everyone could drink their beer, and then closed.
ILB: Is it difficult to collect artifacts?
Downie: When I first started, I would go into breweries and explain what we were doing. And everyone got very excited, thinking what they were doing was special enough to preserve. Greg Koch of Stone gave us 650 boxes of gear to get started.
ILB: How do you find new artifacts for the collection?
Downie: Some people track me down. I go out and get things. At beer festivals, I’m really bad. I take a sip of beer and then grab the coasters, koozies or whatever else they’ve got out there.
ILB: From your perspective as a historian, why is beer history important?
Downie: The beer story touches on so many issues in American history. It examines gender, culture, diversity, and economic and legislative issues from Prohibition to COVID. It looks at psychology and sociology. There are so many ways to use beer as a vehicle to understand history.
The CSUSM Brewchive collection can be previewed at brewchive.org or in person by appointment. Downie and the CSUSM library anxiously await the special collections space that will display the collection.
So, back to that Karl Strauss Amber Lager. It was the beer my wife and I insisted on having for our wedding in 1995. It was the beer we bought by the case, iced up, and took to Padres games throughout the 1998 season, all the way through the playoffs.
It was the beer I was drinking in 2002 when Karl Strauss himself came over to our booth and chatted with us. And on a December evening in 2025, it was the beer that took me back through all those years and memories.
Jeff Spanier is the co-host of I Like Beer the Podcast. The full interview with Judith Downie is available wherever you get podcasts. Follow Spanier’s adventures on Instagram @ilikebeerthepodcast.
