Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

San Diego homebrewers pace the nation

QUAFF reclaims best homebrew club title, and best in show

The National Homebrew Competition's 2016 homebrewer of the year, Nick Corona
The National Homebrew Competition's 2016 homebrewer of the year, Nick Corona

Professional brewers aren't the only ones who amass medals in San Diego. At the National Homebrew Competition held in Baltimore the second weekend of June, several local brewers came away winners. San Marcos resident Nick Corona earned the homebrewer of the year distinction, leading a group of six San Diegans to earn medals in 31 style categories.

Five of those winners belong to San Diego homebrewing club QUAFF, aka the Quality Ale and Fermentation Fraternity. This showing earned the club the coveted homebrew club award. QUAFF has not won this accolade since taking it five years in a row between 2002 and 2006.

According to current QUAFF president Dominic Fountain, QUAFF has more than 330 members countywide. He says that following its dominant run in the early 2000s, several members have been determined to return the club to prominence in national competition. Headed by members Travis Hammond and Doug Brown, the brewers rallied around a subgroup called Team Quaff.

"It's really through their efforts that they've rallied the best brewers in the club to showcase their beers at the national level," Fountain explains.

Sponsored
Sponsored

According to an unofficial history compiled by QUAFF president emeritus Greg Lorton, since 1997, QUAFF members have accumulated 103 medals at the national competition, 33 of them gold. Nick Corona, however, is the first to win homebrewer of the year.

Corona got the title when the hefeweizen he entered won gold in the German wheat & rye beer category, then bested all the other gold-medal-winning beers in a final round of judging to be named best in show — the contest's top beer overall.

The casino manager has been homebrewing since he first tried craft beer in 2012, drinking a Maharaja imperial IPA made by Boulder's Avery Brewing Co. "I fell in love with the taste," he says, "and I went from looking for 50-cent cans to looking for 10- to 15-dollar bottles of beer."

Corona joined QUAFF in 2013. He credits the club for building his confidence and helping refine his award-winning recipe, which has also won ribbons in local homebrewing contests.

"To win a national medal was one of my goals," Corona recalls. "To get a national medal really means you're competing with the best of the best across the country." Although he insists, "To win best in show was the furthest thing from my mind." Another of his goals is to go pro. "The finish line for me is to own and operate a brewery," he says.

It would definitely not be an unprecedented move. Too many QUAFF members to mention have found success in the brewing industry. AleSmith founder Skip Vergilio was an early member, as was current owner Peter Zien. So were Paul Sangster and Guy Shobe, founders of reigning very small brewery of the year Rip Current Brewing. QUAFF's most prolific medal winner, Jamil Zainasheff, won 25 medals before founding Heretic Brewing in Northern California. Six-time medalist Kelsey McNair hopes to open his long-anticipated North Park Beer Co. at the end of this month.

QUAFF medal winners

Ryan Reschan of Vista won gold medal for Pilsner

Curt Wittenberg of Encinitas won gold for Other American Ale

Nick Corona won gold/best for show German Wheat & Rye Beer

Mike Habrat of San Diego won silver for Traditional Mead

Tim Wang of Carlsbad won bronze medal for Light Hybrid Beer

Other San Diego winners

Jeremy Castellano of San Diego won silver medal for Pilsner

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
The National Homebrew Competition's 2016 homebrewer of the year, Nick Corona
The National Homebrew Competition's 2016 homebrewer of the year, Nick Corona

Professional brewers aren't the only ones who amass medals in San Diego. At the National Homebrew Competition held in Baltimore the second weekend of June, several local brewers came away winners. San Marcos resident Nick Corona earned the homebrewer of the year distinction, leading a group of six San Diegans to earn medals in 31 style categories.

Five of those winners belong to San Diego homebrewing club QUAFF, aka the Quality Ale and Fermentation Fraternity. This showing earned the club the coveted homebrew club award. QUAFF has not won this accolade since taking it five years in a row between 2002 and 2006.

According to current QUAFF president Dominic Fountain, QUAFF has more than 330 members countywide. He says that following its dominant run in the early 2000s, several members have been determined to return the club to prominence in national competition. Headed by members Travis Hammond and Doug Brown, the brewers rallied around a subgroup called Team Quaff.

"It's really through their efforts that they've rallied the best brewers in the club to showcase their beers at the national level," Fountain explains.

Sponsored
Sponsored

According to an unofficial history compiled by QUAFF president emeritus Greg Lorton, since 1997, QUAFF members have accumulated 103 medals at the national competition, 33 of them gold. Nick Corona, however, is the first to win homebrewer of the year.

Corona got the title when the hefeweizen he entered won gold in the German wheat & rye beer category, then bested all the other gold-medal-winning beers in a final round of judging to be named best in show — the contest's top beer overall.

The casino manager has been homebrewing since he first tried craft beer in 2012, drinking a Maharaja imperial IPA made by Boulder's Avery Brewing Co. "I fell in love with the taste," he says, "and I went from looking for 50-cent cans to looking for 10- to 15-dollar bottles of beer."

Corona joined QUAFF in 2013. He credits the club for building his confidence and helping refine his award-winning recipe, which has also won ribbons in local homebrewing contests.

"To win a national medal was one of my goals," Corona recalls. "To get a national medal really means you're competing with the best of the best across the country." Although he insists, "To win best in show was the furthest thing from my mind." Another of his goals is to go pro. "The finish line for me is to own and operate a brewery," he says.

It would definitely not be an unprecedented move. Too many QUAFF members to mention have found success in the brewing industry. AleSmith founder Skip Vergilio was an early member, as was current owner Peter Zien. So were Paul Sangster and Guy Shobe, founders of reigning very small brewery of the year Rip Current Brewing. QUAFF's most prolific medal winner, Jamil Zainasheff, won 25 medals before founding Heretic Brewing in Northern California. Six-time medalist Kelsey McNair hopes to open his long-anticipated North Park Beer Co. at the end of this month.

QUAFF medal winners

Ryan Reschan of Vista won gold medal for Pilsner

Curt Wittenberg of Encinitas won gold for Other American Ale

Nick Corona won gold/best for show German Wheat & Rye Beer

Mike Habrat of San Diego won silver for Traditional Mead

Tim Wang of Carlsbad won bronze medal for Light Hybrid Beer

Other San Diego winners

Jeremy Castellano of San Diego won silver medal for Pilsner

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Next Article

Best Sports Betting Sites - 10 Online Sportsbooks Ranked for 2024

Best Sports Betting Sites (2024) - Reviews of TOP Online Sportsbooks
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.