Green Flash Brewing Company

Green Flash Brewing Co.
Independent
Industry Alcoholic beverage
Founded 2002
Founder Mike Hinkley (CEO)
Lisa Hinkley
Headquarters San Diego, CA, USA
Key people
 Erik Jensen (brewmaster)
Products Beer
Production output
 82,000 US barrels/year (2015)
Number of employees
 199[1]
Subsidiaries Alpine Beer Company
Website greenflashbrew.com

Green Flash Brewing Company is an American craft brewery headquartered in the Mira Mesa neighborhood of San Diego, California, and founded in 2002. As of 2015, it was the 4th-largest brewery in San Diego County and 41st-largest craft brewery in the United States based on sales volume, according to the National Brewers Association.[2] Green Flash is distributed across the US, as well as in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Singapore and Europe.[3]

In 2014, Green Flash acquired Alpine Beer Company, located nearby in Alpine, California.[3]

History

Green Flash was founded in 2002 by Mike and Lisa Hinkley.[4] Chuck Silva was brought on as brewmaster in 2004. During his 11-year tenure, Silva created a number of beers, including the West Coast IPA in 2005 and Le Freak in 2006. He left in September 2015 to open his own brewery, and Erik Jensen was promoted from head brewer to brewmaster.[5]

In June 2011, Green Flash moved from its original brewery in Vista, California, to its new 44,000 square-foot brewing facility in San Diego's Mira Mesa neighborhood.[5][6] In March 2013, Green Flash announced that it would open a second brewery in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with a capacity of 100,000 barrels per year, which would make it the third-largest brewery in Virginia.[7] The addition of the 58,000 square-foot Virginia Beach brewery, which is anticipated to open in the fall of 2016, will double Green Flash's nationwide supply of beer, and help move the beer to the East Coast market more efficiently. It will produce the same beers and have the same equipment as the company's San Diego brewery.[8][5] In 2015, Green Flash opened Cellar 3, a facility and tasting room featuring barrel-aged and bottle-conditioned beers, located in Poway, California.[5]

Products

Exterior of Green Flash Brewing Co. in San Diego in 2013

From its inception, Green Flash has specialized in IPAs,[8] building its reputation on aggressively flavored, innovative, highly hopped, high abv and high IBU beers, such as West Coast IPA, Palate Wrecker Hamilton’s Ale, and Le Freak.[7][9][10][11] In January 2016, Green Flash announced the national release of several new beers, including Passion Fruit Kicker (an American wheat ale with passion fruit), Cosmic Ristretto Baltic Porter with Espresso, and Tangerine Soul Style, an IPA with tangerine juice.[12] On May 6, 2016, Green Flash announced the national and year-round launch of three beers sold in cans: Jibe Session IPA, Passion Fruit Kicker and Sea to Sea Zwickel Lager.[13] Green Flash have won a number of product awards, including one of the gold awards for beer style at the 2008 World Beer Cup, and at the 2011 and 2015 Great American Beer Festival.[14][15][16]

Acquisitions and partnerships

In November 2014, Green Flash acquired Alpine Beer Company, with Alpine co-founders Pat and Val McIlhenney retaining control of their brews. Green Flash had been producing kegs of Alpine's Hoppy Birthday, Nelson and Duet starting in 2013, enabling Alpine to double its output to 3,000 barrels a year.[3] The acquisition allowed Alpine to increase production and expand nationally, beyond California, beginning in late-2015.[17][18][19]

In July 2014, Green Flash partnered with Belgium-based St. Feuillien Brewery to brew and sell the West Coast IPA in Europe,[20] making Green Flash the first American craft brewery to brew, bottle and distribute its IPA throughout Europe.[21]

Treasure Chest program

In 2011, Lisa Hinkely, a breast cancer survivor, launched Green Flash's Treasure Chest program. Each year, the annual charity event includes a new limited-release beer to raise money for local and national breast cancer-related charities.[22] The program begins with an annual festival, Treasure Chest Fest, at the Mira Mesa location.[23] Through 2015, it has raised over $220,000 for various regional breast cancer charities.[22][24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Manufacturers, San Diego Business Journal, April 1, 2016.
  2. ↑ Peter Rowe, "Ballast Point's Sculpin leads San Diego craft beers to robust growth in 2015," Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Peter Rowe, "Green Flash acquires Alpine," San Diego Union-Tribune, November 10, 2014.
  4. ↑ Lou Hirsh, "Green Flash Brewing Names Ross as COO," San Diego Business Journal, September 3, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Peter Rowe (28 September 2015), "Silva leaves Green Flash", The San Diego Tribune, San Diego, California, retrieved 7 June 2016
  6. ↑ Peter Rowe (May 3, 2011). "Prepare to see more -- much more -- Green Flash". Sign On San Diego. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  7. 1 2 Greg Kitsock, "Green Flash announces East Coast brewery in Virginia Beach," Washington Post, March 14, 2013.
  8. 1 2 "Green Flash to Open Memorial Day Weekend in VA Beach," Veer Magazine, January 15, 2016.
  9. ↑ David Kirkpatrick, "Green Flash Brewing Company," Boise Weekly, May 1, 2013.
  10. ↑ Marc Bona, "2 Green Flash Brewing Co. ales – Crack One Open," The Plain Dealer, October 13, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Green Flash West Coast IPA," Growler Magazine, December 4, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Green Flash Brewing Unveils 2016 Beer Lineup," The Full Pint, January 13, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Green Flash Brewing Debuts Three Canned Beers Nationally," Growler Magazine, May 6, 2016.
  14. ↑ "World Beer Cup 2008 Winners List" (PDF). Brewers Association. 2008. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  15. ↑ "Green Flash Palate Wrecker bottles roll out nationwide in March," Beerpulse.com, February 27, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Great American Beer Fest 2012 Winners List" (PDF). Great American Beer Festival. 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  17. ↑ Keith Grauman, "Alpine Beer Company Launches in Minnesota," Growler Magazine, May 13, 2015.
  18. ↑ Chris Rov Costa, "Brew Times Two Green Flash Brewing Co. Acquires Alpine Beer Co.," Edibles San Diego, March-April 2015.
  19. ↑ Chris Furnari, "Green Flash Taking Alpine Beer Company's Popular Double IPA Nationwide," Brewbound, October 5, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Green Flash, St-Feuillien reach deal to have West Coast IPA brewed, sold in Europe - BeerPulse".
  21. ↑ Jason Morgan, "Green Flash Brewing Co., Brewery St-Feuillien announce partnership to brew, bottle and distribute in Belgium," Craft Brewing Business, July 24, 2014.
  22. 1 2 "Beer of the Week goes pink: Green Flash Treasure Chest". 10 October 2015 – via washingtonpost.com.
  23. ↑ "Treasure Chest Fest".
  24. ↑ "Green Flash Brewing to Release 2016 'Treasure Chest' IPA to Support Breast Cancer," Brewbound, July 15, 2016.
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Coordinates: 32°54′24″N 117°10′39″W / 32.9068°N 117.1774°W / 32.9068; -117.1774

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