San Diego’s Mission Brewery Promotes John Egan, Grows 88% And…

San Diego, CA – Our head brewer, John Egan, has been promoted to a new role of Operations Manager/Head Brewer for Mission. In addition to running the brew house and overseeing all brewing and packaging, John will now manage all Mission employees and managers and oversee all operations at Mission.

A 12-year beer industry veteran, John joined Mission in 2010 after a 9-year stint at the mighty Stone Brewing, where he served as lead brewer. He has a wealth of experience managing beer production, people, and brewery growth.

“John has an outstanding track record of success,” says Mission Brewery founder Dan Selis, “and he understands the challenges that come with our industry. He’s also demonstrated strong leadership skills and professionalism throughout his career,” Selis adds. “That makes him immensely qualified for this new role, and we’re honored to have him lead Mission in this new position.”

This month John is also the focus of the revered “A Toast To…” feature on the back page of the new issue of The New Brewer. The magazine is the key industry publication of the Brewers Association, the Boulder, Colorado based trade group for America’s micro and craft brewers.

Mission Grows Up
Our 2013 beer production topped out at 8,900 barrels of delicious Mission beer. That’s an 88% increase over the 4,743 barrels of beer we crafted in 2012. Mission beers are currently sold in CA, CO, NV, AZ, IN, OH, PA, FL, MD, NC, VA and KY.

Homebrewers Overtake Mission
Our recent hosting of the American Homebrewers Association membership rally was a blast. Over 200 San Diego homebrewers and beer nuts joined us for private tours, special beers, brewer Q & A sessions and beer-powered fun.

Attendees also participated in the hopping of a triple IPA we brewed during the rally. That beer – 200 Human IIIPA – was built with hop additions (including Warrior, Cascade, Centennial, Zythos and Simcoe hops) pitched by rally goers. The result is a bodacious, ultra-hoppy beer of 11.5% ABV, 100+ IBUs and 200+ HHUs (homebrewer hopping units). We’ll tap it at our tasting room on February 19.

Rally attendee Tom Kelly won the grand raffle prize of the event, he won the right to brew a beer of his design with our Mission brewing team. We’ll brew the beer in March, we’ll have more details on that beer in a few weeks.

Homebrewers Overtake San Diego in 2015
At the rally, AHA director Gary Glass was on hand to mingle with homebrewers and make a big announcement: The 2015 American Homebrewers Conference will take place in San Diego at the Town & Country Resort & Conference Center.

Mission Cannons Roll East
Our quart cannons are rolling into Ohio and Florida and a few other Mission states. We’re excited to be putting cannons in the hands of beer lovers across the nation, and happy to be finding more fans of our supreme quarts. We’re now planning a third 32-ounce cannon for release later this year.

About Mission Brewery
Mission Brewery was opened in 2007 by Dan Selis and his wife Sarah Selis. The two were successful but disenchanted members of the mortgage-banking business prior to opening Mission. “The more bored I got with real estate finance,” Dan recalls, “the more I dreamed of turning my homebrewing hobby into my career.”

Mission Brewery is located in an 1894 structure in downtown San Diego, on the edge of the city’s popular Gas Lamp District. In the mid 1900s, the building (now on the National Historic Register) served as a Wonder Bread bakery. The building’s unique feature –Wonder Bread’s old flour silo – is repurposed as Mission’s grain silo and mill.

The building is also home to Mission’s popular tasting room, which features a pair of lengthy bars, one of which allows customers to drink within reach of the brewers and their brewing equipment. The brewery’s name is a nod to one of San Diego’s first breweries, founded in 1913 and shuttered when Prohibition began.

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