Who IS West Coaster Southern California?

The Full Pint engaged in a partnership last month, in which we renamed our 6th Anniversary Party, “The Full Pint 6th Anniversary Celebration Sponsored by West Coaster SoCal.”  For some of you, you might have scratched your head saying “Who or what is West Coaster SoCal?”  Well, I would love to fill you all in exactly who they are.

Let’s jump into the craft beer time machine and go back to the 2010 San Diego Strong Ale Festival.  Jonny and I were a few strong ales in, passing out business cards and stickers, when we saw a couple of young lads walking around in brewer work shirts, passing out full color beer newspapers.  “What the hell is this?” I asked Jonny.  We thought to ourself, it’s hard enough giving away beer content online only, how are these guys going to survive doing it in color print?  We proceeded to introduce ourselves to West Coaster’s Mike Shess and Ryan Lamb to welcome them to “the scene” and to see what the deal was.  Very much like the story of Jonny and Danny Full Pint, Ryan and Mike were college friends who were in search of beer events and beer news for all of San Diego.  San Diego, for all intents and purposes, is the beer capital of the world. With over 70 breweries, it’s very hard to keep track of every bottle release, every anniversary party, tasting room hours, food truck rollups, etc.  Partially out of necessity, Ryan and Mike decided to cover the territory, to provide a service to bright eyed craft beer lovers who wanted that type of info at their fingertips.  That, was the birth of West Coaster San Diego.

Hop back in the craft beer time machine to present day and West Coaster has turned their passionate project into a viable business and service to the San Diego metro.  Like any business doing things right, they are expanding to cover from the SLO area all the way down to San Clemente (in Orange County).  We can tell you first hand that at the rate of Los Angeles breweries opening up, there is tons of news and events to be covered just in this city. Covering the amazing beer culture in Orange County up to Santa Barbara shouldn’t be hard either.

So why partner up with The Full Pint you ask?  Because there is power in numbers, and we became instant friends with Mike and Ryan after they joined the scene. From my heart, I can tell you that these guys and their publication are sincere and straight shooting.  They get in the trenches around the clock to cover the beer industry, they aren’t looking for industry perks, they are driven, and they are good people to be associated with.  It’s our hope that you check them out, and give them a chance for yourself by picking up a West Coaster SoCal rag at your local craft beer bar. If you don’t see it there, follow this link and tell these boys they missed a spot 😉  Thanks for listening to us.

Straight Facts About West Coaster San Diego/ Southern California

• West Coaster born in the summer of 2010 after hatching the plan in Madrid, Spain
• Native San Diegans
• New goal is to find more contributors, e-mail [email protected] if you are interested
• Current So Cal contributers include Greg Nagel (ocbeerblog.com), Tomm Carroll (Celebrator Beer News’ LA correspondent), Sam Tierney (Firestone Walker brewer), Erika Bolden (covering the Santa Barbara scene), Randy Clemens (author and foodie), Nickie Peña (Stone indoctrination specialist), and Bernie Wire (Friends of Local Beer Photographer). Oh yeah, Franny Fullpint has signed on to do a few pieces for them.