San Diego's AleSmith Brewing To Unveil In-House Cheese Program | CheeseSmith Artisan Creamery To Grand Open On August 10

August 8, 2019

This weekend, iconic San Diego craft brewery Alesmith Brewing will unveil its in-house cheese brand, CheeseSmith Artisan Creamery, as part of the company's 24th anniversary celebration.

After Peter Zien purchased AleSmith Brewery from Skip Virgilio (who is now head brewer at Gravity Heights Brewing) in 2002, he began giving spent grain to a single farmer in Ramona who would use the byproduct to feed her livestock. Eventually, the farmer began giving Zien raw goats milk in exchange, which the Midwest-native would use to make chevre and herbs de Provence. Eventually Zien started bringing his cheeses to the brewery and they were a smash hit. Peter also took five cheese making courses at Cal Poly SLO between 2009 and 2017 where best practices were taught by some of the industry’s top instructors. He continued his caseiculture hobby and eventually started competing in contests. When he won Best of Show at the San Diego County Fair, he realized there may be a prosperous future in his new passion.

AleSmith owner Peter Zien proudly showing off his cheese.
Once Alesmith relocated into its more 100,000 square foot brewing facility in Miramar, Zien began the planning to take his hobby to the nnext level. As of last fall, CheeseSmith was producing a variety of cheeses, including one made with aged Horny Devil, a Nut Brown Ale cheese, and a Speedway Stout cheddar rolled in Vietnamese coffee. After nearly 4 years of R&D and with the brewery finally receiving its license to serve food, AleSmith's new cheese room is ready to unveil. Starting this Saturday, August 10, CheeseSmith Artisan Creamery will grand open, offering an array of cheeses for sale at the AleSmith Brewery, as well as cheese and beer pairing events taking place over the weekend. Zien hopes to sell his cheeses to area restaurants in the near future and even may launch his own eatery on the AleSmith campus.

AleSmith Brewing Company will be celebrating its 24th anniversary with a weekend of special events from Friday, August 9 through Sunday, August 11, featuring an art exhibition, live music, and the release of several new AleSmith beers. The brewery will also host a special CheeseSmith Artisan Creamery pairing event.

AleSmith Brewing Company and CheeseSmith are located at 9990 AleSmith Court in San Diego's Miramar area. For more informationn, visit alesmith.com.