San Diego, Calif. – San Diego Brewers Guild, a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization that promotes local small businesses and entrepreneurs of craft beer, this week appointed Haley Smith of Oceanside’s Belching Beaver Brewery as President of its Board of Directors for the 2023 calendar year. Executive Director Paige McWey Acers made the announcement.
Smith assumes the role of President after last year serving as Vice President and Secretary. She first joined the Board in 2020 as a Director. The Point Loma native, who has worked at Belching Beaver since 2016 and is currently its Director of Marketing, replaces Coronado Brewing’s Rick Chapman at the top position.
“Haley is a superstar within the industry and I am excited to see her lead a talented group of board members, representing all member breweries in America’s Finest City and The Capital of Craft ™,” McWey Acers said. “There is certainly no shortage of beer knowledge on our 2023 Board.”
“The craft beer industry is still recovering from the pandemic and there is a lot of work to do,” Smith said. “But I embrace the challenge, look forward to helping all our member breweries, and make sure one of the nationwide beer spotlights remains on San Diego.”
The complete 2023 Board of Directors:
President – Haley Smith, Belching Beaver Brewery
President Emeritus – Rick Chapman, Coronado Brewing Co.
Vice President – Jake Nunes, Burgeon Beer Company
Treasurer – Bryan Carpenter, LevitZacks CPA
Secretary – Chris Leguizamon, Pure Project
Director – Erik Fowler, White Labs Brewing Co.
Director – Tim Parker, Chula Vista Brewery
Director – Marc Martin, Thorn Brewing Co.
Director – John McMullen, Resident Brewing Co.
The Brewers Guild also announced most of its events for the year. They include:
2nd-Annual SD Beer Weekend – June 9-11
45th-Annual Homebrew Con – June 22-24
*Produced by American Homebrewers Association
San Diego Craft Beer Con – August date TBD
9th-Annual Brewers Guild Golf Tournament – September 7
15th-Annual San Diego Beer Week – November 3-12
The Brewers Guild also sponsors a Tap Into Knowledge educational series throughout the year, and the first event on January 25 is “New Year, New Laws” to discuss how the State of California’s new laws affect breweries as employers, as well as changes to Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) laws.
Individual brewery events for throughout the year are posted on the Brewers Guild’s calendar.
San Diego County is known as The Capital of Craft™, a moniker that was trademarked in 2015. San Diego has the most craft brewery locations among all counties in the United States with more than 150. The Brewers Guild, which is celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022, was founded in 1997 with 15 breweries.
