For our first interview we connected with Ivan Maldonado, Senior Brewer at Fall Brewing Company in San Diego and Co-Founder of Silenus Cerveza Artesanal in Tijuana. We are grateful for the opportunity to hear from him and learn some interesting things about brewing and beer across the border.

First, tell us about your background. What was your journey to becoming a professional brewer?

I started in the industry as a keg washer for Coronado Brewing which is how I got my foot in the industry. I moved on to delivery driver, to bottling line, and eventually to cellar man. From there, I moved on to Saint Archer Brewing as an assistant brewer working with Ray Astimendi and Kim Lutz . Around then, I started a small brewery in Tijuana with two friends, Silenus Cerveza Artesanal. From there I got a job at Mission Brewery as cellar man and cask-master. I was only there for about three months when Belching Beaver offered me a brewer position and I took it. Really thankful to the Beaver family for giving me that chance to brew. I was living in Tijuana at the time and driving to Vista everyday for almost 2 years so it was really killing me. Having worked with Ray before, I met with him and Nick to see if I could join the Fall crew and a couple of weeks later I was hired on. This is where I currently call home, along with still running my small brewery in Tijuana. I’m very lucky to have had such a wide spectrum on how small and large breweries work.

It sounds like you’ve put in a lot of work to get a really interesting and fun career path. Since you’ve done brewing work on both sides of the border, what are some of the differences you notice?

The palate of the beer drinker from Baja California is evolving all the time. I remember in the beginning people down in Mexico were all about the stouts, browns, and porters (mostly anything that was dark) and if I think about it that makes sense. We grew up with only two breweries in Mexico which was Cauhtemoc Monctezuma (Tecate) and Grupo Modelo (Corona), so when we started brewing these darker heavier beers people were loving them. Before, the darkest beers in peoples knowledge was Negra Modelo and Bohemia were dark beers but of course they’re not. Now you have a big HopHead culture coming in with Baja California brewing some very hop forward beers. Having San Diego as our neighbor made it easy to do some R&D. Right now you have this awesome boom with lagers coming back strong to California and BC is starting to get into the hoppy side of things.

You have worked at a lot of great breweries. What are some of your favorite beers that you have worked on?

I’ve had the chance to work with a variety of styles in beer. The ones that come to mind for me as my personal favorite is a tough one. At Coronado, I have always enjoyed the Islander IPA. It was always exciting when we dry hopped it because we know within a few days we would get it in bottles and get to take some home fresh of the bottling line.

At Saint Archer, I got the chance to work on the cask program and loved casks ever since. It was always fun playing with different combination of hops and fruits. In Silenus my favorite beer is probably our Black Rye IPA (Inmortal). Its very hop forward and despite being jet black it goes down smooth with almost no roasted character. At Belching Beaver I had the opportunity to brew most of the beers. But, when we brewed the BBA Imperial Horchata Stout for the 2nd anniversary it was the first time I had done barrel work and an adjunct beer. I also always enjoyed Rabid Beaver Rye IPA.

At Fall, I have a few favorites. Plenty for All Pilsner is one of my favorite beers that we brew and was also one of the reasons I wanted to join the Fall Brewing crew. Rods and Mocker ESB on nitro was one of my favorites. Right now we have been working with a rotating IPA series called Weekend Pirate and i really have enjoyed both drinking and brewing these beers. JinxRemover is our Imperial Black lager that we put into bourbon barrels and we took gold at WBC for this one last year. I really enjoy that beer.

Wow, sounds like we need to go find some of these beers. Do you have any advice for home brewers who want to make a crisp, clean San Diego style IPA?

When brewing SD style IPAs I feel like simplicity goes a long way. Simple malt bill and having fun with the hop combinations. Play with your hop times, anywhere from mash hops to first wort or later hop additions like going mostly all whirlpool. Hop layering is something I enjoy and find very interesting. Finding hops that can play off of each other, or using some hops to kind of push forward aromas and flavors in other hops. Fermentation between 68-70 degrees and dry hop if possible at the same temperature.

Is there anything going on in craft beer that particularly excites you?

In 10 years I see the industry bigger than ever I suppose. With more people able to get craft beer globally, the demand will keep rising. I also see more and more countries getting into the craft beer revolution. Just what is happening in Mexico is a sign that craft beer is a force to be reckoned with. It’s very exciting to see how far we can take this craft beer boom even with some of the bumps on the way. Lager making a comeback is what is really motivating me and seeing all the classic styles being brewed around California.

Thanks again, Ivan Maldonado, for giving us the opportunity to hear your story and learn more about what’s happening in craft beer.