SAN GABRIEL>> Locals knew him as the “Beer Nazi,” a la the cantankerous soup chef from the TV show “Seinfeld.”

Affectionately, of course.

Sam Samaniego had no shortage of specialty craft and imported beers at his San Gabriel restaurant The Stuffed Sandwich, but you had to work for it. And it was that playful, cranky character and his intense love and appreciation for the local beer industry that made the beer and sandwich legend a pioneer for Los Angeles’ craft beer community.

Samaniego died Wednesday after a long illness.

Kelly Sycz, of Eagle Rock Brewery, said a trip to The Stuffed Sandwich was always unique. Diners who wanted beer had to bring their own glass, otherwise they had to drink out of a small Styrofoam cup filled to the very top.

“You couldn’t pick it up, you would have to lean over and sip it, because Sam said he didn’t want any of his beer spilling,” Sycz said. “If you ordered a really rare beer, Sam would kind of quiz you about it and if he felt like you didn’t know about it he wouldn’t serve it to you. He loved the beer so much and he wanted to make sure it was going to somebody who really appreciated it. There aren’t a lot of people like that anymore.”

And even his regular lunch crowd, which included many San Gabriel residents and a host of law enforcement officers, got an earful as they munched on the famous stuffed sandwiches and homemade soups.

“He always gave me trouble because one time I came in and I ended up talking to everyone and so I left and never paid my bill. Well I eventually paid it but every time I was there he said, ‘Oh this guy, he’s a politician, he’ll never pay,’” former San Gabriel Councilman Harry Baldwin said. “He liked San Gabriel and he was a big part of San Gabriel and he’s going to be missed.”

Samaniego and his wife, Marlene, opened The Stuffed Sandwich on Las Tunas Boulevard in 1976 and made it their mission to put beer on the map in a time when brew pubs and small batch beers were virtually nonexistent. As more craft breweries began to spring up from San Diego to Oregon, Samaniego threw his full support behind every one of them.

“Sam cellared beers decades before it was commonly understood. Sam pioneered craft beer decades before it was popular. Sam helped introduce countless thousands to craft beer and its depth. I was one of them,” said Greg Koch, ounder and CEO of San Diego based Stone Brewing Co. “I remember getting a serious lump in my throat when Sam told me in 1996 that he thought our beers were “pretty good” (a compliment on the highest order from Sam), and he and his wonderful wife Marlene were among the very earliest supporters of Stone. What a pioneer and a leader, but even more so, Sam was simply a “go his own way” type of person. A true one-of-a-kind.”

The beer fanatic, who also appreciated his fair share of wines, was also a supporter of homebrewers, attending the annual Southern California Homebrewers Festival and sampling every beer on tap. Samaniego also hosted an annual holiday beer tasting with The Maltose Falcons, a homebrew club based in Woodland Hills.

“He would always walk around with his wax mustache and bowler hat and a wee tiny cup and he would walk around to each of the homebrew clubs and ask them to pour him a little sample of all the beers,” said Drew Beechum, a Pasadena homebrewer and beer blogger and author. “I remember when I first started brewing at home and I knew about Sam and I met him it was kind of a big thing when he showed up I thought, ‘Oh I hope he likes my beer’.”

In addition to his support for beer makers throughout the region, Samaniego’s passion for beer and seemingly unlimited supply of rare brews at The Stuffed Sandwich earned him his own legendary reputation in the beer world. “There was also this rumor that floated around that he has multiple warehouses stashed around the San Gabriel Valley that has incredible amounts of beer, all these secret little treasure caves,” Beechum said. “You don’t really see a lot of beer drinkers that have sort of legendary rumors floating around about them.”

Beechum added that the last two years, with the passing of Samaniego and Lucky Baldwin’s co-founder David Farnworth in 2011, the L.A. craft beer community has lost two big names.

“For the longest time it was pretty well true that if you wanted to have a good beer you best be prepared to drive to San Gabriel or Pasadena,” Beechum said. “We’ve lost one of he founding voices of craft beer. A lot of people pay attention to the brewers, the guys who are out there making the beer, but people forget that the pub owners are the ones who provide that communal space where you run into the people that have the same passion. They can do a lot of to foster that level of craft beer.”