San Diego’s Only Brew on Premises
TASTING ROOM OPEN!
3PM – 8PM Wed – Sat
Brewing Appointments Available
11AM – 6PM Wed – Sun
5837 Mission Gorge Rd, Ste A
San Diego, California
(760) 587-7989
Citizen Brewers is a brew on premises, do-it-yourself facility where craft beer enthusiasts can gather and brew on professional equipment. At Citizen Brewers, you design and create personalized quality beer. Citizen Brewers is for anyone who is interested in brewing beer for themselves and are looking for a streamlined, guided process. Whether this is your first time or hundredth time brewing beer, we want this to be a personalized and fun experience.
Beer Styles
Choose whatever style of beer you like from the list of house recipes below, or bring in your own recipe or ingredients (if they are not already available) and we will help you design your beer. Many other styles are also available upon request. Please note that sour or barrel-aged beers are advanced styles and require consultation prior to brewing.
Each batch yields about 90 – 100 16 oz can, or one 50L keg. This is less than $4 per can! The cost of each batch with can and labels are listed below. You can also bring in your own keg and pay just the base cost. Tax is included in the cost.
Our beers are crafted using all natural ingredients. This makes the best quality beer, but also reduces shelf life. Keep your beer in a cool, dark place, ideally in a refrigerator. The beer will be at its best if consumed within two months.
| Style | Cost per Batch (beer only) | Cost with Cans | ABV | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| India Pale Ale | $250 | $350 | ~7.0% | Do you want an IPA? Our spin on this quintessential West Coast style is loaded with grapefruit, orange, mango, and pineapple all from hops. |
| Double IPA | $270 | $370 | ~8.7% | A hop bomb loaded with citrus, tropical, and spicy dankness. The malt takes a back seat to the hop explosion on this one. Unless you love big hop-forward beers, steer clear of this. It even gets a big load of Dry Hops. |
| India Pale Lager | $250 | $350 | ~7.0% | A spin on our IPA with even more emphasis on refreshing tropical fruit hops. Fermented colder and slower with a lager yeast to give it that unique clean character. Ahhhh! Smooth. Adding a Dry Hopping to this style is recommended. |
| Kölsch Style | $230 | $330 | ~4.7% | A unique refreshing lager from Cologne, Germany. Often called a Fancy Lawnmower Beer, this lager is perfect after a day in the San Diego sunshine. This Kölsch Style is blonde with Pilsner malt. German Nobel hops and special Kölsch yeast give it some subtle floral and pear notes. Fermented in in our special cold chamber. |
| American Amber Ale | $230 | $330 | ~5.5% | A ruby colored American Ale packed with lots of caramel and toasty malt. Hops season this amber with citrusy grapefruit and spiciness. Fermented with a West Coast yeast for a clean profile. |
| Bavarian Hefeweizen | $230 | $330 | ~4.9% | Lots of banana, clove, and bready aroma and flavors that come from a special Hefeweizen Yeast from Munich Germany that we ferment in a cooler temperature space. A simple Pilsner and Malted Wheat are balanced with just a touch of German Noble Hops. |
| Pale Ale | $240 | $340 | ~5.6% | An easy drinking West Coast Pale Ale. A bit of caramel malt, victory, and wheat malt add an undercurrent of complexity to this citrusy hop centric beer. |
| Mosaic Wheat | $230 | $330 | ~5.0% | A sessionable American Wheat Ale with a West Coast punch of Mosaic hops. The name of these hops come from their multi-faceted flavor and aroma. |
| Belgian Farmhouse/Saison | $230 | $330 | ~6.2% | The true Champagne of beers. This Belgian ale isbone dry, bubbly, crisp, refreshing. Pilsner and Wheat Malt make up the core of the grist. German Nobel hops leave a delicate herbal earthiness. A blend of Belgian Saison yeast give this ale a mysterious menagerie of complex fruits and deep spices. |
| Northern English Brown | $230 | $330 | ~4.9% | This malty sessionable English Pub Style is also known as a Nut Brown. A complex malt bill offers caramel, nutty, chocolate, roasty, and biscuit deliciousness. Earthy UK Nobel Hops keep everything in balance. English Ale Yeast ferments this to have a distinct English Ale character. |
| Irish Stout | $240 | $340 | ~4.2% | A dry, dark, and roasty Irish Stout. Roasted unmalted Barley gives this style its unique deep color and coffee flavor. Earthy English Nobel hops and Yeast from Ireland make this a lucky style. Slainte! |
| Robust Porter | $240 | $340 | ~5.6% | A substantial dark and roasty robust beer. Coffee, chocolate, caramel, and bready aromas and flavors. A great beer for those cooler nights. |
| New England Style (Hazy) IPA | $260 | $360 | ~6.8% | A style of American IPA featuring an intense, tropical fruit centric, hop aroma and flavor. Its heavily dry hopped to the point of being hazy and has a fuller body, smoother flavor, and less perceived bitterness than west coast IPAs. |
| Russian Imperial Stout | $270 | $370 | ~10.5% | A dark, higher alcohol stout including flavors of dark chocolate, fruit esters, coffee, dark fruits and offering a chewy, velvety and luscious mouthfeel. |
| Pilsner | $230 | $330 | ~5.2% | The world’s first pale lager. Straw to pale in color with a malty sweetness that can be perceived in aroma and flavor. |
| Belgian Dark Strong (Quad) | $290 | $370 | ~12% | An especially strong style of dark ale with a spicy, ripe fruit flavor. |
| Hard Seltzer | $230 | $315 | ~6% | Hard Seltzer is a seltzer fermented with sugar and yeast. This is a low calorie beverage, to which you can add your own flavoring. |
FAQs
How does this work?
Citizen Brewers has commercial grade equipment specific for brewing. You will choose a recipe, or you can design one of your own. We will provide the ingredients specific to your batch of beer using specialty grains. You can also supply your own unique ingredients as well. Once you’ve brewed your beer, it will be transferred to a fermenting vessel and allowed 2 to 4 weeks to ferment into beer in a temperature-controlled environment, and then another 2 to 3 weeks to condition. You return to can your beer, which again takes about 2 to 3 hours. In addition, you can create custom labels for your beer.
How long does the brewing process take?
Plan on spending about 2 to 4 hours for the initial brewing process, and then an additional 2 to 3 hours to can the beer. There is about 4 to 6 weeks between brewing and canning while the beer is fermenting and conditioning on-site in our temperature-controlled environment.
How much does it cost to brew beer?
The cost per batch depends on which recipe you select (see our Beer Styles page), but each batch ranges from $230 – $370, depending on if you can the beer or provide your own keg.
How much beer will I take home?
Each batch of beer produces either one 50L keg or 90 – 100 16 oz cans.
How many people can brew together?
There is a maximum of 6 people per kettle (an additional fee of $15 per person applies beyond 6 people per beer), but with 8 kettles available we can accommodate larger parties if you reserve multiple kettles at once. You can even reserve the entire facility for events such as bachelor parties, birthday parties, team-building events – you name it!
Labels
Citizen Brewers encourages you to design your own labels for your beer!
We use labels that are 4×3” and come in matte format. Create a design of your own that is either vertical or horizontal with a picture and text. We prefer files in .jpeg format, but we can also accept .bmp, .tiff, or .pdf formats as well.
If you would like to include a photo, please make sure it is at least 300 dpi resolution and in RGB mode. Once you have your design, please email it to us prior to your bottling appointment, at citizenbrewers@gmail.com.
Please note that label images need to be submitted AT LEAST 24 hours in advance of your bottling appointment. If the label image is not received in advance, you may not receive them on that day.
Contact Us
You can make a brewing appointment here, but we’d prefer you to do it by phone or email. If you are trying to send your label design, please email that directly to citizenbrewers@gmail.com.
Thank you!