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l COVER STORY NORTH COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL x FALL 2017 x sdnedc.org County cities, the summit is aimed at crystallizing the lessons that are being learned across the industry. Ed Ashley, who teaches strategic management and corporate strategy at Cal State San Marcos, led a team of researchers earlier this year in prepar- ing the report that will be unveiled at the summit. "Craft beer has not topped out in San Diego County, it's still vibrant here," Ashley said. "Overall beer con- sumption is going down, but craft beer is still rising – at the expense of 'Big Beer'." Still, it was inevitable that the craft beer industry in San Diego would begin to mature, and Ashley said the most visible evidence of that process has been that "the if-you-build-it- they-will-come model isn't working any more. That's a product of market saturation." With 150 craft breweries in the San Diego Brewers Guild, Ashley said San Diego is now the largest region in the U.S. for craft brewing. "And, com- pared to Denver or Portland, we still have room to grow on a per capita basis," he added. There has been chatter recently about a handful of brewery closures in 2016-17, but Ashley said "those were simply because of business is- sues, not lack of interest, as best we can tell. Now that there are 150 brew- eries, you have to be a little smarter about running the business." Ashley said the latest numbers have been skewed by the sale of two former craft breweries – Ballast Point and Saint Archer – to Big Beer. Ballast Point was famously ac- quired for $1 billion by the same com- pany that owns Corona, Pacifico and Modelo; Saint Archer sold to Miller- Coors around the same time in late 2015. Neither company's production can be counted as craft beer in the overall numbers, Ashley explained. "I think more opportunity seems to be coming in for brewpubs, where there's food involved," said Ashley. "For every barrel of beer sold, there's roughly $100 in food sold. So if you have good food and good beer, there's still plenty of opportunity." The Craft Brew Summit begins at 4 p.m. with networking and craft beer sampling. Ashley is scheduled to present his team's research at 4:30, followed by a study from National University's Vince Vasquez. At 5:30, a panel of North County's craft brew- ing celebrities will take the stage, in- cluding Kevin Hopkins from Mother Earth, Dominic Engels from Stone, and Jeff Bagby from Bagby Beer Co. "We're going to call it 'Tales from the Trenches,'" Cully said. "Breweries have a creative, entrepreneurial spirit – many times they find a way to make something happen that requires creativity, passion and ingenuity." EDUCATION IN BREWING C onsidering that some of the nation's most celebrated craft brewers call North County home, it was only a matter of time be- fore Cal State University San Marcos tapped into the market for brewing expertise. Now, the university is hoping that a new pro- gram called "Engibeer- ing" will draw students interested in learning the business and science of beer. Slated to begin next year, Engibeering is planned as a certificate program and is currently in the review and ap- proval process. Across campus, librari- ans on Aug. 18 unveiled the university's "Brew- chive," a special archive dedicated to San Diego's craft brewing industry. Focusing on the "New Brew Wave" since 1987, librarians have begun collecting photos, videos, and other arti- facts from the industry. {ENGIBEERING} CRAFT BREW SUMMIT WHEN: Wednesday, October 25, 2017, 4-6:30 p.m. WHERE: San Marcos Community Center, 3 Civic Center Drive, San Marcos, 92069. TICKETS: $10 for SDNEDC members, $20 general admission. The Craft Brew Summit will focus on the industry in North County.