ABNORMAL BEER CO.

Abnormal Beer Co was founded in 2014 by Elvin Lai, Matt DeLoach and James Malone, who established the brewery as part of San Diego’s first combined brewery, restaurant, and winery. The brewery managed to secure a sponsorship of $1 million for its expansion in less than a year, which exponentially increased its beer production. Abnormal’s success only continued to grow, thanks to its continuous release of abnormal but really tasty beers!

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Abnormal Beer Co was founded by Elvin Lai, Matt DeLoach and James Malone who opened their brewery as part of San Diego's first combined brewery, restaurant (The Cork & Craft), and winery (Abnormal Wines) in late 2014.

Their brewery-restaurant-winery establishment kicked off, and as a result, they planned to expand their business in less than a year of its inception. In order to realise their new goal, the team managed to build connections with Stone Brewing, which led to a million-dollar investment into Abnormal Beer Co!

With that, the expansion project was able to proceed smoothly; the renovations not only increased the size of their main building, but it also added hot and cold liquor tanks to increase production.

Upon completion of the renovation, the brewery’s current fermentation capacity increased from 80 barrels to a whopping 400 barrels - an impressive 550% increase of its production! Despite its initial success, Abnormal Beer did not grow complacent; the brewery continued to focus on maintaining the quality of its brews in order to match the expectations of its fans.

Back then, Abnormal’s head brewer was Derek Gallanosa - a talented brewer who also knew how to promote Abnormal’s beers and helped the brewery get to where it is today. In fact, Gallanosa’s impact on Abnormal Beer Co was so huge that his name was synonymous with the brewery.

Gallanosa had carried out many great ideas that helped to promote Abnormal, including the release of the Oatmeal Stout during the company’s first anniversary. On April 12, 2015, all 600 bottles of the newly released stout were sold out within 30 seconds and the website had over 47,000 pageviews in less than five minutes!

Unfortunately, Gallanosa left Abnormal Beer Co in 2017 to start a new chapter of his career. Although Abnormal lost a masterful brewer, the brewery is still thriving, thanks to the guidance that Gallanosa gave to the sales and social media team. Gallanosa wanted to ensure that his departure would not affect the brewery in any way, so he dedicated much of his time to train his fellow employees before he left.

Abnormal’s flagship beers

Abnormal Beer Co has many wacky and unique beers - much like its name - but it also offers classic beer styles that are very popular among its fans. One of its most popular beers is the Abnormal Blonde - a simple, crisp, and clean blonde ale that features a bread-like maltiness and finishes dry. The ale uses Nugget and Citra hops that gives the ale a fruity citrus flavour that will leave you craving for more.

Another popular beer of Abnormal is its Boss Pour IPA, which uses 5 different hop varieties to give it a complex flavour of grapefruit, citrus, and pine. The San Diego-style IPA is very well-balanced and is perfect for introducing new drinkers of this style. Note: cracking open a can of Boss Pour IPA can give you the satisfaction of feeling like a boss!

Although Abnormal Beer Co has a core range of solid beers, it also releases interesting seasonal brews such as the Belgian Style Calamansi Saison - a refreshing saison that features a lime-like fruit from the Philippines.

Abnormal Beer Co today and beyond

In 2022, Abnormal Beer Co released a new specialty beer to help those in Ukraine by dedicating all of the proceeds to those in need. The beer, named Glory to the Heroes, comes in a can with blue and yellow stripes to represent Ukraine’s flag.

Customers who purchase the beer can choose which of the 3 charities their purchase’s proceeds will benefit. The 3 charities include the National Bank of Ukraine, UNICEF, and the International Red Cross. The beer itself features 4 different hop varieties which gives the beer fruity and piney flavours.

Although Abnormal Beer Co has always been a neutral company, the owners were unable to ignore the atrocities and do nothing to help. By taking a stand and helping to provide relief for Ukraine in its own way, Abnormal Beer Co shows that it is capable of more than simply selling great beer. With many popular beers and such a big heart, the brewery is sure to continue to flourish in the years ahead!