Industry Alcoholic beverage Subsidiaries Alpine Beer Company Number of employees 199 | Products Beer Founded 2002 Type of business Independent | |
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Founder Mike Hinkley (CEO)
Lisa Hinkley Key people Erik Jensen (brewmaster) Production output 82,000 US barrels/year (2015) Headquarters San Diego, California, United States Profiles | ||
Green Flash Brewing Company is an American craft brewery headquartered in the Mira Mesa neighborhood of San Diego, California, and founded in 2002. As of 2015, it was the 4th-largest brewery in San Diego County and 41st-largest craft brewery in the United States based on sales volume, according to the Brewers Association. Green Flash is distributed across the US, as well as in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Singapore and Europe.
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In 2014, Green Flash acquired Alpine Beer Company, located nearby in Alpine, California.
History
Green Flash was founded in 2002 by Mike and Lisa Hinkley. Chuck Silva was brought on as brewmaster in 2004. During his 11-year tenure, Silva created a number of beers, including the West Coast IPA in 2005 and Le Freak in 2006. He left in September 2015 to open his own brewery, and Erik Jensen was promoted from head brewer to brewmaster.
In June 2011, Green Flash moved from its original brewery in Vista, California, to its new 44,000 square-foot brewing facility in San Diego's Mira Mesa neighborhood. In March 2013, Green Flash announced that it would open a second brewery in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with a capacity of 100,000 barrels per year, which would make it the third-largest brewery in Virginia. The addition of the 58,000 square-foot Virginia Beach brewery, which is anticipated to open in the fall of 2016, will double Green Flash's nationwide supply of beer, and help move the beer to the East Coast market more efficiently. It will produce the same beers and have the same equipment as the company's San Diego brewery. In 2015, Green Flash opened Cellar 3, a facility and tasting room featuring barrel-aged and bottle-conditioned beers, located in Poway, California.
Products
From its inception, Green Flash has specialized in IPAs, building its reputation on aggressively flavored, innovative, highly hopped, high abv and high IBU beers, such as West Coast IPA, Palate Wrecker Hamilton’s Ale, and Le Freak. In January 2016, Green Flash announced the national release of several new beers, including Passion Fruit Kicker (an American wheat ale with passion fruit), Cosmic Ristretto Baltic Porter with Espresso, and Tangerine Soul Style, an IPA with tangerine juice. On May 6, 2016, Green Flash announced the national and year-round launch of three beers sold in cans: Jibe Session IPA, Passion Fruit Kicker and Sea to Sea Zwickel Lager. Green Flash have won a number of product awards, including one of the gold awards for beer style at the 2008 World Beer Cup, and at the 2011 and 2015 Great American Beer Festival.
Acquisitions and partnerships
In November 2014, Green Flash acquired Alpine Beer Company, with Alpine co-founders Pat and Val McIlhenney retaining control of their brews. Green Flash had been producing kegs of Alpine's Hoppy Birthday, Nelson and Duet starting in 2013, enabling Alpine to double its output to 3,000 barrels a year. The acquisition allowed Alpine to increase production and expand nationally, beyond California, beginning in late-2015.
In July 2014, Green Flash partnered with Belgium-based St. Feuillien Brewery to brew and sell the West Coast IPA in Europe, making Green Flash the first American craft brewery to brew, bottle and distribute its IPA throughout Europe.
Treasure Chest program
In 2011, Lisa Hinkely, a breast cancer survivor, launched Green Flash's Treasure Chest program. Each year, the annual charity event includes a new limited-release beer to raise money for local and national breast cancer-related charities. The program begins with an annual festival, Treasure Chest Fest, at the Mira Mesa location. Through 2015, it has raised over $220,000 for various regional breast cancer charities.