Interview with Green Flash head brewer Chuck Silva
By Angelo De Ieso II
On a recent trip to Southern California, I had the great privilege to sample some great beers in the San Diego area--Port/Lost Abbey, Stone, AleSmith, Ballast Point, and Coronado to name a few. Green Flash Brewing in Vista, California was one of the best, producing some palate-jolting brands that have been garnering acclaim all over the world of late. The company's West Coast IPA has become an industry standard and has placed the San Diego style IPA on the map. Winning several awards while finding new and exciting uses for the precious hop, Green Flash head brewer Chuck Silva showed me around the brewery and let me taste some amazing beers. He also was so kind as to shed some light on himself, the brewery, and the whole hop craze. If you are ever in the area, make sure to stop by the brewery and taste some of their wonderful offerings.
Angelo De Ieso II: When did the Green Flash company get its start?
Chuck Silva: The company’s been going on for over five years. I came on after the first two years, so I’ve been with the company for the last three-and-a-half years.
AD: What sparked your interest in beer?
CS: Oh, that goes back…beer itself, of course…the flavor of good beer as opposed to domestic, well, swill, I guess (laughs). But, I’ve always liked good beer, even when I was a teenager. I definitely had my share of Budweiser, but I’ve always leaned toward what imports were available, whether it was Heinekin or Lowenbrau or flavors that were richer and more interesting. I’ve always leaned toward flavors that were more interesting. Later on, there was a nice surge in homebrewing, and I became involved with homebrewing in ’94 and after about four years of homebrewing, decided to quit my day job and get an education in brewing sciences. It’s been ten years of commercial brewing since.
AD: Where did you study brewing?
CS: The American Brewers Guild, started by Dr. Lewis at UC Davis. It was in Woodland at the time. It was a nice facility that had a working brewery so you could brew and filter, and it had a lab and classroom all in the same facility.
AD: Where did the name “Green Flash” come from, and how is that representative of the beer?
CS: Green Flash got the name from the owner and some of the shareholders. In the beginning, they had their pads and pencils out trying to figure out what the name of this brewing company was going to be, and everybody had put down “Green Flash” on their pads, but nobody had it as their first choice. So, at sunset, they were on somebody’s deck and walked out to look for the green flash, and I think at that point, everyone turned to each other and said “Well, why not ‘Green Flash’?” So, it was spawned and accepted at that point. The green flash is something that occurs at sunset and at sunrise, too, if you can catch it. It’s when the light refracts like a prism. There are also blue flashes and red flashed, but a green flash is more commonly viewed at sunset for maybe a couple seconds in the right conditions at the right time. We feel like it is representative of our coastal origin, being on the West Coast in Southern California, but it’s also common in Hawaii. Aviators often get to see it, especially aviators looking over the ocean where they have a good angle for viewing…hence the Green Flash name.
AD: You’ve won some prestigious awards recently, including first place at the first annual NAIPAC (North American IPA Competition) with the West Coast IPA. This is perhaps the most popular IPAs around. You also won a medal for the Hop Head Red in the World Beer Cup this year. What has this been like, and what are some of your proudest moments as a brewer?
CS: The IPA is definitely a really nice feather in the cap, although it’s not at the level of World Beer Cup competition, which we actually did just win the gold in the American red and amber ale category for the Hop Head Red. Previously, just in September, we won the silver at the GABF (Great American Beer Festival). We also won the silver for the Tripel—a modern Belgian style. We also won a bronze. That was an amazing moment for us—to win three medals in one major competition. It was really amazing. It’s not all about just winning awards. It’s real nice to get that kind of recognition. When I created Le Freak—a beer that wasn’t an existing beer style, that was a special moment for me. It’s a convergence of styles and an emerging style. It’s our Imperial IPA meets Belgian Trippel. For that to come out as savory and flavorful as it did, to me, is a crowning achievement and special moment to have that creativity come out in a beer. It wows me still.
AD: Does the Le Freak draw any influence from the Houblon Chouffe?
CS: Sure. That’s a Belgian beer inspired by what American brewers are doing with hops. In tern, I was inspired to do it my way—West Coast Style. I used a lot of all-American hops and two yeast strains—Belgian and American and I still used a little bit of American hops for a little bit of dry hopping. So, it’s richer and a little more over-the-top with the hop bitterness, super zesty. So, I was inspired by Belgians being inspired by us. It kind of goes back and forth. We weren’t the first to do it, for sure. The Urthel Hop-It is another beer that was inspired by American brewing that has a Belgian flavor to it. Maybe even DeRanke or a couple other beers that are kind of in the similar realm. The Le Freak is an American beer inspired by Belgian tradition.
AD: There’s been a lot of talk about the West Coast or San Diego Style of beer. In your opinion, what does that mean and how does that differ from a Northwest Style?
CS: I would include the Northwest. That’s a really good question. I think just West Coast, period, is strongly inspired by hops and the great Pacific Northwest hops and American varieties that have developed from other varieties whether it be British or German origin. We’ve developed some really, really savory and pungent hops that are citrusy, piny, and floral, and more extravagant than Old World varieties. Those used in craft beer in elevated levels really define what’s going on with West Coast brews. Not exclusively, but certainly a tilt there. If we are talking about IPA, for instance, what would define a San Diego IPA versus a West Coast IPA versus a Northwest IPA…I think what you’ll see (with the San Diego Style) is a paler color and a lighter body but still a full alcohol level, still probably 7 percent (ABV) beer for a West Coast IPA but with an extreme emphasis on hop extravagance—hops throughout the brew, multiple kettle additions. Some people do mash hopping. Some people do first work hopping. Some people use hop backs. Some people do all of that, as well as dry hopping and then even a second dry hopping. We just did the Symposium IPA for the CBC (Craft Brewers Conference) and we employed all of those techniques, taking input from the brewers around San Diego. It was a paler color with mash hops, first work hops, multiple kettle additions, whirlpool additions, hop back, and then dry hops. But still, with the focus on balance, even though it has this huge hop emphasis, you still need to finesse the beer and make it very drinkable. With that little bit of lighter color and that lighter body, it allows the alcohol and the hops as opposed to just a straight malt and hop balance, which maybe is a little more Northwest or East Coast. But then also, the yeast selection is important, too—a yeast that accentuated the hops instead of just a British yeast fruitiness. So, there’s a few differences to look at.
AD: Do you have a favorite hop variety?
CS: We could say Simcoe might be one of them with respect to IPA. But I love most of the hop varieties because you can’t make different beers without different hops. Otherwise they’ll be too similar to each other. I can’t make the Trippel with the Simcoe. I need Saaz and Syrian goldings. Each hop has its place.
AD: With so many flavorfully hopped-out beers in the San Diego area, how has Green Flash managed to set itself apart from the others such as AleSmith, Port, and Stone?
CS: Another very good question. Just purely by flavor. We don’t have a kitschy marketing program. We don’t have fancy names, with the exception of Le Freak. When you see Green Flash’s West Coast IPA, it’s almost more of a style than a specific name, although we set out to make thee West Coast IPA when we made that beer. Obviously, there were a lot of nice West Coast IPA’s before we came along, being that we are only five and a half years old. Two years into it is when we first introduced the West Coast IPA, but when you set out to be a benchmark beer, you need to be the most extravagant and the top of the category if you look at the specific parameters of the beer. So, hop extravagance is the way we set ourselves apart with the West Coast IPA. That was really the beer that was a turning point for Green Flash and set the stage for us to make more extravagant beers like the Barleywine, the Trippel, the Imperial IPA, the Double Stout, and new beers to come like the Le Freak and the Summer Saison. We’re showing some range—not just hoppy beers but hoppy beers is what put us on the map to begin with.
AD: Judging by all the medals, it appears you are doing a good job so far. For a while Green Flash was contract brewing the Reaper Ales line of beer. We haven’t seen those beers for some time. What became with that relationship?
CS: (Reaper Ales) were doing some contract brewing and needed to find a new contract brewer. At the time Green Flash had some capacity and struck a deal with them. They took on the brand and I came on about six months later. I helped retool some of the recipes as well. But then we hit our ceiling as far as capacity and the West Coast was on fire. So we needed to make more West Coast IPA so we basically had to give them notice that we were going to discontinue the Reaper brand. They didn’t find a new brewer right away. They were thinking about opening their own brewery but found it to be a daunting challenge. They’ve been seeking another contract relationship. I think they may have found another facility in the Sudwerk (Privatbrauerei Hubsch) in Davis (California).
AD: We’ve heard so much about the hop shortage as well as other ingredient shortages. Does this have a significant impact on Green Flash? What do you foresee in your future with this whole hop crisis going on?
CS: It’s a tough time for everybody I would say. We have a good contract for this year. I am still working on contracts just for the ’08 crop year for next year’s brewing in 2009. I am probably 80% contacted (for next year) and probably have another 10% coming, and I am still working on the rest. That being said, the prices from this year to next year have easily doubled and tripled for me. Our prices increased this year, which translates to the consumer to at least a $9.99 six-pack of West Coast IPA. It’s a terribly expensive beer to make because of the ingredients and because of the packaging. A six-pack is much more expensive (to package) than a 22-ounce bottle. But we’re still committed to the package. We really like it and the consumer still seems to really want that beer even at that higher price. We didn’t increase our prices just to make more money, it was an increase to cover our costs. The malt prices went up even more significantly—about 40 percent. Of course fuel costs are up, too, so it’s the whole economic situation. I do see some relief a couple of years out. There are more plantings of aroma and high alpha varieties (of hops) that are favored by the craft brewing community. There are more plantings that Ralph Olsen of Hop Union assured us at the Craft Brewers Conference. As long as the growing conditions are favorable there will hopefully be more relief. We are definitely keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for good weather and a bumper crop even for this growing season. It’s still tough and it will still be tough, I’d say, for the next few seasons.
Learn more about Green Flash Brewing at http://greenflashbrew.com
Labels: California, Chuck Silva, Green Flash, Hop Shortage, IPA, Reaper, San Diego, Style, Vista, West Coast
