South Lake Brewing celebrates beer and community

Many head to the cooler at their local beverage purveyor, perhaps never thinking of the process involved in getting that beer from the brewery to their lips.

This week, South Lake Brewing Company canned 4,800 cans of three types of beer, their already famous Fog Nozzle and Angora IPA, along with their Pillow Line Pale Ale. This was their second canning since opening in May, 2017, and it was also their biggest.

A good pillow line is when boulders or large rocks are covered with enough snow that a person can ski or board over them. The beer will be the same, cool and refreshing. According to co-owner Nicole Riegel Smith, the beer is also fluffy which means it is made with oatmeal.

The pillow lines of beer are popular with restaurants, explained Nicole. South Lake Brewing currently has about 35 restaurants that serve their beer, 10-15 which are off the hill. Besides South Lake Brewing there are two other Lake Tahoe breweries who distribute off the hill: 50/50 and Tahoe Mountain. South Lake Brewing is the only from the South Shore. Even though the other South Lake Tahoe breweries don't send off the hill, they are all gaining in popularity and have created a true "Beer Trail" through town.

The beer industry is very supportive of each other and work collaboratively when someone needs assistance. Sidellis's keg washer broke down and they headed to South Lake to wash them.

"We all play nice in the sandbox," explained Nicole.

There are currently 15 beers created on site served at South Lake Brewing, located at the Y, 1920 Lake Tahoe Boulevard. Their production area currently comprises of a 10 barrel brewhouse, three 20 barrel fermentation tanks, and four 10 barrel fermentation tanks.

What may even be better than the brew they create is the community they have built around their location. The large tables inside are inviting to families or groups of people who stop by to enjoy the games stacked in the corner for all ages, or at the ping-pong table. Plenty of seats are also available at the large bar.

Nicole said she recently heard from someone who lives in the area, thanking the Smiths for opening as it gave her the opportunity to meet neighbors, something she previously had found tough to do.

Nicole and husband Chris open their doors to several groups for fundraisers, and the fact that they don't serve food helps make them dog friendly indoors as well as outside during warmer months.

"We have a unique spot that is constantly community focused," said Nicole.

The pair also participate in festivals including the Brewfest which will have their second annual event for the Boys and Girls Club in South Lake Tahoe this summer.

"We have a ton of beer festivals this summer," said Nicole. "Its good exposure as people will try our beer when they normally wouldn't have."

May 25-26, 2018 will be South Lake Brewing's 2nd anniversary, a weekend that will be full of activities including food vendors, games and a special beer release of an Imperial Stout that is being aged in bourbon barrels. It has yet to be named but look for something clever and local oriented if the names of their current and past beers are any indication: Berliner? I Hardly Knew Her, Marlette Sunrise, Pilsner of Society and Burnside Stout.

They had planned on opening in January, 2017, but the building schedule got a bit behind and their grand opening was on Memorial Day weekend. Even with the few month late start their business forecast for that year was not only met, but surpassed.

"The local support has been so great," said Nicole who said everyone has embraced them. "Its great to be at this end of town."

Nicole is working with the City of South Lake Tahoe to bring food trucks to South Lake Tahoe. The Code needs to be changed, and since South Lake Brewing can't serve food, they'd appreciate having food trucks in their parking lot. Since food trucks can't have a license in town, only outside the area trucks can come in. Nicole said she'd like to see a local food truck industry as evident on the North Shore during Truckee Thursdays.

In the meantime, South Lake Brewing brings in occasional vendors such as pizza and hot dogs, and they serve chips, nuts, coffee and sodas inside.

Another thing they cannot serve is wine, but there are a couple of beers that wine drinkers have found satisfying like Blood Orange Blond and Berliner Weisse.

For "newbie" craft beer drinkers South Lake Brewing serves a flight of samples, much like wineries serve.

Nicole and Chris Smith have a staff of 13 and about half are full-time. Most of the staff has been with them since opening except for one woman who left to have a baby.

"We're like a big family," said Nicole whose dad works there as sales manager and her sister is their bartender and social media guru.

During the canning this week, a mobile company called The Can Van came in with their equipment to can 200 cases of beer. With the popularity of craft beer in California, their vans are out in the field every day of the week. They pull up with the conveyor belts and all other needed equipment, can, then go home....something Nicole says keeps their cost down as they don't have to purchase equipment that would used only a couple of times a year.

Some of the Can Van stops are for up to 2800 cases at a time.

Once canned the labeling process affixes the attractive labels to the cans before storage. The labels, along with all of the South Lake design work, is created by Alison Lebofsky of Perspective Designs.

The beer comes out of the fermenters at 33 degrees, then is canned and put into a cooler set at 38 degrees. The beginning of the process of making the beer is at much higher temperatures for the yeast to process.

South Lake Brewing is open daily:
Monday 2PM to 10PM
Tuesday 2PM to 10PM
Wednesday 2PM to 10PM
Thursday 2PM to 10PM
Friday 11AM to Midnight
Saturday 11AM to Midnight
Sunday 11AM to 9PM