MiraCosta Wins U.S. Open College Beer Championship

OCEANSIDE, CA — MiraCosta College was founded in 1934 in a wing at Oceanside High School. Originally, MiraCosta was known as Oceanside-Carlsbad Junior College. There were 122 students enrolled and 20 faculty members. In its 87 year history, the college has received many accolades for its curriculum. But perhaps none is as prestigious as their newest accomplishment.

In the fifth year of the competition, eleven colleges and universities from the United States and Canada participated in the US Open College Beer Championship. MiraCosta College took home the Grand National Championship with four gold medals and one silver. In their first time entering the school took home gold medals for their Hefeweizen, Pale Ale, Spring IPA, and Stout plus a silver medal for their Raspberry Berliner.

The MiraCosta students responsible for the school’s championship performance were Ron Bass, Kyle Breckenridge, Kelly Cardinell, Kellen Darnall, Alberto Espinoza II, Mike Hughes, Ricardo Mendoza, Garrett Perkins, Kaitlin Peters, Elizabeth Robles, Amy Still, Patrick Sullivan, William Vazquez, and Kristoffer Wheeler. Mike Stevenson was the submitting professor. Mike is the Head Brewer and Co-Owner of the popular Culver Beer Company in Carlsbad.

MiraCosta’s BrewTech program is the only craft program in San Diego with a brewery on site. The 280-hour BrewTech program is geared to train students to be production brewers and exhibit confidence in the brewhouse, cellar, or packaging line. Students get the hands-on experience the industry requires taking it from grain to glass. From recipe development, wort production, cellar practices and packaging we offer a well-rounded curriculum to become a turnkey brewery technician. Classroom material covers the chemistry and biology of beer production, an introduction to all the equipment found in breweries of all scales, and workplace skills. Industry tours around San Diego also introduce the students to multiple brewing applications to further tie their knowledge together.

The U.S. Open College Beer Championship is for colleges and universities that teach brewing courses. Any college or university that offers courses in brewing could enter the U.S. Open. All beers were submitted by one of the school’s brewing professors/instructors. The beers could be brewed on any system on or off campus that is approved by the professors/instructors.
A major difference this year from previous US Open College Beer Championships is that beers submitted were evaluated according to the U.S. Open Style Standards. Any number of gold, silver, or bronze medals could be awarded. The U.S. Open is the only beer competition for beers exclusively from college and university brewing and fermentation programs.

Complete List of Medal Winning Beers

1. MiraCosta College – See above
2. Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) – Gold medal for Birra Rossa (Hodgson, Bartnik, and Chang); Silver medals for Noble Steed Coconut Porter (Comeau, Dell, and Paul) and Pale Ale (Yakabuski, Wideman, and Chang); Bronze medal for Helles Lager (Gibson, Sakurai, Chrinko, and Reid)
2. Schoolcraft College – Gold medals for 275 Kolsch (Dan Nieland and Kasey Bunio), College Pale (Mitchell Wayne and Gerry Morin); Bronze medals for SC Baltic Porter (Dan Nieland and Kasey Bunio) and Grand Cru (Dan Nieland and Kasey Bunio).
4. Kalamazoo Valley Community College – Gold medal for Pineapple Peppercorn Berliner Weiss (Kaelyn Aures and Mike Jones); Silver medals for Schwarzbier (Kaelyn Aures and Mike Jones), My Old Friend (Chris Scheibler, Daniel Houvener, Jacob Miller, Tyler Rosey, Joseph Parker, and Theodore Woznicki)
4. Niagara College – Gold medal for Holstein and Jersey (Joel Droogh); Silver medal for Heart in Hand (Charles Rempel); and Bronze medals for Ice Kolsch Hops (Andrew Plesko) and Napoleon’s Final Defeat (Ryan Cook)
5. Central New Mexico Community College – Gold medal for Chef Ryan’s Favorite Sour (); Silver medal for La Frambeusa Imperial Stout (); Bronze medal for Itten Chiraku Pale Ale ()
6. Eastern Michigan University – Gold medal for Heavy Scot (Thomas Humbarger, Taylor Heckaman, Wolfgang Ebersole); Bronze medal for Eagles Bock (Audrey Wilkie, Justin Norris, Rebecca Hudson)
6. Central Michigan University – Silver medal for The Mega (Taylor Renick); Bronze medals for Orange Kiss (Taylor Renick) and Mystery (Taylor Renick)
6. Lourdes University – Silver medal for Basement Imperial (Nathan Von Seggern, Jacalyn Duncan, Richard Kotnik, and Aaron Lenz); Bronze medal for Kristol Cream Ale (Jacalyn Duncan, Nathan Von Seggern, and Richard Kotnik) and Strawberry Clare (Jacalyn Duncan, Nathan Von Seggern, and Richard Kotnik)
9. Auburn University – Silver medal for Hibiscus Honey Saison (James Richardson)
10. Appalachian State University – Bronze medal for Plum Gig (Dan Parker)

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