Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Beer inspired by Vikings

Brewery startup opening around the corner from Green Flash

Hand-carved tap handles resemble the dragons on the bows of Viking vessels at Longship Brewery.
Hand-carved tap handles resemble the dragons on the bows of Viking vessels at Longship Brewery.

"What I like about brewing, what drew me to brewing, was endless possibilities." So says Dan Jachimowicz, brewer and founder of Longship Brewery, which is set to launch its Mira Mesa business with a brief soft opening phase in late June, prior to a July 1 official start date. "Even if you stick to the four main ingredients [water, grain, yeast and hops] you have endless possibilities. You change the temperature, change one little variable, you get a completely different beer."

Take Longship's Abomination American strong ale, one of eight beers the brewery plans to serve on day one. It's the first recipe Jachimowicz (the first syllable is pronounced ya, the last which) created as a homebrewer. "It was one of those mistakes that turned out well," he recalls, "I was trying to make an IPA but it turned into something dark and malty yet still hoppy. It's a mess in a good way."

Sponsored
Sponsored
Local artist Robin Golden painted this Viking vessel to decorate the walls of Longship Brewery.

The rest of Longship's opening beers have more intent behind them, ranging from a Belgian wheat beer to a German doppelbock. Like a number of new breweries opening in San Diego this year, Longship aims to balance the usual craft beer suspects — stouts and IPAs — with a more diverse assortment of beer styles.

"We will have what people expect," Jachimowicz says, "But I want to have a wide variety of beers… try to tweak the flavors people are used to…to play around with them, give them my own interpretation of what the beer can be."

This spirit of exploration inspired the brewery's name. "It's modeled after the Viking longship," Jachimowicz explains, "They used it for exploration — they've found evidence of Vikings all over the world. That was the inspiration, just go out explore, see what's out there, see what can be done."

The brewery's tasting room décor bears this out, including a large painting of a longship by local artist Robin Golden, complete with iconic round Viking shields and a dragon head on the bow. Hand-carved wood dragon heads likewise comprise the brand's tap handles, and large shields are set to hang from the walls.

Despite the hard-charging imagery, Jachimowicz has taken a more methodic approach to entering the beer business. He's been homebrewing for ten years, and preparing to open Longship for the last two, but he's been taking steps to go commercial since 2008. "I slowly scaled up my equipment, I took the American Brewers Guild course," he explains, "I've known I wanted to be a brewer or own a brewery for quite awhile now."

He also began working on a five-gallon homebrew rig modeled after industrial systems. With Longship, he's now graduated to a 10 barrel system, but still goes exploring on his single keg pilot batches. "Since what I love about brewing is experimentation," Jachimowicz adds, "I will definitely be continuously experimenting on the small system, and I will definitely be throwing five gallon batches up on the tap for limited releases."

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Dating Sites For Little People: Best Platforms & Tips

Next Article

Pet pig perches in pocket

Escondido doula gets a taste of celebrity
Hand-carved tap handles resemble the dragons on the bows of Viking vessels at Longship Brewery.
Hand-carved tap handles resemble the dragons on the bows of Viking vessels at Longship Brewery.

"What I like about brewing, what drew me to brewing, was endless possibilities." So says Dan Jachimowicz, brewer and founder of Longship Brewery, which is set to launch its Mira Mesa business with a brief soft opening phase in late June, prior to a July 1 official start date. "Even if you stick to the four main ingredients [water, grain, yeast and hops] you have endless possibilities. You change the temperature, change one little variable, you get a completely different beer."

Take Longship's Abomination American strong ale, one of eight beers the brewery plans to serve on day one. It's the first recipe Jachimowicz (the first syllable is pronounced ya, the last which) created as a homebrewer. "It was one of those mistakes that turned out well," he recalls, "I was trying to make an IPA but it turned into something dark and malty yet still hoppy. It's a mess in a good way."

Sponsored
Sponsored
Local artist Robin Golden painted this Viking vessel to decorate the walls of Longship Brewery.

The rest of Longship's opening beers have more intent behind them, ranging from a Belgian wheat beer to a German doppelbock. Like a number of new breweries opening in San Diego this year, Longship aims to balance the usual craft beer suspects — stouts and IPAs — with a more diverse assortment of beer styles.

"We will have what people expect," Jachimowicz says, "But I want to have a wide variety of beers… try to tweak the flavors people are used to…to play around with them, give them my own interpretation of what the beer can be."

This spirit of exploration inspired the brewery's name. "It's modeled after the Viking longship," Jachimowicz explains, "They used it for exploration — they've found evidence of Vikings all over the world. That was the inspiration, just go out explore, see what's out there, see what can be done."

The brewery's tasting room décor bears this out, including a large painting of a longship by local artist Robin Golden, complete with iconic round Viking shields and a dragon head on the bow. Hand-carved wood dragon heads likewise comprise the brand's tap handles, and large shields are set to hang from the walls.

Despite the hard-charging imagery, Jachimowicz has taken a more methodic approach to entering the beer business. He's been homebrewing for ten years, and preparing to open Longship for the last two, but he's been taking steps to go commercial since 2008. "I slowly scaled up my equipment, I took the American Brewers Guild course," he explains, "I've known I wanted to be a brewer or own a brewery for quite awhile now."

He also began working on a five-gallon homebrew rig modeled after industrial systems. With Longship, he's now graduated to a 10 barrel system, but still goes exploring on his single keg pilot batches. "Since what I love about brewing is experimentation," Jachimowicz adds, "I will definitely be continuously experimenting on the small system, and I will definitely be throwing five gallon batches up on the tap for limited releases."

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Why Unified® Review: What To Expect Dropshipping (Positive & Negative)

Next Article

Pet pig perches in pocket

Escondido doula gets a taste of celebrity
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.