Gamers garner gold at BattleMage

“We wanted something original that was true to the other passions we had besides brewing,” explains Ryan Sather, owner of BattleMage Brewing. “We grew up pretty nerdy, playing games like Everquest, World of Warcraft, and MTG, so this theme was a natural fit for us. A BattleMage, for reference, is a hybrid class in fantasy games that is a blend between a wizard and a warrior. 

We wanted the tasting room to have a medieval/modern feel and be a bit different from the hundreds of other amazing breweries here in San Diego. A lot of the games we play have very dedicated followings; I would like to think we galvanized similar feelings with an awesome community that has come together to support our brewery.”

The brewery’s dedicated following is likely to expand now that BattleMage has won a gold medal for American Style Amber/Red Ale at the World Beer Cup. The winning ale, Summon Ifrit, is a 6.1% ABV hoppy amber ale balanced by an extensive malt bill. The small brewery — a five barrel brewhouse with only four team members — may seem an unlikely winner, given the competition from other massive craft breweries, but in some ways, this was all a long time coming: Sather and co-founder Chris Barry have been friends for 26 years, and Summon Ifrit’s recipe has been tweaked and honed for over 12 of those years. Sather notes, “It was actually the first recipe I ever submitted in a homebrew competition, so it’s cool to see it come full circle and win gold at World Beer Cup. Practice, the master of all things.”

Also blending. “It has a blend of American, British, German, and Belgian malts, that in the right balance lead it to be biscuity with a hint of caramel. Some recipes, a few malts will achieve the goal, but for something like this, we use eight different malts to find that balance in layered combinations to hit those flavors. It is also pretty hop-forward. The whirlpool addition is on par with what we use in our IPAs, with a healthy dose of Citra and Amarillo. Although it’s not dry-hopped like an IPA, we do also lightly dry hop it with Citra.”

Nothing at BattleMage ever strays too far from the brewery’s theme. Each beer has its own lore — written by Sather — on the cans, with art by David Miller, who Sather and Barry met at ComicCon. Local author Jeremy Hinkley elaborated on the lore on the website and also serves as Dungeon Master for the brewery’s Dungeons & Dragons campaign from 6 pm to 9 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays.

At BattleMage, RPGs pair well with IPAs. As Sather points out, “Part of enjoying a good beer is that temporary escape from reality. We take it one step further and offer a whole world of adventure to jump into. The modern alchemy we call brewing feels a bit magical. Every pint has a drop of that magic in it.”