Creating one‑of‑a‑kind brews at Sheraton San Diego

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A few years ago Scott Shumate, beverage manager at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina, realized that he had about 10 seconds from the time guests left the elevator to get them into his hotel restaurant, Quinn’s Ale House.

In this brewpub-crazy city,
one logical solution was to create some one-of-a-kind beers in collaboration with local brewers. One of the beer
companies created Quinn’s Pale Ale, on tap and bottled specifically for the
hotel.

Quinn’s Ale House is nestled inside the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina, overlooking the pool area with a view of the harbour. With 1,053 guest rooms spread over two separate towers, this is a top San Diego convention hotel and part of the Marriott Convention and Resort Network (CRN). Quinn's guests will find a selection of locally crafted beer, spirits, and pub-style food. Although their beer taps may change frequently, Quinn’s Ale House has been serving the San Diego community since 1994.

In March, they will be serving five
collaborative beers prepared in partnership with Stone Brewery, Pizza Port, Bay City Brewing, 32 North
and Modern Times.

“The most interesting part is that we’ve got
business from this,” Shumate said. “I asked, why doesn’t the CEO come in and
brew a beer? So [the head of] William Grant and Sons will be pairing with 32 North to do a beer.”

Shumate takes about four bartenders out at
this time of year. They recently created a hazy IPA. “The bartenders love it,” he said, adding
that they have been doing this for six years.

“San Diego is known for the presence of craft beer — there's a lot of craft beer business here,” Shumate told CLN, explaining his sales pitch to the local brewers. “We get half a million guests, who can come
in and taste our beer. It’s something that captures San Diego as a whole — it tells
a local story.”

Every September, Shumate takes his female
servers out, and they brew a pink beer for breast cancer awareness. The pink in
the beer comes from guava. One dollar from each beer goes to fund breast cancer awareness. “Last October we paired with Refuge Brewery. One of the owners had a favourite breast cancer charity called Temecula. We sold almost 1,000 beers,
raising $1,000. We take half [the beer] and the brewery takes half,” Shumate said.

One of the latest trends is no-alcohol
cocktails; another is that it’s all about whisky. “We had to pull all our
flavoured vodkas, as no one was drinking them. We’ve replaced them with
whiskies and scotches,” he said.

“Our number one selling beer is based on a Piña
Colada — I call it Vacation in a Bottle.” All the local craft beers are priced at $8
(USD).