September 19, 2025

436: Blake Masoner of Craft Coast Strives for Excellence Beer After Beer, Taco After Taco

1 hour 32 minutes

At Craft Coast in Oceanside and San Marcos, California, Blake Masoner is happy if you show up for tacos and stay for a beer. The fairly priced tacos are scratch-made, down to the tortillas themselves, packing loads of flavor into every bite. Fellow San Diego–area brewers refer to them as “The best tacos between here and Tijuana”—but the beer they brew here is anything but an afterthought.

Eight medals in four years at the World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festical—in competitive categories such as hazy pale ale, American IPA, and international pilsener—are evidence of the brewery’s ambition on the quality side, and they’ve modified both classic and modern brewing techniques to serve their flavor and aroma goals.

In this episode, Masoner discusses:

abandoning a “no core beer” policy to keep customers happy

brewing Mexican-style dark lager with dry yeast and vorlauf-only dark malts

mitigating sulfur production with 34/70 yeast

Australian-inspired XPA design without Southern Hemisphere hops

using Mosaic at different times for different effects in West Coast IPA

knockout hopping to find the true heart of new varieties

pinpointing flavors through dry hopping

building a team-wide winning mindset

And more.

This episode is brought to you by:

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Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): As breweries expand beyond beer into other segments like mocktails and CBD beverages, Old Orchard is here to help. We can formulate custom blends featuring specialty ingredients. More information and free samples are waiting at oldorchard.com/brewer.

Indie Hops (https://indiehops.com) Celebrating 16 years of delivering compelling new hop varieties along with classics that thrive in Oregon’s terroir, Indie is the original source for Strata, Luminosa, Lórien, Meridian, and their newest variety Audacia. Release your creativity with the magic of pure, uncut Oregon hops from Indie. Indie Hops — Life is short. Let’s make it flavorful.

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Canoe Wild Rice (https://breweryworkshop.com) Brewers, have you ever considered brewing with North America’s only Ancient Grain—Wild Rice? Joe at Canoe Wild Rice has a stockpile of this unique roasted grain ready to ship to you. Send Canoe Wild Rice an email at [email protected] or give the office a call at 1-800-626-3809

Prairie Malt (https://prairiemalt.com) For over 50 years Prairie Malt has been producing high extract malts forged from the fertile soils of Saskatchewan. Stop by the Roadhouse & Melvin booth at GABF to sample some award-winning beers produced with excellent malts and learn more at prairiemalt.com.

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