Belching Beaver Brewery

Tom Vogel, CEO, Owner & General Manger

I have wanted to open a bar, or pizza brewery for years. I have made offers on what I thought would be good locations, but the numbers never really worked. I thought I would have to wait until retirement. Then for some reason, one day I was drinking at Port Brewing Company in San Marcos with some buddies, looked around and just decided I was going to open a brewery, and that was it.

I have been a back yard brewer and wine maker for many years now, and loved what I was making. At the same time I was playing poker with Troy Smith from Coronado Brewing Company, and he was helping me make beer. So one day I just asked him if he wanted to do his own thing. Troy said yes. So I had the brewer I wanted. I figured that was a pretty good start.

I met Dave Mobley, an accomplished Architect, in a wine class several years ago, and we started making our own wines together. One day he asked me if I was still going to open a brewery, and I told him I was. He asked if he could partner up, and after about an hour of both of us saying we didn't like the idea of partnerships, we decided to forget about it and hit the local San Diego breweries. By the time we were at the 5th (and last) one, Stone Brewing Company, Dave said, "That's it! Let's do this! I love these places."

Now since I had the brewer and a partner, my wife was much more agreeable to me moving forward and that was the last piece of the puzzle. With my new found team in place, and the help of a few hearty home brews, Belching Beaver was born!

Dave Mobley (Spock), COO, Owner & Tasting Room Manger

Dave is an accomplished architect. He make models of buildings and other cool things. We call him Spock, and I can ask him about anything related to numbers, and he just comes up with the answer in his head. Dave doesn't say things like "up" or "sideways" or even "straight" instead he says stuff life vertical, horizontal, or perpendicular-to-the-wall. It takes some people a little while to understand Dave. There is no way we could have done this brewery without his expertise, time, and guidance (like when he pulled me aside and said "That's not to code."). He built the entire bar with some welding from Charlie Duvel, they pulled it off and we love it.

Troy Smith; Head Brewer (The Gimp)

Troy has many years of experience in brewing beer and is well-respected in the San Diego brewing community. Just the fact that our first batches were simply outstanding is a testament to his abilities. I cannot tell you how many experienced beer drinkers, beer judges and brewery owners have come up to me and said our beer was just fantastic! We call Troy the gimp because he broke his foot a couple days before we had to brew our first batches. He still showed up to work with 2 plates and multiple screws in his ankle. I brought him an easy chair for the brew pad and he pointed to everything that needed to be done. I burned myself so many times on 140 degree water I promised I was going to break his other leg. I also brought a toy box trailer to the parking lot so he had a place to sleep. Every morning I would pound in the box and say "Wake up the Gimp, it's time to Brew!"

Marc Truex, (Big Beaver)

We brought Marc on to be our sales department, and boy has he really stepped up to the challenge. It is thanks to his perseverance and hard work that you find Beaver brews around San Diego County. You can find him at beer festivals and just about any craft beer joint in town.

Thomas Peters, (Alpha King Champion)

Thomas joined our brew team in the fall of 2013 and has been working hard to share his "book learnin" of brew science with our crew. He never complains and shows up early; you will even see him behind the Vista tasting room bar slinging drinks from time to time.

Michael Schaffer

Our North San Diego County sales rep, Mike can be seen jumping in and out of accounts all day long.

Mark Amador

This guy battles traffic on the daily to help spread the good word about our beers to the Orange County and LA region. Make sure to give him a high five when you see him!

Family

I can't leave the page without mentioning Jenny, My wife, "Beer Wife" who has been playing a deeper role in our other business and a great help out at the Brewery. She organizes everything from events to my office. She enjoys pouring beer and making everybody feel completely at home. She is just awesome.

Other Great Beavers:
Diane Magrath, next to the Beer Wife, the prettiest Beaver. You usually see her pouring and washing glasses, and making sure all our friends are happy.
Brewing Beavers Josh, Tony, Rob, and Jacob.
Vista Beavers Karye, Stevo, Greg, Sheena, and Sigrid.
North Park Beavers Britt, Leslie, Jared, Robert, Maria, and Michael.
Delivery Beavers Barrett, Nick, and Rex. These guys are on it!
And the list grows!
Thank you all so much!