Hello world. As you probably heard by now, Witch’s Rock recently launched a new project: a microbrewery, eco lodge, and brewpub overlooking Lake Arenal, with the awesome name Volcano Brewing Company. I wrote a blog about it on the WRSC website, you can check it out here: http://witchsrocksurfcamp.com/blog/volcano-brewing-company-now-open-a-message-from-joe-walsh

Brewing beer has been something I have wanted to get into for many years. I love beer. I love how it tastes and how it makes me feel. I used to drink a lot more of it than I do now, which is a good thing considering I’d rather be surfing multiple hours each day and I don’t want to die of a pancreatic attack! But beer will never get old, and everyone including myself just loves a good beer. My dad used to own a bar in San Diego called the Red Wing. His uncle used to own a bar in SD as well (but he lost it on a bet in a pool game). As of 2012 I now run 3 bars in Costa Rica. I guess you could say that the bar business is in my blood. The desire to make a beer besides the standard Imperial and Pilsen was the main motivating factor for opening a microbrewery. When I tore my MCL last year and was out of the water for 6 months, I finally had the time to put the pieces together and help make it happen.

The first beer we started brewing was a pale ale, which we named Witch’s Rock Pale Ale. It is Costa Rica’s first pale ale, and it tastes AWESOME. We have it on draft at Volcano Brewing Company and Eat @ Joe’s. Within a week or so we’ll also have the pale ale on tap at El Vaquero. Witch’s Rock Pale Ale is a hoppy pale ale that suits the beach climate very well. It is a surfy pale ale if there was one.

VBC is brewing a wheat beer, though we haven’t figured out what we want to call it yet. We sell a ton of it, so I know that people are liking it. It is currently available at Volcano Brewing Company and will be available at Eat @ Joe’s within a week or so. Once we have a name for it I’ll let you know, and if you have any ideas please feel free to let me know.

Our third and most recent beer is Gatito Malo, a dark ale that is currently fermenting and should be ready to drink within another day or two. Here’s the artwork that we’ve got thus far, but I think we’re going to redesign the cat to be more of a “Cheshire Cat on LSD” kindof cat.

If you’re looking to get out of Tamarindo for a little getaway, or if you’re in Costa Rica on vacation and you want to check out the Arenal area, I highly suggest checking our Volcano Brewing Company. You can stay in our hotel with a great view of the lake, eat some awesome farm-to-table food direct from our farm, and drink some fine beer, all while hanging out with really good people. I’ll be writing more blogs about Volcano Brewing Company over the next couple of weeks, in the meantime check out our website www.volcanobrewingcompany.com