On-The-Tracks-Brewery: Poet Alumni and his life after graduation

Career after graduation, Greg Davison, Jeff Wilson, Self run business, Features - By Jeff Wilson on Thursday, October 6, 2011 - 02:22

The radio in the corner of the On-The-Tracks (OTT) Brewery taproom blasted hits from Incubus and Pearl Jam as beer trickled into growlers from taps with railroad-spike handles. The walls were covered in Arthurian paintings and retro movie posters.

Patrons gathered around the wooden bar to taste samplers of beer on trays shaped like railroad tracks or to purchase growlers, refillable half-gallon jugs of beer, on Friday, Sept. 9.
Located in an industrial park off El Camino Real in Carlsbad, Calif., the OTT Brewery, named for the train car on which Davison’s grandfather was born, specializes in craft beers, such as the caramel-infused Golden Spike and the spiced Baltic Pepper Porter. It is owned and operated by alumnus Greg Davison.

Davison was a double-major in Anthropology and Social Work, as well as a member of the Lancer Society, and had been homebrewing beer for about five years before he graduated in 2007. Inspired by his experiences studying abroad in London and his encounters with rich, traditional beers, Davison founded the OTT Brewery shortly after graduation.
“I wanted to be my own boss and have control over my future,” Davison said. “I have a passion for beer so I figured I’d go into something I like. I went towards spiced beers because they tend to be pretty popular. In San Diego, most places tend to do IPAs [India Pale Ales] and pale ales, so I wanted to distinguish myself.”

The OTT Brewery is considered a “nano-brewery” because it measures its beers in gallons rather than barrels.

“[The brewing equipment] takes about five hours to brew and it takes about eight hours to clean,” Davison said. “Brewers say that we’re basically just glorified janitors because the yeast does all the work.” Davison plans to eventually upgrade his current brewing system, which produces around 13 gallons per batch, to a 250-gallon system.

OTT is also an environmentally-conscious brewery that donates its spent grain to a local farmer who uses it to feed his livestock and generally sticks to locally-grown ingredients, except in the case of exotic grains that are unavailable in the States.

“One of the problems a lot of breweries have is being environmentally responsible,” alumnus and OTT assistant brewer Casimir Keniski said. “Working with the farmer is actually great for both of us.”

Keniski, who graduated in 2008, knew Davison through the Lancer Society. “We always worked well as a team,” Keniski said. “After I graduated, Greg [Davison] came to my house and said ‘You want to make beer?’ I said ‘Hell yeah!’”

Beers from the On-The-Tracks Brewery have been featured in various San Diego-area restaurants such as the Pier View Pub, the Beachside Grill, Joey’s Barbeque and Pizza Port, as well as in the Stone Brewing Co. taproom. According to Keniski, there are plans to expand the OTT Brewery into the Whittier area within the next year.