Former ASO coordinator brewing up success with craftbeer

“Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer.” –Dave Barry

Passion is the main ingredient in Dr. Gonzalo Quintero’s latest brew, CraftBeer Tasters, and success is beginning to bubble over. Quintero admits to being fizzy with fun, but is trying not to get a big head.

CraftBeer Tasters has received nearly 2,000 hits on YouTube in less than four months and boasts a blog readership of nearly 6,000. Quintero has twice been on the front page of The Westcoaster, a popular craft beer publication based out of San Diego.

Quintero is a South Bay Renaissance man and a borderlands success story. A freshly-minted Ed.D., a respected educator and an expert in the ways of America’s favorite bubbling beverage, Quintero admits he is a moving target. The success of this endeavor didn’t happen overnight. It was Quintero’s love for education that brought him in the direction of the beer tasting business.

Quintero was a peer advisor at SWC and worked in Outreach, showing local high school students what SWC could offer them. He was also active in the Associated Student Organization (ASO) as an Inter Club Council Representative and later as interim Student Activities Coordinator.

Aaron Starck, student activities director, worked with Quintero when he received the Advisor of the Year Award from the ASO during his time at SWC.

“He brought a certain level of enthusiasm to the role that allowed him to connect with students in various ways and is a very personable and likeable individual,” said Starck. “He is role modeling what we often try to teach students, pursue your dreams and success often follows.”

Unfortunately, SWC’s budget crisis put Quintero on the wrong side of a hiring cutback and the young doctor drowned himself in beer—as an ardent advocate not a consumer.

Like most young men, Quintero thought about beer while attending Sweetwater High School and Southwestern College, but education was his first love. Quintero then transferred to San Diego State University, and ultimately earned his Doctorate of Education at the age of 29, the youngest student ever to complete the challenging program and the first SWC employee. Craft Beer tasters seemed symbiotic.

“I saw an opportunity to continue teaching, but also marry it with another passion of mine,” said Quintero.

It all began when his friend and now business partner Jeremiah Jimeno asked him about considering making a web series where they went to different venues, interviewed talented micro-brewers, learned their stories and share them with beer aficionados and the broader community.

Jimeno is co-founder, executive producer and multimedia specialist of CraftBeer Tasters. Quintero said they hit it off over a—what else?—craft beer.

“I invited Jerry to one of my tasting events and he really liked it because I was demystifying that culture,” he said. “You need someone that’s part of a culture to bring you into it. The tasting provided different opportunities. You get to see different people from all walks of life come together under one thing.”

At his events Quintero teaches people about craft beer and its growing popularity in San Diego County and Northern Baja, he said.

“Part of what I would do was teach people about styles, profiles and everything there is to know about it,” he said. “Shortly after that Jerry approached me and said ‘What would you think of doing this professionally’?”

CraftBeer Tasters produces events for breweries, bars and restaurants, and provides products for promotion. They don’t make their own craft beer yet, but Quintero and Jimeno said they would like to.

“That would be the second step,” said Jimeno.

Quintero said he loves the craft beer business because it is replete with people living out their dreams.

“I’m teaching people that it’s more than just beer,” he said. “There’s a reason why the word craft is in there.”