Tap Handle #797: Rip Current - Lupulin Lust DIPA

February 26, 2023

Tap Handle #797: Rip Current - Lupulin Lust DIPA

Tap size: 8.75"

Rarity: N/A, but see below regarding the red version

Mounting: 3/8" ferrule on 5/16' anchor bolt

Orange version

Several years ago I had reached out to the Rip Current Brewery to try to get one of these when they first started to appear on the secondary market at pretty high prices. Though I never heard from the brewery directly, someone reached out to me to let me know that I was being offered one that was new-in-box, due to a change that was going to be made to the tap. Soon after that, orange colored versions began showing up and the red colored version disappeared. It turns out the the brewery originally ordered an orange color for the initial run, but the taps turned out more red than what was desired. The color was re-worked for the second run (and remaining runs) and the red colored versions were purged. The tap itself features a lifeguard Rescue Can, also known as a Torpedo Buoy. This theme fits well with the name of the brewery, because rip currents are fast moving bodies of water that cause lifeguards to have to rescue as many as tens of thousands of people in the U.S. every year. At the top of the tap is signage with a beach scene and the brewery's name on it. At the bottom is a pile of sand. On the left handle is a sculpted white wrap designed to resemble a strap or rope. I believe the tap was commissioned after the brewery won the "Very Small Brewing Company and Brewer of the Year" award at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival. There is only the one tap for all the brewery's beer varieties, so I've chosen to profile their signature Lupulin Lust Double IPA. Over the years the price became more reasonable, but the supply of this tap has mostly dried up since 2021 and it is now hard to find. The price has bounced up and down due to the recent scarcity. I'm not sure if the red version is any more valuable than the orange one, since I haven't seen one for quite some time, although a collector that values the scarcity and the "production error" in the color might say it is.

Rip Current Brewing was founded in San Diego, California in 2011 by Paul Sangster and Guy Shobe. Sangster was originally an engineer by trade, but was one of the most decorated homebrewers in history. A member and officer in both the Society of Barley Engineers and QUAFF, San Diego County’s two largest homebrewing clubs, from 2008-2011 Sangster won over 150 homebrewing medals. Even more impressive is that he won medals in every BJCP beer style category. (The Beer Judging Certification Program defines style guidelines for beers collected into 34 categories as of the 2015 guidelines.) Part of Sangster’s success as a brewer can be attributed to his engineering background, with close attention to technical details, measurements and consistently repeated processes. In 2011, he won the Ninkasi award at the National Homebrewers Competition, which is also called “the best homebrewer in the world award”, after which Shobe, a fellow homebrewer, approached him about opening a brewery. In 2012, they began producing their first beers using a 15 barrel system. Sangster insisted on investing in an expensive reverse osmosis water conditioning system that allowed them to precisely control the water profile of each beer. They chose the name Rip Current from the powerful, narrow channels of water that can move at speeds of up to eight feet per second, faster than an Olympic swimmer.

Growth came rapidly thanks to the booming craft beer scene in San Diego. The original business plan was to slowly open up to 5 tap rooms, but with the market heating up as more and more breweries opened with multiple tap rooms, Rip Current had to deviate from their original business plan, to open tasting rooms more quickly and consider canning their beers. Raising capital was their biggest obstacle; they needed to increase growth more rapidly without taking on too much debt. Fortunately, an expansion to the ownership team, including John Boro, Mike Branon and Tim Cady, were able to help, and by the end of 2012 Rip Current opened a tap room and production facility in San Marcos. A collection of Sangster’s vintage beer cans on shelves on the wall, lending the tap room an aura of brewing history among the 19 beers on tap.

In 2015 the brewery opened a second tap room in North Park, which Sangster called "the hub of craft beer consumption for San Diego." The new tap room was a big, open 4,000 square foot space, with large windows that were actually roll-up garage doors. The feeling was of a seaside shack; although not close to the ocean, ocean breezes made their way into the brewery through the opened garage doors. All of the walls, save for the bright red on the east side, were painted from floor-to-ceiling with a panoramic beach scene by artist Robin Golden. A long L-shaped bar, along with the cold box, was covered in multiple shades of wooden planks with nice under-lighting. This location also housed some of Sanster's vintage beer cans. The space was shared with Sublime Ale House, whose beer-friendly food ranged from pizza and burgers to seasonal salads and small plates. The tap room had 29 taps that showcased the brewery's variety, such as an Orange Honey Cream Ale, a blonde Cream Ale fermented with a high quality Orange Blossom honey and aged on sweet Orange peels and Lupulin Lust, a San Diego-style Double IPA with grapefruit, lemon, tangerine, and floral character.

Also in 2015, the brewery won the prestigious "Very Small Brewing Company and Brewer of the Year" award at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival. This award goes to the top award-winning brewery in the country that produces less than 1,000 barrels of beer per year. Rip Current would go on to win multiple awards at many prestigious beer competitions over the years. One example was Breakline Bock, a dark German lager, that won 15 medals at major competitions including two golds at the Great American Beer Festival, silver at the 2018 World Beer Cup, and Best in Show out of the 1,266 beers entered into the 2019 California Craft Brewers Cup. Rescue Buoy Imperial Stout won bronze at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival and gold at the 2019 California Craft Brewers Cup. Black Lagoon, a bourbon barrel aged Scotch Ale, won silver at the 2019 U.S. Open Beer Championships.

In 2016 the brewery installed their own canning line. The large capital outlay was worth it, from Sangster's point of view, because owning their own system meant being able to control every detail of the process. In 2017, The San Diego Brewers Guild (SDBG), a trade group that supports craft breweries in San Diego, named Sangster its president. That same year, the brewery began a sour beer program and a barrel aging program. While the sours were available by bottle in 2018, the barrel aging took longer, ranging from 18 to 31 months of aging. The brewery was listed as one of the Top 10 breweries in San Diego County as voted on by their colleagues in the San Diego brewing community. While their continued growth moved them out of the “very small” category and into the “small” category of brewers, they continued to brew on the same 15-barrel system.

In 2021, Rip Current Brewing co-founders Sangster Shobe announced they were accepting offers from parties interested in investing in or acquiring their eight-year-old company. They were open to a wide range of offers, from people interested in joining the ownership team to entrepreneurs looking to acquire the company. They received a great deal of interest in the company from numerous parties in and outside of San Diego County, but in the end, two new investors were brought into the fold while a pair of original owners, Sangster and Boro, expanded their ownership percentages and now have the majority stake. The two new investors, Manny Ortiz and Matthew Holden, had both had an interest in purchasing and operating a brewery for some time. They planned to help by leveraging their strong backgrounds in finance and accounting, and came with sturdy homebrewing roots. Holden was a serious fan of Rip Current and couldn't pass up the opportunity, while Ortiz wanted to pair up with a great team that valued quality and had a vision of growth. The new team's immediate focus was in navigating through the pandemic while planning for growth afterward.

Rip Current's Lupulin Lust is the brewery's flagship San Diego-style Double IPA and a long-time brewery staple. It features complex grapefruit, lemon, tangerine and pine-like character. The hops are supported by a clean, dry and bready background character. This beer has won medals at international beer competitions and is always a fan-favorite. Made for all big hoppy beer lovers!