Former MLB All-Star Adrián González has been named co-founder of the Los Angeles-based Mexican-style beer brand, Calidad Beer.
The title change is “more of a formality,” co-founder and CEO Josh Zad explained, as González was heavily involved in the development of Calidad’s brand image, marketing, and beer since the company’s 2018 founding.
“Before there was even a liquid, I was leaning on Adrián, who was giving me pointers on messaging that we had on the early can design,” Zad told Brewbound. “And then by the time we were working on the liquid, it was only natural to reach back into Adrián’s knowledge and understanding and appreciation for Mexican-style lagers.
“If I had to pick the top three most important people, Adrián is in those three in terms of how he touched the business early on,” he continued. “He was that most critical component, or the most critical brain trust that we had early on, and it only made sense to formalize everything eventually.”
Best known as a first baseman for the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers, among other MLB teams, González has been involved in several off-the-field business ventures, including launching Titan23 – a digital brand development platform for athletes – becoming a franchise owner of 11 Jersey Mike’s sub shops, and partnering on a cigar line (MXS El Titan Cigar) and apparel line (Active Faith Sports). This week, he officially announced his retirement from baseball.
Born in San Diego and raised in Tijuana, González told Brewbound he wanted to help create the Calidad brand as something that felt “authentic without being an imported beer.” As a co-founder, he will continue to support development and growth of the company, along with being a face of the brand.
“I was born in the U.S., but raised in my culture and my inner being is Mexican,” he said. “I feel like the beer is very true to that as well. It was born here in the U.S. and it’s made here in the U.S., but the entire body of its inner being is Mexican.”
González continued this mission in the creation of his namesake El Titán Style michelada mix, based on his family recipes. Available in 20 oz. bottles (10 servings), 2 oz. of the dark mix of spices and lime juice is meant to be combined with a can of Calidad beer to create the Mexican beer cocktail.
Additionally, this spring, Calidad will release its take on hard seltzer with its sparkling Agua Frescas. Available in three flavors – Hibiscus Watermelon, Prickly Pomegranate and Guava Pineapple – the new product will be sold in variety 12-packs in southern California and Arizona.
“We wanted to respect and honor the heritage and the flavors and the zest of Mexico, but always visualize it through our own lens,” Zad said. “[Agua Fresca] fits in line with what we’ve always sought out to do, which is not reinvent anything, but just make it a little bit better, a little bit more accessible, and create a brand that people feel like they’ve seen before. There’s some nostalgia with it.”
Last year, Calidad produced nearly 7,500 barrels of beer, up from 2,500 barrels in 2020, according to Zad. The brewery is targeting 15,000 barrels in 2022.
“It’s one of those things like if we open a few more states, we can artificially inflate that number, but we want lasting power, because we want the year after to triple or double again,” he said. “We’re taking a more measured approach this year.”
Since launching in 2018, Calidad has expanded beyond California into Arizona, Texas and Colorado. Zad said the company won’t be expanding into new states for the moment, and will instead be focused on strengthening Calidad’s presence in Southern California.
Last year, Calidad transitioned from Guardian Distributors in Los Angeles and Brown Bag Beverage in San Diego to Scout Distributing. The company plans to leverage Scout’s chain knowledge, along with González’s So-Cal roots, to expand the brand into more channels and households in the region, before filling out more of the state.
“It’s important for us to leverage Adrián’s relationships, the strength of his name and his brand to get further and deeper into all kinds of chains that we have not even begun to scratch the surface of in our own home state,” Zad said.
González added that the company has also yet to scratch the surface of the Latino market, which provides great growth opportunities.
Although Calidad is produced in the U.S., the company is exploring producing some offerings in Mexico – possibly a lower ABV beer in glass bottles – to be imported back to the U.S. The idea was inspired by a trip by Zad to Guadalajara while González was training for the Olympics. Both co-founders say they are pursuing ways to make the project work.