Landan, Mikey and Paul all agreed if they could get all of their friends from surf, skate, snow, art, film, photography and everything that makes up our culture not only involved, but invested and given equity, it would be a success.
“There’s never been a brand in our industry that’s been owned by surfers, skaters and snowboarders together. It’s always skaters together, surfers together, snowboarders together — it’s never been everyone together. P-Rod and Eric Koston are never going to own a brand with Pat Moore and Todd Richards again — craft beer brought us together,” Landan adds.
Don’t think for a second that starting Saint Archer Brewing Company was an easy undertaking. “We had to do a capital raise, which we had never done before and Mikey and Paul were paying my utility bills,” Landan says. “It was a huge leap of faith. We jumped into an industry that we knew nothing about.”
The Saint Archer crew connected with Kim Lutz, an award-winning brewer from Maui Brewing Co., early on. Kim believed so strongly in the craft beer company that she moved from Maui to San Diego to be their head brewer.
Saint Archer’s Director of Brewing Operations is Yiga Miyashiro. “Yiga was the head brewer of Pizza Port and has won every medal under the sun including Small Brewpub of the Year,” says Landan. “Between Yiga and Kim we have an all-star brewing team.” All About Beer Magazine puts out an annual list featuring the best brewers in the nation under thirty-years-old — Yiga is currently ranked number one and Kim is number three.
With this incredible team in place, it is no shock that Saint Archer, a brand built solely on Instagram with some viral film influence, had the biggest launch in craft brew history. “There has been no traditional marketing at all — It’s all word of mouth, social media and a couple of videos,” says Landan.
Saint Archer Brewing Co. offers four core styles in bottles and cans — Blonde Ale, Pale Ale, IPA and White Ale — as well as a double IPA released every other month. Soon, a collaboration with Girl Skateboards will be revealed. “It’s going to be a limited release beer which will be a hoppy Pilsner,” Landan says.
“Looking back, it sounds crazy. I always knew it was something special, but it was going to take a lot of sacrifice to get there — just like anything that’s worth it.”
Landan was never a beer aficionado, he just enjoyed drinking it. “I’d love to say it’s this super serious thing, but it’s not — it’s beer,” Landan laughs. “It’s a super serious business, but the beer side of it we equate with having fun. We want the best beer and we want everyone to enjoy our beer.”
