Orchard-Fresh Brewing
Beer, Mead, and Cider
Discover Handgeplukte Kriek® made with handpicked Schaerbeek cherries. Taste the vibrant flavors of our orchard in every pour.
Distinctive Beer, Mead, and Cider for Discerning Craft Enthusiasts
Crafted from orchard to glass with local, handpicked cherries
At Lyons Peak Brewing Company, every fruit beer is a testament to our dedication to quality and tradition. We combine handpicked cherries and meticulous brewing techniques to create vibrant, flavorful Kriek Lambic-style beer that captures the essence of each season.
Handpicked Schaerbeek Cherries
We harvest cherries at their peak ripeness directly from our orchards, ensuring robust flavor and natural aroma in every batch.
✓ Maximizes one-of-a-kind Schaerbeek cherry aroma and flavor – distinctive notes of cinnamon!
✓ Supports sustainable, local farming in San Diego – Low chill requirement.
✓ Deeper burgundy color than obtained with other cherry varieties.
Orchard-to-Glass Brewing
Our process…what process? To make Handgeplukte Kriek, we pick cherries and walk them straight over to the freezer in the shop. When harvest is done in August we fill the fermenters with cherries and rack base lambic-style beer onto the cherries. And there it sits. We taste and test weekly until desired juiciness and funkitude are achieved (usually six to eight weeks). Then a little sugar is added, and the beer is naturally carbonated through refermentation in the bottle or keg. Minimal handling, minimal tinkering, preserving freshness and quality throughout. Similar simplicity is observed for all our beer, mead, and cider.
✓ Preserves peak fruit character
✓ Zero additives and processing
✓ Full aroma and taste
✓ A little haze = 10-20% more aroma and flavor
Seasonal & Artisanal Methods
We brew in small batches in harmony with the seasons, offering specialty one-of-kind beers, meads, and ciders that reflect the unique flavors of each season.
✓ Limited-release seasonals
✓ True craft, the real deal
✓ Brewed one barrel at a time
Handgeplukte Kriek
For over 600 years monks picked Scharbeekse cherries and made Kriek lambic beer. Donkey carts as recently as the early 1900’s pulled Schaerbeekse cherries to market in Brussels where lambic breweries turned these jewels into Kriek lambic that was recognized by UNESCO as an “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” in 2016. Discover our handcrafted Kriek cherry beer, made with 100% orchard-fresh Schaerbeek cherries grown on-site in Jamul, CA. Each keg and bottle highlights the vibrant flavors of handpicked fruit and showcases our commitment to honoring this important cultural heritage.
WBC Gold 2026!!! – Handgeplukte Kriek batch 0, made in 2024 at AleSmith Brewing Company
When Lyons Peak Brewing Company was still waiting on an ABC license, we had 1200 pounds of cherries to put to use. Peter Zien and the AleSmith Team came to the rescue! Many of the processes and even the barrels used on this first batch are still used today to make Handgeplukte Kriek at Lyons Peak in Jamul, CA. Lyons Peak is forever grateful for AleSmith help getting started and honored to have had a hand in helping them win World Beer Cup Gold against 65 international entries in the 2026 Belgian – Style Fruited Beer category. Cheers to Peter, Anthony Chen, and the entire AleSmith Team!
A craft label for a craft beer? Yes! Many thanks to Dan Heffernan at Clove Street Press for nothing short of a work of art printed on 1920’s technology: a Heidelberg Windmill press with copper plates. Thank you thank you for layout by Malorie Perez at Hoppy Beer Gear. And a huge thank you to Mike Mellow, formerly of Ballast Point fish fame, for generously providing original artwork for this label.
The Story Behind Every Pour
At Lyons Peak Brewing Company, every bottle of Handgeplukte Kriek® begins in our own cherry orchard. We handpick the ripest Schaerbeek cherries to ensure each batch is bursting with orchard-fresh flavor.
Our signature Handgeplukte Kriek® cherry beer is 100% local harvest. Its vibrant ruby color and natural tartness pair beautifully with grilled lamb, Shropshire Blue cheese, or your favorite chocolate truffle.
We also craft small-batch meads and ciders, each with a unique story. Shoot me an email at chad@lyonspeak.com for where you can find the latest offerings.
Every beer, mead, and cider reflects our dedication to farm brewing and artisanal quality. Discover your next favorite by exploring the taste of truly local, handcrafted beer, mead, and cider.
Just say no! No fining agents. No enzymes. No sulfites. No clarifying agents. No filtering. No maltodextrin. No anti-foaming agents. No stabilizers. We brew with malt, grain, water, hops, locally grown fruit, yeast, and groovy funkalicious brewing bacteria. That’s it. That simple. Because you know and taste the difference between the real deal, and mass-produced beverages.
