SDBeerNews / June 8, 2026
There are hundreds of talented brewing professionals giving their all to help maintain the San Diego beer industry’s storied reputation. While these industrious practitioners share numerous similarities, each is their own unique person with individual likes, dislikes, methodologies, techniques, inspirations, interests and philosophies. The goal of San Diego Beer News’ Portrait of a Brewer series is to not only introduce readers to local brewers, but dig in to help them gain a deeper appreciation for the people making their beer and how they have contributed to the county’s standout craft-brewing culture.
Today’s featured brewer is…Jim Millea of OB Brewery
What is your current title?
Head Brewer
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Beverly, Massachusetts, a small-ish but not tiny coastal town about 25 miles north of Boston.
What brought you to San Diego?
I first visited San Diego in the summer of 1998 on my way back to Massachusetts from a semester abroad in Australia. My cousin Lisa was living in Ocean Beach on Cape May Avenue just a couple blocks from the beach. After parking in front of her apartment, I’ll never forget stepping out of her car wide-eyed and beholding the view of the sand and the ocean beyond. I thought, “Oh yeah, I could do this.” A couple years later, after working in and around Boston, a great buddy and I decided to make the move. We quit our jobs, packed up my truck with camping gear, kayaks, bikes and all the other belongings we could fit, and hit the road. We spent six weeks exploring the country with San Diego being the end goal.
What was the first beer and/or alcoholic beverage you ever had?
Budweiser. I believe I was about six years old, and my Dad gave me a sip off his can of the “King of Beers” lager. I remember it tasted bitter. I was not a fan.
What was your a-ha moment that turned you on to craft beer?
I remember in college being stoked when a brewpub opened up nearby. I also remember going to Boston Beer Works in the ‘90s and enjoying fresh microbrews on tap from time to time. When I wanted a break for the cheap light lagers my friends and I drank in mass quantities, I’d occasionally grab some Newcastle, Bass Ale, Pete’s Wicked Ale or Guinness. I made my first homebrew in the late ‘90s and got myself a nut brown ale kit that came with everything, including a bucket to ferment it in. It came out pretty good and I was stoked that I had made a solid, drinkable beverage in my kitchen. I don’t think I really got that “a-ha” moment, however, until I moved to San Diego and started drinking beers from Ballast Point Brewing, Green Flash Brewing, Pizza Port, AleSmith Brewing and others in the early 2000s. I think what really did it was meeting some friends that made delicious beer for a living. That really made an impact.
What led you to consider a career in brewing?
I never seriously considered a career in brewing until I had established a group of friends that were already doing it, and doing it really well. That made it seem like more of a real possibility. Still, I was reluctant because I thought I wouldn’t be able to survive on the money a brewer makes. I loved homebrewing and knew I had a knack for it, and just focused on that instead. What really helped break me through the barrier was when I started taking vacations from work to do beer stuff. In 2009, I went to Anchorage, Alaska with Ballast Point’s specialty brewer, Colby Chandler, to help pour beer at the Great Alaska Beer and Barleywine Festival. We stayed at the home of Colby’s colleague, Gabe Fletcher, who was brewing for Midnight Sun Brewing at the time. We made a collaboration beer while Gabe’s crew cooked up fresh salmon on the grill outside in the icy cold. We went snowboarding at the nearby Aleska Resort. We did a beer-and-food-pairing dinner, which was pretty new to me (and perhaps many) at the time. We worked the festival and took turns pouring and perusing the room for other tasty brews to drink. I kept thinking how I was using the limited vacation time from my corporate desk job to go on my buddy’s “work trip”. That really sparked the fire to figure out how to make it happen for myself.
What was your first brewing/brewery position?
September 18, 2014 was the first day I got paid to make beer! Ed O’Sullivan hired me to be his assistant brewer at O’Sullivans Brewing Company in Scripps Ranch. It was a small, fun three-barrel brewery that is now occupied by Night Parade Brewing. Ed and I were in the UCSD Extension brewing program together and I jumped at the chance when he asked me if I’d like to help him make beer.
What breweries have you worked for over your career and in what roles?
I never officially worked there, but the first professional system I learned to brew on was the 15-barrel brewhouse at Ballast Point’s Home Brew Mart. From time to time, Colby would call me to say, “Hey I’m brewing Thursday night,” and tell me I could hang out and help out where I could. A few years later when Ballast Point opened their amazing Little Italy brewpub, I did an unofficial internship there for five or six months. During this time, I learned how to work in the cellar: cleaning tanks, transferring beers, carbonating, kegging…so many important skills that helped me learn how to be an asset at a professional level. After this, I started my assistant brewer job at O’Sullivan Brothers, and while doing that I did my UCSD brewing program internship at Benchmark Brewing. From there, the opportunity for OB Brewery opened up and I scored my dream head brewer job, which I still have.
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