The Salty Walrus Journey
Began out of a desire to take the road less traveled and a love of craft beer.
To follow our undeniable passion to create, from our handcrafted beer to an adventure-rich lifestyle.
It's the path unseen this brand celebrates, built by people from all walks of life with one thing in common:
“An unwavering passion for their craft.”
We get stoked on good surf, a long hike, fresh snow, or a good old-fashioned day of hard work.
And we think these days are made all the better when they're shared with great friends and a cold beer in hand.
THE STORY STARTS IN 2016.
The year Salty Walrus was born...we just didn’t know it yet.
Our head brewer Will was working for one of the oldest independently-owned craft breweries, Karl Strauss Brewing, in the heart of San Diego. At this time San Diego craft was booming, becoming the mecca of beer in the United States and known today as the Capital of Craft. Inspired by this beer scene, Will and his college roommate, Christian, embarked on their journey into homebrewing. Eager to make their own favorite west coast style beers.
Having just moved a block from the water in Carlsbad, a little surf town in the northern part of San Diego, they were unapologetically introduced to a local legend named Patrick. A nomad who lived the ultimate San Diego lifestyle. Little did we know then, he’d be the inspiration behind our brewery, and the man behind the brand.
WHO'S PATRICK
WELL , WE’RE STILL FIGURING THAT OUT FOR OURSELVES.
For reasons unbeknownst to us, strangers frequently knocked on our door asking for Patrick. All seemed to be some local surf bums, so we always shrugged it off assuming he was just the previous tenant. These run-ins got a little more suspicious when on two separate occasions these strangers tried drunkenly getting into the apartment in the middle of the night, shouting “Patrick, let me in!”
A few weeks later, one summer afternoon, we finally got some answers. An older gentlemen riding in on a sweet lookin’ Harley rolled up to the front door... luckily this time in broad daylight. With the door wide open, he pops his head in “Hey, sorry to bother you guys, is Patrick here?”, he asked. Will blurted out in frustration, “Dude no, but who the heck is this Patrick guy?!”. The stranger laughed, “Oh Patrick, he lived here the last 10 years”. But we wanted more answers, so we invited him in. He described him as a “Salty Walrus”. The type of guy who would “trunk it any day of the year”. He never missed a day of surf and a wetsuit wasn’t in his quiver - just a simple man who embraced this simplistic lifestyle by the water.
Endless summer nights, good friends, great surf, and the best craft beer around. Imagine if “The Dude” and Jack Johnson were somehow the same person. Well, that’s the image we got. Maybe it was the fact he reminded us of ourselves a bit or just that he seemed like a rad dude, we felt connected to him in some way. Almost like a long lost friend we’d be stoked to have a beer with or paddle out next to again. Not to mention, the nomad he is, he up and leaves without telling his friends where he’s going. Maybe he’s down in Mexico for the summer or somewhere overseas traveling the world. Nobody knows, but we sure as hell hope to cross paths one day. And then it all finally started to click. This was the moment we realized “Salty Walrus” had a much bigger meaning. And over time this grew from the name of our first home brew to the name of our very own brewery.
OUR FOUNDERS
Born in the Central Valley of California, raised partially on the Central Coast and having lived the latter half of their years in San Diego, our founders’ journey has been anything but “boring”. Christian Carter and Will Peltzer attended San Diego State University, where they found themselves inundated with the craft beer culture. They wanted to go somewhere by the beach and somewhere they could party, so they moved to Pacific Beach. Home to Karl Strauss Brewing, Will’s first brewing gig, and a young tech startup where Christian launched his business career just after college.
In 2020 they decided to turn their passion for craft beer into a business. This began their journey to bring San Diego style, handcrafted beer back to the Central Valley.
Beer for the Journey
Stories worth sharing.
Beer for the Journey
Stories worth sharing.
Beer for the Journey
Stories worth sharing.