Docent Brewing
San Juan Capistrano, California, USA · Est. 2017
Tally's Take
Why this matters
California Pass 187. Official site calls San Juan Capistrano the original/flagship brewery and states beer is brewed there. 2026 ninth-anniversary event supports 2017 opening year.
The Beer Library
Beers
Double Nickels
Year-RoundPale Ale
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://docentbrewing.com/beer/. Pass 140 upgrade: current Docent beer page lists Double Nickels Pale Ale at 5.5% ABV; prior record was award-only with UNKNOWN ABV.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Super Tonic
Year-RoundCoffee Stout or Porter
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/2025-winners/. 2025 GABF Bronze.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Pint of Soul
Year-RoundInternational-Style Pale Ale
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/2025-winners/. 2025 GABF Silver.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Handful
Year-RoundHelles Lager
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://docentbrewing.com/beer/. Current Docent beer page; Helles Lager at 5.0% ABV.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Otto Bier
Year-RoundDark Lager / Schwarzbier
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://docentbrewing.com/beer/. Current Docent beer page; German-style Schwarzbier at 4.0% ABV.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Daylight
Year-RoundLager
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://docentbrewing.com/beer/. Current Docent beer page; Lager at 4.2% ABV.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Bert Day
Year-RoundBlonde Ale
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://docentbrewing.com/beer/. Current Docent beer page; Blonde Ale at 5.0% ABV.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Turtleneck
Year-RoundBelgian Tripel
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://docentbrewing.com/beer/. Current Docent beer page; Belgian Tripel at 10.8% ABV.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Labyrinth
Year-RoundImperial Brown Ale
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://docentbrewing.com/beer/. Current Docent beer page; Imperial Brown Ale at 7.5% ABV.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →The Rube
Year-RoundRed Rye Ale
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://docentbrewing.com/beer/. Current Docent beer page; Red Rye Ale at 8.0% ABV.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Gimme
Year-RoundIPA
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://docentbrewing.com/beer/. Current Docent beer page; IPA at 7.2% ABV.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Otter Pops
Year-RoundIPA
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://docentbrewing.com/beer/. Current Docent beer page; IPA at 6.2% ABV.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Noisy
Year-RoundIPA
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://docentbrewing.com/beer/. Current Docent beer page; IPA at 7.0% ABV.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Zoetry
Year-RoundNew Zealand Lager
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://docentbrewing.com/beer/. Current Docent beer page; New Zealand Lager at 5.0% ABV.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Grandpappy
Year-RoundImperial Stout
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://docentbrewing.com/beer/. Current Docent beer page; Imperial Stout at 9.4% ABV.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →On the record
Awards
- 2026
Gold — American-Style Pale Ale
World Beer Cup
- 2025
Bronze — Coffee Stout or Porter
Great American Beer Festival
- 2025
Silver — International-Style Pale Ale
Great American Beer Festival
Only awards we could attribute to a named body and year appear here. An empty section means unresearched, not unawarded.
2 organisations
Connected suppliers & bodies
- world beer cupAwarded2026Gold — American-Style Pale Ale
- great american beer festivalAwarded2025Bronze — Coffee Stout or Porter
- great american beer festivalAwarded2025Silver — International-Style Pale Ale
Show your working
Sources
- recordProbable
Brewery record taken from Tally's California master, Pass 187, which cited https://docentbrewing.com/locations/san-juan-capistrano/ for this entry. The cited page has not been opened by the archive.
Tally's California master, Pass 187 (research workbook) · Tally's Beer Universe research workbook · 2026
CommercialMedium reliabilityAccessed 2026-08-19Reviewed 2026-08-19
Only the claims above are sourced. Everything else on this page is the archive's own research and has not yet been tied to a document — which is worth knowing rather than hiding.
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