Our Story
THE BEGINNING
Sean Haggerty is an American Veteran who served as a SEAL for nearly a decade. One night, during his third deployment to Iraq, he just wanted a cold craft beer. With no beer available, he decided to make it. He crafted up his first batch and from there, a new passion was born. He fell in love with the artistry that goes into brewing and took every opportunity to perfect the process as he finished his time in the teams.
After many years, and boundless support and assurance from his wife and co-founder Cory Haggerty to go organic, the wheels were set into motion. Sean was honorably discharged from the military and decided to go all in on this new venture.
A GREATER PURPOSE
As the moniker suggests, Protector Brewery was conceptualized by people who have always felt a strong urge to protect. While at one point that meant serving this great nation during a time of war, it has since evolved. Protector is determined to create a legacy within the beer community by doing our part to assist in the sustainability, overall health, and welfare of our planet for generations to come.
WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO
Belief in the importance of always doing the right thing is a pillar of our culture here at Protector. As a family owned business, we strive for the utmost integrity and transparency in not only the way we do business, but in how we present our product to the world. On the back of every can, customers can find a complete list of clean organic ingredients. We place great significance on the power of choice when considering a craft beer. We wanted to create the freedom for our customers to be able to choose an option that is not only delicious, but also free of toxic ingredients and promotes the longevity of our environment.
THE PRODUCT
When you taste one of our award-winning craft brews you know exactly what you’re getting in every sip. All of our ingredients are grown in the U.S.A. – there are no GMO’s, no harmful synthetic pesticides, no artificial flavors or preservatives. We only use pure, natural, USDA certified organic elements in every batch, which are fully vegan friendly. All of the brewing chemicals we use are EPA certified, with only a positive or neutral impact on the ecosystem. Plus, we only use packaging that is 100% recyclable.
MOVING FORWARD
In the summer of 2017 we opened our doors to a thirsty public, and happily witnessed the Protector family grow. Our first hire, Amanda Grover, started by slingin’ beer behind the bar and has since created and spearheaded the entire outside sales department as our Director of Distribution Sales. Since then, the Protector team has grown to include General Manager Ted Bouchee, and Assistant Brewer Mackenzie Logan, whom you can find hard at work in the tasting room on any given day.
We began distributing across San Diego County in the spring of 2019 – since then we have begun large-scale canning, tripled the size of our brew system, and welcomed Classic Beverage as our distribution partner in our home territory of San Diego County. In 2021 we added Colorado Craft to our team in Colorado, and 2022 brought us our partnership with Crafty Connoisseurs in Florida. In 2023 we joined forces with Global Craft Distributing to ship our brews to American military bases abroad, and later partnered with Los Angeles-based company Guardian Distributors to round out our Southern California territory.
PEOPLE, PLANET, PROGRESSION
We have been proud to collaborate with many other purpose-driven people throughout the years. We have partnered with philanthropies such as the Navy SEAL Foundation, The Honor Foundation, Team Rubicon, and the San Diego Green Building Council in an effort to give back to our community.
We are deeply grateful for the inclusive, unified family of hopheads with a passion for the craft that has come to fruition through this venture.
We strive to constantly evolve, adapt, and grow through this process and we look forward to what the future of Protector Brewery has to offer. Cheers!
