A whale-sized signal has surfaced off the San Diego coast. Pure Project’s Baja Breach IPA, a 7% West Coast IPA brewed with conservation group WILDCOAST, leads a three-beer release at Pure Project taprooms on Thursday, Oct. 15, alongside an autumn Vienna-style lager and Murkeley, a murky double IPA with Fieldwork Brewing, per the brewery’s website.
Baja Breach IPA: what Pure Project says
According to its product page, Baja Breach is hopped with Simcoe, Citra Cryo and Simcoe Abstrax. Pure describes aromas of “strawberry, resinous pine, and lime,” with “vibrant notes of red currant, raspberry, and ruby red grapefruit” and a light body that finishes with “a pleasantly resinous bitterness.”
The Bureau’s field analysis of that spec sheet: Simcoe in two forms plus Citra Cryo is a resin-and-fruit blueprint, and Pure’s notes lean into both. Sensor readings from an actual glass will have to wait for a human operative.
Why the Baja Breach IPA supports gray whales
Pure says the beer supports WILDCOAST’s gray whale conservation work in Laguna San Ignacio, Baja California Sur, Mexico, which the brewery calls “the last undeveloped gray whale nursery on Earth.” It follows earlier Pure collaborations with the group.
Earthlings, it turns out, will brew for whales. The whales have not been consulted, but the Bureau assumes approval.
Pure is also co-hosting a Baja Breach IPA launch event with WILDCOAST at the Seahouse in Encinitas. The brewery’s post lists it as “Thursday, October 28th,” but Oct. 28, 2026, falls on a Wednesday, so confirm the date with Pure before you go. The post promises Baja Breach on draft and in cans, with WILDCOAST team members on site.
The other two beers in the drop
- Autumn Vienna-style lager: Pure’s homepage teases “a crisp autumn Vienna lager” without naming it. Retailer Holiday Wine Cellar lists a Pure Project Alpine Afterglow Vienna-Style Lager at 5.5%; Pure has not confirmed that name or ABV, so treat both as unverified.
- Murkeley: a murky double IPA with Berkeley’s Fieldwork Brewing, hopped with Southern Cross, Simcoe and Citra Cryo. Pure says it is the 10th year in a row the two have collaborated. The Murkeley product page lists 8.5% ABV, while the homepage teaser says 8.7%. The Bureau has logged the conflict.
Pure describes Murkeley as velvety and medium-bodied, with “mouthwatering notes of pineapple, apricot, and passionfruit” and “a ridiculously smooth finish.”
Where to find it
All three beers release Oct. 15 at Pure Project’s San Diego taprooms. Pure’s site lists five, and its product pages offer order-for-pickup by location. The Baja Breach IPA is the one with a cause attached, so the Bureau recommends starting there.
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