In 1988, Chris Cramer and Matt Rattner asked Cramer's cousin, Master Brewer Karl Strauss, to help them develop a brewpub. Strauss was a former vice president of production at Pabst Brewing Company.[4] Strauss agreed, contributing his library of hundreds of beer recipes, helping to design brewing operations, and serving as the company's spokesman on radio advertisements and in public appearances until his death in 2006.[5]
The company's first brewpub, Karl Strauss Old Columbia Brewery and Grille, located on Columbia Street in Downtown San Diego, opened in 1989. It was the first brewery of any type to operate in San Diego since 1953, and the first-ever brewpub in San Diego.[6] At the time the craft brewing industry was in its infancy and the American standard for beer was light, mild and mass-produced, but Cramer felt that the country was ready for beers with more personality. He believed that "If we could get this style of beer into people's mouths, we could create converts."[7]
The company's first distributing brewery began producing beer in late 1991. In 1996 the company's distributing brewery operations were moved into a 22,000-square-foot (2,000 m2) home office and brewing building in Pacific Beach. Also in 1991 the company opened its second brewpub: Karl Strauss Brewery Gardens in Sorrento Mesa. Additional brewpubs were opened in La Jolla (1996) (location closed as of January, 2021), Carlsbad (1999), Costa Mesa (2002), 4S Ranch in San Diego's North County (2012), Temecula (2013), Anaheim (2016) and Downtown Los Angeles (2016).[8] There is also a Karl Strauss brewpub at Universal Citywalk in Los Angeles and a Karl Strauss beer location called Port of San Fransokyo Cervecería at the Disney California Adventure theme park in Anaheim.[9][10][11]
In 2009, the company partnered with the Greenhouse alternative energy company in a program to convert its waste to ethanol for use as a fuel.[12]
As of 2023 the brewery has nine locations in Southern California, including five in San Diego County. In November 2023 the company opened its first outdoor beer garden, the Karl Strauss Outpost San Marcos.[13]