As we work our way through the last, fleeting moments of 2025, rocketing toward a brand-new 365-day span, we’re pausing to look back on the year that was. It’s a San Diego Beer News tradition to reveal the 25 news stories that garnered the most engagement among our readership (not including standard fare about events and beer competitions results or features such as our travel guides, Beer of the Week pieces and brewery-staff spotlights). But there was so much going on in the local brewing community over the past 12 months, that we decided to take things further, presenting the top 50 articles. The following are numbers 11 through 20.
20. Resident Brewing’s tenancy coming to an end
January 3, 2025
In 2016, a hospitality mogul tapped his brother-in-law, an award-winning homebrewer who had collaborated with the likes of Stone Brewing, to head beer-making at a brewery installed inside longtime downtown watering hole The Local. Going by the name Resident Brewing, that business was a hit, wowing early on with its New England-style IPAs as that trend erupted on the West Coast, collaborating with San Diego Padres hurler Joe Musgrove on a double IPA called No-No Joe, and eventually bringing its beers to the South Bay with a downtown Chula Vista taproom at the former home of Third Avenue Alehouse. But despite name-recognition and a solid reputation, hardships that have plagued American craft breweries over the past half-decade took their toll, forcing an unceremonious end for the respected local brand.
19. North Park beer op headed to Esconddo
October 10, 2025
For eight years, Jacked Up Brewery was a North County hub for hometown beer and live entertainment. When that Escondido business shuttered last November, it left a hole that two-year-old North Park beer concern Barley & Sword Brewing is hoping to fill, while significantly expanding its production capabilities. Founded in 2023 in one of three lease-to-brew suites at H.G. Fenton’s CRAFT by Brewery Igniter facility, Barley & Sword separates itself from the majority of San Diego’s other beer companies by producing traditional Old World styles hailing from the U.K., Ireland, Belgium and Germany versus multiple IPAs and adjunct lagers. While unorthodox, that approach has worked well for owner and U.S. Navy vet Michael Howell, who hopes his historically accurate beers will be just as warmly received up north.
18. Beer Briefs: Brewer relo, wet-hop wins and an ABC suspension
October 21, 2025
A late-October roundup of industry news told of veteran brewer Danny Garcia (Societe Brewing, Northern Pine Brewing, Black Plague Brewing, Culver Beer Co.) getting hired as lead brewer for San Clemente-based Artifex Brewing, as part of a personnel shift following founding brewer Johnny Johur’s recent move to Switzerland. Also included was info on TapRoom Beer Co. and Burgeon Beer Co. medaling in the fresh-hop round of Oregon’s Best of Craft Beer Awards, and notice of the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control issuing a 45-day suspension to Chula Vista Brewery for its Third Avenue location.
17. Brewer lands turnkey HQ for tropical beer biz
January 21, 2025
Even as he worked at other breweries, brewer Cody Gagnon (Carlsbad Brewing,WestBrew,Pizza Port) dreamt of – and worked toward – opening his own business. He just needed to find the right place. Even in a county suddenly awash with vacant brewery spaces, that proved difficult. But when he toured the former home of Double Peak Brewing in San Marcos, he knew he’d found the forever home for his passion project, Michi Brew Co. Flush with Hawaiian-isle appeal and iconography, as well as a wide-ranging array of beers named for famous bodies of water the world over, Michi has found a fast following among North County residents and hikers taking on the trail the spot’s previous tenant was named for.
16. Thorn Brewing moving out of Barrio Logan HQ
January 24, 2025
In 2017, Thorn Street Brewery took a big step forward, going from a small neighborhood brewery in North Park by opening a spinoff brand called Thorn Brewing, which was built around a high-volume distribution model. In doing so, the company constructed a 10,500-square-foot production facility in Barrio Logan. By 2024, with beer sales down and the beverage market more challenging than ever, ownership sold Thorn Brewing’s brand rights to Latitude Brewing. With that entity having Thorn’s beers contract-brewed, there was no need for the Barrio Logan brewery, prompting ownership to move out and revert to its original, much smaller setup in North Park.
15. Burning Beard signs lease on new HQ
July 21, 2025
In 2023, the owners of El Cajon’s Burning Beard Brewing were notified by their landlord that he had plans for their base of operations, prompting them to search for a suitable site where they could relocate. It took nearly two years, but over the summer they found a 10,500-square-foot building just a mile north of their current brewery, which would not only allow them to keep their nine-year-old business going but increase their production capabilities and host even larger versions of the live-music and other assorted events they have become so well known for. Since making the announcement, Burning Beard’s owners have been working to clear several licensing hurdles, but still hope to complete their relocation next year.
14. Detailing the modern incarnation of Modern Times
July 8, 2025
So much has happened since Modern Times Beer went from a juggernaut beverage brand hellbent on West Coast domination to a wounded bird, caught overextended and decimated by COVID (and further bloodied by harassment claims, prompting an exit by the company’s founding CEO), and sent plummeting to earth. Locations closed, a court-ordered receivership was ordered, a new owner took over then divested in the company, leaving it to its current stewards, which have split responsibility for the company into three revenue streams: beer, coffee and hospitality venues. Confused yet? So was everybody else, prompting this piece explaining the current state of affairs with the 12-year-old business.
13. What Villains Brewing aims to bring to San Diego
May 27, 2025
Last April, the brother-and-sister owners of ten-year-old East Village brewpub Half Door Brewing announced that they were moving out after selling the business to Villains Brewing. That two-year-old concern was a mystery to most, but a check of their flagship location in Anaheim – the 33,000-square-foot former site of Modern Times Beer’s “Leisuretown” – turned up a historic two-story house Villains had outfitted into a bar and restaurant with a haunted-mansion theme. That venue is remarkably similar to the historic two-story house Half Door had occupied, allowing its new occupants the ability to replicate that design in San Diego.
12. Bolt Brewery is going to the dogs
March 10, 2025
After 10 years running a La Mesa brewery feeding beers to restaurants in San Diego’s Little Italy and Old Town neighborhoods, the owners of Bolt Brewery decided to call it quits on the fermentation front and focus on their eateries. After putting their 5,000-square-foot production headquarters (which included an expansive multi-level patio) on the market, numerous breweries showed interest, but were turned away. Then came news that a young entrepreneur with zero brewing experience (who planned to serve as head brewer) was in escrow on the location with plans to install a dog-friendly business offering house beers, coffee, and food menus for humans and canines alike. That concept went by the name Breeds & Brew.
11. Good Pressure Brewing’s debut just days away
November 25, 2025
Days ahead of the soft-opening of their new brewery, Good Pressure Brewing, married founders Erik and Shannon Fowler gave readers an idea of what they could expect from their come-one-come-all Allied Garden business. That included a taproom designed to be as inviting to families with children as it would be to couples on dates, singles, the post-work happy-hour crowd and adventurers looking to toast successful hikes at nearby Mission Trails Park. They also previewed a line of straightforward beverages – IPAs, lagers, a coffee stout and duo of hard seltzers – while teasing that they would be producing ciders and wines down the line.
Click here to see which of this year’s news stories ranked 21 through 30