Last year, TapRoom Beer Co. (TRBC) co-owner Kevin Conover took his North Park brewpub in an entirely new direction following the departure of its founding brewer Bill Batten, who left to accept a job at Fall Brewing. Interested in diversifying TRBC’s portfolio to include more modern and experimental styles, he hired former Mikkeller Brewing San Diego head brewer Daniel Cady. Fourteen months into the Cady era, Conover is ecstatic about the house beers gracing his taps.
“Our singular goal is to produce the best damn beer that we can at any cost, and Dan is knocking it out of the park. We truly feel that the liquid that is coming out of our brewery is second-to-none,” says Conover. “The next logical expansion is to establish a tasting room to be able to share our hard work with more people.”
So, that’s just what Conover has done, taking over the 2,000-square-foot Garnet Avenue site that formerly housed Barrel Republic’s pour-it-yourself bar and restaurant in Pacific Beach. It’s a locale Conover and his brother-slash-business-partner, Kyle, are quite familiar with. In 2007, the duo opened their first business, SD TapRoom, mere steps from their newly acquired digs. That spot—which celebrated its sixteenth anniversary over the weekend—has gone on to become one of San Diego County’s most venerable craft-beer establishments.
In 2017, the Conovers decided to take their craft-beer devotion to the next level by opening their own brewpub. That project took more than three years to get it built, operative and open. Thankfully, the brothers’ new venue had a much quicker turnaround time of just two months.
Rather than leading with the TRBC brand, the Conovers are calling their new spot The Collective. That decision was made to accomplish an overarching goal of being multidimensional. Conover says brewery tasting rooms tend to cater to a niche audience. By creating something different and incorporating lesser-seen, unconventional elements, he believes The Collective can appeal to a broader range of people, including craft-beer novices who will have the opportunity to discover TRBC’s ales and lagers.
We’re aiming for The Collective to become a late-night, vibin’, loungy, gamin’ craft-beer bar and event space with live music and other interactive entertainment. We’ll exclusively serve 20 or so TapRoom beers, including sour ales and other specialties, and aim for this be an extension of our brewery with a few extra elements above your standard tasting room.”
Kevin Conover, Co-owner, TapRoom Beer Co.
Those elements include games, entertainment, open-mic and movie nights. In addition to beer The Collective will also offer wines by the glass and house-made draft cocktails. The former will pour from traditional taps following the Conovers removing the long-draw, self-pour setup that had been the crux of the former tenant’s operation.
The Conovers were on the hunt for a space to house a TRBC tasting room when the opportunity to take over the Barrel Republic unit presented itself. Its high-profile location and proximity to SD TapRoom made it especially appealing, as did its malleability. The brothers are excited about presenting a brewery tasting room that isn’t necessarily a brewery tasting room, and introducing new people to craft beer in a fun, relaxed manner.
The Collective is not yet open to the public. Information on the venue’s debut will be shared via the business’ Instagram account. Once open, The Collective’s hours of operation will be 6 p.m. to midnight, Sunday through Thursday, and 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., Fridays and Saturdays.
The Collective is located at 1261 Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach