It was nearly a decade ago when husband-wife duo Raul and Lisa Deju went from homebrew shop owners to craft-beer entrepreneurs, installing a small brewery in the back of Carlsbad Brew Supply. If this sounds like a familiar story, that’s because Ballast Point Brewing famously started as an add-on to Morena’s Home Brew Mart before going on to become one of the largest beer companies in the country. The Dejus goals where nowhere near as lofty.
The couple’s aim with their built-in passion project was to create a stateside iteration of Cerveceria Guadalupe, a Valle de Guadalupe enterprise where Raul was a part-owner. Exhausted after three years of bi-weekly pilgrimages to brew beers south of the border, the 15-year fermentation vet was ready to set up a home base. The result is Guadalupe Brewery, a business that has produced beers celebrating the culture and flavors of Mexico for nearly a decade, selling the majority of that stock from a rustic tasting room in downtown Vista.
Guadalupe has been a labor of love, but of late the labor has become a bit too much for the Dejus. Not because they have lost any kind of spark. Raul still loves to brew, but now must travel to Los Angeles for his day job. On top of that, Lisa’s other projects have left her with less time to manage two locations. So, they have decided to consolidate the business by selling one of those spots.
This, too, may sound like a familiar story in the current craft-beer industry, where breweries hitting the market has become a common occurrence. But the Dejus want to keep Guadalupe going, just at a smaller size and from a single venue. So, they are keeping the Vista taproom, which is equipped with a nano-sized brewing setup, with plans to temporarily close the spot to add new signage and remodel its interiors.
They also plan to add a permanent kitchen-equipped trailer on the business’ back patio. Not only will this provide a full-time on-site food option for customers. It will also allow the Dejus to apply for a new license that will allow them to serve guest beers from other brewing companies in addition to their own.
Perhaps some of those beers will belong to whatever entrepreneur takes ownership of Carlsbad Brew Supply. Coming in at around 1,400 square feet, it includes a three-barrel brewing rig, plus two 10-barrel and one seven-barrel fermentation tanks.
The sale would include transfer of Guadalupe’s brewing license, which should help a new owner avoid the months of waiting that typically come after submitting a fresh application to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Deju estimates it would only take three-to-four weeks for approval of the license transfer, and invites interested parties to reach out via email.
Carlsbad Brew Supply is located at 5674 El Camino Real in Carlsbad, and Guadalupe Brewery’s tasting room is located at 631 South Santa Fe Avenue in Vista