Though only four months in, it’s been an eventful year for the local brewing industry. In addition to established beer interests opening new spots—Little Miss Brewing’s new nanobrewery and tasting room in Poway, Kings & Convicts Brewing’s reopening of former Saint Archer locations in Miramar and Leucadia, and Mike Hess Brewing‘s revival of Alpine Beer Co.’s former East County pub under its own flag—a quartet of brand-new breweries have debuted. And they’ve come in a flurry, with three of them opening within a single month. While distinctly different from a branding and product standpoint, they are similar in that they are small (“very small” by the definition of national trade organization, the Brewers Association) with the majority geared towards being ultra-local, aiming to satisfy patrons in their immediate communities. Here, we take a look at the newest members of the Class of 2022.
9879 Hibert Street, Scripps Ranch
In 2017, homebrewer Darrel Brown took over O’Sullivan Brothers Brewing in Scripps Ranch. In doing so, he continued to brew some of O’Sullivan’s best-selling beers, but a lack of demand led to a phase-out of that plan. Soon, he was exclusively brewing his collab-heavy array of Savagewood Brewing creations. In an almost eerie turn of events, after deciding to move out-of-state but wanting to keep his brand alive, Brown turned over his facility to a trio of entrepreneurs he’d collaborated with in the past. Their business goes by the name of Voodoo Child Brewing, and they’ve been running the day-to-day at “The ‘Wood” since late-February, crafting their wide-ranging family of ales (pre-Prohibition, coffee cream ale, British-style golden, oatmeal stout, West Coast IPAs of varying strength, and more) as well as some Savagewood staples. Unlike the Savagewood-O’Sullivan Brothers situation, Brown, while far removed, is still a partner in the operation.
2229 Micro Place, Escondido
Last year, maintenance mechanic Bill Carter took over the former home of The Sand Crab restaurant in a mostly industrial section of Escondido. Since securing that spot, he’s installed a single-barrel brewing system (procured from Kearny Mesa’s Quantum Brewing) that he’s using to manufacture the types of beers he loves: Belgian-style ales augmented by English beers and, of course, several IPAs. Since opening on April Fool’s Day, Backyard Brewery has grown into a quaint, kickback neighborhood gathering spot that’s earning positive reviews for its beer as well as its friendly atmosphere.
3229 Roymar Road (at Hangar 76), Oceanside
Former Pizza Port Solana Beach head brewer Adam Jester yearned to open his own beermaking business and saw an ideal opportunity to do so when local wine company Carruth Cellars opted to convert its Oceanside manufacturing facility into a publicly accessible space featuring its liquid wares as well as those of an onsite brewery tenant. After well over a year of hard work and elbow grease, Jester was finally able to debut his Tipping Pint Brewing to the public on the first weekend of April. Beer fans and industry contemporaries showed up in droves to try his first-draft beers (Mexican-style lager, honey-orange wheat ale, NEIPA, and West Coast single and double IPAs), as did patrons looking to do some wine-sampling. Having both experiences available under one roof is novel the San Diego scene and is proving a successful model out of the gate.
3052 El Cajon Boulevard (at CRAFT by Brewery Igniter), North Park
It didn’t take long for the former head of Urban South Brewery’s Houston brewpub to make a storied lease-to-brew space his own. Operating out of the same North Park Brewery Igniter suite that launched Vista’s Eppig Brewing, Dave Ohmer has conjured a short-but-quickly-growing list of initial offerings (fruited sour ale, German-style pilsner, hazy and West Coast IPA) that he and his wife, Niki, first presented to the public at Seek Beer Co.’s mid-April grand-opening event. Natural light and Seek’s red, orange and turquoise motif combine to provide a bright, family- and dog-friendly tasting room for what just might end up being Brewery Igniter’s next we-knew-them-when success story.