Over its first eight years in business, Kearny Mesa’s Societe Brewing was a relatively small operation with limited distribution. That was the plan, after all. In 2012, its founders set out to build a draft-only operation that would distribute exclusively within San Diego County, but over the years, shifting trends and a pandemic altered the craft-beer landscape, rendering it not only prudent but wise to go big on canning and grow the business to service areas outside of its home county. Over the past two years, Societe has done just that, signing with distributors to get its beers into bars, restaurants, liquor stores, grocery outlets and big-box retailers throughout California, and it’s working for them.
From 2019 to 2021, Societe’s production quadrupled, reaching 13,500 barrels last year. The company is on pace to hit 20,000 for 2022. It’s a dramatic swing that seems to buck current convention. While most regional breweries are condensing their footprints in response to dwindling sales figures, Societe is opening new territories to sell more beer. Likewise, while many craft breweries are shuttering satellite tasting rooms after an unprecedentedly tough couple of years, Societe recently secured a spot in which to install its first-ever off-site venue. It’s a milestone some–including those within the organization–thought the company might never reach, and the project site is in an area that has never housed a brewery-owned business: Old Town San Diego.
“We’re very proud of Societe and our contribution to San Diego beer, so we think Old Town is a great place because it is tourist-heavy, which will allow us to be ambassadors for what San Diego beer can be for a bunch of people visiting San Diego,” says Societe co-founder and CEO Doug Constantiner. “We also want to bring more people to Old Town besides those who go there for the tourist aspect; residents of nearby communities, and any and all beer folk and their families.”
Located on the west side of the 2400 block of San Diego Avenue between the Old Town Model Railroad Depot and Churchill’s Cigar Lounge, the project site is a pair of separate spaces that will be merged into a single unit. Once combined, the tasting room will come in at 2,800 square feet with an additional 380 square feet of outdoor patio space. The buildout is expected to be a lengthy one with completion slated for next spring, but Societe will employ a phased approach which will allow them to debut a trimmed-down version of the Old Town tasting room before summer is out. Phase one is being described as a “pop-up” that will provide guests a full tasting-room experience with a retail area as well as a behind-the-scenes view of ongoing construction. Light snacks will be offered initially, though Societe’s lease allows for installation of a full-scale kitchen should the company wish to go that route.
While Constantiner explored a number of potential off-site taproom scenarios over the years, the model was deemed infeasible for Societe in its previous configuration. Now that the company is less reliant on tasting-room sales, a satellite venue no longer represents a make-or-break situation that could sink the company if unsuccessful. Thanks to that shift, Constantiner and his crew have been able to not only seek out potential tasting-room sites but actively bid on a number of them.
When asked what communities Societe considered, Vice President of Branding and Special Project Mike Boggess replies, “The priority was always to find a space to allow us to create what we want to achieve in an area that has an existing customer base, even if that isn’t necessarily specific to beer. So it was never limited to a specific list, but rather vetting what spots had the right mix of all the things we were looking for.”
“Over the past 10 years, we have looked all over. We’ve probably gone down this road 10 times over that span, and either lost out on a bid or backed out because we didn’t feel right. It’s never felt so right as it does with Old Town,” says Constantiner, whose interest in the community is further bolstered by businesses such as Home and Away which have moved in and helped diversify the area’s offerings. “There are no other breweries there. There’s good foot traffic, a good combination of tourists and people who work there, and it’s close to a large residential area. It gives us the opportunity to be part of a community.”
As far as aesthetics, Boggess says the interior design will be recognizable to those who have visited Societe’s Kearny Mesa tasting room. Recognizing the fact that a significant number of patrons will arrive with their families in tow, the space will be equipped with games and other entertainment features geared toward guests with children of various ages.
“It’s going to be a privilege to get to greet people from around the world from that location,” says Boggess. “Old Town is known as the birthplace of California. It’s not lost on us how awesome that is, so we’re excited for it.”
Societe Brewing’s new tasting room will be located at 2415 San Diego Avenue in Old Town