Though just a block off 30th Street in the bustling North Park community, and positioned in a corner spot within the building housing popular music venue, The Observatory, the coffee shop that was converted into a craft-beer taproom in 2023 has proven a challenge location for its previous tenants. Those operations include defunct cycling-centric operation Rouleur Brewing and playfully macabre Black Plague Brewing. The owners of the latter exited what they had envisioned as a dream location after roughly a year-and-a-half, sharing that not enough show-goers or North Park bar-hoppers patronized the venue. Rouleur’s owner had similar things to say after two years of throwing everything he had at it. Given all that, a brewery owner might have to be crazy to take on such a spot, but that’s the motif of the business currently at work making that space its own, Asylum Brewing.
It’s been an aspiration of Asylum owner Tommy Sebestyen to expand his Anaheim-based enterprise to San Diego. The North Park resident long wanted to make that happen in his home neighborhood, but had resigned himself to the notion that would likely never happen. Then Black Plague abruptly vacated its satellite space in May, creating an unexpected opportunity with terms he could handle. He snatched it up and the rest is history in the making for the eight-year-old craft-beer op.
“As a resident of North Park, I always enjoy hanging out locally,” says Sebestyen. “Music is a big part of the experience at Asylum Brewing and a big passion of mine. Being directly connected to The Observatory for all the live music opportunities along with its community of music fans, plus the architecture of the building itself, it was a clear no-brainer to make this leap of faith.”
Coming in at 1,700 square feet, the North Park venue has 24 taps and will be able to seat 50 to 60 visitors once Sebestyen’s team is finished renovating the space to look like the type of facility Asylum is named for seen through the lens of one of its deranged residents. Think mental facility gone horror-movie-caliber wrong. That facelift has been going fast and furious since Sebestyen got the keys to what he’s dubbed the “North Park Sanitarium” three weeks ago.
“I guarantee this space will have a spooky vibe that is familiar to the Asylum brand, but executed in its own unique way. You will feel like you are inside an insane asylum. Having said that, it’s a place for the entire community,” says Sebastyen. And though Asylum has made a name for itself behind avant-garde, imperial and sometimes just plain zany takes on various beer styles, he believes Asylum’s broadest-ranging appeal is presented through its liquid wares. “We brew something for everyone. We have a wide variety of traditional styles with a dash of experimental creations that have been very popular at our home base in Anaheim.”
Asylum’s portfolio includes lighter offerings such as Lobotomy American lager, Straightjacket blonde ale and Dayroom hefeweizen, plus an array of IPAs, including Mental Breakdown (hazy), Monsters Never Die (West Coast) Elm St. (cold) and No Escape (hazy double). On the food front, the North Park venue’s kitchen will match those beers with a variety of finger foods, salads and entrées, some of which will be rotational dishes composed from seasonal ingredients.
In 2024, Asylum brewed just over 1,100 barrels of beer, and the company is on-pace to produce 1,300 barrels this year. That puts the company squarely in the boutique category amid its Orange County contemporaries, several of which (Artifex Brewing, Brewery X, Docent Brewing, Green Cheek Beer Co. and most recently Villains Brewing) have expanded into San Diego County over the past two-and-a-half years. Sebastyen hopes to highlight the good work of his colleagues in OC as well as Los Angeles by putting their beers on tap at the North Park location. Conversely, he also plans to tap guest ales and lagers from San Diego breweries at Asylum’s flagship location in Anaheim.
“I think the beer scene down here is great. In recent years, it’s been sad to see a few brands take their last breaths or be bought out by Big Beer, but overall the craft scene that remains is very strong and I’m looking forward to being a part of it,” says Sebestyen. “Frankly, I am happy to be smack dab in North Park with everyone around.”
Sebestyen hopes to debut the North Park taproom to the public as soon as this Friday, July 11. Once open, its hours of operation will be 3 to 11 p.m., Monday through Thursday; noon to midnight, Fridays and Saturdays; and noon to 10 p.m. on Sundays.
Asylum Brewing’s taproom will be located at 2899 University Avenue in North Park