Praising the Bar: Sunny Grove Brewing

It takes a lot for a small brewery tucked away in the eastern expanses of the county to be voted Best New Brewery at the San Diego Beer News Awards, but that’s just what happened for upstart Santee operation Sunny Grove Brewing at this year’s event. Quality beer was at the heart of that win, but the real difference-maker proved to be the brilliantly diverse team of beertenders helping to define a top-tier level of service and welcoming atmosphere for Sunny Grove’s clientele. Read on as we introduce you to some of the individuals who helped earn this one-year-young business its bragworthy hardware in the latest installment of our Praising the Bar series, recognizing front-of-house excellence throughout the San Diego County beer scene.

Fio Morales
Beertender

Where did you grow up?
I was born in San Jose, Costa Rica. My family immigrated to the U.S. in the ‘90s, and we eventually landed in Hemet, California.

What brought you to San Diego?
I came to San Diego to attend college at USD in 2011, and have been here ever since.

When and how did you get into craft beer – was there an a-ha moment – and did it happen before or after you started working in the industry?
My first encounter with craft breweries was actually in an advanced chemistry college course. In 2014, I was in a lab where we collaborated with brewers from Mission Brewery, who were prior students of our professor, Dr. Dwyer. They explained the brewing process and all the basics of making beer. I found it fascinating. We spent the semester testing the glucose levels in their beers as a part of our course. I’m sure you can now guess which brewery was the first one I visited. Mission in the East Village, of course!

What do you love most about your job? 
I would say the customers! Sunny Grove has a solid community and loyal regulars. I also appreciate that many other brewers come in and enjoy our owner and brewmaster Scott Christian’s beer. It’s truly a pleasure to meet all the people who stop by for a beer or two!

Truth time, what is the part of your job that you like the least?
This job is genuinely fun. Closing time is probably my least favorite. It can be a bummer to let people know we’re closing, but I’m always happy to let people finish up their beers without rushing them.

What accomplishments are you most proud of from your time in the craft-beer industry?
I’m proud of being one of the original bartenders from Sunny Grove’s opening day! I’ve seen a handful of awesome bartenders come and go over the past year and made good friends. It’s awesome to be able to have seen the transformation from the day Sunny Grove opened to present. It’s also awesome to have contributed to the brewery earning the 2024 Best New Brewery award at the San Diego Beer News Awards. It was certainly a group effort, and I am grateful to have had a hand in it.

What do you love most about the company you work for?
Everyone pitches in, from the owners to our lovely bartenders and even customers. I always feel that I’m in great company and can rely on those around me.

What is your favorite beer that your brewery produces?
I have a few I enjoy as Scott brews awesome German-style beers, but if I had to pick one it would be our Kölsch, Standbier.

What are some of your favorite San Diego craft beers, in general?
Living in North Park, I have so many breweries within walking distance: Mike Hess Brewing, Fall Brewing, Pure Project Brewing, North Park Brewing Co. (NPBC) and so many more! I’m not a regular anywhere since there are so many awesome places to pick from, so I hit them all.

What are some local brewery venues other than your own that you like to refer customers to or patronize when you’re off the clock?
I will sometimes refer them to places that regulars or locals frequent, like Helix Brewing or Burning Beard Brewing, however, there are so many places all over that I usually ask people what vibe or beer they like, then direct them to places I think they may enjoy.

Who are some of your favorite regulars and why?
I can name so many, I know I would miss someone. What I can say is that there are regulars who I’ve had the opportunity to get to know very well and can truly call them friends; people who I can call on for help, for support or just to have fun!

What music genre and artists are playing in the tasting room when you’re in control?
It usually depends on my mood or what I was listening to as I pulled up to work. It can be anything from classic rock, reggae or alternative to oldies or hip-hop! I also take requests from customers if they want to switch it up.

What do you consider cornerstones when it comes to customer service, particularly at a brewery tasting room?
Being welcoming and inviting is everything. Remembering customers is key; a Cheers-like experience where we genuinely know your name! Being informed, whether it be about beer, the community or events; it provides a sense of community and awareness. I would say a cornerstone of Sunny Grove, in particular, is the ability to take feedback, ideas and opportunities from customers, employees and the community. I feel our bartenders and our owners, Scott and Tessa, all do this particularly well.

What advice would you give to customers looking to have the best possible experience when visiting a brewery taproom?
I would encourage them to sit at the bar, chat with the bartender and be open to tasting new or different styles of beers. You might surprise yourself with who you might meet or find a new beer you love!

What are your career aspirations either in or beyond the craft-beer industry?
I came across Sunny Grove at a time where I began transitioning away from international higher education. It was a perfect place to start fresh. I eventually landed a role in public service that aligns well with my experience and doctoral study in leadership. When the time comes, I will certainly miss Sunny Grove and the San Diego beer community, and hope to remain connected wherever I go.

What are some of your favorite beer events, whether at your brewery or elsewhere?
I enjoy beer festivals and gardens in a general sense. I love being able to try new beers and discover breweries I have not visited before. It’s also great to meet the people who brew or work there in the process. The last one I went to was Paddles & Pints in Pagosa Springs, Colorado in May, which mainly featured beers from New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. 

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not at work?
I’m a busy body! When I’m not working, I enjoy jiu jitsu training, lifting, and spending time outdoors hiking, running or at the beach. And I love to travel whenever I can.

Who do you think you are (a purposely broad question requiring a succinct 10-words-or-less answer)?
I’m a wise, tenacious, curious, compassionate, driven, evolving, grounded Latina! 

Ken Clay
Beertender

Where did you grow up? 
I was born and raised in San Diego…third generation, actually.

When and how did you get into craft beer – was there an a-ha moment – and did it happen before or after you started working in the industry? 
I was 21, broke and surrounded by friends who thought “beer before going out” meant whatever came in a 12-pack for an amount that was less than gas money. I didn’t love beer, I endured it. We’d drink the cheapest, worst-tasing beer in what felt to me like a dare. So, I decided to ditch the garbage and try Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams and Pete’s Wicked Ale. That first Guinness Extra Stout in the short, pre-nitro bottle  was like someone switched the lights on, and there was no going back.

Have you worked for other breweries, and if so, which ones and in what capacity? 
Scott and Tessa were the first ones to take a chance on me. They are either visionaries or gamblers.

What do you love most about your job? 
The plan was simple: work at a place in an industry I like instead of going broke there. Turns out I also ended up with a small army of rad brewery friends on both sides of the counter. Special shoutout to my partners in crime, Juliet and Katie, who keep things interesting and sometimes questionable. We all do our best to never let the place get too respectable. Actually, I am probably the best at that.

Truth time, what is the part of your job that you like the least? 
Flights. It’s beer, pick one and commit. Also, I don’t like it when people discuss politics. And I am all for well-behaved dogs and kids, but the adults who treat the place like a dog park/daycare hybrid makes me want to euthanize them…the adults, I mean.

What accomplishments are you most proud of from your time in the craft-beer industry? 
Winning Best New Brewery at the San Diego Beer News Awards was really something – not because it was my personal accomplishment, but because I got to ride the coattails of the team that absolutely earned it. I was able to get on the stage like I had done something great and, for a narcissist, that is basically the real prize.

What do you love most about the company you work for? 
Once we beer tenders proved we could be trusted to run the show, Scott and Tessa let us. That trust means a lot to me. I know that we can bring any concern to them, and they’ll truly listen, take it to heart and handle it with fairness. I also like free beers.

What is your favorite beer that your brewery produces? 
Just one? You’re joking, right? I was going to give you my top 20, but brevity is wit so here are three. Our Kölsch, Strandbier, is amazing. Our session IPA, Block Party, tastes like a fully leaded IPA and is as good as any session IPA I’ve ever had. Lastly, our helles bock, Bavarian Blitz, is a rare treat and tastes exactly how one should.

What are some of your favorite San Diego craft beers, in general? 
Too many to list, but here are some go-to beers for me: Muntz IPA from McIlhenney Brewing, Fortune Pilsner from Seek Beer Co., Party Cup Mosaic lager from NPBC, Whitney Belgian-style witbier from Poor House Brewing and Where Vultures Fare German-style Pilsner from Burning Beard. I could go on and on.

What are some local brewery venues other than your own that you like to refer customers to or patronize when you’re off the clock? 
Because of its proximity to Sunny Grove, the most common is Burning Beard, but it’s also because they brew great beer, have the best jukebox in San Diego and play it very loud, which I love. McIlhenney, NPBC and The Original 40 Brewing are some others. But you are most likely to bump into me while I am visiting some of my favorite peeps, Tyler and Sav at Seek, and, of course, the homegirl of all homegirls, Alanna over at Poor House.

Who are some of your favorite regulars and why? 
I wondered what I would say when I got to this portion of the interrogation. Someone mentioned me as their favorite customer in a Praising the Bar interview, and it felt amazing. Now I realize how tough that was for her to reduce it to one. There are too many people that I enjoy who I’ve become personal friends with. To leave any of them out would be living a lie. Oddly, when I mention that I work in Santee, the prejudging is crazy. I’ll let you know that some of the best people I’ve met in breweries are regulars at our spot. They are caring, funny, generous, smart, genuine and unpretentious. I was assuming things would be very different before I started working at Sunny Grove. Now, I can’t imagine that I would enjoy serving a different community of people as much as I do right here. It’s a diverse community of people with a lot of love for each other. It’s never too late to come and start being a regular.

Everybody has funny work stories. Would you mind sharing one with us? 
Narrowing my answers down to one is becoming problematic, but here is a stupid one. We had a gentleman ride his bike to the brewery late one night. As we were closing, he began bragging that he owns a Jaguar…the car not the cat. After a few beers and about the time we were closing, he let my partner in crime know that if she ever needs a place to crash overnight, his Jag is outside and unlocked, and she can climb in anytime and sleep in it. It ends up being a broken-down vehicle in front of the auto-care spot next to us. Since then, I’ll occasionally get inside and take a photo with a lucky regular.

What music genre and artists are playing in the tasting room when you’re in control? 
The running joke with the co-workers is that it is Queens of the Stone Age all day when I am in the DJ booth. That’s not the case, but it’s going to be something similar, or perhaps some classic punk, British post-punk, maybe some Beastie Boys if you get lucky. Katie and I do unofficial “full album Sundays”, where we take turns playing entire albums the way God intended. There is only one rule and that is no country…unless it is Sturgill Simpson, then we can make an exception.

What do you consider cornerstones when it comes to customer service, particularly at a brewery tasting room? |
Engage with people. Make them feel welcome. Appear as if you love your job, and you should love it because you’re pouring beer, which makes people happy.

What advice would you give to customers looking to have the best possible experience when visiting a brewery taproom? 
Breweries are a labor of love. A lot of people worked hard to make it all happen, especially the owners and the brewers. It’s meant as a place for enjoyment and happiness. So be prepared to enjoy yourself, have some cold beers and be happy.

What are your career aspirations either in or beyond the craft-beer industry? 
None. This is the perfect spot for me. I have a career/day job that pays the mortgage and for the kids to have braces. This is for pure enjoyment, my love of beer and especially my love of the San Diego beer scene. Anything else would feel like a job.

What are some of your favorite beer events, whether at your brewery or elsewhere? 
Burning Beard’s anniversary parties are, hands down, my favorite events. They are basically concerts with a ton of friends and lots of beer. This year was my first time at the San Diego Beer News Awards and that was a great time. I look forward to that moving forward.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not at work? 
Kicking my kids, drinking beers locally, live comedy, live music and cooking. I am a pretty good cook. I like hanging with funny friends. I must hang with people that make me laugh. Almost to a fault I am always saying something stupid, whether they are listening or not.

Who do you think you are (a purposely broad question requiring a succinct 10-words-or-less answer)? 
A meathead at first glance…but not.

Katie Sibley
Beertender & Social Media Manager

Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Tacoma, Washington.

What brought you to San Diego?
A boy brought me to San Diego, but I stayed for the beer.

When and how did you get into craft beer – was there an a-ha moment – and did it happen before or after you started working in the industry?
I started my adventure in craft beer because of COVID, weirdly enough. In the before times, I worked at a summer camp as an assistant recreation director, which is a fancy way of saying I got to hang out with farm animals and fix the camp’s rock-climbing wall. When everything shut down, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do anymore. In 2021 I found myself in San Diego applying for beer jobs because, why not? A few months later, I sat inside of Burning Beard where Dylan Brown and Jeff Wiederkehr decided to give a chance to someone who just really liked Rainier (a cheap American Lager out of Washington state for those who don’t know) and Gogol Bordello (an excellent band that everyone should listen to), and didn’t know anything else about beer. I will always be grateful for their gamble. I fell in love with beer and the beer community after that, and have been thriving ever since. 

Have you worked for other breweries, and if so, which ones and in what capacity?
I started my beer journey at Burning Beard and was given the opportunity not only to be a beertender, but to run their beer club, as well. It was a lot of fun and I love getting to pop in and hang out when I can. 

What do you love most about your job?
My favorite part of my job is the beer community. Beer people will be there for you whether you are grieving, celebrating or something in between. There will always be someone in this community that will be there to pick you up or cheer you on. They are the nicest people and you can find them all over the world. 

Truth time, what is the part of your job that you like the least?
It will always be bathrooms. People are disgusting. 

What accomplishments are you most proud of from your time in the craft-beer industry?
When I look back on the things I have accomplished I just need to say a big thank you to all the people who have supported me and taken chances on me. They are part of the reason I have gotten to do such cool things. My most recent proud/cool thing moment: I was hired to be the Beer Coordinator for Bluesapalooza, a blues-and-beer festival in Mammoth Lakes. Someone actually let me be in charge of like 60 breweries. We all had a lot of fun and nobody died. Shoutout to the San Diego beer people that came to represent! It was like summer camp but with beer. Another proud moment was Tessa and Scott giving me the opportunity to run Sunny Grove’s Instagram. It has been so much fun to be creative and silly. I have really loved being able to highlight our beers, staff and community through a social-media platform. 

What do you love most about the company you work for?
Tessa and Scott are just so much fun to work for because you just feel like they get it. They care about our friends and families, and make sure that we get to spend time with them. The environment they have created at Sunny Grove is one where most of our friends and family come to the brewery because it is just that kind of place. They also bartend. so they are in the mix with us and that makes for a front-of-house that runs really smoothly. And they always have your back, which just makes you feel seen. I just couldn’t ask for two better bosses/friends/coworkers. 

What is your favorite beer that your brewery produces?
My favorite beer we produce used to be Strandbier, our Kölsch, but I have recently converted over to our Mexican-style amber lager, Uno. It was our first-anniversary beer and is a style that I typically have not enjoyed in the past. But I freakin’ love this beer, and if you find me at Sunny Grove that is generally what I am drinking. 

What are some of your favorite San Diego craft beers, in general?
Oh man, this is so hard! I love Where Vultures Fare at Burning Beard and Safety Meeting session IPA at Mcilhenney.

What are some local brewery venues other than your own that you like to refer customers to or patronize when you’re off the clock?|
I love Pizza Port Ocean Beach, Mcilhenney, Burning Beard and Societe Brewing. 

Who are some of your favorite regulars and why?
Regulars are what I imagine it’s like having children. There is totally a favorite, but I can’t say it out loud. 

Everybody has funny work stories. Would you mind sharing one with us?
My favorite funny story is probably when Juliet threw Ken a Christmas in July birthday party. It was all sorts of ridiculousness and fun!

What music genre and artists are playing in the tasting room when you’re in control?
This is my favorite question! Okay, so right now I have been listening to Adrian Quesada’s new album, which is perfect, and my poor regulars have now heard it too many times. I also have been blasting a lot of Monophonics. Lately, it has been jams that make me feel like summer. I also have a habit of closing the bar down with some Cher or the Night at the Roxbury soundtrack. So, really, it is all over the place. We also listen to the sweet sounds of Don and Mud for every Padre game! 

What do you consider cornerstones when it comes to customer service, particularly at a brewery tasting room?
Honestly, most of customer service is just having fun and putting good energy out into the world. Creating an environment of ease and fun makes it so anyone can join with you, and that is when magic happens. When I say magic I really just mean human connection, like making a new bar friend or finally asking to try a beer outside of your norm. I love beer, but the thing I really love about it is how it brings people together. That is what I want to help foster as a beertender. 

What advice would you give to customers looking to have the best possible experience when visiting a brewery taproom?
My advice is to always keep an open mind, because every brewery has their own unique offerings and flair. The expectation that we all provide the same things is unrealistic and would make for a boring community. So when you step into any brewery, see what they are known for, experience their vibe and try something new!  

What are your career aspirations either in or beyond the craft-beer industry?
My career aspirations are whatever allows me to spend the most time with my boyfriend and my dog, traveling and seeing new things. 

What are some of your favorite beer events, whether at your brewery or elsewhere?
Obviously I am going to say I fucking love Bluesapalooza. Again, summer camp vibes + beer + the nicest people you’ve ever met + some of the best musicians you’ve ever seen = The Best Time Ever. Highly recommend.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not at work?
I love going to Padre games, reading books, hanging out with my dog, traveling anywhere with my cute boyfriend Jason, going to shows and eating or cooking really good food.

Who do you think you are?
Just a girl standing in front of her dog asking him what the heck is in his mouth for the millionth time today. 

Sunny Grove Brewing is located at 8665 Argent Street, Suite B in Santee