When Erik and Shannon Fowler describe their soon-to-launch business, one word comes up more than any other – intentional. They aren’t flying by the seats of their pants, hastily making decisions in an all-out effort to get their Allied Gardens craft-beer concern, Good Pressure Brewing, open as quickly as possible and start raking in much-needed revenue. Rather, they are applying thought and the qualifying lens of perspective earned through years of experience in marketing-driven careers that touched on branding, hospitality and customer service.
In Erik’s case, he’s also drawing on lessons learned working at breweries as a front-of-house representative, working with breweries at Miramar yeast-manufacturer White Labs (where he played an integral role in the opening of the company’s public venue in Asheville, North Carolina), and working for breweries in his current role as Executive Director of the San Diego Brewers Guild. That decade-plus has provided him behind-the-scenes access to countless brewery business models, coloring the way he and Shannon wife have drawn up each element of their own, from production to packaging to their tasting room experience. For them, the latter is most important, and they are chomping at the bit to welcome the public into their intention-driven home base when Good Pressure launches early next month.
The Fowlers first set eyes on what would become their sudsy starting point earlier this year. The former home of Poochie’s Hooch Urban Cidery, it admittedly needed a lot of work in order to execute their vision for a bright, inviting community hub, but in their words, it had “good bones”. Located in a small strip mall on Mission Gorge Road, a component of most neighborhood residents’ daily commute, they also liked its curb appeal. So, they made a deal, snatched the keys and got straight to work making the 3,500-square-foot space their own. In doing so, the couple staved off any natural instinct to think of themselves first, instead making the intentional decision to put their future clientele first. The result is a place that has a lot to offer to a wide variety of individuals from friends to couples to families and even kids.
“We want our brewery to become a cool, comfortable community spot for people of all ages or backgrounds,” says Erik. As Santee residents, it was important for the Fowlers to select a space connecting East County with San Diego proper, and for it to be centrally located for residents of their immediate community. “We want to be top-of-mind when our neighbors want to go out with friends or family, stop by for a drink after work or after a hike at Mission Trails Park, have a first date or even celebrate a first anniversary.”
To help facilitate the above, the Fowlers – who were assisted by family and friends with specialized skills that came in extremely handy – chiseled away at their “diamond in the rough”, doing away with its darker, neutral color pallet, knocking down a wall that had split the front portion of the tasting room in half and extending the bar from a smallish straightaway to a larger L-shaped model. Now, when guests arrive, they will be able to take a seat at picnic tables on the front patio, head into the bright, naturally lit, flora-enhanced tasting room and opt for high-tops to the right of the entrance, more family-friendly standard tables to the left or belly up to the aforementioned bar.
A bank of two-top tables will also be available beyond the bar, en route to a string-lit back patio furnished with plants, picnic tables and four-tops. While open to all, the Fowlers primarily envision the area as another option for parties with smaller children; one providing space for them to use crayons to color-in custom artwork (both provided gratis by the brewery) or stretch their legs (with proper supervision, of course). A private-event and sports-viewing area is also in the works and will arrive as a phase-two enhancement sometime next year.
“Our main goals with the space are to anticipate our guests’ needs and meet them straight out of the gate. We also want to get rid of any pretentiousness where the beer is concerned,” says Erik. The brewery owner realizes it’s a little strange to hear that coming from him, a “super geeky” certified Cicerone (the beer equivalent of the wine industry’s sommeliers) who headed White Labs’ education program and served as an instructor on fermentation for UC San Diego’s brewing-certificate program. “If someone wants to go down the beer rabbit hole with me, I’m all for it, but we want any level of drinker to feel comfortable here and know what they’re ordering.”
As such, Good Pressure’s beers are straightforward and explanatory versus kitschy and hilarious. Core beers will include a blonde ale, American light lager, Pilsner, coffee stout, hazy IPA and West Coast IPA. That last one is brewed with fresh, hand-selected Centennial hops and Citra Incognito, come in at 6.7% alcohol-by-volume and will debut with the blonde ale as the brand’s first canned offerings. Hard seltzers will help fill out the taplist. The Fowlers are also retaining Poochie Hooch’s wine license with the intention of crafting limited ciders and wines. The couple aims to produce between 750 and 1,000 barrels of beer in their first 12 months of operation, with an eventual goal of 5,000 to 7,000 barrels annually.
The Fowlers intend to announce their opening date very soon, and invite those interested to follow the company’s Instagram account. Once open, Good Pressure’s hours of operation will be 3 to 9 p.m., Tuesdays and Wednesdays, noon to 9 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.
Good Pressure Brewing is located at 7559 Mission Gorge Road in Allied Gardens