During the pandemic, many breweries’ only option was to remain open and operative, fighting through an ever-changing business landscape. Unable to sell beer across their own bars yet faced with rent and other expenses, they grinded it out. Closing down and waiting out COVID-19 wasn’t an option, although many likely wished it would have been. Operations that were able to go that route had special circumstances, such as owning the facilities they operated out of, or, in the case of Division 23 Brewing, being under the umbrella of another business.
A six-year-old operation sited in the back of a Miramar business park, Division 23 was not built to set the world on fire. It was founded by the owners of HVAC interest, DMG Corporation, who converted the ground level warehouse at its two-story Trade Street headquarters into combo brewery and tasting room. Outfitted with cushy seating, sports-tuned TVs, shuffleboard, a ping-pong table and a popcorn machine, the beery public rec-room of sorts drew a solid after-work crowd. From day one, that’s been its founders’ biggest goal.
“Division 23 is not a place that makes a ton of money and was never built with that in mind. We do not distribute or can. It’s a place for us to have a good time sharing our beer with people and creating a fun environment for our friends,” says co-founder Kellen Smith. Those simple goals made the decision to temporarily shut down equally simple, but it wasn’t by any means easy or pain-free. “The hardest part was having to furlough our staff. We hated not having an option to keep them employed during this terrible time. And we’ve missed our regulars terribly.”
While customers would need to wait, Smith was able to bring several staffers back a few months ago. After sitting idle for over a year, the brewing and cellaring equipment required a good deal of elbow grease to get them back into working condition. After that repair work was done, brewing began, starting with stronger, maltier styles, followed by IPAs and other hop-forward ales. And now, even though it took longer than expected to get to the point where reopening seemed possible, that’s just what Division 23 is set to do next week.
“Up until a few months ago, I wasn’t confident the state would allow a full open. As I said, we don’t distribute or can. We’re also not equipped to serve meals effectively and we really don’t have a safe outdoor area to build out,” says Smith. “We had to wait for pretty much every restriction to be lifted.”
Though mostly the same, Division 23 will be a little different upon its return…in a good way. Smith says they used the downtime to analyze their beer recipes and make some tweaks to modernize them here and there. They also have some collaboration brews lined up and the brewing team will be devoting a fermenter to lagering so they can have one-to-two bottom-fermenting beers on tap come 2022.
When asked what other plans he and his team have in the works, Smith echoes the sentiments of so many business owners in the hospitality sector. “My only hope is to get back to normal. Smiling faces, regulars playing ping-pong and being able to try out some new beers will be all we are focused on for a while.”
Division 23 will have a brief soft-opening period beginning Tuesday, August 24, and carrying through to a grand reopening on Friday, August 27. Available beers will include a porter, imperial stout, two variations on a pilsner and four-to-five hoppy beers ranging from session to imperial strength. Once open, the tasting room’s hours of operation will be 3 to 9 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday.
Division 23 Brewing is located at 7408 Trade Street in Miramar