When opening Attitude Brewing in 2018, owner Kurt Bach sited his brewpub in Barrio Logan. While he has an affinity for the area, in retrospect, he believes the area may not have been ready to sufficiently support the operation. He says it’s been hard to make regular customers of neighborhood denizens, mainly because there aren’t that many in close proximity to his business, though he says he receives steady patronage from sailors, longshoremen and other people who work in the area. Even so, Attitude’s beer and brand have received far more exposure away from the brewpub following Bach signing a distribution agreement with Classic Beverages of San Diego (which recently took over Craft Brewers Guild). Now, his products are distributed in every Southern California county from Santa Barbara south and he’s made a move to up production to meet new demand, taking over the largest suite at H.G. Fenton’s lease-to-brew Brewery Igniter development in North Park.
The largest of the facility’s three units, the split-level suite has been operated by JuneShine since shortly after San Diego Brewing vacated it in 2017, one year after becoming its inaugural tenant. As part of a gentleman’s agreement between the companies’ owners, JuneShine’s products will remain on-tap at the Brewery Igniter tasting room until the local hard-kombucha maker receives ABC (California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control) approval for its new North Park tasting room. That upcoming venue is located two blocks down 30th Street at the foot of a mixed-use building dubbed The Jackson.
“I was wanting to increase production and looked into contract brewing, but there are very little margins with that, so it was a no-brainer when I found out that JuneShine was moving to another tasting room. This will double our production, which is key for keeping our distributor happy,” says Bach. The brewery owner admits that might not have been the case prior to the pandemic, when the suite he’ll be leasing may have been out of his price range. “For me, this is an opportunity to grab a great location that might not have been available under normal economic circumstances. It’s such a great little spot. I think we’ll do very well there and look forward to being a part of the community.”
Bach likes that beer aficionados frequent North Park, regularly visiting several breweries in a day, and hopes to gain further exposure being in the community’s craft cluster. His closest neighbor is next-door Brewery Igniter tenant Pariah Brewing, which has been a tenant since the facility opened in 2016. Attitude’s suite includes a 10-barrel brewhouse, five 20-barrel fermenters and a pair of 20-barrel bright tanks. This will more than double the company’s production capabilities, as the Barrio Logan brewpub is equipped with a seven-and-a-half-barrel brewing system Bach maxes out at nine barrels and a 140-barrel cellar.
Both breweries will be overseen by Head Brewer Steven Terán, who began his career with Acoustic Ales Brewing Experiment (now a non-brewing entity doing business as Carlsbad Brewing), serving as lead brewer for three years. After that, he spent three years as Border X Brewing‘s Brewery Production Manager and Head of Education, assisting the Barrio Logan-based interest with its expansion in the City of Bell, and managing production at that Los Angeles County facility as well as Barrio Logan’s Mujeres Brew House. Steven, who lives in North Park, will brew the company’s extensive line of beers as well as a kombucha beverage developed in conjunction with a pair of diabetes research scientists. That “champagne-like” offering is called Kombuchol and is both gluten- and sugar-free. All of Attitude’s products will soon be available at yet another location in downtown Chula Vista.
“When I first got to SoCal from Portland (Oregon), I was looking in Chula Vista. I adore the lively Mexican culture, so I really wanted to stay within that. I looked at Third Avenue with the City’s Director of Economic Development, Eric Crockett, three-and-a-half years ago, but the right space just wasn’t there for me. Everything was super tiny, so I ended up in Barrio,” says Bach. “This new spot just fell in my lap. A friend of mine purchased a building in Chula Vista and asked if I might be interested in putting a tasting room there.”
Located just off E Street on downtown thoroughfare Third Avenue, the project site comes in at 3,500 square feet. It will be furnished with roll-up doors leading out to a sidewalk patio. The culinary side of the operation will be handled by San Diego Sliders Co., which also handles food service at Attitude’s Barrio Logan brewpub.
Bach says he will open Attitude’s Brewery Igniter tasting room to the public as soon as he receives ABC approval, which should happen this summer. The Chula Vista tasting room will need to be built out, but the current delivery time frame is three-to-four months, equating to a late-summer or fall opening.
Attitude Brewing is located at 1985 National Avenue in Barrio Logan, its Brewery Igniter tasting room will be located at 3052 El Cajon Boulevard, and its South Bay tasting room will be located at 221 Third Avenue in Chula Vista