2019 was a year of big decisions for Doug Constantiner, the owner of Societe Brewing. After eight years of running his Kearny Mesa interest mostly one way—producing a vast array of beers and offering them almost exclusively in brewery-distributed kegs—it was clear he’d need to pivot. Consumer demand for easily accessible, highly portable beers in cans demanded it. With more competitors than ever—many of them armed with canning capabilities—it was clear many facets of Societe’s business model would need to change.
So, a strategy was developed, Societe signed up with a distribution company, investor money was raised, a canning line and fermenters were ordered, and Constantiner entered 2020 with a resolution to change his brewery’s game. Then the pandemic hit. This is the part of most articles where things turn south for most brewing companies, but not Societe. When tasting rooms had to be shut down, most breweries had to scurry and scrounge for aluminum and canning mechanisms, but Societe found itself fortuitously ahead of the game.
“Pivoting and going hard into cans, being able to regularly make core, year-round beers, having our own canning line and being preauthorized with GSO to ship throughout the state, having a Square store set up for to-go beer…so many little things came into place,” says Constantiner. “There’s no way to know for sure what would have happened. I wouldn’t have given up because I have no other option. We would have made it, but it would have been rocky.”
While still not easy, Societe’s paradigm shift has saved them from the tooth-and-nail fighting most local breweries have engaged in to stay afloat. While other operations are cutting back, Societe—bolstered by increased beer sales, including a record month in February (the shortest month of the year and a traditionally poor month for beer sales)—has hired brewery and tasting-room staff. COVID-19 and its associated regulations make the presence of the latter behind the bar less crucial, but those employees’ assistance on the canning line and in other production-related capacities is integral to the new business model.
In 2019, Societe packaged just over 4,000 barrels, which was in line with previous years. Despite losing 92% of its volume through draft, the company is on pace to sell over 7,000 barrels in 2020. Keys to that jump in production are increased cellar capacity and streamlined production of a three-brand family of core beers: The Pupil IPA, The Coachman Session IPA and The Harlot Blonde Ale. Societe is also producing a series of quarterly IPAs and occasional seasonal offerings such as its Oktoberfest lager, Fest Bier, which debuted last week. That beer used to be called Die Kellnerin, a German term for a barmaid. The nomenclature switch illustrates another big departure for Societe, moving away from naming its beers for characters beyond its core threesome, proving nothing is off-limits and projecting a business in flux between the company it was and the one it will eventually become.
“Hopefully, the worst is past us. Where we are now is asking ourselves what we can do to improve our situation, and what else we can do now that we have our own canning line. There might be some beers you’ve seen before that will get into cans. Maybe different can sizes,” says Constantiner, alluding to a canning run of cult-favorite Belgian-style amber ale The Debutante, and The Pupil being introduced in 19.2-ounce cans in the near future. Other Societe beers scheduled for near-term release in cans include The Bachelor with Enigma, a rotational single-hop IPA coming September 18, and World of Wonder IPA on October 5.
Constantiner is also happy to be partnered on a full-time basis with a food provider, Fit Tacos, and hopes to make their union more permanent so Societe will be able to serve guest beer, wine, hard cider and possibly even hard seltzer in its tasting room.
While there were elements of luck that factored into Societe’s success during the pandemic, Constantiner points out two factions that have played bigger roles: customers and employees. “Even having the canning line in place, I cannot stress enough the hard work and execution of Societe’s staff. It’s not the canning line that has kept us in business, it’s the people here who have worked their tails off.”
Societe Brewing is located at 8262 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard in Kearny Mesa