In April, Oceanside interest Legacy Brewing closed up shop and exited the San Diego brewing industry. Unfortunately, the nine-year-old business did so without notifying the public. The closest thing to an announcement was a trio of misleading posts to the company’s Instagram account indicating that a March 16 Cigar and Beer Night promotion was being “postponed”, and back-to-back posts on March 17 and 18 communicating that Legacy’s tasting room would be “temporarily closed” for those days. After that, there was radio silence.
Over the past months, San Diego Beer News has reached out repeatedly to confirm Legacy’s closure, but those inquiries were ignored. On May 4, when SDBN informed the company that, since it was unable to confirm if Legacy was closed for good, their entry on the website’s brewery list would be labeled “temporarily closed,” and that direct message received an ambiguous thumbs-up. When clarification was sought as to whether Legacy’s closure was temporary or permanent, no response was received. SDBN has since learned through multiple reliable sources that Legacy is permanently closed.
Legacy Brewing debuted in 2013 on Airport Road, just south of Camp Pendleton and State Route 76. Outfitted with a patriotic motif and a portfolio of beers that were, oddly enough, largely U.K.-inspired, the company went on to open a second kitchen-equipped location in Miramar dubbed Legacy Tap and Kitchen. That venue opened in 2015 and later closed down in 2019.
Though the company largely flew under-the-radar, highlights from the past nine years include the company getting its beers into cans and grocery stores before the majority of its local contemporaries followed suit, and a bronze-medal win at the 2016 Great American Beer Festival in the Fruit Beer category for That Guava Beer.
Specifics of the business’ shuttering have been conveyed to SDBN but could not corroborated by Legacy. What is certain is that numerous would-be patrons of the company have visited its former home in northern-inland Oceanside only to find it shuttered. Similarly, business partners such as Visit Oceanside, which was working with Legacy on a large-scale promotional program, were also not informed of the closure.
It’s ironic that a company named Legacy will likely suffer from a tarnished legacy due to the negative impact the decisions its owners made in during the business’ final days. Individuals looking for local breweries near Legacy’s vacated space can visit Oceanside Brewing and Tipping Pint Brewing at the recently opened Hangar 76.