When New English Brewing debuted in Sorrento Valley in 2007, the local brewery scene was much different. Tasting rooms weren’t the flashy, themed-out, amenity-embellished havens they are now. Brewing company HQs were industrial, almost wholly centered on the process of manufacturing beer bound mostly for bottles and kegs destined for retail accounts. Back then, tasting rooms consisted of little more than small, sometimes mobile bars in front of cold-box taps bordered by sparsely decorated white walls. That’s all these spaces needed to be. Customers were just happy to have access to local beer. But as the county’s brewery count has grown from around two-dozen to more than 150 over the past decade-plus, patrons’ tasting-room expectations have similarly expanded.
Forward-thinking operations changed the game for breweries from a hospitality standpoint. Stone Brewing, which operated its own mobile-bar setup, went on to construct elaborate, aesthetic-driven bistros and satellite tasting rooms. Stalwart AleSmith Brewing went from a tiny makeshift bar setup to operating the largest tasting room in the western U.S., a venue that includes the official Tony Gwynn Museum as well as a barrel-aged beer speakeasy, large-scale mezzanine tier and outdoor patio. These spots and numerous others altered perceptions and expectations for breweries to the point where even smaller operations have redesigned their tasting rooms to be more competitive and offer an experience that conveys their brand while offering fun, entertaining bells and whistles.
New English is one of those operations and has focused on continuous improvement. In 2012, a lounge enclave was added to its existing tasting room, providing comfortable furniture, elements of style and a space for event programming. In 2017, the company took over a next-door suite, converting it to a large-scale event space with its own dedicated bar called The Barrel Room. And last year, the owners of the business park New English calls home constructed an expansive, multi-faceted beer garden, making the brewery a communal hub for its tenants. All the while, the original tasting room space remained much as it was from the beginning.
“When we started, our entire operation was contained in 2,700 square feet with a brewery and tasting room adjacent and a small side room for storage and office use,” says owner Simon Lacey. “As we added space over the years, the focus moved to our 3,500-square-foot Barrel Room tasting room and event space. The total operation morphed and now encompasses 10,000 square feet overall.”
During the pandemic, the tasting room has been closed with the company utilizing the Barrel Room as its public interface. And over the past several months, Lacey has been hard at work applying elbow grease and interior-design treatments to complete a “reimagining” of New English’s tasting room. The newly revamped venue will open to the public tomorrow as “The Pub at New English”.
“The overall goal is to offer a retreat for our customers to relax and enjoy one of our wide selection of craft beers at a dedicated bar while chatting with friends or watching sports on our five new flat-screen TVs,” says Lacey. “The old lounge will now be a games room with two dart boards and, eventually, two pool tables.” (In the meantime, you can always play pool online.”
On the design front, Lacey has replaced functional, industrial elements with a motif more in line with The Barrel Room’s décor. This includes wallpaper, wainscoting, floor treatments, thoughtful lighting and a colorful new paint job. This will provide an elevated tasting-room atmosphere up to par with others being provided throughout the county, while also bringing in Lacey’s English heritage via the public-house thematic. And like most pubs, the venue will be 21-and-up.
“Having an additional tasting room will again allow us to hold limited private events without closing to the public overall, and we hope the games room will be a focus for local leagues to play darts and pool,” says Lacey. “Of course, being a pub means we are embracing our English roots once more and bringing back cask-conditioned ales, which were sadly sidelined during the depths of the pandemic, while continuing to audition new beers and expand our range of barrel-aged beers.”
The Pub at New English’s hours of operation will be 3 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays, 1 to 9:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 1 to 8 p.m. on Sundays. This week’s opening will be of the soft variety, but a formal grand-opening event will be held down the road as time and the state of the pandemic allow.
New English Brewing is located at 11545 Sorrento Valley Road in Sorrento Valley