Opportunity Road was an apt locale for Daren Rudy and Alex Kim. After seven years plying his trade at Ballast Point Brewing, the former teamed with the latter, an engineer with experience launching start-ups, to take over the 2,000-square-foot Kearny Mesa brewery and tasting room vacated by the short-lived Circle 9 Brewing. Normally, having a sound brewer, experienced businessman and a manageably sized turnkey facility would have positioned Rudy and Kim squarely on the road to success, but their Ataraxia Aleworks debuted in times that were anything but normal.
News of the duo’s project broke in the midst of an all-out attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, a momentous event that greatly overshadowed their hyperlocal news item. The business opened that May, just over a year into the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being allowed to host patrons at their establishment, many were still justifiably wary about gathering at public places, creating significant challenges for Ataraxia. The business was designed to sell most of its beer across its own bar, but even if it had shifted to a distribution-heavy model, there were less bars and restaurants to sell beer to, especially for an unestablished brand.
“The fact we opened during the pandemic made it difficult to really get our name out there ahead of opening. We were already open, brewing and selling beer while the pandemic was still going on,” says Kim. “Fortunately, we were quick to make new friends and regulars within the community, but a lot of San Diego beer consumers were going to their already-favorite breweries that had survived the pandemic in order to keep them thriving.”
The duo kept their heads down, doing their best during odd times and, eventually, the pandemic faded into the rearview. While COVID-19’s aftermath left them with a number of unique obstacles, the majority of the challenges they faced in their second and third year were of the standard business variety. Though not related to a wildly contagious killer virus, they proved plenty difficult to contend with.
“We knew when we started that it would be a lot of work, but were still blindsided by just how much work it would take. Unfortunately, despite the number of hours we put in every week, we were still shy of our set income targets,” says Kim. “There was a time when quality product was enough to get the ball rolling, but in today’s industry there is also a marketing aspect that we personally struggled with. The two of us had strengths needed to run a brewery, but our inexperience with maintaining and growing a brand ultimately made it difficult to stand out in this saturated market.”
Rudy and Kim opted against taking on investors, wanting to run their business their way, unbeholden to outside parties. Ataraxia was funded from the pair’s collective savings and assets, creating a make-or-break situation for them in their third year. Prior to the start of this summer, they decided that if revenues from June through August – traditionally the best months of the year for brewing companies – did not meet their business goals, they would close the book on an enjoyable but ultimately infeasible shared chapter of their lives.
Fast forward to the first week of September and the duo are announcing that their brewery is for sale. Ataraxia is the latest in a string of breweries that have been publicly put on the market, joining Bolt Brewery in La Mesa, Helia Brewing in Vista and Double Peak Brewing in San Marcos. Ataraxia’s business-park unit measures 2,000 square feet with a 160-square-foot cold-box, three-and-a-half-barrel brewhouse, four seven-barrel fermenters and a seven-barrel brite tank.
Kim says their facility, which includes a 50-person capacity tasting room, would be ideal for a start-up, and that there are benefits that go beyond its square-footage and other specs. “Kearny Mesa brewers are one of a kind, and we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet and brew alongside them. We are all friendly, can reach out to each other for ingredients in a pinch and work together in a lot of little ways that have been a big help in sticky situations.”
Other craft beer operations in the Kearny Mesa area include Hopnonymous Brewing, Ketch Brewing, Kilowatt Brewing, Quantum Brewing and Societe Brewing. They have collaborated with Ataraxia on a variety of projects, and over the past year, Ataraxia entered into a working agreement with Ketch brewer Ramiro Salas to produce beers for his Cerveza California brand on an alternating-proprietorship basis. While Rudy and Kim have appreciated the ties they’ve built with their contemporaries, they have valued their customer interactions just as much.
“We have so many ‘customers’ that are more friends and family than anything else at this point. We’ve enjoyed three years of hearing about and participating in their life events, both inside and outside of our brewery,” says Kim. “These relationships weren’t in the business plan, and they are truly what made his place so special for us.”
Should it be advantageous – licensing can be a lengthy, sometimes arduous process – the Ataraxia brand is available along with the space and equipment. Individuals interested in this opportunity can reach out to Kim and Rudy via email. The duo says that business will continue as usual at Ataraxia until any purchase is finalized.
Ataraxia Aleworks is located at 7292 Opportunity Road in Kearny Mesa