There’s no rest for the wicked. The same is true for members of the local beer community, all of which have been moving, shaking and pivoting for years on end at this point. The following is information pertaining to several such operations, from a local beer op founded within a North County inland eatery to an Ocean Beach enclave that previously spotlighted a beer company’s hard kombucha side-hustle, plus local winners from a recent international brewing competition. Read on!
In 2014, Rancho Bernardo’s The Cork & Craft opened, not only as an upscale restaurant, but as home to an in-house winery and Abnormal Beer Co. The latter’s ale and lagers found success under the direction of multiple (and numerous high-profile) head brewers, not only in San Diego but internationally. But like many craft beer companies, the brand has felt the recent strains of a tough economy, rising expenses, inflation and consumer-related challenges facing members of the brewing industry. While The Cork & Craft remains open, owner Matt DeLoach has pressed pause on production as he works to bring on new investors so he can revitalize and evolve the brand. It’s a new chapter he is excited to get started on. In the meantime, house beers at The Cork & Craft are being produced by another entity on a contract basis.
Earlier this month, Chula Vista-based Novo Brazil Brewing closed the doors at the Ocean Beach taproom it opened in 2020. As the company grows and expands, leadership wishes to do so by offering the full restaurant experience available at its brewpubs in Otay Mesa, Imperial Beach, Mission Valley and San Antonio, Texas. Unlike the aforementioned venues, the OB taproom operated under the flag of its sister brand Nova East Kombucha, a hard-kombucha spinoff bolstered by high-profile partnerships with the San Diego Padres, San Diego Wave women’s soccer club and San Diego State University’s Athletics Department. In 2021, Novo Brazil owner Tiago Carneiro said hard kombucha accounted for 50% of total beverage sales, and in 2023 the company released a beer under the Nova brand, a 4% alcohol-by-volume lager brewed with coconut water. Prior to Nova’s OB arrival, its Newport Avenue space had been constructed and occupied by Solana Beach-based Culture Brewing from 2014 to 2020.
Earlier this month, the North American Brewers Association announced winners of its 15th annual International Beer & Cider Awards. Among the mostly Western U.S.-based medal recipients were three San Diego County operations. Non-alcoholic beverage company Athletic Brewing took gold and silver in the Light Non-Alcoholic Beers category for its Noble Pils and Atletica Mexican-style Copper, while the salt-and-lime-infused version of Athletic Lite garnered a silver and its hazy IPA, Free Wave, nabbed a bronze. Hodad’s Brewing walked away with a gold in the Cream Ale category for Surf Punk Mexican-style Lager, plus a bronze for its Throwback Brown Ale, and Vista-born Mother Earth Brew Co. amassed an impressive four silvers and two bronzes for a wide array of beers, spanning from light lagers to IPAs and a coffee stout.