We now take a moment out of our breakneck-paced week preparing for next Tuesday’s San Diego Beer News Awards Ceremony to get readers up to date on a handful of wide-ranging local brewing industry developments. Take them in, then make sure to join us at the aforementioned event, which will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. on March 31 at Harland Brewingin Scripps Ranch, with the ceremony kicking off promptly at 7 p.m. Admission is free and everyone’s invited!
Twelve years after opening as a nanobrewery inside a homebrew supply store, Bear Roots Brewing is moving out of that facility as well as the Old Town Vista satellite taproom it spawned. According to sources, this follows a lengthy period of financial strain during which the company struggled to make rent and afford ingredients. The company will continue to operate the 3,000-square-foot Bear Roots Tavern restaurant it opened in north Escondido in 2024, however, without the production capabilities that existed solely at its original location, it remains to be seen whether ownership will find another means of producing house ales and lagers or switch to an all-guest-beer tap list. Bear Roots was founded by married couple Terry and Page Little in 2014 and sold to current owner Ryan Kiryakous in 2019 after the former (who previously served as president of the San Diego Brewers Guild) accepted a job as with brewing-industry supplier RahrBSG, where he is currently Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations.
Earlier this month, we shared a preview of Barley & Sword Brewing’s new Escondido headquarters and included management’s hopeful estimate that the facility’s tasting room – affectionately referred to as “The Tavern” – would open by March 13. Due to delays receiving necessary approvals from City of Escondido regulatory agencies that didn’t happen, but co-owners Michael Howell and Bruce Rice were able to get the last sign-off they needed just in time to open on St. Patrick’s Day. They are now open for business and serving their portfolio of Old World beers behind an L-shaped bar looking out onto a professionally outfitted corner stage (a holdover from the space’s previous identity as the home of eight-year-old Jacked Up Brewery) flanked by spacious seating areas on both sides. For now the Escondido venue’s operating hours mirror those of Barley & Sword’s original location in North Park: 2 to 8 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, 2 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, noon to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and noon to 8 p.m. on Sundays. The Tavern is located at 800 West Grand Avenue, Suite 101.
Earlier this month, winners were announced in the 2026 European Beer Challenge. Billed by its organizers as “the most influential beverage competition in the world”, this international competition for professional brewing companies is held each year in London, and rated by certified judges from throughout the industry. This year, Miramar-based non-alcoholic beer company Athletic Brewing – the largest producer of N/A beer in the U.S. – racked up an impressive five medals, including gold in the Alcohol Free Beer (Bottom Fermentation) category for its non-alcoholic light brew Athletic Lite. The company’s other wins came in the Alcohol Free Beer (Top Fermentation) category, with silvers for Atlética (N/A Mexican-style copper) and Upside Dawn (N/A golden), and bronzes for Free Wave (N/A hazy IPA) and Run Wild (N/A IPA).