Since opening in 2006, Tomme Arthur’s San Marcos brewing facility has housed multiple brands under one roof. Those familial entities made almost completely different beers and appealed to different types of craft consumers, with Port Brewing producing West Coast IPAs and hoppy takes on beers of English origin, and The Lost Abbey churning out Belgian-inspired ales and barrel-aged creations, including award-winning sours. Both concepts flourished, leading to the addition of two more brands, The Hop Concept, a line of IPAs that launched in 2015, and Tiny Bubbles, Brettanomyces and fruit-infused probiotic beers that debuted last year. That’s a lot to juggle, as each brand is different from the other from a production and marketing standpoint. As such, Arthur and company have decided to revamp its distribution strategy by delineating the brands and going different routes with each.
Rethinking and revising how to get beer to market comes on the heels of the multifaceted company terminating its longtime relationship with Stone Distributing Co. earlier this month. When negotiating favorable terms with a new distributor, Arthur was able to consider whether all of his company’s brands required a third party. Today, Scripps Ranch-based Scout Distribution announced that beginning March 1, it will distribute beers from Port Brewing and Tiny Bubbles. Products from The Hop Concept’s portfolio will continue to be distributed by Wine Warehouse as they have been for years. Meanwhile, The Lost Abbey’s beers will be self-distributed.
“We’re excited to explore new opportunities for our brands,” says Arthur. “We believe this partnership with Scout will create new synergies for both companies, resulting in tremendous growth for many years to come.”
Last month, Scout Distribution added Miramar’s recently opened Embolden Beer Co. to its roster. Its other local brewery clients include Abnormal Beer Co. and Harland Brewing. The latter is owned and operated by the same team as Scout. The company also distributes beers from popular breweries outside of San Diego, plus locally produced alternative alcoholic beverages from Bivouac Ciderworks, JuneShine and Ashland Hard Seltzer.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Tomme and the team at Port Brewing,” says Scout CEO Jeff Hansson. “Port has consistently been brewing best-in-class beers for many years now and we feel that our two companies working together will result in great success.”