Since debuting in 2018, Harland Brewing has been a juggernaut, endearing itself to the beer intelligentsia, making fans of hop-heads, crispy bois and the pastry posse alike. That fandom, plus revenue from sister-company Scout Distribution, has financed the Scripps Ranch-based company’s expansion throughout San Diego proper, which includes taprooms in Bay Park and Del Mar Highlands’ One Paseo development as well as a bar-and-restaurant in South Park. But even successful businesses have their challenges, and Harland has not been immune.
The company recently lost longtime Director of Brewing Operations Nick Marron and his successor Ryan Alvarez. Both of those departures were amicable, as Marron had stopped drinking beer altogether and transitioned to a new career in the soda segment of the beverage industry, and Alvarez is moving to Bend, Oregon, where his wife landed a tremendous job opportunity (he will remain in the industry after accepting a head brewer position with Boss Rambler Beer Club).
“The hardest part is that many of us have been working together for the greater part of a decade, and it’s a bummer to no longer work together on the day-to-day, but I’m happy for them both,” says Harland President Anthony Levas. “Life is short and you have to make moves. I never want to hold anyone back, so if there is an opportunity that is going to get them and their family closer to their personal or professional goals, I encourage them to pursue it.”
As happy as Levas was for his compatriots, he was left with big brewer’s boots to fill…but he knew a guy. That individual is Cody Morris, a veteran brewer who Levas and his team worked with during Harland’s early days, when the company was contract-brewing its initial batches of beer at downtown San Diego’s Mission Brewery. Morris was Mission’s Director of Brewing Operations at the time. In 2020, he moved to multi-faceted Miramar start-up New Motion Beverages and its ale-and-lager offshoot Embolden Beer Co., where he has helped grow the business roughly 20% year-over-year.
In addition to personality and other inherent traits, Morris’ experience leading a team at a large brewery, particularly during periods of significant growth—which Harland is in the midst of as it completes a cellar expansion to support growing demand across its distribution footprint—made him the first candidate Levas thought of.
“There is a short list of people we know well and would trust to take on a role this vital to Harland, and Cody was at the top of it. He’s a great human, excellent at his job and passionate about what he does, which are key components that we look for in hiring at any level,” says Levas. “When Cody launched Embolden, we were impressed with the beers he was making as well as the diversity of the line-up. He was putting out some really clean beers, from lagers, West Coast IPAs, juicy and hazy IPAs to pastry sours and stouts. His brewing style aligns with what we are going for overall.”
While Morris was not looking to move on from Embolden, where he enjoyed the work and had an ideal situation working with his cousin, Andrew Kelly (who came over with him from Mission to serve as his head brewer), the opportunity to spearhead Harland’s production and growth into the next phase and beyond was too attractive to pass up.
“I’m already close with several members of the team, and it’s exciting to go in and help them grow personally and professionally. Nick and Ryan have clearly laid the groundwork for an awesome, growing brand and I love the challenge of helping keep that momentum going in the positive direction,” says Morris.
When it comes to bidding Kelly adieu, he’s less enthusiastic but just as optimistic.
It’s insanely bittersweet. I love everything we have built with Embolden and New Motion. We have had so much fun working day-in and day-out together, and leaving Embolden is so hard, but it excites me seeing Andrew take on more responsibilities. He is going to lead the charge and I think he’s going to thrive on helping keep their growth going.”
Cody Morris, Director of Brewing Operations, Harland Brewing
This isn’t the first high-level personnel shake-up for Harland. One of the company’s co-founders, Josh Landan, separated from Levas and Jeff Hansson less than two years into the business’ lifespan. At the time—and in retrospect—it was considered addition by subtraction. In 2013, Landan founded Saint Archer Brewery, an abundantly financed craft operation with an all-star brewing team that was built specifically to be sold. In 2016, that’s just what he did, handing the Miramar-based business over to Molson Coors (then operating as Miller Coors), thus helping Big Beer gain a deeper foothold in the San Diego craft-brewing industry following Constellation Brands‘ watershed acquisition of Miramar’s Ballast Point Brewing in 2015.
Many were skeptical when Landan announced he would be opening Harland in 2018, but while many in the industry held grudges against him, his return didn’t seem to register as a red flag with nth-level beer fans or, more importantly, those with little or no knowledge of the brewing industry, allowing Harland to succeed out of the gate. Even so, his departure has allowed Harland to operated as a legitimate, full-fledged local craft-beer operation after shedding its originator’s baggage. Landan has since toted that black luggage to yet another new venture, Wings & Arrow Beer Co., a just-launched California-based beer interest almost completely identical to Saint Archer (the logo for which featured an arrow sprouting a pair of wings). According to Landan, the company is scouting locations for a San Diego tasting room.
Back in Scripps Ranch, Morris’ acquisition is a clear addition-by-addition situation that both parties are excited about. Morris is already strategizing with Harland R&D brewer Jake Hillier about processes they wish to implement and prospective beers they would like to brew. It is still early and nothing is set in stone, except for one specialty creation that will for sure make it to Harland’s taps.
“A brewer and great friend of mine named Andrew Evans recently passed away in a rock-climbing accident in Montana. He had moved to Red Lodge to work at a brewery out there,” says Morris. “When we were at Mission together—where everybody made fun of our bromance—he and I brewed an hybrid style of an English brown and English mild ales called ‘Brown & Mild’. We both loved it and I plan to rebrew that beer in Andrew’s honor. He was an amazing guy and someone I will miss incredibly.”