The fourth quarter of 2023 was an outright depressing time for San Diego County brewing industry professionals as they watched a number of established and even award-winning beer companies yield to the pressures of a challenging economy and shutter their businesses. By and large, those closures took place in North County’s inland communities, where such operations are plentiful and the community is particularly close-knit.
As brewery owners put up for sale signs, their contemporaries couldn’t help but wonder if they might be doing the same thing in the not-too-distant future. Then came the new year and a shift that many – even those in the know – didn’t see coming. Rather than closing down, breweries began opening up new locations.
So far this year, 14 new brewery-owned venues have debuted (with two more coming within the next week in the form of Crown Point’s North Park Beer Co. Pizza Shop and Sunny Grove Brewing in Santee). Of those, half are sited in locations vacated by breweries that went out of business or sold them as turnkey operations. The founder of Helia Brewing hopes the same fate awaits his Vista brewery and tasting room.
This week, Helia was listed for sale via an industry outlet by owner Kelby Pedery-Edwards. The listing cited a favorable lease and terms, while stressing the success Pedery-Edwards and his team have had establishing a secondary revenue stream by renting the space out for weddings and other large events.
Helia Brewing comes in at 6,080 square feet, supplemented by a 1,500 square-foot patio. It is equipped with a 15-barrel brewhouse, three-vessel steam brewhouse with three 30-barrel Unitanks, four 15-barrel Unitanks and a 15-barrel brite tank. The facility also includes a canning line, a key feature for a modern brewery.
Helia opened in the fall of 2018. It was originally named White Fence Brewing, but ownership opted to instead reference the Greek goddess of daylight when issues arose with their first-choice moniker. Pedery-Edwards had also hoped to open his business in Encinitas, but its municipal government’s well-established resistance to beer-production facilities sent him looking elsewhere. Eventually, he built Helia on Keystone Way near Vista’s southern border. He was the first to settle there and was promptly joined by both Eppig Brewing and Dogleg Brewing in 2019.
During its six years in business, Helia flew well under most local beer enthusiast’s radar despite having an attractive, well-appointed tasting room communicating its beachy Copacabana motif. The company’s most well known beers include a Mexican-style lager called Pescadito, Hazy Jae IPA, Far From East West Coast IPA and an eponymous porter.
Helia Brewing is located at 1250 Keystone Way in Vista