Despite economic uncertainty and fallout from the pandemic there are over two dozen brewery projects in the works throughout San Diego County. These range from all-new brewing interests to satellite tasting rooms, brewpubs, out-of-county offshoots, and units within collective concepts. Here’s a look at some of the projects underway.
CENTRAL SAN DIEGO
East Village Brewing (East Village): In 2021, a pair of executive-level brewers from Ballast Point left the large regional brewing interest to open a small brewpub on the base level of the Park 12 high-rise catty-corner to Petco Park. Supply-chain and logistics-related delays have been many for the duo, but they hope to have their passion project open to the public before the Padres hang up their cleats this season. Once open, expect myriad IPAs and pale ales, plus an assortment of lagers and barrel-aged sour ales from a small stock of oaken vessels. 201 Park Blvd, Ste 101; Current ETA: late summer
Societe Brewing (Old Town): A decade-old Kearny Mesa brewery that pivoted harder than most during the pandemic, going from an almost exclusively local operation to a growing regional interest, has secured a site for its first satellite tasting room. Located on Old Town’s south end, the venue will merge a pair of previously separate units into a 2,800-square-foot space that will be outfitted in Societe’s old-timey motif and possibly equipped with an on-site kitchen following phase-two construction. 2415 San Diego Ave; Current ETA: late summer (phase one)
Eppig Brewing (La Jolla): Heralded for its to-style lagers and hoppy ales, Vista’s Eppig Brewing has been on the hunt for a satellite spot for the better part of a year. Following the last-minute collapse of a deal to hammer down stakes in North Park, its owners were able to secure a 1,300-square-foot art gallery space on Prospect Street, which will be converted into a tasting room. In doing so, it will bring local beer back to The Jewel, which lost CAVU Brewing and a Karl Straus brewpub during COVID. 1273 Prospect St.; Current ETA: early September (phase one)
Gravity Heights (Mission Valley): In 2019, the restaurateur behind Whisknladle Hospitality got into the brewing game, opening a Sorrento Mesa brewpub overseen by AleSmith’s founder and brewmaster. Stocked with a wide range of beers exhibiting quality across style categories, it has made enough of a name for itself that a second iteration of the concept is en route in the heart of Mission Valley. Gravity Heights 2.0 will feature a large-scale, modern beer garden for imbibing beers produced at the original location. Current ETA: late summer 2023
The Ocotillo at Harland (South Park): Scripps Ranch-based Harland Brewing took over the longtime home of much-loved South Park gem Grants Market and Coffee Room last spring and has been hard at work transforming the 2,400-square-foot space into a bar-equipped restaurant that will serve three squares along with the company’s stock of hoppy ales, lagers and modern creations infused with fun ingredients like calamansi, phantasm and ube. 2953 Beech St.; Current ETA: mid-August
North Park Beer Co. at Secoya on Fifth (Bankers Hill): North Park Beer Co. will expand its reach beyond its namesake neighborhood, installing a satellite venue as the sole built-in business at the foot of a new residential complex in Bankers Hill. This non-brewing location will include craftsman-style interior design matching its NPBC’s OG space, a zig-zagging indoor bar, outdoor patio seating and a kitchen that will mark the business’ inaugural foray into restaurant management. 3095 Fifth Ave.; Current ETA: late 2022
El Cid Brewing (North Park): A former Navy chief is taking his brewing from the amateur ranks to the pros, leasing the spot that formerly housed nanobrewery and homebrew-supply store, Home Brewing Co. for the past decade. Through his beers, which will include an IPA, pale ale, Irish red, coffee milk stout and American lager, he hopes to convey the history of the Navy and the camaraderie of those who have served aboard its ships. 2911 El Cajon Blvd; Current ETA: mid-summer
SOUTH BAY
Pizza Port (Imperial Beach): A pints-and-pie institution for over 30 years, Pizza Port is getting close to opening its fifth local brewpub, this time in the county’s southwest corner. The company has broken down walls in a trio of connected storefronts to create a 3,200-square-foot restaurant equipped with a seven-barrel brewhouse that will be used to craft house beers. Those mostly hoppy quaffs will pair well with the sun and coastal breezes gracing a palapa- and picnic-bench-furnished beer garden looking out onto Palm Avenue. 204 Palm Ave.; Current ETA: mid-July
Dreamscape Brewing (Barrio Logan): A pair of homebrewing friends and Amazon co-workers have taken over the 3,000-square-foot Mercado del Barrio space that previously housed now-defunct Iron Fist Brewing’s Barrio Logan tasting room. They’ve spent the past several months installing a modest 3 1/2-barrel system they’ll use to fashion everything from IPAs to stouts, lagers to culinarily-inspired oddities like a peach cobbler tart ale, banana coconut cream ale and key-lime pie session ale. 1985 National Ave., Ste 1132; Current ETA: early autumn
Novo Brazil Brewing — Bikeway Village (Imperial Beach): Based in Eastlake, Novo Brazil is angling to be the first brewing company people think of when they hear the words “South Bay.” To that end, they’ve constructed an expansive brewpub in Chula Vista’s Otay Ranch Town Center as well as a bar within National City’s 8th and Market collective. Next up is a 7,500-square-foot eatery abutting IB’s Bayshore Bikeway, which will give the company properties in all of the county’s southernmost municipalities. 535 Florence St.; Current ETA: mid-summer
Little Miss Brewing (Eastlake): Though not a household name among most beer fans, Miramar-based Little Miss Brewing operates more locations than any local beermaker with spots in Escondido, Poway, Normal Heights, La Mesa, Lakeside and downtown’s East Village. Its next will be in Chula Vista’s Eastlake community and equipped with a nano-sized half-barrel brewing setup. 891 Showroom Pl., Ste 100; Current ETA: mid-summer
EAST COUNTY
Sunny Grove Brewing (Lemon Grove): After considering La Mesa and Spring Valley as potential project sites, a married couple is gifting Lemon Grove with just its second brewery. Dubbed Sunny Grove, the business is being built in a former auto shop coming in at 2,100 square feet, with another 2,100 square feet of outdoor patio space. A lineup of IPAs and UK-inspired ales will be produced by a homebrewer of 15 years who graduated from SDSU’s Business of Craft Beer Program. 7345 Broadway, Current ETA: autumn
Valley Farm Brewing (Mount Laguna): After six decades in business, the family behind a Spring Valley market celebrated the opening of a restaurant and lodge in Mount Laguna last month. Dubbed The Outpost by Valley Farm, it will eventually include an on-site brewing component cranking out beers to pair with its eclectic menu of pizzas, salads, and protein-focused starters and entrees. 10600 Sunrise Hwy; Current ETA: TBD
NORTH COUNTY
Heritage Barbecue & Brewery (Oceanside): A 2-years-young San Juan Capistrano barbecue operation that earned a 2021 Big Gourmand nod from the Michelin Guide is taking over the former site of Municipal Taco. That site is equipped with its own brewery (formerly utilized by Municipal Beer, and, prior to that, Mason Ale Works) that will be used to produce beers built to pair exceptionally well with Heritage’s barbecue, which sells out on a daily basis at the OC mothership. 2002 S Coast Highway, Current ETA: December
Artifex Brewing at the Freeman Collective (Oceanside): A popular San Clemente operation run by a pair of San Diegans — including a head brewer who plied his trade as part of the Pizza Port regime — will soon have a local presence when an Artifex Brewing tasting room opens as part of the Freeman Collective. Located a block east of Coast Highway on its eponymous street, the sampling spot will feature a contiguous indoor-outdoor bar and neighbor fellow tenants Corner Pizza and Northside Shack. 1940 S Freeman St., Current ETA: mid-summer
Docent Brewing Cottage (Carlsbad): Another award-winning San Juan Capistrano business — this one a brewery — is converting a 950-square-foot house just off Carlsbad Village Drive into a satellite tasting room. The goal is to maintain as much of a homey look and feel inside while instituting an outdoor party vibe in the back yard. Additionally, the residence’s kitchen will be upgraded to pump out a dynamic menu of sandwiches, salads, bowls, and other casual fare, some of which will include fermented accoutrements. 3060 State St., Current ETA: spring 2023
Karl Strauss Brewing (San Marcos): It’s been three years since San Diego’s first post-Prohibition Era beer interest took ownership of a 2-acre space on the corner of Las Posas Road and Armorlite Drive in San Marcos. The pandemic hampered the company’s attempts to move forward with construction of a public venue featuring a pilot brewery and on-site culinary component, but work has recommenced on the project, which was originally slated to open in early 2020. Current ETA: autumn
Black Plague Brewing (Escondido): After nearly two years of searching for a spot to site a second location, this Oceanside brewery has taken over a 2,400-square-foot, patio-equipped space where it will bring its Dark Ages motif and refreshing array of IPAs, lagers, kettle-sours and more to a portion of downtown Escondido that’s seen an influx in new hospitality venues, a number of which are beer-focused. 239 E Valley Pkwy, Current ETA: late summer (phase one)
Ten-75 Brewing (San Marcos): Named for the address of the industrial suite it’s sited within, Ten-75 is a take-two project from brothers who originally endeavored to open a kombucha company. They have since reconfigured their home base for production of a variety of IPAs as well as lighter, lower-alcohol beers well suited for San Diego’s perpetually sunny-and-75 climate. 1075 Linda Vista Dr.; Current ETA: mid-summer
Bear Roots Brewing (Escondido): Bear Roots Brewing started as a nano-brewery side-hustle at a Vista homebrew supply store and has grown to include a tasting room in Old Town Vista. Soon it will also boast a third location after the acquisition of a 3,000-square-foot building in a north Escondido strip mall that previously housed First Auto & Payday Loans. 190 W El Norte Pkwy; Current ETA: TBA
InZane Brewing (Vista): A husband-wife team that includes a brewer who worked at Green Flash Brewing in its earliest days has taken over the space in Old Town Vista that was previously occupied by Wavelength Brewing, which closed its doors earlier this year. Together they are redoing the interior of the Main Street space to convey a sense of humor and whimsy as they await delivery of their brewing equipment. Expect a color-spectrum array of beers, including some brewed with coffee, coconut and vanilla. 236 Main St.; Current ETA: late summer
Stave & Nail Brewing (Vista): Opened in 2019, Stave & Nail Brewing quickly built a name and following behind its high-quality sour beers, enough that, earlier this year, it secured a unit in Vista’s Old Town to build a bar and restaurant. Not long after, it closed its HQ to install a larger brewhouse. When this operation comes back online, it will do so under an entirely new name and focus, shifting to production of “clean” beers that can be produced and sold faster and in greater quantities than sour and wild ales. 100 Main St.; Current ETA: TBA
This article originally appeared in the Business section of the Tuesday, July 5, 2022 edition of The San Diego Union-Tribune