Zane Curtis came up loving San Diego craft beer – not just the ales and lagers, but the quality, creativity and the culture surrounding them. It was a big part of his life that he says he missed when he cut alcohol out of his life three years ago, even as he launched Monday Morning, a two-year-old non-alcoholic bottle shop business – the county’s first – which has grown to include two locations in Pacific Beach and Ocean Beach.
Those popular spots offer a wide range of non-alcoholic beverages, all of which Curtis greatly enjoys spotlighting. But it’s in the fast-growing N/A beer segment that he sees the opportunity to bridge into the craft culture he so adored. It was a driving force behind his recent decision to take over the San Marcos brewery previously occupied by Creative Creature Brewing and convert it into a production center for non-alcoholic beverages. It’s the next step in Curtis’ business plan, a key component of which is transitioning into manufacturing.
“We’re getting into beverage-production because the non-alcoholic category is outgrowing the infrastructure behind it,” says Curtis. “Retail and distribution gave us a clear view of what actually moves and, more importantly, what does not. We saw the gap between what consumers want and what is being produced. This facility is us stepping in to help close that gap.”
Curtis considered other sites as well as the option of constructing a brand-new production facility, but in the end the former Creative Creature brewery provided an ideally configured brewhouse, tank mix and layout. Curtis says the brewery and its assets have allowed them to hit the ground running – a must in the fast-moving non-alcoholic beverage industry – providing him and his team a strong foundation without the risk of overbuilding.
A trio of brewing-industry veterans make up Monday Morning’s production staff. Together, they have roughly four decades of experience working for companies such as Creative Creature, Green Flash Brewing, Mikkeller Brewing San Diego, Newtopia Cyder, The Original 40 Brewing, Societe Brewing and Two Roots Brewing.
“We are bringing in experienced brewing leadership with a background in production systems, quality control and scaling operations,” says Curtis. “For us, this role is about discipline and repeatability. Non-alcoholic beer leaves very little room for error. You cannot rely on alcohol to carry flaws, so process matters even more. We chose brewers who understand how to run a facility at a high level, not just brew a great batch.”
Monday Morning Lab is equipped with fermenters of various sizes, ranging from seven barrels up to 30 barrels, which allow for an estimated production capacity of around 3,400 barrels per year. Smaller tanks will be used for faster-turn beverages, including coffee and tea. All of the beverages will be available at Monday Morning’s pair of retail locations, as well as a third bottle shop that’s being installed in Creative Creature’s former tasting room. The latter is on pace to open in May.
“This will not feel like a traditional brewery taproom. We are starting with what we know works – a bottle shop that’s curated, retail-driven and designed to highlight the best of the non-alcoholic category,” says Curtis. “As production comes online, we will begin featuring draft offerings of the non-alcoholic beverages we are brewing, including our in-process Haymaker N/A IPA, alongside products from our partners.”
Those partners will include businesses that consult with Monday Morning to have them produce non-alcoholic beverages on their behalf. In some cases, that will be bars and restaurants looking for white-label products they can offer at their establishments, but Curtis also wants to provide an option for traditional craft breweries that lack the ability to produce non-alcoholic beer at their facilities, including dealcoholized versions of popular flagship beers.
Curtis says if everything goes right, Monday Morning can become a platform where products are developed, produced and scaled, which in turn helps escalate the overall quality standard, reach and already surging demand for non-alcoholic beverages.
“We have spent the last two years seeing exactly what works at the shelf level and what keeps people coming back. Now we can apply that directly to what we produce and what we help others produce,” says Curtis. “It closes the loop.”
Monday Morning Lab is located at 1784 La Costa Meadows Drive, #105 in San Marcos