Since Resident Brewing‘s debut in 2015, and even throughout its conceptual stages, much reporting on the downtown brewery sequestered within The Local Eatery and Drinking Hole has centered around its two co-founders, James Langley, who owns The Local, Resident and numerous other hospitality venues throughout San Diego County, and Robert Masterson, the company’s brewmaster, who went pro after an illustrious homebrewing career. In addition to their indisputable qualifications to head their respective roles within the organization, Langley and Masterson are also related, so there’s a literal family culture at Resident. They both say that familial aura extends to the company staffers, including a soon-to-be former Head Brewer Craig Nelson, who did most of his work behind the scenes, grunting out his day-to-day tasks in a challenging two-level brewery, a large portion of which is underground. His ability to create high-quality, award-winning beers in spite of such conditions earned him a solid reputation among his San Diego brewing contemporaries and his Resident teammates, which makes the news that he will be leaving the beer industry difficult for members of both factions.
Earlier this month, Nelson took to social media to announce that he had resigned from Resident to take a job as a microbiologist for the County of San Diego, writing: “As this global pandemic persists, I feel it is my responsibility to my fellow humans to help out any way I can.” In his new role, Nelson will perform COVID-19 testing over the duration of the pandemic at a County lab that runs 24 hours-a-day.
“It won’t be nearly as fun as brewing. It will be very repetitive and tedious, but I’m willing to do it as long as I am needed,” says Nelson. “This past year has inspired me to make some changes in my life and career path. I want to be able to use my skills and education as a microbiologist to help in this time of need. We are currently losing around 4,000 people a day to COVID-19 just in the US, and pushing a total loss of 400,000 lives. I feel a certain civic responsibility to assist until the pandemic is over.”
Nelson graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2013, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Science with a focus on Microbiology and Genetics. Two days after graduation, he was hired by Funky Buddha Brewery in Oakland Park, Florida. In 2016, he moved to San Diego and joined the recently opened Resident. Over the past four years, he’s helped the company win a bronze medal for its Industrial Gris grisette at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival, plus numerous awards locally.
Following the pandemic, Nelson doesn’t plan on returning to brewing. Instead, he says he will likely seek out a role within the biotech industry in an environmental capacity that suits him. “Brewing has been a wonderful experience and the industry is filled with some of the best humans on the planet, but I think it is time for me to move on and experience a beer from the other side of the glass,” he says.
“I’m pretty emotional about Craig’s departure. I really didn’t see him as an employee, but more of a family member,” says Langley. “Craig was instrumental in Resident’s growth and vital in our consistency. I hope he finds happiness and I can fully understand the draw that pulled him from brewing so he can serve what he feels is a greater purpose in his life.”
As a brewery and restaurant owner who has seen his public-facing businesses hit extremely hard by the pandemic and resultant governmental regulations, Langley can appreciate efforts to pitch in and get society beyond this dark, debilitating era.
“COVID-19 has put a different kind of pressure on all sorts of businesses out there, and it especially took a toll on Resident,” says Langley. “We were not built for a pandemic and predominantly distributing beers through kegs by way of bars and restaurants. The downtown location is not built for canning and the changes we had to make put way too much pressure on Craig. So many people discount the challenges we go through because they think we will get PPP money and all will be right. What they don’t see is the toll this has taken on fine people that work for all of these companies forced to lock down.”
Even during a pandemic, the Resident team’s long search for a larger manufacturing facility that will accommodate increased production as well as canning continues. Last year, Langley was close to acquiring the former home of Vista’s defunct Iron Fist Brewing but fell just short of that goal. Although a new production site has not yet been determined, the more inland expanses of North County are on track for an infusion of Resident beer. The company has signed on to install a satellite venue in the former site of The Florence restaurant in Sabre Springs. Located just off Interstate 15, it includes 10,000 square feet of interior space and two acres of outdoor seating for an overall capacity of around 300. Langley says the new location will feature 16 taps plus a full menu, and Resident will be joined in the space by extensions of Carlsbad’s Leap Coffee Roasters and Del Mar Highlands’ California Native wine bar.
Back at the brewery, Nelson’s head-brewer position will be filled by promoting Bill Lindsay, who came to the company last year shortly after the four-year-old company he co-founded, Miramar’s Thunderhawk Alements, shuttered despite being a cult favorite among local beer enthusiasts. Masterson will also increase his time spent at the brewery to help make up for being a man down.
“We want to thank Craig for being such an incredible part of this family,” says Langley, adding, “I hope he continues to be a part of it in whatever capacity he likes.”
Resident Brewing is located inside The Local Eatery and Drinking Hole at 1065 Fourth Avenue in Downtown San Diego, and its future North County venue will be located at 13480 Evening Creek Drive North, Suite 150, in Sabre Springs