In 2005, Lightning Brewery opened as Poway’s first-and-only brewery. Sixteen years later, the business still holds that distinction. It’s not that Powegians lack a taste for craft ales and lagers. Beer-centric bar and eatery The Hop Stop has been wildly popular since touching down in Old Town Poway just over a year ago, and plenty of local restaurants carry local beer. Yet, other than Green Flash Brewing‘s ambitious but failed Cellar 3 barrel-aging facility, not a single brewery-owned tasting room has been installed within the city’s limits. Until now. Miramar-based Little Miss Brewing is in the process of converting the former home of Lappert’s Ice Cream Parlor into a northeasterly satellite venue.
Located in a strip mall on the corner of Pomerado Road and Scripps Poway Parkway, this will be Little Miss’ seventh tasting room (counting the one built into its brewery headquarters). The selection of a community that’s underserved from a beer perspective falls in line with the company’s standard operating procedure. After experiencing myriad hassles attempting to open a tasting room in Ocean Beach back in 2017, owners Greg and Jade Malkin decided to eschew high-profile neighborhoods, instead opting to bring beer to locales lacking a local-beer presence.
“Once again, we are trying to avoid oversaturation. Poway has very minimal drinking establishments and only one brewery,” says Greg. “The closest locations to our Poway tasting room are Second Chance, Lightning and Harland, and they’re all five-plus miles or a 15-minute drive away.”
While the project’s siting fits Little Miss’ MO, the Poway tasting room will differ from its sister spots in significant ways. This will be the first satellite where brewing will be done on site. The plan is to install a small pilot system that will be pressed into action a few times per month. Not only will this broaden the venue’s offering care of small-batch and specialty beers, but it will also allow Little Miss to continue opening tasting rooms at will.
California breweries are only allowed six duplicate licenses for non-manufacturing facilities. Little Miss has made use of five so far in Normal Heights, East Village, La Mesa, Escondido, Lakeside. The Malkins have secured a spot for another tasting room in the South Bay. Like Poway, it will house a pilot system, leaving Little Miss’ last duplicate license in play for a potential project in a prime spot in San Diego proper.
“After these two tasting rooms open, we will more than likely stop looking for additional tasting room spaces, and we will put our focus on distribution,” says Greg. “To date, we’ve only sold beer to accounts that have reached out to us. We don’t look for accounts primarily because we don’t have enough beer, but we are in the process of rectifying that.”
When all is said and done, the 1,200-square-foot Poway venue will be outfitted to portray a “wood pub vibe” paying homage to the US’ Polish World War II allies. As small outdoor patio will provide 400-square-feet of additional seating. In addition to its pilot system, it will offer food prepared on-site care of Lappert’s leftover kitchen, which will undergo improvements as part of the site’s overall renovation.
“I like that we are moving into offering food options. We just started with Angry Pete’s Pizza in Lakeside and we’ve noticed not only the food sales but also an increase in beer consumption due to having food available,” says Greg. “I believe this will be true in Poway, as well.”
The Malkins are eyeing an opening timeframe of spring 2022 for the Poway tasting room. Once open, hours of operation figure to be 2 to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday, noon to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and noon to 9 p.m. on Sundays.
Little Miss Brewing’s upcoming tasting room will be located at 12265 Scripps Poway Parkway in Poway