The last few months have seen a flurry of local brewery closures as the owners of beer concerns teetering on the edge have made the often tough decision to close the book on operations that are more than just businesses, but in many cases, passion projects. Roughly a dozen brewing companies shuttered in 2024, and today, the first brewery closure of 2025 has been announced by the team behind downtown San Diego’s eight-year-old Resident Brewing.
In sharing the news with followers on social media, the company noted there are multiple reasons ownership has decided now is the right time to close down. While they did not state specifics, they alluded to common challenges currently facing breweries. Among those often cited by local brewing company owners have been the rising cost of goods, utilities, rent and employee salaries, coupled with debt incurred during the pandemic and a decline in consumer demand. It’s a far cry from the heyday of craft beer when Resident joined San Diego’s sudscape.
In 2016, hospitality industry vet James Langley teamed up with business partner Scott Dickinson and his brother-in-law Robert Masterson, an award-winning homebrewer, to get into the craft-beer industry. Together, they launched Resident from a facility connected to The Local Eatery & Drinking Hole on the corner of Fourth Avenue and C Street. The business’ production facility abutted the venerable Gaslamp Quarter hangout, the back bar of which served as Resident’s tasting room. But it wasn’t long before the young operation’s beers found their way beyond those four walls and into retail accounts, including nearby Petco Park.
Local craft enthusiasts took to Resident’s beers in a big way, particularly an array of then-groundbreaking hazy IPAs and a coconut-infused IPA based on an award-winning homebrew recipe Masterson helped develop, which was produced and distributed nationally by Stone Brewing in 2013. It wasn’t long before demand for the company’s beer exceeded the amount they were able to produce, sending ownership on a multi-year search for a larger facility in which to headquarter the business.
After examining potential sites throughout the county, Resident famously came close to acquiring the 13,850-square-foot former Vista home of Iron Fist Brewing in the fall of 2020 – so close that multiple news outlets reported it – but the deal fell through. Miramar concern Pure Project Brewing eventually landed the facility, leaving Langley and company to keep looking. While Resident never found a new home, it did find a homey spot in which to build a satellite taproom in Chula Vista. Located on the city’s downtown thoroughfare at the longtime site of craft-beer forerunner Third Avenue Alehouse, it reopened under Resident’s flag last July.
Over the company’s lifespan, Masterson, who never quit his day job as an IT professional, transitioned into more of an executive-level role in the brewhouse. At one point, everyday production was the domain of former Funky Buddah Brewery fermentationist Craig Nelson, who left the business during COVID to work as a microbiologist for the County of San Diego, and was replaced by Thunderhawk Alements founder Bill Lindsay in 2021. That same year, Resident invited San Diego Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove to brew a collaboration beer with them. Days after taking them up on the offer, Musgrove threw the first no-hitter in his club’s history, leading Resident to name the resultant double IPA “No-No Joe!” It went on to become one of the company’s most popular beers.
While production has been shut down at Resident’s downtown facility, its Chula Vista Village House will remain open through this weekend, with all pours being offered at just $5 apiece. Bottled beer and merchandise will also be available for half-off.
Resident Brewing’s Village House taproom is located at 319 Third Avenue in Chula Vista