Over the past several years, there has been a countywide decrease in the annual number of new breweries and new venues from established brewing companies. This has been due to numerous economic conditions and consumer trends. Despite a lack of movement where those contributing factors are concerned, the local brewing landscape currently has more work-in-progress breweries, brewpubs and tasting rooms going on than at any time in the past three years.
The following are details about each of those projects, as well as some changes that are in store for several existing brewery venues.
New brewing businesses
Koakai Brewing, Oceanside: Husband and wife Mike and Tomomi Aubuchon who met while working at Pizza Port’s Carlsbad Village location – with him brewing award-winning beers and her pouring those largely hoppy offerings at the bar – are in the soft-open period for their very own brewpub.
Mike Aubuchon, left and Tomomi are owners of Koakai Brewing in Oceanside. (John Gastaldo / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
A next-door addition to their other business, Kyoto Japanese Market, Koakai Brewing introduces house beers to the equation (various West Coast IPAs intermingled with a wide-ranging array of low-alcohol, international-style lagers) as well as Japanese- and Hawaiian-inspired barbecue, sushi and izakaya-style items to go with the market’s grab-and-go fare. Kyoto Japanese Market, 559 Greenbrier Drive, Ste. B, Instagram.com/koakaibrewing
Monday Morning Lab, San Marcos: A tucked-away facility that’s served as the base of operations for Stumblefoot Brewery and Creative Creature Brewing is getting new life breathed into it by the owner of Monday Morning, a 2-year-old company operating a pair of non-alcoholic bottle shops in Pacific Beach and Ocean Beach. Working under the moniker Monday Morning Lab, the brewery (which will be run by a trio of experienced brewers) will now produce non-alcoholic beers, not only for the bottle shops, but for Southern California breweries lacking the expertise and equipment to manufacture virgin suds. The project will also include the establishment of the county’s first-ever non-alcoholic brewery tasting room. 1784 La Costa Meadow Drive, #105, mondaymorning-af.com, ETA: Summer
Encinitas Brewing Co., Encinitas: One of the founders of the nation’s largest chain of brewpubs (by production volume) – Austin, Texas-based Pinthouse Brewing – is spearheading a team bringing Encinitas its first brewery-equipped restaurant since the shuttering of short-lived operation, The Red Kettle, in the early 1990s.
Renderings of the interior of Encinitas Brewing Co. (Encinitas Brewing Co.)
Located off Leucadia Boulevard in a 5,500-square-foot unit that formerly housed an Islands restaurant, Encinitas Brewing Co. will be a family-friendly spot with an expansive patio, casual menu and a 10-barrel brewhouse, which will be overseen by a veteran North County fermentationist. In addition to a beer menu rife with IPAs and lagers, the business will also feature a boutique distillery producing gin and vodka. 1588 Leucadia Blvd., encinitasbrewco.com, ETA: Fall
Made Wright Beer Co., Escondido: While Escondido has played home to many craft-beer operations, the city’s downtown area has seen a lot of contraction and is currently devoid of any brewery-owned venues. Looking to rectify that, a husband-wife team is converting a 1,900-square-foot Juniper Street collectibles shop into a small, neighborhood-focused brewery that, once open, will feature a collection of beers with names referencing their hometown, such as Life’s Grand Pilsner, Midway Amber Ale and Grape Day West Coast IPA. 136 S. Juniper St., madewrightbeer.com, ETA: Fall
Expansion projects
Harland Brewing – Clubhouse, Pacific Beach: High on the success of the company’s recently opened restaurant in North County’s 4S Ranch community, Harland Brewing is hard at work constructing another full-service eatery on the grounds of Mission Bay Golf Course. Dubbed the “Clubhouse,” the 2,000-square-foot structure will be outfitted with accordion doors, rounded-edge furniture and Harland’s midcentury-modern motif.
An image of The Clubhouse. (Harland Brewing)
It will also sport an upgraded kitchen pumping out staples from the 8-year-old company’s food program, including smashburgers, deli sandwiches, tacos and breakfast burritos. Mission Bay Golf Course, 2702 N. Mission Bay Drive, harlandbeer.com, ETA: Spring
Modern Times Beer – Cathedral of Caffeination, North Park: Last year, Modern Times Beer was sold to a group that split the San Diego-born business into individual factions focused on beer production, coffee roasting and hospitality. Sited within the largest suite at H.G. Fenton’s lease-to-brew CRAFT by Brewery Igniter facility in North Park, the company’s newest concept will combine all three with a taproom serving coffee and beer, looking out onto a ground-level production area that’s been converted from a brewery into a coffee roastery. CRAFT by Brewery Igniter, 3052 El Cajon Blvd., Ste. 101, ETA: Spring
Smoking Cannon Brewery, Ramona: Since being sold last year, Ramona’s sole suds producer has seen an uptick in sales to the extent that its new owners have decided to eliminate the taproom at its brewery to make room for additional production equipment. In conjunction with that effort, they have secured a new indoor-outdoor spot on the same block, facing out onto Ramona’s main drag, which it will share with Pamo Valley Winery. 638 Main St., smokingcannonbrewery.com, ETA: Spring
Craft Coast Beer & Tacos, Encinitas: Despite opening during the COVID-19 pandemic, an Oceanside brewpub serving up San Diego suds with the region’s signature take on taco-shop fare was a hit out of the gate. Founded by a former Pizza Port brewer who adopted and adapted that company’s model to create something new yet familiar, Craft Coast has grown to include a sizable San Marcos production facility built to supply multiple satellite locations with plenty of the IPAs, pale ales and lagers the company is known for. That includes a 1,500-square-foot taco shop with a palapa-style patio that’s currently being constructed on the Leucadia stretch of South Coast Highway next door to the aforementioned Modern Times’ Far West Lounge. 476 S. Coast Hwy 101, ETA: Summer
The Lost Abbey Taproom, Miramar: Earlier this month, world-renowned producer of barrel-aged, Belgian and hoppy ales, The Lost Abbey, celebrated 20 years in the brewing industry. Next up for the company will be the debut of a new tasting room in the Miralani Makers District. That satellite (the company’s fourth, joining venues in San Elijo, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, and San Diego’s East Village) is being built in a 1,400-square-foot unit that previously housed Wolf Larsen’s Alehouse and, before that, a nanobrewery called Thunderhawk Alements. 8675 Miralani Drive, Ste. 100, lostabbey.com, ETA: Summer
Burning Beard Brewing, El Cajon: In April, El Cajon’s lone brewery shuttered its headquarters of 10 years when its lease came to an end. But this is not the end of that cult-favorite beermaker’s story. Burning Beard Brewing’s next chapter will take place at a new location just a mile away, one which borders Gillespie Field and will provide more space for production, a taproom three times the size of its predecessor, plus a large outdoor area that will be outfitted to resemble a German beer garden. On top of all that, ownership is also putting in a distillery in a bid to enter the spirit realm. 1845 N. Marshall St., burningbeardbrewing.com, ETA: Fall
Developments at existing brewery-owned venues
Hop Habit Brewery, Vista: After allowing several of its longtime employees to launch their own beer brand – Hop Habit Brewery – from the company’s original Vista production facility, Belching Beaver Brewery is vacating the space so it can serve as the new entity’s exclusive base of operations. 980 Park Center Drive, hophabit.com, ETA: Summer
North Park Beer Co., North Park: Since opening in 2016, the kitchen at North Park Beer Co.’s flagship location has been managed by meat-centric culinary outfit Mastiff, but after establishing successful food operations at their taprooms in Bankers Hill and Pacific Beach, brewery ownership has decided to install and run their own concept at their original location. That yet-to-be-announced concept figures to debut in a matter of months. 3038 University Ave., northparkbeerco.com, ETA: Summer
Chula Vista Brewery – Eastlake, Chula Vista: Chula Vista’s eponymous brewing company temporarily closed the larger of its two locations, but that Eastlake brewpub will reopen later this year with a new yet-to-be-determined hospitality partner running the kitchen. 871 Showroom Place, Ste. 102, chulavistabrewery.com, ETA: Undetermined
Ten-75 Brewing, San Marcos: During 2022’s San Marcos Harvest Fest, a pair of brothers spontaneously threw open the doors to their passion project, Ten-75 Brewery. Two months later, they closed to address numerous design issues and make ADA-compliance updates. The business has yet to open, and while one of the brothers currently works as the head brewer for a nearby brewery, he says they are still hard at work to get their business reopened as soon as possible. 1075 Linda Vista Drive, Ste. J, ETA: Undetermined
Brandon Hernández is founder of San Diego Beer News (www.sandiegobeer.news), a site providing daily coverage of the county’s brewing industry, a beat he’s covered for almost two decades. Follow him @sdbeernews or contact him at brandon@sandiegobeer.news