GUEST BLOG / By Brandon Hernandez, Senior Editor, West
Coaster Beverage News [www.westcoastersd.com]--I have been closely covering the San Diego beer beat for more than a
dozen years. Over that span, the industry has gone through many ups and, in
more recent years, its fair share of downs. Through it all, local craft has
remained rather healthy, despite declines that are more the product of
nationwide trends versus factors unique to our region.
The important role craft beer
plays in our county is well known to a large percentage of San Diegans, who
have bore witness to its rise and cementing in local culture. As such, news of
brewery closures, contraction, acquisitions, layoffs, cutbacks, declining
sales, increased competition and the like tend to hit hard with those following
the industry. Even a journalist such as myself (one who worked in the beer
industry for the past seven years and saw, first-hand, how difficult the
beverage sector has become for craft-brewing interests) tends to react more
strongly to bad news than good news and lose sight from time to time.
But it’s important to take a
step back, put things in perspective and really analyze where things stand. The
end of the year seems a good time for that. While I won’t attempt to sugar-coat
the fact that this is one of the most challenging times for craft beer
producers in the modern era, what with the rise of alternative alcoholic
beverages (led by hard seltzer), competition from more expansively and expertly
equipped macro-beer rivals and a host of other inhibitors to success, I am not
about to sound the death knell for an industry that, though facing unforeseen
adversity, seems to be weathering it all relatively well, especially in San
Diego County, where there are more than 150 operating breweries and even more
brewery-owned public venues. But that’s not to say there weren’t some
casualties in 2019.
Ten interests ceased
operations within the county over the past 12 months. Two of those were local
links in larger brewpub chains. The Bell Marker faded away after the business
it was housed in was sold to the operators of Owl Drug Co. Meanwhile, Gordon
Biersch closed its Mission Valley brewery-restaurant. But there’s a silver
lining there. Not only will it reopen in 2020 under new management as Puesto
Cerveceria, making it a truly San Diego interest for the first time in its
lifespan, it will soldier on under the direction of longtime brewmaster Doug
Hasker. Beyond these spots, only one of the shuttered interests would qualify
as sizable by most beer fans’ standards—Benchmark Brewing, a six-year-old,
Grantville-based business which also had a tasting room in Bay Park. Others had
significant production capabilities, such as Oceanside’s Midnight Jack Brewing,
but were unable to generate sales to make good on them. Smaller breweries also
struggled to realize their ambitions, including La Mesa’s Scottish-themed
Fourpenny House brewpub, National City’s would-be trailblazers Embarcadero
Brewing and Supply, and Barrio Logan’s Alta Brewing.
The biggest single area to be
plagued by closures was Miramar, where three breweries departed. Ceasing
operation in March was Reckless Brewing, which opened across the street from
Ballast Point Brewing‘s Carroll Way headquarters in 2015 as the second coming
of Wet ‘N’ Reckless Brewing, the original location for which burned down in
2014. In September, the married owners of 2kids Brewing made the difficult
decision to call it quits. Despite its small size, 2kids had a fervent if not
a-tad-too-small following and managed to lend a helping hand to fellow Miramar
breweries and charitable causes during its six years in business. Then there
was Barrel Harbor Brewing, which closed its Miramar tasting room over the
summer, followed by its Vista brewery in October, before its owner was able to
reopen the latter this month, bringing total closures for the year down to
nine.
My point is not to minimize
any of the misfortunes of the aforementioned business owners, but remind that
in every industry everywhere, companies go out of business for a variety of
different reasons. The more businesses there are, typically, the higher the
rate of attrition. It’s statistical, but when paired with constant business
reporting about declining revenues and the steps breweries must take to
compete, maintain and, in some cases, survive in such a climate, it’s easy to
believe the sky is falling or that the San Diego brewing industry is weak,
fading or facing extinction. This is far from accurate.
Beer quality across the
county remains strong, even among new and younger interests. In years past, as
one would expect from lesser-tenured operations, that has been a softer link in
the county’s fermentation chain mail, but consumer confidence remains high.
Though keeping afloat has largely replaced increasing distribution footprints
and revenues as key goals for many brewery owners, numerous breweries—even some
of the larger interests—are actively growing, adding on square-footage or new
locations altogether. Again, there are more brewery-owned production facilities
and public venues in the county at present than ever. This is partially the
result of 26 new spots that opened this calendar year.
Nine of those represent new
entrants to the San Diego beer scene. Whereas in previous years, much growth
has consisted of small-if-not-nano, neighborhood-focused breweries, with the
exception of San Marcos’ Stave and Nail Brewing, which is open just one weekend
per month, all of these newcomers are of legitimate size and production
capacity. Four of them—Sorrento Valley’s Gravity Heights, University Heights’
Kairoa Brewing, San Marcos’ My Yard Live and North Park’s The Original 40
Brewing — are brewpubs and, while not all geared for duplication or world
domination, they have the means to produce beer for sale beyond their four
walls, as well as veteran brewers and beer quality to get them there if they
play their cards right and take care of business on their home turf. Widespread
recognition of the importance of having on-site food, a welcoming environment
and attractors beyond beer have led to the rise of brewpubs as the new
“neighborhood brewery” option of choice for entrepreneurs.
On the expansion front, none
went as big as Eppig Brewing. Born out of a meager lease-to-brew space at North
Park’s Brewery Igniter campus, this three-year-old maker of Germanic lagers and
West Coast IPAs alike was the first to successfully exit H.G. Fenton’s
proof-of-concept vehicle. In doing so, they moved on up, literally and
figuratively, into a 16,000-square-foot, new-construction headquarters in Vista
(next door to new business Dogleg Brewing) with dual tasting rooms (one of
which is a high-ceiling beer hall) and an eventual production capacity of
10,000 barrels. It’s the largest leap in manufacturing capability for a local
brewery in years. Further south, Eastlake-based Novo Brazil Brewing upped its
production and presence in a big way, as well, opening a 12,000-square-foot
brewpub in the heart of Chula Vista’s Otay Ranch Town Center. It would seem
that, with proper planning, quality and execution, success—and growth—are still
possible, even in the current, harsher industry climate.
Waving a taunting finger at
the many who believed the off-site tasting room trend was dead, the majority of
the new venues opened in 2019 were brewery satellites. A dozen opened, and
while new, Scripps Ranch-based Harland Beer Co.’s operates out of Del Mar
Highlands’ high-rent One Paseo mixed-use development, and Pure Project
Brewing‘s satellite is seated as a cornerstone of a new-construction high rise
in Banker’s Hill, the current trend is renovating low-rent, sometimes salvaged
spaces such as the trio picked up by Miramar-based Little Miss Brewing in
Escondido, La Mesa and the East Village, the La Mesa cocktail lounge now
operated by Bolt Brewery, or the former home of the defunct Fallbrook Brewing
that got picked up by Vista’s Prohibition Brewing.
So where are we now…really?
There is no telling for certain. The beverage industry is in greater flux at
present than in any time I can personally recall, but such has been the case
for years. Being midway through these exciting times means adjustments, pivots
and other maneuvers have already been made by the majority of the county—and
the country’s—brewing companies. These largely reactionary moves have resulted
in varied levels of success (and failure) for those attempting them. In some
cases they have spurred something somewhat rare for a craft brewing community
that has been so focused on keeping up with the rapidly growing demand of the
past decade-plus that it hasn’t had time to take a step back—progressive
actions. This would represent a very helpful and positive trend moving forward.
It’s one of many areas of opportunity and promise for an industry that’s still
going gangbusters as opposed to scores of other high-profile American
industries, some of which are in full tailspin or, indeed, on the brink of
extinction. Beer is not. Beer isn’t going anywhere and, while these may be
difficult times for those producing it, it would seem, to me at least, that to
bet against beer, and more so, the determined people who’ve made it into such a
beloved, appreciated, solid staple of our local diet and economy, would be
ill-advised.
HELLOS
* 13 Point Brewing, Lemon
Grove
Black Market Brewing—SDSU,
College Area
** Bolt Brewery Cocktail
Lounge, La Mesa
Carlsbad Brewing (Acoustic
Ales Brewing Experiment), Carlsbad
* Dogleg Brewing, Vista
Eppig Brewing, Vista
* Gravity Heights, Sorrento
Valley
** Guadalupe Brewery, Vista
* Harland Beer Co., Scripps
Ranch
** Harland Beer Co.—One
Paseo, Del Mar Heights
* Hopnonymous Brewing, Kearny
Mesa
* Kairoa Brewing, University
Heights
** Kilowatt Brewing,
Oceanside
** Little Miss Brewing, East
Village
** Little Miss Brewing,
Escondido
** Little Miss Brewing, La
Mesa
** The Lost Abbey
Sanctuary—San Elijo, San Marcos
** Mike Hess Brewing,
Imperial Beach
** Modern Times Beer Co.
Invigatorium, East Village
* My Yard Live, San Marcos
Novo Brazil Brewing—Eastlake,
Chula Vista
* The Original 40 Brewing,
North Park
** Prohibition Brewing,
Fallbrook
** Pure Project Brewing,
Banker’s Hill
* Stave & Nail Brewing,
San Marcos
** Thorn Brewing, Mission
Hills
* – New business
** – Satellite tasting room,
no brewing capabilities
SUBTRACTIONS
2kids Brewing, Miramar
Alta Brewing, Barrio Logan
The Bell Marker, Downtown
Benchmark Brewing, Grantville
& Bay Park
Embarcadero Brewing &
Supply, National City
Fourpenny House, La Mesa
Gordon Biersch, Mission
Valley
Midnight Jack Brewing,
Oceanside
Reckless Brewing, Miramar
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