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Beer flowing the way of wine

The satellite-tasting-room model is here to stay

Place

Modern Times Flavordome

3000 Upas Street #102, San Diego

Place

Belching Beaver North Park

4223 30th Street, San Diego

Place

Lost Abbey

155 Mata Way #104, San Marcos

To meander through downtown Sonoma and stop in at a winery tasting room or two feels natural. One is in the middle of wine country, after all. Why wouldn’t a winemaker looking to increase the exposure of their product install a satellite sampling facility in the commercial heart of the region rather than solely rely on revenue from customers willing to travel to their manufacturing site or seek out their bottles via retail outlets? It’s a sensible model, especially for a smaller operation far-removed from a region’s epicenter, and one that’s being adopted more and more by San Diego breweries.

It’s almost surprising that it’s taken so long for what seems like such a natural progression to take hold, but the satellite tasting room model is coming on strong across the county. Modern Times Beer recently opened such a space in the new North Parker commercial development in its namesake community. Doing so, gives the Point Loma-based business greater access to beer enthusiasts in the urban core. Meanwhile, San Marcos’ Rip Current Brewing Company is working with Sublime Ale House on a combination tasting room and eatery in North Park, following the footsteps of Vista’s Belching Beaver Brewery, which opened such a space in early 2013.

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Down south, Otay Mesa-based Border X Brewing Company, the county’s southernmost brewery, recently opened a satellite tasting room in Barrio Logan. That move has upped the visibility of a business that, frankly, few San Diegans even knew existed. But they won’t be alone in that fast-developing community for long. Barring any setbacks, Vista’s Iron Fist Brewing Company will sign a lease on a Barrio Logan property that will save the thirsty and curious a trip to North County.

Giving beer fans an alternative to a lengthy haul on the 5 or 15 was the goal of the first local company to open tasting rooms far from its Escondido home base. Stone Brewing Co.’s non-brewing venues came in the form of company stores located in South Park, Oceanside, and Little Italy, followed by a tap room bordering Petco Park in the East Village. The first of those venues came in 2011, quickly spawning those that followed as well as a company store in Pasadena and other non-brewing outlets inside Petco Park and at San Diego International Airport.

And now, the pair of companies that operates out of Stone’s original brewery facility, Port Brewing Company and The Lost Abbey, are looking to open a tasting room in Cardiff Town Center at 2007 San Elijo Avenue. All that stands in the way is the City of Encinitas Planning Commission, which is holding a hearing in the near future to authorize the businesses’ entrance into the community. It may seem a no-brainer, but this is the entity that kept the highly anticipated Bagby Beer Co. brewpub and wildly popular Bottlecraft bottle shop concepts from setting up shop in Encinitas.

From zero to potentially ten off-site tasting rooms in the span of less than four years—such rapid proliferation signals more than just a trend. The satellite tasting room is here to stay, and likely something that will eventually be imitated beyond San Diego County.

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Place

Modern Times Flavordome

3000 Upas Street #102, San Diego

Place

Belching Beaver North Park

4223 30th Street, San Diego

Place

Lost Abbey

155 Mata Way #104, San Marcos

To meander through downtown Sonoma and stop in at a winery tasting room or two feels natural. One is in the middle of wine country, after all. Why wouldn’t a winemaker looking to increase the exposure of their product install a satellite sampling facility in the commercial heart of the region rather than solely rely on revenue from customers willing to travel to their manufacturing site or seek out their bottles via retail outlets? It’s a sensible model, especially for a smaller operation far-removed from a region’s epicenter, and one that’s being adopted more and more by San Diego breweries.

It’s almost surprising that it’s taken so long for what seems like such a natural progression to take hold, but the satellite tasting room model is coming on strong across the county. Modern Times Beer recently opened such a space in the new North Parker commercial development in its namesake community. Doing so, gives the Point Loma-based business greater access to beer enthusiasts in the urban core. Meanwhile, San Marcos’ Rip Current Brewing Company is working with Sublime Ale House on a combination tasting room and eatery in North Park, following the footsteps of Vista’s Belching Beaver Brewery, which opened such a space in early 2013.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Down south, Otay Mesa-based Border X Brewing Company, the county’s southernmost brewery, recently opened a satellite tasting room in Barrio Logan. That move has upped the visibility of a business that, frankly, few San Diegans even knew existed. But they won’t be alone in that fast-developing community for long. Barring any setbacks, Vista’s Iron Fist Brewing Company will sign a lease on a Barrio Logan property that will save the thirsty and curious a trip to North County.

Giving beer fans an alternative to a lengthy haul on the 5 or 15 was the goal of the first local company to open tasting rooms far from its Escondido home base. Stone Brewing Co.’s non-brewing venues came in the form of company stores located in South Park, Oceanside, and Little Italy, followed by a tap room bordering Petco Park in the East Village. The first of those venues came in 2011, quickly spawning those that followed as well as a company store in Pasadena and other non-brewing outlets inside Petco Park and at San Diego International Airport.

And now, the pair of companies that operates out of Stone’s original brewery facility, Port Brewing Company and The Lost Abbey, are looking to open a tasting room in Cardiff Town Center at 2007 San Elijo Avenue. All that stands in the way is the City of Encinitas Planning Commission, which is holding a hearing in the near future to authorize the businesses’ entrance into the community. It may seem a no-brainer, but this is the entity that kept the highly anticipated Bagby Beer Co. brewpub and wildly popular Bottlecraft bottle shop concepts from setting up shop in Encinitas.

From zero to potentially ten off-site tasting rooms in the span of less than four years—such rapid proliferation signals more than just a trend. The satellite tasting room is here to stay, and likely something that will eventually be imitated beyond San Diego County.

Comments
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The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

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Submit a free classified
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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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