Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

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

New projects for New English

Sorrento Valley brewery working on expansion, signature beer for Catania

The heady specialty beer candidates vying to be named Birra Catania - Image by Paul Body Photography
The heady specialty beer candidates vying to be named Birra Catania
Place

New English Brewing Co.

11545 Sorrento Valley Road #305, San Diego

The next door space New English Brewing Company will expand into during the first quarter of 2015

With the rapid growth of so many San Diego brewing companies, it’s easy to lose sight of those following the less-flashy, slow-and-steady model. One such operation, New English Brewing Company (11545 Sorrento Valley Road, #305, Sorrento Valley), has subscribed to it for the past eight years, trading quantity for quality. Owner and brewmaster Simon Lacey’s beers display the benefits of this station-to-station approach. Every beer on his tasting room board is on-point. That’s not the case with many of the fast-growing fence-swingers, so it’s nice to see such fastidious long-term dedication rewarded. And New English appears to be coming into its own, to the point where Lacey is in the home stretch for a significant expansion.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Last year, Lacey took over the business suite abutting the south wall of his current brewery and tasting room. This move adds 3,800 square feet and a great deal of opportunity for the business. Once complete, the space will house three brand-new 42-barrel fermenters and a large cold storage unit that will allow New English to hold greater and more varied beer inventory. It will also provide storage and space for the keg cleaning equipment and a second bottling line that will allow Lacey to add 12-ounce bottles to his line-up. Moving certain operational components to the new space will allow for expansion of the tasting room in the original facility and expansion of the company’s burgeoning barrel-aging program. If everything stays on schedule, the expansion will be completed by the end of February.

New English Brewing Company's Sorrento Valley brewery and tasting room

In the meantime, Lacey and company are closing out another special project, the brewing of a signature beer for Catania (7863 Girard Avenue, La Jolla), the new restaurant concept going in as the anchor business in the giant, long-vacant building formerly occupied by Jack’s La Jolla. The new eatery is the work of WNL Hospitality, the entity behind Whisknladle and the Prepkitchen chain. WNL had New English work up a special brew, Pure and Simple IPA, for Whisknladle’s fifth anniversary. They were so impressed with it that they asked Lacey to develop prototypes for a light-drinking yet flavorful beer that would pair well with Catania’s coastal Italian fare.

Last week, Lacey served the WNL crew a trio of ales based loosely around traditional Pilsner recipes. The first was straightforward and dry-hopped with Cascade and Saaz hops, while another sweeter trial beer incorporated rye and Munich malts. In the end, New English and WNL unanimously selected a prototype brewed with rye malt and flaked barley (for more substantial mouthfeel) brewed with Cascade, Czech Saaz, and Citra hops, with basil and lemongrass added in the whirlpool. The result is Birra Catania, an easy-drinking beer that registers around 6% alcohol-by-volume and features a unique, sweetly herbaceous nose as well as basil flavor that starts out floral before melding with the bitterness provided by the hop bill. There is no beer like it in San Diego County, making for enough reason to visit Catania (which is scheduled to debut by March) all on its own.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Live Five: Rebecca Jade, Stoney B. Blues, Manzanita Blues, Blame Betty, Marujah

Holiday music, blues, rockabilly, and record releases in Carlsbad, San Carlos, Little Italy, downtown
Next Article

Rapper Wax wishes his name looked like an email password

“You gotta be search-engine optimized these days”
The heady specialty beer candidates vying to be named Birra Catania - Image by Paul Body Photography
The heady specialty beer candidates vying to be named Birra Catania
Place

New English Brewing Co.

11545 Sorrento Valley Road #305, San Diego

The next door space New English Brewing Company will expand into during the first quarter of 2015

With the rapid growth of so many San Diego brewing companies, it’s easy to lose sight of those following the less-flashy, slow-and-steady model. One such operation, New English Brewing Company (11545 Sorrento Valley Road, #305, Sorrento Valley), has subscribed to it for the past eight years, trading quantity for quality. Owner and brewmaster Simon Lacey’s beers display the benefits of this station-to-station approach. Every beer on his tasting room board is on-point. That’s not the case with many of the fast-growing fence-swingers, so it’s nice to see such fastidious long-term dedication rewarded. And New English appears to be coming into its own, to the point where Lacey is in the home stretch for a significant expansion.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Last year, Lacey took over the business suite abutting the south wall of his current brewery and tasting room. This move adds 3,800 square feet and a great deal of opportunity for the business. Once complete, the space will house three brand-new 42-barrel fermenters and a large cold storage unit that will allow New English to hold greater and more varied beer inventory. It will also provide storage and space for the keg cleaning equipment and a second bottling line that will allow Lacey to add 12-ounce bottles to his line-up. Moving certain operational components to the new space will allow for expansion of the tasting room in the original facility and expansion of the company’s burgeoning barrel-aging program. If everything stays on schedule, the expansion will be completed by the end of February.

New English Brewing Company's Sorrento Valley brewery and tasting room

In the meantime, Lacey and company are closing out another special project, the brewing of a signature beer for Catania (7863 Girard Avenue, La Jolla), the new restaurant concept going in as the anchor business in the giant, long-vacant building formerly occupied by Jack’s La Jolla. The new eatery is the work of WNL Hospitality, the entity behind Whisknladle and the Prepkitchen chain. WNL had New English work up a special brew, Pure and Simple IPA, for Whisknladle’s fifth anniversary. They were so impressed with it that they asked Lacey to develop prototypes for a light-drinking yet flavorful beer that would pair well with Catania’s coastal Italian fare.

Last week, Lacey served the WNL crew a trio of ales based loosely around traditional Pilsner recipes. The first was straightforward and dry-hopped with Cascade and Saaz hops, while another sweeter trial beer incorporated rye and Munich malts. In the end, New English and WNL unanimously selected a prototype brewed with rye malt and flaked barley (for more substantial mouthfeel) brewed with Cascade, Czech Saaz, and Citra hops, with basil and lemongrass added in the whirlpool. The result is Birra Catania, an easy-drinking beer that registers around 6% alcohol-by-volume and features a unique, sweetly herbaceous nose as well as basil flavor that starts out floral before melding with the bitterness provided by the hop bill. There is no beer like it in San Diego County, making for enough reason to visit Catania (which is scheduled to debut by March) all on its own.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Live Five: Rebecca Jade, Stoney B. Blues, Manzanita Blues, Blame Betty, Marujah

Holiday music, blues, rockabilly, and record releases in Carlsbad, San Carlos, Little Italy, downtown
Next Article

Mary Catherine Swanson wants every San Diego student going to college

Where busing from Southeast San Diego to University City has led
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
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
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader