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

Brew Project: Beers from every corner of the county under one roof

Julian, Vista, and Otay Mesa in the house

Construction nearing completion on the new Brew Project in Hillcrest.
Construction nearing completion on the new Brew Project in Hillcrest.

When the Brew Project set up shop inside Mission Hills wine bar 57 Degrees in 2013, it became the first all-San Diego tap list in town. Now, Project cofounder Beau Schmitt has partnered with former Quality Social general manager Mike Sill to establish a new stand-alone Brew Project bar and restaurant.

Place

Project Bar & Grill

3683 Fifth Avenue, San Diego

Billed as "A San Diego brewery tour under one roof," the locals-only tap house aims to open in late September in a converted 110-year-old Hillcrest home that till recently housed R-Gang Eatery. The casual space will offer 24 rotating beer taps, including two nitro and two dedicated sour lines, plus a small, locals-only bottle shop.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Schmitt says Brew Project grew from a desire to find a county-deep selection in one place, particularly of smaller breweries with limited reach.

"There's 113 breweries in the county," Schmitt says, "and traditionally you'll see about 30 of them on draft everywhere — that's your Ballast Point, Karl Strauss, Stone, Green Flash, Coronado…and we'll carry [specialty releases] from them all the time…. But we also want to focus on the other 80 that you really don't see everywhere."

For example, a customer might expect to drink Nickel Beer Co. out of Julian, Aztec Brewing from Vista, and Otay Mesa's Border X in a session, without having to drive nearly 200 miles to do so.

The county's outer reaches are the limit. Temecula beers won't be offered, nor any from Tijuana, nor those made in the San Clemente brewhouse of local mainstay Pizza Port. Schmitt, who has become a local-beer expert since departing his job in finance three years ago, constantly navigates the county's breweries in search of "that one beer that really represents them well." He consults as a beer buyer for several restaurants, including the Gaslamp's Quad Alehouse, and maintains contact with nearly all of San Diego's beer companies, large and small.

Some lesser-known beers he recommends include Kali Kush, a wild sage pale ale from Oceanside's Breakwater Brewing, and Winning Chocolate Stout by Miramar's 2 Kids Brewing. He calls Pure and Simple IPA, by Sorrento Valley brewery New English, "one of the most underrated IPAs in the county" and says he likes to frequent Amplified Aleworks in Pacific Beach for the beer selection, food, and beachfront location.

Beer may be the main draw, but Sill has plans to feature music and other Hillcrest interests. Additional taps will serve red, white, and rosé wines, two types of kombucha, and a locally sourced cold-brew coffee. He's developing a cocktail program to highlight another local industry — spirits — including Henebery whiskey, Malahat rum, and a range of liquors from Ballast Point's distillery. The kitchen will serve a mix of California and Mexican — featuring "lots of avocados" — plus Sunday brunch playing NFL Package (without audio) on TVs throughout the restaurant, which will include an upstairs lounge and spacious patio overlooking Fifth Avenue.

The latest copy of the Reader

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

San Diego beaches not that nice to dogs

Bacteria and seawater itself not that great
Next Article

Big kited bluefin on the Red Rooster III

Lake fishing heating up as the weather cools
Construction nearing completion on the new Brew Project in Hillcrest.
Construction nearing completion on the new Brew Project in Hillcrest.

When the Brew Project set up shop inside Mission Hills wine bar 57 Degrees in 2013, it became the first all-San Diego tap list in town. Now, Project cofounder Beau Schmitt has partnered with former Quality Social general manager Mike Sill to establish a new stand-alone Brew Project bar and restaurant.

Place

Project Bar & Grill

3683 Fifth Avenue, San Diego

Billed as "A San Diego brewery tour under one roof," the locals-only tap house aims to open in late September in a converted 110-year-old Hillcrest home that till recently housed R-Gang Eatery. The casual space will offer 24 rotating beer taps, including two nitro and two dedicated sour lines, plus a small, locals-only bottle shop.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Schmitt says Brew Project grew from a desire to find a county-deep selection in one place, particularly of smaller breweries with limited reach.

"There's 113 breweries in the county," Schmitt says, "and traditionally you'll see about 30 of them on draft everywhere — that's your Ballast Point, Karl Strauss, Stone, Green Flash, Coronado…and we'll carry [specialty releases] from them all the time…. But we also want to focus on the other 80 that you really don't see everywhere."

For example, a customer might expect to drink Nickel Beer Co. out of Julian, Aztec Brewing from Vista, and Otay Mesa's Border X in a session, without having to drive nearly 200 miles to do so.

The county's outer reaches are the limit. Temecula beers won't be offered, nor any from Tijuana, nor those made in the San Clemente brewhouse of local mainstay Pizza Port. Schmitt, who has become a local-beer expert since departing his job in finance three years ago, constantly navigates the county's breweries in search of "that one beer that really represents them well." He consults as a beer buyer for several restaurants, including the Gaslamp's Quad Alehouse, and maintains contact with nearly all of San Diego's beer companies, large and small.

Some lesser-known beers he recommends include Kali Kush, a wild sage pale ale from Oceanside's Breakwater Brewing, and Winning Chocolate Stout by Miramar's 2 Kids Brewing. He calls Pure and Simple IPA, by Sorrento Valley brewery New English, "one of the most underrated IPAs in the county" and says he likes to frequent Amplified Aleworks in Pacific Beach for the beer selection, food, and beachfront location.

Beer may be the main draw, but Sill has plans to feature music and other Hillcrest interests. Additional taps will serve red, white, and rosé wines, two types of kombucha, and a locally sourced cold-brew coffee. He's developing a cocktail program to highlight another local industry — spirits — including Henebery whiskey, Malahat rum, and a range of liquors from Ballast Point's distillery. The kitchen will serve a mix of California and Mexican — featuring "lots of avocados" — plus Sunday brunch playing NFL Package (without audio) on TVs throughout the restaurant, which will include an upstairs lounge and spacious patio overlooking Fifth Avenue.

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

At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch

A Mexican eatery with Japanese and French influences
Next Article

Too $hort & DJ Symphony, Peppermint Beach Club, Holidays at the Zoo

Events December 19-December 21, 2024
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