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

One year later, is a return to normal in sight for San Diego beer?

It’s going to take some effort for taproom culture to recover from the pandemic

We've gotten used to drinking beer from cans during the pandemic, but a return to taproom brews is imminent.
We've gotten used to drinking beer from cans during the pandemic, but a return to taproom brews is imminent.

UPDATE: Effective Saturday, March 13, California has removed the meal service requirement for breweries, distilleries, and bars. Until 8pm each day, customers may order adult beverages without also ordering food, for on premise, outdoor consumption.

It’s been roughly fifty-two weeks since I first used the word pandemic in a beer story, and though I’ve had to do so dozens of times since, this time there’s finally reason for optimism. Between the falling number of covid cases and rising number of vaccinations in San Diego County, there are signs that an end to the restrictive public health policies that have hampered local beer and booze businesses may finally be on the horizon.

Sponsored
Sponsored

After a prolonged winter in the restrictive purple tier of California’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” which bans indoor dining, San Diego is poised to enter red tier as soon as next week. That will officially allow brewpubs and tasting rooms with meal service to resume indoor on-premise drinking at 25 percent capacity.

Vaccinations became available to service workers in late February, which means most brewery workers should be vaccinated by the time indoor capacity rise to 50 percent. That will happen when San Diego enters the orange tier, which will allow outdoor drink service to resume for bars and breweries that do not offer meal service. Fortunately, the criteria for entering the orange tier becomes much easier to reach as vaccination numbers rise. As three vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson) are now being administered, there’s no official timeline yet, but it’s reasonable to expect graduating to the orange tier by April, and to the less restrictive yellow tier by the summer.

On-premise service is significant to breweries in two major ways. First, it allows them to bring more hospitality employees back to work.

The second is that even a return to 25 and 50 percent capacities will increase brewery revenue in the near term. Breweries can bring in several times more revenue on pints poured in a taproom than sold by the can.

As government subsidies and eviction moratoriums fade away, many breweries may find themselves at increased risk of going under as things return to normal, and they have to account for operating losses and increased debt. The only way out of the hole for some will be the mass return of beer fans to taprooms.

For things to return to normal, a county full of self-isolating beer enthusiasts will have to unlearn the drinking at home habits we forged during this covid year.

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Big kited bluefin on the Red Rooster III

Lake fishing heating up as the weather cools
Next Article

At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch

A Mexican eatery with Japanese and French influences
We've gotten used to drinking beer from cans during the pandemic, but a return to taproom brews is imminent.
We've gotten used to drinking beer from cans during the pandemic, but a return to taproom brews is imminent.

UPDATE: Effective Saturday, March 13, California has removed the meal service requirement for breweries, distilleries, and bars. Until 8pm each day, customers may order adult beverages without also ordering food, for on premise, outdoor consumption.

It’s been roughly fifty-two weeks since I first used the word pandemic in a beer story, and though I’ve had to do so dozens of times since, this time there’s finally reason for optimism. Between the falling number of covid cases and rising number of vaccinations in San Diego County, there are signs that an end to the restrictive public health policies that have hampered local beer and booze businesses may finally be on the horizon.

Sponsored
Sponsored

After a prolonged winter in the restrictive purple tier of California’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” which bans indoor dining, San Diego is poised to enter red tier as soon as next week. That will officially allow brewpubs and tasting rooms with meal service to resume indoor on-premise drinking at 25 percent capacity.

Vaccinations became available to service workers in late February, which means most brewery workers should be vaccinated by the time indoor capacity rise to 50 percent. That will happen when San Diego enters the orange tier, which will allow outdoor drink service to resume for bars and breweries that do not offer meal service. Fortunately, the criteria for entering the orange tier becomes much easier to reach as vaccination numbers rise. As three vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson) are now being administered, there’s no official timeline yet, but it’s reasonable to expect graduating to the orange tier by April, and to the less restrictive yellow tier by the summer.

On-premise service is significant to breweries in two major ways. First, it allows them to bring more hospitality employees back to work.

The second is that even a return to 25 and 50 percent capacities will increase brewery revenue in the near term. Breweries can bring in several times more revenue on pints poured in a taproom than sold by the can.

As government subsidies and eviction moratoriums fade away, many breweries may find themselves at increased risk of going under as things return to normal, and they have to account for operating losses and increased debt. The only way out of the hole for some will be the mass return of beer fans to taprooms.

For things to return to normal, a county full of self-isolating beer enthusiasts will have to unlearn the drinking at home habits we forged during this covid year.

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

Mary Catherine Swanson wants every San Diego student going to college

Where busing from Southeast San Diego to University City has led
Next Article

Houston ex-mayor donates to Toni Atkins governor fund

LGBT fights in common
Comments
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
June 26, 2021
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