Even with limited capacity, Amplified Ale Works has built a solid fan base brewing out of California Kebab on the second floor of Pacific Beach’s beach-adjacent Pacific Promenade shopping center. In the business’ early days, it was common to see the beer board completely devoid of head brewer Cy Henley’s creations. There was only so much to go around and, whenever they went on tap, the beers were quickly drained by fans of hoppy brews like Electrocution IPA and Pig Nose Pale Ale as well as numerous Belgian-inspired ales. Increasing fermentation capacity helped improve the situation to a degree, but availability is still nowhere near where Henley and Amplified co-owner Alex Pierson want it to be. So, they’re doing something about it.
Recently, Pierson and company signed a deal with H.G. Fenton Company to utilize a ready-made brewing facility, available as part of its Brewery Igniter program, to significantly increase Amplified’s production capacity. Located at 9030 Kenamar Drive—right behind Ballast Point Brewing and Spirits’ newest and largest facility—the industrial park suite comes in at 1,625 square feet and is equipped with a seven-barrel Premier Stainless brewhouse plus four 15-barrel fermenters and a quartet of 15-barrel bright tanks. Amplified hopes this will result in the production of an additional 1,000 barrels of beer in the first full year brewing in Miramar.
Last year, Amplified produced 400 barrels of beer, a significant increase from a mere 275 the previous 12 months. So, adding an extra thousand barrels represents a 250% jump in production. And that’s not even figuring in the full potential of the Miramar facility. Maxing out the space would equal anywhere from 1,800 to 2,000 barrels, annually. Pierson selected H.G. Fenton’s brewery igniter location because of its unique floorplan and brewery build-out, feeling it offered Amplified a good short-to-medium-term solution to its supply-and-demand disparities.
Initially, Amplified will limit production in Miramar to its best-known core offerings: Electrocution, Pig Nose, Leggy Blonde Belgian singel and Bearded Guard biere de garde. Distribution of those beers will be split between California Kebab, several beer bar accounts and the Miramar brewery’s on-site tasting room. The latter will likely take up 300 or so square feet and, hopefully, be supplemented post-opening with an outdoor sampling space. Moving primary production to Miramar will allow Henley to have some fun back in PB. He is currently preparing to brew one-off beers with experimental hops as part of a project with the working title “Distorted Hop Series.”
In addition to kegging, mobile canning or bottling options will be utilized to package core beers, one-offs and barrel-aged ales. As far as a packaged oak-matured Amplified beer that will be available much sooner, bottles of its Rare Form Belgian-style quad that has been resting in bourbon barrels for four months will go on sale at California Kebab on July 9. Each wax-dipped, 12-ounce bottle will cost $10 while (rather limited) supplies last.