This is the third part of a four-article series exploring some of the more interesting and highly anticipated brewery projects throughout San Diego. Today’s post covers the county’s westerly expanses, from the coast on over to Beeramar and Kearny Mesa. ICYMI, click the following links to check out similarly exciting projects in North County and South of Interstate 8.
AleSmith & Mikkeller Projects, Miramar: Beer fans’ interest in AleSmith Brewing Co.’s current expansion is twofold. Yes, it will be fun to see how they outfit a two-story tasting room and beer garden once the doors to its much-larger 105,000-square-foot facility are fully open to the public (estimated for October), but enthusiasts are just as enthused about the joint-venture AleSmith is installing at its old brewery and tasting room with outlandish Danish brewing outfit Mikkeller, wherein AleSmith’s San Diego-centric sampling space will be completely revamped to mirror aesthetics conveyed by Mikkeller’s global collection of craft beer bars. Beers from the latter operation figure to trickle to the public over the final quarter of 2015.
Barrel Rescue Brewing Company, Kearny Mesa: Even though it’s a year or so off, fans of barrel-aged beers can’t help but eagerly anticipate the arrival of what will be a very tiny operation offering very small quantities of very special beers. As the name implies, big wood will be a big part of the business. The couple behind it will be rescuing a variety of wine- and spirit-soaked barrels from all around, and using them to shelter beers for prolonged periods before bottling them in limited-release fashion. Adding to the company’s early likeability is its focus on spotlighting dog rescue organizations and facilitation of pet adoption via its tasting room and overall business practices, which is both truly unique and truly touching.
Bitter Brothers Brewing Company, Bay Ho: This business, the passion project of a former investor and a former brewmaster at Lightning Brewery, had hoped to be open in time to celebrate San Diego Beer Week…in 2014. Nearly a year later, establishment of this operation is chugging along slowly but surely. A wide range of beer styles will be explored, many of them coming in at session to mid-range on the alcohol-by-volume scale, and made available in a nice-sized tasting room that should allow its veteran chef owner to flex his culinary muscle to create next-level beer-and-food pairing events.
NOTE: The items above have been selected from a list of public projects. There are a number of projects that are quite exciting throughout San Diego, but cannot be disclosed as they are confidential in nature and must be kept under wraps by request of the business owners.
DISCLAIMER: In addition to his work as Editor-at-Large for West Coaster, Brandon Hernández is also the Marketing Manager for AleSmith Brewing Co.