The owners of Bolt Brewery celebrated one year in the beer biz last weekend. In that span, they’ve not only grown a grass roots following at their La Mesa, Quonset hut-housed brewery. They’ve also opened a corner tasting room in the heart of Little Italy. They didn’t expect to have two locations so early in Bolt’s lifespan, but when the opportunity to grab a good spot on India Street came up, it was an offer they couldn’t pass up. Now, both locations have found their footing and are fully operational, and perhaps no two locations belonging to the same brewery offer such diverse environments in which to experience the exact same beers. Here’s a look at both.
At the brewery (8179 Center Street, La Mesa), only the brewhouse, cellar and restrooms are indoors. Even the bar is outdoors in a repurposed shipping container in the center of a sprawling open-air patio of sorts. That area is separated into two levels. The larger, lower level is equipped with picnic tables and a tall communal bar, both of which loom in the shadow of the jet black Quonset hut and grain silos that provide a nice noise and sightline buffer from an abutting freeway exit. The upper level is accessible via a walkway leading behind the bar to a shaded, secluded smattering of picnic tables and a corn-hole set branded with the company’s lightning bolt logo. A visit here is like spending a day lounging in a friend’s backyard (albeit a friend with a really spectacular bar setup, which is always a big bonus).
Meanwhile, a trip to the satellite tasting room (1971 India Street, Little Italy) is what you’d expect from hospitality venues in the culturally rich neighborhood—indoor imbibing with heaping helpings of pizza and otherwise decadent, beer-friendly edible delights (pretzels, wings, beer-infused desserts). There is limited outdoor seating along the sidewalk, but it’s really all about what’s inside here. Ownership has managed to stay true to the Quonset hut by lining the wall behind the main bar with corrugated metal and including a photo of the La Mesa brewery spanning the opposite wall. Few are the entrepreneurs that would venture to bring the feel of East County to Downtown San Diego, but that’s what’s been done here, and that kind of authenticity is as cool as it is unorthodox.
Inland, outdoors and rangy with corn-hole and a rotation of mobile food vendors and live musicians, or urban-coastal with a built-in kitchen, set menu and an e-jukebox. The venues couldn’t be much more different, but since the beer is the same, personal preference and/or geography can be one’s guide when seeking their idea of an ideal taste of Bolt. Either is likely to be quite enjoyable thanks to friendly, easygoing service and the admirable level of care and consideration toward the customer experience that went into the conceptualization of each location.