Co-owner, Indian Joe Brewing
Native American-owned family business Indian Joe Brewing was a hit in a municipality drenched in craft-beer. Despite capacity issues, the small Vista brewery gained a cult-following while pushing the envelope beyond the limits of conventional beer. It was a sweet success story squashed by landlord issues roughly two years into the business’ existence. But owners Max Moran and Geri Lawson were determined to carry on. Come January 23, they will open the doors to Indian Joe Brewing 2.0 (2123 Industrial Court, Vista), a much larger, two-story facility with a double-decker tasting room, outdoor patio and lots more beer. We caught up with Lawson to find out what’s in store for long lost fans and newcomers alike.
What is a key difference for Indian Joe Brewing this time around?
The second coming of Indian Joe is going to be awesome; the same great people, the same great beers, but with more convenience and a lot more capacity. We were so fortunate to have so many loyal fans and followers at the old facility. We just couldn’t keep up with the demand. We regularly brewed around-the-clock, praying not to hear that dreaded burst of foamy air come through the tap-head, signaling another blown keg in our small tasting room. When the new Indian Joe opens, we will not only have the capacity to satisfy loyal patrons of our tasting room, but we will have the ability to bottle or can the customer-favorites for distribution.
What are the advantages of your new brewing system?
The new brewhouse includes the best industry tools and equipment, which are capable of producing 60 times the beer that our old system could. This includes a state-of-the-art water treatment and analytics system so that precise water profiles can be used on each and every batch. Not only do we have the additional capacity we so desperately needed to produce our great beers, but we also have the additional space required to hold our fruit-beers and sours isolated from our standard IPAs, stouts, porters and our other ales to ensure customers get served the highest quality product available.
Please tell us about the new brewer you hired.
Max is teaming up with Grant Heuer, who developed his expertise in brewing at Big Dogs Brewing Company in Las Vegas, and closer to home at Refuge Brewery and Relentless Brewing, both of which are in Temecula. He’s a native Texan, but went to college in Holland, which helped him achieve a very broad palate and earn his Cicerone certification. We chose Grant because, not only does he have a fun-loving, outgoing personality (similar to us), but he’s very knowledgeable on a variety of beer styles. Grant’s passion is IPAs, and he loves a variety of hop, so expect to see lots of IPA offerings. But he also loves wild sours as much as we do, so expect to see plenty of those. If you have a chance to meet Grant, you’ll see why we love him.
What will the public component of the new facility be like?
We are as excited about the added capacity and technology that the new campus brings as we are about the new tasting room. It was important that we not lose that close-knit, comfortable “speakeasy” feel of the old tasting room, so it was considered with every decision on the new tasting room. Amenities will accommodate all types of consumers, and include a private-event space, huge-screen TVs, high-fidelity digital audio, heated outdoor patio, high-capacity restrooms, pub tables and loungers, all of which are ADA accessible. For those of you that came to our old location and loved our beers, you can expect our Joe Rita, White Sage IPA, our award-winning Apricot/Peach Hefeweizen, as well as our award-winning Mango Sour to be ready and waiting to tantalize your taste buds.