Those who’ve taken notice of the notice on the old Mueller building at the corner of Park Boulevard and Madison Avenue in University Heights have attempted to learn more about a work-in-progress brewing interest by the name of Long Cloud Brewing. For the most part, such fact-finding missions have been fruitless. There’s a good reason. There is no Long Cloud Brewing. There is, however, Kairoa Brewing Company. Turns out there was a business out there with a moniker similar enough that the team of family and friends behind Kairoa opted to rename their brewpub project while staying entirely true to their original vision.
In addition to all residing in University Heights, every member of Kairoa’s ownership hails from New Zealand. The Long Cloud name referred to the Maori (the country’s indigenous people) word for New Zealand, Aotearoa, which translates to “land of the long white cloud.” The new handle combines the names of two small towns on the country’s South Island: Kaikoura and Akaroa. But that’s not the only way they intend to sprinkle some of their shared heritage into the business. Ingredients native to New Zealand will be used in both the brewing (numerous hops and Manuka wood-smoked malt) and kitchen (lamb, green-lip mussels) operations.
Planned as a brewpub that will cater to families as well as beer enthusiast “without cramping eithers’ style,” the 4,500-square-foot, two-story venue will be outfitted with ground-level and rooftop bars. The latter will include a game area. Both will offer house beers from Kairoa’s 10-barrel brewhouse as well as its one-barrel pilot system. Those setups will be manned by Joe Peach, who has been brewing for 10 years and has local experience at Lightning Brewery and Bitter Brothers Brewing Company.
Beers brewed on the larger system will be mostly to-style, while small-batch creations will be more experimental. “New Zealand-inspired” takes on Pilsners, pale ales, smoked stouts and brown ales are part of the game plan, as are India pale ales, barrel-aged stouts and quality versions of lesser-appreciated styles. The Kairoa team projects it will produce between 400 and 600 barrels of beer in its first year, with most being sold across their own counters plus limited self-distribution.
Oliver Peach, who heads culinary operations at the group’s original business directly next-door, Red House Pizza, will also oversee the kitchen at Kairoa. His aim is to elevate standard bar food, including Kiwi classics such as meat pies, sausage rolls, and fish and chips. Realizing the diverse dietary needs of locals, he plans to make vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options available as well.
The Kairoa team is excited to bring a family- and community-friendly concept to a historic site that has seen better days. They are currently awaiting approval of their plans from the City of San Diego, but if all goes as planned, they expect to open sometime in mid-2018.