In the summer of 2016, after 23 years of brewing solely at its flagship location in Mission Valley, the owners of San Diego Brewing Company decided to expand brewing capacity by leasing a space in North Park’s Brewery Igniter rent-to-brew facility on El Cajon Boulevard. SDBC took charge of the largest of the campus’ trio of units, one with a lower level brewhouse facing the street and an elevated tasting room complete with a bar and roll-up door facing Ohio Street. It’s the jewel of H.G. Fenton’s North Park space (which is also home to Eppig Brewing and Pariah Brewing), but it will soon be leased to another following SDBC’s decision to vacate the premises within the first quarter of 2018.
SDBC co-owner Lee Doxtader says that securing additional brewing space was absolutely the right idea, and that the company’s time producing at the Brewery Igniter space proved that. Such is the primary advertised advantage of those temporary turnkey spaces according to H.G. Fenton—proof of concept. For most tenants that means verifying the merits of a brand-new business, but in the case of SDBC (as well as Amplified Ale Works at the Miramar Brewery Igniter campus) the goal was to satisfy, as well as generate, increased consumer demand.
In the end, Doxtader and company determined patrons missed the atmosphere and on-site food options provided at its original brewpub. As such, they are in the process of selecting a site in which to install a second brewery-restaurant combo. But first, they must finish out negotiations with H.G. Fenton and complete the process of moving out of the North Park space. It is undetermined how soon that will occur. While SDBC may extract as soon as January, there is a chance it will stay in the Brewery Igniter suite and continue to brew as far out as March. To a certain extent, the timeline will be determined by how quickly H.G. Fenton secures a new tenant. The company is currently showing the space to interested parties.
2017 has been a year of changes for one of San Diego’s longest-tenured brewing interests. Early this year, ownership closed (the second iteration of) Callahan’s Pub in Mira Mesa’s, the business that paved the way for SDBC to open in Mission Valley. Over the summer, the company parted ways with head brewer Jeff Drum, placing Matt Navarre in the lead role. Ownership feels the transition has gone well and is looking forward to an upcoming milestone: SDBC’s 25th anniversary. With any luck, they will have a new site to announce by the time they reach the quarter-century mark.