The last 10 days have been busy for Curtis and Liz Chism, the owners of Kearny Mesa’s Council Brewing Company. After reading an article right here in West Coaster about Santee’s Finest Made Ales being up for bid as a turnkey brewery, they contacted the house in charge of the auction and were told there was already a good deal of interest; enough that if they were interested they would have to venture to East County to tour the space that afternoon. Having explored numerous expansion options over the years, but struggling to find one that was ideal, they headed out and were pleased with what they found.
“It was beautiful. An almost brand-new Glacier seven-barrel three-vessel brewhouse with automation, five 30-barrel tanks, a pair of 15-barrel tanks and a seven-barrel fermenter, plus everything we would need to make more Council beer. I think my favorite part was the rakes in the mash tun,” says Liz with the type of giddiness only a professional brewer can experience over automated brewing equipment.
The duo returned the next day to take one more look and place an offer. An hour later, that offer was accepted and now Council Brewing owns the aforementioned equipment and has taken over owner Rey Knight’s lease on an eight-year-old Santee brewery that, prior to Finest Made Ales (established as Butcher’s Brewing in 2011), housed Twisted Manzanita Ales (originally opened as Manzanita Brewing in 2010). They are currently working on ABC and TTB licensing so they can open the new spot. The Chisms estimate it will take 60-90 days to be cleared and operational.
This is a return to Santee for the Chisms, who sold their home in Santee and moved to San Diego proper when funding Council in 2013. The business produced roughly 1,000 barrels of beer on its three-barrel system in 2017. The new brewery should allow Council to increase its production by 2,700 barrels annually. Additionally, acquiring Finest Made Ales’ space allows the Chisms to accomplish another goal they’d fostered—opening a second tasting room. Unlike most acquisitions of this nature, the outgoing brewery was left in good condition, so all that will be necessary prior to reopening are cosmetic changes, most notably rebranding. The Chisms will address that during their licensing period while working on scaling up their recipes.
The majority of the beer produced at the Santee facility will be India pale ales, though the tasting room will feature a broad variety of the company’s offerings, including sour beers (all of which will be produced in Kearny Mesa) and house-made kombucha. The Chisms are also purchasing a canning line to allow them to expand their packaged product line. Like Council’s other satellite location, a sour-beer production facility called “The Magic Factory,” the Santee space figures to get a fun nickname. Nothing is set in stone, but so far “The Lupulin Lounge” is the front-runner. Council’s Santee brewery is located at 9962 Prospect Avenue, Suite E.