Don’t look now, but downtown’s East Village is the fastest-growing neighborhood in terms of incoming brewery-owned venues. So far this year, we’ve reported on the upcoming arrival of a brewpub from Wyoming’s Melvin Brewing and a gluten-free eatery by Miramar’s Duck Foot Brewing. The eventual purchaser of (currently Coronado Brewing-owned) Monkey Paw Brewing will bring something new to the area, and so, too, will Pacific Beach-based Amplified Ale Works, which today officially announced plans to convert the former dual Stella Public House and Halcyon spot into the business’ second restaurant.
Founded in 2012, Amplified was born in the back of top-deck PB restaurant California Kebab, and made a name for itself behind beers that were widely enjoyed, but somewhat hard to come by due to small batch sizes. That problem was alleviated in 2016, when Amplified became one of the first tenants at H.G. Fenton’s Miramar Brewery Igniter campus, which significantly increased the company’s production capacity. In conjunction with the acquisition of the East Village property, Amplified is also adding a pair of 30-hectolitre fermenters and an 18-hectolitre hot liquor tank at the Miramar facility, allowing Amplified to double overall production from 1,200 barrels to 2,400 barrels per year.
Beer produced at the Brewery Igniter space will be transported to the new Amplified Kitchen & Beer Garden, which will house the company’s fledgling sour-beer program. There, the clean beer will be transferred to barrels—and possibly foeders—where they will age and hopefully debut to the public within a year or two. Quick-soured beers will further expand the tart-ale portfolio and incorporate various fruits and herbs.
All of Amplified’s beers will be served at the new venue, which comes in around 5,920 square feet and includes a large 1,250-square-foot patio that will play host to an abundance of live music acts. The latter, plus an open floor plan and space for brewery and cellar activities, were key for owner Alex Pierson, who has been searching for an ideal property to house a second kitchen-equipped venue for several years. The space will provide a base of operations for a new arm of the business, Amplified Coffee Works. Pierson had previously considered getting into the roasting industry, and stipulations at the East Village location requiring operators to be open to the public during morning hours inspired him to pull the trigger.
In addition to beer, the new location will offer the variety of a full bar, including specialty cocktails. Those cocktails will eventually include beer-tails, making this the third business we’ve reported on in the past two weeks to cite these drink options (with Mason Ale Works and Fourpenny House being the others). Pierson also intends to collaborate with local distilleries and bartenders to highlight San Diego spirits as well as Amplified’s beers.
This will be the second new Amplified venue to open this year, following the April debut of a tasting room constructed directly underneath the company’s PB flagship. The East Village sister-spot will be located at 1429 Island Avenue, and is currently on-track to open in mid-July.