Some quick hits from the San Diego County brewing industry…
Earlier this month, we published a roundup of five of the greatest comeback stories within the #SDBeer scene—operations that started off with questionable beer and have shown impressive improvement. Among them was Santee-based Groundswell Brewing. Much of the beer upgrades were the result of reengineering from head brewer Chris Gillogly, a veteran of numerous local companies, including Mikkeller Brewing San Diego, Pizza Port and Green Flash Brewing, which makes the news that he is departing Groundswell (which also operates tasting rooms in Grantville and Chula Vista) a bit disheartening. Fortunately, ownership announced shortly after the publishing of this piece that they have signed former Intergalactic Brewing owner and head brewer Alex Van Horne to take over its beer-making operations. Van Horne closed his five-year-old brewery last month and produced numerous award-winning beers helming that Miramar interest. “We are excited about Alex’s strength with traditional styles, recipe formulation and experimental brews,” says Groundswell co-owner Christianne Penunuri. “He brings the added value of ‘owner perspective,’ which will help Groundswell to continue to maintain quality beers and grow into new styles and markets. He understands that our core market is in our three tasting rooms and will help us continue to grow that part of the business.” Meanwhile, Gillogly is moving on to a new, yet-to-be-named project.
After seeing a large for-sale sign fastened to the north exterior of Poor House Brewing, many have been speculating that the business is up for bid, however, co-founder and operations manager Alana Scheer says that is not the case. When reached for comment, she stated that the building that houses the urban brewery was for sale (and has since been sold) and that Poor House still has a lengthy lease in place. It is located at 4494 30th Street in North Park.
After some unexpected delays, Miramar-based Duck Foot Brewing is about ready to open the doors to its tasting room and gluten-free eatery in downtown’s East Village. Located at 550 Park Boulevard, it’s grand-opening weekend is scheduled for August 31 to September 2. (Its soft-opening period had a planned start of last weekend.) The menu is broken down into snacks, salads, small bites, and desserts. Highlights include pão de queijo (Brazilian-style cheese bread), a smokey braised kale salad with kumquats and Meyer lemon dressing, Japanese sweet potato with shimeji mushrooms in a beer ponzu sauce, sticky short ribs with blood-orange glaze, and miso cod with seasonal vegetables.