Nick and Christina Lumsden are testaments to how shared passions bring people together. They met while playing golf at North Carolina’s Pinehurst Golf Resort and have been together ever since. Seven years ago, they packed up and moved to San Diego where they developed shared passions for craft beer and home brewing. Now, they are teaming with long-time homebrewer Jim McCaskey to build a venue celebrating all of the above. That operation goes by the name Dogleg Brewing and is currently under construction at 1347 Keystone Way in Vista.
“Brewing craft beer and playing golf share distinct traits of the things we love. They are both an art and a science, you have to be creative, calculated, adaptable and precise, but at the same time it’s very social,” says Christina, a lifetime golfer and professional marketing within the golf industry. “Playing golf and brewing beer take time and, during that time, a lot of storytelling and connection takes place. The saying goes: you’ll learn more about a stranger in four hours on the golf course than you know about your closest friends.”
Strangers and friends alike will be able to take in a unique dual experience at Dogleg’s tasting room. In addition to the standard taps, bar and tables setup, the 5,045-square-foot space will be equipped with a 375-square-foot putting green and state-of-the-art GCHawk golf simulator. The latter will be used to conduct closest-to-the-pin and longest-drive challenges, and will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis. Patrons will also be able to reserve it ahead of time and Dogleg will set up a membership option for priority access to both the simulator and putting green.
While the aforementioned amenities will help Dogleg stand out from other breweries, its ownership is excited to have so many nearby. Vista is currently home to more than a dozen brewing companies, and two of them are in very close proximity to this venture—Helia Brewing, which is already open a block over from Dogleg, and Eppig Brewing, which is constructing its new production facility in the very same building.
“The developer was very excited to bring a brewery into his space. We were the first tenants to sign a lease in this project in November 2018 and, at the time, the building’s foundation was just getting laid,” says Christina. “A month or so after signing, we were ecstatic to hear that Eppig would be joining the project. Multiple breweries on Keystone Way will help establish this area as a great craft beer destination and present great opportunities for cool collaborations and exciting events on our cul-de-sac.”
McCaskey will handle brewing operations using a seven-barrel, three-vessel Premier Stainless brewhouse. Dogleg is equipped with four seven-barrel fermenters and is already planning on adding two 15-barrel tanks to allow for double-batching when necessary. This will be McCaskey’s first professional-brewing venture after 25 years of homebrewing marked by multiple amateur awards. Dogleg’s portfolio will focus on the types of beers one would thirst for during a sunny day on the links—lagers, pale ales and session IPAs. McCaskey and company also plan to create beers to celebrate major golf events throughout the year. For example, a Georgia Peach Lager it intends to release around the Masters Tournament.