{"id":13779,"date":"2016-05-17T08:00:57","date_gmt":"2016-05-17T15:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/?p=13779"},"modified":"2016-05-17T14:32:38","modified_gmt":"2016-05-17T21:32:38","slug":"ramonas-chuckalek-arrives-in-north-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/2016\/05\/17\/ramonas-chuckalek-arrives-in-north-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramona\u2019s ChuckAlek arrives in North Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"chuckalek_01\"<\/a>The passage of Assembly Bill 2004 was huge for craft-brewers in that it allowed California brewing companies to sell their wares at farmers\u2019 markets across the state. It was while doing just that at the Thursday North Park Farmers Market that the married co-founders of ChuckAlek Independent Brewers <\/strong><\/a>came up with a plan for the next phase of their Ramona-based business, a mostly-al fresco satellite sampling space inspired by German culture and excursions to Mexico\u2019s Valle de Guadalupe.<\/p>\n

\"ChuckAlek<\/a>
ChuckAlek owners Marta Jankowksa and Grant Fraley pose at their new North Park beer-garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While stationed beneath a telephone pole near the intersection of University and Herman Avenues, Grant Fraley <\/strong>and Marta Jankowska <\/strong>took notice of a fenced-but-open outdoor garden space owned by non-profit organization Art Produce<\/strong><\/a>, and thought it was ideally suited to house a German-style beer-garden. One day, Art Produce owner Lynn Susholtz<\/strong> was walking her dog by ChuckAlek\u2019s farmers\u2019 market space. They struck up a conversation, she toured them around and instant understanding and mutual respect gave way to a long-term partnership and the ChuckAlek Biergarten <\/strong>(3139 University Avenue, North Park)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The satellite tasting venue includes a small 300-square-foot indoor space (some of that area is taken up by an eight-foot-by-six-foot cold-box) featuring a large mural of Grant and Marta\u2019s grandfathers, Chuck and Alek, in the company\u2019s red-and-black color-scheme. This is where guest can order in addition to a walk-up window. But when it comes to enjoying the beer, it\u2019s all about the 3,000 square feet of outdoor space.<\/p>\n

\"chuckalek_03\"<\/a>A number of shaded picnic tables are located on the east side of the space with several other wooden tables and chairs situated along a pathway bisecting gardens housing a bevy of produce (strawberries, Japanese eggplant, kale, kumquats, guavas, chile de arbol and assorted herbs). Family-friendly to the nth-degree, there is also space for kids to sit when they\u2019re not meandering between trees and planters. Fraley and Jannkowska are parents. Providing a place for modern moms and dads who integrate beer-tasting into their family lives was of great importance to them.<\/p>\n

\"chuckalek_05\"<\/a>The aforementioned area is supplemented by a private-event space that can be rented as well as utilized by ChuckAlek ad Art Produce. On Mother\u2019s Day, both organizations got together to offer activities there as well as in Art Produce\u2019s studio bordering ChuckAlek\u2019s indoor ordering space. The building\u2019s other tenant, Tostadas<\/strong><\/a>, gets in on the action as well. Their Mexican cuisine can be ordered and delivered straight to the garden; a rather delectable value-added feature. On the grand-scale event front, ChuckAlek intends to celebrate Oktoberfest and other obvious biergarten-geared events. Also in the works is holding a traditional German-style Christmas market on Herman Avenue.<\/p>\n

\"chuckalek_04\"<\/a>Jankowska takes the lead at the biergarten while Fraley spends the majority of his time on brewery operations at the Ramona brewery. Beer is transported from the latter to the former roughly once a week to stock North Park\u2019s 16 taps (which are stocked with an assortment of lesser-seen styles, including beers from ChuckAlek\u2019s specialty Trading Co. series), house-made radlers and root beer.<\/p>\n

The ChuckAlek Biergarten will help Fraley and Jankowska get to the next chapter for their business. When asked what that will be, they envision a small brewery that follows a model much like that of their shared North Park space. They want something programming- and experience-driven for people of the community to enjoy in tandem with their beer. Being involved with a non-profit as they are with Art Produce (a portion of their proceeds go to the organization as part of the lease agreement) is something they hope very much to replicate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The passage of Assembly Bill 2004 was huge for craft-brewers in that it allowed California brewing companies to sell their wares at farmers\u2019 markets across the state. It was while doing just that at the Thursday North Park Farmers Market that the married co-founders of ChuckAlek Independent Brewers came up with a plan for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[367,368,1],"tags":[1353,2770,2763,376,442,877,2767,1966,391,2586,2769,2483,2765,2764,15,2766,1439,2762,2768,1637],"class_list":{"0":"post-13779","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-beer-events","7":"category-beer-news","8":"category-san-diego-beer-beverage-news","9":"tag-sdbeer","10":"tag-ab2004","11":"tag-art-produce","12":"tag-beer","13":"tag-brandon-hernandez","14":"tag-california","15":"tag-christmas-market","16":"tag-chuckalek","17":"tag-craftbeer","18":"tag-grant-fraley","19":"tag-herman-avenue","20":"tag-indiebeer","21":"tag-lynn-susholtz","22":"tag-marta-jankowska","23":"tag-north-park","24":"tag-radler","25":"tag-san-diego","26":"tag-tostadas-north-park","27":"tag-university-avenue","28":"tag-west-coaster","29":"entry","30":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdtr4y-3Af","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13779\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}