{"id":19848,"date":"2018-03-07T08:00:52","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T16:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/?p=19848"},"modified":"2018-04-17T11:36:15","modified_gmt":"2018-04-17T18:36:15","slug":"craft-qa-steve-farguson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/2018\/03\/07\/craft-qa-steve-farguson\/","title":{"rendered":"Craft Q&A: Steve Farguson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Co-founder, Absolution Brewing Company<\/em><\/p>\n

Late last year, after four years in business and a failed attempt at opening a manufacturing facility with contract-brewing capabilities, La Jolla Brewing <\/strong>quietly went out of business, leaving its namesake community with a vacant brewpub. That spot was snatched up by Torrance, California-based Absolution Brewing<\/strong><\/a>, which reopened the brewhouse-equipped eatery as Absolution by the Sea <\/strong>last month. With San Diego breweries (Ballast Point Brewing<\/strong><\/a>, Stone Brewing<\/strong><\/a>, Karl Strauss Brewing<\/strong><\/a>, Modern Times Beer<\/strong><\/a>) having spent the past several years establishing footholds in the City of Angels\u2019 to benefit from the burgeoning nature of its beer scene, it might seem odd for an LA company to come south, but it makes perfect sense for co-founder Steve Farguson<\/strong>. His family is from here and he has called San Diego home since 1995, so he\u2019s happy to start Absolution’s second chapter in America\u2019s Finest City. We sat down with him to find out more about the concept Absolution has installed in The Jewel.<\/p>\n

What inspired you to acquire this particular brewpub?<\/strong>
\nMy parents live eight blocks from the facility and we used to go there (when it was La Jolla Brew House<\/strong>) on a nearly-weekly basis. I always liked the vibe and tried to buy it almost six years ago. When I was approached about the opportunity last year, I said \u201cyes.\u201d For the past four years, I have been commuting from Coronado to Torrance, where we established our production brewery. Our facility is now a well-oiled machine and Absolution by the Sea gave me the opportunity to work closer to home. My parents are also getting older, and being here in La Jolla gives me the chance to check in on them more frequently.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>What renovations have you done since taking over the space?<\/strong>
\nThe place was really neglected over the past few years. Reading some of the reviews was really eye-opening. We knew we were in for a significant challenge. There was no evidence that sanitation and proper cleaning had taken place anywhere in the facility. Frankly, the brewery, cold-storage and kitchen were in such neglected shape, we had to replace or rebuild nearly everything. We also installed and upgraded many things that made the space even more inviting, including refinishing the pine wood floors and cutting out the wall separating the dining room from the front patio and installing designer glass. We put in marble around the fire pits, changed the awning to blue to match our sea concept, and installed a state-of-the-art lighting and audio systems. We also tore out 90 feet of draft trunk lines and installed a new draft system.<\/p>\n

What is the game plan for on-site beer production?<\/strong>
\nAbsolution has really grown over the past year. We recently hired a new vice presidents of sales for California and Texas, respectively, and we are planning other states this year. Our Torrance facility is gearing up to exclusively produce widely-distributed core brands so we can meet wholesaler demand. In La Jolla, we plan to brew our specialty and seasonal products. We also have a SABCO pilot system for test batches. Absolution by the Sea will create beers unique to the San Diego lifestyle and ship many of them to our sister tap rooms north of here, as well.<\/p>\n

What are some future plans for Absolution by the Sea?<\/strong>
\nIn a few months, we plan to open our craft-cocktail bar in the back room and start serving barrel-aged beers, as well. That back space is also going to work nicely as a space for private parties. But mostly, I really want this place to be community-centric. We want to be stewards of not just La Jolla, but San Diego as a whole. Our vision is to really engage the community here and it\u2019s taking place even quicker than we\u2019d anticipated. Already, locals have been reaching out and thanking us. It\u2019s really exciting for me and my partners.<\/p>\n

How has it been adding a culinary side to the business?<\/strong>
\nWe are a brewery first and we always will be. It is our core and what drives our whole team, however, we now serve food\u2014real food, not pub food. We really want to be known as a place to gather where you can enjoy a hand-crafted ale with culinary experience that takes no shortcuts. It\u2019s funny\u2026our team has worked so hard the past four-and-a-half years, putting in seven days per week more often than not. We have all aged in the process, but it is all about our passion to deliver a unique product we believe in. As tired as it\u2019s made us, Absolution by the Sea has put a huge spring in my step and a smile on my face. My friends tell me I have never seemed so happy. I\u2019m working in beautiful San Diego and that really says it all for me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Co-founder, Absolution Brewing Company Late last year, after four years in business and a failed attempt at opening a manufacturing facility with contract-brewing capabilities, La Jolla Brewing quietly went out of business, leaving its namesake community with a vacant brewpub. That spot was snatched up by Torrance, California-based Absolution Brewing, which reopened the brewhouse-equipped eatery […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":19849,"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":[368,4905,1],"tags":[1353,4781,4784,3388,376,442,877,390,4573,2483,1946,116,1572,1418,1439,4785,4468,4783,4782,1637],"class_list":{"0":"post-19848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-beer-news","8":"category-craft-qa","9":"category-san-diego-beer-beverage-news","10":"tag-sdbeer","11":"tag-absolution-brewing","12":"tag-absolution-by-the-sea","13":"tag-americas-finest-city","14":"tag-beer","15":"tag-brandon-hernandez","16":"tag-california","17":"tag-craft-beer","18":"tag-craft-qa","19":"tag-indiebeer","20":"tag-la-jolla","21":"tag-la-jolla-brew-house","22":"tag-la-jolla-brewing","23":"tag-sabco","24":"tag-san-diego","25":"tag-steve-farguson","26":"tag-texas","27":"tag-the-jewel","28":"tag-torrance","29":"tag-west-coaster","30":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/PLZI1814.jpg?fit=1322%2C881&ssl=1","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdtr4y-5a8","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19848","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=19848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}