One of the hardest things to do in opening a brewery isn’t brewing the beer or designing the logo or hiring staff. Nope, one of the hardest things to do is find a suitable location. One that doesn’t require breaking through mile after mile of red tape and that can fit into your vision for now and the future.
And in California, what with prices still being higher than in other parts of the country that problem is exacerbated. Even for someone like Jeff Bagby who has Great American Beer Festival medals galore.
But now the good news. The Bagby Beer Company has taken that step and found a place to call home in Oceanside. They have taken over an old car dealership space. If all goes well, construction will begin in 2013 and maybe if the process goes according to plan beer will be made.
The San Diego scene shows no sign of flagging.
Oceanside’s probably a good location for Bagby Beer, since Pizza Port’s already got Carlsbad and Solana covered. Though really, he can probably compete against other small breweries, even if they were in the same town.
He is going to have a quick and rabid following from day one which will either help or hinder. I might have gone a bit further afield myself than Oceanside to escape that.