Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

A look inside Hess Brewing North Park

Local nanobrewery favorite ascending to next level with second facility

Even with craft beer available in the many restaurants dotting 30th Street and its bar- and eatery-packed cross-streets, North Park residents are salivating over the upcoming arrival of a long-awaited project touching down in a building that once housed a bible bookstore. That highly anticipated business is the production facility for Hess Brewing (3812 Grim Avenue, North Park).

Owner Mike Hess first announced having secured the building in March of last year. It was widely regarded as great news for local beer fans who have enjoyed the beers Hess has so far produced from a small Miramar industrial suite. His is the nanobrewery that convinced many how successful a nano can be so long as said tiny operation is producing good beer. Despite its small size, Hess has regularly packed beer tourists in for the past two years. Part of that was due to the fact that Hess’ beers were barely available outside the company’s tasting room. All that will change once the North Park facility is up and running.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Mike Hess reports to the bridge of his technologically advanced brewhouse.

During a recent visit to the work-in-progress facility, Hess was working with brewery engineering contractors to put the finishing touches on his 30-barrel brewhouse designed by Newlands Systems, Inc. Once up-and-running, it will allow him to produce far more beer than he was able to from the 1.6-barrel system at the original Hess facility. Having so much more beer will allow Hess to fulfill requests from many of the bar and restaurant accounts that he's had to deny thus far due to capacity issues.

The Newlands Systems, Inc. insignia is on Hess' brand new tanks.

But kegs aren’t the only way the beer will make it to market. I was also granted a gander at a canning line that will allow patrons to enjoy Hess’ products at home. Hess is the latest of a small handful of local breweries going the aluminum route (Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits, Monkey Paw Pub & Brewery, Pizza Port, Modern Times Beer), bucking the negative stigma unfairly lumped on canned beers. Most consumers let their memories of canned, tinny-tasting, low-quality American adjunct lagers convince them that today’s canned beers are inferior, but advances in interior linings have essentially eliminated the tininess and cans have always been superior to bottles when it comes to keeping beer fresh. Cans keep out air and light and, bonus, are lightweight, cheaper to ship, and easier to dispose of.

Originally, the canning line was going to abut the facility’s upstairs tasting room, but due to height issues, it’s been moved downstairs across from the cold room. On the bright side, that should leave patrons with a better view of the top half of the brewhouse and fermentation tanks. And if that visage isn’t good enough for the most curious of beer geeks, no problem. A pair of catwalks and an outlook running along the building’s façade will provide bird’s-eye views of all the brewery action. It’s a thoughtful layout made even more fun and educational by Hess’ upcoming installation of boards displaying infographics and explanations of the equipment mounted along the catwalks, similar to displays included in exhibits at museums and zoos.

A view of the Mike Hess Brewing North Park brewhouse from one of the catwalks.

Back in the tasting room, Hess’ architectural crew has gone to great lengths to create something that’s not only different, but better. Having the cold box located directly under the second-story tasting room bar allows them to draw the beer straight up to taps that, instead of being affixed to a cold box behind the bar, are installed just beyond the customer-bartender interface. Because of this, servers will avoid repetitive back-and-forth movements, will not have to turn their backs on customers and will be able explain the beers face-to-face as the draw them.

Once served, guests will be able to sample Hess’ beers from stool-equipped high tables, long track-lit tables spreading out from the bar in a sun ray arc pattern, a shuffleboard table, or either of two dart match areas (a bold first for this amenity in local tasting rooms). Beers will be served in four types of glasses—0.3-litre kölsch glass, 12-ounce Belgo-style tulip glass, 13-ounce stem glass, 16-ounce Munique chalice.

From the cellar to the roof, Hess spends most days all over his new facility, working to get it ready to share with the public.

Hess has been brewing beer on the new system for roughly a month. He is projecting 3,000 barrels in the first 12 months from the new location, but says the company may produce as much as 50 or 75 percent more than that over that period. Ultimately, the North Park facility will be able to produce 15,000 barrels annually, but in order to achieve that, storage issues will need to be solved. For now, he—and beer fans in North Park and beyond—is just happy the doors will soon be open. The current estimation for that is a soft open in late July with a grand opening to follow shortly after.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

OSHA rules wall falls our fault

Who, U.S.?

Even with craft beer available in the many restaurants dotting 30th Street and its bar- and eatery-packed cross-streets, North Park residents are salivating over the upcoming arrival of a long-awaited project touching down in a building that once housed a bible bookstore. That highly anticipated business is the production facility for Hess Brewing (3812 Grim Avenue, North Park).

Owner Mike Hess first announced having secured the building in March of last year. It was widely regarded as great news for local beer fans who have enjoyed the beers Hess has so far produced from a small Miramar industrial suite. His is the nanobrewery that convinced many how successful a nano can be so long as said tiny operation is producing good beer. Despite its small size, Hess has regularly packed beer tourists in for the past two years. Part of that was due to the fact that Hess’ beers were barely available outside the company’s tasting room. All that will change once the North Park facility is up and running.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Mike Hess reports to the bridge of his technologically advanced brewhouse.

During a recent visit to the work-in-progress facility, Hess was working with brewery engineering contractors to put the finishing touches on his 30-barrel brewhouse designed by Newlands Systems, Inc. Once up-and-running, it will allow him to produce far more beer than he was able to from the 1.6-barrel system at the original Hess facility. Having so much more beer will allow Hess to fulfill requests from many of the bar and restaurant accounts that he's had to deny thus far due to capacity issues.

The Newlands Systems, Inc. insignia is on Hess' brand new tanks.

But kegs aren’t the only way the beer will make it to market. I was also granted a gander at a canning line that will allow patrons to enjoy Hess’ products at home. Hess is the latest of a small handful of local breweries going the aluminum route (Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits, Monkey Paw Pub & Brewery, Pizza Port, Modern Times Beer), bucking the negative stigma unfairly lumped on canned beers. Most consumers let their memories of canned, tinny-tasting, low-quality American adjunct lagers convince them that today’s canned beers are inferior, but advances in interior linings have essentially eliminated the tininess and cans have always been superior to bottles when it comes to keeping beer fresh. Cans keep out air and light and, bonus, are lightweight, cheaper to ship, and easier to dispose of.

Originally, the canning line was going to abut the facility’s upstairs tasting room, but due to height issues, it’s been moved downstairs across from the cold room. On the bright side, that should leave patrons with a better view of the top half of the brewhouse and fermentation tanks. And if that visage isn’t good enough for the most curious of beer geeks, no problem. A pair of catwalks and an outlook running along the building’s façade will provide bird’s-eye views of all the brewery action. It’s a thoughtful layout made even more fun and educational by Hess’ upcoming installation of boards displaying infographics and explanations of the equipment mounted along the catwalks, similar to displays included in exhibits at museums and zoos.

A view of the Mike Hess Brewing North Park brewhouse from one of the catwalks.

Back in the tasting room, Hess’ architectural crew has gone to great lengths to create something that’s not only different, but better. Having the cold box located directly under the second-story tasting room bar allows them to draw the beer straight up to taps that, instead of being affixed to a cold box behind the bar, are installed just beyond the customer-bartender interface. Because of this, servers will avoid repetitive back-and-forth movements, will not have to turn their backs on customers and will be able explain the beers face-to-face as the draw them.

Once served, guests will be able to sample Hess’ beers from stool-equipped high tables, long track-lit tables spreading out from the bar in a sun ray arc pattern, a shuffleboard table, or either of two dart match areas (a bold first for this amenity in local tasting rooms). Beers will be served in four types of glasses—0.3-litre kölsch glass, 12-ounce Belgo-style tulip glass, 13-ounce stem glass, 16-ounce Munique chalice.

From the cellar to the roof, Hess spends most days all over his new facility, working to get it ready to share with the public.

Hess has been brewing beer on the new system for roughly a month. He is projecting 3,000 barrels in the first 12 months from the new location, but says the company may produce as much as 50 or 75 percent more than that over that period. Ultimately, the North Park facility will be able to produce 15,000 barrels annually, but in order to achieve that, storage issues will need to be solved. For now, he—and beer fans in North Park and beyond—is just happy the doors will soon be open. The current estimation for that is a soft open in late July with a grand opening to follow shortly after.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell
Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.