USA, CA: Mother Earth Brew Co. to open new production facility this summer

Vista’s biggest brewing company is on the cusp of being able to make a whole lot more beer, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported on May 11.

Mother Earth Brew Co. plans to open up a new production facility this summer near Boise, Idaho, after purchasing and remodeling an old seed factory in the suburban community of Nampa.

But neither Mother Earth’s Vista brewery nor its downtown Vista tasting room are going anywhere, said Kevin Hopkins, the company’s chief branding officer.

Demand for Mother Earth’s product drove the need for the expansion, he said.

“The beer is sold before we get a drop of it out,” Hopkins said. The new site will “take the pressure off Vista.”

The company searched for more than a year, hoping to find a suitable site in San Diego for a larger production facility. With no perfect fit, they eventually looked at four other western states before settling on Idaho.

The Idaho Business Review reported in January that Mother Earth would be the largest craft beer brewer in the state if it should meet its projections of 22,000 barrels in the first year.

Hopkins said operating costs in Idaho will be “much more comfortable” than in California, in part because that state isn’t short on water, and ingredients such as grains and hops will be closer. Also, the Boise area has “a great transportation corridor, both rail and highway,” he said.

Mother Earth founder and CEO Dan Love has permanently relocated to Idaho to run the operation there, Hopkins said. The company will essentially have two headquarters.

In Vista, the brewery’s 28,000-square-foot production facility on Thibodo Road has 55 employees and runs 24 hours a day, five days a week. The site produced 22,500 barrels of beer last year and is on pace to churn out 30,000 barrels this year, officials said.

Still, the building has lower ceilings that limit tank size. The Idaho facility is about 40,000 square feet and could eventually produce 100,000 barrels a year. The smallest tanks that will be used there are twice the size of the ones in Vista.

The Idaho facility will start with 25 jobs, and likely grow to 50 within the first year, Hopkins said.

Vista’s head brewer Chris Baker has also moved to Idaho, after spending the last year working closely with a second brewer, Jeff Hueneman, who will take over in Vista. The two will work together to ensure that the beer is identical at both sites.

“They will be able to work together symbiotically,” Hopkins said. “There’s a synergy established.”

Mother Earth’s commercial operations turn all of six years old this month. In that time, the company has grown to have wide distribution in 10 states, including a coming launch into Alaska. It sells its beers in bottles, cans and on tap.

“We know that we are still a younger company. We have been strategic-minded,” Hopkins said.

The Nampa brewery will likely make the beer distributed to the Pacific Northwest, as well as Nevada, Utah, and of course, Idaho, where it started selling beer in stores last year. Vista will make beer for much of California and beyond.

Vista has some 14 breweries with three more in the works, but Mother Earth is more than just one of the bunch. It’s tasting room in downtown Vista helped revitalize that area, which is enjoying a renaissance and new night life. And their presence has drawn other breweries.

Kevin Ham said the company has told him they are committed to remaining in Vista.

“We love having them here,” Ham said. “We appreciate them. They are part of the core network that started craft brewing in Vista.”

12 May, 2016