USA, CA: 13 Point Brewing soft-opens to public in Lemon Grove

It’s official. Lemon Grove has its very own craft brewery care of 13 Point Brewing, which soft-opened to the public on January 3. This leaves the cities of Encinitas and Imperial Beach (each of which are home to brewery-owned tasting rooms) as the only municipalities in San Diego County without operating brewing facilities, westcoastersd.com reported on January 8.

Housed in a 3,450-square-foot former Mexican restaurant that was gutted and reimagined as a brewery with an eye toward customer comfort, 13 Point sports a 1,600-square-foot tasting room plus an additional 500 square feet of public space on an outdoor patio facing Broadway. It’s the passion project of brewing industry newbies, but that’s not to say they haven’t prepped for entrance into the local suds scene. The entire founding trio—Bob and Dylan Frank and Robert Bessone—graduated from San Diego State University’s Business of Craft Beer certificate program. And they also have the rare experience of working with municipal government to allow for operation of breweries within the limits of a city that previously forbid beer production.

13 Point possesses something else not every San Diego County brewery does—music. In fact, live performances are a big part of what the business (the name and logo of which were inspired by a Grateful Dead graphic) is all about. Ownership expects to host at least one or two nighttime band gigs per week.

“We see being Lemon Grove’s first brewery as a great opportunity,” says Bob Frank. “We didn’t want to go add to an already-existing bubble in some other area, especially as people who are new to the industry. And this allows us to build a sense of community here.” Adds Bessone, “We have good beer for the people in the neighborhood as well as anyone who wants to come to Lemon Grove.”

That beer is brewed on a seven-barrel system and currently includes three offerings: LG Basic Blonde Ale, Blue Lake Brown Ale, and My Trusty Llama American pale ale. The trio of beers on-deck to join these first drafts: Ol’ Nessie vanilla porter, a red ale aptly dubbed The Red, and a Northeast-style IPA called The LD Super Nova. LD stands for Lazy Daze, a reference to a Galaxy-hopped hazy IPA that serves as the foundation for a series of Nor’easters.

13 Point Brewing is located at 8035 Broadway. Its current hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily. Ownership plans to change its hours soon.

10 January, 2019