USA, CA: Dunbar Brewing to expand Santa Margarita production

In 2012, Santa Margarita’s Dunbar Brewing moved from a cramped space on El Camino Real, Santa Margarita, to a 1,600-square-foot, three-barrel brewhouse and pub. That new location gave owner and brewmaster Chris Chambers more room to expand on the brand he’s been building since 1997, The San Luis Obispo Tribune reported on June 2.

Just three years later, Dunbar is ready for another expansion and will open a separate 6,000-square-foot, 10-barrel brewhouse at 22815 El Camino Real, Santa Margarita, this month.

“We knew that brewing in the three-barrel brewhouse wasn’t going to be enough,” Chambers said.

So when a property just down the street from the pub opened up, Chambers jumped at the opportunity, investing about $200,000 in the new site.

The extra space has allowed Dunbar to install a new brewing system that Chambers designed. The new system will increase the brewery’s output from just a few hundred barrels of beer per year to between 3,000 and 4,000 barrels.

The brewery also plans to begin offering 22-ounce bottles of its four signature brews.

Chambers declined to disclose specific financial information but said Dunbar Brewing has seen an average of 15 percent growth in profits in the past year. With the additional space, the brewery hopes to add about six employees to its workforce, which now stands at four.

Chambers hopes the brewhouse will be functioning at full capacity by September.

“That’s the advantage of taking our four core beers and brewing them at a larger capacity,” he said. “It will free me up to come back down to the pub and brew in three-barrel, do more experimenting and have a lot more fun down there,” said Chambers.

03 June, 2015