In the year 1993, the duo of Lee Doxtader and Scott Stamp, two ambitious entrepreneurs, launched a restaurant equipped with a brewery. They set it up in a mall strip in Grantville and named it after what would later come to be globally recognized for its premium brews – San Diego Brewing Company. At the time it was among only a few beer production establishments within the county and was in good company with Karl Strauss, Pizza Port, and San Marcos Brewery & Grill.

The restaurant, having its location near to spots like Jack Murphy Stadium, SDSU, and the activity-hub that is the Mission Valley area of the city, gave many locals their first experience of beer produced on-site. House creations such as their Blueberry Wheat and Old Town Nut Brown were quite a hit and the 50-tap list introduced customers to classic European beers and the stellar creations of early American craft-beer pioneers. This often initiated a journey for casual drinkers leading them to a newfound love for beer.

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Tyson and Kristina Blake’s fondness for the liquid art stems from their mutual connection to the Grantville mainstay.

They moved from upstate New York in 2001, with Tyson securing employment at San Diego Brewing. Kristina joined him in 2003, and their shared love for craft beer, as well as each other, grew stronger there. The couple, energetic and outgoing, initiated a series of beer-pairing dinners that proved both delicious and informative, fostering community growth among newer members of San Diego’s rapidly expanding beer community.

In the subsequent decade, the Blakes tied the knot and transitioned away from San Diego Brewing to carve their own niche in the beer and hospitality industry. Presently, they are the proud co-owners of O’Brien’s Pub in Kearny Mesa, The Pub at Lake Cuyamaca, and West Coast Smoke & Tap House in La Mesa. During a conversation with Bob and Lisa Townsend at the Tap House, San Diego Brewing — a place of sentimental value to the Blakes — was nostalgically discussed.

The Townsends, like the Blakes, have cherished recollections of their time at San Diego Brewing during the early 2000s. Also, like the Blakes, the Townsends possess significant experience in managing time-honored eateries. Since 2016, they have operated their family enterprise, the San Diego Chicken Pie Shop in North Park, which has been serving customers for 85 years. So when the chance came up to buy San Diego Brewing, they instinctively sought the Blakes as partners in the venture.

On November 1, precisely three decades after San Diego Brewing first welcomed patrons, a small but significant celebration was held as the Blakes and Townsends received the keys to the brewpub. Many stalwarts of the brewing industry, some visiting for the first time in years, came in to toast the rejuvenation of this long-established business.

Despite being a revered name among local beer aficionados, San Diego Brewing has struggled to stay contemporary within the evolving craft beer scene. The menu, selection of brewery’s unique beers, and interior decor have mostly remained stagnant over the past ten years, apart from the addition of roll-up doors for temporary outdoor seating during the pandemic. The new owners recognized the necessity to refresh the brewpub and bring it into the present, embracing the challenge regardless of the extensive effort required.

The immediate plan for the owners is to navigate through the bustling holiday and football seasons, and then the NCAA basketball tournaments in March, before temporarily closing the brewpub for renovations. These amendments will involve modifying the dining room setup, implementing new lighting, and building a permanent outdoor patio. However, the changes will not be limited to merely aesthetic ones.

The head brewer, Matt Navarre, while continuing to brew some of the classic house beers of San Diego Brewing, is also inspired to explore a range of beer types, from traditional ales and lagers, to the contemporary India pale ales and stouts with new and innovative ingredients and methods. Furthermore, the owners have procured a nearby warehouse to house a packaging setup, which would enable San Diego Brewing to offer products for takeout and small-scale distribution to local stores, which includes the upcoming San Diego Hard Seltzer Company.

The menu will also be updated to include new dishes that fit within the pub-grub category — pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads — but include more worldly, contemporary ingredients and complex flavor profiles. Off-menu specials (a “SoCal wedge” salad, and sandwiches packed with red-wine-braised beef and succulent pork belly) have provided sneak peeks of what the new bill of fare may look like.

That said, ownership understands that in assuming control of an eatery with so many established regulars, there are some items that are iconic. They weren’t certain which, thus they recently conducted a survey on social media to gauge followers on their preferred dishes. Consequently, items such as San Diego Brewing’s beer-cheese soup and boneless chicken wings will remain on the menu.

The Blakes also plan to revive their beer-pairing dinners, a tradition that continued at O’Brien’s Pub since Tyson’s departure from San Diego Brewing to assume the role of the general manager there in 2010. The special-event series has bolstered his reputation as one of the foremost culinary practitioners where beer-infused and beer-paired dishes come into play.

Even at this early stage, San Diego Brewing’s new ownership has managed to excite die-hard beer fans — even those who had written off this long-standing institution — for what lies ahead and are keen to support a comeback for one of the earliest local, independent beer strongholds in the county.

Brandon Hernández is founder of San Diego Beer News (www.sandiegobeer.news), a site providing daily coverage of the county’s brewing industry, a beat he’s covered for 17 years. Follow him @sdbeernews or contact him at brandon@sandiegobeer.news