Hang tight, La Mesa. It shouldn’t be too much longer before the all-in-one brewery, event center, kid zone and restaurant known as Depot Springs Brewing Company opens.
What owner Aaron Dean called a “100 percent opening goal” is slated for October, 2016. The restaurant, brewery, and indoor stage will be operative from the first day of opening. There may be a one-week lag for the outdoor amenities.
Hang tight, La Mesa. It shouldn’t be too much longer before the all-in-one brewery, event center, kid zone and restaurant known as Depot Springs Brewing Company opens.
What owner Aaron Dean called a “100 percent opening goal” is slated for October, 2016. The restaurant, brewery, and indoor stage will be operative from the first day of opening. There may be a one-week lag for the outdoor amenities.
When all systems are go, Depot Springs Brewing Company (DSBC) stands to be a first-of-its-kind establishment. While in it’s planning, permitting and construction phase, a few original ideas took on depth, such as the kid zone. Parents can relax and enjoy a meal or sip a cold brew knowing that their child is learning — not just being entertained — in the kid zone. Dean calls the kid zone “a media free zone.” No arcade games, no iPads. Glassmaking, water color, music, among other classes will be offered. With DSBC, there’s a “why not?” attitude executed intelligently, exemplified in the kid zone. Dean is working with the President of Grossmont College to incorporate childhood development students into the kid zone.
Progressive thinking, taking good ideas to higher levels, is the common thread among all of DSBC’s working parts.
Entertainment will be offered seven days a week at “The Platform.” Whether it’s live music, comedy, DJs, fashion shows, or movies on the outdoor, 20-ft. movie screen, fun things will be happening. All the time. East County residents will not have to travel far for a good time, good food, and good beer in one place, but people from all over San Diego county will be filling the seats. Musicians looking to play at DSBC have contacted Dean. He is also working with Taylor Guitars and Guitar Center on events showcasing their artists.
For those who want something more private, DSBC will be able to accommodate them. Indoor and outdoor spaces can be rented separately. Dean has been fielding many calls for holiday parties. DSBC will bring people together, planned and happenstance. Food and beer events are on tap, as well as events for members. The “Pour Over” Club is “geared towards individuals who are interested in the brewery,” Dean said, and seventy out of 100 available memberships have been sold, for $200 per membership. There will be another membership, “geared towards families,” Dean said, that will include “discounts for food, and drinks as well as discounts within the kid zone.” The family membership will launch after DSBC’s opening.
Chef Matt Richman, formerly of Table 926 in Pacific Beach, will lead the culinary team of DSBC’s Table 1888. Dean has been on board with the philosophy offering local, organic, sustainable food as much as possible, which is not a departure from the culinary norm in San Diego these days. But he has suggested that palates of children are not only suited for chicken nuggets, the “why not?” approach at work again, so kids have more variety from which to choose.
Stuart Long, Head Brewer and partner, has developed beer with clever names and highly anticipated releases. DSBC will offer a DIPA (Double India Pale Ale) called “Zen Giver.” Other core beers are “High Ryder” red ale, “Alpha Drifter” pale ale, “Beta Seeker” IPA, and “Nowhere Bound” brown porter.
DSBC has a full liquor license as well. “Lots of tequila,” Dean added on the broader topic of beverages, which he plans to have aplenty, for adults and the younger crowd. Though DSBC will not have it’s own distillery, ordering a whiskey and soda at DSBC will involve selecting from one of Depot Springs thirteen non-alcoholic sodas and a wider variety of liquors than only well known, big labels. Depot Springs Soda Company will be under the DSBC umbrella and will offer carbonated creations from original recipes made and sold at a a separate La Mesa facility. Imagine ginger soda for mules, carbonated lemon-strawberry with vodka, or simply a growler of soda for the kids. Hops will be incorporated into sodas as well, because, why not?
The “why-not’s” of DSBC will fill plenty of open, necessary spaces when the doors open at the Fletcher Parkway location.
Dean has said he wants “to create something different.” Craft brew, good food and entertainment in a family friendly environment is not a new formula, but the DSBC brand and its innovative signature on every last detail will inevitably be different, perhaps even standard setting within the region.
The only drawback is the wait.
For more information on DSNC visit www.depotsprings.com, or @depotsprings on Instagram.
