After more than four years in business, Belching Beaver Brewery has announced it will not be renewing its lease on its tasting room in San Diego's Ocean Beach.
Founded by Tom Vogel & Dave Mobley in 2012, Belching Beaver has grown from a modest start in Vista’s Business Park with a facility that produced 1,800 barrels per year into a mid-size brewery that can produce up to 40,000 barrels of craft beer annually. The company's beers, credited to head brewer Troy Smith, are now sold throughout California - from San Diego to San Francisco, as well as in Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Belching Beaver currently has 5 locations, including a large Oceanside brewing facility & tasting room, an Ocean Beach tasting room, a North Park tasting room, and two spots in the brewery's hometown of Vista in San Diego's North County - the original location and a new full service restaurant and brewpub that debuted in 2016."With a heavy heart, we would like to announce our decision to not renew the lease at our Ocean Beach tasting room," announced the company via a post to its social media accounts. "We regret leaving a community we have enjoyed, but there are numerous reasons for this decision, including one motivated by COVID-era regulations. OB is our only location that does not provide an opportunity for outdoor dining. That will be a priority for us as we look for a replacement venue. In the meantime, we are offering employees from our Ocean Beach tasting room work at our other locations. Thank you for the Dam Good Times we had in OB."
Belching Beaver marks the third San Diego brewery to pull out of Ocean Beach in 2020. This past spring, Culture Brewing left its 5-year-old tasting room and was replaced by hard-kombucha brand Nova Easy Kombucha. Cannabis-infused Two Roots Brewing also departed OB this year, although that tasting room also has a new suitor in sour specialist California Wild Ales.
Belching Beaver marks the third San Diego brewery to pull out of Ocean Beach in 2020. This past spring, Culture Brewing left its 5-year-old tasting room and was replaced by hard-kombucha brand Nova Easy Kombucha. Cannabis-infused Two Roots Brewing also departed OB this year, although that tasting room also has a new suitor in sour specialist California Wild Ales.
