Amid the eclectic music emanating from multiple stages at the 2014 Coachella Valley Music Festival—this was where the idea for and partnership behind Palomar Brewing Company came to be. The brainchild of Ben Fairweather and Mike Stevenson, two entrepreneurs who had individual plans to get open breweries before deciding their goals would best be achieved by pooling their energies and ambitions, the business is scheduled to open in Carlsbad by year’s end so long as all goes smoothly.
Located just north of the intersection of El Camino Real and Palomar Airport Road (across from a Staples and Starbucks not far from Pizza Port’s Bressi Ranch facility for those who prefer landmarks to street names), the business is being installed in a warehouse at 2719 West Loker Avenue. Fairweather works for the printing company that previously occupied that storage facility. From the get-go, he knew he wanted to place his brewery in Carlsbad, the city where he grew up and built his first business, a recording studio.
Stevenson’s road to PBC is washed over in local and international beeriness. His immersion in suds started with having a father who homebrewed. After college, the North County native worked at a small brewery in Germany before returning to San Diego and taking a job at Twisted Manzanita Ales in Santee. He is also enrolled in UCSD’s Brewing Science Program and is lined up for an internship at White Labs this fall. But that’s not all. He recently completed a three-week stint assisting at a nanobrewery on the Italian island of Sardinia.
Once open, Stevenson will be in charge of brewing while Fairweather continues to oversee the business aspects of PBC. There are no plans for offering “core beers.” Instead, Stevenson will brew a variety of styles on the business’ 15-barrel system, allowing feedback from customers to help carve out his ultimate direction. He says he realizes IPAs are engrained in the San Diego beer culture, but wants to brew styles hailing from Belgium, Germany and the U.K. That said, numerous all-American brews will also be on tap, including a hoppy blonde, session IPA and stout. With plenty of room for barrel-aging, that will also be a focus as soon as PBC begins brewing.
