Santee-based Twisted Manzanita Ales & Spirits is closing down its tasting room in Pacific Beach. Located at 4652 Mission Boulevard, the 1,400-square-foot satellite, non-brewing facility was opened in 2014 as a coastal yang to the yin that is the company’s easterly inland headquarters. This is the third brewery-owned venue closure in the past 30 days, following URBN Restaurant Group shutting down the brewing component of its El Cajon brewpub and Stone Brewing Co. deciding to pull the plug on Stone Farms. But there’s more to this closure than the others, says employees and former staff at Twisted Manzanita.
According to several internal sources, Twisted Manzanita’s ownership informed employees of the Pacific Beach tasting room that they were closing it temporarily in order to remodel the venue. While they were away, the draft system was disassembled. (The photos here show the state of things when an employee arrived unannounced last Sunday evening.)
According to Twisted Manzanita employees and witnesses at a neighboring business, last Monday night ownership ordered staff from Santee to come to PB to clear out the tasting room. Items were loaded into a truck and trailer and hauled away. An internal email later confirmed the business was not being remodeled but, in fact, being closed.
Twisted Manzanita is in the process of working with a group of separate investors to try to open an Oggi’s-style ale house in North Park, but there is no guarantee that, if that comes to fruition, the company’s PB employees will be offered jobs at that location.
The information in this article was offered and corroborated by multiple Twisted Manzanita employees who wished to share this information anonymously. A number of them stated that, as of press-time, the PB tasting room employees still had no idea their workplace was being closed down, making this a particularly bitter bit of news to deliver. (Editor’s Note: Outside of the employees interviewed for this article, Twisted Manzanita Ales could not be reached for comment.)
Jeff Fancy says
Free peanuts? I never got free peanuts, or anything else for free. Ok, Twisted Manzanita, this is your neighbor from Jamul. As a long time fan who has followed you before you were twisted, and beer lover extraordinare of the county, I’d like to know what’s going on. Please give Brandon Hernandez at West Coaster the courtesy of a call back. I, and other followers, would like to know. We are your base.
Cheers!
Jeff Fancy
Jamul and Coronado
Randy R says
Thanks Jeff. Yes, I am curious too…
eggplant says
for those paying attention this should come as no surprise…overextending themselves w spirits,contract brewing for FAT CAT, and getting rid of the free peanuts at their tasting room all played a part in their demise.manzanita should have just tried to focus on making quality consistent product and maybe theyd have been better off…oh well.
SayWhat?!!! says
Eggplant, I see that you chose to single out Fat Cat in your reply to Brandon Hernadez’s story regarding TM’s closing of its PB tasting room. Question. Do you have any idea how tough it is to operate a brewery in SD today? Didn’t think so. TM rightfully welcomed Fat Cat, Thorn St, ________ and every other craft beer brand for which it contract brewed because it was the prudent thing to do! Until you have stood in their shoes, you should keep your opinions to yourself because they are based on fantasy, not reality.
Eggplant says
Fantasy?!?! Really? Fantasy is getting behind a sub par beer brewed at Minhaus for the majority of its life masquerading as a “local” beer …local huh? Invite me to ur brewery for a conversation…oh yeah u dont have one! Fat cat is horrible beer trying to masquerade as local craft. In an already saturated market theres no room for these types of operations.
Teri says
It may be hard to have a brewery…….. But not hard to have respect for employees and customers.
Brandon W says
You can only give one side of the story if management is unwilling to comment.
Jeff Fancy says
Hey Brandon,
Not saying you are biased, but the article reads that way. I’ve read your articles for years and you have always given both sides of the story. I would like to have heard the owners’ side of why this transpired. I love your work, but this wasn’t like you. Sorry you don’t like my opinion.
Jeff
Jeff Fancy says
Randy R.,
For one thing there is too much hearsay and nothing from the owners’ side of the story.
Randy R says
I read it as ‘the owners/spokesman, etc at Manzanita couldn’t be reached for comment.
Additionally, if you do things int eh middle of a closed time, without telling the employees, especially the affected employees, it’s just uncool. No business should do that, but i do understand it happens.
Brandon Hernández says
There isn’t one bit of bias here, Jeff. Sorry, but there simply isn’t. These things happened and there isn’t one bit of opinion in here…except in your comment. But you’re entitled to your opinion, no matter how incorrect.
Jeff Fancy says
What’s the reason for writing a biased article like this? It’s poor form.
Randy R says
I see it as facts, not biased…???
Randy R says
Wow, interesting and bad news….