The latest addition to the coastal brew pub scene is Hess Brewery, which recently expanded to Ocean Beach from its North Park headquarters.
\nSitting in the pub\u2019s new tasting room at 4893 Voltaire St., staffers Eric Magruder and Drew Lopez talked about Hess\u2019 brand and offerings.
\n“All the beers on tap here come out of the brewery in North Park,” said Lopez.
\n“It\u2019s a good local area, a really good community,” said Magruder, discussing why OB was chosen for their tasting room site. “It\u2019s pretty central. We like being close to OB Noodle House and Hungry Lu\u2019s (deli).”
\nLopez noted the company\u2019s founder\/owner, Mike Hess, recently moved with his family to OB.
\nAsked about competition from other area pubs, Magruder replied, “We don\u2019t like to use the \u2018C\u2019 word. The beer community thinks of itself as one big family.”
\nConcerning whether San Diego has become the microbrew capital of the country, Lopez said, “We\u2019re approaching it,” while adding, “There\u2019s plenty of room for growth.”
\nNoting the tasting room is not a restaurant, Lopez pointed out that “We don\u2019t have a kitchen.” He added that Hess has a cooperative agreement in place with Surfrider Pizza nearby.
\n“You can order pizza from the bartenders here, who will call in an order for you, and (Surfrider) will bring your pizza here to you,” Lopez said. “It\u2019s a nice option and helps us support local business.”
\nLopez said Hess is both dog- and family-friendly. “We\u2019re here to be a part of the community,” said Lopez. “We want to be an asset.”
\nHess is open weekdays from noon to 10 a.m. and till midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
\nHess\u2019s retail space was previously a dog wash. The tasting room is in its soft opening phase, with remodeling changes to come, said Magruder.
\n“We\u2019re going to take out these windows here (pointing to a wall of them) and replace them with roll-up doors,” he said, adding, “We also have some artwork coming, as well as outdoor banners.”
\nLopez said the new roll-up doors will open up the establishment allowing a freer and easier two-way flow of people and music into and out of Hess.
\n“People passing by will be able to catch some of that sound,” said Lopez.
\n“The open doors will make us an interactive part of the community,” agreed Magruder.
\nThe OB Hess tasting room has at least 15 different custom brews on tap.
\n“One of the brews we get most recognized for is our Grazias Cream Ale,” said Magruder, adding, “It\u2019s a really nice, light beer. What\u2019s special about it is the malt that goes into it gives it a nice carmely color and the light body that makes it nice, powerful and drinkable. It\u2019s a clean ale.”
\nMagruder noted there are two major types of brews, ales and lagers, which now have lots of hybrids being created with combinations of each type.
\nLopez pointed out that Hess also offers gluten-free and gluten-reduced beer varieties.
\n“It\u2019s below the level that celiac folks have to worry about,” noted Magruder.
\nBoth Hess employees believe there\u2019s nowhere for the local craft beer industry to go right now other than up.
\n“Demand has definitely grown over the past decade or so,” said Lopez. “Everyone right now is looking for that next beer.”
\nAnd Hess is hoping people are going to find that next big drinkable brew there.
\n“We like to think we\u2019ve got what will work for everybody,” said Lopez, adding, “We have a very nice array of different styles on board \u2013 something for everyone.”
\nFor more information, call (619) 795-1095 or visit mikehessbrewing.com\/brewery\/hoursdirections\/.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The latest addition to the coastal brew pub scene is Hess Brewery, which recently expanded to Ocean Beach from its North Park headquarters. Sitting in the pub\u2019s new tasting room at 4893 Voltaire St., staffers Eric Magruder and Drew Lopez talked about Hess\u2019 brand and offerings. “All the beers on tap here come out of […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":278163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"Hess Brewery opens tasting room in Ocean Beach","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11561],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-278162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-peninsula-beacon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}