Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Meet Valley Center Brewery

Inland north county community poised to welcome its first brewery

Valley Center Brewery's completed interim facility
Valley Center Brewery's completed interim facility
It's apt that a craft brewery facility be as house-made as its beers

Even locals with the slightest grasp of the craft beer movement can see how widespread it is within San Diego County. Breweries and brewpubs are opening up all over the place, pushing the geographic borders of suds saturation. Otay Mesa, Kearny Mesa, Ramona, Jamul, and Fallbrook have all welcomed new operations in the last two years. And now, it looks as though Valley Center may be the next first-timer to join the fold.

Three of the community’s residents are on pace to open Valley Center Brewery in the near future after receiving approvals from required governmental agencies. That trio consists of Robert Marek, a homebrewer with well over 100 brews under his belt, his son and assistant brewer Alex Marek, and retired aerospace defense software engineer John Mangan. Together, they’ve been working on their beer recipes, producing test batches on five-, ten-, 15-, 20-, and 30-gallon systems for nearly three years.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Valley Center Brewery's mascot, Little Jeff

Once open, Valley Center Brewing will utilize a three-and-a-half-barrel brewhouse purchased from Stout Tanks and Kettles in Portland, Oregon. For now, that system is housed in a structure the trio built as an interim space while they search for a final space, which will include a tasting room, in a prominent Valley Center location. That spot will serve beers in kegs and, eventually, bottles.

Valley Center Brewing’s initial line-up figures to include a pale ale, India pale ale, some form of lager, and a “little ale” (think low-alcohol lager, though none of their beers will be over seven percent ABV). Funnily enough, it wasn’t that long ago that IPAs and other craft offerings were beyond Robert’s depth. But, a few years ago, he reached beyond his go-to Keystone Light, discovering the darker, richer world of porters and stouts. From there, it was on to pale ales and so on and so on until he eventually decided to retire from his previous vocation (like Mangan, he was an aerospace software engineer) to do something he loved—brewing.

The entrepreneurs consider it an honor to bring their hometown its first brewery. That has motivated them to spend significant time and energy trying to fine tune their beers to be something their neighbors can be proud to call their own.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tiny Home Central isn’t solving the San Diego housing crisis

But it does hope to help fill in the gaps
Valley Center Brewery's completed interim facility
Valley Center Brewery's completed interim facility
It's apt that a craft brewery facility be as house-made as its beers

Even locals with the slightest grasp of the craft beer movement can see how widespread it is within San Diego County. Breweries and brewpubs are opening up all over the place, pushing the geographic borders of suds saturation. Otay Mesa, Kearny Mesa, Ramona, Jamul, and Fallbrook have all welcomed new operations in the last two years. And now, it looks as though Valley Center may be the next first-timer to join the fold.

Three of the community’s residents are on pace to open Valley Center Brewery in the near future after receiving approvals from required governmental agencies. That trio consists of Robert Marek, a homebrewer with well over 100 brews under his belt, his son and assistant brewer Alex Marek, and retired aerospace defense software engineer John Mangan. Together, they’ve been working on their beer recipes, producing test batches on five-, ten-, 15-, 20-, and 30-gallon systems for nearly three years.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Valley Center Brewery's mascot, Little Jeff

Once open, Valley Center Brewing will utilize a three-and-a-half-barrel brewhouse purchased from Stout Tanks and Kettles in Portland, Oregon. For now, that system is housed in a structure the trio built as an interim space while they search for a final space, which will include a tasting room, in a prominent Valley Center location. That spot will serve beers in kegs and, eventually, bottles.

Valley Center Brewing’s initial line-up figures to include a pale ale, India pale ale, some form of lager, and a “little ale” (think low-alcohol lager, though none of their beers will be over seven percent ABV). Funnily enough, it wasn’t that long ago that IPAs and other craft offerings were beyond Robert’s depth. But, a few years ago, he reached beyond his go-to Keystone Light, discovering the darker, richer world of porters and stouts. From there, it was on to pale ales and so on and so on until he eventually decided to retire from his previous vocation (like Mangan, he was an aerospace software engineer) to do something he loved—brewing.

The entrepreneurs consider it an honor to bring their hometown its first brewery. That has motivated them to spend significant time and energy trying to fine tune their beers to be something their neighbors can be proud to call their own.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Mid-range fleet scoring bluefin limits off Ensenada

Rockfish to open at all depths April 1st (no foolin’)
Next Article

Gilbert Castellanos, Buddha Trixie, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Shane Hall, Brian Jones Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival

Grand Socials, gigs, and record releases in Del Mar, City Heights, Solana Beach, Little Italy, and Ocean Beach
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.