New breweries to watch

There are 18 new breweries in the county this year? That’s as of October. It’ll take days for you to try them all. So I advise you to prioritize these promising upstarts.

Second Chance Beer Co.

Founding brewer Marty Mendiola has 17 years of brewing experience going for him, so there aren’t any noticeable hiccups from this two-month old brewery, which was built to scale up fast once beer drinkers catch on.

Helix Brewing

Home brewer Cameron Ball was in no rush to start his brewing company — he was more interested in getting it right. He’s begun with a handful of recipes that do just that, in a remarkable space.

Duck Foot

The headlines all pointed out (including mine) how Duck Foot makes beer friendly to the gluten-intolerant. But there’s more to it than that, and by more I mean really clean, high quality beer.

Bay City Brewing

When some Point Loma guys talked about a beer company, they knew they’d need a good brewer. They found one in Chris West, formerly of Monkey Paw, and wasted no time kicking together a sweet little brewery that started producing flavorful brews from day one.

Abnormal Beer Company

Experimental home brewer Derek Gallanosa learned how the pros do it working at Karl Strauss. Now in a lead role at this company working out of the back of a full-service restaurant, he turns out good, clean professional beers that subtly reveal his artistic streak.

South Park Brewing Company

Could a medal-winning brewer at one brewery handle split duties while starting up another? Cosimo Sorrentino seems to be handling the challenge of bouncing between Monkey Paw and this new South Park fixture without losing a step, and collecting a couple more awards in the process.