Old brewery news

Amid the startling number of new breweries opening these late summer months, some of the county's oldest and largest breweries are also making news with changes in packaging, production, and personnel.

Coronado Brewing Company They announced an increase in annual production capacity from 45,000 to 65,000 barrels, thanks to the addition of four new 40-barrel fermenters at its Bay Park brewhouse. It's part of a multimillion-dollar expansion designed to build on the company achieving 30 percent growth in 2015. Coronado has also taken over real estate adjacent to its brewery and added a canning line that will begin releasing mainstay beers as soon as March 2016.

Stone Brewing Co. San Diego barely had a day to reconcile the news Saint Archer had sold a majority stake to MillerCoors when Stone announced that longtime CEO Greg Koch would be stepping down from his position while the company searches for a replacement. Stepping down might not be the right word for it — Stone is calling it a promotion to the role of executive chairman, saying "Koch will focus on long-term and higher-level strategic planning for the company," and continue to oversee expansion projects in Richmond, Virginia, and Berlin, Germany.

Green Flash Brewing Company Following a busy year in which Green Flash purchased Alpine Beer Co. and opened barrel-aging offshoot Cellar 3, it's announced the hiring of a new COO, former Qualcomm, Ericsson, and Novitel VP Chris Ross. The tech exec takes over a business expecting to produce 100,000 barrels of beer this year for national distribution; Green Flash also plans to open a new tasting room and brewing facility in Virginia Beach in 2016. In the meantime, the brewery has increased distribution of six-packs, including a limited national six-pack release of Alpine's Pure Hoppiness in November.

AleSmith The brewery is counting down the final days at its original 15-barrel brewery on Miramar's Cabot Drive as it readies a final transition to its new 80-barrel brewhouse down the road on AleSmith Court this fall. September 19th, the Cabot location starts a Farewell to Cabot Kickoff event featuring specialty beer releases, even as its national distribution grows with recent market additions of Virginia, Minnesota, and the greater Chicago area.