Helm's charts a course for the beach

Newport Avenue is in the process of becoming a beer hub. First to open in a spate of pending brewery projects along the Ocean Beach strip is Helm's Brewing. In mid-May the Kearny Mesa–based company opened a tasting room at a Cable Street corner location that previously housed a clothing boutique called the Humble Hippy.

Helm's joins Solana Beach–based Culture Brewing on the block, with Belching Beaver reportedly due this summer. Elsewhere on Newport, the coming-soon O.B. Brewery seems poised to end six months of teasing to finally open Memorial Day weekend.

The Helm's shop features an open, dog-friendly layout that suits the beach-community vibe, and wood accents and furnishings maintain the brand's nautical theme. Sixteen taps include a cask handle and rotating seasonal releases in addition to Helm's eight core beers. True to O.B. style, a roll-up window bar offers drinkers a chance to sample pints and tasters belly up to the sidewalk, where they can watch the street life go by.

Cofounder Bryan Ruiz said Helm's had been considering a tasting room in North Park when they found the Newport space. "We knew we wanted to branch out into another neighborhood," he said, pointing to a trend of industrial-park breweries seeking out high-foot-traffic areas for more immediate access to customers. "There was a big push for the industrial-park location for a while," he added. "It was kind of a novelty — the tours were going around — but it kind of wore off after a little bit. Now people want a retail storefront location."

Which explains the development of O.B.’s burgeoning craft scene, including a Mike Hess Brewing tasting room that opened a few blocks north on Voltaire Street last summer, and Pizza Port O.B., which celebrated its sixth anniversary a couple blocks away the same weekend Helm's opened.

Judging by a happily bustling first-weekend crowd, O.B.’s gritty, undeniably thirsty population seems primed for its incoming craft boom. "This location's awesome!" Ruiz said. "The community's really embraced us." He paused for a moment to reflect on some of colorful, ranting O.B. characters most Newport retailers encounter on a routine basis, and amended his statement: "The vast majority of the people are very welcoming and excited to have us here!"