Coronado Brewing announces plans for new brewpub and distillery

On March 2, Coronado Brewing Company announced it will build a new ten-barrel brewpub in the city of Imperial Beach, located at the southernmost tip of San Diego Bay and Wildlife Refuge, where it meets the Otay River (535 Florence Street, Imperial Beach).

Coronado brewing COO Kasey Chapman said via press release, "We've been wanting to open another location for some time, and we felt like the South Bay has been under-served by craft beer." Coronado Brewing has operated a counter-service restaurant and tasting room on the pacific shore of the south bay city since late 2014, a block from the Imperial Beach Pier. A Coronado Brewing rep says that property has been thriving and will stay open once the new brewery and full service restaurant build-out is complete.

The location of the brewery also sits on the southern loop of the Bayshore Bikeway, an ongoing SANDAG project to construct 24 miles of dedicated bike paths circumnavigating the bay, and connecting via ferry between Coronado and downtown. Coronado Brewing will the anchor of a larger Bikeway Village development, converting a 15,000-square-foot industrial property into a bayside retail destination described as "a variety of shops, cafés, and all your outdoor activity needs" that is "strategically designed to accommodate bicyclist, after-surf coffee-goers, and inspire further outdoor recreation."

The Coronado brewpub will occupy approximately half the development, with 7000 square feet and an outdoor patio featuring fire pits and unobstructed views of the bay and San Diego skyline. In addition to a ten-barrel brewhouse, Coronado Brewing announced it also intends to launch a distilling component on the property once it's built, though at this time it has not released details on the size and scope of its spirit-making plans.

While Coronado brewing sets a target date for the restaurant and brewery to open as spring or summer of 2018, it will activate the place as a retail location in time for summer 2017. "We plan on having a mobile beer trailer with 18-20 taps, food trucks, and plenty of outdoor seating," says Chapman.