Slaking thirst in the beer deserts

Certain parts of San Diego — areas like Miramar, the 78 corridor, and North Park — are well-known as local beer meccas. But having so many breweries concentrated in certain parts of town can leave residents in other neighborhoods feeling left out. That was the thinking at Little Miss Brewing when they began plans to expand their local footprint.

“A few years ago, we decided to open tasting rooms in beer deserts, specifically places that are missing breweries,” explains Greg Malkin, Operations Manager at Little Miss. Malkin and his wife, Little Miss’ owner Jade Mischner, chose the “beer deserts” of Poway and Eastlake for two tasting rooms that are slated to open this spring. “The closest tasting rooms to our Poway spot are Lightning Brewing, Harland, and Second Chance — they’re all about a 15-minute drive away,” Malkin continues. “It’s a similar story for our Eastlake location. We happen to be in the same plaza as Chula Vista Brewing’s new location, but other than them and Novo Brazil, there aren’t any other breweries within a 15-minute drive.”

Of course, these new tasting rooms will require additional beer to slake the thirst of San Diego’s beer Bedouins, so Little Miss is bringing in a new 30-barrel brewing system to add to their current 10-barrel system. Malkin enthuses, “The 30-barrel system should allow us to implement our new distribution plans. Currently, we turn down accounts that want to carry our beer because we need it for our tasting rooms. The system is four vessels and steam powered. We’re still deciding on whether we will expand our current production facility to house the new system, or if we will opt for a completely different location for the new system. We also plan to have mobile canning packages; roughly half the beer we produce will be sold to accounts.”

The new system also paves the way for new brewing possibilities, including a Mexican Lager whose release will coincide with the opening of the Eastlake tasting room. “For the longest time, we’ve had to limit our production of lagers and high ABV beers due to a limitation on our current system to handle the large grain bills and our limits on fermentation capacity. Both problems will be eliminated with the new system, and that should allow us to have an even more diverse tap list than we currently have,” explains Malkin.

The brewery, named in honor of Malkin’s sister (who stands only slightly taller than 4’5”), is poised to be anything but a “little” brewery. Malkin expects to hire six to eight people over the next 12 months to help with brewing, cellaring, and sales. Additionally, with the new brewing system, Little Miss is eager to collaborate. Malkin concludes, “We are currently looking for other breweries to work with, whether it be contract brewing or an alternating proprietorship, and any other brewery should feel free to reach out to us.”