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The newest addition to North Park’s craft beer contingent is currently under construction at 3052 El Cajon Blvd. Eater has learned that Pariah Brewing Company will be the first of three breweries moving into the new Brewery Igniter space and innovative turn-key brew hub from San Diego developer, H.G. Fenton Company.
Owner and brewer Brian Mitchell (former brewmaster at La Jolla Brewhouse and Helm’s Brewing Company) is outfitting the 2,000-square-foot former strip club into a combined brewery and tasting room suite with a 10-barrel Premier Stainless System, where he aims to top out at about 2,000 bbl per year. An industry veteran, Mitchell’s credentials also include time on the Small Batch Team at Stone, where he was responsible for R&D brewing, barrel aging, and "funky stuff" like Enjoy After IPA, its cask program and special creation beers.
"Working with the folks at Brewery Igniter has been great and we are thrilled to be in the company of the awesome businesses that are all around North Park. I won’t say too much in regards to specifics of what we will be brewing, other than we are being very particular and have done exuberant amounts of travel and research on the ingredients and processes we will employ at Pariah."
White Labs is currently finishing up Pariah’s yeast library, which we’re told will boast a house strain dubbed Wicked Ale Yeast, a strain Mitchell brought back from Belgium called Sinner Ale Yeast and a native wild yeast and bacteria he caught and isolated from his own backyard in North Park.
Mitchell says the brewery's launch will feature two to three hop-forward offerings, two Belgian/French-inspired brews, a stout, and various wild and non-style-specific beers. Design-wise, the space will be "sophisticated with an edge as well as quirky and fearlessly whimsical".
Holding strong for a tentative September opening, Mitchell and his team plan to do previews and tasting events around town, in addition to creating a future food component for the brewery. H.G. Fentron property manager Jacqueline Oliver tells Eater announcements are coming soon regarding two other breweries who are signed to take the remaining spaces at the El Cajon Brewery Igniter outpost.