Beer’s pretty great. I like it a lot. I drink it all the time! It’s the best.
Are you nodding enthusiastically? Yeah, I thought so. You and I are two of the many who have driven the explosion in craft beer popularity over the past few years. Breweries of all shapes and sizes have popped up everywhere, and the beer drinkers’ demand isn’t dwindling. It’s a big thing.
That said, I was surprised to learn that Santa Maria, the largest city in our area, is home to only one brewery: the Santa Maria Brewing Company, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. When Santa Maria Brewing’s founders Dan Hilker and Gary Ford got the company off the ground two decades ago, the Central Coast hosted only a handful of breweries. Now, owner Byron Moles—who partnered up with Hilker three years ago after Ford retired—estimates there are as many as 20 breweries in our slice of California.
But, he said, Santa Maria hasn’t embraced the boom.
“Santa Maria missed the boat on that by telling Libertine they couldn’t have their tasting room,” Moles said. “We were rooting really hard for them to get their tasting room in there. We were hoping it would bring a couple of more breweries down to this industrial area, where we were bringing in a lot of folks who were just passing through.”
When that didn’t happen, Moles took Santa Maria’s craft beer market into his own hands. Santa Maria Brewing’s location on Fairway Drive features a tasting room and production facility. The company’s Nipomo taproom brings in a ton of foot traffic. In the next few months, the Santa Maria Brewing team will open a new brewery and restaurant in Atascadero, and the company is looking into a potential Santa Maria taproom location, as well.
Moles said the Atascadero location will open new doors for the company.
“I feel North County in San Luis Obispo is a lot more receptive to the beer industry,” he said. “There’s just a lot going on up there, and I wanted to be a part of it. Unlike some people who fear competition, I think competition brings out the best in people. I think a group of people working collectively together can grow something exceptional, and I think that’s what the opportunity is in the North County of San Luis Obispo that we missed here.”
And Moles isn’t just looking to work with other brewers to perfect the craft—he’s soliciting help from his drinkers, as well.
The company is currently developing ideas for new beers, with the intention of holding a vote on the most popular suggestions by Santa Maria Brewing’s founders and beer club members. The company will brew the winning beer suggestion and make it available exclusively to its club members for 30 days, after which anyone will be welcome to it.
Moles said he intends to use this method to brew one new beer each month.
Moles is relatively new to the beer industry. Amid a career of marketing, sales, retail, and business ownership, he told Ford 18 years ago that when Ford was ready to sell Santa Maria Brewing, he’d better let Moles know.
“I thought his brand was something that could be marketed really well across the nation, because a lot of people know the Santa Maria ship and what it’s meant to America,” Moles said. “Three years ago [Ford] called me and said ‘I’m ready,’ and I wasn’t quite ready, but I had to do it.”
And despite the steep learning curve, Moles said he’s excited for what’s to come.
But you don’t have to wait for new locations to get the Santa Maria Brewing experience. Check out the brewery at 1451 Fairway Drive, where the crew offers tours of the production facility, located right next to its small taproom.
Go. Drink. Be merry. And join in keeping Santa Maria beered.
Brenna Swanston can never lose that last five pounds and beer is the culprit. Send your beer-lover’s woes to bswanston@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 4-11, 2016.