The letters in COLD Coast Brewing Company don’t spell the temperature of the beer it serves. It’s actually an acronym from each of the brewery’s four owners’ last names.
Now, more than two years after the quartet originally hoped to debut their new venue, Lompoc locals Dave Caro, Eric Oviatt, Mike Lamping, and Jason Drew celebrated a soft opening for their joint effort in late April—and a formal ribbon cutting ceremony for the bar is set for Friday, May 20.
“We originally planned to open on St. Patrick’s Day 2020. COVID put a halt to that plan,” said Drew, who added that the bar’s recent soft opening was surprisingly “very last minute.”
“We were waiting for the beer to tell us when it was ready, and that happened about four hours before we opened the doors to the public [on April 26],” Drew said. “We had quite a crowd on four hours’ notice. The response from the community has been tremendous. We have been so humbled by their support.”
Drew said that he and his fellow co-owners are longtime friends and have been brewing beer together as a shared hobby for the past six to seven years.
“We are all Lompoc natives and wanted to bring something great and special to Lompoc and help revitalize Old Town Lompoc,” Drew said, recalling why the four of them set out to open a brewery together in their mutual hometown.
Guests of COLD Coast Brewing Company can expect to find high-quality batches of carefully crafted brews and grub from whichever food truck happens to be on-site, depending on the day. The new venue is described as a spacious, family-friendly gathering place, with ample room for large groups, parties, and other events. The public is welcome to apply to host events at the brewery, which a group of players of Magic: The Gathering recently succeeded at, Drew explained.
“We were happy to oblige,” said Drew, commenting on the first Magic: The Gathering Draft Night that was scheduled for May 16. “We plan on hosting more events in the future, but those events are still in the works.”
Shortly after its soft opening, COLD Coast Brewing Company participated in the 2022 Buellton Brew Fest, held on May 7 at River View Park in Buellton. The annual event featured more than 50 breweries, wineries, and other vendors.
COLD Coast used its booth at the Buellton Brew Fest to showcase its unique beer selection, which includes The Guv’na—a malty, bronze-colored extra special bitter beer created as an ode to British pubs.
“My personal favorite beer is our ‘Guv’na’ English-style pub ale,” Drew said. The Tropical IPA is a close second, and it has been the most popular by our patrons.”
The TIPA 2.0 (Tropical IPA) is described as mild and floral on the brewery’s website, with a “burst of mango and pineapple to the nose and the low hop bitterness of a New England-style IPA,” while the venue’s West Coast Double IPA is listed as a tribute to “California hop-heads,” and features “those piney, citrusy hops that we all love.”
Other beers at COLD Coast include the Hoppy Blonde, described as a crowd favorite with a hint of honey, recommended especially on hot summer days—though it tastes a tad bit heavier than traditional blondes, hence the “Hoppy” in its name.
“It can be difficult for non-beer drinkers to decide on something to try. I usually recommend our Hoppy Blonde, and it’s usually a surprise to them when they actually really like it,” Drew said.
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood drinks pops more often than hops. Send comments to cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 19-26, 2022.
