The craft beer boom has hit Santa Maria. With Santa Maria Brewing and Figueroa Mountain Brewing companies having already planted their flags in the city, Tyler Clark is hoping to do the same with Libertine Brewing Company.
Clark has leased an 8,000-square-foot facility on the south end of the city, at 2325 A St.—near the corner of A Street and Betteravia Road—that will serve as a production center and distribution hub.
The actual brewery is located in San Luis Obispo (SLO), however Clark wants to truck the brew to Santa Maria where it’ll be aged in barrels, bottled, and then shipped off to locations throughout California and beyond. Clark also operates Libertine Pub in Morro Bay.
Libertine specializes in making wild ales, or beer fermented with wild yeast and bacteria strains found in SLO. It’s an old method of making beer that’s picking up in popularity among American craft beers.
When the Sun met up with Clark, he was busy installing fermenting tanks inside the facility. In addition to the racks upon racks of barrels that’ll store Libertine brew, Clark is also installing a bottling line he purchased in Italy.
Producing highly specialized beer that may fall outside the boundaries of familiarity for some people, Clark wants to be able to attract and educate newcomers by building a tasting room at the Santa Maria facility. It’ll be similar to the one in SLO.
With this, he’s hoping to bring Libertine closer to craft beer enthusiasts in Lompoc, or even Santa Barbara.
The new facility sits in the industrial area between Fairway and Betteravia, a location that already includes Santa Maria Brewing Company two blocks away. With this in mind, Clark said it has the potential to become a destination place with retail shops and restaurants similar to the Funk Zone in Santa Barbara.
However, a small problem is brewing. Clark said that he got wind of a petition floating around that’s reportedly signed by less than a dozen nearby residents and business owners who oppose the tasting room.
Santa Maria Director of Community Development Larry Appel said he was aware of the petition, but didn’t know the details. Appel said that those opposed to development projects such as Libertine’s tasting room have the opportunity to make their case before the city Planning Commission, which has the power to approve or deny the project.
The Planning Commission meeting was scheduled for April 6 at City Hall, and the Sun wasn’t able to provide the details of the meeting before press time.
Appel said that whether the Planning Commission denies or approves the project, an appeal must be filed within 14 calendar days in order to be considered by the City Council, which makes the final decision.
Clark doesn’t understand why anyone would be opposed to the tasting room at Libertine, since Santa Maria Brewing Company is in the same area and also has a tasting room.
According to Clark, the petition states the tasting room will attract crime to the area. He called the petition a “bummer,” but added that people may simply be misinformed.
“I’ve been open for four years in Morro Bay and not once have we had an incident there and not once has a cop come there,” Clark told the Sun. “All we are is just a local craft beer bar.”
Despite the petition, Clark sees a positive side to bringing such a business to the area and remains optimistic about coming to Santa Maria.
“We’re all stoked,” Clark said.
Highlights
• If you live in Santa Maria and are a Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) customer, it just got easier to pay your bill. The company opened a branch payment office in the city on April 4. The office is located at 550 E. Betteravia, suite B, and customers can come Monday through Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to pay their bills with cash, check, or money order. In addition to coming to the branch location, customers can pay their bills directly over the phone, online at myaccount.socalgas.com, or have it deducted directly from their bank accounts. For more information, call SoCalGas at (800) 427-2200.
Staff Writer David Minsky wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, email, or mail.
This article appears in Apr 7-14, 2016.