Pure Project, the Miramar-headquartered brewery, is opening a fourth and a fifth location in San Diego County later this year.
Founded in 2015, Pure Project recently acquired the former Iron Fist Brewery in Vista, according to Mat Robar, co-founder of Pure Project. The 14,000 square foot space will not only serve as its main brewery and taproom, he said, but also as the Pure Project hub, housing its administrative team upon opening. The company has roughly 50 employees total.
Pure Project closed on the building on January 1, said Robar, and it is currently undergoing demolition and upgrades in hopes of opening in the next couple of months. Miramar, the current headquarters at roughly 10,000 square feet, will continue to serve as a tasting room (350 square feet) and the rest as dry and cold storage, he said.
By summer, Pure Project hopes to open its upcoming North Park location, said Robar, joining Miramar, Balboa Park and Carlsbad. At 7,000 square feet, 5,000 of which is comprised of an outdoor courtyard, North Park will serve as an additional taproom for the $4.5 million company.
16 Barrel Brewhouse
The opening of the two locations will strategically increase Pure Project’s production, said Robar, as well as its bottom line.
“We produced 3,100 barrels in 2020 out of Miramar, which is a lot for a seven-barrel brew house,” said Robar, who co-founded the company alongside business partner Jesse Pine. “We are hoping, once Vista opens, which is a 15-barrel brewhouse, to increase production past 10,000 barrels over the next couple of years.”
Before COVID-19, Robar said Pure Project had over 350 accounts, adding that the company self-distributes in California. Since the pandemic, Pure Project has moved to packaging, meaning, bottling and canning and selling direct to consumers rather than kegging, the latter which would typically be sold to bars and restaurants. With indoor dining shut down in San Diego due to increasing COVID-19 cases in the county, on-premise is off limits for the time being.
“We are selling as much as we can direct to consumer during this time,” he said, “and started our own direct to consumer shipping within California and Nevada as well.”
As a result of this pivot, Robar said Pure Project’s revenue has remained positive through the pandemic. A Carlsbad location opened in July, he said, and is doing relatively well considered the climate.
