It’s a familiar refrain from brewers across the country: Once the doors open on the first day, it’s rare that they ever go back to look at the original business plan, except for nostalgia. The beer industry is growing at a breakneck pace, and often what was forecasted modest growth moves at an accelerated pace. All brewery owners can do is keep up with demand, seek out the right opportunities for growth, and take risks when necessary.
Jacob McKean knows this all too well. An avid homebrewer and former employee at Stone Brewing Co. in Southern California, where he worked in the communications department, he founded Modern Times Beer in San Diego five years ago. During the start-up period and throughout the brewery’s run, he’s often chronicled life behind the scenes, posting essays on the troubles and endless hard work that goes into an entrepreneurial venture to employee staffing. His honest, bare-it-all takes helped forge the brewery’s reputation even before it opened.
Recently, he took a few minutes to reflect on the past five years and what he called “a truly insane past few months” during which he saw the opening of The Dankness Dojo in Los Angeles and the Belmont Fermentorium in Portland, Oregon. These join the Lomaland Fermentorium, the original location in San Diego, and the nearby Flavordome, a taproom. For a small business rooted in Southern California, it makes sense that a San Diego brewery would expand into Los Angeles.