Golden Road is expanding its presence in Southern California.
The Los Angeles-based craft brewery today announced plans to build a second brewery and restaurant in Anaheim, about 40 miles south of its current production facility.
“The City of Anaheim has been incredibly supportive of the project and understands the value that a new pub and brewery brings to its local community,” Golden Road co-founder Meg Gill said in a press statement.
Situated on 56,000 sq. ft., Golden Road Anaheim, which is directly adjacent to Angel Stadium, will be built out in two phases, Gill told Brewbound. The plan, Gill said, is to begin brewing in the same 15-barrel brewhouse the company used when it launched onto the scene in late 2011. That will give Golden Road about 5,000 barrels of initial capacity and enable the company to start experimenting with new styles of beer unique to the Anaheim location.
The company isn’t sure exactly how much it will eventually be able to produce in Anaheim, but the building, which it purchased for about $9 million, is 10,000 sq. ft. larger than its Los Angeles location. That facility is capable of making more than 50,000 barrels annually, Gill said.
“At its peak, we can do between 60,000 and 70,000 barrels here in LA,” she added.
The decision to build in a second location an hour away from its current space was driven by a variety of factors, Gill said.
“Our first criteria was that we needed to buy the building,” she said. “ We looked closely at other places in LA. We were attracted by the growth trends in Orange County – we’re up 124 percent — and being near Angel Stadium and the Honda Center. We also like that 20 million visitors a year come to Anaheim. It is a highly trafficked area and high growth area.”
Victor Novak, an award-winning California brewer who joined Golden Road from TAPS Fish House & Brewery last year, will serve as the brewmaster at the new location. Construction is slated to begin in May and Gill hopes to be operational in the new space before the end of the year.
“We’ve got a bit of design work to do to give it a facelift,” she said.
The project is being financed with a combination of cash flow and bank loans from Bank of America, Gill said.
Golden Road sold 29,400 barrels of beer in 2014, up from 15,000 the year prior. The company’s restaurant and pub business was also up in 2014 – sales grew 20 percent from 2013, Gill said. Golden Road is currently distributed throughout most of Southern California and parts of Northern California.