The Lost Abbey will vacate its original San Marcos, California, space and embark on its next journey via either contract brewing or forming an alternating proprietorship.
After announcing plans to scale back operations in November, Lost Abbey managing partner Tomme Arthur revealed today the company’s plans in a column on SD Beer News. Arthur confirmed those plans to Brewbound.
The path forward for The Lost Abbey and sister brands Port Brewing and The Hop Concept (THC) are as follows:
- The Lost Abbey and Port Brewing will become separate business entities;
- The Lost Abbey will shut down its San Marcos taproom on May 1 and vacate the space at the end of the month after 17 years;
- The Lost Abbey will look to form an alternating proprietorship or contract brewing relationship in Southern California;
- After Lost Abbey’s lease expires on May 31, Pizza Port Brewing will take over the San Marcos brewing facility’s 20,000 sq. ft. operation and 25,000 barrels of production capacity;
- In addition to the brewing assets, Pizza Port will take over the intellectual property for Port Brewing and THC brands;
- After the split, The Lost Abbey’s three satellite taprooms, the intellectual property of The Lost Abbey, Tiny Bubbles and Khárisma hard tea and any other ongoing business concerns attached to the hospitality business will be folded into a new business entity.
Speaking to Brewbound, Arthur explained that as part of the transfer of brewing assets and intellectual property to Pizza Port’s parent company, Grain to Green, Pizza Port will take “a reduced ownership stake” in the new business entity and will no longer hold majority control.
Arthur, Grain to Green, and Karl Bordine will collectively hold a 55% stake in the new company once everything shakes out. They will also look to take on additional investors for the remaining 45% of the company, as they look to raise as much as $1.5 million.
“It’s not mandatory that we raise that full amount, but it’d certainly be nice if we could raise half that,” Arthur said.
Moving forward, The Lost Abbey isn’t looking to buy brewing equipment but to forge a partnership to continue its reduced operations.
“We’re not actively looking to buy stainless at the moment,” Arthur said. “We’re actively looking to use stainless.”
The Lost Abbey is “kicking the tires on at least six different locations trying to find the best sense of where some of these things should be made,” Arthur said. Volume beers such as Noble Tendencies, Farmhouse and Devotion may find different production homes than more taproom-focused offerings, he added.
Although The Lost Abbey isn’t looking to add stainless, Arthur does want to open a “home base tasting room” given the brand’s history in San Marcos. The company will continue operating taprooms in San Elijo, Cardiff-by-the-Sea and San Diego’s East Village.
Once operations are completely “buttoned up,” Arthur anticipates The Lost Abbey will sell “probably less than 2,500” barrels annually.
“The process of ‘growing down’ and moving out to a smaller brewing kit should afford us numerous opportunities to explore fun new things,” Arthur wrote in SD Beer News.
“It’s mind-boggling to think of what we have had to punt on over the years because the brewing system was far too large to adequately service our needs,” he continued.
In late March, The Lost Abbey will launch Peach Afternoon sour in cans with other flavors to follow in the future, as well as release Café Bier, a Brett-finished hop-forward beer.
As for The Lost Abbey’s other brands, Tiny Bubbles and Khárisma, Arthur said to expect to see more new offerings from both in the future.
Arthur doesn’t anticipate any market disruptions from the transition in The Lost Abbey’s offerings three market distribution footprint: California, Arizona and Colorado.