Cellarmaker Brewing to open a new brewpub, restaurant in Bernal Heights

San Francisco's Cellarmaker Brewing Company is preparing to open a second taproom in Bernal Heights later this year. San Francisco's Cellarmaker Brewing Company is preparing to open a second taproom in Bernal Heights later this year. Photo: Courtesy Cellarmaker Brewing Company Photo: Courtesy Cellarmaker Brewing Company Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close Cellarmaker Brewing to open a new brewpub, restaurant in Bernal Heights 1 / 10 Back to Gallery

Rumors have long circulated that Cellarmaker Brewing Company has been interested in opening a second taproom in San Francisco, but it wasn't until the closure of Old Bus Tavern, a Bernal Heights neighborhood brewpub, that a viable option presented itself. Now, after three months spent negotiating and planning, cofounder Connor Casey says, Cellarmaker is preparing to open a new location in early November — with a food menu, too.

"We have always been willing to listen to a pitch on a potential second location but realistically everything we were offered didn't feel sustainable because of price, location or both," Casey says, adding that the company wasn't actually actively looking for a new lease. "It's hard to find the right combination, (but) we feel that this location has a lot going for it."

The popular brewery long ago outgrew its modest, industrial taproom on Howard Street in the SoMa District of San Francisco. But the company, founded in 2013 by Casey, Tim Sciascia and Kelly Caveney, nevertheless continued to operate out of the tiny space while their fan base burgeoned.

It was imperative to find "a relatively turnkey situation," says Casey, both because working with the city's planning department can be difficult and because modifying a property in San Francisco to include a brewing system is expensive.

The Old Bus Tavern system, which is a 4-bbl brewhouse with three 8-bbl fermenters, adds substantial capacity to Cellarmaker's annual output (their SoMa location holds a 10-bbl brewing system). It's equipment that Casey says will allow the brewery to experiment with rare and obscure ingredients in smaller brewing batches that "would make no sense financially in a larger brewhouse." It will also allow the bar to "sustain the beer demands of its own patronage."

Here, that patronage will also be able to grab a bite along with their pints. Cellarmaker tapped Michael Malyniwsky, alum of Birch and Barley (a Churchkey restaurant) in Washington D.C. to head up the brewpub's food program, which will center around Detroit-style square pizzas topped with offerings from fresh and local Northern California agricultural producers.

"It sounds cliche but our goal is to source the best quality ingredients possible and do them justice," Casey adds. "We have always felt that folks can't visit the Howard St. location for too long because of the lack of food. We are hoping that the availability of quality food will allow people to stay longer and enjoy themselves."

That enjoyment, they hope, will come from the "more extensive and complete experience" of what they'll soon be able to offer. And it's not just the food that's new for them; unlike Cellarmaker's Howard Street taproom, this new space will be family-friendly. It will also offer an array of guest beers from breweries they respect, and a carefully curated cider and wine list for the ale-averse.

This is, after years of growth, a step that was a long time coming. It was always the goal to make great beer for the community, he says, but the idea of forced growth was not appealing. They weren't going to settle.

"We have been a little hesitant about finding the right opportunity rather than charging out there with intent of signing a lease right away," he says. "We feared we would've created a generic experience if we rushed into a second spot. These things take time and deliberation."

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.



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