Owner, Hauck Architecture

Dustin Hauck has had a hand in a great many local brewery projects, more than possibly any single consultant in San Diego County. That level of experience has many coming his way for advice, both here at home and outside the region. Though it wasn’t easy to find much time on his busy schedule, we managed to corral him from the day-to-day long enough to ask him about the services he provides for brewery clients, how he got started and where the local brewing industry is headed.

What services does Hauck Architecture provide to brewery owners?

We provide complete architectural, structural, mechanical, plumbing and electrical engineering services for our clients. This is everything they need to get their building in shape for their brewing equipment. We also handle all the plans necessary for building permits along with most other construction-related permits that apply to brewery projects. Many brewers understand their brewing equipment but may not understand the building codes, fire codes and ADA issues they will face when building out their brewery. We close that gap, working with the client and any consultants they may have such as brewery equipment suppliers, contractors and installers. We can even provide steam, glycol, grain conveyance and other process piping design on an as-needed basis. What separates us from other architects is that we specialize in brewery projects. We understand the unique requirements of a brewery and the complications of adding a tasting room or restaurant to a manufacturing facility. We also understand the brewery equipment. There is no learning curve to explain what a mash tun is or why a room is needed for a future whirlpool tank as production grows over time.

What are some of the first projects you worked on?

Two of our first brewery projects were Plan 9 Alehouse in Escondido and Benchmark Brewing Company in the Grantville area of San Diego. Since then, we have worked on over 35 brewery projects and multiple craft beer-related bars, tasting rooms and restaurants.

What are some exciting work-in-progress projects that you’re currently involved with?

Right now, I have to say one of our most exciting projects is North Park Beer Co. There is a lot of deserved anticipation for Kelsey McNair and this project. We are very excited to be collaborating with acclaimed designer Paul Basile and are looking forward to this project coming to fruition.

What regions do you serve?

Most of our brewery work is in the San Diego region, with several projects in other parts of California such as Los Angeles, Ventura and San Leandro. We are expanding our service area outside of California with a brewery in Woodinville, Washington and Carlisle, Pennsylvania. So we can work anywhere. We are even talking to a potential client about a brewery in Italy.

How have you helped brewery owners?

We have been called in on a few projects where owners hired someone not familiar with brewery projects. They ran into issues such as waste water, air pollution, hazardous materials and zoning regulations they were not familiar with or how to deal with them. We are our client’s advocate, even names as their consigliere by one past client, acting in their best interest when dealing with authorities having jurisdiction over their brewery.

What are some potential obstacles you foresee for people looking to get into the craft brewing industry?

A lack of awareness of what it takes to open a brewery. There are myriad building code issues that have to be dealt with. The barrier to entry can be quite high when you consider all that is necessary. We see too many clients getting locked into leases before they have done their due diligence by talking with us early to assess the feasibility of a site and potential issues.

What are some candidates to be the next “it thing” within the brewing industry?

The high cost barrier to entry is something I see as being mitigated, to some extent, by an incubator model. We are currently working on a project called Brewery Igniter that intends to lower this barrier by providing turnkey production breweries that are ready to brew. The rent is higher but the start-up cost is much less. This allows for someone to come in and test their business to find out if they have what it takes to make it. I think this is an exciting model. We are also seeing growth in similar fermented beverage industries such as mead, cider and distilled spirits. Expect this trend to continue as we rise from the suppression that was caused by Prohibition. It took the U.S. a long time but American palates are evolving and there is an entire world of flavors out there to be explored.