The third brewery's the charm for Ray Astamendi, who formerly worked at Mission Brewery and was the founding brewmaster of St. Archer Brewing Company before getting dropped last summer. In between San Diego gigs, he also brewed for Maui Brewing Co. and Left Coast Brewing Co.

This time around, Astamendi is both the brewmaster and captain of his own brand new brewery; Fall Brewing Company will land on 30th Street, just north of El Cajon Boulevard, later this year.

Astamendi, who's currently working for Premier Stainless Systems while gathering the necessary components for the brewery, will take possession of the 5,000-square-foot building in mid-April.

With help from Hauck Architecture (Benchmark Brewing Co., Council Brewing Co.), he and his partners plan to transform the space, currently an auto repair shop, into a 750-square-foot tasting room and production brewery while leaving room for expansion, whether that be a possible food component or more fermenters.

A North Park resident, Astamendi will have a short two-block commute once Fall Brewing Company is up and running, and told Eater that he's looking forward to finally brewing "anything he wants" on his own 15BBL system. With seven years of pro brewing under his belt, potential beers could run the gamut from lagers to sours and barrel-aged beers. Likely on the docket: a steam beer, IPA, DIPA, Berlinerweisse and a Baltic steam rye porter. A longtime QUAFF member, he says that he'd also like to bring in local home brewers for guest stints.

Astamendi shared that they're planning for the beers to have a healthy distribution network and are shooting for August opening.

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