Fort Point Beer Co. opens the doors to a new Mission District stronghold this Monday, October 7, offering the city’s biggest independent brewery a chance to shine with customers in person. While widely available on tap, in cans, and at a small Ferry Building outpost, Fort Point lacks a public taproom inside its Presidio production space, which overlooks its namesake fort below the Golden Gate Bridge.

That makes Fort Point Valencia (742 Valencia Street) the company’s new flagship. Creative director Dina Dobkin, whose background is in architecture, designed the 3,000-square-foot space, unrecognizable from its former life as Brasserie St. James (and once upon a time, an auto body shop, now subdivided between Fort Point and neighbors Dandelion Chocolate and Craftsman & Wolves).

“My hope is that somebody walks in and says it feels like Fort Point,” Dobkin says. Bright colors like those on the company’s cans should convey the same spirit: Electric blue-colored plaster greets customers entering the beer hall, which is basically divided into three parts. There’s the blue front room with a low, seated bar; an off-white central room with a standing-room bar and round group tables; and a darker back room with two-top tables and built-in booths under green archways. Architect Ted Arleo and general contractor Upcycle Builders helped Dobkin realize the project, which includes woodwork from Hume Studio and Liz Dunning Design + Woodworking, and artwork like a mural by New Bohemia and a neon sign by Oakland’s Peterson Neon.

Food from executive chef Eric Ehler (Mister Jiu’s, Black Sands) also takes a playful approach: No utensils except upon request. “We wanted to keep the spirit of the beer hall going, with foods that are eaten easily [and] don’t disrupt the flow of good conversation — but are creative enough to spark topics,” Ehler says.

Examples include a yeast-leavened “party bread,” charred with a butane torch for some leopard spots and served with early girl tomato chutney or Sichuan-spiced hummus. “There’s lots of Middle America mom humor on this menu,” says Ehler, who was born in Korea and adopted in Iowa — and there’s lots of Asian influences, too. Other menu items include a pull-apart “blooming artichoke” (chili-lime vinaigrette, kaya, stone fruit, Thai basil, and peanuts); a “pork chop bun,” an Iowa-inspired pork schnitzel sandwich (with black pepper sauce and ginger-scallion mayo on a Dutch crunch–style bun); and a burger (Cream Co. beef and American cheese) to rival Ehler’s enduringly popular offering at Black Sands. Vegan and vegetarian options include a yuba club sandwich with smoked and braised Hodo Soy yuba (tofu skin).

And then, obviously, there’s beer: 10 to 12 of Fort Point’s main offerings, like their KSA kölsch and Villager IPA, plus limited-run one-offs like Rivet, a red IPA. Guest taps will offer more styles from other breweries, like sours from the experts at Rare Barrel. A few taps are also given over to Black Sands, the Lower Haight brewpub that Fort Point acquired this past year. Customers will also find 10 wines by the glass: Right now that’s four reds, four whites, a pet-nat from Oregon, and a rosé from Californian natural winemaker Subject to Change.

Starting Monday, October 7, Fort Point Valencia is open daily from 11 a.m. to midnight.