Dogpatch Evolution—The Beginnings of Magnolia Dogpatch
Look around Dogpatch and you’ll see a lot of change happening, and the more you choose to notice the more you’ll see. All those new buildings along Indiana are one instance, and head up 3rd Street to where the Chase Center is springing up in anticipation of the Warriors’ move next year—those are obvious changes. Those port and industrial buildings over toward the water may look essentially the same, but just zoom in with your phone and you’ll see they’ve got shiny new interiors to keep the best of the old while retooling for more modern function. Pier 70 will take a few years to happen, but before you know it that stretch of nondescript wasteland too will take shape as new residential, retail and recreational space.
Not everybody is for all this change; such is the way of the world, after all, for neighborhoods the world over where artists have wriggled into spaces left behind by industrial obsolescence. By the time you read this, parking meters will have begun their colonization in previously wilder park-lands. New buildings are always somewhat divisive, of course, and so is just about any change at all.
So we expect a gasp or two when we reopen Magnolia’s Dogpatch location on September 28th. We think it’s amazing, with a groovy new décor motif for the restaurant and an artfully repurposed loading dock/beer garden space where gatherings of all kinds can take place. There’s even going to be a big TV out there, across from the bleachers (!) for folks to watch the Warriors, of course, but other local sports events, or for presentations for larger groups.
I think one aspect of resentment to change has to do with love for the way things have been, and attachment to particular places. We think Smokestack was a great looking place, too, and the barbecue was super-tasty. But this is a neighborhood—and a city—in transition. There are lots of people who want a more varied menu to accommodate different dietary choices. Not only that, but barbecue doesn’t particularly lend itself to brunch. And in case you haven’t noticed, brunch—and particularly in Dogpatch and Potrero Hill—is an underserved meal slot. We plan to march right in with chef Laurence Gordon’s new take on what we think the neighborhood wants and will appreciate. We’ll also have table service, so people won’t continually have to jump up to get another beer, cocktail, or glass of wine.
In the year or so since New Belgium and I took over operations at the two Magnolia locations, no moss whatsoever has grown on our brewing acumen and accomplishment. We’ve been turning out new beers nearly every week and offering things people never thought they’d see at Magnolia given its earlier stylistic premises, at the same time we’ve kept some of the old favorites cycling through. Most of these beers have come from the pub—a smaller system simply lends itself to variety—but with having moved production of canned Kalifornia Kolsch and Proving Ground to New Belgium, the Dogpatch brewery as well has been able to develop new beers we hope to be able to sell around the City using Matagrano’s (our SF distributor) Fresh Van, a scheme designed to get beer from us to our on-premise customers as quickly as we can.
But don’t just take my word for it. These are the beers we’re planning on offering right out of the gate when we open on the 28th. There are some you’ll recognize, of course; there are some you may have had recently if you’ve stopped by the pub; and there are special things we’ve squirreled away, and others which we’ll release for people’s very first opportunity to try.
Proving Ground IPA
Kalifornia Kolsch
Blue Bell Bitter
Bombay Brut IPA
Summer of Love IPA
India Print (Slight Return)
Weekapaug Gruit 2018
Station 12 Red Ale
City & County California Common
Cucumber Squeeze (cucumber and Meyer lemon) IPA
Petty Oligarch Baltic Porter
Cold Cruiser Pilsner
Dueling Scar Double IPA
Conflagration Imperial Red Ale
Admarillo ESB
Unlimited Devotion—soured and barrel-aged
Chardonnay barrel-aged Saison (name?)
New Belgium Le Terroir
New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA
New Belgium Spiced Apricot Sour
For the first couple of weeks, until we feel we have our feet beneath us, we’ll just be open for dinner. Then will come lunch, and finally weekend brunch. And once all that is working properly we’ll begin construction on the big event space we’ve taken next door in the southward 3rd Street direction. We’ll be able to accommodate larger parties down there and bigger events. Not only that, but today (as I write this), I wired the deposit to the Italian barrelmaker to secure a container load of large barrels and even larger wooden foeders, which we will put in that space in order to embark on our own larger-scale wood beer project. But details about that are more appropriate for a later post.
In the meantime, please join us as we move into Magnolia’s next phase in the Dogpatch! We’ll see you on the 28th and afterward.