21st Amendment Plans Giant East Bay Brewery/Taproom

The East Bay Beer Boom rolls on with the announcement that 21st Amendment is in major expansion mode, with plans to open a massive brewery, tasting room, and eventually, a restaurant in San Leandro this fall. Known for their craft-beer-in-a-can approach, 21st Amendment's move represents a major upgrade for the SOMA-founded brand, which will have plenty of room to grow in its new 95,000-square-foot headquarters in the former Kellogg's factory just off I-880. (Once upon a time, it provided the nation with Raisin Bran and Eggos.)

Though a ubiquitous local presence on draft and at its Second Street brewpub, 21st Amendment has long outsourced its canning operation to the Midwest, a process that will change once the new brewery is up and running. With a brewing capacity of 100,000 BBLs to start that will be scalable up to 250,000 BBLs (for comparison, Anchor currently puts out 180,000), 21st Amendment will also become one of the largest-volume breweries in the Bay Area, and its distribution is likely to extend to all 50 states. Designed by Aidlin Darling Design, the new spot will see the brewing operations, a tasting room and retail area debut in fall of this year. In 2015, a restaurant and beer garden will join the mix.

The move puts 21A squarely in competition with Drake's, which has a large production facility and taproom of its own in San Leandro (and plans to open a huge beer garden of its own in uptown Oakland later this year). Along with new breweries like Faction and the expansion of existing breweries like Ale Industries, not to mention a vast swath of fresh brewpubs, it's a notable salvo in the continuing beer revival in the Bay Area.

·; 21st Amendment plots East Bay brewery [Inside Scoop]
· 27 New and Forthcoming Bay Area Beer Spots [~ ESF ~]
· All East Bay Beer Boom posts [~ ESF ~]