that aspiration has been hammered and welded into brick-
and-mortar, stained-glass reality, and it goes by the name
"e Church."
Installed within an actual circa-1906 Mexican Presbyterian
church on the corner of J and 13th Streets in downtown's
East Village, e Church is a painstakingly designed project
that retains key elements of the original building while
providing a first-rate craft beer experience and full-scale
immersion into the world of e Lost Abbey. In addition to
its historic 1,200-square-foot, two-story (ground floor and
basement) centerpiece, the venue includes an après-style deck
with a pass-through bar as well as a patio with picnic tables
and an on-site kitchen.
e Church may have been three years in the making, but
it has been a glimmer in Arthur's eye since opening e
Lost Abbey in the San Marcos industrial park brewery
(which first housed Stone Brewing) back in 2006. In those
days, Arthur envisioned his ultimate public venue as an Old
World-inspired abbey in a remote part of North County
where beer fans would journey to sample his liquid wares.
ose varied creations include a wide range of styles from
Belgian-style ales to barrel-aged sours and stouts, hop-laden
IPAs, refreshing lagers, and even a line of hopped hard teas.
Over the past decade, Arthur and his team have extended the
company's reach with a pair of satellite tasting rooms: e
Confessional in Cardiff-by-the-Sea and e Sanctuary in
San Marcos' San Elijo Hills. Replete with e Lost Abbey's
branding and dark wood motif, they have helped convey what
the world-class brewing interest is all about, but the new
venue takes things to a whole new level.
Beyond a veritably untouched exterior awaits an L-shaped,
quartz-topped bar featuring 31 taps stocked with beer
>>
ranchandcoast.com @ranchandcoast
RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE MAY 2022
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