Brewery For Sale

West Coaster is reporting that Lightning Brewery is for sale.  The Poway-based brewery is ten years old and comes with a 5,500-square-foot facility, which includes a 30-barrel brewhouse, a cellar capacity of 490 barrels, a bottling line, and a tasting room with a patio.  According to West Coaster, Lightning made the mistake of focusing on distributing its beers in bottles rather than emphasizing a tasting room.  I felt Lightning could have had more draft accounts, as I don't see its beers in that many locations.  In what may have been its biggest miscalculation, Lightning shunned IPAs for a long time.  In a town and era that demands IPAs, Lightning offered a pilsner and hefeweizen instead.  Lightning's core Elemental Pilsner and Thunderweizen are excellent beers, but they are bold beers, which may have limited their appeal.  Lightning now offers several IPAs, which I have yet to try.  I am glad Lightning's owner Jim Crute is selling the brewery rather than closing it.