Harland Brewing Co. is the fastest riser in San Diego beer, and it got there by doing something most local breweries never attempt: it built its reputation on a lager. Founded in late 2018 by Saint Archer co-founder Josh Landan with former Saint Archer VP Jeff Hansson and ex-market manager Anthony Levas, Harland went from contract-brewed kegs to a 37,000-square-foot production facility and five San Diego venues in under eight years. Its Japanese Lager, launched in 2020, now accounts for about 36 percent of everything the brewery sells. In a city that built its name on IPA, that is a remarkable plot twist.

The basics

• Location: Headquarters and production brewery in Scripps Ranch (10115 Carroll Canyon Rd); taprooms in Bay Park (4112 Napier St), South Park (2953 Beech St), 4S Ranch (16480 Paseo Del Sur, Suite 105), and the Mission Bay Golf Course clubhouse (2702 N Mission Bay Dr)
• Founded: Late 2018, by Josh Landan, Jeff Hansson, and Anthony Levas, under parent company Ocotillo Holdings; Landan left the company within about two years, and Hansson and Levas run it today
• Known for: Japanese Lager, Hazy IPA, and West Coast IPA; a deep rotation of hazy IPAs and fruited sours; the “A Labor of Beer” motto and a fast pivot from taprooms into full-service restaurants

The taproom

There is no single Harland taproom experience, because each location has its own personality. Bay Park, which opened in March 2021 in the former Benchmark Brewing space, is the neighborhood hangout: a spacious room plus an enclosed courtyard with an open-top canopy, fire pits, and heaters, dog friendly and kid friendly, with rotating food trucks (Mariscos Tone Camaron draws regular praise for its shrimp tacos) instead of a kitchen. It hosts trivia nights and private parties, and it is the easiest Harland to drop into for a quick pint.

South Park, opened in October 2022 in a converted 1920s building that once housed Grant’s Market, is the cafe and tavern of the group, serving breakfast and all-day fare alongside the beer. The Scripps Ranch headquarters is the big one: a bright, airy taproom with arcade games and pool tables, wood-fired pizza and The Ocotillo outdoor kitchen serving dishes like the pork birria quesadilla and a smashburger. The two newest spots push further into hospitality. The 4S Ranch restaurant, opened in January 2026 in a 3,400-square-foot space at Del Sur Town Center, is Harland’s first full-service restaurant, with a globally influenced comfort menu that runs from kung pao Brussels sprouts to salmon poke bowls and braised short rib. The Mission Bay Clubhouse, which opened in June 2026 under a 10-year lease with the City of San Diego, puts a 2,000-square-foot restaurant and taproom inside the golf course clubhouse, with a repurposed tiki hut near the driving range as a satellite bar. The one location that did not survive the reshuffle is One Paseo in Carmel Valley, Harland’s first tasting room from July 2019, which closed in 2025.

Standout beers

• Japanese Lager: A 5% ABV Japanese rice lager brewed with puffed jasmine rice and toasted rice flakes, fermented with a Czech yeast strain. Floral on the nose, clean and crisp, with a light rice sweetness. Launched in 2020, it is now about 36 percent of Harland’s sales and its number one SKU in Los Angeles.
• Hazy IPA: A 6.5% ABV hazy IPA built on oats and wheat for a smooth, creamy mouthfeel, with tropical fruit character and restrained bitterness. The house hazy and the anchor of the taproom tap lists.
• West Coast IPA: A 6.5% ABV West Coast IPA launched in February 2025 to replace India Pale Whale, brewed with Simcoe, Chinook, New Zealand Cascade, and Krush hops. Tropical fruit up front, pineapple, mango, and coconut, with a dank, resinous West Coast backbone.
• Yuzu Japanese Lager: The seasonal twist on the flagship, the classic Japanese Lager dosed with a hint of yuzu citrus. It has sold out at taprooms within ten days when featured as beer of the month.
• Nelson! Nelson!: A 7% ABV West Coast IPA brewed with Nelson Sauvin hops from Freestyle Hops. White wine, gooseberry, and melon character with a light grassy edge, a showcase for one of Harland’s favorite hop varieties.

Our take

Harland is the rare San Diego brewery that grew up in public and kept getting better at the unglamorous parts of the business. The beer is consistently clean, which matters more than any single standout: the Japanese Lager is a genuinely distinctive flagship in a style most American craft brewers ignore, and the hazy and West Coast IPAs hold their own against the county’s best. The rotating program is playful without being sloppy, from Ube Milkshake IPA to fruited sours like the dragon fruit, passion fruit, and mango DPM, and collaborations like the Crone Zone light lager brewed with Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth.

The honest caveat is that Harland is now as much a hospitality company as a brewery. Five venues, two of them full-service restaurants, plus a golf course lease, is a lot of operation for a brewery founded in 2018, and the One Paseo closure shows the portfolio is still being pruned. But the bet makes sense: the beer brings people in, and the food and the rooms give them a reason to stay. Bay Park remains the purest version of the idea, a neighborhood courtyard with great beer and a food truck outside, while Scripps Ranch is the best full-day stop. If you have only tried Harland in cans, the Japanese Lager on draft at Bay Park is the version worth judging it by.