Artifex: Quality. Community. Family.

Tom Cordato, Tom Parkin, Johnny Johur, Nic Cordato, Christian Mansfield, and Zack Van De Brooke Photo by Rebecca Root.

I still remember the day I first met Artifex co-owners Tom and Nic Cordato along with co-owner brewer Johnny Johur. I was on one my many pilgrimages south to enjoy the world class beer and signature pies at Pizza Port San Clemente. The three, seated at the downstairs bar next to me, informed me that they were about to open their own brewery just across the 5 freeway in San Clemente.

That was around the time when the “we’re opening a brewery” explosion was starting its phenomenal chain reaction that has us at an astounding 1000 breweries in California today. So, I was neither surprised nor initially impressed. Just another group jumping on the craft beer bandwagon or so I thought.

They invited me to check out ARTIFEX once they opened. I made a mental note and we parted ways.
When I made the trek to visit Artifex five years ago this December, I was super impressed. Tom and Nic, the father/son duo who run the business side are down to Earth and make everyone who walks through their doors feel warmly welcomed and Johnny Johur, who honed his brewing chops at Pizza Port and then Mother Earth, came right out of the gate brewing exceptional beer. There is artistry at Artifex.

DRENNON: When, where and how did you THREE meet one another?

NIC: I met my Dad, Elder, when I was born. Johnny and I have been friends since junior high school in Encinitas. He actually got me my second job as a busser/host at Las Olas Cardiff when I was 16. We both worked there throughout high school and college, serving, bartending and managing. Actually, a funny story is that if Johnny never got fired from Las Olas, he would have never gotten his job at Pizza Port Solana Beach and we most likely wouldn’t have a brewery today.

JOHNNY: Over the years, Nic and I have traveled, been roommates and, thankfully, both developed a passion for craft beer.

Tom Cordato, Johnny Johur, and Nic Cordato. Photo Credit: Rebecca Root.

TOM: I met Johnny through Nic, when they were both going to the same middle school and high school. So, Johnny is sort of like one of my kids.

DRENNON: What led to the decision to open a brewery?

TOM: I had the good fortune to be able to take some time off of work, thanks to mother-in-law, Ginny. During that time, I found a restaurant site that had been closed for a couple of years and I thought it would make a great brew pub. Nic was getting out of his retail shops and I asked him if he was interested. His answer was ‘yes’ and he told me Johnny was brewing for Pizza Port and Mother Earth.

NIC: We wanted to become rich and travel the world, never work another day in our lives…duh, isn’t that the only reason you open a brewery?
[laughing] No, it’s been a dream of mine to open a brewery for a long time. Being able to do it with my Dad and my best friend is a really great feeling.

DRENNON: Tell us about your backgrounds, both before beer and then getting into beer.

JOHNNY: I am a native San Diegan who graduated from San Diego
State University with a degree in International Business. I was fortunate enough to land a job at Pizza Port Solana Beach while at school, and befriended the then head brewer who introduced to and taught me about making craft beer. Looking back, I can’t believe how lucky I was to get a crash course in brewing from the award-winning Pizza Port crew. After almost 4 years at Port, I took a job with Mother Earth Brew Co in Vista. These four years were also invaluable for my brewing education. Production brewing and packaging were new avenues for me to learn about and explore and have helped to shape how Artifex is run today.

NIC: Directly out of college I opened a Hydroponic store in Oceanside, ran it for about a year when we decided to open another one in Encinitas. After four years in the industry, I decided to sell the business and dive into the beer industry. While I had the stores in Encinitas, my dad was semi-retired and still wanted to open up something for himself. That is when we all came together and started talking about opening Artifex. We sat down one night at Pizza Port Solana Beach and about a year after that date is when we signed the lease in San Clemente to open Artifex.

TOM: I spent most of my life in the restaurant industry, working for other people and large corporations. I was introduced to Scott and Lee, the owners of Callahan’s and San Diego Brewing Company, and really liked what they were doing way back in the 90s. Thinking about my own venture into craft beer had always been a dream.

DRENNON: How and why did you choose the name Artifex?
JOHNNY: This was the hardest part of opening
a brewery! After many hours of debating, many dollars spent on designs, plenty of arguments
and lots of beers, we finally landed on the name Artifex. Artifex is Latin for craftsman or someone who works with their hands. We all felt like this accurately described the way we planned on making our beer. Second, we loved the simplicity of the logo. Just three lines were needed to create an image that we felt was unique and memorable.

DRENNON: Why San Clemente?
NIC: We saw an opportunity to dive into the Orange County beer community instead of going to San Diego where we all were living. Five years ago, the OC beer community was just taking off and we felt that being in San Clemente, we could still distribute our beer to San Diego and all of OC in a day. We quickly grew the self-distributing business and for the first year we sold 75% of our beer to San Diego county, since Johnny and myself still knew a lot of beer buyers and business owners in SD. OC was a little bit harder to crack, but once we broke into it this community, it was and has been great.

Johnny Johur. Photo Credit: Rebecca Root.

DRENNON: You are five years in. What lessons have you learned?
TOM: Do you have several hours??? More lessons than you have room to print [All laugh].

NIC: The best lesson that I have learned is to be patient. When things get complicated just take a step back, relax and then act accordingly.

JOHNNY: We knew going into this venture that it wasn’t going to be easy, and it hasn’t been. But I still believe to this day, that I work in the best industry in the world with amazing partners and employees, incredibly talented fellow breweries, living in paradise, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

DRENNON: Knowing what you know now, if you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?

JOHNNY: If you’ve toured our facility, then you know how small our space actually is. We have crammed tanks and equipment into every possible corner and maximized every possible inch. We have moved tanks more times than I can count and we are constantly rearranging things as we grow. If I could change one thing, it would be the building. I am beyond envious of the breweries with huge ceilings and massive cellars. Maybe someday…

DRENNON: Johnny. As the brewer, who and or what have been your major influences?

JOHNNY: I feel pretty fortunate to have spent my initial years in the industry around some of the best brewers out there. Jeff Bagby and Tomme Arthur have been making beers that I respect and have appreciated for years. Dan Love taught me about how to run a business as a brewer, which was and still is invaluable to me. It’s hard not to be influenced daily by the innovative and boundary-pushing beers that some of my fellow SoCal brewers are creating.

DRENNON: Are you where you thought you would be as a brewery from your initial vision?

NIC: Very much so, yes. We have grown our beer production every year by 50% since we first opened. And now recently, just purchased a canning line and we’re opening another tasting room in downtown San Clemente
on Del Mar Street. This is a very competitive industry to be in right now in Southern California and I am very happy with the growth. We started out self-distributing, and a little over a year ago we signed on with Craft Los Angeles and Craft San Diego (a distributor partnership) that is allowing us to reach more places in the southern California footprint. The biggest news we just received is that our cans will be on the shelves in some major grocery chains come spring 2020.

JOHNNY: Yeah, I’d like to think
so. We have stuck to our principles of making a high-end quality product and taking care of our customers and employees.

DRENNON: Where do you see Artifex in another five years?

NIC: We are almost maxed out with production space and it will feel good to sit back and just drive the ship for a couple years instead of building
it. Seems like since we opened, we have expanded and expanded every year. Don’t get me wrong. It is very fun doing that but now finally all the pieces are in place to turn and burn and really focus on making quality beer that people enjoy.
Another tasting room would be nice too, and maybe a food element at our existing brewing facility. Welp! Here we go again talking about expansion.

TOM: And coming from a restaurant background, we wouldn’t mind adding several more tasting rooms, and eventually a restaurant [smiling].

DRENNON: The proliferation of breweries over the past five years has continually sliced the beer drinker pie thinner and thinner. What is your strategy for staying sound and relevant?

JOHNNY: We have always prided ourselves on making the best product possible. If we continue to do this, and if we continue to put our customers and employees first, then I believe Artifex will remain relevant for many years to come.

NIC: Stay current with the times and not be afraid to try new things when it comes to brewing techniques or opening different concepts involving beer.

DRENNON: Is there an Artifex identity, whether it be the styles you brew or the way you conduct business?

TOM: We think it’s some of both. The styles we brew are what we like and it seems people like them too. They are straight forward and drinkable. We would like to think we treat our customers like we would like to be treated, with respect, honesty, a smile and an understanding that, without our customers, we wouldn’t be doing what we love.

JOHNNY: I’d like to think there is some “Artifex DNA” in our beers. This is a combination of our brewing techniques as well as the styles we like to brew and present to the customer. We love hops. You can bet on half of our tasting room selections to be West Coast IPAs, Double IPAs, Juicy IPAs, etc. I pride myself on being well rounded too. Our Irish Red is a personal favorite and I can’t get enough of Artifexican, our Mexican Lager. I’d like to think we have an option for any style of beer drinker.

NIC: We make a wide variety of beers from reds, blondes, stouts…and obviously hoppy beers are what sell the best for us and we make the most of them. But our favorite beer we drink and make is hands down Artifexican. Any brewer/brewery owner would probably say the same thing too. IPA’s are great, but all we really want is a great lager.
We like to keep our employees feeling like they are a part of our family because without them we wouldn’t be here. All three owners are still active in the day to day running of the business and brewing, and we don’t see that changing anytime soon. This is our business, our passion, and our living and we love every single day of it.

DRENNON: If you had to describe Artifex in one word or phrase, what would it be?

JOHNNY: Quality.

NIC: Community.

TOM: Family.