Limo Company to Open Micro-Brewery in Murrieta, Offer Beer Tours

In addition to touring wineries in a limousine, visitors and residents of the Temecula Valley can soon add beer tours to their to-do list.

A micro-brewery is coming to Murrieta, along with beer tours.

The city of Murrieta on Aug. 15 granted Bull Dog Brewery a minor conditional use permit to operate a brewery and tasting room at 41379 Date Street, east of Jefferson Avenue, according to emailed administrative hearing results.

The license gives Bull Dog Brewery the go-ahead to produce alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, with on-site tasting and off-site sales of produced beverages and associated accessories.

The business was deemed to meet environmental guidelines and city land use specifications.

Its owners are in the process of obtaining full licensing from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverages.

"We already have the federal brewer's permit. We expect to have all our licensing in place by the first of September," said Thomas Caso, owner. "We are shooting for a mid-November opening."

Bull Dog Brewery will occupy 3,000 square feet, with approximately 1,000 square feet dedicated to a tasting room, according to staff reports.

Its hours of operation will be noon to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, according to the application filed July 5.

A public notice was published and notices were sent to neighboring businesses within 500 feet, according to the staff report.

Caso along with his family members own Sunset Limousine, which offers tours of Temecula Wine Country. The plan is to also offer beer tours, Caso told Patch.

"We are the largest private limo service in the Temecula Valley," Caso said. "Along with offering wine tours, we have seen an interest in beer tours."

Sunset Limousine is in the process of relocating from Diaz Road in Temecula to the Date Street facility in Murrieta. Once complete, the space will accommodate both the limousine fleet and the micro-brewery, he said.

"We found the perfect building in Murrieta," Caso said.

"It is going to bring a lot more people into our area. We hope there will be more micro-breweries popping up in Murrieta and Temecula."