Brewery District pioneer in Fresno opens new taproom. Step inside Tioga-Sequoia in Merced

Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Company has a thing for downtown revitalization.

Sure, the brand embraces the natural landscapes of the southern Sierra Nevada in name and aesthetic, but its story is very much tied to its footprint in downtown Fresno — specifically in the Brewery District, where it set down roots in 2010 and where it now serves as a hub for downtown culture and entertainment.

See this year’s FresYes Fest on March 25 or the first Thursday of any month for ArtHop.

It’s fitting the company’s first expansion outside of Fresno is in a historic building on a block of downtown Merced that also houses a renovated boutique hotel, an historic art deco theater and the tech startup Bitwise.

It’s even more fitting, given the building and brewery share a namesake.

Tioga-Sequoia in March will open a nearly 5,000-square-foot taproom inside The Tioga, a nearly 100-year-old hotel-turned-apartment complex that was renovated in 2020.

A grand opening block party is slated for April 8.

“We like going into downtowns. We like helping revitalize cities,” says brewery president Michael Cruz.

“There was just a lot there that made it feel right,” he says.

“It was check box, check box, check box.”

Tioga-Sequoia in Merced: 30 taps, natural light and a vibe

The Merced taproom eschews the industrial feel of its Fresno counterpart and pulls designs from the rest of the building, which originally opened in 1928 and holds much of its original architectural flourishes.

So, you get a room full of organic natural light and a wooden overlay trellis that leads up to the main bar from the entrance off Main Street. There’s indoor seating for 80 or so people, though the brewery is working with the city to expand into an outside parklet, something that’s still new to downtown Merced, Cruz says.

For the beer nerds, the bar will have 30 taps serving all of Toga-Sequoia’s core product (think Half Dome, 99 Golden Ale, General Sherman), plus its yearly release of Rush Hour stout and a rotating choice of other specialty brews and non-alcoholic offerings.

Though there won’t be any brewing on site, the taproom will offer some limited-run beers not available in Fresno, Cruz says.

There’s no food on site, but there will be local food trucks available on a rotating basis.

Eventually, the taproom will offer monthly, even weekly, entertainment programming, though because of the smaller size of the space, it will differ from what guests see in Fresno.

But you’ll likely get pub quiz and other games nights, Cruz says.

How soon those things fall in place, will depend somewhat on how busy the taproom finds itself during its first few months.

A long-term goal is to help facilitate a consistent, monthly event for the area, something with a sense of regularity to really draw people into the downtown community “vibe.”

Cruz envisions some kind of outdoor urban “crawl,” where people venture between businesses; something akin to what’s being done with ArtHop in Fresno, he says.

“We want to be a cog in that. We’re comfortable with that; we live in that space. It’s what we used to be successful in downtown Fresno.”

El Capitan Hotel, Mainzer Theater renovated also

And Tioga-Seqouia isn’t alone in thinking a business, by its very presence, can help activate a neighborhood, says Robin Donovan, a managing director with the Hyatt Hotels Corporation under San Francisco-based brand Joie de Vivre, which has recently reonvated three properties on this stretch of downtown Merced — The Tioga, El Capitan Hotel and the Mainzer Theater.

“The whole key for us being here and doing what we’re doing is all about revitalizing and activating the downtown,” Donovan says.

Logistically, the Tioga-Sequoia taproom will play as counterpoint to the programming happening at the Mainzer Theater, even as the two operate from a similar playbook, Donovan says. Along with live music, movie screenings and other performances, the Mainzer has a restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating and its own craft beer selection.

Philosophically, Tioga-Sequoia is very much on the same page, Donovan says.

“It’s a beautiful partnership,” she says.

“Its great to be involved with somebody that has that same ethos.”

Guests will get their first taste of this (pun intended) at the taproom’s grand opening. It’s being planned as a mini block party, with live music and DJ sets, food trucks and local vendor pop-ups.

“You’ll be be able to be in the middle of the street drinking a Tioga beer, Cruz says.

M street will be closed from Main Street to the alley in front of The Tioga for the free, all-ages event.

Expanding the Tioga-Sequoia brand

The brewery is using the grand opening to debut a new beer, the specifics of which it hopes to announce in the next few weeks. The beer will be pushed into wide distribution throughout the region.

That’s part of the business aspect of the expansion, Cruz says. Having the taproom allows Tioga-Sequoia to expand its sphere of influence into another section of the central San Joaquin Valley, where hopefully it will become consumers “go-to choice,” he says.

That’s a big deal when the distributor is looking to get the beer into stores, restaurants and the like, Cruz says.

The new taproom also allows the company to determine whether the brand can stand on its own outside of Fresno. If it succeeds, the company will be looking for more opportunity in other cities.

“If it works, then why would we stop at Merced?” Cruz says.

“This is going to set the example for how to expand business.”