The true connoisseur of beer knows there...

The true connoisseur of beer knows there is nothing quite like fresh-brewed beer, straight from the fermentation and cold-filtering process. But how does one find such a thing? In Orange County, there’s only one place . . . Heritage Brewing Co. in Dana Point.

The brew pub, which offers both fresh beer and fresh food, opened three months ago and has been doing banner business ever since.

Owners John Stoner and Mark Mericle quit their jobs at Rockwell International Corp. to open the pub. Mericle has been a home brewer for years, and with determination he and Stoner waded through the political and legal bureaucracy of starting a business, with the added twist that the business was one that was unlike any other in the area.

“We had to educate people as to what a brew pub was, how it worked, all of that stuff,” Stoner recalls “We learned a lot along the way too. There are plenty of books on how to start a small business but there is nothing on how to construct a brew pub.”

A state law passed in 1982 repealed some of the restrictions on brewing beer that dated back to Prohibition. After that, brew pubs started popping up throughout the state, though most are still in the San Francisco Bay Area.

One of the requirements of the law is that a restaurant be part of the brew pub operation. At Heritage, chef Robert Maley prepares menu items from scratch. These include beer-batter onion rings and (thresher) Shark Bites, Old-Fashioned Mulligan Stew and Pub Bangers (grilled English sausage served with imported mustard).

And, of course, there’s the beer.

“Fresh beer is different than anything you’ll ever taste,” Stoner says. “It’s full-flavored, it’s robust. It’s nothing like the watered-down, big brewery beers.”

Beers available at Heritage include the light ale Lantern Bay Blonde, Sail Ale (a pale ale) and Dana Porter, a dark beer.

In the next month or so, Heritage Brewing Co. beer will be available in bottles; however, the bottled beer will only be sold at the pub. Stoner says they do not have plans to mass-market the brew.

“We’d like to keep it small. . . . We want to open a couple more places like this in the county, but that’s as far as our plans go for now.”

Visitors can see the brewery in action through the glass behind the bar. Four different beers are produced at a time, and a new one is introduced every two weeks or so.

For St. Patrick’s Day, a special Irish Red beer has been brewed. The chef will also be whipping up some corn beef and cabbage for visitors.

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-midnight Sunday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Address: The Pavilion at Lantern Bay shopping mall, 24921 Dana Point Harbor Drive, Dana Point

Telephone: (714) 240-2060

Miscellaneous information: Informal behind-the-scenes tours of the beer-making equipment are available. Call or stop by for information.