By I. smiley G. Calderon |  smileycalderon@gmail.com

Summer is upon us, Fresno, and there’s no better place to get some great craft beer than at a new, freshly installed brewery in the Van Ness Village area of the Tower District. Some may remember the building as home to the old Club Fred and Audie’s Olympic. Now, it bears a new name – Summer Fox Brewing Company, or ‘Summer Fox Tower’ for short.  

The brewing company’s history begins with two Fresno families: the Hsia family and the Lisitsin family. Hsia is a Chinese surname meaning ‘summer.’  Lisitsin is a Russian name meaning ‘fox.’  Together, you get ‘Summer Fox.’  

The two couples already own the popular Fresno hot dog restaurant, ‘Rocket Dog,’ serving gourmet brats and brews. However, one day, they asked themselves how hard would it be to open up a brewery? The question was born out of a hobby of brewing craft beer at home and sharing it at get-togethers. Ready to tackle another challenge, they opened up ‘Amalgamation Brewing’ in north Fresno in 2019, which would later be changed to ‘Summer Fox.’ Despite the pandemic, the brewery succeeded, largely due to an outside serving area. As a result, they were one of the first breweries to stay open while complying with COVID restrictions.

Summer Fox hit the jackpot when San Diego master brewer Alex Van Horne decided to move to Fresno. His wife had just accepted a job at Fresno Chaffee Zoo, and he was eager to get brewing. He quickly joined Summer Fox and became their head brewer.

Now a co-owner who has merged his brewing style with Summer Fox, Van Horne is very passionate about craft beer. 

“I love brewing beers for different communities,” he shares. “Every place I’ve brewed at has catered to different tastes and preferences.”

Van Horne is especially excited to open the new Summer Fox location because he is up for the challenge of making beers tailored for Tower. However, no beer will be brewed on site (the brewing is done at the two other locations). 

“Our newest beer,” Van Horne proudly announces, “‘Van Ness Village Pale Ale,’ is brewed for Tower, and it’s already a hit. We are planning cans for it now, which is very cool to happen so quickly.”

Co-owner Kyle Matuszewicz began as an employee in 2022. Over two years, he worked his way up the ranks to general manager before ultimately becoming an owner in 2024.  

“We are a neighborhood brewery,” Matuszewicz says. “We want to create inviting atmospheres for families to relax and enjoy great craft beer. This is the Summer Fox vision and always has been. It’s what I’ve been working towards ever since I started.”

Matuszewicz is a gregarious big fellow with a big, fluffy brown beard. Always ready to put a crisp, cold beer in your hand, his vibe makes people feel at home at Summer Fox—whether in Clovis, North Fresno, or Tower. He manages all the locations. In Tower, he expects to host bands and live entertainment as the previous entities of the building have successfully done for years. 

“These are big shoes to fill,” he confesses. “But we’re up for the challenge.” 

Yet, he doesn’t want the Tower spot to lose its family feel.  

“We still want families to come out. We still want people to, you know, bring their pups. We’re still a dog family. We’re family friendly.  Like, just come, hang out, have a pint, eat some food—relax and leave your stress at the door,” Matuszewicz insists. “This is the foundation of the Summer Fox vibe.”

Last year, co-owners Jason Gray and Jason Hatwig, collectively known as ‘The Js,’ merged their small brewing company with Summer Fox. After losing their building in downtown Fresno to a fire, their journey led them to a merger with Summer Fox that felt like a natural fit.

Gray loves their new Tower location. 

“We are super excited and proud to be in Tower!” he professes. “The Van Ness Village has an amazingly rich history, and we look forward to being a part of its legacy.”

Hatwig says, “we remain committed to these core values: quality, community, and a passion for great beer—the ‘den of friends.’”

While many would agree that brewing beer isn’t easy, Summer Fox’s approach would suggest otherwise. A large part of succeeding in the craft beer industry is understanding beer culture, and Matuszewicz gets it.  

He explains, “You kind of always have to evolve and follow the trends because they do change.  We have to continuously change a little bit and come up with new things, come up with exciting things.”

Every business attempts to solve the puzzle of keeping patrons interested, but many fail to reach this goal. Yet Summer Fox has figured out a plan to keep their customers coming back time and time again—they listen. 

“I’d say every year, every couple of years, there are some major shifts in the craft beer industry,” Matuszewicz insists, “and it’s all consumer driven. There’s no ‘Illuminati’ of brewers that decide what the public wants. No, they have to follow what the consumers are asking for. So, if the consumers are saying, ‘we want seltzers,’ they got to turn out some seltzers. If the consumers say ‘we want all lagers this year,’ and for the next five years, everybody better start making some damn good lagers, then. Stay relevant, you know.”

This commitment to quality and excellence makes Summer Fox a stand-out beer, and their friendly neighborhood approach to sharing their award-winning craft beer is a solid fit for the Tower District.  

1426 N. Van Ness Avenue is a beloved spot with much local history—certainly “big shoes to fill”—but Summer Fox Tower is filling them well, pint by pint.