Tag: San Diego

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Bank Withdrawl

This story was recently in the L.A. Times….

It is rare that a government body is even a tiny bit pro-active but San Diego has seen the power of both biotech and beer and have created a new bank.  One that will be filled with water and (hopefully) won’t increase taxes.

The city wants to take “stranded”, unused water from business ventures willing to part with it and offer it to water dependent companies willing to pay for extra.  It is a clever idea and one that could conceivably work with other finite resources. It will be interesting if this project takes off and can be a model for other water districts.

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New San Diego Brewery # 3 – Kilowatt Brewing

Our last stop in San Diego is electrifying… Kilowatt Brewing. With Locations in Ocean Beach and Kearny Mesa.

Here are the beers that I would add to a taster tray….

Easy Crusher American Pilsner Pre-Prohibition style Lager​ – ​ “Straw colored Pilsner based on recipes brewed before the Volstead Act of 1919 using Pilsner malt, flaked corn, and German noble hops.”

Wir Trinken! Festbier​ -​ “A smooth, pale German-style lager with a strong malt presence balanced with a light hop character.”

250 kWh IPA​ American IPA​ -​ “Features Kohatu, Rakau, and Falconer’s Flight hops, with piney, fruity & citrus notes.”

350 kWh IIIPA Triple IPA​ – “Triple IPA brewed with 40 lbs of 7 different citrusy and tropical hops.”

Coconut Chai Porter​ American Porter​ -​” Brewed with chai spices and conditioned on toasted coconut.”

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New San Diego Brewery # 2 – Gravity Heights

This new to 2019 brewery has some San Diego brewing history behind it.  Gravity Heights has Skip Virgilio on board.  That name may ring a brewing bell because he co-founded and was the original brewer at a little place called Alesmith.

The new venture is in Sorrento mesa and has a restaurant and a “lush outdoor beer garden”.  Here are the beers that I would put into an initial taster tray….

Take Two Pilsner – “rich, pale lager with a crisp, rounded finish”

Brewers Best – “session ale with crisp bitterness and rich malt character”

SMS Pale Ale (Sorrento Mesa Standard) – “crystal malt provides depth for a refreshing, hop-forward classic”

Double Overhead – “piney and resinous, chewy malt presence provide balance”

Brewers Breakfast Stout – “roasty and velvet-smooth stout with coffee and chocolate tones”

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New San Diego Brewery # 1 – Kairoa Brewing

Mixing Kiwi to SoCal, Kairoa Brewing and brewer Joe Peach are trying to create a “modern farmhouse designed space” in San Diego.  Probably one of the few places to get New Zealand comfort food and an IPA.

Here are the beers that I would on a first visit…

4 Gables IPA – “Unfiltered west coast style, citrus forward, passionfruit, pine.”

Wizard of the South – “Hoppy Wheat – Full bodied, hoppy aroma, melon, honeydew, pear”

Cheeky Buggah – “Light bodied, subtle spice, light caramel and honey”

Ostrich Stout – “Velvety mouthfeel, heavy roast aroma, chocolate”

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Brewchive

Being a regular library user, I would welcome the chance to check out both the physical and on-line collections regarding craft beer.

The California State University, San Marcos (CSUSM) has been collecting “beer paraphernalia tracing the history of craft breweries in San Diego.”

Dubbed the Brewchive, it “is a new project from the university’s library. According to CSUSM Special Collections and History Librarian Judith Downie, the collection dates back to the late 1980s, about the time that the craft brewing scene first started to gain steam in the San Diego area. Around 30 years ago there were maybe five or six craft breweries in the county; today there are 156.”

Now that L.A. has a nice amount of breweries and a little bit of history behind it, the CalState system might want to look into expanding north and to Central Coast and Bay Area too. It will be much easier to find documents, coasters, recipes and the like

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High Societe


It is hard to single out one brewery in San Diego but whenever my next trip takes me south from L.A., Societe Brewing will be at the top of the list to visit. One reason could be to try their take on “Feral” ales and to check out some of the newer beers that they have produced like….

The Fiddler San Diego-style IPA – “Playing off lyrics from Alabama’s “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas”, brewmaster Travis Smith says, “If you’re gonna brew in San Diego, you gotta have an IPA!” Societe is highly regarded for its lengthy lineage of IPAs, and its latest harnesses the attributes of a trio of hops—Simcoe, Eureka and Idaho 7—to bring something newBeer Styles and unique to its Out West family of hop-driven beers. Those hops were selected through Societe’s single-hop IPA program.”

The Statesman Pale Ale – “Crafted to bring forth a distinctly West Coast hop profile balanced by substantial yet subtle malt character, this beer is a modern interpretation of an American pale ale and Societe’s first foray into this venerable beer style.”

The Bachelor with Cashmere hops Single-Hop IPA – “The latest in Societe’s rotating line of IPAs exploring the world’s hop varietals, this beer exclusively utilizes Cashmere hops, a recently developed, en vogue cross between the Cascade and Northern Brewer cultivars.”

The Damsel Belgian-style Table Beer – “This New World take on the lowest-alcohol variety of monastic, European “abbey ales” is crafted to be highly drinkable and light in body, but big on floral and spice character imparted by our house Belgian yeast strain.”

The Thief Feral Beer with Locally Grown Grenache Blanc – “Grenache Blanc grapes harvested from North San Diego County’s Vesper Vineyards lend a brilliant vinous essence to this effervescent, layered and award-winning specialty ale, which is available in bottles for the first time.”

The first four on the list are draft only while The Thief is also on-sale in corked, caged, 500-millileter bottles (available only at the brewery).

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Break Out the Pink Boots

I am quite picky about beer festivals but when I saw that the Pink Boots Society was going to have a 10th Anniversary Craft Beer Festival at Liberty Station in the temperate clime of San Diego, I clicked on the link and read on.

They have secured a nice roster of breweries with an emphasis on locals from SD and there will be music and food and most importantly beers brewed by PBS members.

The event is on Saturday, June 3rd from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm with tickets ranging from $45 in advance and $60 for Day of Sales

All proceeds from Festival will benefit the Pink Boots Society Scholarship program that helps women in the brewing industry advance their careers.

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SudNorth


In a counterprogramming move, Ryan Brooks (formerly of Coronado Brewing Co.) will be opening a brewery that strides the brewing styles of Southern California and Northern Mexico. With the well-suited to branding name of SouthNorte, let’s hope that they can fuse the tastes of two countries.

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Ignited Brewery # 3 – Wiseguy Brewing


Our final stop is Wise Guy Brewing. Conjures up old-timey gangster movies which is an interesting choice for San Diego. Adding to the dissonance is the fact that founder and brewer Brett Gent will be focusing on classic German styles. Don’t get me wrong, we need to see more German and English style breweries so I would jump at the chance to try something from the 2(ish) taps dedicated to those beers, could be a Pilsner, Doppelbock, Altbier, Schwarzbier, Helles Lager, Dunkelweizen, Oktoberfest.

You might also find Brown Ales, Porters, Stouts, ESB’s and a Vienna Lager. Gent has won numerous awards for his home-brewed ales and lagers.

Lest hop heads be scared away Wiseguy will also use their 10-barrel brewhouse and five 20-barrel fermenters to make IPA’s as well.