Tag: San Diego

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Anniversary Stop # 1 – Bagby Beer

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After some truly gnarly traffic (to use surf slang), My wife and I arrived in Oceanside and the home of Bagby Beer. I have heard nothing but good things about the beer and was excited to try their beer for the first time.  Food was also on the agenda. Splitting a burger and ice cream sandwiches.  I ordered up a sampler tray with a brown ale, a Kellerbier, honey ale and a hoppy weisse. All were high quality. With Worker Bee taking the top spot for me. Then I ordered a taster of Dinkus, their “big” IPA.  It was the winner. Suitably strong but very fragrant with huge fruit notes in the taste. The balance was just spot on.

I was also very impressed with the look. Lovel green walls. One TV only that the bar could see and boy is this place huge and very well decorated with unique chairs and tables plus very in the San Diego way with chairs aligned to view the street style. High praise from my wife includes the saying, “Very Portland”.  This spot gets that nod. Many different seating areas and options.
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Believe the hype. You get so many beer choices. I would have been easily occupied by just their beers but they had a large grouping of guest taps too.IMG_5010

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SD Brewery # 3 – 32 North

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The third and final stop in the never ending stream of breweries in San Diego is 32 North. Not a latitude or longitude but the explorer themed brewery. I love the minimalistic design of the logo. Gives a Livingston, Zoo, pith helmet type of vibe.

And I found (4) beers, after much deliberating, to put in my imaginary first taster tray….

Landfall White Sour (Berliner Weisse)“ German Perle hops give Landfall an incredibly pleasing floral aroma paired with a sour crispness that makes for a light but awesomely full-flavored beer that you won’t be able to put down… but at 3.5% ABV, you might never have to!”

Fly By Night Milk Stout
“…a coffee-forward, incredibly dark, and curiously sweet beer that will never fail as the perfect cap to any beer tasting foray. It’s malt variety creates a smooth body that blends seamlessly into an endless chocolaty/coffee finish. Those looking for a thick mouth feel beer will not be disappointed. Carefully curated coffee beans, ample amounts of Victory malt, …”

Rye IPA“ Coming in at 6.3%, this is one of the smoothest IPA’s you’ll encounter. The Equinox hop really comes out in both the taste and nose, with a light but solid bitterness on the back end.”

Peanut Butter Cup Porter
“A strong peanut butter nose highlights the many strengths of our Peanut Butter Cup Porter! It’s taste and scent are extremely consistent with it’s namesake, and the lighter body doesn’t lead to being overly sweet. The strong peanut butter front end leads to a crisp vanilla finish…”

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San Diego Brewery # 2 – Quantum Brewing

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Similar to the Ecliptic Brewery in Portland, Quantum Brewing of San Diego borrows science lingo (some celestially related) for their beer names. Which makes constructing a taster tray almost dependent on the names rather than style. Which might be a good thing because I think more people should taste the full palette of beers and not just the hoppy ones.

So my science fictional taster would start with the Singularity Stout, then move backwards in time and style to the Boron Brown before trying the Uncertainty Red and the Pale’s Constant Pale ale and finishing with the Hadron Wheat Collider.

Then maybe try one of the hoppy lab creations with only numbers attached to them like the Project 95 IPA.

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Gypsy in L.A.?

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The news that Mikkel Borg Bjergsø and Peter Zien are expecting to be brewing Mikkeller Beers in the almost old AleSmith facility by June was presaged by their collaboration on Beer Geek Speedway earlier this year.

But buried in the press release was this small sentence, “Bjergsø also foresees opening other locations throughout California.” Seeing as how there is already a Mikkeller bar in San Francisco and that the new AleSmith/Mikkeller tasting room is underway, that leaves where? The biggest city left would be us! L.A.

No offense to cities from Sacramento to Santa Barbara but it seems like the next logical choice. Of course it may have to wait for his Denmark brewpub and other enterprises to come to fruition but if I could get a bar as unpretentious and still artsty with a killer beer list like Mikkeller SF, I would be all in.

The other cool news is “the plan on having many brewers from around the world come through and collaborate, …. to set up a ‘collaboration of the month.’” That alone would be a big draw for beer geeks to head to Miramar.

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San Diego Brewery # 1 – Toolbox Brewing

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It seems like at least once, if not twice, a year, my monthly brewery feature travels to San Diego. 2015 is no exception as more breweries are firing up their kettles. So let’s get started….

I give extra gold stars to breweries that can incorporate multiple meanings to a name especially if it is a (to me at least) obscure reference to a city skyline which is the case for Toolbox Brewing in San Diego. I don’t particularly see it but others look at San Diego and see an “Allen wrench, Phillips Head and Flathead screwdrivers and a chisel.” It is also a reference to the military history of the area as well which is a cool nod.

Toolbox focuses on small and brett, in no particular order. And these are the beers that I would put in my taster tray (which I assume will have a tool theme):

GRASS FED LETTUCE – Dry Hopped Blonde Sour Brett

MINI MUDDER – Milk Stout

MY COUSIN, STRAWBERRY – Wild Brett Beer w/ Strawberries

SMELLS LIKE NIRVANA – Hoppy Pale Brett

THE VIRGIN CHERRY – Tart Cherry Wild Ale

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In the Tap Lines for March

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Here’s to hoping that the little bursts of rain that California has been getting continue into March so that we don’t have to import water from Alaska via the H20 version of Keystone. Another reason to pray for rain is that I have quite a few stouts in the ‘fridge that drink better with cold/wet weather. Anyway, here is what is coming up this month on the BSP blog….

~ e-visits to three breweries from new-ish brewers in San Diego (yet again!)
~ special reviews of beers from Beach City of Huntington Beach, CA
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ Beer-centric podcast review
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 97 will converge bloggers onto a single topic, this month it is who and where is Up & Coming

Here are two events to get your March started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) March 9th BEER TALK – Cold Beer, Hot Pizza, Industry Pro
2) March 11th Crazy Harry’s taps the Maltose Falcons / Firestone Walker collaboration 

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Review – Peanut Butter Cup Porter from Karl Strauss

Brewed with cocoa nibs and peanut flavoring by Karl Strauss, I heard about this beer from L.A. beer writer, John Verive. With that recommendation, I bought the bomber the first time I saw it.

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Unfortunately, this beer did not coalesce for me. The initial aroma is sweet and almost floral. Only as it warms up did the true aroma hit me. Sickeningly sweet milk chocolate. On the plus side, the beer had sparkle to it. I thought the peanut would end a flattening viscous effect which did not happen. And yes, there is a strong peanut taste here which works to great effect.

This beer is a case study in not tasting like the name on the bottle. The one ingredient standing out as a discordant note makes me think not of a peanut butter cup but more peanut butter and a sweetened chocolate milk.

I gave a sample to my resident aroma expert and she said it reminded her of a cherry cordial. And if I had been given this beer and asked to 50-50 between peanut butter cup or cordial. I would be on the fence. And that is not a good sign.

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Treasure to be Found

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Green Flash Brewing Co. have brewed up their 4th beer in the “Treasure Chest” program, their annual beer release “to raise funds for breast cancer charities” The 2014 edition is a pink-hued Barrel Aged Saison with Plum that will be featured on tap at every Treasure Chest from San Diego to Virginia Beach event through the end of October 2014. Green Flash will donate one dollar from every full pour of Treasure Chest beer sold to a breast cancer charity in each of the cities where events are being held.”

Someone should really draw up a website that features charity beer and their related events. It is hard to keep with them all.