Whole Lot of Tart – Council Brewing

This month’s brewery visit was to Council Brewing.  I talked to Tasting Room manager Kelsey Eck about Council’s history and business. The tasting room and brewery first opened for business in 2014.  Liz and Curtis Chism, the owners, had sold their home and started up their new brewing business in 2013, after winning awards for their home brew ales.  They wanted to emphasize traditional ale styles, which includes Saisons. They experimented with a sour version of this traditional French farmhouse ale that uses lactobacillus in addition to yeast.  The result was the Beatitude series of tart Saisons, their signature series. Beatitudes incorporate a variety of fruit flavors, such as passion fruit, mango, and raspberry. The Chisms started with a 3 barrel system adding fruit that was donated to them by customers. They have since expanded to three 45 Barrel fermenters. They seem to have found a niche that was missing in the San Diego Beer Market, now bottling the series and selling to 160 accounts, primarily in Southern California. Even with the increase in production Kelsey said they have no plans to open a satellite Tasting Room.

Like many San Diego breweries, Council Brewing is located in an industrial park. They are in Kearny Mesa at 7705 Convoy Court. The interior has an old-school feel with wooden barrels stacked up at the entrance and a long wooden bar in front of the 16 taps. Music from the 60s to the 80s played in the background during my recent visit. The tasting room is advertised as kid friendly, but only service dogs are allowed and was fairly full mid-week. Food trucks are typical limited to the Friday and Saturday.

If lightly hopped, low alcohol tarts aren’t your style, Council has a a full lineup of traditional ales, from IPAs to stouts to Tripels. Their Bully Pulpit IPA won Bronze at the San Diego International Beer Festival in 2015 for American IPA and is a solid entry in this traditional local category.  Liz Chism’s brewing philosophy is to go for complex but balanced ales. While visiting the brewery on two occasions, this philosophy delivered some great beer.  The Belgian Tripel with Brett came out spicy and smooth.  It is one of the offerings from the “Magic Factory” where Liz can experiment with new recipes.

As I mentioned before, Bully Pulpit is an excellent IPA.  Both my brother Dean and I give it high marks; it has great hopping with citrus/tropical Mosaic hops and enough malt backing to give it great balance. My personal favorite was the Pirate’s Breakfast Stout.  Stouts run the gamut from sweet and creamy to bitter chocolate.  This stout found the perfect balance between the two to keep your interest. (The brewery is having a “Talk Like a Pirate Event” September 17 and 19.)  I felt that I would have been remiss had I not tried some tarts, even though they aren’t my favorite style.  The Beatitude Cherry Tart Saison was impressive. The sweetness from the cherries offset the sour tart base just enough to make a very enjoyable beer.

This post was originally published in the Clairemont Times. 

After this article was published, Dean had this to add:

Had a nice little convo with Curtis after you left as he actually recognized me after meeting him a few times.  Told him I would drop off a few copies of the Clairemont Times when it dropped.  Also, they will soon be canning Bully Pulpit (praise be!) for sale at the tasting room.  The label includes the likeness of Teddy Roosevelt!  Lastly, names of the IPAS are not evocative of legalese (which I mistook in the term "counsel"), rather our 18th and 19th century town "councils" that were gaveled to order and which people used as a bully pulpit for airing of grievances.

Kelsey Eck showing some tart at Council Bewing tasting room.

Mid-week at Council Brewing.

Dan Lawrence at the Helm – Helms Brewing

A little over 3 years ago, four San Diego shipbuilders brought their passion for beer together and opened Helms Brewing in Kearney Mesa.  As a Navy man myself, I wanted to make sure that Helms was one of the first few breweries I reviewed for the Clairemont Times.  My brother Dean and I made a mid-week trip to the tasting room and brewery and talked to Dan Lawrence, Head Brewer.  Dan came to Helms about two years ago, after the operation was up and running, from Ellicott Mills Brewing in Maryland.  Dan keeps busy with a very fully line up of beers at Helms.  In spite of their small size, they currently have 16 different beers on offer at their Ocean Beach tasting room. He said that the variety and number of beers in their lineup is what sets Helms apart.  He also said that the atmosphere here is much more competitive than back east, due to the large number of excellent breweries nearby. Helms is looking into expansion in the near future, with their beers currently shipping all over America, including the east coast.  (They are often locally available at Keil’s foods.)  I asked Dan what presented the most challenge to him as a brewer. It is the Low Tide Blonde, because it is lighter, it is less forgiving of error.

The brewery itself is set in an industrial park at 5640 Kearney Mesa Rd. not far from Societe, reviewed two months ago.  Once you walk past the fermenting tanks, the nautical theme takes over.  There are some great ship photos on the wall, as well as the longest panoramic view of San Diego harbor I have ever seen. The names of the beers feature nautical themes as well. No pretensions here, with sports on TV and chips for sale to go with your beer.

Most importantly, Helms is brewing some excellent beer.  I tried a flight of five 4 oz. samplers for $10. I started off with Summer Equinox IPA.  This is called a Session IPA, due to its lower alcohol content, allowing one to drink a few beers in a “session.”  Beer Advocate has a nice article on the origin of this term.  This IPA was crisp but plenty hoppy, a great way to start our session. I went with another lighter beer, a collaboration with Monkey Paw brewing, Ninja Monkey Pirate.  This is a well hopped Saison, which retained the great flavor and character of a Saison even with the extra hops.  Dan explained that this was due to the dry hopping, which limited the hop exposure of the beer. He also pointed out that Saison’s in general are a French farmhouse styles that get a unique flavor from Brettanomyces, a type of yeast.  Next up were two flagship beers Wicked as Sin and Hop the RIPA.  Wicked is a very floral IPA that I really liked, also because it is different from the normal West Coast IPA.  Hop the RIPA is a Hoppy Red that is the beer that I think Stone’s Arrogant Bastard should be more like.  The underlying red ale base isn’t covered up by the hops. I ended the flight with Dark Waters, strong Belgian Dark ale.  It didn’t disappoint.  Even though it had 9.5 % alcohol, it wasn’t boozy.  There was a little smokiness to this ale that balanced nicely with the Belgian spices.

Helms Brewing is doing great work across a wide variety of beer styles, with something for everyone.

This post was originally published in the Clairemont Times. 

Bitter Brothers – Hidden Gem on Morena

When we think of beer neighborhoods, Morena Avenue in Bay Ho and Bay Park doesn’t necessarily come to mind.  But only a stone’s throw from the Costco, Bitter Brothers has opened up a quality brewery, operating since the start of the year at its location at 4170 Morena Ave.  Co-owner Bill Warnke was on hand to chat with my brother and I about his beers when we visited.  He said that he came to the beer industry by way of being a chef, which got him interested in the local beer scene.  He worked for a while with Lightning Brewing in Poway before deciding to go into the beer business with his brother.

The Bitter Brothers facility is fairly large for a brewery of its size, ensuring everyone has a place to sit.  The beer selection has a nice variety as well, with offerings such as West Coast style IPAs, but also more traditional styles such as stouts, weizens, ESB, and a tart Berliner Weisse. As a tall guy, I liked that the stools were adjustable and my wife liked the purse hooks under the bar on a previous visit.

I tried out some four ounce samples. At only $2 per sample, this is a quality beer bargain.  I usually start with milder varieties, because starting with an IPA will ruin your palate for other flavors.  First up was Brotherly Love, a Dunkelweizen, with mellow chocolate notes that don’t overpower the malted wheat.  (All of the beers have sibling themed names, as befits a brewery owned by two brothers.)   Next was Extra Special Brother, a traditional Extra Special Bitter, that had all of the malt character and mild sweetness I expect. Ironically, ESBs are not especially bitter, despite their name. Bill said that they are trying to deliver beers “true to the style” and I think they have hit the mark.

Black Sheep on Nitro, is a coffee porter filled with a very mild coffee flavor. That is unlike many coffee porters I have tried which have been very bitter. This has a gentle sweetness that might tempt you to drink too many.  I moved on to an IPA, Prodigal Son, made with Amarillo hops. These hops bring the citrusy and bitter taste expected of a true West Coast IPA.  If you are a hop-head, this is your kind of beer.

My final ale was the best of the evening.  I finished with the Double IPA, Big Brother, and wow, was it impressive.  Very balanced and less bitter, it was full of flavor, but remained balanced.  I couldn’t be sure, but it tasted like a mix of yeast varieties had been used, including a Belgian.  As befits a double, it had higher alcohol at 9% ABV.  It had been recently tapped.  $1 of the pour went to ALS charity.  This is a worthy beer to raise money for a good cause.

To sum up, Bitter Brothers is a small brewery doing a lot, but not trying to do too much.

 

Bill Warnke, Co-owner, raises a glass.

This post was originally published in the Clairemont Times. 

Rough Draft - Hardly Rough at All

Rough Draft Brewing is one of San Diego's best breweries and that's saying a lot, considering all of the award winners we have in the county.  I sampled some of their best offerings today as part of a gathering hosted by my financial advisor Ray Taraz, more on Ray later.  This brewery is well laid out, with ample space, big screen TVs with sports and a great kitchen.  This last amenity is not to be scoffed at.  While I understand why San Diego brewers don't want to be in the food business, too often the food trucks on which they rely are no shows.  Rough Draft's kitchen serves up an outstanding menu of sandwiches, salads, paninis and charcuterie.  Dean sampled the sandwich and said that the fresh bread made the meal.

Rough Draft serves up primarily IPAs.  I started with a Belgian just to be different and wasn't disappointed.  Emboozlement, a Tripel, comes in standard and bourbon barrel aged varieties.  I tried the standard, pictured, which had plenty of character, banana and clove notes and a just right alcohol content of 9%.

I got Michele the Hop Therapy, a double IPA that has a big hoppy, bitter taste and plenty of ABV as well.  Next up was Freudian Sip, an American Strong Ale, that I first sampled at the International Beer Fest at the Del Mar Fairgrounds a year ago.  Still one of my favorite beers, it defies characterization, but I'll try.  It is a bit like a very hoppy amber, but with incredible complexity that requires you to take your time to enjoy.  That's Bree, who did a great job as our server in the background.

After, some great paninis and salad, I had desert of sorts with "Stout Stout Baby with Vanilla and Cocoa Nibs." Its name sums it up.  Pretty traditional stout bitterness was offset by the Vanilla, making a great way to finish up.  Some of the barrels used for aging are pictured in the back.

Rough Draft has been brewing in Mira Mesa since 2012, according to our tour guide Melissa.  Owner Jeff Silver had been home brewing and winning awards for 20 years when he decided to brew beer as a business.  Now, Rough Draft can be found as far away as Spain and Canada, and even in Maryland in the U.S.  They have offerings that you can find in San Diego Costco outlets.  Rough Draft keeps an impressive amount of grain on hand in two silos, which they mill themselves.  They typically use two-row barley in their base.  In addition to the IPA line up, they make a blond ale and an amber ale.

The whole event and tour was organized by our financial advisor, Ray Taraz.  Ray is with Ameriprise and consistently gets high marks for customer service in local ratings.  His real value to us, has been to keep our portfolio diversified and balanced, avoiding big losses in 2008, and keeping us from making emotional financial decisions.

Societe Brewing – Excellence in Three Parts

This article was written for the Clairemont Times.  You can see the original on page 11 on Issuu. 

Our family made a Sunday afternoon outing to Societe Brewing (pronounced society) in Kearney Mesa at 8262  Clairemont Mesa Blvd.  This has been one of my favorite breweries for some time, as I am partial to Belgians.  Societe divides their brews into three categories. The first, “Old World,” consists primarily Belgians, but they also have two lagers on tap now.  They have gone to the expense to install refrigeration necessary for the colder fermenting process that lagers require.  Their second category is “Out West.” These are primarily West Coast IPAs, with the full hopping you would expect from a San Diego brewer, although they also brew one English style IPA.  Their last category is “Stygian” for their stouts, referring to their dark and dank character.

We sampled a decent variety of their offerings.  My favorite was “The Madam” a golden Belgian Ale.  It is crisp, spicy, and surprisingly light tasting for a beer with 9% alcohol.  It compares well to offerings from Belgium like Piraat.  One of my all time favorite dark Belgians, the Widow was excellent as usual, but I was more partial to the golden Belgian on this trip.  I seldom sample San Diego lagers, but gave the Heiress (Czech Pilsner) a try. (A pilsner is a style of lager.)  It is an excellent beer that would go great on a hot afternoon with a BBQ burger, but with enough grain and hops to hold your interest. The Bachelorette was a hoppy lager that defied easy characterization, being less hop forward than other beers in this style.

The stouts did not disappoint either.  The Bellowsman had an incredibly smoky flavor but was still easy to drink. The Butcher is a boozy, smooth Stout with some of the clove and banana notes we expect from Belgians.  These are great stouts, but if you are looking for bitter chocolate notes in your Stout, then these aren’t your beers.

My wife, Michele, is the hop-head in the family, so she stuck with one of her go-to IPAs, The Pupil, regularly featured at Luce Bar & Grill on Morena. This is a nice piney IPA with a little extra sweetness that balances it out.  It is above average in alcohol content at almost 8%.  Sample sizes come in 3 oz pours, so you can sample a wide variety over a few hours, or you can order 6 or 12 oz. glasses.  They also offer 1 and 2 liter growler fills to take home your favorites. Unfortunately, they don’t bottle for the store yet.

While Societe is located in an industrial park, the interior character is sort of turn of the century Western, not exactly “old west” like BNS in Santee.  They have a regular rotation of mobile food vendors.  On our visit, the BBQ from Grill Fellas Catering featured mouth-watering wood-smoked pulled pork and tri-tip that was the perfect pairing with great beer.

 The Apprentice, The Widow, and The Harlot (left to right)

 The big board of beers.

 We are clearly having a good time.

We weren't the only ones.

Poseidon Project - Bay Park Gem

Wow, great beer selection in the bottle section, but not not matched by the tap line.  We had a family get together at the Poseidon Project in Bay Park today.  Really enjoyed their excellent selection of beers and fabulous ambience.  There cooler is stocked with some of the best craft beer California has to offer.  My only slight knock is that there were only 8 or 10 beers on draft (didn't count).  Poseidon bills itself as a destination for craft beer and wine lovers; but on a late Saturday afternoon, we only saw folks enjoying craft beer.  A food truck was scheduled to arrive at 5:30, but we brought in our own afternoon repaste.  Well appointed with a great interior design.  If you visit Bay Park you should check in.

Some of the beers on tap included:

Fall Brewing Company's Plenty for All Pilsner.  I greatly enjoyed this fine take on the classic Czech/German style.

Stone's Enjoy By 5.30.16 Tangerine IPA.  My wife and son were pretty pleased.

I am a big fan of Acoustic Ales, and Music in Liquid Form IPA did not disappoint.  

Finally, I shared a bottle with my son, Acoustic Ales Witte Snake.  I took a picture of the bottle and glass and caught some of the artwork inside as well.

Sculpin - San Diego's Go To IPA

While going out around town lately, I have noticed that even the mediocre Mexican restaurants in Old Town have been carrying Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point.  My wife really enjoys this beer, even if not my favorite. (In fairness, I am not a big hop-head, so my favorite IPAs tend to have more malt backing and are slightly less bitter than average.) 


I was pleased to see that Sculpin was named King of Crafts in a National University study reported in the print edition of the Union Tribune.  (Link not available, print only.)  I like the brewery, since they have a great selection of styles, and they have a location on Linda Vista Rd near our neighborhood.


From the UT article (Sculpin, King of Crafts):

Raise a glass to the Sculpin Economy. All across San Diego County, brewers enjoyed a robust 2015. New breweries opened at a rapid clip, as the calendar year began with 97 local operations and ended with 114; expanding by more than 760 jobs, the workforce exceeds 4,500; and beer sales rose 17 percent, to $851 million.

Yet one beer dominated the National University System Institute for Policy Research study released today.

“A large part of that was Sculpin,” said Vince Vasquez, the study’s author, citing Ballast Point’s India pale ale. “Ballast Point doubled sales year over year, and overwhelmingly that is due to the power of Sculpin.”
. . .
What Vasquez calls Ballast Point’s “monstrous” year was well under way before its sale. One measure of its growth will be revealed today when the national Brewers Association releases its annual list of the country’s 50 largest breweries. Last year, Ballast Point was 31st, trailing ninth-place Stone among local breweries. (Two other San Diegans were on the list: Karl Strauss, 45th, and Green Flash, 48th.) While Escondido’s Stone remains a powerhouse — this year, it plans to open satellite breweries in Richmond, Va., and overseas in Berlin— experts predict the Brewers Association’s data will show Ballast Point outpacing Stone. “That’s a pretty big shift,” said Ryan Lake, a director with First Beverage Group, a Los Angeles-based private equity bank, “them overtaking Stone, given how long Stone has been the leader there.”

If you are a visiting San Diego, a tour of some of our over 100 craft breweries should be on your list of things to do.

Coronado Brewing Stingray IPA - One of my favorites

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Weekend Fix It

Today's fix it project to get our home ready for Airbnb.  Doesn't look to tough.





UPDATE

Never say that the job doesn't look too hard.  It turned out that the nipple for the already installed faucet was an odd size, 1-1/8" OD.  I had a devil of a time extracting it and installing a more standard 1/2" nipple in its place.  After the second try with the correct length nipple, the job was easy.

Comic-Con Opens Hotel Registration

San Diego's Comic-Con just opened up the "Early Bird Hotel Registration," for the July 21-24 event.  The hotels are requiring a minimum stay of three to four days and a non-refundable deposit.  While I understand the popularity of Comic-Con is driving demand, these conditions seem a little off-putting to say the least.   The least expensive hotel is asking $179 per night, the most expensive starts at $240.  These are not five star locations that compete with the Convention Center hotels such as the Manchester Grand Hyatt.

No wonder Airbnb is becoming a popular alternative to hotels.  In full disclosure, we hope to be competing for your business against these hotels, with our own Airbnb offering.  We plan to provide airport transportation as well as transportation to and from the Con.  Breakfast will be on offer as well. 

My sons have been regulars at Comic-Con for years.  We look forward to sharing our love for this piece of San Diego with out-of-town guests.

My Valentines' Day Talk

Each year, the Clairemont Christian Fellowship Men's Group has a sweetheart breakfast in February.  Normally our Men's Breakfast is an all male affair, but once a year we invite the ladies.  I was asked to speak this year, and gave this address.


Love and Respect in Marriage

Sven and Olga lived on a farm in South Dakota and had been married almost 30 years, when Olga complained, “Not once in thirty years since we got married, have you told me you loved me.” Sven, looking a little puzzled and annoyed, replied, “I told you I loved you when I married you. If I ever change my mind, I'll let you know!”  Today, I want to talk about improving on Sven’s relationship model.  Let’s see what scripture might tell us about this.

Ephesians 5:
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Before Valentine’s Day there is another important national holiday, tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday.  I watch a lot of football, as Michele can tell you.  A new phrase that has come into the lexicon for officials in recent years is the “Point of Emphasis.”  This isn’t a change in the rules, merely an emphasis on a rule that needs to be more meticulously enforced. For instance, avoiding helmet-to-helmet contact has been a point of emphasis lately.

When we look at the scripture here, and also look at some recent research into relationships between men and women; we see the following points of emphasis. For men, it is to love your wives and for women, it is to respect your husbands. Now, I take my cue from scripture, but it’s sometimes good to convince non-believers that science keeps confirming Christian principles.

Men: Demonstrate love to your wives. It’s not just thinking, yeah, I would take the bullet for her, even though you would.  There certainly is the broader sense that it’s a man’s duty to protect his wife; that is an important aspect of how men love. I know from personal experience that Michele appreciates it when I protect her from unfair verbal attacks even from those close to her.  But we men should also be establishing the framework of the relationship.  You should take the lead on finding what you can do together, then do it, and demonstrate affection while doing so.  This works on multiple levels. Your wife will respect you for your leadership and she will feel loved because of the attention, affection and time spent together.

Women: Show respect towards your husbands.  Start by letting him take the lead, and if he doesn’t encouraging him to.  It means no sarcasm, choosing your words carefully.  We are often much more careful with our words at work than we are in the home.  It means acknowledging his contributions.  Maybe he makes the money or contributes in other ways, those should be acknowledged. Don’t be in the habit of criticizing your husband, even to your girlfriends, and especially not to your children.  Here is another way to think about this.  If the pastor came to your house for dinner, how would you treat him, how would you show respect? That same treatment, applied to your husband will improve your relationship.

This isn’t hard to understand, even if it’s sometime hard to do.
Respect: We listen to what the other person is saying.  We follow that person’s lead.  We look for them to take the lead, and when they do we follow.
Showing love means saying it more often.  Being considerate and attentive.  Thinking of your wife when taking the lead and making plans.

By the way, no one is saying that the women shouldn’t love their husbands or that men shouldn’t respect their wives.  Scripture is, however, calling out a point of emphasis.  So I challenge every couple here today to do this.  Women, make respecting your husbands a point of emphasis in your relationship; especially if you aren’t “feeling it.” Men, go out of your way to be loving, act loving and say that you love your wives; again irrespective of your feelings.

I guarantee that it will improve your marriage.