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.