Karl Strauss Brewing – Picnic Perfect

In 1989, Karl Strauss Brewing established the first local brewery San Diego had seen since 1953. Many have argued that this started the current craft beer revolution that has made San Diego the beer capital of the world. Even though Karl Strauss is the granddaddy of San Diego craft beer, I had not given them much thought until a few years ago when I started to see their expanded line up. Their push into new beer styles has paid off; they won a slew of awards and have been able to expand locations. Most recently, they brought home the 2016 award for mid-size brewer of the year at the Great American Beer Festival. I dropped by the Karl Strauss Tasting Room & Beer Garden at 5985 Santa Fe Street. This venue is secluded and comfortable. There is a large outdoor area just made for picnicking at long wood tables dominated by enormous red coral trees. While I was there, a few families were present, partying with their children, toting take-out pizza and enjoying outdoor bean bag. There is also an indoor tasting area where you can kibbutz with servers about the beer. Most of Karl Strauss’ lineup is on tap, including new offerings from the brewpubs that are being tested out. This Santa Fe street location is also the main production facility.

I interviewed Paul Segura, Head Brewmaster for Research and Development. Segura was formerly just Head Brewmaster, but operations have grown so large with 10 brewpubs each with their own brewery on-premise that head brewmaster duties had to be split. He is in charge of new beer development, brand development and is the go-to spokesman for the brewery. Segura is also an Adjunct professor at UCSD in Brewery Operations and appears on the 91X “Beer for Breakfast” program. Segura told me that each of the Brewers at the 10 brewpubs is allowed creativity in new beer offerings. Sometimes they are given a focus area, but in any case, the beers from the brewpubs also make their way onto the twenty tap lineup at The Tasting Room on Santa Fe Street. The brewpub experiments can also end up as part of the standard lineup. Mosaic Session IPA, one of my favorites, was the result of Sean Albrecht's efforts at the downtown brewpub. Segura said that Karl Strauss is aiming to be the best at beer and food pairing at their brewpubs.

In addition to the brewpub offerings, there is a seasonal rotation of beers at the tasting room. Right now the Oktoberfest beers are being brewed, with emphasis on the traditional German styles. Each year a new Christmas beer will be offered. In 2011, Two Tortugas, a Belgian Quad was introduced that become a favorite and was brewed another 6 times; it was in my favorite style and convinced me to start trying Karl Strauss beers again. In January, there will be a changing of the barrels, as the oak aged beers that have sat for one year are brought. There is an opportunity to taste beers that will be aged before they go into the barrel, and to come back a year later to see what the aging has done. February 2 will bring a new anniversary ale. Summertime has its own specialty beers, which were available for this tasting.

Paul Segura sharing a Mosaic IPA.

I asked Segura if the brewery is part of Pacific Beach or Bay Ho, as their seemed to be some controversy on the matter. His take is that they are in PB. They produce a collaboration beer once a month that is only sold in PB and benefits BeautifulPB.com. The brewery also participates in local beach cleanup days, considering themselves part of that community.

I tasted some of the beers not in permanent rotation. Liquid A/C English Summer Ale is one of the summertime brews. I noticed lemon from the hops up front, with dry toasty malt giving body to a bright refreshing ale. Belly Button Birthday ale was brewed in celebration of the one year anniversary of the Anaheim brewpub. This hazy double IPA was intensely hopped but not exceptionally bitter. Passion fruit dominates the taste; this ale is very smooth for an IIPA. Singularity Black IPA had an unforeseen citrus hoppy taste, when its rich dark brown color seemed to indicate roastier taste. The darker roast flavors are subtle and in the background. I also tried some milder styles, starting with Comb the Desert Dark Lager; roasted coffee comes through along with nutty, toasty lager flavor. Desk Pop Ale was my first ever sampling of the English Mild style. It was as mild as advertised, but malty, like a milder version of an ESB and very sessionable.

I also tried some varieties that you can find in bottles at the store. Big Barrel Double IPA is exactly what I want in a double. Brewed with New Zealand hops, the grapefruit hits you right away and the bitterness lingers. Sip slowly because it is 9% alcohol. Wreck Alley Imperial Stout is named after an area of ship wrecks off Mission Beach. The balance between bitter roast, sweet chocolate and coffee flavors is just right. I finished with Mosaic Session IPA. I could smell the citrus as my beer was served. It is also, a good summer IPA at only 5% alcohol, I enjoyed its bounty of hop complexity.

If you had forgotten about Karl Strauss among the 150 breweries that followed in their footsteps in San Diego, it’s time to give them another look. Where better than at their beer garden?

This article was originally published in the Clairemont Times on page 13

Bay City Brewing – Urban Coastal Destination

Bay City Brewing in Point Loma just turned two years old in August. Co-owners Greg Anderson and Ben Dubois have created an urban coastal atmosphere and some great beers not far from Clairemont, right behind the Valley View Casino Center, at 3760 Hancock St. Visible from the I-8 freeway, Bay City is nestled between San Diego and Mission Bays, always catching a nice breeze from the area where the San Diego River meets the Pacific Ocean. I talked to Ben Dubois at their recently expanded location about beer, their vision, and what’s unique about the brewery. Dubois had finished a full day of practicing medicine, performing three shoulder surgeries prior to our interview. As a long time resident of Point Loma with his wife and three boys, he and Anderson wanted to expand the presence of beer making in the area.

Brewmaster Chris West, formerly of Monkey Paw, is keeping 18 tap lines full in a fairly small operation. The line up can be roughly divided into hoppy, malty and sour categories, and a grapefruit radler on the side. Keeping up the variety has been a challenge they have been meeting according to Dubois. But the variety is key their goal of appealing to a large cross section of beer drinkers, not just the hop-heads and the beer connoisseurs.

Their tasting room is a nice after work destination. When I visited, I saw a small team doing an after-work meeting, certainly a morale building event. The tasting room features both an indoor traditional bar area and outdoor picnic tables, with a clean lay out that makes it easy to walk around. I asked about the reliability of food trucks. Dubois said that he had developed good relations with consistent vendors and wasn’t having trouble. I was there a bit early in the afternoon, but food was ready to serve ahead of the Friday 4:00 p.m. schedule. Carolina Mike was serving bbq chicken, pulled pork, and tri-tip sliders. The sliders were great, especially with the spicy mustard.

Bay City is the official pre-game spot for the San Diego Gulls. They get big crowds before and even during the game. At the start of the season, they will roll out Power Play IPA, a medium strength ale featuring Citra and Azacca hops. Another popular feature is live music on Sunday, typically a one or two person show.

No matter the temptation, I couldn’t sample all 18 beers on tap, but I did catch a good cross section of styles. In the maltier category, Vienna Lager was slightly sweet with caramel and very solid. The Belgian Single had a spicy banana flavor up front with lots of malt backing with a refreshing fizz on the tongue. Sin Ship is a Baltic Porter and an outstanding example of the style. It was full, nutty, hinting of raisins and caramel. It is named after the SS Monte Carlo, a so-called Sin Ship, whose wreck is visible along the Coronado beach. Fiesta Island Pilsner was floral and sweet, more in the German than Czech style. Wired Device is a coffee stout that is creamy and not bitter. It is well carbonated and very smooth drinking.

I tried the two sours and the Grapefruit Radler. The Radler would be great at breakfast, with nice carbonation pulling out the grapefruit and just enough alcohol. The Sour Wheat was a traditional hazy sour that was surprisingly balanced, there was a bit of lemon sweetness. The Sour Brown was the first I had tried the style. The caramel and sour off set each other for a very unique taste.

Bay City Pale Ale is the brewery’s number one selling, flagship ale. It has hop-intensity with citrus bitterness that lingers. Clearly this is a San Diego style beer and a very good one. Murky Was the Case is a hazy IPA. Hazy IPAs seem to be the latest style craze. It had a floral fresh spring flavor and was actually refreshing even if thick. Northwest Double IPA lived up to its name with more resinous hops and toasted malt to balance out the flavor. The City is a nice big IIPA, with a little more pine than other offerings, and a full flavor that hides the higher alcohol content. I was curious about Coffee Pale Ale. It turned out that this malty pale ale with light coffee in the background makes a great flavor combination.

Bay City brewing is centrally located for those who work or live in the urban center of coastal San Diego with a beer variety almost every taste.

The tasting room at Bay City Brewing.  Sour Wheat, Sour Brown, Strictly Business IPA, Coffee Pale Ale

Rough Draft? – Great Draft

Meeting up for beers, but you aren’t sure if the kitchen quality will be up to the same high standards of San Diego craft breweries? Rough Draft might be your go-to place. Offering an excellent variety of San Diego style IPAs and a first-rate kitchen; Rough Draft is among a few local brewers serving lunch and dinner in-house. I caught up with Rough Draft owner Jeff Silver at the tasting room and kitchen located at 8830 Rehco Rd Suite D, San Diego. Silver opened the doors of Rough Draft in 2012, and in 2015 he added the kitchen. The local food trucks, while offering good food, couldn’t always accommodate his desire to have a consistent presence. Having a kitchen solved that problem.

The Rough Draft name came from a pun intended to mean a work in progress, as well as the beer reference. Silver is always trying new beer recipes with a goal to always be growing the business. He sees the business as a local operation that is part of the community. All of the beer-making takes place in the same location as the tasting room; visitors can see where the beer is being made while they imbibe. The entire operation is on display, from grinding the two row barley to fermenters, the last and longest step in the process. I saw some spent grain destined for re-use at Stehly Farms; Silver said that he gets the grapefruit for the Weekday Grapefruit IPA in return. If you can’t make it to the tasting room, Rough Draft is being sold in local Costco, and in restaurants and stores in San Diego. He is also examining where he might add up to two tasting rooms. I suggested Bay Park, which is starting to accumulate some breweries.

Silver has a plurality of West Coast IPAs in his line-up, due to local demand, but he also has a variety of styles among the 18 beers on tap. Even though Rough Draft brews a variety of IPAs, the Amber Ale is the best seller. San Diegans expect a mix of IPAs, so 7 of 18 taps had that variety. I asked him about Freudian Sip, an American Strong Ale, one of my favorites. It was originally designed to be barrel aged, but he found it was excellent even before aging, so it is offered in two varieties. He just introduced a hazy (unfiltered) IPA; that couldn’t quite be described as a New England style IPA. In my opinion, it competes in that area. Rough Draft also has an extensive barrel aging program. Right now, they are aging primarily in Pinot Noir and Bourbon barrels. Some of the barrel aged beer is available in bottles, with more on tap.

The tasting room has a nice mix of seating arrangements, including a traditional wood topped bar facing two big screens with sports. There are also four person bar tables and stools, and some longer tables for bigger groups. The barrel aging room next door doubles as an event venue, with ales and dinner available for your event. The kitchen menu includes Paninis, hot and cold sandwiches, flat-breads, charcuterie boards, meat pies, and sausage rolls. The kitchen menu options are very complementary to the ales. The Cubano sandwich I ate was crispy and perfect, with just the right mix of mustard and pickles to go with the porchetta.

On this visit, I sampled six beers. I tried the best-selling Amber Ale first. Creamy caramel comes right at you up front. This is a solid beer with lots of malt body and is very smooth; I only noticed the hops at the end. Identity Crisis is a great name for a blonde stout and an example of Silver’s desire to experiment with new varieties. Without the darker roasts, it isn’t as bitter as other stouts, yielding a semi-sweet vanilla and coffee infused drink. Apricot Wundersauer is a sour BerlinerWeisse. This beer is tart, but not overly so; the apricots provide a mellow backdrop as does the wheat. This is a very good beer for the style. Eraser IPA is in the Northwest style, characterized by more malt, darker color and more resinous hops. If you like your IPA bitter, this IPA is for you. Grapefruit Weekday IPA is a lower alcohol offering infused with local grapefruit. You can really taste the ruby red; it seems like a great brunch beer. There is a load citrus hop taste up front in AmaGalaCitraScade, a hazy IPA. It has good carbonation, bringing out all the citrus bitterness that lingers on the palate. My last sample on this trip was Bourbon Barrel Aged Freudian Sip, one of my few five-star beers. A tang from the ale hits the front of the tongue first. The bourbon flavor carries the booziness on the back. Finally, subtle floral notes linger if you sip this beer slowly. My wife and I have also enjoyed Hop Therapy Double IPA, Emboozlement Tripel, and Southern Triangle IPA on other visits; these are all excellent as well.

Rough Draft is that go-to place where you can count on great beer and great food in one location. It’s worth the trip from Clairemont.

Jeff Silver in front of the Mash Tun at Rough Draft Brewing.

This article was originally published in the Clairemont Times on page 13.

Duck Foot Brewing – Gateway Brewery

Introducing craft beers to your friends who are accustomed to mass-produced pilsners like Budweiser can be a challenge, especially here in San Diego, home to the intense West Coast IPA style.  Duck Foot Brewing, located at 8920 Kenamar Drive, Suite #210, is the perfect destination for the uninitiated. Duck Foot brews all of their beers gluten-reduced, but that’s not why their core line up could have the motto “No craft beer drinker left behind” according to co-owner Matt DelVecchio.  Because all of Duck Foot’s beers are gluten-reduced, a core group of their new customers are people who haven’t been able to drink beer for some time. For this reason, both Matt and his co-owner Brett Goldstock ensure that their core line-up, the left side of the board at the tasting room, is balanced and “approachable.” The right side of the board is much stronger, with more experimentation.  This makes Duck Foot line-up the ideal gateway brewery to introduce friends and visitors to San Diego’s craft beer scene. 

Gluten-reduced means that some specific proteins in from wheat and barley have been removed from the beer after the brewing process.  Unlike, sugar-free or fat-free, the term gluten-reduced doesn’t indicate lack of taste.  In taste tests conducted by Dr. Chris Hamilton of Hillsdale College in 2014 using the same processes as Duck Foot, there was no impact to taste from gluten-reducing process.

I talked with Brett and Matt Goldstock at the Duck Foot tasting room in Miramar to learn more about their work and vision for the future.  They will be celebrating their 2nd anniversary on July 8th with a party featuring the release of Mega-Duckzilla Triple IPA (tickets available on their website).  Along the way to this milestone, they have already expanded their facilities twice to accommodate their growth.  They are operating with a 15 barrel system and 200 barrel fermenter capacity.  Their location in a cluster of breweries that includes AleSmith and Ballast Point has certainly helped, along with the local appetite for gluten-reduced beer.  They have also launched a barrel-aging program.  Many of the barrels will be tapped for the anniversary party, but they were mum on what’s cooking; but I would bet on some stouts, at the least.

The tasting room itself has a friendly lay out that lets the visitor see the brewing equipment, if one is so inclined.  The scene is dominated by round wood pub tables and the tinted windows to a surprisingly green exterior view.  Food trucks service the brewery Wednesday through Saturday evenings. There are snacks such as nuts, chips, and jerky available as well.  I found it to be a very relaxing venue.

Matt DelVecchio set me up with a flight of tasters.  The Looker Great is a great summer blonde ale, crisp and light with a bit of honey, decent body. The first time I tried The Rojoe I thought it was a Märzen, but it’s more of a mix of amber and red styles. It is malty, with coffee and nut flavors, more bitter than a Märzen.  “Choco Nut Lust” Chocolate Hazelnut Porter is sweet and very mellow, with no bitterness at all.  This is a nice desert type beer with lots of caramel and chocolate. The Contender was my favorite.  It is a bit sweet up front from the caramelized malts, but the grassy, piney hops kick in. The hops really dominate the overall. Leaves a dry aftertaste that was memorable.  Duckzilla is the Duck Foot’s big IPA, a very interesting blend of wheat ale and IPA styles. The hopping is well balanced, balanced out by the wheat ale flavors. It’s not that bitter for a double IPA.  London Calling Imperial Porter is one of the big beers on the menu and San Diego International Beer Fest gold medalist. You really taste the roasted grain and burnt chocolate first, but then some vanilla kicks in. This is another excellent chocolate desert beer from Duck Foot.

Duck Foot brewing has moved far beyond just making great tasting gluten-reduced beer; they can be that gateway brewery that gets your friends hooked on craft beer.

Duck Foot Brewing - Matt and Jeff.

This article was originally published in the Clairemont Times on page 13.

AleSmith Brewing – Iconic San Diego

I sat down with Peter Zien, owner and CEO of AleSmith Brewing, at their expansive, 100,000 square foot plus facility at 9990 AleSmith Ct. last month. Brewing operations were moved from the Cabot Drive location in March 2015, allowing scaled up production on a new German-made 80 barrel system. Mikkeller occupies the old Cabot Dr. facility as reviewed last month.  The new equipment took some tuning and experimenting before it was producing optimal beers, according to Zien. Beer making doesn’t scale in a linear fashion, and the new equipment was much more efficient. For example, the sugar yield from the system is 15% higher for the same grain load, requiring an adjustment in the amount of barley used. But the new system gives him greater control over the final product, like giving an artist sharper brushes. I also asked Zien fi there was a theme to his beer making, pointing out that AleSmith isn’t known for the West Coast IPA style.  He laughed, because the brewery was once known for its hoppy offerings. He continued by saying that his goal is to make all of the classic accepted beer styles with the highest handcrafted quality. 

The tasting room was opened later in 2015, providing the opportunity to fashion a new experience for an expanded customer base.  Zien wanted to maintain the connection of the brewery to the customer.  The tasting room is laid out with numerous waist high pub tables, great for small groups, with picnic tables outside for larger groups.  There is also a bar area near the taps.  In addition to being able to taste the beer and view the beer making system, there is a barrel room, where one can sample various barrel aged beers and mix ales aged in different barrel styles.  There is outside capacity for two simultaneous food truck operations, with at least one in service every day.  To help pace myself during the beer tasting, I tried some excellent lumpia and pancit from Grandma’s Lumpia.  While I was there, I saw that construction was in progress on a new 120-person event venue, to complement the tasting room. 

AleSmith is also home to the Tony Gwynn museum, dedicated to the memory of the former Padre great, who died in 2014.  San Diego Pale Ale .394 is AleSmith’s tribute to Gwynn. It is not well known that Gwynn was involved in the creation of the beer, discussing what he liked and wanted to improve over the course of three different batches. Zien told me that he felt pressure to make a great beer to match Tony’s fame and what he meant to the city. Fortunately, the 394 pale ale is highly rated in many online beer reviews. AleSmith’s next collaboration will be a Mexican lager with the band Sublime.

I stared beer sampling with the Spezial Pilsner, the latest example of working on world-accepted styles.  It is a German Pilsner, differing from from a Czech Pilsner with a much more malt forward flavor, and the milder German noble hops not as noticeable.  This is a great craft beer that even the average Bud drinker could enjoy. The Nut Brown Ale is a classic English brown, it is pours a very dark amber.  It is nutty, a tiny bit smoky, and very sweet; very easy to drink.  Their IPA is simply called IPA; it hits you with very bitter fruity hops up front, maybe a hint of apple along with citrus.  It stands up to other West Coast offerings.  One of my favorite names for a beer is Old Numbskull; a very big hoppy, malty, and boozy barleywine.  It pours very dark with not a lot of carbonation and tastes of roasted cherries, raisins, and red wine. I took home a bottle, which is etched with real gold on the label, according to Zien.  I expected more of the same IPA flavor when sampling the AleSmith Double IPA; instead I was greeted with a well-carbonated resinous IPA that hid the high alcohol content behind a piney bouquet.  Robust Porter was also well carbonated with lots of coffee notes, but also some sweetness, very smooth overall. My final taster was Noël, a Belgian Quadrupel infused with cinnamon, while retaining the characteristic banana and esters of a quad. That last one might be worth saving for Christmas. 

Two beers that I regularly drink are the .394 Pale Ale, and Horny Devil, a Belgian Strong Pale Ale.  We made beermosas with Horny Devil for Mother’s Day Brunch. It’s high alcohol, sweetness and coriander, make it a great choice to add a little orange juice.  The .394 Pale Ale is a great beer to get your friends interested in craft beer. It is a solid pale ale with a bit of fruit and hop balance; and a great back story.

AleSmith has turned itself into a San Diego icon, with decades of award winning consistency and a big, big presence in Miramar; worth a visit by locals and tourists alike.

Peter Zien in front of the bar and tap line at AleSmith.

This article was originally published in the Clairemont Times on page 13.