Half Door Brewing – Heirloom Style

Half Door Brewing is a throwback to two different eras.  Housed in a 1900s era, 4000 square foot duplex, Half Door harkens to an era when a village pub brewed their own beer and was the center of cultural life in Irish villages, according to the Half Door website.  The rambling pub has bars and table seating upstairs and down, as well as Charleston style patio seating where you can see the Petco Park outfield, two blocks away from their 903 Island Ave location.  In addition, to the 16 beers on tap, there are hearty Irish pub items on the menu, brunch on weekends, and cocktails on offer.  I visited the Half Door family operation just before their third anniversary and talked to Dan Drayne Jr., brewmaster, and sampled beers offered by his sister Claire.  The Drayne’s came from Ireland when Dan Jr. was 8.  The family’s first business venture was The Field, an authentic Irish Pub on 5th Ave.  Drayne learned the brewing trade working at the Coronado Brewing brewpub on Orange Ave, where he was given the opportunity to experiment with many styles.

I asked Dan if he was still in the business of never making two beers exactly the same.  He is well known for constantly tweaking his recipes, aiming for perfection.  He replied that he is aiming for more consistency in his mainstay IPAs, especially during the busier part of the year, the summer.  Half Door is a popular pregame stop for Padres fans.  However, he is also still experimenting.  For example, Persistent Failure Double IPA was still being tweaked to increase the alcohol content.  Also, Half Door has over 80 unique beers listed on Untappd.  Drayne is also attentive to the effects of the water supply on the quality of his beer.  During draught years, more of the city water comes from the Colorado River, increasing hardness and alkalinity.  He compensates by adding water from the brewery’s reverse osmosis unit and making other adjustments.  Drayne is also known for his hazy IPAs, currently a popular style.  He said that he wasn’t so much interested in hazy or not hazy, but in the way in which hop oils undergo biotransformation by the yeast to produce new flavors.  According to Peter Wolfe’s thesis, this is a relatively new area of inquiry in beer science. Drayne summed up the theme of his work, as trying to keep a varied line up, that was well rounded and tuned to the season.  With 16 beers in rotation from a 10 barrel system, that is a challenge.  For their third anniversary in February, they will introduce a triple IPA.

Being a brewpub, Half Door has its own kitchen.  I ate twice at there, once for brunch and once with the beer tasting.  The brunch menu featured mimosas and substantial Irish breakfasts; I had the Irish has with sausage and rashers.  The sausage flatbread that accompanied my beers was solid as well.

Of course, what would a brewery review without a review of the beer?  My favorite and first beer sampled with brunch was the Young Danny Boy ESB. Eponymous of the brewer perhaps? It had a perfect blend of nutty maltiness, some fruity esters, and hopped bittering. A great example of one of my favorite styles.  Father Ted, named after the Irish Sitcom, is a refreshing Belgian Blonde that tastes similar to a Saison, but brighter, with a little hint of lemon and clove.  Dad Bod Brown Ale, named after another British Isles Sitcom, had mysterious hints of bitter chocolate usually reserved for stouts, which worked very well.  Persistent Failure is a hazy IPA filled with tropical pineapple while retaining its IPA character.  The haziness gave it a pillowy mouth feel for an overall excellent experience. Northeast IPA was less hazy and more in the traditional West Coast IPA mold, with more of a hint of passion fruit.  HypeMachine IPA was brewed with only Pacifica hops; it came across very juicy with strong grapefruit notes.  I moved away from these unique stylings to the a traditional West Coast IPA, with House of Hops, nicely carbonated with good citrus bitterness.  Coleman’s Stout is a good example of a dry Irish Stout with a coffee roasted flavor from the barley dominated the flavor.  I finished with another favorite, a Tripel, with spicy, banana notes and a strong malty finish. This high alcohol brew was a great way to end the tasting.

Half Door has a traditional feel, even if only three years old. It’s a great place to meet up downtown for drinks and a bite, especially if you are going to walk to the ballgame after.

Photo caption: Dan Drayne Jr. at the Half Door entrance.

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

Groundswell Brewing – Community Tasting Room

Kevin Rhodes, owner of Groundswell Brewing, told me that he had originally thought of the name “Community Brewing” when he was starting operations almost four years ago.  He eventually settled on the name Groundswell denoting a small group moving things in a big direction.  But his tasting room in Grantville, at 6304 Riverdale Street, certainly seemed like a community gathering.  Even early in the afternoon, people were coming in and out on a lunch break or just because they were in the area.  My bartender Ray was highly knowledgeable and invested in the success of the operation as well. The tasting room, also the original brewing site, is very comfortable for a relaxing afternoon of beer tasting.  It is dog and kid friendly, although I saw neither on my visit.

Rhodes provided some background on the Groundswell operations and his future plans for the brewery.  He moved operations to the former Twisted Manzanita location at 10151 Prospect Ave. in Santee this year, with a grand opening last February.  This provided increased production capacity, while still maintaining the tasting room in Grantville.  He is also getting set to open a kitchen in Chula Vista along with the already established tasting room, which officially opened on December 17th.  When asked about the emphasis on tasting rooms, Rhodes replied that they provided a solid foundation to maintain future growth for the business. 

Although Groundswell has gone through some changes in head brewers, Rhodes still sees the brewery as producing beers with more moderate alcohol content than others in San Diego.  Quaffable and crushable might aptly describe his product.  He is making beer with great flavor, balanced, and easily drinkable.  The exception to the mild ABV rule is the highly popular Oathkeeper and Oathbreaker stout series, which are typically Christmas releases.  These stouts also went into cans on December 16th.  The new year should bring the release of an Imperial IPA and then a new release every month.  Groundswell will release its first hazy IPA in 2018. 

I started off tasting with some milder, sweeter beers. When I sip a flight of tasters, I usually move from mild to hoppy and then to darker and stronger beers.  My first taster was Tropical Hefeweizen, a great start.  Galaxy hops offset by a mild nectar flavor give this wheat ale extra character. A great beer to get your friend started on craft beer is First Date Blonde Ale. It was a is on the sweet side but still balanced.  Belgian Pale had characteristic spicy esters with floral notes.  All of these beers were on the sweeter side. 

Rhodes remarked that Undulation White IPA is the brewery’s flagship offering. I started my IPA samples there. Undulation’s dry hopping hits your nose and palate first, then the wheat kicks in and smoothes out the whole experience.  This beer feels full in the mouth, so you will want to savor it.  Quattro IPA, uses a blend of four hops to give an intense floral smell and taste, offset by some melon sweet notes. Hubba Hubba IIPA is big and bold with the Galaxy hops dominated bitter flavor.  This has plenty of malt to keep it tasty.

Piloncillo Brown, brewed with the eponymous Mexican sugar in the boil, is toasty brown that is very drinkable. A lighter porter with coffee and vanilla notes, Pull My Porter is a very drinkable porter. Mocha Milk Stout was slightly bitter with a surprisingly dry taste.  The chocolate was subtle in this stout. I finished with Oathkeeper Russian Imperial Stout, my favorite beer of the day. This is a very rich caramel boozy beer. It should be sipped slowly to enjoy subtle notes of chocolate and spice.  I hope to try the canned version soon.

If you haven’t been to Groundswell in a while, it’s time to come back to sample the new beer and enjoy the beer drinking community.

Kevin Rhodes at the Groundswell tasting room in Grantville.

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