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.

32 North – Journey AND Destination

For my December review, I journeyed to 32 North Brewing, 8655 Production Ave, in the Miramar area.  Owner Steve Peterson has had quite the journey since he opened his doors three years ago, going through changes in head brewers and focus before finding his stride with his current line up.  Peterson told me that he had started out thinking that 32 North would be a head brewer driven brewery, analogous to a “chef-driven restaurant”, with frequent new beer offerings.  While still offering one or two new specialty beers per month, Peterson now has a core lineup of accessible beers to draw in the average beer drinker.  The specialty line up does not impinge on keeping the core lineup in rotation.  The core beers are cleaner styles: pilsner, lager, amber, pale ale, blonde ale, and an IPA in order to maintain broad appeal.  I ask Peterson if he had any difficulties brewing a pilsner. He said that it is a challenging style even though we think of it as a mass beer style (Bud and Coors).  Brewing pilsner (or any lager style) takes longer than ale, and the hops are more expensive.  Finally, because of its very clean style, imperfections are easier to notice. 32 North has done a good job with their Pilsner the Conqueror flagship beer.  In addition the tasting room, 32 North beers are available in restaurants throughout southern California, and is just starting to be available in Arizona.

32 North is also a wedding destination, just not by design.  When the brewery operations were getting started, a friend of Peterson’s asked if they could use the facility for their wedding.  The open layout of the facility and the rows of wood casks make for a picturesque venue. Pictures of weddings have become a highly ranked item on internet search engines when you enter “32 North.” Peterson’s desire to help keep the cost of weddings reasonable has led to the continued popularity of the brewery as a wedding destination.

The tasting room is wide open, with football projected on one wall when I visited.  There is a huge polished wood table that looks perfect for board meetings.  A couple of classic pinball machines along with bean bag games and board games are available for additional entertainment.  As you enter the brewery, all facets of operations are visible including gorgeous wood casks holding aging ale.  32 North has a very friendly atmosphere, which allows dogs, and is definitely a comfortable to place to hang out.  On Fridays and Saturdays, food trucks supplement the snacks offered at the bar.  I visited during San Diego Beer Week; Death of a Brewer, a stout aged in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels was on tap and in bottles for the occasion. 

I sampled five of the six core beers.  Pilsner the Conqueror is hop forward with a grassy hoppiness and delicious bready malt backing.  Peterson said it is the flagship beer, a worthy selection.  Pennant Pale Ale is light and refreshing, citrus and tropical hop flavors predominate, but there is enough of malt to balance.  Best Coast IPA is interesting, it has both citrus and piney hopping, but the pine lingers, and the malt middle stays subtle. Magnum Hops give Considerate Gentleman Lager more bitter flavor than I expected, with Glacier hops adding a spicy background.  I tried a taster from a just tapped keg that was well carbonated. Anchor Down Amber has an endearing caramel sweetness that made it very easy to drink.

The specialty beers were even better, in my opinion. Breakfast Red is rich, smooth, creamy and a bit sweet, but not so heavy that you couldn’t have two. Another rich and creamy ale was Hello, Darkness Oatmeal Stout, which had great balance with a bit of coffee bite. Death of A Brewer, barrel aged, had bourbon and coffee notes with a little boozy caramel; it was worthy of a Beer Week release. Landfall Berliner Weisse was a solid sour, but I am a terrible judge of this style. Oktoberfest Märzen was well carbonated and malty, just what you want this time of year.  Zesty orange citrus lifts the bitter flavor Orange Is the New Black stout.  Finally, S'mores Polar Opposite is a gonzo barrel aged take on the Polar Opposite Golden Stout.  Vanilla, graham crackers, and coffee beans gave this aged ale a lot for my mouth to consider.  I sipped it very slowly to fully enjoy its complex character.  A beer not on offer, which will be aged in rum barrels for release next year is Julia’s Grand Cru.  This beer was first brewed to raise funds for Julia Davidson, a seven year old who has overcome a form of bone cancer.

32 North has both accessible core beers and frequent new additions to appeal to a wide range of beer lovers, worth the trip to Miramar. It’s a great spot for weddings too.

Steve Peterson, owner of 32 North Brewing.

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

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.

New Logo for Beers By the Bay

I wanted to brand my column for the Clairemont Times and any other work I am doing related to the local beer industry.  I turned to a new firm, Blank Canvas Marketing to design a logo and business cards for me.  Their rates were very competitive and the printing costs were super low.  Here is the logo:

The logo represents the waves breaking on the sand at a local San Diego beach whilst enjoying a fine craft beer. The waves form the shape of three B's for the column name: Beers By the Bay.  The colors have some meaning as well, please comment if you figure it out.  I was very pleased with the results and look forward to quality business cards to go with.

Disclaimer: Blank Canvas Marketing is owned by my sons.

Ballast Point Brewing - One Year after the BIG Sale

This article was originally published in the November 2016 issue of the Clairemont Times on pages 10.

Ballast Point Brewing has always been one of my favorite spots for craft beer consumption. San Diego craft beer drinkers were wondering about the implications of the sale of Ballast Point to Constellation Brands about a year ago, which owns Modelo, Corona, and Pacifico.  Does it presage big changes in the local industry?  I paid two visits to chronicle any change, once to take a home brewing class and once to sample beer.

 An impressive tap line Ballast Point in Linda Vista.

Sports on the telly and craft beer in my belly; a perfect Sunday afternoon.

Ballast Point has four San Diego locations; 5401 Linda Vista Road, the Home Brew Mart, being the location closest to most Clairemont Times readers.  Beer making classes are taught and home brewing supplies sold there.  I took an extract brewing class, which shortcuts the beer making steps that extract the sugars from the malted barley (mashing) by using prepackaged extract directly.  The availability of malt extracts allows the beginning brewer to start learning before investing in the more expensive equipment needed for mashing. It also saves time.  The brewing class is also a great introduction into the science of beer making, explained in easy to understand terms.  Understanding the basic vocabulary and why the brewing steps are needed is a great aid in making good beer.  The emphasis on sanitation throughout the whole process was stressed for its importance in controlling the taste and quality of the end product.

The class lasted about two hours; but we were given tickets to sample some of the craft beer in the tasting room and given a break at the half-way mark. I felt confident of my ability to take my second crack at brewing, but haven’t done so yet.  Overall, the beer making class was a great experience, and really reflects Ballast Points’ dedication to its roots in the home brewing culture of San Diego.

A few weeks after the beer-making class, I returned to sample some beers in the tasting room side of the Linda Vista facility.  They have some great original art from their marketing on the wall, and they put up some sports on two big screens.  The layout is unpretentious, with solid wood tables, benches, and chairs.  There is typically a food truck out back; San Diego Poke Company served up a great spicy salmon poke for my brother Dean and my son on this trip.  Its always good to have great food to go with great beer.

My sampling started with Pescadero Pilsner, a nice hoppy pils with a little extra grain in the taste.  Next, I tried Alt-Hands on Deck, alt-bier is a German style that uses top-fermenting yeast, like an ale but is fermented at colder temperatures.  This sample tasted better as it warmed up with the caramel malt flavor coming out.  Another traditional style is the Extra Special Bitter or ESB, with BP serving up California Amber in this category.  Most English ales of this style aren’t as well hopped; there was a little resinous finish here.  Pumpkin Down is a pumpkin and yam version of the Piper Down Scottish Ale. That makes for a great combination, as Ballast Point keeps the pumpkin flavor subtle, allowing the sweetness of the base ale to come through.  Lastly, I tried a “roots to boots” Biere De Garde. Roots to Boots is a program that allows employees to experiment with new offerings and keeps with the home brewing traditions of Ballast Point.  This was my favorite beer of the afternoon, a Belgian style with lots of banana and cinnamon notes.

Ballast Point delivers as broad a range of styles of any brewery in San Diego.  They never disappoint and I am glad to see that their new owners haven’t altered their formula for success.

If you like my beer reviews, you might enjoy visiting San Diego and staying at our home.

Mikkeller Brewing – Danish Itinerant Finds a Home in San Diego

Mikkeller Brewing San Diego, has a different legacy than the other local breweries reviewed here.  The brewery, located at 9366 Cabot Dr. in Miramar, the product of a collaboration by famous Danish brewer, Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, and AleSmith.  Mikkeller Brewing San Diego moved into AleSmith’s former location and opened its doors just over a year ago. Bjergsø had previously achieved fame as an “itinerant” brewer, traveling breweries in Europe and America as a guest brewer.  Beer Geek Breakfast, an Oatmeal Stout with coffee, garnered international attention in 2006, and put Mikkeller brewing on the map.

The tasting room is large and friendly.  Wood bench seats and chairs line the long oak-colored tables.  I also had plenty of room to stand and walk around.  Advertised as dog and kid friendly, there was one baby in a papoose and two small pooches present.  Heavy metal rock was on the sound system, but the baby didn’t seem to mind.  On my second visit, mellow disco dominated the play list. The PokeCraft food truck was offering up bowls with Ahi, Salmon, in traditional, garlic and spicy varieties.  On both trips, the tasting room was comfortably full; filled with customers from their twenties into their sixties. I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and low lighting in the main area tasting area.  There is also a brighter room to the side of the entrance that catches more sunlight.

The beer at Mikkeller is a wide ranging eclectic mix. The menu was lighter on West Coast IPAs.  There were 19 beers on tap for my visit; not every variety was sampled, but I did my best.  California Dream, a pilsner that was hopped up as advertised, with plenty of citrus and tropical fruit notes up front.  Sensible Sweater was a new style for me, a New England style American Pale Ale, with lemon drops and brewed with Mosaic hops.  It was hazy with low bitterness, and a juicy mouth feel. Flip Mode was another new style, a Belgian Amber, brewed in collaboration with Monkey Paw. It was a bit sweet, still hoppy, while retaining coriander spice notes Belgians are known for.  The brewery’s flagship IPA is Waves (Bølger), a well carbonated IPA that gives off a nice grapefruit aroma that you taste up front.  It finishes with a bitter piney aftertaste that lets you know you are drinking a San Diego IPA.  The entry into the Double IPA category, is Spells (Filiokus). It had extra malt and alcohol, but not overwhelming bitterness from the grapefruit and lemon hop notes.

After the IPAs, I shifted gears to some sweeter beers.  Shapes, a Belgian Blonde, was very refreshing. It’s mild honey flavor combined nicely with cinnamon and banana spice notes. Mikkeller collaborated with AleSmith on their porter.  It poured very dark and had a nice roasted flavor, with spicy hops for great balance. My last two beers were great for dessert.  Wee Sticky Icky, a Wee Heavy (Scotch Ale) with pecan and caramel syrup was like a caramel sundae with malt.  The famous Beer Geek Breakfast was delicious, a great stout with lots of coffee flavor, with just a hint of chocolate.  Beer Geek Brunch Weasel, Imperial Oatmeal Stout version was also very good. This was a great beer to finish up with, very smooth and rich, lots of lacing on the glass and very thick.  The coffee didn’t overwhelm, but was definitely present.

Mikkeller has brought European craft brewing to San Diego, expanding the style boundary well beyond West Coast IPAs. They are worth a visit, especially if you love stouts and a relaxed atmosphere.

The tasting room at Mikkeller San Diego with 18 beers on tap.

This article was originally published in the Clairemont Times on page 13 and the Mira Mesa News on page 7.

In a subsequent interview with Peter Zien of Alesmith, he said that he still advises Mikkeller on aspects of the local beer business, but his involvement has decreased as Mikkeller has established itself.

If you like my beer reviews, you might enjoy visiting San Diego and staying at our home.

Coronado Brewing in Bay Park

 This month’s review shifts to one of San Diego’s oldest and largest brewers, Coronado Brewing, founded in 1996.  While the original brew pub is still located in Coronado, the brewery opened a larger production facility in Bay Park at 1205 Knoxville St. in 2012.  I talked with Ryan Brooks, the brewmaster, and Aidan Kennedy, Marketing Coordinator about the challenges of brewing in the larger facility and what Coronado is doing.  Aidan said that the Bay Park facility has a 4 vessel 30 barrel brewing system and produced 41,000 barrels of beer last year, putting them in the mid-size brewery classification for which they were 2014 Champions in that category at the World Beer Cup.  Ryan said that new recipes get tested out at the smaller brew pub in Coronado before they are produced for bottling in Bay Park.  Recipes don’t necessarily scale up proportionally, so further experimentation is required to get the taste just right for the bigger batches.  Coronado has seven core beers that are always being brewed and put in cans, bottles, and kegs.  Some beers that were once experimental make it into the core lineup, Stingray Imperial IPA, for one.

Ryan has been working for Coronado for five years, with prior experience at Black Market brewing in Temecula and in Australia.  Often inspiration for a new beer style comes from a new yeast that becomes available.  Other times the lineup is due to seasonal conditions.  The current 18 beers on tap are heavy on IPA varieties because production was ramped up for San Diego Beer Week, and Coronado is known for that style.  The next production batch will use a Danish yeast strain to produce a series of lagers, from basic to dark amber.  A new hop variety may inspire a new recipe as well, Polaris IPA in the current lineup, for instance.  Ryan will also work with the yeast labs to get a mix of yeasts formulated for a specific style.

The tasting room is set in the middle of the large brewing facility but is set somewhat apart.  Wood bars, tables, and chairs give a bit of old school ambience to the tasting room.  College hoops were featured on a couple of large screens, but it was not the focus of the tasting room.  Coronado is dog-friendly, but there was only one pup in the room when I visited.  In addition to beer; shirts, glasses, and other swag is on sale.  Food trucks are scheduled during the week around 4:00 p.m. You can’t miss the three banners from the 2014 World Beer Cup over the walkway to the food truck area.

I sampled some excellent, hoppy beers.  Seacoast Pilsner, a core beer, is a very drinkable Pilsner with good malt flavor, and much improved since my last tasting.  I next tried Berried at Sea, a fruity ale with raspberry dominating and just a little sour. These first two would be delicious on hot summer days.  The Belgian Strong Dark was both rich and spicy, with mild chocolate notes not normally seen in this spicy style; it was very good.  My first IPA, North Island, was well carbonated, and had a full mouth feel with complex floral hopping.  This is the sort of excellent IPA Coronado is known for.  Stingray IPA, also in the core lineup, is a strong citrusy and tropical Imperial IPA.  I serve Stingray when I have out of town business guests.  Polaris IPA was an amazing experience; the intensity of the Polaris hops was a real treat.  This is the sort of experiment that advances the art of beer making.  Finally, I finished with Snowy Plover, a winter IPA.  While not for everyone, I enjoyed the mix of dark malts perfectly balanced against piney hops.

Coronado continues its over 20 year tradition of excellence right in our own back yard.  They have successfully scaled up production while continuing to experiment in the art and craft of beer making.

Ryan Brooks, Brewmaster at Coronado Brewing and the tools of his trade.

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

Quantum Brewing – Stepping Up The Energy

This month I made a trip to another brewery that has recently changed ownership, Quantum Brewing, located at 5375 Kearny Villa Rd.  Martin Beaulieu purchased Quantum three months ago and set about improving the quality of the beer.  Martin is both head brewer and owner; we talked and sampled beers during a recent visit.  He has a PhD in biochemistry, so he is right at home discussing the nuances of the beer making process.  He is about 50% complete with his primary goal of improving Quantum’s beers, estimating that he needs 3 more months to get all of the recipes where he wants them.  Despite being a nanobrewery with only a 3 barrel capacity, he has twelve beers on tap.  The good news is that Quantum is selling all the beer it makes; the bad news is that Martin can’t produce enough to meet demand.  He hopes to expand in the near future.

Quantum brewing is located in a strip mall with plenty of nearby eateries. If you like to eat good food with your beer, Anny’s Fine Burgers and Filippi’s Pizza are two of great places next door.  Like many San Diego tasting rooms, Quantum encourages customers to bring in food.  The tasting room features a spacious interior with pleasant ambience and a big screen TV showing sports while 90s music was playing during my visit.  Also featured in the tasting room are the Quantum ale glasses with their trademark atom logo that are popular with some the geek-set at my day job.

While I sampled more beers than space permits me to describe, they were small tasters, so that I could enjoy all twelve beers on tap.  Like the old Alpine board, Quantum has their IPAs listed on the left and all other beers on the right.  Martin said that the non-IPA lineup is selling better.  I started with Hadron Collider, a Bavarian Wheat Ale which has a banana base and lots of malt.  The banana isn’t overpowering, and the mouth feel is very rich on this great beer. This was a great way to start the tasting, and Martin is justifiably proud of this recipe. 650 Nanometer (the wavelength of red light) was the offering in the Irish Red category, and the most popular ale.  While far more hop forward than a standard amber, it still has the characteristic caramel finish.  This is an excellent beer in this style. I also tried a Habanero Pale Ale, Planck’s Pepper.  The habanero was not overpowering, leaving just a little tang on the back of the tongue and the throat going down.  Another popular beer is the Singularity Stout, an Oatmeal Stout.  This was super smooth and creamy, not at all bitter, with both chocolate and vanilla notes.  A customer also drinking it remarked that he could bathe in it.

Switching over to IPAs, I started with the Chain Reaction Session IPA and was amazed.  Filled with grapefruit and other citrus flavors, but balanced with some sweetness, this could almost be a shandy, without the annoying characteristics that come from polluting your beer with sweetened juice.  This beer stood out against other San Diego session IPAs that I have had in the past.   Anti-matter IPA was more of a standard West Coast IPA, hop forward with reasonable alcohol content at 7% ABV.  However, it wasn’t too bitter, so I was really impressed and the balance between the Cascade and Chinook hops kept the flavor right between citrus and piney.  I finished off sampling the Yellowcake Imperial IPA.  This was the most complex beer on offer, lots of character, thick with bitter hop flavors, and a little more on the citrus side.

Quantum Brewing has great variety and excellence.  Martin Beaulieu’s work to produce a variety of high quality beers is really paying off.  I look forward to another trip, this time with a some local dinner to go with Quantum’s beer

Martin Beaulieu at the tap line.

This post was originally published in the Clairemont Times. 

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. 

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.