The Brewery Project: Coronado Brewing Co.

A visit to Coronado Brewing Co. is always as comfortable and laid back as the Crown City itself.  A casual, family friendly brewpub greets you when you enter the front door.  Just beyond the hostess stand is the bar area, complete with ample seating at the bar, and booths for larger parties.  Taking a barstool affords the best view of the brewing area, which is visible through large, open windows behind the bar.  On this visit I had my growler filled with their Idiot IPA, one of my favorites.  A look around the bar always produces familiar faces.  Locals will hole up on their favorite barstool, clutching their 25 ounce "Mug Club" mug filled with their favorite brew, gleefully chatting with their barstool brethren.  On your first visit you are greeted as if you have been a regular since their 1996 opening, and by the time you leave you will believe you are.  Even with the opening of their new brewing facility and tasting room, this location will always hold a special place in my heart.  By bridge or by strand, make a visit to this "island" getaway soon!

Friday Beer Humor

Thanks to my friends over at San Diego Brewing Co. for this humorous little nugget.

A neutron walks into a bar.  "I'd like a beer" he says.
The bartender promptly serves up a beer.
"How much will that be?" asks the neutron.
"For you?" replies the bartender, "no charge."

Beard Beer

I've heard of wild yeast strains, but this takes the cake.  Er, beer.  Er, yeast.  Er, beard?  Whatever it is, it takes it!  Would you drink a beer made with yeast cultivated from beard hair follicles?  Yeah, so would I!

Public Service Announcement

Drink up, Fido!

Now your four-legged best friend can also be your drinking buddy!  Check out this article, then go pick up some brews for yourself and your fluffy, loyal companion.

And the winners are...

If you made it to the San Diego International Beer Festival at the San Diego County Fair this past weekend, I hope you had a good time.  I know I did.  A list of winners of the competition were being passed out during the sessions, but you can also view the results here.  Until next year!

The Brewery Project: Green Flash

One visit to Green Flash Brewing Co. and you'll understand just how great a brewery can be.  The facility is huge.  The tasting area is huge.  The beers are huge.  The only thing that's small about this brewery is the entrance.  A sign on the building that reads, "Tasting Room ENTRANCE" points to a small door that leads down an ordinary, indescript hallway.  What the hallway leads to is anything but ordinary or indescript.  A massive, open space greets you, along with the wonderful aromas of spent grain and fermenting beer.  A large bar is surrounded by happy patrons sipping their brew, each available as a sample or a full glass.  A merchandise area lines another wall, where you can purchase branded trinkets and apparel, or have your growler filled.  Tours of the brewery depart under a sign that aptly reads, "Brewery Tours START HERE".  The entire space is alive with an infectious electricity that draws you in.  You, and a lot of other people.  When I was there a steady stream of people kept flowing in.  The area was large enough to hold them all, but didn't have to because of a door that leads to a large patio area, complete with picnic tables and a spot for food trucks to set up shop.  I have always been a fan of their beer, but this visit solidified for me the fact that they are a true leader in the local beer scene.  Located right on Mira Mesa Blvd., you'll have no problem finding this beer mecca the next time your looking to enjoy some of the best beer San Diego has to offer.

Tap into the Fair this weekend

The San Diego County Fair is more than just fried food and carnival rides. This weekend it turns its attention to our favorite libation, beer!  Once again The San Diego International Beer Festival returns to Del Mar with "nearly 140 breweries and more than 300 beers from around the world".  This will be my third year as a table captain at the event, so look for me if you attend the Sunday session.  You may, however, want to save the fried food and carnival rides for another time!

San Diego International Beer Festival
Friday, Noon-4:00pm
Friday, 5:00-9:00pm
Saturday, 11:00am-3:00pm
Saturday, 4:00-8:00pm
Sunday, 1:00-5:00pm (special emphasis on San Diego beers)
Del Mar, CA
$48 per session (includes Fair admission), $35 per session if already admitted to the Fair

VIP Experience

"This VIP experience includes a special lounge area overlooking the beer festival, 6-oz. souvenir glass to use in the lounge area and beer festival floor, five craft beer stations with food pairings, with unlimited grazing for the first two hours of each session, half-hour early admission before the general public and admission to the Fair."

Friday, 4:30-9:00pm
Saturday, 10:30am-3:00pm
Saturday, 3:30-8:00pm
Sunday, 12:30-5:00pm (special emphasis on San Diego beers)
$90 per session (includes Fair admission), $80 per session if already admitted to the Fair

Right on!

Best Dad ever?

The Brewery Project: San Diego Brewing Co.

This week's journey took me to one of my favorite spots in the county for great handcrafted brews and grub, San Diego Brewing Co.  As I started to write about my visit, a sense of deja vu struck me as I realized that everything I was about to write, I had already summed up here.  You may also remember my visit here.  That being said, I'll mention the great beer I tried on this visit.  First off was their Don Diego Belgian IPA.  It is a solid IPA.  It has a very pronounced Belgian yeast flavor up front, but that doesn't overpower the well-balanced hops that follow.  This is a very drinkable IPA that should appeal to a variety of palates.  Fans of Belgians will find this beer very approachable as well, even if they aren't IPA fans.  Next was their Happy Ending Barleywine.  A fine barleywine, this one has been barrel aged in red wine barrels, though I don't know which variety.  The wine gives the beer a warm, fruity finish not present in a standard barleywine, and is quite pleasant.  This would be a wonderful brew to sip on in front of a nice fire during a brisk, winter evening.  The cool, overcast weather outside along with the cranked-up air conditioning in the restaurant made this the perfect finish to the evening.  Of course, they don't bottle any of their beers, so you have to make your way to the brewery restaurant to enjoy all they have to offer.  As centrally located in the county as they are, why not go tonight?

Oh, yeah!

PubCakes new logo

PubCakes just released their new logo, which is pretty sweet.  Pun intended.

Something's missing

The Brewery Project: Karl Strauss Downtown San Diego

You can't talk about San Diego breweries without Karl Strauss Brewing Co. coming up.  With the distinction of being San Diego's oldest operating craft brewery, established back in 1989, they've had plenty of time to perfect their craft.  Renovation is currently under way at their main brewery in Pacific Beach, which will allow for tours, tastings, & other events, and a new brewery restaurant location is also under construction in 4S Ranch.  This particular visit was to their very first brewery restaurant location, and my personal favorite.  I have posted often about their weekly growler fill special, which I took advantage of on this visit as well.  I was planning on getting a fill of Tower 20 IIPA, but was faced with a tough decision when I was told Old Columbia Barleywine was also on tap.  Ultimately, I went with the Old Columbia.  I'm a sucker for a good barleywine, and this one is on point!  If you can't make it to this location, don't worry.  With locations all across the county, Orange County, and even Los Angeles, it's easy to treat yourself to a sampling of San Diego craft beer history.  As I cover the other locations as well, you just may see me there.

Who knew?

For Ariel

Who said that?

"Without breweries, beer drinkers would have to distill their own alcohol at home from hops, barley, and Peter O’Toole’s tears."
- Groupon

What she said!

The Brewery Project: Pizza Port Carlsbad

There's not much more to say about Pizza Port Carlsbad that I didn't already cover here and here, back in 2010.  There was also my visit pictured here.  On this most recent visit I was able to try some more great selections, brewed right on premises.  Dubbelicious, an Abbey Dubbel, Delilah, a Belgian Tripel, Reed's Wee Heavy, a Scotch Ale, and Bagby's Last Stand, an indescribably delicious brew that must be tried to be believed.  The food, as usual, was also awesome.  The first of their locations that I ever visited, this one will always be my favorite, and hold a special place in my heart.  Whatever you do you need to find yourself in Carlsbad, and find yourself at my favorite San Diego County eatery to experience it for yourself!

Because it's Friday!

Here's a little beer humor to help your Friday along, compliments of The Beer Runner.  Enjoy!

"A Texan walks into a pub in Ireland and clears his voice to the crowd of drinkers.  He says, "I hear you Irish are a bunch of hard drinkers.  I'll give $500 American dollars to anybody in here who can drink 10 pints of Guinness back-to-back."  The room is quiet and no one takes up the Texan's offer.  One man even leaves.  Thirty minutes later the same gentleman who left shows back up and taps the Texan on the shoulder.  "Is your bet still good?" asks the Irishman.  The Texan says yes and asks the bartender to line up 10 pints of Guinness.  Immediately the Irishman tears into all 10 of the pint glasses drinking them all back-to-back.  The other pub patrons cheer as the Texan sits in amazement.  The Texan gives the Irishman the $500 and says, "If ya don't mind me askin', where did you go for that 30 minutes you were gone?"  The Irishman replies, "Oh...I had to go to the pub down the street to see if I could do it first."