Walking into
On The Tracks Brewery I got the impression they had just recently opened. Outside of a small sign hanging inside the front window, no formal signage adorns their industrial park suite. They don't bottle or can and keep very few draught accounts. The tasting room is very rudimentary, with just a couple of barstools and a whiteboard listing what's currently on tap. A tiny brewing system occupies a separate space, and when I asked to snap a picture of it I was told that I couldn't because it was "kind of messy" at the moment. That, by the way, was the first time in the history of The Brewery Project that I was told I
couldn't take a picture at a brewery. The beer was decent, but nothing out of the ordinary. Of the 3 nameless beers I sampled, which included a "Wee Heavy" and a "Barley Wine", their "Green Tea Session" (that's "Session", not "Saison" as I originally read it and was quickly corrected. Perhaps a neater job of writing on the whiteboard would solve this issue, or better yet, something other than a whiteboard in the first place. Calling the brew a "Session" beer touches on yet another of my pet peeves. I don't believe a beer should
ever be called a "Session" beer, because what is or isn't a "Session" beer should really be up to the consumer. A "Session" beer to me might be too heavy or high in alcohol for someone else, and vice versa. However, I digress.) was the most unique and had some real character. The fact that I had a hard time reconciling, taking all of the above into consideration, is that the brewery has actually been open for over 2 years! After that length of time I would think a brewery would have grown a bit more that this one has. I can understand wanting to stay small, but in San Diego, with the number of breweries currently operating and with even more opening soon, if you don't grow you eventually go away. It will be interesting to see what the next year holds for this brewery, as I was told a larger brewing system is to be implemented "soon". My only question is, will it be soon enough?
Walking into On The Tracks Brewery I got the impression they had just recently opened. Outside of a small sign hanging inside the front window, no formal signage adorns their industrial park suite. They don't bottle or can and keep very few draught accounts. The tasting room is very rudimentary, with just a couple of barstools and a whiteboard listing what's currently on tap. A tiny brewing system occupies a separate space, and when I asked to snap a picture of it I was told that I couldn't because it was "kind of messy" at the moment. That, by the way, was the first time in the history of The Brewery Project that I was told I couldn't take a picture at a brewery. The beer was decent, but nothing out of the ordinary. Of the 3 nameless beers I sampled, which included a "Wee Heavy" and a "Barley Wine", their "Green Tea Session" (that's "Session", not "Saison" as I originally read it and was quickly corrected. Perhaps a neater job of writing on the whiteboard would solve this issue, or better yet, something other than a whiteboard in the first place. Calling the brew a "Session" beer touches on yet another of my pet peeves. I don't believe a beer should ever be called a "Session" beer, because what is or isn't a "Session" beer should really be up to the consumer. A "Session" beer to me might be too heavy or high in alcohol for someone else, and vice versa. However, I digress.) was the most unique and had some real character. The fact that I had a hard time reconciling, taking all of the above into consideration, is that the brewery has actually been open for over 2 years! After that length of time I would think a brewery would have grown a bit more that this one has. I can understand wanting to stay small, but in San Diego, with the number of breweries currently operating and with even more opening soon, if you don't grow you eventually go away. It will be interesting to see what the next year holds for this brewery, as I was told a larger brewing system is to be implemented "soon". My only question is, will it be soon enough?
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