Lupulin Libations

Wow. It appears that I’ve let time slip away over the last few weeks. Sorry about that. I do still want to share my last brewery stop in San Diego, though. It’s a good thing I liked this last brewery so much – makes it that much easier to remember…

Societe Brewing Company was not on my pre-planned list of San Diego breweries to visit. This stop was thanks to yet another wonderful suggestion from an employee at different brewery. Stone Brewing’s Lead Indoctrination Specialist, Phil Macnitt, was kind enough to suggest this small, young brewery.

I walked into Societe on a Thursday evening and sat down at the bar. They had a very large taproom area with a clear, open view back to all the brewing equipment. I mentioned that Phil from Stone had sent me to sample all their delicious brews, then a well-versed employee named Steve was kind enough to guide me through all of their current beers.

Here are the beers in the order I tried them: The Harlot (Belgian pale ale), The Debutante (Belgian brown ale), The Apprentice (American IPA), The Pupil (American IPA), The Pugilist (Irish dry stout), The Butcher (Russian imperial stout). They were all excellent brews, but my favorites were The Debutante and The Butcher. Those two were absolutely amazing!

While I was sampling, Steve and I discussed the beers amongst other things. Apparently, the brewery was not quite a year old yet, but was doing very well. They had a lot of space to add fermenters and increase capacity. But the thing he was most excited about was their barrel-aging program. He pointed out their room full of beer encased in barrels of all sorts, and told me some of the brewer’s plans for beers to come out of them.

After listening to all the enthusiasm swirling around those barrels, I think I may have to get back down to San Diego and revisit Societe. Not to mention how much I loved the 6 brews I sampled…

Ah, Rough Draft Brewing. The second-to last brewery I visited on my recent trip to San Diego. I had never heard of them before, but found them on the San Diego Brewers Guild website. Their location was fairly close to 2 other breweries that had planned to visit (Alesmith and Green Flash), so I figured I’d give them a try.

As I walked into Rough Draft, I immediately noticed that the atmosphere was very relaxed, even for how busy it was that evening. While the other breweries I had visited on this trip had a very defined area with some form of structure dividing the tap rooms from the brewery space, this space was wide open. The only things separating the tap room from the brewhouse were some temporary barriers.

Alright, I had surveyed the place; now it was time to taste some beer. Luckily for me, the moment I stepped up to the bar and checked out their tap list, a bar seat opened up. So, I sat down and waited for some service.

This is where I tell you the only negative thought I have after visiting Rough Draft – the service left something to be desired. It took a while before someone asked me what I wanted, which, by itself, wouldn’t have been too bad. I know places get busy and are oftentimes understaffed. What made it worse, in my mind, was that the server who eventually helped me couldn’t answer any of my questions about the beers. Keep in mind, if I didn’t have to drive myself back to the hotel, I would have just ordered a taster of every beer and made it easy for her. Since that wasn’t the case, I wanted to get a little info about the beers so I could be selective with my choices. I asked her things like: what is the difference in your IPAs, what style is such-and-such beer, etc. She didn’t know, but she clearly didn’t want to admit it. She said she would get me a beer list with descriptions, and I thought: Sweet! Now we’re getting somewhere! That beer list never appeared and she never came back to help me. Eventually, another server came over to ask me if I needed anything. I’m happy to say that she REALLY knew her stuff. And she treated me very well, so my first impression of Rough Draft was saved. Hooray!

Onto the beer! I tried samples of: Belgian Blonde, Belgian Vanilla Stout, Southern Triangle IPA, Freudian Sip, Barrel-aged Freudian Sip, and Barrel-aged Emboozlement. I’m happy to report that the brews were all very tasty, but my favorite was definitely the Barrel-aged Freudian Sip, which is a big American strong ale aged in bourbon barrels. Mmmm…

All in all, I had a good time visiting Rough Draft. I had some good service (in the end), and enjoyed some good craft brews in a cool environment. Yep, San Diego was being pretty good to me, beer-wise. I didn’t know that my next stop to a brewery I never heard of would be one of my favorites, though…

So, when we last left my San Diego adventures, I was talking to my tour guide at Stone brewing, Mike Martinez. During the course of our conversation, Mike found out that I’m a big fan of well done chili beers. Man, that set him off! He told me that, if I enjoy that type of beer, I absolutely must visit Ballast Point Brewing while I was in the area. What could I do but take a fellow beer geek’s advice? I went to Ballast Point.

I wasn’t able to visit the brewery while they were giving a tour, but I definitely purchased some tasters in their tap room to enhance my southern California beer experience. When I arrived, I scanned their very long list of brews scrawled on a large chalk board. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to sample all the beers on their list and still be able to drive back to the hotel safely – even with taster size glasses. So, I had to be very selective with my choices.

Since Mike had sent me to this brewery for chili beers, I figured I better start there. There were 3 available on their list:

• Wahoo Wheat with thai chili, ginger, and lime
• Indra Kunindra – a beer they label as an India-Style Export Stout; brewed with Madras curry, cumin, cayenne, coconut and Kaffir lime
• Black Marlin Porter with chipotle peppers, cocoa nibs, and orange peel

Of course, I tried all three. They were all tasty in their own right. The Wahoo Wheat had the best pepper flavor and aroma. The Black Marlin Porter was deliciously chocolately and roasty while having the most spicy heat I’ve ever had in a beer. The Indra Kunindra ruled over both of those beers, in my mind. I’m a huge fan of coconut curries, and this beer perfectly blended that spicy, rich flavor with a very tasty stout. I liked it so much, I bought a 22 ounce bomber to take back to the hotel. I liked it so much that when the bottle was empty, I rinsed it really well and lovingly wrapped it in a nice thick sweatshirt so I could bring the memory home with me. Yep, I completely love that beer.

Now, even though I had found a very memorable brew, I figured I had better try a couple more before I eventually would head back to my hotel. After all, when would I get an opportunity to try these beers again? These 2 were awesome:

• The Homework Series Batch 1 – If you’re a fan of hoppy red ales (like I am), you would very much enjoy this well balanced, caramelly and toffee sweet, floral and bitter hoppy beer.
• Sea Monster with Rum Raisin – Can you imagine a big, rich, chocolately, roasty imperial stout? OK, now imagine it brewed with rum soaked raisins. Is your mouth watering yet?

When I finished my samples, I purchased the aforementioned bomber and headed back to my hotel. What a great experience! Thank you, Ballast Point, for exposing me to one of the most memorable moments in my beer tasting repertoire: sipping on Indra Kunindra. And an even bigger thanks to Mike Martinez, for telling me that I must visit Ballast Point!

I returned from my business trip to San Diego this past weekend. It was good to get home and see my wife and kids, but I did not enjoy my “welcome back” from our good old Minnesota weather. That was a fun, snowy, cold drive to work on Monday…

Oh well, at least winter is almost over. Plus, I still have the fond memories of the last 4 breweries I visited in southern California to keep me warm inside. I’m going to make one post for each of those breweries, so check back to the blog for the next 3 after today’s post.

Let’s start with Stone.

Yep, I managed to get into a tour at the Stone brewery. Their last tour on weeknights is at 6pm, which gave me enough time to get to there after training and have a brew at their bar beforehand.

When I arrived at the brewery, I could instantly smell the aroma of boiled hops from the parking lot. That was a wonderful greeting. After purchasing my $3 tour ticket, I walked around to take a look at their World Bistro and Gardens. It was a beautiful area, especially in the early evening sunlight. My next goal was to hit the bar for one beer before the tour.

I sat down at the bar and was handed a beer menu, not a beer list. We’re talking multiple pages here. I was unprepared for the sheer scale of their selection, almost dumbfounded. I have never seen so many beers available at a brewery. Not only did they have their own beers; they had a huge collection of tap and bottle beers from many other craft brewers. And I was only going to have one? Decisions, decisions. I decided I should have a beer from Stone, since I was at the brewery. I had already tasted all of their tap selections, so I looked over the bottle list.

I quickly found one that stood out in my mind: Saison du Buff. I had heard of this collaboration between Stone, Dogfish Head, and Victory, but wasn’t able to get my hands on it before. It was an easy choice since saisons are one of my favorite styles and the beer was formulated by a “dream team” of brewers. This same recipe was brewed separately at all 3 brewery locations. Of course, this was Stone’s version. It was a 7.7% ABV saison brewed with parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. I asked the bartender for a bottle and noticed he was having trouble finding it in the fridge. When he came back with the bottle, I joked and said “I had to pick the one beer that wanted to hide from you, huh?” He chuckled and said, “No, actually. This is our last bottle.” Lucky for me! It was a very tasty brew that was strong in two of my favorite saison components: spice and dryness. Not to mention that it didn’t drink at all like a 7.7% beer, as the alcohol was almost indiscernible. Good stuff.

After I finished my beer, I headed over to wait in line at the tour start point. Now, I won’t bore you with all the brewery tour details. If you’ve been on one before, all the same concepts and processes apply. What I will say is this: Stone is the largest brewery I have toured yet. The size of the brewhouse and the large number of huge fermenters brought a whole new sense of scale to my brewery repertoire. This was also the first brewery I’ve been to that runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

When the tour was over, our guide brought us back to the tasting/growler fill area, which is where we started. Everyone in the group was given samples of Levitation, IPA, Arrogant Bastard, and Old Guardian. I enjoyed my samples and chatted with the tour guide, Mike, and Stone’s Lead Indoctrination Specialist, Phil Macnitt. Those good conversations led to me visiting a couple other breweries that I might not have planned to…

I rarely travel for work, but this week I’m in San Diego going through some training for my day job. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: it must really be tough having to travel to San Diego for work. Right?

I know, it really is a privilege for most people to be given the opportunity to travel to southern California for work. But for me, it’s not. Actually, it’s a sublime beer experience better than most! There are so many great breweries in San Diego, and I’ve already gotten to visit 3 on this trip, so far…

Today, when my training day was over at 5pm, I paid a visit to the Pizza Port in Solana Beach. They are well known for making some tasty pizza. And, oh yeah, they brew some tasty award-winning beers, too! I had the opportunity to sample a few of their brews in the midst of their busy dinner rush. They were all tasty, but my favorite was the Draft Punk, a tasty Biere de Garde. I wanted to take some pictures, but my camera’s battery was on it’s last leg, so I didn’t get the opportunity to record any of that experience.

At least I was able to take some pics yesterday! Check out this photo:

I signed up for a tour at Green Flash Brewing. I previously tried 2 of their beers I had purchased while I was in Florida. Based upon that past flavor experience, I knew I had to visit the brewery. The tour guide was one of the most knowledgeable and fun brewery guides I’ve ever had. If it wasn’t for that great tour, I don’t think I would have enjoyed myself as much. For some reason, the atmosphere in Green Flash made me feel like I was in some pop music driven night club with a bunch of people just looking to get drunk.

Don’t get me wrong; the beer was delicious, there were definitely some fellow beer geeks there, and I was able to chat with some friendly folks towards the end of my time there. It’s hard to describe why I felt the way I did, unless you are able to experience it for yourself. Still, I’m very happy I paid a visit to the brewery and sampled their selection. My favorite was their Le Freak, which is a cross between a Trippel and an IPA. Mmmmm…

I’m kind of working backwards here, but only chronologically. These moments are in an order that reflects my favorite experience. Which leads us to the first brewery I visited yesterday:

Before visiting Alesmith, I had only tried one of their beers. However, it was one heck of a tasty brew called Horny Devil that engrained itself into my brain. That beer, along with the many wonderful things I had read, led me to the decision to visit this brewery. Boy, am I glad I did. First of all, almost all of the beers were all absolutely amazing! Take a look at this lovely list:

Where oh where, where do I begin? Hmmm, let’s see. X was an amazing pale ale. The Nut Brown Ale is one of the best versions of the style I’ve ever had. The IPA is so good. The Wee Heavy brought a huge smile to my face. Old Numbskull was a beautifully balanced American barleywine. Speedway Stout was rich and roasty and inspired me to buy a 750ml. And then, there was the Decadence; I’m not sure if I’ve had a tastier American-brewed quadrupel…

On top of the beer, there were two awesome employees behind the counter that made the whole experience even better. Cheers to them both! Thanks, Shaun and Brian, for the best San Diego brewery experience I’ve had so far!