San Diego is craft beer heaven. I know there are other awesome craft beer cities like Portland and Denver but combine the weather, the beaches, and an accommodating baseball stadium and you get
America's Finest City. First, let's look at the numbers. There are approximately 80 tasting rooms within city limits and a few of these are giants like
Ballast Point Brewing Company and
Stone Brewing. Others, like
Pizza Port and the
Karl Strauss Brewing Company, have numerous venues scattered throughout the city. Second, there's Petco Park stadium which embraces craft beer - not just tolerates it. See the
Ballpark & Brews post. And finally, the beer is unique, interesting, and delicious.
On our arrival and quick hotel check in across from Petco Park we headed over to the
Stone Brewing Tap Room located conveniently just outside the stadium. The tap room provides a host of Stone brews, most very IPA-centric, but enough options for our heavily weighted Miller Lite group. I choose the
Citrusy Wit and finished my Father's
Smoked Porter before heading to the Tilted Kilt for lunch. Both solid beers for their respective styles. At the Kilt I went overboard with local beer starting with the
AleSmith Brewing Pale Ale .394, then moving on to the the
Coronado Brewing Company Berry The Hatchet, and finishing with the
Ballast Point Pineapple Sculpin. The later was slightly sweeter than the Grapefruit Sculpin, the Coronado fruit ale tasty, and the AleSmith my favorite of the trio.
After putting the padre to bed for a nap, I ventured ahead to
Half Door Brewing Company, named in honor of the Irish pubs and farmhouses where half doors were a way to let fresh air in and keep the nosy farm animals out. The brewery sits in an eccentric historic house with a large front porch and divided second floor seating. Great architecture. I started with a favorite style, the
Bearleener Berliner Weisse and it was tart and fruity as expected. When the crew eventually caught up most of us turned to the
Half Door Pale Ale - a beer that found common ground between the IPA and lite beer drinkers. This beer left us in a cheerful state heading into the stadium.
Day 2 started with an Uber to Ocean Beach to visit relatives, walk in the ocean, and stroll the pier. Afterwards
Pizza Port Ocean Beach was a short walk away for lunch and we came away impressed with the food and the beer. My favorite was the
No Surf Cream Ale - a refreshing summer ale, while my brother looked favorably upon the
Swami's IPA and my father stuck to his porter - the
Tube Time Porter.
Our return Uber ride detoured into the
Ballast Point Tasting Room & Kitchen Restaurant, a satellite venue in Little Italy. I knew it was a wise decision when we met Bob Carpenter, the MASN TV voice of the Washington Nationals, coming out. I selected three different beers for my sampler and fell in love with the
Tart Lady a Wild Ale exuding juicy and tart apricots. The other two experimental ales just weren't for me. The
Hop Trois IPA was funky but seemed unbalanced and the
When Doves Crye Rye Wine was tense and spicy - too much for my palate. But a sifter of the
Tart Lady quickly it washed away. And once again I finished my Father's porter, this one the malty
Black Marlin.
I'm returning to
America's Finest City later this summer and I will be using
theCompass Winery, Brewery, Distillery Locator Mobile App to visit several breweries that I lost time - particularly
Mission Brewery and
Monkey Paw Brewing. Cheers.
After spending a few days in Las Vegas we found that most casinos craft beer menu is solely defined as Ballast Point Sculpin, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, and Lagunitas IPA. And on occasion you can spot the Joseph James Brewing Company Citra Rye from nearby Henderson and a very decent offering. But obviously not a diverse selection and not necessarily small and independent either. Fortunately there are a number of actual craft breweries in Sin City - 14 according to theCompass Craft Beverage Finder. And one of these offers four satellite tasting facilities directly on Las Vegas Blvd: Sin City Brewing Company. This craft brewery was launched by long-time Gordon Biersch Director of Brewing Operations Richard Johnson.
Two different times we visited their Bally's location, a narrow bar with outside seating tucked in the far corner of the Grand Bazaar Shops fronting Bally’s. Just follow the smell of hot dogs. Not unexpectedly the styles follow what you would expect at Gordon Biersch with a Blonde, Weisse, Amber Ale, Irish Stout, and IPA. The beers were well made and clean with the Miller Lite and InBev drinkers moving seamlessly to the Never Pass Up A Blonde. The Dark Side of Sin Irish Stout passes as a Guinness and the Say Hello to Amber was a contrast to the sweet and malty amber ales that I try to avoid. Although The Ale With A Tale was a decent IPA, I stronger preferred the slightly heavier seasonal Imperial IPA which was big but providing a balanced mouth feel and soft finish.
