I don’t discriminate against beverages- juices, sodas, hard liquors, cocktails, beer, wine… I am equal opportunity for deliciousness. This post however, happens to be highlighting beer in San Diego while I was there the last week in June because I did happen to have quite a bit of it. I was there for a few days for work, but then extended my stay over the weekend into vacation, with F joining me on Friday. F drinks mainly just beer. San Diego has lots of great craft beer- I only covered the tip of the iceberg here, and hope to continue my exploration when I return to San Diego March 2014.

Oggi’s Pizza and Brewing

First, I had a sampler with some of the guys I was working with on my work trip at Oggi’s Pizza and Brewing. I didn’t believe anything was so good I would go back on a second trip- it was more of the close location and the laid back atmosphere of a sports bar with lots of moving pictures on the many screens to relax after a day of work that drew us there. From the sampler, my favorite was the McGarvey’s Scottish Ale, but sitting outside the light Paradise Pale Ale Duck Dive Hefeweizen and California Gold also hit the spot.

Second, when F arrived, we had a beercation, where we visited on our first Friday evening two gastropubs in the Gas Lamp district reknown for their vast beer selection.

Ok, first, I have to admit we stayed at the Hotel Solamar, a Kimpton hotel, which means every evening they have a complimentary 1 hour beer and wine social to sample local beverages for guests. So F and I were able to try the Dawn Patrol Dark by Port Brewing Company. This was a special seasonal beer that was nice and chewy English style dark ale with its nutty maltiness. Perhaps I had it the next evening as well. And then we went out for more beer at two places. Yes.

Knotty Barrel and Neighborhood in the Gas Lamp district

The first, Knotty Barrel we stumbled upon on the way to our destination and decided to stay for a short visit. It was after all, already on the way… Also it was damn hot and we wanted a rest under their roof for shade and refreshment to continue our quest. We were impressed with the huge list of beers on the wall, and that they had a long card to fill out of 16 options for putting together your own small sampler of up to four 4oz pours if you didn’t want full glasses/bottles from their extensive menu of 22 drafts and more than 80 bottles. After a DunkelWeizen by Stumblefoot Brewing Company and Hefeweizen by Black Market Brewing Co. which were my favorites of what I sampled, it was time to move on.

So refreshed, we headed towards Neighborhood, with their tap of only 25 drafts and 50 bottles, but their selection had more unique beers, including those that were harder to find and higher alcohol/barrel aged. Because of working up to lunch earlier that day and then logistics of shipping boxes back to work and airport drop off of coworkers and retrieval of F, I had eaten lunch rather late and was not very hungry for dinner. S

o, I found myself continually reading the script of beers on the chalkboard and in the helpfully named “These Are The Things You Drink” drink booklet. In retrospect, maybe I was not very hungry for dinner because I was all full of liquid, such as Biere de Chocolat by Almanac Beer and 10 Commandments by Lost Abbey, and because we had not enjoyed it before a Chimay Blanche (Cinq Cents).

Stone World Brewing World Bistro and Gardens

Saturday, we wandered the 1 acre garden at Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens in Escondido. The atmosphere here is a wondrous escape, where you can just order a beer and then walk the backyard with its small streams, a waterfall, various patio furniture, seats around a firepit or two or three… and what would be usually mild San Diego weather. The bistro portion is vast, seating hundreds, with soaring ceilings and a mix of wood and stone (naturally) and a small river that runs inside the restaurant with koi. One side are huge glass doors which opens up the the outside tables for dining, which further expand out to the aforementioned gardens. This is probably about 30 minutes outside of San Diego and I was driving, so I limited myself to a single Stone Smoked Porter.

My only disappointment was that we didn’t see many unique beers that you could not see anywhere else on tap or in bottles at the World Bistro. So we actually ended up trying new beers by ordering other bottles they had on their menu (and at least they do offer a pretty good selection there!), such as Beaver Milk Stout by Belching Beaver and a Goudenband by Brouwerij Liefmans

Brunch at Karl Strauss in Sorrento Mesa

Next, Sunday was brewery visit day, where we started with the brunch buffet of Karl Strauss Brewing Company.

The location we visited at Sorrento Mesa included a gorgeous view of Japanese Gardens and a koi pond as you enjoyed a beer flight with your brunch OR a beer mimosa which mixed their Windansea Wheat hefeweizen with champagne. I was SO full from their generous offerings at their brunch buffet. Items included an omelet station, bagels with cream cheese that you could further top with smoked salmon, biscuits and gravy, a pasta station, a carved meat station, little waffles you could top with strawberries and cream, a selection of fresh cut fruit too, warm chips that you could scoop artichoke cheese dip, boneless buffalo wings, little bbq ribs, a whole table of baked goods for sweet desserts, cocktail shrimp and ahi tuna…

In fact, they even suggested pairings with a board on the wall that suggested certain items of food to enjoy with the offerings of their featured june brunch beer flight. For instance, they suggested their raspberry hef balsamic salad or blueberry crumb tart with their Winadansea Wheat, the Red trolley BBQ Pork shanks or beer brined roasted turkey with their Red Trolley ale, the blue cheese salad, boneless buffalo wings, or Thai basil curried chicken with their Tower 10 IPA, or the blackened salmon with mango salsa or carrot cake with their Blackball Belgian IPA.

I was stuffed for the rest of the day. The service was great – even though they were really busy, servers made sure to take away our plates, check on our drinks, refill champagne in mimosas, even come around with samples of some of their beer for the tables.

Green Flash Brewing Company

This brewery visit was then followed by a visit to Green Flash, with their 20 taps, including some which don’t really get to Oregon and stay local. An example of this was a Saison Diego golden farmhouse ale brewed with Seville orange peels, Chinese ginger that was very refreshing but carried interesting flavor profiles even in its lightness. I also liked their Barleywine and their Double Stout With Serrano Chiles. The Green Flash tasting room is part of their warehouse/production facility, with most standing along the long counters that curve in a U from the entrance, although there is a small area of outside seating, and a different food truck that visits outside that you can purchase food from to balance the beers. Definitely a different atmosphere from which we had just visited.

Pizza Port at Solana Beach

And then one more different kind of atmosphere- we finished up with pizza and beer while enjoying the Pacific Ocean breezes at Pizza Port at Solana Beach. This pizza joint/brewery is small and open to families, including the requisite arcade games in the back and bench shared seating that is first come first serve. You go up to the counter and order, and then wait to hear your name called and go back to pick up your pizza. They did have an interesting selection of beers to select from besides their own brews, and the pizza combinations were above the norm. For instance, F (since I was still full) ordered a pizza with asparagus and squash, which you see me enjoying with my choice of their selections that visit, Saison De Mule

Coronado Brewing

The last beers before we returned to Portland was at Coronado Brewing and it was my last chance at fish tacos- Wahoo Fish tacos with onion rings. Here, my favorites were the refreshing Orange Avenue Wit you see below, as well as a smoked style beer from the sampler F created (you could get a sampler of their core, or write your own selected sampler on a postcard which you could then mail to yourself/others) called Rauche Sham Bo.

Too late for our visit, but perhaps not too late for you… Untappd (which is how I track my beers- ok, if I remember to check them in, a great app you can use to understand what you like and don’t like or remember what you had before, or help look up when deciding beers to order) and Brews Up (a craft beer promotions organization and membership program in San Diego) are teaming up to put together a brew based scavenger hunt that will take you to up to 60 different breweries in the San Diego area. This was entirely coincidence that I was writing this post last night and this contest starts today until September 2. The scavenger hunt involves reading clues and then checking in a beer at that brewery’s location using Untappd at 16 of the 60 breweries that are answers to the riddles. The grand prize are a pair of VIP tickets aboard the Brews Cruise, San Diego’s 1st ever floating craft beer festival, and other prizes include some prizes that are geared a bit more towards San Diego locals, but also brewery merchandise, so don’t feel like you can’t go enjoy a Beer Vacation even if you don’t live in San Diego.

I wish they were doing something like that in Portland- I don’t even need a grand prize, just making it a game on promoting and knowing your local breweries sounds educational and fun! July is Oregon Craft Beer Month though, so you should still expect more beer reports coming up- I’m just getting started!