Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

St. Paddy's Day's dark star

Black Irish Stout debuts at Scripps Ranch's other brewery

O'Sullivan Bros. Brewing Company's Black Irish Stout - Image by @sdbeernews
O'Sullivan Bros. Brewing Company's Black Irish Stout

There’s never a shortage of fun imbibing opportunities come St. Patrick’s Day. Most involve Guinness, green beer, or whisky and car-bombs of Irish attribution. Being a beer locavore, I gravitate to March 17 celebrations involving San Diego beer. Thing is, very few of them bother with Irish beer styles — reds, dry stouts, etc. Karl Strauss Brewing Company has its multiple-award-winning Red Trolley Ale and Half Door Brewing Company brings an enjoyable mix of Ireland crossed with Southern California, but this year, I spent St. Paddy’s at O’Sullivan Bros. Brewing Company.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Place

O'Sullivan Bros. Brewing Company

9879 Hibert Street, San Diego

The product of an Irish family with a bent toward darker ales, O’Sullivan Bros. is Scripps Ranch’s other brewery. There’s no shame in that. In business for less than six months, it has a lot of growing to do before it rates with OG Ranch brewery, Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits, but it’s worth checking out, especially on a day devoted to emerald green, clovers, and Celtic joy. I’d been to O’ Sullivan a few times and wondered what it would look like packed to capacity. After seeing it on St. Patrick’s Day, I need speculate no longer. There was nary a space to lay down my taster flights, but once I found one, I found myself taking a shine to the same beer as most of the evening’s revelers — O’Sullivan Bros. Black Irish Stout.

As dark as they come on the SRM scale, the beer had been added to the menu for the first time that afternoon; added enticement to lure St. Paddy’s celebrants. Even with a beer board that’s two-thirds dark beers, this chocolaty quaff stands out thanks to its smooth drinkability. Low on roast, big on cocoa flavor, and just 6.2% alcohol-by-volume, it’s the type of beer that can be enjoyed one after the other, or as a nice close-out pour after consuming lighter or more hop-forward ales. Black Irish served as confirmation that I made the right choice this St. Patrick’s Day, but there’s no need to wait another 365 to enjoy it again.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Classical Classical at The San Diego Symphony Orchestra

A concert I didn't know I needed
O'Sullivan Bros. Brewing Company's Black Irish Stout - Image by @sdbeernews
O'Sullivan Bros. Brewing Company's Black Irish Stout

There’s never a shortage of fun imbibing opportunities come St. Patrick’s Day. Most involve Guinness, green beer, or whisky and car-bombs of Irish attribution. Being a beer locavore, I gravitate to March 17 celebrations involving San Diego beer. Thing is, very few of them bother with Irish beer styles — reds, dry stouts, etc. Karl Strauss Brewing Company has its multiple-award-winning Red Trolley Ale and Half Door Brewing Company brings an enjoyable mix of Ireland crossed with Southern California, but this year, I spent St. Paddy’s at O’Sullivan Bros. Brewing Company.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Place

O'Sullivan Bros. Brewing Company

9879 Hibert Street, San Diego

The product of an Irish family with a bent toward darker ales, O’Sullivan Bros. is Scripps Ranch’s other brewery. There’s no shame in that. In business for less than six months, it has a lot of growing to do before it rates with OG Ranch brewery, Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits, but it’s worth checking out, especially on a day devoted to emerald green, clovers, and Celtic joy. I’d been to O’ Sullivan a few times and wondered what it would look like packed to capacity. After seeing it on St. Patrick’s Day, I need speculate no longer. There was nary a space to lay down my taster flights, but once I found one, I found myself taking a shine to the same beer as most of the evening’s revelers — O’Sullivan Bros. Black Irish Stout.

As dark as they come on the SRM scale, the beer had been added to the menu for the first time that afternoon; added enticement to lure St. Paddy’s celebrants. Even with a beer board that’s two-thirds dark beers, this chocolaty quaff stands out thanks to its smooth drinkability. Low on roast, big on cocoa flavor, and just 6.2% alcohol-by-volume, it’s the type of beer that can be enjoyed one after the other, or as a nice close-out pour after consuming lighter or more hop-forward ales. Black Irish served as confirmation that I made the right choice this St. Patrick’s Day, but there’s no need to wait another 365 to enjoy it again.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Escondido planners nix office building switch to apartments

Not enough open space, not enough closets for Hickory Street plans
Next Article

Drinking Sudden Death on All Saint’s Day in Quixote’s church-themed interior

Seeking solace, spiritual and otherwise
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader