Here's something you might be interested in.
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
A cool patio on a hot day
Parkside property in East Village gets Amplified
The beer counter at Amplified Ale Works East Village, called Amplified E-Vil for short.
When two-headed business Halcyon Coffee and Stella Public House launched in a new East Village construction in 2014, it created one of the best outdoor drinking spaces in all of downtown. Its perch overlooking Fault Line Park offered cooling bay breezes, a glimpse of the bridge to Coronado, and — most importantly — a mood-enhancing view of landscaped green space. One side of the building served coffee and cocktails, the other served beer and pizza, providing an excuse to visit any time of day.
Under new occupancy. Still one of the best drinking patios downtown.
However, the Texas restaurant group behind both Halcyon and Stella quit the property this year, ultimately doomed by the combination of confusing dual-branding, continuing construction of ugly highrises next door, and the stigma of last year’s hepatitis outbreak among homeless in the vicinity.
A flight of refreshing beers, served on a guitar-shaped pallette at Amplified Ale Works, East Village.
But last year’s poor luck is this year’s boon, and now a local beer company has taken over the space: Amplified Ale Works. The brewery that grew out of a kebab restaurant will operate pretty much the same as its predecessors. Because the lease requires Amplified to stay open all day, it starts at 7am as a coffee shop, and even plans to roast its own beans. Because the kitchen came outfitted with a brick pizza oven, pizza’s on the menu. And at 11am, because the alcohol license allows it, Amplified starts serving cocktails, in addition to beer.
I definitely showed up seeking the latter. If you go shopping for cans of Amplified beer, you’ll mostly find IPAs, both of the hazy and west coast variety. But the brewery pays close attention to its water profiles, and subsequently its lager program has been thriving as well. It’s just been more accessible to those who live closer to its Miramar brewhouse or Pacific Beach restaurant and taproom.
With late afternoon temperature still pushing 90 downtown, and humidity over 80 percent, this seemed a perfect time to delve into a few of these easy drinkers. I started with Sellout, a light lager made to resembled the very style of American beers the craft brewer movement arose to push against. I felt good about drinking it, though. I know the name is ironic, and it was refreshing as hell. Though to me it tasted more like Heineken Light than a Pabst Blue Ribbon.
Next, I stepped up the presence of hops to try the deliciously crisp pilsner, Licensed to Pils, named in reference to the Beastie Boys album, License to Ill. A lot of Amplified’s beer names are inspired by bands or records. My third beer, Bombhops, was made in collaboration with the punk band Bombpops, while High & Dry takes the name a Radiohead song.
High & Dry is Amplified’s take on the ultra-dry new IPA style, brut IPA, while Bombhops is described as an India pale lager. It was super interesting to drink these two side by side: one a 7 percent lager with enough bitter hops to resemble a pale ale, the other a 9 percent, double IPA with fruity and floral hops but a lighter body than the Sellout light beer.
Sipping these beers, relishing the breeze that carried across the park, onto the well shaded patio, I forgot all about the heat of the city and settled in comfortably. It felt like the coolest place for miles, and there were 25 other beers on the menu. This city center resident is going to enjoy having an Amplified taproom a short car hire ride from home.
Here's something you might be interested in.
A cool patio on a hot day
Parkside property in East Village gets Amplified
A cool patio on a hot day
Parkside property in East Village gets Amplified
The beer counter at Amplified Ale Works East Village, called Amplified E-Vil for short.
When two-headed business Halcyon Coffee and Stella Public House launched in a new East Village construction in 2014, it created one of the best outdoor drinking spaces in all of downtown. Its perch overlooking Fault Line Park offered cooling bay breezes, a glimpse of the bridge to Coronado, and — most importantly — a mood-enhancing view of landscaped green space. One side of the building served coffee and cocktails, the other served beer and pizza, providing an excuse to visit any time of day.
Under new occupancy. Still one of the best drinking patios downtown.
However, the Texas restaurant group behind both Halcyon and Stella quit the property this year, ultimately doomed by the combination of confusing dual-branding, continuing construction of ugly highrises next door, and the stigma of last year’s hepatitis outbreak among homeless in the vicinity.
A flight of refreshing beers, served on a guitar-shaped pallette at Amplified Ale Works, East Village.
But last year’s poor luck is this year’s boon, and now a local beer company has taken over the space: Amplified Ale Works. The brewery that grew out of a kebab restaurant will operate pretty much the same as its predecessors. Because the lease requires Amplified to stay open all day, it starts at 7am as a coffee shop, and even plans to roast its own beans. Because the kitchen came outfitted with a brick pizza oven, pizza’s on the menu. And at 11am, because the alcohol license allows it, Amplified starts serving cocktails, in addition to beer.
I definitely showed up seeking the latter. If you go shopping for cans of Amplified beer, you’ll mostly find IPAs, both of the hazy and west coast variety. But the brewery pays close attention to its water profiles, and subsequently its lager program has been thriving as well. It’s just been more accessible to those who live closer to its Miramar brewhouse or Pacific Beach restaurant and taproom.
With late afternoon temperature still pushing 90 downtown, and humidity over 80 percent, this seemed a perfect time to delve into a few of these easy drinkers. I started with Sellout, a light lager made to resembled the very style of American beers the craft brewer movement arose to push against. I felt good about drinking it, though. I know the name is ironic, and it was refreshing as hell. Though to me it tasted more like Heineken Light than a Pabst Blue Ribbon.
Next, I stepped up the presence of hops to try the deliciously crisp pilsner, Licensed to Pils, named in reference to the Beastie Boys album, License to Ill. A lot of Amplified’s beer names are inspired by bands or records. My third beer, Bombhops, was made in collaboration with the punk band Bombpops, while High & Dry takes the name a Radiohead song.
High & Dry is Amplified’s take on the ultra-dry new IPA style, brut IPA, while Bombhops is described as an India pale lager. It was super interesting to drink these two side by side: one a 7 percent lager with enough bitter hops to resemble a pale ale, the other a 9 percent, double IPA with fruity and floral hops but a lighter body than the Sellout light beer.
Sipping these beers, relishing the breeze that carried across the park, onto the well shaded patio, I forgot all about the heat of the city and settled in comfortably. It felt like the coolest place for miles, and there were 25 other beers on the menu. This city center resident is going to enjoy having an Amplified taproom a short car hire ride from home.
Comments