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

What's new in bottles and cans

A Sore Eye Cup winner, and other beers for your fridge

As of mid-August, it's easier to take Bagby Beer home with you.
As of mid-August, it's easier to take Bagby Beer home with you.

A good beer is never hard to find in San Diego, but recent developments have made it easier to stock your fridge with a few of the city’s most highly sought brews.

Sore Eye Cup winner Treevana IPA soon to be available year-round in cans.

Burgeoning year-round cans

Last month, the Burgeon Beer Company IPA, Treevana, won the coveted Sore Eye Cup, an annual contest organized by Indie Beer Show podcaster Brian Beagle. Fans vote for their favoarrelrite regularly produced San Diego beers, then a judging panel assesses the top ten to identify the current best beer in the city.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The Carlsbad brewery has elected to make the beer its first year-round core release in cans. Helping it do so will be a new, state of the art canning line and the addition of a 60-barrel fermenting tank.

Burgeon has steadily grown its local footprint since opening in late 2016, aided by a mobile canning operation and fast-selling, limited runs of Treevana and other, similarly well-received IPAs. Consequently, a waiting list of beer retailers want Burgeon cans, and cofounder Matthew Zirpolo notes the new equipment will allow Burgeon to double its retail production, for starters.

Several other local breweries have recently added canning lines to their operations, allowing their own core favorites to regularly stocked local retail shops. Council Brewing Company got one when they purchased a second-hand brewhouse in Santee — look for its Bully Pulpit IPA.

In Vista, Bear Roots Brewing Company recently purchased its own equipment, and will introduce three core beers, beginning with Bear Cookie chocolate peanut butter stout. Cans will be in taprooms to start, in retailers as the very small brewery’s capacity grows.

Miramar’s Duck Foot Brewing Company also graduated from mobile canning to its own equipment this spring, and has ramped up distribution of several of its gluten-reduced beers, including Duckzilla IIPA and the honey ale, Drink This or the Bees Die.

Good crowler news

Mobile canning or otherwise, the vast majority of San Diego breweries package their beers in 16-ounce cans these days. But two of our very best have notably chosen not to, preferring to serve beers from the tap to ensure freshness.

So this summer has provided great news for fans of Societe Brewing Company and Bagby Beer Company. Both have introduced crowler fills, allowing guests to take home on-demand, 32-ounce cans of their favorite beers without having to tote around a growler.

I find the 32-ounce format ideal for easy-drinking Societe lager The Baroness, but most visitors to the Kearny Mesa brewery will probably relish the chance to take home county-favorite Pupil IPA. Meanwhile, Oceanside's Bagby celebrated the move with a new, crowler-friendly beer release: Copycat, a hoppy ale created in homage to everybody’s first favorite microbrew: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Societe recommends consuming crowler fills within 48 hours, while Bagby suggests doing so “as soon as possible.”

Smaller barrel bottles

Miramar brewer AleSmith has won countless awards for big, bourbon barrel-aged beers, and long sold 750ml bottles of them. However, being relatively expensive bottles (over $30) of particularly potent beer (over 12-percent), to justify opening a large format bottle requires a small gathering. In other words, “This size was ideal for cellaring beer and sharing with friends but could be intimidating for single serve use.” So said AleSmith owner Peter Zien in announcing the new release of small format barrel aged beers.

The brewery has started offering less-intimidating 11.2-ounce bottles of a Barrel-Aged Cinnamon Vanilla Speedway Stout and the 2018 Barrel-Aged Old Numbskull. Weighing in at 13- and 12-percent respectively, the large beers in smaller bottles are being offered in packs of two at the brewery’s Miramar tasting room, priced at $27 per mix and match pair.

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

Todd Gloria gets cash from McDonald's franchise owners

Phil's BBQ owner for Larry Turner
Next Article

At 4pm, this Farmer's Table restaurant in Chula Vista becomes Acqua e Farina

Brunch restaurant by day, Roman style trattoria by night
As of mid-August, it's easier to take Bagby Beer home with you.
As of mid-August, it's easier to take Bagby Beer home with you.

A good beer is never hard to find in San Diego, but recent developments have made it easier to stock your fridge with a few of the city’s most highly sought brews.

Sore Eye Cup winner Treevana IPA soon to be available year-round in cans.

Burgeoning year-round cans

Last month, the Burgeon Beer Company IPA, Treevana, won the coveted Sore Eye Cup, an annual contest organized by Indie Beer Show podcaster Brian Beagle. Fans vote for their favoarrelrite regularly produced San Diego beers, then a judging panel assesses the top ten to identify the current best beer in the city.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The Carlsbad brewery has elected to make the beer its first year-round core release in cans. Helping it do so will be a new, state of the art canning line and the addition of a 60-barrel fermenting tank.

Burgeon has steadily grown its local footprint since opening in late 2016, aided by a mobile canning operation and fast-selling, limited runs of Treevana and other, similarly well-received IPAs. Consequently, a waiting list of beer retailers want Burgeon cans, and cofounder Matthew Zirpolo notes the new equipment will allow Burgeon to double its retail production, for starters.

Several other local breweries have recently added canning lines to their operations, allowing their own core favorites to regularly stocked local retail shops. Council Brewing Company got one when they purchased a second-hand brewhouse in Santee — look for its Bully Pulpit IPA.

In Vista, Bear Roots Brewing Company recently purchased its own equipment, and will introduce three core beers, beginning with Bear Cookie chocolate peanut butter stout. Cans will be in taprooms to start, in retailers as the very small brewery’s capacity grows.

Miramar’s Duck Foot Brewing Company also graduated from mobile canning to its own equipment this spring, and has ramped up distribution of several of its gluten-reduced beers, including Duckzilla IIPA and the honey ale, Drink This or the Bees Die.

Good crowler news

Mobile canning or otherwise, the vast majority of San Diego breweries package their beers in 16-ounce cans these days. But two of our very best have notably chosen not to, preferring to serve beers from the tap to ensure freshness.

So this summer has provided great news for fans of Societe Brewing Company and Bagby Beer Company. Both have introduced crowler fills, allowing guests to take home on-demand, 32-ounce cans of their favorite beers without having to tote around a growler.

I find the 32-ounce format ideal for easy-drinking Societe lager The Baroness, but most visitors to the Kearny Mesa brewery will probably relish the chance to take home county-favorite Pupil IPA. Meanwhile, Oceanside's Bagby celebrated the move with a new, crowler-friendly beer release: Copycat, a hoppy ale created in homage to everybody’s first favorite microbrew: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Societe recommends consuming crowler fills within 48 hours, while Bagby suggests doing so “as soon as possible.”

Smaller barrel bottles

Miramar brewer AleSmith has won countless awards for big, bourbon barrel-aged beers, and long sold 750ml bottles of them. However, being relatively expensive bottles (over $30) of particularly potent beer (over 12-percent), to justify opening a large format bottle requires a small gathering. In other words, “This size was ideal for cellaring beer and sharing with friends but could be intimidating for single serve use.” So said AleSmith owner Peter Zien in announcing the new release of small format barrel aged beers.

The brewery has started offering less-intimidating 11.2-ounce bottles of a Barrel-Aged Cinnamon Vanilla Speedway Stout and the 2018 Barrel-Aged Old Numbskull. Weighing in at 13- and 12-percent respectively, the large beers in smaller bottles are being offered in packs of two at the brewery’s Miramar tasting room, priced at $27 per mix and match pair.

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

Big swordfish, big marlin, and big money

Trout opener at Santee Lakes
Next Article

Pranksters vandalize Padres billboard in wake of playoff loss

Where’s the bat at?
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