Tuesday, November 11 The Full Table: Company’s like taking their most popular beers and using flavorful ingredients to create myriad tasty versions. Usually, these are stouts or porters, but Benchmark Brewing Company is leading with …
Beer events on Monday, November 10: Bagby Beer & Stone Brewmasters Lunch: If there are all-stars in the brewing community, Jeff Bagby and Steve Wagner qualify. The latter is inviting the former to his digs …
Sunday, November 9 Beer Week Events Barrel-Aged Beer Release: Though the name of Coronado Brewing Company’s pumpkin beer, Punk’n Drublic, is pretty silly, the brewers were serious enough about it to stash some away in …
Saturday, November 8 Beer Week Events Bikes, Brews & Brats: Meet up with the crew from Green Flash Brewing Company at Cal Coast Cycles, don a commemorative bike jersey then embark on a scenic off-road …
While most publications point to the San Diego Brewers Guild site for a “complete” list of San Diego Beer Week events, doing so means missing out on quite a bit of action around town. Rather …
When most brewers contemplate recipes for their beers, they envision Belgian abbeys, a rustic Germanic brewhaus, old English structures, or French farmhouses, calling to mind romantic notions of places where the world’s classic styles were …
The name Phil’s BBQ is synonymous with San Diego… much like handles such as AleSmith, Ballast Point, and Karl Strauss. Now, the ‘cue giant and those local brewing operations will be more synonymous with each …
AleSmith Brewing Company Founded by brewer Skip Virgilio in 1995, the company was known for solid beer early on but lacked the demand and business infrastructure to remain viable. After being sold to talented brewer …
Covering a brewing scene as vibrant as San Diego’s is harder work than it may seem. I won’t lie, the many hours of labor spent on this job are offset nicely by the benefit of …
With so many spots to choose from, it’s best to break the list into categories. Let’s begin with companies offering multiple locations. Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits A familiar nautical theme carries over from BP’s …
Thanks to a year in which a record number of new breweries and brewpubs came online, the number of operating brewhouses in San Diego County has risen to more than 100. That’s more brewing facilities …
Life’s been a beach for the team at Culture Brewing Company since opening their small but noteworthy brewery and tasting room in Solana Beach’s Cedros Design District in 2012. And it figures to stay that …
Back in July, I visited Ed O’Sullivan, owner of namesake interest, O’Sullivan Bros. Brewing Company (9879 Hibert Street, Scripps Ranch). No beer had been brewed, but there was plenty to be impressed by, namely a …
As temperatures begin their annual, wintry decent — OK, so we’re only talking a few degrees in sunny San Diego, but humor me — thoughts of tropical isles are hardly top of mind. But Vista’s …
As one would expect from a county with a climate so well-suited to nourishing crops and orchards, plus a top-notch artisanal culture, San Diego’s farmers’ markets are a cut above; places that, in addition to …
I’ve met many new-brewery owners in my day. Sometimes, they’re so out of touch from a business or brewing standpoint that I fear for them. I recently had the opposite experience when meeting Steve Peterson, …
October 24 | Grand Opening: New centrally located 32 North Brewing Company will throw open its doors and throw down with a Day One inventory of core beers such as Landfall Berliner Weisse, Fly By …
“I cook food. I roast coffee.” This is the mantra Mike Arquines leads with from the helm of newly opened restaurant, urban winery, and soon-to-debut brewery, The Cork and Craft (16990 Via Tazon, Rancho Bernardo). …
The second I laid eyes on a bottle of Left Coast Voo Doo American Stout (produced by Left Coast Brewing Co., the brewing operation from which most of the beers of the Oggi’s brewpub and …
It may be 2,600 miles away on the opposite side of the country and bear little cultural resemblance to Southern California, but relatively soon, Eastern Virginia will feature not one, but two companies providing an …
Between droves of beer fans driving in for a first look and an army’s worth of delivery trucks pulling up to have their trailers filled with palettes of fresh Sculpin IPA and Pale Ale, Carroll …
Believe it or not, there was a time when craft-stocked bottle shops weren’t in every neighborhood throughout San Diego. Sure, there was craft beer, even the local variety, but it took awhile for the retail …
I love the Padres and Chargers, but a balding, portly friar and buffed out lightning bolt are hard to get excited about. San Diego isn’t known for cool mascots. Fortunately, it is known for exceptional …
The term “beer cellar” can come off a bit pretentious, intimidating ale and lager fans who are only ankle-deep in the liquid medium. But fear not. Unlike wine cellars, which veer toward the legitimately pretentious, …
In going coastal, Twisted Manzanita Ales (4652 Mission Boulevard, Pacific Beach) has departed from the interior motif of the tasting room at its Santee headquarters. Ironically, this comes from the company desiring to provide a …
San Diego County brewers are used to successful outings at the country's largest, most-respected brewing competition, the Great American Beer Festival. Held annually in Denver, the combination festival and competition draws thousands of beer fans …
In my day, I’ve been treated to grandiose tastings of fine food and beverage in posh, intimate settings replete with marble, rich mahogany, and fine Corinthian leather, where I’ve been served by tuxedoed and otherwise …
The following is the sixth in a six-part series about that adventure, which yielded some good beer and a good deal more. Mexicali - Part I is the previous stop on this tour of Baja’s …
The following is the fifth in a six-part series about that adventure, which yielded some good beer and a good deal more. Valle de Guadalupe - Part II is the previous stop on this tour …
The following is the fourth in a six-part series about that adventure, which yielded some good beer and a good deal more. Valle de Guadalupe - Part I is the previous stop on this tour …
For all the mixed emotions about the company’s branding, Belching Beaver Brewery makes some mighty fine beers. That sentiment is nearly unanimous across top-level local beer enthusiasts. Those who don’t spend their time hitting up …
The following is the third in a six-part series about that adventure, which yielded some good beer and a good deal more. Tijuana - Part II is the previous stop on this tour of Baja’s …
In a county flush with domestic fermentation talent, Ken Schmidt is kind of a big deal. A homebrewer since 1966, he’s concocted inventive beer recipes for decades. Many are laced with flavorful adjuncts evocative of …
Tijuana - Part I is the previous stop on this tour of Baja’s craft brewing culture. The following is the second in a six-part series about that adventure, which yielded some good beer and a …
Being as keyed-in to the brewing industry as I am, I’ve been aware of the fact that there is a burgeoning craft beer scene in Baja, California. Unfortunately, keeping as keyed-in on the brewing industry …
It’s pumpkin beer season, which means breweries around the country will offer their spins on autumnal harvest-themed brews. Because pumpkin is such a popular and familiar ingredient, these beers are easy to love. They envelop …
Though I always passed it up for nearby competitors Churchill’s Pub & Grille or Sublime Ale House, there was something comforting about driving past Penny Lane Pub & Grill. Tucked off the side of San …
Chuck at Green Flash. Mitch at Stone. Devon at Pizza Port. Employees of local brewing companies become so engrained into the fabric of their operations that followers of the San Diego craft beer scene think …
Jim Crute was almost giddy — well, about as animatedly giddy as an analytical science guy like him can get — as he opened the door to the business suite next to his Lightning Brewery …
There are few charitable causes as universally backed by the brewing community as the fight against breast cancer. This has much to do with how many peoples’ lives are touched by this scourge. One in …
These days, new brewery openings can feel very similar. Regardless of décor, back story and other defining characteristics, beers from new operations tend to be, for the most part, predictable. This isn’t because what breweries …
Miramar is already home to a plethora of local breweries including powerhouses AleSmith Brewing Company, Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits and Saint Archer Brewery. Few communities offer as many brewery-touring options. The current count is …
Perhaps no brewery that’s debuted in 2014 has arrived to such immediate and nearly unanimous fanfare as Council Brewing Company (7705 Convoy Court, Kearny Mesa). From hop-forward pale ales and IPAs to low-ABV English-style ales …
It’s common for brewing company owners to be high on the skills of their brewers (ironically, I type this shortly after the head fermentation specialists at Barrel Harbor Brewing Company and Helm’s Brewing Company have …
I’ve learned to expect the unexpected from certain breweries that don’t adhere to common rules of beer service. Chief among them is Oceanside Ale Works (1800 Ord Way, Oceanside), a company that’s played fast-and-loose for …
When I think of my ideal food day in San Diego, it doesn’t involve heavy white linens, maître d’s, or putting on a suit and tie. Maximum dining enjoyment in my laidback hometown comes from …
When I last toured the construction site of Bagby Beer Company, the place still mostly looked like the auto dealership and repair facility it was in its former life. A visit this weekend turned up …
Even if they don’t always write about it, beer bloggers tend to be extremely opinionated. It takes a lot to please one, much less several, but last weekend, after attending the 2014 Beer Bloggers Conference, …
“We’ll need it by the end of the month,” said my publisher in regards to the first critical guide to brewery-owned properties in San Diego County. Even to non-writers, a month to complete a thorough …
It’s not all that abnormal, but it is unheard of — a combination restaurant, winery, and brewery all under one roof. Such will be the concept behind The Cork and Craft (16990 Via Tazon, Suite …