The rarest of rarities - a new brewing company that caught me off-guard.
June 5, 2013
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Stories by Brandon Hernández
Meet Pacific Brewing Company
Green Flash debuting Genius Lab beers
Growing Mira Mesa brewing company launching small-batch brewing project.
June 5, 2013
2 Kids find a place to call home
Yet another new brewery online for Mira Mesa/Miramar area.
June 3, 2013
Beer of the Week: Saint Archer Blonde Ale
Beery beast belongs outside shadow cast by Sculpin and Victory At Sea.
May 31, 2013
New name, same beer at Arcana Brewing Company
Carlsbad brewery owner picks a new moniker for his nano operation.
May 28, 2013
Beer of the Week: Intergalactic Astro Scottish Ale
New Miramar brewery pays simultaneous homage to Scotland and Arizona.
May 24, 2013
Forecast calls for Lightning, new beers
Poway brewery introducing several first-time and one-off brews.
May 22, 2013
More West Coast via the Midwest
For many brewing companies, expansion means opening a tasting room in a different neighborhood, constructing an ell or a whole other building. Recently, those with the funds and the demand, including San Diego’s own Green …
May 21, 2013
Urge: Craft Alley hires brewer
Vet of The Lost Abbey, Boulevard to helm upcoming Vista brewpub.
May 17, 2013
Beer of the Week: Mother Earth Big Mother IIIPA
Last year was the first in which triple IPAs like Russian River Pliny the Younger and Dogfish Head 120-Minute IPA became available enough that I had the chance to taste them not once, but several …
May 17, 2013
Urge bowling into Vista
Urge: Craft Alley to bring brewpub, bottle shop, bowling alley to North County
May 14, 2013
Taking the monkey by the paw
In February, Monkey Paw Pub & Brewery (805 16th Street, East Village) brewmaster Derek Freese unexpectedly gave notice at the brewpub so he could take a job with Point Loma work-in-progress Modern Times Beer. He …
May 13, 2013
Beer of the Week: Green Flash West Coast IPA
Celebrating the winner of a recent San Diego India pale ale challenge.
May 10, 2013
Downtown TailGate on hold
SDSU alum's brewpub delayed but it's full steam ahead for new beer series.
May 7, 2013
ALERT: Wooden Nickel
Back in 2009, I went to dinner at Azul La Jolla. Upon arrival, I provided my name to the hostess and was shown to my table. A minute later, the restaurant’s general manager and chef …
May 6, 2013
Beer of the Week: Rough Draft Barrel-aged Emboozlement Tripel
Miramar brewery producing Bourbon and water's beery doppelganger.
May 3, 2013
Cinco de Drinko: Best of the West IPA Fest
San Diego breweries vying for "Best Coast" IPA supremacy at LOUNGEsix.
April 30, 2013
Beer of the Week: Rip Current Rail Grab German Rye
Homebrewers turned pros revive a near-dead German rye ale in San Marcos.
April 26, 2013
Ballast Point expanding to Little Italy
Local brewing company going big by going small in niche metro community.
April 24, 2013
Game On: Karl Strauss Pro-Am Competition
At a recent SDSU Alumni Association panel discussion on the business of craft brewing, AleSmith owner and brewmaster Peter Zien professed how important San Diego’s homebrewing community is to the success of craft beer in …
April 23, 2013
Tusk and Grain nixed by 'Nado
Coronado Brewing Company unexpectedly shuts down WIP artisanal line.
April 23, 2013
San Diego Brew Project a noble experiment
It’s no secret. San Diego beer is a cut above; something to both enjoy and celebrate. Everybody in the imbibing community says it, hundreds of bar and restaurant owners profess it in words and with …
April 22, 2013
Lightning Thunderweizen
Remember when hefeweizens were as ubiquitous as IPAs are today and amber/red ales were back in the nineties? Whether it was craft beer or even the macro big boys, nearly everybody had a Germanic wheat …
April 19, 2013
Beer Touring: Indian Joe Brewing
I pride myself on being on the bleeding edge of San Diego’s incoming brewery class. Often, I’ll report on new operations months or even over a year before they open their doors. I was the …
April 18, 2013
The Name Game: Sam Adams vs. Fezziwig's
The Boston Beer Company claim rights to Carlsbad brewery's name.
April 16, 2013
Belching Beaver hitting the Hop Highway
Vista brewing company going with a dual name approach.
April 15, 2013
Beer of the Week: Ballast Point Sea Monster Imperial Stout
Beery beast belongs outside shadow cast by Sculpin and Victory At Sea.
April 12, 2013
Bottled & Kegged: San Diego's Craft Brew Culture
The San Diego History Center (1649 El Prado, #3, Balboa Park) is trading in tuna cans for beer bottles. They’ve transformed the space that recently housed an exhibit paying homage to San Diego’s tuna fishing …
April 12, 2013
Beer Touring: Culture Brewing Co.
In February, I gave readers the low-down on the people and ideas behind Culture Brewing Co., a new addition to the Cedros Design District. It was chock full of information, but when it comes down …
April 11, 2013
Beer of the Week: Hess Barrel-Aged Validus
I’ve talked a lot about anniversary beers produced by local breweries for their partner bars and restaurants. Those beers are always special, but two neighboring businesses—URBN Coal Fired Pizza (3085 University Avenue, North Park) and …
April 2, 2013
Karl Strauss firkin serious about cask ale
Back before I swirled, sniffed and savored every sip of my beer, some of my close friends and I frequented Karl Strauss Brewing Company’s Sorrento Mesa brewery restaurant (9675 Scranton Road, Sorrento Mesa). Back then, …
April 1, 2013
In the Hopper, Part 2: The Next Best Things
Recent conversations with fellow craft beer fans recently got me to thinking about which of the 30-plus work-in-progress San Diego County breweries I’m most excited to see open. Last week, I tackled the top five. …
March 28, 2013
Beer of the Week: Aleman/Two Brothers/Stone DayMan Coffee IPA
Stone’s first collaboration of 2013 yields bizarre breed of IPA.
March 27, 2013
Intergalactic Brewing invading Miramar
When Arizona State collegian Alex Van Horne was discovering craft beer at Tempe’s Four Peaks Brewery, he had no idea of the prevalence of artisanal suds and the companies that produce them back home in …
March 26, 2013
Beer of the Week: The Lost Abbey Sede Vacante
Papal Conclave inspires San Marcos breweries’ strongest beer to-date.
March 22, 2013
In the Hopper, Part 1: The Top Five
The upcoming local breweries I'm most excited about.
March 21, 2013
Beer of the Week: Gordon Biersch Vienna Ale
The name Gordon Biersch doesn’t get much play among San Diego craft beer fans. To them, the central San Diego brewpub is but another in a chain of cookie-cutter outlets spanning the country. This is …
March 15, 2013
Green Flash taking SoCal brews to the other coast
Mira Mesa brewing company opening second brewery in Virginia.
March 14, 2013
Mad Lab feeling perfectly at home
San Diego’s southernmost brewery adding home brew supply store.
March 14, 2013
Calculated first steps for Stumblefoot
San Marcos’ lofty place in San Diego’s craft brewing history is firmly cemented. It was home to Stone Brewing Co.’s original brewery, a space that has since been taken over by the owners of Pizza …
March 13, 2013
Happy New Beer: 2012's Best Breweries
There were more new brewery openings than there were months in 2012, and the field is as varied as it is extensive, ranging from veteran brewers looking to challenge the big boys to guys with …
December 26, 2012
Fall Forward
Autumns are short in America’s Finest City. The transition from summer’s dog days to mall-Santa season seems like it happens in the blink of a sunglass-shielded eye. But it’s worth taking time to enjoy this …
November 7, 2012
San Diego Reader Feast! Issue – Kearny Mesa Asian lunches, best fried chicken...
San Diego restaurants taste-tested for you. Eats for Freelancers | Spirit of Family Dinnertime | More Than Dish or Deal | Accessible Gourmet | Lunchtime in Kearny Mesa | Fried Chicken | Restaurants to Try At Least Once
October 17, 2012
Accessible Gourmet Fare
Nowadays, I spend much of my time eating in restaurants or locked up in my office documenting those experiences. But before I wrote my first word about food, most of my time was spent in …
Del Mar
East Village
Encinitas
La Jolla
Little Italy
Mission Hills
Mission Valley
North Park
Rancho Bernardo
October 17, 2012
Omakase in O'side
Omakase: patrons sit down at the sushi counter, and the chef working it goes to town presenting dishes of his or her choosing, amped to share these items with anyone willing to put themselves into …
September 12, 2012
Mission Hills, via Brooklyn
Brooklyn Girl in Mission Hills has been packed since opening.
June 27, 2012
Brew and ’Cue in Apple Country
San Diego flatlanders open a brewery in the local mountains.
May 9, 2012
Two Toronados
The word Toronado carries a lot of meaning in West Coast craft-beer circles. For San Franciscans, it’s the name of a bar in the Lower Haight, where the stock has consisted of fine beer for …
March 21, 2012
Queso Diego: Cheese Heads, Unite
Cheese-lover, cheese-maker, Jedi cheese-master — most of the world’s population falls into one of these categories. Few foods have such a broad range of appeal. I’m so smitten, I’ve considered lobbying to make cheese its …
February 1, 2012
Sour Power
Of all the world’s adult beverages, beer offers the widest range of flavors for pairing with food. The vast number of taste combinations attained through mixing malt, hops, water, and yeast with an endless list …
December 7, 2011