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

Karl Strauss’s IPA: double, double, stir in trouble…

Add lotsa hops, fine. But roasted green chilies?

My beer pick of the week: A brewski with, uh, roasted green chilies in it.

Talking about Karl Strauss’s Green Chili Big Barrel Double IPA.

I discovered this by accident. Was sitting here at Karl Strauss’s original downtown joint, the old, old brick one covered in vines (1157 Columbia Street, 619-234-2739)...

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/30/37618/

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/30/37616/

The roof inside tells you this is at least 90 years old

So this was a tonight-only cask beer. It’s flatter and warmer than most cervezas. No CO2. The ale's sucked out of the cask by a “beer engine,” a kinda siphon pump.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/30/37615/

I spot it on the specials board

Also, this one’s cheaper: $4 a pint, and it’s not even happy hour.

Also quite a bang for the buck, 9 percent alcohol whatever.

But what sets this apart: its load of roasted green chilies brewed into it. Oh man. The first sip flanges around your gills like electricity. Makes you think cactus, nopal paddles. You check your tongue for spikes.

And you wonder what’s this doing in a cerveza? But quicker than you realize, it begins to lay on you like a warm blanket...okay, with some claws coming through, but seductive, like cat-woman.

Partly it's that this is a one-off cask beer. Yes it's spiky-hot. But its flavors are fatter.

Jeff the PM (perpetual motion) bartender, says it was their head brewer Paul Segura’s idea to do the chili thing. They’re roasted first, then dunked in to this über-hoppy beer.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/30/37614/

Jeff. Green Chili beer (with a couple of glugs out of it) is in the foreground

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/30/37617/

Have to say, Karl S. is coming out with some good stuff these days. For a long time they were unadventurious, and let the Young Turks like Pizza Port run away with the new ideas.

But these last few years they've definitely picked up steam. And originality.

If this is anything to go by, they’re ba-ack.

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

Previous article

In-n-Out alters iconic symbol to reflect “modern-day California”

Keep Palm and Carry On?
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount

My beer pick of the week: A brewski with, uh, roasted green chilies in it.

Talking about Karl Strauss’s Green Chili Big Barrel Double IPA.

I discovered this by accident. Was sitting here at Karl Strauss’s original downtown joint, the old, old brick one covered in vines (1157 Columbia Street, 619-234-2739)...

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/30/37618/

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/30/37616/

The roof inside tells you this is at least 90 years old

So this was a tonight-only cask beer. It’s flatter and warmer than most cervezas. No CO2. The ale's sucked out of the cask by a “beer engine,” a kinda siphon pump.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/30/37615/

I spot it on the specials board

Also, this one’s cheaper: $4 a pint, and it’s not even happy hour.

Also quite a bang for the buck, 9 percent alcohol whatever.

But what sets this apart: its load of roasted green chilies brewed into it. Oh man. The first sip flanges around your gills like electricity. Makes you think cactus, nopal paddles. You check your tongue for spikes.

And you wonder what’s this doing in a cerveza? But quicker than you realize, it begins to lay on you like a warm blanket...okay, with some claws coming through, but seductive, like cat-woman.

Partly it's that this is a one-off cask beer. Yes it's spiky-hot. But its flavors are fatter.

Jeff the PM (perpetual motion) bartender, says it was their head brewer Paul Segura’s idea to do the chili thing. They’re roasted first, then dunked in to this über-hoppy beer.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/30/37614/

Jeff. Green Chili beer (with a couple of glugs out of it) is in the foreground

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/dec/30/37617/

Have to say, Karl S. is coming out with some good stuff these days. For a long time they were unadventurious, and let the Young Turks like Pizza Port run away with the new ideas.

But these last few years they've definitely picked up steam. And originality.

If this is anything to go by, they’re ba-ack.

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

Adams Ave Beer Taste

Next Article

The Case of the Naughty Constable

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