Beer in San Diego?

[DaddyMakesBeer]

Anybody have any recommendations for brewpubs in SD? Nothing fancy -- just good beer and reasonably kid-friendly. Thanks.

[Chango]

I'll second that question... gonna be there April 11-13, looking for somewhere I can sample a lot of different Californian beers at once in a short period of time. Specifically looking for Pizza Port, but also anything else good that I can't get in Arizona. Is the AleSmith tour good? Thought that might be worth a stop, too.
-C

[DaddyMakesBeer]

Made it to San Diego Brewing and had the IPA (on cask) and the barleywine. IPA was disappointing -- thin and bland. Barleywine was better, though it tasted a bit young. On the plus side, food was great and the beers-on-tap selection was truly excellent.

dmb

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

Pizza Port is excellent. One in Carlsbad, one in Solana Beach. Carlsbad one very kid friendly, usually ( not always ) has a better selection. Have yet to take Alesmith tour. Have gone to Stone ( San Marcos - inland on the 78 ). They have become stingy. Cannot stand around the taps for hours and b.s. They limit you to one of each, unless you're a regular and they only give you one. All of the breweries I have been to in S.D. have been very family oriented. Unfortunately many have closed but there are quite a few to choose from. I am just very picky and enjoy "large" beers. There's a Gordon Biersch around Hotel Circle, very nice. Haven't really tried Karl Strauss. Good Luck.

[DaddyMakesBeer]

Thanks for the tips. We'll be back down (father-in-law lives there), so I'll be sure to check out Pizza Port. Cheers,

dmb

[warmstorage]

i'm back now after an absence (which some may have enjoyed :p), and which included several days in San Diego. have to say that of the three places i visited in SD, only one seemed to be particularly "family friendly", that being:

Karl Strauss (went to the downtown location on Columbia Street):
beer was good to very good. a seasonal on called Black's Beach was particularly tasty (they called it a "dark brown"). also solid was the oatmeal stout: roasty and chocolat-y, sweet, but with a hint of metallic on the finish.
their "signature beer", the Karl Strauss Amber Lager, was good and had surprising depth despite my predilection for big beers. some hop character present, finished pleasantly without that corn-fed taste so many American lagers suffer from.
also good was the red, and the IPA.
service was a strong point: almost frighteningly friendly, but sincere. bartender served my table (between the lunch and dinner hours), and was very, very helpful about arranging the 5oz. sampler set to my specifications (darker, stronger, bigger), [sidenote: he warned me off of the Vienna, so i didn't taste it.]
food is upscale-y, but very, very tasty.
overall opinion: i'd go back (in fact, i did, two days later.)

San Diego Brewing Co.: agree with the other poster: the barleywine was good, and sweet, but young. it felt underhopped, and a little rushed. it was what i'd call the 'sweet barleywine' style (syrup-y, and tangy without being harsh & raw like, say, Bigfoot), and for that style, it was good. (though i prefer harsh and raw, in a good way: Bigfoot, Hog Heaven, etc.) also agree the IPA was a little thin, though it had a nice hop body as it warmed up. porter was fine, but just fine -- thin, a little boring.
also agree with the other poster: the guest taps list was huge, and nice.
food was pubby and greasy, but i enjoyed the beer cheese soup in the sourdough bowl.
service sucked in a huge way: the kid was pissed that we sat there (hey -- it's seat yourself, so it's not our fault he wanted to get off shift). he was rushed and irritated, with all of the tables we saw him wait. we saw him practically running out to his car when he was done. hope he had a hot date or something. tipped the worst i'm willing to short of having things thrown at me (10%).
i seem to remember the beer being slightly better last time i had it (1996), but the place feels about the same: pub hangout, way too many TV sets, and so probably less family-friendly than Karl STrauss, at least on the thursday night i was there.
i'd go back, but probably only if i went out for a Padres game. and i wouldn't sit in the jerk's section.

Callahan's Pub & Brewery is way the hell out in the middle of nowhere, displaying once again california's love affair with the car and the freeway: it's located roughly between Interstate-805 and Joshua Tree, in an entirely forgettable suburban streetfront mall anchored by a Target.
the service was pleasant, but some of the servers a little vague and distracted (in fairness: it was the first night of the invasion.)
the Old Thornton barleywine was good, of the sweet style mentioned above. got carded for it, which remains a pleasure, but wasn't too surprising: the place was full of frat boys who might've passed for 19 if they had pulled up their pants, and 20 if they could get beyond Abecrombie & Fitch as the definition of fashion. perhaps Wing Night was a particularly bad night for us:
both my friend and i are vegetarian, and the menu sucked for us: we ate all fried food, a dangerous row to hoe on a night of drinking big beers.
their house IPA was mediocre, and not just in a big-beer-bias sense: it was thin in a weak, sad way. really more of an under-hopped EPA, with apologies to the Brits who do that style so well.
the guest beer list was great, and after the poor house IPA, i very much enjoyed an AleSmith IPA: it's an American style IPA full of robust hops, with citrus spiciness throughout. lovely. too bad AleSmith is only a brewery, though i will definitely go for the tour and taps at some point.
i won't soon return to Callahan's, though: too damn much driving for the bawdy atmosphere, party-house food, and relatively mediocre house brews.

with love and greetings,
warmstorage

[batkins]

Anyone in or going to be in the San Diego area? I'd love to sample some Alesmith. Anyone interested in a swap by mail? I'm in Portland, Oregon. I have access to tons of great NW beer. Maybe we could work out a trade of 2-4 magnums?
Thanks,
Bill Atkins
;)

[fidcastro]

Anyone heard of a place called Taylor's?

I heard it might be a good place. Any input?

[hopjack13]

no, but i here o'brians is the spot, as well as the s.d. brewing co.
they have alpine ipa there that i hear is very good.
i'd have to second pizza port as well, although i've never been, i have heard nothing but good things about it.

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

FYI Pizza Port Carlsbad is having their strong ale fest on Dec 5-6th Fri/Sat. It is well worth it. Haven't been to the San Clemente one. Anyone??

[hopjack13]

no i haven't either....they just opened that one right?
hopefully i'll make it to the strong ale fest

[hopjack13]

oh hey i finally made it to lucky baldwins!!! that place is firkin awsome!!

[jsmurphy]

I agree, hopjack.

They are having a Lagunitas Brewing Co. event on Nov 22 starting at 2:00pm.
First beer is 5.00, get's you souvenir glass, then 3.00 refills.

I'm going there today, I go almost every Thurs. for a pint .

[hopjack13]

im going to los alamitos (sp?) 1/4 horses on thurs...uh no beer though........

[hopjack13]

oh ...what's the name of that beer they serve at l.b.'s that has a point at the bottom of the glass and a special wooden coster? it's some kind of bock i think.....?

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

I believe the beer you're asking about is Kwak. It's served in a spherical bottom glass in a wooden holder. I was told it was so your hand won't affect the temperature of the beer. It's entertaining to drink it especially as it gets to the bottom. As for the 22nd, Lagunitas, you betcha.

[hopjack13]

kwak....doesn't ring a bell.......hmmm?
this glass had a point on the bottom (i had one at L.B.s)
and a wooden coster that was about 3 1/2 " square , and about 1" high whith a groove cut in the center for the glass, you could only set the glass in the coaster , if you tried to set it any where else it wouldn't stand up...i thought it was GREAT! in theory if you glued the coaster down where you were sitting you could never loose you Beer! unless you dropped and broke it, but you couldn't set it down anywhere else really. i want some for my house!!

well im off to see the ponies!!! one day i'll have to meet cha at L.B's and we can toss back a few!

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

May you pick winners. Yeah, I don't think it was Kwak but it sure has the same concept. Sounds like some kinda Belgian though. Only they would think to drink like that. Then again the Germans ...

[hopjack13]

well no winners.....oh well thats what i get for gambling.
i almost had and exacta box....lost by a nose!!!! i was soo hurt, $1 box would've won me $380, my horse to win did, my horse to place did, and my horse to show came in forth by a nose!!!! they had to photo finish and it took them forever it seemed like, i wanted to cry when they posted the results..:(

did you make it to lucky baldwins? we missed you the 16th...the owner gave us a huge $70 bottle of corsendonk just for showing up!!

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

I thought I had responded 3 days ago but obviously not. Again, sorry about your horsies. As for L.B.'s and Lagunitas, you betcha. Oh, and Dave, the owner of L.B.'s is a great guy. Very friendly and I'm just glad he enjoys good beer.

[hopjack13]

me and fid were going to get together and have a drinking session over at lucky baldwins, goathill maybe,perhaps B.j.'s in brea? im trying to get a couple more people on this board to show up. namely you and JSMurphy (the only others from SoCal) whacha think?

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

Sounds fine by me. Given enough warning I'm pretty sure I can travel. Don't have much planned for the holidays. Will be gone Dec 17 - 22 and this Fri/Sat. Otherwise not anything on the calendar. Of course there's Nov 22nd and Dec 6th. I believe it can be done.

[jsmurphy]

I was at Lucky's yesterday and David says he'll also be having a Christmas Beer event sometime in Dec. No firm date yet. And of course the Belgian fest in Feb. I can't believe I'm going to be out of town on the 22nd. That's the second event I'll have missed there.

I'd been meaning to ask him about getting a website so we all know what's going on and he says one of his employees in working on one, but he didn't sound like it would be any time soon.

[hopjack13]

how about dec 6th? could work for everyone?
L.H.H.H.Brown , your located in Socal right?

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

Dec. 6th is the strong ale fest. If that's where you wanna meet, I was going to be there anyway. I go with an old friend of mine and we get there at approx 12 p.m. and hang until 5/6p.m. That's long enough drinking 10%+ beers. We usually sit near the fence/storage shed playing dominoes. If you thought about arriving or staying later, that's fine with me. Of course this only works if you were refering to that on the 6th. Oh, and yes. I am located in Culver City. Inland from Venice ( southeast of Santa Monica ). Also, JS, I have been wishing that Dave (Lucky's ) would have a website so I could find out about his events sooner. If I knew how to set one up and lived closer....... Would love it if he had an Xmas beer event.

[hopjack13]

great, the sixth at lucky baldwins, i'll be there (with my beautiful wife) , and i sent fidcastro and jsmurphy a pm about it too.

[jsmurphy]

Unless I'm mistaken, LHHH Brown is referring to the Strong Ale Fest at Pizza Port in Carlsbad on the 6th. My local HB shop is organizing an Amtrak trip down there, but I may have to work that weekend anyway. :(

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

Unfortunately I was refering to Pizza Port. I had a feeling there was a miscommunication somewhere. I would love to go to Lucky's but just not on the 6th. Can't miss my big beers. Any other dates?

[hopjack13]

lucky 13 ? my favorite
dec. 13th ? okay ? or we could wait till after the 1st of the year?
im pretty much open to anything...i have no life ...he he he :rolleyes: maybe when the kids get older i can have one again...

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

13th? As of right now, got nada going on. Sounds o.k. to me. I'll inform the general and make sure it's all right. Just had the Double Bastard on tap last night. Deeelicious. Oh, and JS, what HB shop would that be?? I live right next to the Culver City one, maybe they are forming a road trip also. I usually drive. Like a dummy.

[hopjack13]

i had two double bastards last night an two yulesmiths both excellent . my wife is not much of a hophead, she'll drink hoppy beers, she likes hoppy beers, but will usually opt for a porter or stout if givin a choice. but she loved this years yulesmith! as did i.
isn't nov a wonderful month!!!

[jsmurphy]

LHHH Brown. I'm referring to the Home Beer Wine & Cheese shop in Woodland Hills. The brew club is putting a trip together.

I'll keep the 13th open also.

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

Woodland hills... would you have happened to have been present at the BJ's appreciation night on Nov 6th? The Belgian strong ales? Is that connected to the Maltese Facons? Many questions and more... hope you don't mind, I'm just curious. The 13th sounds fine. Enjoy Veterans Day.

[jsmurphy]

Yes, the Maltose Falcons is the shop club. I'm not a member, but heard about the trip when I was in last week. I didn't make it to the Nov. 6th event.