Reports from the trenches of the San Diego beer scene

Beer & Sandals

San Diego is home to some of the finest beers, breweries and brewmasters in the world.

We relish the opportunity to be your companions in navigating these glorious waters.

BOTW: Unibroue - Don De Dieu

Beer of the Week - Don De Dieu
This weeks BOTW goes to Canadian Brewery, Unibroue whose beers I’ve seen plenty of times but for some reason never gave a shot.  This time around I was tipped off by friend, co-worker, classmate and fellow beer-mate Mr. Mike Knize whose beer geekness I’ve only recently discovered.
Mike had [...]

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BOTW: Shipyard Brewing’s Smashed Pumpkin

So my usual weekend will consist of grabbing some beers, usually 2-3 IPAs and something daring. In this case, with it being the holidays, I decided to go with something more “in season”. Recalling years past I remember these novelty beers as just that, a novelty, limited batch, kept in a cupboard [...]

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BOTW: Coranodo Brewing’s Hoppy Daze

Coronado Brewing Co. Hoppy DazeTheir words [Coronado Brewing Company] not mine.
“Hoppy Daze is an unfiltered Belgian style IPA brewed with a unique blend of European grains, a variety of hops, and Belgian yeast to create an unforgettable taste down to its very bitter end. Gold Medal Winner 2007 L.A. County Fair.”
A Belgium [...]

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Dinner @ Chris’

T-bone steaks and Hop-15
So this is how I roll on a Wednesday evening.  After a hard days work and a kick-ass workout at the gym I think I deserve a little something special for dinner.  Today, it’s T-bone steaks with Port Brewing’s Hop-15.  While this is not a food site I’d like to share my [...]

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BOTW: Lost Abbey’s Avant Garde

“Avant-garde means “advance guard” or “vanguard”. The adjective form is used in English, to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics.
Avant-garde represents a pushing of the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm or the status quo, primarily in the [...]

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Head-to-Head: Ballast Point Big Eye IPA vs. Blue Frog Grog & Grill Big DIPA

This week we’re pitting a local favorite against an out-of-town challenger.  Blue Frog is a brewpub in Fairfield, north of San Francisco.  We’ll see how they’re double IPA fairs against the tried-and-true quality of Ballast Point’s offering after the jump.

Ballast Point Big Eye IPA
Nate: Drinking this beer is like visiting a friend’s [...]

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AleSmith ‘08 Decadence

I’m mad at AleSmith.  They are evil, conniving people.  AleSmith has gone off and created a beer that will most likely ruin me for beer for weeks to come.  I will not be able to drink a pint of anything without comparing it to said beer, and thus all others will fall short.
I had [...]

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BOTW: AleSmith’s X

Beer of the Week!
Beer of the Week:  AleSmith Brewing Company - AleSmith X
Serving Type: 22oz. Bottle
Price: $3.99
ABV 5.0%
Style: American Pale Ale (APA)
I recently had the pleasure of attending an AleSmith tasting, at the Holiday Wine Cellar In Escondido, and sampled many of the offerings of AleSmith including AleSmith X.  While this was not my favorite [...]

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BOTW: Lightning’s Black Lightning Porter

Beer of the Week!
Beer of the week is a feature we will be running, you guessed it, every week.  We will mostly feature local brews, but will occasionally mix in some others.
The first edition will cover Lightning’s Black Lightning Porter.

Beer of the Week:  Lightning Brewery - Black Lightning Porter
Serving Type: 22oz. Bottle
Price: $4.99
ABV 8.5%
Style: Baltic [...]

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Head-to-Head: Port’s Old Viscosity Dark Ale vs. Lost Abbey’s Judgment Day

We know this isn’t exactly an apples-to-apples comparison.  I don’t know how to categorize Old Viscosity, and apparently neither do they (from the label):
“We know you’ll come to love and appreciate everything about Old Viscosity even if we never tell you exactly what kind of beer it is”
However, we figured it would be fair to [...]

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