Scripps Ranch (map)

Linda Vista (map)

I’ve been wanting to try Mission’s offerings for quite sometime now and I hear they are bottling and distributing regularly.  But when I saw this post on the SD Brewers Guild site about Mission releasing a special collaboration IIPA I was super stoked.  Here’s the word from our friends over at SDBG:

“This is a special release of the Armada Imperial IPA, which is a collaboration brew that was created by Mission Brewery and Dean Rouleau of San Diego Brewing Co.  It is a Double IPA at 9.25% alcohol with big hops, big malt, and is deceptively smooth.  Only 20 kegs were produced, so visit one of the locations listed to try it.  Also, on Friday the 13th you can meet the brewers (Dean Rouleau, Brian Scott, and Geoff Killen) and taste Armada on tap at San Diego Brewing Co.  Cheers!”

Location: Pizza Port, Toronado, Hamiltons, Newport Pizza, O’Briens, The Ritual, Blind Lady, Stone, Neighborhood Bar, San Diego Brewing Company, and the Brewers Guild Fest starting November 6th

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 read the blog and gathered that our allegiance to local brews was solid and wondered if we ever/would ever venture out of San Diego and maybe try something different.  So I said, “what do you have in mind?”  He told me of this brewery up in Quebec that brewed some of that best strong ales around and hinted at a few of his favorites and well me being me, I head to the local bottle shop, forgetting Mike’s list, and I’m greeted with a four Unibroue beers.

Now the art on these labels is intense, there’s what looks like Noah’s Arc on one, a creepy castle on another and some other indescribable thing on another.   Now, without my list, I’m a bit lost and almost ready to head back to the locals area and pick up some tried and true SD favorites but I don’t.  Instead I grab for the Don De Dieu, partly because there’s a picture of Noah’s Ark and partly because I didn’t know what I was doing.

On to the review….

This pour goes into a tulip glass and immediately I am disappointed.  The head is sad and quickly disappears but the color is so pretty, almost like liquid gold and the smell begins to open up as I swirl the glass just under my nose.  Fruit, clove, maybe some nutmeg, it’s all coming out now and I can’t hold back any longer.  The first drink…..

My thoughts, as the first swig makes its way down are, “This beer is SO FREAKING GOOD!”  I’m ecstatic, I want my wife to try it and tell me she doesn’t see God because I do.  She says it’s surprisingly good and takes another before I swipe it away.  Delicious pear, clove and holiday spice in a tingle-y light, bubbly 9% brew it’s amazing and finishes my day, like everyday should, perfect.

Go get some!

Style:  Belgian Strong Pale Ale

ABV: 9%

Find it at BevMo! or HWC

Photo Credit:

Just got wind that the Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido received a shipment of some of Alpine Brewing’s favorites.

Arguably the best single IPA out there, Duet, will be in limited quantities alongside one of my top 5 IIPAs, Pure Hoppiness and other Alpine fav’s, Alpine Ale and Willy.

So get out there…

Holiday Wine Cellar (map)

Alpine Brewing (site)

Thanks to Jordan from HWC for the heads-up.

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 never really intended to be consumed. But that’s just me, maybe my experience with these holiday themed beers is that they are over the top experimental brews that are to be soon forgotten, and they usually are.

Perusing the aisles of my local beer stop, I’ve got two in the hole (Avery’s Anniversary Ale and a Dorado IIPA) and I’m in search of that experimental beer and there it is, my nemesis, Shipyard Brewing’s Smashed Pumpkin. Right away I notice the jack-o-lantern staring me in the eyes but I see it as too cliche, too obvious. Of course we’re talking about seasonal beers and it’s October and we’re dealing with a pumpkin beer but…oh never mind I give up.

I grab the beer and oh, what is this? A flashy gold foil wrapper wrapped around the cap. Now I’m exited because anyone who adds a touch of class like this must have a great deal of pride invested. Now I’m exited, truly waiting to experience what is beyond the gold wrapper and scary pumpkin label.

Smashed Pumpkin pours a deep, burnt orange almost copper pint with almost no head. Disappointing at the least but i remain hopeful so I continue. Nose is immediate pumpkin, nutmeg and some other pumpkin pie-like spices. I’m digging the nose and ready to dive in. First sip is er…interesting, familiar but not. I’m wondering if I like this, it’s better than I imagined but it’s not living up to its “gold wrapper” status. I’ll continue to drink and see if it grows on me.

About 15 oz in and I realize that this is no longer good, not disappointing, just not good enough to finish further proving my point about these types of beers. I will admit the 9% ABV was a nice touch and was well hidden at the expense of the spices. Overall I wasn’t disappointed rather intrigued and wanting to disprove my theory of novelty beers.

Shipyard did a great job but maybe just not my cup of tea…at least for now.

Coronado Brewing Co. Hoppy Daze

“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 IPA put out by our friends over at Coronado Brewing as a seasonal brew. This beer pours dark gold, a bit hazy with a bright white head. Aroma’s fire off of mango, apricot and a bit of pine, it’s almost as if you were walking through an orchard of fruit and pine trees. The taste is what I would hope from combining the two styles, great fruit notes and a nice hop punch, the best of both worlds.

I’m enjoying this beer while watching the Sunday football games, what more could you ask for?

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 food and beer couplings as they are common amongst most.

My wife, Vanessa, took care of the food while I hit the always accommodating BevMo! in Mira Mesa.  I knew that I wanted a Double IPA, as I had recently (silently) professed that this was indeed my favorite style of beer, but Port’s Hop-15 wasn’t even on the list of brews to choose (rhyming was unintentional.  Ok, maybe it was).  Some how it slipped into my hands and here I am, about to complement this steak with something I’ve never tried.

BOOM!  It’s just like the label pictured, little hop bombs being dropped from bombers to explode on my taste buds.  Over and over again this bombardment was relentless and it was getting suprisingly better.  Hop-15 is intense right out of the bottle with a pour that is beautifully copper in color, zero clarity and topped with an egg shell head.  Instant aromas of hops, orange and grapefruit rush out of the glass like a love spell coaxing me to indulge in this forbidden spirit.  And I did.  I was instantly met with a punch of hops, quickly followed by strong grapefruits and hints of orange and apple, all very lovely.  At first I though, “Maybe Port over did it a bit with the hops” but as the dinner went on and that brew got a bit warmer things rapidly changed.  More and more grapefruit bites mellowed by sweet malt and finished with a much appreciated alcohol flavor that rounded this brew out perfectly.

It’s amazing that I can enjoy a great evening with my wife while enjoying a delicious dinner and a fabulous local brew!

Bernie @ Ballast Point

Ballast Point is located 5 minutes from work so I find it hard not attend their weekly, Thursday cask offering.  On this day they had the ever popular Sculpin, extra hopped and hand-pumped, what more could you ask for.

Sculpin was full of flavors, mostly citruses like orange and grapefruit, and balanced with a bitterness that kept me begging for more.  The aroma was much the same and sent shivers through my spine before each sip.  I’m not kidding when I say that this beer gives me chills.

Everything about it is perfect!  But what makes enjoying beer perfect is doing it with great friends.

Thanks Bernie and Arnell!

I am so disappointed.

It’s not that I expect every beer to be perfect.  It’s not even that I expect every expensive beer to be perfect.  What I do expect is that if you brew, taste, and distribute a beer with a $30 price tag, it should be pretty damn good.  Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case with Angel’s Share.

My wife was kind enough to pick me up a bottle of this for Easter.  She went way out of her way to have a friend buy it for her and deliver it on the down-low so I’d be surprised.  It was a touching gesture, to be sure.  I decided I’d throw it in my cellar closet to let it age for a year before I tried it.

Imagine my surprise when I’m at BevMo the following week picking up supplies for a little get-together with friends and lo-and-behold, they are chock full of 2008 Angel’s Share.  I was delighted!  I could have a bottle to share with friends and one to age.

That night we crack the bottle after chilling it just a tad.  The nose on this beer was a little too reminiscent of Judgment Day, sweet and fruity in a raisin sort of way, but we still had high hopes. Initially the beer seemed flat so I really roughed up the pour and this thing just would not foam up.  Determined to power onward I let it breathe and warm up a bit before tasting it.

The taste is sour and the texture completely flat.  There is a mild hopiness to it, but not enough to salvage the rest.  This is just not a good beer.  We let it warm up a bit, thinking the alcohol would warm and bring out some different flavor: no dice.

Since drinking this beer and before writing this I looked around and found a lot of favorable reviews.  many of them mentioned the great head on this beer, which makes me think that Angel’s Share isn’t inherently bad, but there was just a bad batch.  This leads me back to my original point.  I’m still a huge fan of Lost Abbey.  They have some great beers (I’m looking at you, Devotion).  I am just sorely dissapointed that such a fine brewery would allow such a poor product to go to market.

There will be a special cask of Sculpin Thursday, April 16 at their Scripps location.  Special, meaning they’ll probably kick it up a bit with some added extra special hops (at least I hope).

22oz Sculpin & Tongue Buckler $7.99/ea