Tony Forder
So, you’ve heard they have some pretty good beers in San Diego. You have no idea.
Beginning with our first stop after leaving the airport — Ballast Point Brewing — we were awash in a sea of high-quality, high-test brews, which left us gasping for air at such an elevated beer altitude.
From the “You are not Worthy” brews of Stone, to the beautifully balanced brews of Ballast Point, the inspired bottlings at Green Flash, the almost venerable AleSmith, and the barrel-aged inspirations of Tomme Arthur at the new Port Brewing Co., I would venture to say that San Diego County is the current trailblazer in American beer country.
Even the pizza places have outrageous beer — the multiple locations of Pizza Port and Oggi’s, for example.
The most popular style? Double IPA, without a doubt. After sampling the super smooth Dorado at Ballast Point (winner of the first two gold medals at the Double IPA Fest in Hayward, CA), we stopped by local watering hole, O’Brien’s. There were at least five Double IPAs on tap. The great thing about O’Brien’s, run by local beer maven Tom Nickel is that you can order a 4-by-4 ounce sampler, the ideal way to sample these high-gravity brews.
A visit to Peter Zien and Co. at Alesmith capped our arrival day. His crew kept our noses to the grindstone, cracking open a case of 2004 Speedway Stout, which jolted us to attention. Horny Devil, golden Belgian and Yulesmith, imperial red, were duly checked, and backed up with the solid ESB Anvil Ale.
If the beer air had been rarified, it became darn well ethereal at the 10th Annual Strong Ale Festival held at Pizza Port, Carlsbad, Dec. 8-9; the boundary between flesh and spirit blurred amid the 64-plus brews that ranged from 8% to 14% in strength.
Thirty or so of the brews came from San Diego County. Of the remainder, half came from other parts of California, and half from six other states and three other countries, including Maudite from Quebec; a 10% barley wine from Cocapa Brewing in Mexicali, Mexico, and an exceedingly rare 2001 keg of Samichlaus from the Eggenberger Brewery in Austria. The East Coast was represented by Ichor Quad from Sly Fox and Storm King Imperial Stout from Victory.
Each beer seemed to be amazing on its own; the cumulative crescendo meant some time in the padded cell, by which I mean the VIP area — the brewhouse lined with comfortable couches.
Standouts that were not flushed from memory by the sheer strength of the big beer current included the instant pick-me-up, knock-me-down, Da Grind Buzz, an imperial version of Kona Brewing’s coffee stout (Hawaii); a whiskey barrel-aged Bigfoot from Sierra Nevada (California) and a Wild Turkey-aged Double IPA from Bear Republic (California). The locals presented a variety of Belgian styles, Imperial Stouts, Barleywines and Double IPAs, including 10th anniversary editions from Stone and Coronado.
In honor of the beer brewed for the fifth annual fest, Port Brewing presented a barrel-aged version of Older Viscosity, weighing in at 12.1%. Pizza Port Carlsbad, the fest’s host brewery laid on Night Rider Imperial Stout and Revelations, a Belgian-style Golden Ale. In all, 10 types of Double IPAs were on tap, including cask-conditioned Dorado; seven Imperial Stouts; and seven Barleywines, as well as a Wheat Wine from Karl Strauss.
Samples were poured at four ounces, or less if desired. With tasting running seven hours — 4-11 p.m. (VIP at 1 p.m.) on Friday and 12 hours Saturday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m., it was possible to pace oneself, take breaks for eating and other more mundane tasks.
Our tour group was stationed within easy reach of the fest at the Best Western Ocean View — they weren’t kidding about the view, great from the balcony. The weather held up its end at a sunny 68-70 degrees.
Our tour day, Saturday, saw us headed down Route 78 stopping first at Green Flash and Oggi’s Pizza in nearby Vista. Brewer Chuck Silva welcomed us at Green Flash with West Coast IPA, really a definitive example of the style. Ruby Red and Nut Brown led the way to Barleywine and Trippel and, of course the requisite Imperial IPA.
Solid nutrition was taken on board at Oggi’s Pizza washed down with their solid brew lineup before heading to San Marcos, where we found, installed in the old Stone brewery, the new, but already strangely mystical Port Brewing with its Lost Abbey labels — you can almost hear the beer aging in the barrels.
We tried Tomme Arthur’s latest opii, the Lost and Found, Amazing Grace, and the dangerously powerful Angels Share. The latter takes its name from whisky lore — the angels’ share being the part of the batch that is lost through evaporation from the barrel.
In this case, it seemed the barrels kept plenty for themselves.
The final destination, the piece de resistance, was San Diego County’s newest jewel, the Stone Brewing Co.’s $12M brewery and World Bistro and Gardens where we had dinner.
The bistro is impressive, with indoor and outdoor seating and an acre of sunken gardens strewn with boulders and stones of varying sizes.
President Greg Koch said our group would be christening the upstairs party space. The bar features all the regular Stone’s, special releases such as Vertical Epic Ale, Imperial Russian Stout and OAKED Arrogant Bastard, as well as selections from other San Diego breweries. We munched on items on the Bistro’s adventurous (and pricey) menu and eventually limped back to Carlsbad and a nightcap at the fest.
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