San Diego: The Land of Sun, Surf and Suds

Famed guest Bloggers, Mark and Brenda report on the ever expanding craft beer scene in San Diego:

San Diego... land of sun and surf, palm trees and excellent IPAs. We planned a February trip from Portland in pursuit of some vitamin D, sand between our toes and crafts brews. Little did we know we would weather the worst storm in the last 10 years.

Luckily, we had a beer adventure to take our minds off the weather. After fortifying ourselves with fish tacos (South Beach Bar and Grille in Ocean Beach boasts the best and was recommended by Mr. and Mrs. EyeLuvBeer), we headed to our first brewery: Modern Times. Nestled among strip clubs and industrial buildings, there is no sign for this Brewery, just Google map's reassurance it is here somewhere. When we entered into the spacious brewery, we were pleasantly surprised by the amazing decor...a bar built out of old hardback books, a mural "painted' with sticky notes, and a wall mosaic of comic book pages all warmly illuminated. The friendly greeting we received was followed by a taster tray of excellent beers - those of note being the "Hoppy Tropical Wheat" which would be perfect for a HOT day with its lightness and citrusy hops and the "Black House Coffee Roast Stout" which is brewed from coffee roasted onsite and has a tag line "taste the OCD". Brunch anyone? We finished with a special pour of Monsters Park Imperial Stout. Boozy yet smooth at 10% ABV. We inquired about buying their beer as we eyed towers of empty cans in the brewery, but they were sold out! No "Blazing World Hoppy Dark Amber" for us to warm those rainy San Diego nights.

Alas, it was time to move on. We selected Acoustic Brewing, located in the shadows of the long defunct Mission Brewery. Acoustic has a cigar room,

Stone Brewing Visit

I finally made it to one of the brewery mother ships, Stone Brewing. Over the years I've heard tons of wonderful things about their facility and grounds. While I didn't participate in a brewery tour, I did experience, the experience. Stone is big and beautiful. Okay, so the outside of the building is unassuming; very corporate-office-like. This appears to be the norm in California. It must have something to do with their zoning regulations. We also didn't see a sign indicating that we had in fact arrived at Stone. It was Saturday, so the giant ‘Xerox’ looking building with all the cars in the parking lot, plus the beacon on our Google Maps phone app indicated that we had landed.

Once inside, it was a different world. You began experiencing the transition right after leaving the parking area. A beautiful corridor made up of stone walls and vegetation guided you to the main entrance. We passed over the threshold and into a large foyer area. From there you could see a great deal; the gift shop, the brew area, the bar/restaurant and a portion of the outside grounds. A gift shop is basically a gift shop, but the rest of the place was beautiful. The materials used in the interior construction gave the brewery a very earthy feel. It brought to mind the works of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Green Flash Brewing Quickie!

We're down in San Diego on a 4 day stay mini-vacation. It’s my first extended visit to the area. Of course, we're going to squeeze in a few beer places. Yesterday we did just that. We stopped at Green Flash Brewing to see what they had to offer. Since I'm on vacation, I’m going to cheat and use pictures instead of a bunch text to convey the experience. My words would probably just bore you anyway, right. Besides, everyone loves pictures! Enjoy!

Green Flash HQ in business park setting.