Weekend beer thoughts. Brother came out for a quick weekend visit. Wife booked us a beer tour Fri. Driver was friendly and pretty knowledgeable about the top level beer scene here. We hit in order; Mikkeller, Gravity Heights, Green Flash. Gravity was very surprising they had solid beer, great food and and a pretty killer space in general. I think Mikkeller is pretty underrated, I know they get a little pricey but outside of the experimental hop IPA I've enjoyed everything I've tried from them. I even took home a can of shake your stack which was a collab with Great Notion which was exceptional. Though at $8/ can for a non-BA Stout not something I would buy a lot of. Green Flash was a stop we did.
KS Carlsbad for dinner and Mosaic is still my favorite SD beer! Following day he and I hit PP Bressi for lunch, then Lost Abbey, Belching beaver 980. Bressi had a pretty full board but nothing really stood out this visit. Lost Abbey was EMPTY at 1pm Saturday, the whole time we were there maybe 10 other people came through. But beer was phenomenal. Beaver was much busier but not packed by any means. American made denim was a good IPA!
Hit Alesmith before going to Padres game that night. They had a really solid board and tasting great, also a pretty well packed tasting room. Padres game was a fun time. Beer options are nuts but I went with my usual chasing Citra. IMO food options are most improved over the last couple of seasons.
TL;DR
We continue to be extremely lucky here but there is definitely a consolidation on the horizon and I remain hopeful that my friends and preferred breweries are positioned to sustain themselves through it.