The San Diego area thread

[SDBeerInsider]

Took a rainy day trip Nickel City in Mira Mesa, found out that Barrel Harbor has a relatively new tasting room next door that operates jointly(?) with the adjoining gaming store (At Ease Gaming).... supposedly the BH owner and AE owner are longtime friends and both were looking to expand when the larger space between NickelCity and AtEase opened up. Lots of gaming tables and games available in the Tasting Room, which is pretty spacious and well lit..... you can't take beer into the At Ease Games store, but you can play games at BarrelHarbor (tables in the back and upstairs).

I think there are a handful of gamers in this thread, surprised I hadn't heard about this place earlier.

 

[nanobrew1]

Bomber

All I can say in defense of my poor choices...

No big deal, that just equals a $40 six pack. And i thought hazy ipa 4pk pricing was insane.

 

[evilc]

No big deal, that just equals a $40 six pack. And i thought hazy ipa 4pk pricing was insane.

I am both embarassed and embarassingly drunk.

 

[sdreaper]

I think there are a handful of gamers in this thread, surprised I hadn't heard about this place earlier.

I do believe it was discussed a bit. Issue is that their beer isn't really worth talking about and it seems that beer cannot be taken into At Ease, and games cannot be taken into Barrel harbor, basically not letting you cross that threshold between the 2 locations. I might be wrong about the games though, been a while since I was there. I tend to bring my own games and have set them up and played but usually just a small group.

 

[arren]

12. Yes, I agree with your predicted sentiment.


But God damn I love it.

Yeah, not driving 60 miles round-trip in the rain for IPA.

I always have to laugh at people on social media that say MT is the "most overhyped brewery" because they seem to get no hype outside of their fans.

They have plenty of fans, but for whatever reason, they also have some people that hate them to a ridiculous level. The amount of vitriol some of these clowns have towards MT, it's as if MT assaulted one of their loved ones. I get not liking a brewery, but their detractors seem to go out of their way to let it be known.

It's probably the marketing. It rubbed some people in this very thread 'back in the day'.

From what I know, Jacob burned quite a few bridges on his way out of Stone, so a good chunk of detractors are likely holding that against them.

Personally I disliked them because it initially seemed to be style over substance, but now I realize I was wrong. Modern Times is a stellar case study in actual good marketing in craft beer, and I now can't fault them for it.

 

[evilc]

Yeah, not driving 60 miles round-trip in the rain for IPA.




From what I know, Jacob burned quite a few bridges on his way out of Stone, so a good chunk of detractors are likely holding that against them.

Personally I disliked them because it initially seemed to be style over substance, but now I realize I was wrong. Modern Times is a stellar case study in actual good marketing in craft beer, and I now can't fault them for it.

Big mistake of mine not renewing this year. Last year was lackluster and mired with infections. Fool me once, shame on me?

 

[arren]

Eppig is legit. If you told me I could grab a crowler of ******* fantastic Zwickelbier from a former strip club, I would've looked at you funny, yet here we are. Very reasonable crowler prices too. I'm going to be making multiple trips here for sure.

 

[chemman141]

Eppig is legit. If you told me I could grab a crowler of ******* fantastic Zwickelbier from a former strip club, I would've looked at you funny, yet here we are. Very reasonable crowler prices too. I'm going to be making multiple trips here for sure.

Sounds like Ike they need a visit when I come down for FoF

 

[benbikes4beer]

Eppig is legit. If you told me I could grab a crowler of ******* fantastic Zwickelbier from a former strip club, I would've looked at you funny, yet here we are. Very reasonable crowler prices too. I'm going to be making multiple trips here for sure.

There are a few breweries around town like Eppig that are mere hatchlings now, that I really hope can do some big things. Or even if they don't and just gradually grow into their own...like say, New English (they're 10 this year?!) Would not be shocked if they made some noise this year at GABF given the hardware they already have taken down from LA and SD's recent comps. I know we have a million breweries here. Among all the "eh" to "decent" ones, there are a few that are seriously stellar in what they do. Eppig is making lagers truly sexy again.

 

[jwacky]

There are a few breweries around town like Eppig that are mere hatchlings now, that I really hope can do some big things. Or even if they don't and just gradually grow into their own...like say, New English (they're 10 this year?!) Would not be shocked if they made some noise this year at GABF given the hardware they already have taken down from LA and SD's recent comps. I know we have a million breweries here. Among all the "eh" to "decent" ones, there are a few that are seriously stellar in what they do. Eppig is making lagers truly sexy again.

I would be curious to hear which breweries you think are stellar at what they do. I've really only been in the beer game for a couple years, but there are a handful of places that I REALLY enjoy that nobody seems to talk about. New English is one, like you mentioned. I enjoy the diversity of offerings from Rip Current. I like the kettle sours from Groundswell and Bitter Brothers. Just to name a few of some of my smaller brewery favorites.

 

[rcubed1]

I would be curious to hear which breweries you think are stellar at what they do. I've really only been in the beer game for a couple years, but there are a handful of places that I REALLY enjoy that nobody seems to talk about. New English is one, like you mentioned. I enjoy the diversity of offerings from Rip Current. I like the kettle sours from Groundswell and Bitter Brothers. Just to name a few of some of my smaller brewery favorites.

Non-sexy breweries that are making great beer right now would be Belching Beaver, Benchmark, and Mother Earth. Backstreet would be on that list but their brewer started up Burgeon. I haven't been to Halfdoor yet but I've heard good things. Booze Brothers has been improving since we started meeting there for Barley Engineers. They are under going an expansion and I wouldn't be surprised if they jump up a level in the future. I haven't been to Duckfoot in a while so I don't know how they are doing but they seem to bring home some medals in competitions. Coronado cranks out some great beers that fly under the radar. Also on the re-visit list is Intergalactic for me.

 

[sdreaper]

Align (re)opened their doors this past friday. I need to make a stop by there and see if they are still brewing Wallaby Hunter, likely under a different name now.

 

[benbikes4beer]

Align (re)opened their doors this past friday. I need to make a stop by there and see if they are still brewing Wallaby Hunter, likely under a different name now.

These were the Pacific doods right?

 

[SerenityNow]

Align (re)opened their doors this past friday. I need to make a stop by there and see if they are still brewing Wallaby Hunter, likely under a different name now.

Same location?

 

[sdreaper]

These were the Pacific doods right?

Yes

Same location?

and yes.

Might go check it out this evening.

 

[rcubed1]

Battlemage opened this past weekend and Smoking Cannon in Ramona opens this Saturday.

 

[Tyrsis]

Friends -

I'm sure you're all aware of the shooting that took place in La Jolla. Some piece of garbage decided to shoot up a poolside BBQ and ended up killing an innocent mother of three. Turns out she is the daughter of one of my friends whom I've worked with for quite a while.

There's already a pretty successful GoFundMe going on, but we'd like to add to it a little bit if we can - so another co-worker has setup a Razzle. Please give a look, and donate if you can.

The following is reposted from a Facebook post on SD Beer Friends.

My friends and I tossed together some items we'll be razzling off using a random number generator LIVE on Facebook and we're hoping the beer community can come together and give what they can to help the family. There will be 2 packages total being given away as follows:

#1**Jam The Radar from BottleLogic + Week of Logic Swag
This includes:
-- 1x 500ml bottle of Jtr
-- 1x Jam The Radar Sticker
-- 2x Limited Stemless glasses
-- 4x Limited Enamel Pin set (this includes one only obtainable by attending all 5 days of logic)
-- 1x BottleLogic Lanyard

#2**San Diego Care Package
-- MT Devil's Teeth aged in Bourbon Barrels with Barrel-aged coffee (2016)
-- MT The Prometheus Effect (2017)
-- MT Empty Hat B1 (2016)
-- MT Glimmer Void B1 (2016)
-- Alesmith Wee Heavy (2015)

How to Enter:
-- Visit and donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/3q2xigo&rcid=111d6b0cf728429d85e87…
---- For every $10 donated you get 1 spot in the razzle!
---- Random drawing will take place on FB Live on 6pm PDT Friday, 5/12 (https://www.facebook.com/MarioFernandezJr)
-- Come back to this thread and post a screenshot of your email receipt. (this must show both your full name and the amount of your donation.)

Thank you everyone for your help and support!

 

[DougOLis]

Wizard Blend is just so stupidly drinkable, and the brandy barrel with fig / cocoa is like drinking chocolate. Also, the JK collab should be trading like ******* crazy, but no one seems to care. It's basically Atrial.

I opened a bottle of Wizard Blend recently and there was a tartness to it that I didn't remember previously. It wasn't undrinkable by any means (and was still pretty damn tasty) but I forget if it was always that way. Anyone else experienced that with Wizard Blend?

 

[rmaste6282]

I opened a bottle of Wizard Blend recently and there was a tartness to it that I didn't remember previously. It wasn't undrinkable by any means (and was still pretty damn tasty) but I forget if it was always that way. Anyone else experienced that with Wizard Blend?

pugsandsuds opened a bottle of Wizard Blend tonight and it was tasting great, no tartness. This bottle was likely stored at San Diego room temp.

 

[Tyrsis]

pugsandsuds opened a bottle of Wizard Blend tonight and it was tasting great, no tartness. This bottle was likely stored at San Diego room temp.

TFTI

 

[krislv]

Friends -

I'm sure you're all aware of the shooting that took place in La Jolla. Some piece of garbage decided to shoot up a poolside BBQ and ended up killing an innocent mother of three. Turns out she is the daughter of one of my friends whom I've worked with for quite a while.

There's already a pretty successful GoFundMe going on, but we'd like to add to it a little bit if we can - so another co-worker has setup a Razzle. Please give a look, and donate if you can.

The following is reposted from a Facebook post on SD Beer Friends.

The mom was a coworker of mine for a few years, sad, sad, ****.

 

[Tyrsis]

Friends -

I'm sure you're all aware of the shooting that took place in La Jolla. Some piece of garbage decided to shoot up a poolside BBQ and ended up killing an innocent mother of three. Turns out she is the daughter of one of my friends whom I've worked with for quite a while.

There's already a pretty successful GoFundMe going on, but we'd like to add to it a little bit if we can - so another co-worker has setup a Razzle. Please give a look, and donate if you can.

The following is reposted from a Facebook post on SD Beer Friends.

There's been a third prize added to the Razzle.

#3**Florida Love Package **Donated by the amazing Benjamin Fontaine O'Brien**
-- Apple Brandy Vanilla Marshall Zhukov,
-- Trademark Dispute Vanilla from Cycle
-- Dave's BA Barleywine from Angry Chair

If you're not in the group but would like to participate, just DM me.

 

[trio2shine1]

If anyone missed out on Full Pint tickets and is interested shoot me a message. Just looking to recover my cost.

 

[DougOLis]

pugsandsuds opened a bottle of Wizard Blend tonight and it was tasting great, no tartness. This bottle was likely stored at San Diego room temp.

Good to hear. My bottle was stored at 50-some degrees up until a couple of days before opening.

 

[blackzag05]

#TalkTemperature isn't as exciting as #TalkTraffic

 

[rcubed1]

#TalkCellarTemp isn't as exciting as #TalkTraffic

FTFY

 

[arren]

Friends -

I'm sure you're all aware of the shooting that took place in La Jolla. Some piece of garbage decided to shoot up a poolside BBQ and ended up killing an innocent mother of three. Turns out she is the daughter of one of my friends whom I've worked with for quite a while.

There's already a pretty successful GoFundMe going on, but we'd like to add to it a little bit if we can - so another co-worker has setup a Razzle. Please give a look, and donate if you can.

The following is reposted from a Facebook post on SD Beer Friends.

I'm going to straight up donate, don't need the razzles

 

[rcubed1]

I'm going to straight up donate, don't need the razzles

I feel old, I don't know what a razzle is.

 

[Tyrsis]

I feel old, I don't know what a razzle is.

It's a damn raffle. Don't ask me where the **** the word "razzle" came from...

 

[rrryanc]

I feel old, I don't know what a razzle is.

I believe it's an intentional misspelling of raffle, so that they don't get shut down for "gaming/gambling" on facebook.