Revisit #2

This is the second entry in a series of revisits, trying to rehash breweries visited and beers sampled.  Our second San Diego beer outing was a tour and tasting on 25 April 2009 at Alesmith Brewing Company (http://alesmith.com/).

David, Natalie, Me, Sarah, Sean, Sara

I had previously sampled Nautical Nut Brown and Speedway Stout, but was looking forward to sampling some of their other beers.  Alesmith generally does tours only on the last Saturday of the month and reservations are strongly recommended.  We had made reservations a few weeks prior and a group of six of us went.  The tour was given by Peter Zien, a former attorney/homebrewer turned craftbrewer, who owns the brewery.  For $5, we went on a 45-minute tour, had some samples, and got to keep a pint glass.

Most tours are the same, beer, or rather, good beer, is made from four ingredients:  barley, hops, water, and yeast.  What set apart the Alesmith tour from others, was the passion and enthusiasm which the tour was given.  The excitement was contagious; after the tour, our friend Sara, who does not like beer, wanted to start homebrewing!!!  All six of us really blown away by the tour.  After the tour, comes the best part, the tasting.  Here's what we sampled at Alesmith:
           Lil Devil--Gold color, fluffy white head of foam with good head retention.  Clean malt flavors with a hint of tangy hop tones.  Belgian candi sugar, coriander, and orange peel add a twist, along with the Trappist yeast strain.  Refreshing, quenching, and easy to drink.  5.5%.
           Nautical Nut Brown--Rich chocolate malt flavors create complexity and drinkability in this classic English-style Nut Brown ale.  Although dark in color, Nautical Nut Brown ale is an extremely easy drinking, relatively low alcohol beer.  5.0% 
           Wee Heavy--Deep mahogany color with nice tan head.  Rich, toasty, malty aroma and flavor with a faint touch of smokiness.  A tinge of hops provides the perfect balance to the maltiness.  Full-bodied, smooth and warming.  10.0%.
           Old Numbskull--Aroma starts with toasty, caramel notes and a pleasant hop character.  Color is deep amber, with tan head and impressive 'Brussels Lace' that clings to the sides of the glass.  11.0%
           X--This refreshing Extra Pale Ale is pale yellow in color, with a bright white head.  An aroma of fresh hops with notes of citrus and pine.  Light bodied, smooth on the palate, with a dry finish and superb aftertaste.  5.5%. .
           Anvil ESB--Bright copper color with light tan head.  Malty slightly hoppy aroma.  Caramel and malty flavors with a perfect balance of imported English hops.  5.5% 
           IPA--Medium straw color, pale tan head.  Rich malty aroma with a HUGE dose of hops.  Medium-full body with sweet malty flavors and a delicious abundance of aromatic and bittering hops.  7.25%.

Sean, Sara, Chris, Sarah, Natalie, and David

Revisit #1

This is the first entry in a series of revisits, trying to rehash breweries visited and beers sampled.  While I have always enjoyed good beer and sampling the local craft scene wherever I was living or visiting, it was not until living in San Diego that I started to keep track of what breweries I visited and the beers that I drank.  The first true record of this occurred with my birthday festivities on 7 March 2009.  A group of friends and I decided to celebrate by visiting a few breweries in North County San Diego.  While obviously this was a year and a half ago, I will do my best to remember my thoughts of the day.

We started our day at Oceanside Ale Works (http://www.oceansidealeworks.com/).  I remember liking most of the beers, but not really being blown away one way or another.  Here's a list of what we sampled:  

           Buccaneer Blonde--A balanced light-bodied ale with small amounts of honey add to this ale's lager-like character 4.2%

           Big Ru--Scottish Wee Heavy 11.1%

           760 Imperial Stout--Imperial Stout 12.76%

           Pier View Pale Ale--Light aroma, malty then balanced by hops and a clean finish 5.7%

           American Strong Ale--Intense hop flavor from six different American hop varieties, backed up with a malty base 9.2% 

           NCC IPA--IPA

           Oaked American Strong Ale--The American Strong Ale aged 3 months in American Oak 12%

           Harbor Hefeweizen--German Hefeweizen 5%

           Strong Blonde--(mix of American Strong Ale and Buccaneer Blonde) Belgian Strong Ale 7.5%

David, Sean, Sara and I at OAW.

Sean, David, and I at OAW.

From OAW, we headed to Green Flash Brewing Company (http://www.greenflashbrew.com/index.php).  Green Flash was my first true exposure to the hops craze that is prevalent in San Diego.  As I had not quite developed a love for extreme hops, I remember generally being unimpressed with the beers.   I have since acquired the taste for hops and would like to revisit Green Flash.  One of the highlights of the tour had to be the level of intoxication of our tour guide.  She was drunk enough to be slurring her words as she read of a sheet of info pertaining to the brewery and tour.  At Green Flash, here's what we sampled, a collection of their West Coast Style Ales and Belgian Inspired Ales:

            West Coast IPA--This West Coast-style India Pale Ale is extravagantly hopped, full flavored, medium bodied and copper colored.  A menagerie of hops is combined throughout the brewing process to impart specific characteristics.  Hops used include Simcoe for a unique fruitiness and grapefruit zest, Columbus for strong hop pungency, Centennial for pine and citrus notes, and Cascade for floral aroma.  7%

            Hop Head Red--Resinous hop character and bitterness balance the rich carmel malt base.  We took it a step further and Amarillo dry-hopped the brew to 45 ibu's, creating refreshing and savory hop flavors and aromas.  Is it a red IPA?  That's your call.  6.4%

            Imperial I.P.A.--San Diego-style IPA, as it has come to be known by many, is super-hoppy, high gravity, yet highly quaff able ale.  Our Imperial IPA is created in this new tradition with intense hop flavors and aromas from a unique blend of Summit and Nugget hops.  It's all about the hops!  9.4%

            Double Stout--Golden naked oats mashed with dark crystal and robust roasted malts create a luscious black brew with satin smooth finish.  Layering UK Target hops throughout the boil adds pleasant, earthy complexity while higher fermentation temperatures enhance overall flavor with fruity esters.  An old-world style, done the Green Flash way.  Big, bold, flavorful and complex.  8.8%

            Barleywine Style Ale--Our American-style Barleywine undergoes a three hour boil to intensify the caramel malts and the enormous Pacific Northwest hop charge.  The result is rich, estery brew with toffee notes and citrus hop flavors layered throughout.  Enjoy this brew fresh today or lay it down for aging to see how the flavors of each vintage evolve.  10.9%

            Le Freak--This Belgian-style IPA is an "out of the box" convergence of beer styles where American Imperial IPA meets Belgian Trippel.  The end result is a zesty brew with enticing American hop and Belgian yeast aromatics that lead you to delicious malts and a complex layering of hop flavors that quench and refresh your pallet.  9.2%

            Trippel Belgian Style Ale--Rich pale malt flavors provide a solid base for zesty Styrian Golding and Czech Saaz hopping.  Trappist ale yeast contributes the fruity, spicy profile of classic, monk-brewed, Belgian ales.  Our Trippel is luscious, fiery, golden brew, and a contemporary rendition of traditional Belgian Trippel.  9.7%            

            Grand Cru--Our Belgian Style Dark Ale is inspired by traditional Abbey Ales to deliver the richest of malt flavors but with a slightly elevated hopping and increased complexity given from two different yeast strains.  This malt laden ale is designed to satiate and keep your taste buds dancing.  9.1%

            30th Street Pale Ale--Our 6th Anniversary Ale pays homage to the local craft beer movement on 30th Street, in the North Park area of San Diego.  A balance American Pale Ale that is well hopped, but not overly bitter.  6%

Sean, David and I at Green Flash

Our last stop took us to Port Brewing Company (http://www.portbrewing.com/).  Port Brewing Company is the American style side of Port Brewing/Lost Abbey.  We focused our tasting on Port Brewing Company.  By this time we all had quite the buzz and in the bathroom, some of us decided to use the shower stall instead of the toilet.  The tasting room was quite crowded and we only managed to sample four beers:

           Dawn Patrol Dark--The beer is brewed from a blend of 6 malts including Crisp Crystal and Chocolate malts.  It is lightly hopped with Challenger and East Kent Golding hops.  We use a proprietary strain of ale yeast and ferment at a cooler temperature than our other beers.  4.2% 

           Shark Attack --This is a classic West Coast-style imperial red ale brewed with medium crystal malts, Centennial and Cascade hops.  The color is a burnt amber with red highlights and the aroma has a spicy hop presence with moderate caramel malt accents.  The taste is a smooth, malty one with a balanced hoppy finish that includes hints of sweet caramel.  9.5%

           Wipeout IPA--With 78 IBUs.  Our version of a West Coast IPA-brewed in the San Diego style.  This massively hoppy beer gets its flavor and attitude from no less than five hop varieties including Amarillo, Centennial, Cascade, Simcoe, and Summit  7%

            Hop 15--First brewed in 2002 to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the original Pizza Port location in Solana Beach, we searched high and low and combined 15 of our favorite hops which were added every 15 minutes to the boil.  Somewhat darker than other Double IPA style beers, our beer oozes the hop goodness of pine needles, freshly squeezed citrus and ground spices which are only moderately tempered by a sweet malt finish.  Thankfully, for all of us hopheads, we have decided to brew this beer more than once a year.  Look for Hop 15 to make appearances from time to time when space permits us to brew this, one of favorite ales.  9.7%

David, Me, and Sean quite toasted at Port Brewing.

Sara and Sarah