Our Big Beer Shake-Down -> San Diego’s Best Breweries, Beers & Pubs
I don’t think we’ve ever undertaken a task as big as this one. At the beginning of our month in San Diego our goal was to try and find the best brews in the city, and I can’t really say we succeeded. It’s not for lack of trying mind you, but rather for the sheer overwhelming size of the task involved.
Early in 2015 San Diego hit it’s 100’th brewing location. That’s 100 separate brewing areas just within San Diego County itself! Putting this into simple mathematics, assuming ~5 different beers per brew location (that’s on the low-side, but hey) and a mini 4 oz tasting of each that means one person would have to taste 16 beers each day (= 66 oz or around 4 pints) for a month just to get through it all. It’s do-able, but it’s a stretch and would likely stretch the waistline quite nicely too.
As you can imagine we didn’t manage nearly all of them, but we did get through around 25 and I can honestly say that San Diego has some of the best craft beer I have ever tasted.
This is the place that good brewers come to experiment. They flock here like fermented grains to hops, and once they’ve gotten a bit of experience under their belts they branch out and form their own creations. It’s become so crazy that the local scene has evolved from craft breweries to micro-breweries to (get this) nano-breweries. The stuff here is incredible and the market has gotten so big it’s estimated that it now generates a $600 million local impact. As a bonus for the visitor a lot of the breweries are dog-friendly and every single one offers inexpensive tastings (around $1-$2 for 4oz is typical).
There is NO WAY I could present all of this in one blog post, but I’m going to try and break it out into our top picks by category. Here you go….
Best Darn Breweries
It’s hard to chose a favorite, especially since Paul and I have such different tastes (he likes IPA’s, I like stouts) so we chose our top breweries by the ones that provided, in our opinion, the best all-around quality of beer of all types.
AleSmith – To say I was blown away by the stout at AleSmith is not an understatement. Their Speedway Stouts of which they make a basic version as well as a few specialty options (e.g. Vietnamese Coffee, Kona etc.) are simply amazing. Deep, intense, full stouts with lots of well-balanced flavor. They also make some excellent Belgium Ales (the Horny Devil is wonderful) and a really, really nice Pale Ale (San Diego 394). Bonus points -> it’s entirely dog-friendly.
Belching Beaver – I was initially attracted to Belching Beaver by their super-interesting Horchata Milk Stout which I managed to snag a taste of at a pub in town, and I have to admit just about everything we tried here was good. They specialize in unusual flavor combinations including honey notes (in their Me So Honey), very hoppy IPA’s (the Dammed) and peanut butter stouts (the special Imperial version is their best IMHO). Super dog-friendly spot too.
Green Flash – Green Flash is one of the weirder locations you’ll find in the city and from the outside looks more like a flashy office building than anything else, but step in and you’ll enter a lovely, airy brewery with (even) a nice little dog-friendly outdoor seating area. They’ve grown over the years, but I’m happy to say their quality has stayed top notch. They have an outstanding list of IPA’s and interesting stouts (especially their chili stouts) and almost everything we tried we liked.
Pizza Port – There are several Pizza Ports around San Diego and they’re a bit of a local institution. Not only are their pizza’s inexpensive & awesome, but their beer is too and each Pizza Port offers their own specialty brews. Our absolute favorite was the Ocean Beach location which offered one of the creamiest & smoothest stouts I’ve ever tasted (Suavecito on Nitro) as well as two fabulous IPAs (Penthouse Double and Jetty). Their outdoor patio area is always crowded, but always dog-friendly.
Societe – Societe was actually the first brewery we tried in the city and we were immediately hooked, especially by their selection of IPA’s. Our absolute favorite which both of us enjoyed (even me) was their big Miser IPA. It’s big (10%) and they only manage to get the mix perfect in limited batches so it often sells out in days. Lovely, airy place to have a few beers and tastings are cheap at only $1 each. Bonus Points -> outdoor area is dog-friendly.
Thorne Street – Thorne Street was a total surprise and one we’d never heard of before, but it absolutely rates in our top breweries in the city. A super-intimate place (100% dog-friendly to boot) that offers a selection of excellent quality beers. We were particularly impressed by their Imperial Stout, Dobbebock and Belgian Quad. As a bonus an excellent Thai food truck showed up outside the brewery at ~6pm and they deliver inside.
Special Mention – Modern Times makes crazy-intense coffee stouts and has a super-cool industrial decor. Their stouts didn’t make my super-duper top list (although I really liked their Oatmeal on Nitro), but it’s worth the visit here just for the decor. We also enjoyed several Mother Earth beers which we tried at other pubs, but sadly never made it to the actual brewery. Next time!
Best Darn Beers
Even harder to rate than the best breweries are our favorite individual beers, but these are the one’s that stood out for both of us:
Nina’s Favorite Stouts ->
Top Pick -> Alesmith Speedway Stout, all versions WOW!!
Most Interesting -> Belching Beaver Horchata Milk Stout & Belching Beaver Imperial Peanut Butter Stout (special 8th anniversary edition). Both are ridiculously tasty!
Creamiest/Smoothest -> Pizza Port Suavecito (Nitro). sooooo smoooothe!
Special mentions go to Stone Russian Imperial Stout (2014), Thorn Street Dark Tsar Russian Imperial Stout, Modern Times Oatmeal Stout & Mother Earth Peanut Butter Stout.
Paul’s Favorite Beers ->
Pizza Port Penthouse (Double IPA). Unbelievably tasty.
Belching Beaver Damned (Double IPA). Such an interesting Mead flavor.
Societe Miser (Triple IPA). So strong, but so incredibly well balanced.
Green Flash Mosaic (Session IPA). Love those mosaic hops.
AleSmith San Diego 394 (Pale Ale). One of the best Pale Ale’s we’ve tasted.
Special Mentions go to Mother Earth Boo Koo IPA, Alpine Nelson (IPA), Thorn Street Abbey Roof (Belgian Quad)
Best Place To Drink With Doggie
One of the surprising things about San Diego are the number of breweries that allow dogs, many of them even inside the brewery itself! ALL of the “best darn breweries” mentioned in my top list above allow dogs (all of them). Another little gem we found was Amplified Aleworks in Mission Beach. This upstairs brew pub offers a small, but good brew list, a good slice of ocean view, tasty food and a really inviting, comfy atmosphere. We went here twice.
Best Place To Drink With An Ocean View
Probably the best ocean view beer pub we found was Draft in Mission Beach. Very nice beer list (69 on tap with lots of local options) with excellent views and it doesn’t hurt that it’s biking distance from our RV park. The bartenders are very knowledgeable and food is good too (but pricey). No dogs though.
Another neat “sand watching” spot is Wonderland Ocean Pub in Ocean Beach. It sits on the second floor overlooking the beach and has a very decent beer list (30 on tap). This is also bike-able for those motivated enough to do so. Combine a beer sunset with a burger from Hodad’s and the Wed night farmer’s market just down the road for a whole experience. No dogs.
Best Place To Sample Multiple Brews
For pure beer sampling it’s hard to go wrong with the combo of (literally) next-door pubs SD Tap Room & Barrel Republic in Pacific Beach. Between the two spots you can sample ~100 different beers, many of which are local.
SD Tap Room is a bustling downtown pub that’s always busy. They update their beer list regularly and have unique options on tap that you sometimes can’t find anywhere else. Food is so-so, but beer list is awesome. I also love their online live barrel watch which allows you to see exactly what’s on tap and how close it is to running out. No dogs.
Barrel Republic is a self-serve techno-pub which is worth visiting just for the experience. You exchange your credit card for an electronic arm band which allows you to activate & pour as little or as much as you want of all 46 beers on tap. Super cool! Beers are constantly rotating and include a slew of interesting local brews. You can stumble here from SD Tap Room. No dogs.
Special Mention -> OB Noodle House in Ocean Beach is an excellent place to pick a brew and eat some good food at very reasonable prices. Their Pho is especially tasty and during Happy Hour (3-6PM) their beers are 1/2 off. Another well-known San Diego favorite is Blind Lady Ale House although we didn’t make it there this time around.
Those That Didn’t Get A Mention
You might be surprised that Stone, Coronado Brewing Company and Karl Strauss didn’t get mentioned in our lists. Although we enjoyed individual beers at each place we actually found their brews to be less interesting (overall) than the others we’ve tried. Stone & Karl Strauss are both good places to go for a sit-down beer/food combo, but they are bigger breweries and their brew quality has just been outpaced by the others in the city IMHO. You can’t go wrong tasting there, but you’ll definitely want to try some of the smaller places too.
Tools To Get Around
Here are the best tools we found for getting the low-down on the San Diego brew market:
- West Coaster Magazine – A magazine dedicated to San Diego brewing. You can pick it up around town orsee an interactive map here. The best part of the magazine are the fabulous brewery maps in the back. Click HERE.
- TapHunter – Free App for searching beer, breweries, tap lists. It’s not always 100% accurate (check the “update date” to see how recent a given beer list is), but it’s pretty darn awesome. If you find a beer you like you can put it on your “watch list” too and get notified everytime it turns up in your area. Click HERE.
Friends Disclosure
You’ll be relieved to know that no friends were harmed in the making of this blog post, but many participated both furry and otherwise. Beer hugs & doggie kisses go to Lu&Terry (who came down to visit for a day), Hector,Brenda&Angel (who were constant companions), Todd,Russ&Frances (who encouraged the quest daily), Carmen (who contributed admirably) and Gayle&Jim (who sneaked into our last few days).
Did we miss your favorite? What say ye, beer drinkers….?
Did you try any of Amplified Ale’s gluten-reduced offerings? I still doubt my allergy would tolerate it, but it is a cool concept how they reduce the gluten.
Here in Michigan, today is ‘Oberon Day’ at Kalamazoo’s Bell’s Brewery. They officialy release this tasty offering for summer on the first Monday of Spring each year. Release parties are being held all over the state. Lots of happy over here!
Great post as usual, Nina!
Jim (and Diana)
Actually we did not. We went all out gluten this month (and I’m definitely feeling some effects), but I did notice multiple Brewers were offering gluten-free options. I’m not sure of the ppm levels in these offerings, so it would depend entirely on how sensitive you are. We’ve drunk OMission beer in the past and really enjoyed it.
Nina
Wow, great report! My mouth was watering just hearing about those stouts. We always carry a growler in our car “just in case of an emergency”, but we might need another one or two when we get to SD. I’m hoping most of those places will fill growlers for folks? Thanks for the excellent information!
~Steve
We were at Karl Strauss Brewerey a couple of weeks ago and were told they only fill their own growlers and most others do the same. The waiter said Calif is trying to legislate a change in this.
The law states that a brewery must not fill growlers with misleading labels…i.e. a growler with someone else’s name on it. Some breweries will fill unlabeled growlers, growlers with the name completely covered with tape, or growlers with no name on them to which they may add a paste on label. The law kind of makes sense and any establishment that sells alcohol is very picky about following ABC regulations.
This limited law is only in CA, unfortunately. In Oregon, for example they have no problem filling anyone’s growler as long as it’s a standard size (which makes perfect sense to me).
I posted this link below, but will post it again here. It’s a user-maintained list of where you can get a growler refill in CA:
http://californiagrowlerfills.com
Nina
If it’s a blank growler many of the breweries will fill it, but it depends on the individual brewery. If it has a logo on it, make sure the logo is covered or masked.
Here’s a good list of where you can get a fill in CA:
http://californiagrowlerfills.com
Its all user-submitted data, so don’t rely 100% on it but it’s pretty recent so I think most of the data is good.
Another link specifically for San Diego. This is dated Dec 2014 so also quite recent:
http://www.thebrewproject.com/san-diego-blank-growler-fills/
And yes, there is CA legislation going on this but my understanding is that it’s not been finalized yet.
Nina
Great write up Nina. It is a tough job doing San Diego beer reviews, but someone’s got to do it! After living in SD for nearly 30 years and spending several months there each year, I have seen the beer craziness of San Diego. There shear number of breweries and brewpub options is overwhelming. You could have a full time job doing beer reviews and analysis. My go to daily favorite that you can find on store shelves is the Stone Go To IPA. We really liked the Stone Brewery tour in Escondido and the Brewery Gardens in Point Loma. They did a great job with the ambience. We used to live about 3 blocks from the Thorn St brewery. I will have to beef up our beer budget for our return to San Diego in November. But to tell you the truth… the beer scene in SD is almost overwhelming as there are so many places to choose from. I liked the beer scene in Bend Oregon a little better as it was easily doable in a month and the beers were of top notch quality. Thanks again for another great blog post.
Your analysis is spot on. It’s certainly overwhelming and it would be tough to stay ontop of all the new breweries here. The article I read said that the number of breweries has tripled in the last 3-4 years! I do like the gardens in the northern Karl Strauss location. Very pretty.
Nina
Agreed the number of breweries is overwhelming. We hit Bend last year. I have to say that the stout choices in San Diego have been remarkably better than what we had in Bend.
Jim
You two always take on the most stressful, difficult, unattractive tasks. From the best boondocking places to the best lighthouses to see and now the Best Breweries, Beers & Pubs! We feel so sorry for you two to have to take on such boring tasks….hehe
We are so sorry we aren’t going to be in SD any time soon. We would take your Big Shake Down tour guide along. Good job.
It’s been a tough sacrifice, but someone had to do it LOL. We just weighed ourselves this AM for the first time this month. It’s not as bad as I expected considering our task, but we will need to do a little detox 🙂
Nina
Wife and I will be making west coast trip from central Texas either this year, late summer, or next year. Now I can see I will have to expand our times in San Diego and Bend, Oregon. Thanks for the suds report.
Both places have amazing beer! In fact Bend is the only other place I’ve been where I’ve found comparable quality of brews. If you’re a beer lover you’ll want to dedicate a good portion of your time in each city.
Nina
Can’t wait to go to San Diego next winter
You are going to LOVE it! Expect lots of biking and beer-drinking.
Nina
Yum! A great review of so many tasty options – love that so many are dog-friendly. Weird that the ones on the beach aren’t, unless the beach isn’t either (at that spot). Those self-serve taps look dangerous – like ATMs at the casino :-)))))
The best beach-view dog-friendly spot that we found was Amplified Aleworks in Mission Beach. It’s not quite as “wide” a beach view as the two other places I listed, but it’s still lovely.
I think the beach-front ones limit dogs simply because they’re already so popular.
And yes those self-serve taps are dangerous. Each tap has an electronic screen which keeps track of how much you’ve poured (and gives you a summary of your total each time you pour), but it’s surprising how fast it racks up LOL.
Nina
Great report, which has us planning a week in San Diego after leaving Indio next winter, before heading back North.
It’s brilliant with the selection of small breweries available. Did any of them have any “Real Ale” or “Cask Conditioned Ale” where the carbonation is provided by secondary fermentation in the cask, and the beer isn’t filtered/pasturised. The publican actually hand pulls the pint to serve or places the glass below the cask and serves by gravity. It is really growing in UK and we are just starting to see a few in Metro Vancouver.
Yes! We definitely tried some of those types although I neglected to write notes. I remember only because our server specifically mentioned the cask conditioning. Karl Strauss was the place we tasted it. I believe the Tap Room might also have had one during their recent beer festival.
Nina
We will work hard at taking up where you left off!
I was about to say…we pass the baton to you. May the hops be with you 🙂
Nina
Nina, your palate is freakishly similar to Joel’s! I think you two might be related! 🙂 we also enjoyed Pizza Port–forgot to tell you about them. As if you can’t find great beer on your own…
We’re happy to read about your trip to Beer Heaven. Hope you bought some bottles, especially of Alesmith. They may be hard to find in your travels. One day our paths will cross and we’ll break out some treasures and have a tasting party! Likely a couple of years down the road, as we plan to stay east of the Mississippi for a while.
Gail and Joel
Definitely! In fact we’re stocking up on bottles (specifically the Alesmith and the Belching Beaver Horchata) before we leave.
Nina
Nice work, Nina! As a SD local, I see a few locations on your list that I haven’t tried yet. I’ve been planning to hit the road FT in October, but you’ve just added to my to-do list soooo … maybe I’ll shoot for a November launch. Glad you got to enjoy great weather while you were in town. Susan
It’s been wonderful here and YES there are definitely many good spots we missed. We’ll be coming back this Dec though so we can hit them then. Any particular “gems” you would like to recommend?
Nina
Panama 66 has been our go-to for the past couple weeks (http://panama66.blogspot.com/).
Good beverage variety and good food, great location (where the not-so-great cafe between the SD Museum of Art and Sculpture Garden used to be), and we can walk from the house (and theoretically back home …). I didn’t check out the dog friendliness but will next time. Heading to NTC for a walk this afternoon and Stone Brewing Bistro after … funny thing how all of our walks end in beer!
AWESOME! A place that was not even on my radar! Thanks for listing it!
Nina
I have lived in San Diego for years and have witnessed the development of many of these fine micro breweries. Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t see Ballast Point included on your list.Their Sculpin is one of the best IPAS around, and they have several other fine beers which they serve up with their excellent food at their Little Italy location.
Yes, sadly we did NOT make it to Ballast Point, nor did we make it to Hess. Both were on our list and although we’re familiar with some of their beers I would have loved to visit the brewery itself. Next time!
Nina
I am once again, happy to be following in your footsteps! I will soon be right behind you, ready for you to pass the baton, or the Stout Stein, as it were! 😉
Drink well, report thoroughly. I expect great things of you!
Nina
What a great write up. I have to say, after living in San Diego for four years until last summer, you have introduced us to a long list of new breweries to discover next time we are back in town. I hear what you are saying about the “big” guys such as Stone & Karl Strauss but we do enjoy the variety of brews at Ballast Point. They do a great job of mixing things up with interesting twists on regular beers. Have you tried my personal favorite…their Habanero Sculpin IPA?
Argh….no, we did not make it to Ballast Point. Clearly we’ve missed a good one! I really like that they make a chili infusion. That seems to be a new trend and I actually really enjoy the taste, especially in stouts (Green Flash had several interesting chili options when we went). Next time we’ll definitely make it to Ballast Point.
Nina
Now that you have replenished your epidermis and stocked the basement full of fantastic brew, how about a mech-roundup. Have all the repairs and tech-Beast stuff been polished off?
Not quite…in fact that’s another funny story. I’ll have to save it for the next post.
Nina
Overland Journal’s “Gear” issue is out.
http://www.overlandjournal.com/journal/current_issue/
Sounds like a daunting task (haha) but glad to see you were up to the task. We always enjoy doggie friendly places.
When my wife and I started traveling widely around the US twenty-five years ago, small breweries were just starting to really take off. Now small breweries, micro-breweries, nano-breweries(what?)are found almost anywhere. We spent 20 yrs looking them up (as well as wineries) and have found great beers everywhere(no so with the wines, but we have many favorites). IPA’s are favorites for both of us. Keep up the good work!
By the way, how many did you sample at one time. I’ve read that taste testing more than 2 or 3 at one sitting can skew the results. Personally, after 3 full glass (12 oz)taste testing I didn’t care about the results!
My biggest tasting was 9 stouts in one sitting. I did small quantities of each, but I admit it was a little hard to discern the differences after a while LOL.
Nina
Anybody making a bock or double-bock style down there in the land of good beer? My favorite style of beer, but very hard to find here on the West Coast.
Yes! The doppelbock from Thorne Street actually made Paul’s top beer list. It was awesome.
Nina
Wow, Nina, you’ve out-done yourself! Impressive writeup indeed. You really know how to make us all want to hit the road for San Diego next winter. LOL! This was a lot of fun to read as I’m a beer person too. My favorites are the IPAs as well, but I do try others sometimes as well.
Two things I really noticed were the paid sampler glasses that are commonly available there. I wish that were more widely available here, both for,convenience and for the benefit of being able to sample more options within a reasonable limit.
And the credit/debit card for access to the self serve set of taps is something I’ve never, ever even heard of before. What a great and innovative way to do business in such a setting.
I’d love to see these available in my area but maybe there are state regulations preventing it too. Which would be typical here I guess.
Thanks for a great fun post, and stay outa trouble with all your “research” into these posts! 😉
The self-pour concept at Barrel Republic is indeed super cool. There’s a nifty electronic display above each tap that keeps track of everything you’ve poured. Just drink as you like and total up at the end. Awesome!
Nina
I love your blog already. I just found it this morning by following a link from RVSue and her Canine Crew.
It will take me weeks and weeks to to peruse your whole blog. I really like how you’ve set up your blog too. I blog on Blogspot and its quite different over there. I’ve started a travel blog here on WordPress and Im having such a hard time with a theme. May I ask what theme you are using? I really like the flow and ease to get around and how organized the posts are.
I’m excited to get back to your posts and awesome Blog!
Thanks,
Really Rainey
I use the Platform Theme. It’s an older theme and not really supported anymore so I’m not sure it’s a great choice for the long term, but I do like the layout & flexibility it gives me.
Nina
Love this post. Microbrewer have been popping up everywhere in Vancouver and they are a great way to spend an afternoon. I will save this post if we every get out that way to try some of those local beers. Enjoy!
I’m loving the growth of micro-brewing in general. The quality and variety of beer is just so much more interesting, plus I love supporting local businesses.
Nina
Bravo! Just be carefull with the DUI law… it’s a reality wake-up signal.
Most of our tastings were biking distance from our park, so we biked to the majority. Of course there’s a BUI (Biking Under The Influence) ticket too. We managed to avoid that one…:)
Nina
Looks like we have some drinking to do. Since I love my dark beer like you Nina, I now have a nice long list that I need to start checking off. Great post!
And thank you for being a part of the experiment, if only for a day. It was a treat to see you both!
Nina
Great post! I do envy your tour and lifestyle and can’t think of much better than touring the West Coast sampling the regional brews. I live in York in the UK which the BBC featured as one of the best Real Ale cities in Britain. We have some great beers and pubs so if you ever get your RV across the Atlantic get in touch and I will take you on a pub crawl! Cheers, great blog.
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