Hess Brewing (San Diego) discussion

Wait, what? I haven't been reading the Alpine thread, can we get cliffnotes?

 

Of the many times I have been to Hess, Mike Hess has never poured me a beer. For a startup with 2 - 3 people, that's weird. The blonde dude ( another Mike? ) literally was Hess to me. Always there, always busting ass, always helpful. There would be 40 people trying to get beer, he would be slinging them out - while Mike Hess was shooting the shit outside. Just odd behavior for a startup brewery. Ever see Peter Z. in Alesmith? Most helpful, courteous, awesome dude there is.

 

I always thought the blonde dude was co-owner or something.

 

Same - that sort of dedication is usually only seen in someone with a piece of the action.

 

Went to Hess once and wasn't very impressed with the beer, or the place. With all the other options around, it'll be a while before I'm back. Best of luck to them, but I just need to see more.

 

I'm confused by the popularity of Hess.

 

I went a few times when they just started and liked the beer. The most recent time I had 3 purrowlers filled and they all sucked. Previously, those same 3 beers were good.

 

Ditto. I don't think they're bad, but they're also in the same neighborhood as Alesmith. I can't see why you wouldn't just go straight to Alesmith...

 

Ditto. It always surprises me when there are those "I'm coming to San Diego, where should I go?" threads and people suggest Hess. I wonder if those people misread the question as "Can you name every brewery in San Diego?"

 

The answer to the question is Alpine. =)

 

I can only speak for myself, but I recomend Hess over others to a visitor because they might like to try beer from a brewery that you can only get there. Other breweries, like Stone, Green Flash, Ballast Point, Port/Lost Abbey, Karl Strauss, & a number of others, Cornando, Iron First, even their closest neighbor, Alesmith, and a few others, ALL bottle & ALL distribute, some of them quite far. With that said, it's possible in many cases someone traveling to SD has already had, or has access to a lot of beers from those breweries already, but will not have had anything from Hess, and once they leave, beyond trading for a growler, won't be trying them again anytime soon.

In the case of Hess, this isn't the case & frankly being as small as it is compared to the others, they could use the sales a bit more so then the others if it's going to grow.

I tend to agree with the Alpine suggestions, they are amazing and don't get very much at all outside of SD. Also suggesting to a traveler any of the breweries I mentioned are still great breweries, not knocking any of them.

As for the change at Hess, that's unforunate, don't know what happened either. He is a great guy, wish him well.

 

I feel like more people went to Hess for "Scooby" or whatever his nickname was than the actual beer, which was ok at best, nothing mind-blowing or anything I would want to drink again.

Only went once but that guy was awesome and someone fucked up hard by letting him go.

 

Whats wrong with hess? the cream ale and rye stout are both solid beers! Seems that people either hate hess or love hess. I always try to stop by hess if i am going to be in the area. They seriously need to start sending kegs out or bottling.

 

Hess is pretty standout for me...better than most of the offerings from Ballast Point and Iron Fist in my book. Love their Ex Umbris(Rye Stout), Amplus (SDPA), and Brunus Induresco (Coffee Porter). Always had friendly service when I have been there (even stayed open late 30 minutes when I brought some co-workers by).

 

I liked Hess' beers when I went last during NHC this year.

They're a small operation and I dont mind helping out the little guy, underdog, or whatever you want to call it. I would recommend them on a visit to SD as well.

I try not to find every flaw possible when drinking beer, because i can find a bad/weak beer at every brewery. Instead I focus on whats good and what I liked. Giving blanket generalized statements of "I don't get why people like them" or "Their beer sucks" is simple-minded and callous.

Are there some beers better than others? Sure, but that can be said for every brewery and is certainly conditional to ones own palate and preferences.

 

Which guy was it?

 

Every time I visited Hess or saw them out and about I always was served by this guy.


Picture source: http://hessbrewing.com/about.html