Fellow BAers, I'll be in San Diego this week flying in Monday and staying until Friday. I'll be staying at the Holiday Inn downtown San Diego by the convention center. If anyone can send me any tips on places to grab a beer/purchase beer it would be much appreciated. I'd also love to catch Pliny the Younger on tap if at all possible (I know that probably will not happen). I'll be happy to stuff some CCB brews in my luggage for anyone who can help. It seems like BMs are up and down with the merge. Here is my cell, please send me a text: 386 586-8178 Thanks! Tony
downtown johnny browns is a cool bar too. its in a super weird place, its in the civic center concourse but they have a lot of craft beer. neighborhood is a wonderful suggestion too and they have GREAT food unlikely you will find pliny but check the threads, ive been posting where ive been finding it and take a 7 dollar cab ride up to south park right outside downtown. you will find stone brewings tasting room/merch outpost there with bottles of the new collab that gets released monday and more importantly, hamiltons tavern!! you have to go there!! some other okay bars downtown that are craft beer centric are tipsy crow, knotty barrel, and now monkeypaw bar/brewery (16th and f, its the same owner as hamiltons 15 blocks away but i would recommend visiting both if you are trying to have a beercation and as far as a downtown bottle shop goes there is one on 7th and broadway called super jr market right next to a tattoo shop. inside is "the best damn beer shop" really great place for bottles!! and another super quick cabride or a walk to little italy you will find bottlecraft, tasting room and a bottleshop! super reasonably priced and a wonderful selection
I'll chime in as an outsider. Just spent 3 days in San Diego myself soaking in the beer culture. I stayed in the gaslamp quarter, and if I had to do it again, I'd pick a different neighborhood. Downtown Johnny Brown's and The Local were the only two spots downtown that held interest for me, and Basic pizza (smallish but decent tap list, and the pies are pretty good). The others were either standard stuff and/or the vibe wasn't my scene (though, I did not hit Monkeypaw--sounds like a good place). In general, the whole of gaslamp wasn't really my scene--way too hip for a beer drinker like me who just wants to hit a barstool and throw a few back in peace. Anywho, North Park was a good beer scene, with The Ritual, Toronado SD, and Urbn. I only hit Hamilton's and Whistle Stop (decent place to listen to live local music, but don't bother if no one is playing as the tap list is standard stuff.) in South Park, but that seemed like a cool beer scene as well. Next time, I'll find a hotel closer to either of those two neighborhoods. One of my favorite places was The Blind Lady in Normal Heights. Great tap list, relaxed vibe, cool building. Supposedly good pizza too, but I was just there for the beer. Oh, and then O'Brien's in the middle of I couldn't tell you where was a great bar and they did an impressive job getting folks through the lines during a Younger tapping. Hopefully, you'll have a car and a DD. Public transportation was surprisingly lacking in an otherwise great city. W/ a car, Alesmith and Sculpin are a good one-two punch (check the schedule for Alesmith, I think they are open Wed-Sat starting next week), then Greenflash--perhaps on a different day. My favorite brewery excursion by far was Alpine, though. I enjoyed Nelson and Exponentional Hoppiness more so than I enjoyed Elder and Younger. Seriously. Nelson was ridiculously tasty, in fact. Well worth the trip... and worth spending the night in the town of Alpine if you can swing it so you don't have to worry about the drive back. Have fun! Don't miss out on the SD speciiality Carne Asada Fries and/or California burritos. I'll vouch for Lolita's Taco Shop: holy crap were their carne asada fries phenomenal!
for Downtown my recommendations are: Neighborhood Monkey Tail Downtown Johnny Brown Mission Brewery (no guest taps, but still a fun stop) A lot of places have already tapped PtY, so it is getting more scarce. Do you have a car? Will you be able to travel? If so I second the opinion of going to North Park. If you want to go to a Pizza Port, the Ocean Beach location is the closest. In OB there is also Olive Tree Market, New Port Pizza, and Sessions Public (farm to table dinning).
As a SD native, and current university heights resident, add Small Bar to the list; Same owner as hamiltons, monkey paw, and bar eleven. El Zarape is right next door, so go there for the Cali burrito and .99 fish tacos. I'd also like to add Tiger!Tiger!, same owners as BLAH.
No bad mouth intended at all but I think you meant Ballast Point and not Sculpin. It seems to me you hit the PERFECT SD experience. Live music, South Park , North Park, and lots of Mexican food. Also Blind Lady is my favorite place to grab a beer in the whole city, but as you guessed you did miss out as the pizza (and next time order a side of bread) is outstanding. Glad you had a good time!
Dope! Good catch. Thanks! Mmmmm.... fresh Sculpin straight from the source. It made a big difference--if only they bottled with date codes.
