Visiting San Diego - Summer 2014

Whoops, it appears I'm late to the party. Anyways, anybody going to San Diego, go to Monkeypaw. I'm their unofficial L.A. booster.

 

I duly admit that it's personal preference (isn't everything). It's probably that novelty played a part in me choosing each of the breweries in consecutive years--trying out a new place, you build it up: sometimes that can elevate the personal experience in your own mind, other times is can punctuate disappointment, in the latter scenario for not living up to expectations.

In the case of RC, I very much enjoyed their Lupulin and Red Flag, and maybe time has faded the memory, but I at least equally dug SA's DIPA and the small batch IPA, the week before last. There was no luxury for a same-day comparison for me, as I'm not from the area and they weren't geographically close enough for me to get to both of them in the same trip--RC wasn't close to the others on my hit list this time around, so it was a decision made easier by default.

Sorry for the belated reply; I'm traveling for work. Cheers.

 

Just want to comment about a recent beer trip me and a couple buddies did:

Did a 2.5 day trip (flew in Friday night around dinner, flew out Sunday night around 9) and stayed in the Gaslamp. Chose this because it was close the airport, we could walk to places after we were done with going to breweries, and to find good places to watch the games on sunday (we were there opening weekend)

We rented a car, which we ONLY needed and ONLY used to get to alpine. Begs the is it worth it question - and even though they didnt have nelson that day, yes it was still worth it. If you are not going to alpine YOU DO NOT NEED A CAR. If going with a couple people just Uber around and split the cost. Easier than having to deal with a car and who is sober enough to drive etc. Sans our trip to Alpine, an Uber to all the below places (including a trip back to Ballast the next day to get the car) was $75 split between 4 people. A car was $55 for the weekend + gas.

We went to Alpine ->Ballast (old grove) and left the car there over night -> Alesmith -> Green Flash -> Societe -> Toronado to round things out.

Alpine - previously discussed. only reason to have a car.
Ballast - great place, lots of tap only offerings I never had before from them, food truck on site which was clutch.
Alesmith - as stated by the OP really no atmosphere to speak of, but if you like speedway variations, stop by. If not, probably pass.
Green Flash - while most of the offerings they had on tap were ones I can get through distro, I enjoyed the atmosphere and the vibe here.
Societe - never had a single thing from here but heard good things. Wasnt a huge fan of belgians, and had better IPA's earier in the day at Alpine and Ballast (grapefruit sculpin!), but overall still cool to stop by and try out.
Toronado - much better atmosphere than the one in SF (personal opinion), taplist wasn't amazing but we spent a good $100+ on bottles to share. Only real good place to get sours in the area.

Overall had a great time and can't wait to go back.

TLDR - Drink Alpine or go to bed. If you go to bed, don't rent a car.

 

Is Grapefruit Sculpin still on tap at the BP Scripps location? I'm planning to head there on Friday.

 

No only in sixers and they don't let you drink it there.

 

Funny, just had the same experience this weekend @ The Bruery. A couple of solid sours/saisons (BeRazzled and Rue) though nothing to write home about (certainly not at the price), and the BA stuff mostly missed too (Smoking Wood may as well have been BBQ sauce to me.) And I say that having previously loved Sour in the Rye and Melange #3. I dunno, maybe it was an expectations issue, but I was pretty bummed at how unimpressive the experience was.

 

What exactly were you expecting?

 

To enjoy some of them as much as I enjoyed Melange/SitR

Maybe I had some sort of subconscious assumption that, at the price per bottle they're typically at, I might stand a better chance of finding something I really liked. It just didn't work, though. I'd take Cuvee Rene over Rueuze at almost half the price. Saison Rue was tasty enough, but I'd take Hennepin over it on price and value alike. Oude Tart was, again, nice enough, but not when Rodenbach (much less Grand Cru) is readily available and cheaper.

I also expected/hoped to enjoy a few of their core offerings, hoping for some possible repeat buys, but Humulus had a serious cat piss note, Loakal an oddly astringent finish.

Obviously, tons of folks dig their stuff, so I'm in the minority, but it just didn't click for me.

 

I'm gonna say that you ordered wrong if you had Smoking Wood. At least you got that experience out of the way with a taster though and now know not to buy a bottle.

 

Smoking Wood is one of my favorite Barrel Aged beers, so it really goes to show different strokes for different folks.

 

Just curious but were those the only two Bruery beers you've had prior to visiting there?

I'm probably in the minority too but I don't really dig many of their core offerings either. They do almost nothing for me. I love Hottenroth but I pretty much never buy any bottles of it.

What else did you try? I looked at the list from the Tasting Room this weekend and see Tart of Darkness (normal and with cacao and vanilla), SitR with boysenberry, Dad's Infidelity, etc. Granted, I'm an RS member so I'd get those along with the RS exclusive beers but that's looks like a pretty solid lineup of stuff to me.

 

Along with the Melange3/SitR, I'd had Tart of Darkness before (and enjoyed it, though not quite so much as something like Almanac's Bourbon Sour Porter), so I passed on that one. Tried to A La Mode (which was a fun novelty sort of thing), Couverteur (not a fan of dubbels already, and this gave me a weird peanut butter note. Not for me.), Autumn Maple (spices didn't work for me, created an almost metallic note), Atomic Kangarue (not bad, though not as bright as I prefer sour blondes), and Hottenroth as well (which I liked, save for the finish, which felt heavy-handed on the brett.)

I'm sure my sentiments are coming off harsh here -- there was stuff I certainly enjoyed. There just wasn't anything that knocked my socks off, nor anything that I would consider buying a bottle of.

 

Fair enough. I don't think you're coming off as harsh.

There's pretty much always at least one thing that knocks my socks off when I go there. Not all of those things are available in bottles or even growler fills but I also go there about once a month so maybe I'm not expecting there to be a ton of crazy stuff when I go.

 

Looks like this got thread jacked, so ill say my peace about the Bruery and hopefully we can get back to San Diego.

As i said earlier, I must of ordered wrong because not only did most not do it for me - some were just straight up gross.
The ones I had were:

• Humulus Lager - good enough, but IPLs are becoming a dime a dozen, nothing groundbreaking.
• Berazzled - probably my favorite I had - tasted like cascade, but like cascade - very one dimensional.
• Hottenroth - a very good berliner.
  
• Oude Tart with Plums - This was straight up disgusting. Ive had plum sours, flanders reds, etc... this was awful.
• Tart of Darkness with Cacao and Vanilla - All I got was cheap vanilla extract. Way off.
• BBA Bois - Not good.
  
• Rueuze - an ok beer, but not what i would consider a good gueuze. no funk, just tart.

Almost all the beers I had were super astringent.
The Bruery is the perfect example of people buying anything just because it is expensive has adjuncts and aged in a barrel. Seemed like little thought went into making these beers. I understand that Orange County isn't exactly beervana, but i much more enjoyed my time at Bottle Logic.

Edit: I realize that shitting on the Bruery is not a new thing, and getting my jimmys rustled by the Bruery is a right of passage if anything. I really did go into it having high expectations. I am usually very easy to please with beer - I drink almost anything.

 

Yeah, felt bad about the thread jack. Moral of the story: more than enough good beer to drink in San Diego.

 

• Humulus - well, that may be the case but I think it was one of the first ones so it was groundbreaking at the time
• Berazzled - I don't particularly care for it either. One of my least favorite fruited sours from them
• Hottenroth - I'd say it's more of a good berliner rather than very good (but one of the easier ones to acquire)
• Oude Tart w/ Plums - I didn't really care for it but didn't have the same violent reaction as you. Definitely paled in comparison side by side to Oude Tart w/ Cherries (or regular OT) though
• ToD w/ Vanilla & Cherries - Can't say I disagree. Only getting 1 bottle from this allocation
• Bois - Not a huge fan of Bois either. Though I did like Fruet more after a year in the bottle so maybe Bois has gotten better too
• Rueuze - I agree but I think it gets better with time. When I had 2014 and 2013 side by side a couple of months ago I thought 2013 was remarkably better

So I guess I don't entirely disagree with you. Just have a slightly different perspective on them. Did they have any Sour in the Rye variants or Melange #1 on while you were there? Melange #1 is like a better version of Tart of Darkness and Sour in the Rye is probably their best base for other sours.

EDIT: I mean 2012 vs. 2013 Rueuze. Haven't had 2014 yet

 

They didnt have any SitR which would have been a must try for me. I don't recall Melange being on either. I don't doubt they make some great beers (evidenced by the ridiculous Hoarders and PS/RS threads on this site. I mean holy shit, people trying to top each other in how much they spend just to be invited to pay 700 dollars for a hoarders membership. I don't get it.)

I still maintain that they lack the thoughtfulness that other breweries have when barrel aging and adding adjuncts. I am guessing the philosophy is somewhere in the realm of lets do this beer in as many barrels with as many different adjuncts - One is bound to be turn out good.

Again not denying the make good beers, but I'm still kind of scratching my head as to how they go about it and the craze that surrounds becoming a society member.

 

I will be in SD end of October. Want to set up a tour, tasting and dinner for about 15 peeps. Ideally not too far away from Marina District/ Convention Center. Perfect world a place that might have a private room we could eat and drink in after our tour with some good chow. Any ideas?!!!Thanks

 

Where are you planning on touring?