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Imperial India Pale Ale (9.5% ABV)
Who needs a palate when there’s no need to taste another beer? All a hophead could ever want is in one 22-ounce bottle of this unapologetically assertive IBU* monster. Originally brewed to commemorate the second year anniversary of Hamilton’s Tavern in South Park, this ever-hopped, multi-layered double IPA has been a much...
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Belgian Tripel (9.5% ABV)
San Diego breweries produce more traditional and American takes on Belgian beer styles than most any region in the country. Even so, there aren’t too many local tripels. Crisp and high alcohol, this variety of ale is currently on the menu at The Beer Co., a brewpub in the heart of downtown (602...
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March 3: Anniversary & Local Beer Festival
SD Tap Room 1269 Garnet Avenue, Pacific Beach, 2 p.m.
It takes a heck of a bar to stand out in the most watering hole-saturated community in the county. Enter SD Tap Room. They opened a half decade ago and, not long after, earned the respect of the San Diego Brewers Guild for their efforts to bring fine beer to, PB, the reigning macrobrew capital of San Diego. Raise a toast to a half decade of their...
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The artwork devised for this year’s Churchill’s Pub and Grille Renaissance event (that’s owner, Ivan Derezin, flying high in the upper left-hand corner).
As craft brew rises in popularity, that consumable’s legion of enthusiasts grows larger and larger. Nowadays, when local breweries and watering holes put on grand scale events featuring rare and special beers, you can expect...
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Chocolate and Chile-Infused Ale (9.0% ABV)
Trying to recreate a rich and multi-layered flavor profile of Mexican mole sauce is ambitious enough in a kitchen environment. Apply that task to brewing and you’re looking at an awfully ambitious venture. But that’s what New Belgium Brewing’s Lips of Faith series of specialty beers is all about....
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Alchemy, South Park
BLAH Anniversary Beer Dinner
Tiger! Tiger! Tavern, North Park | Monday, January 30 - 6:30 p.m.
Beer makes time fly. It seems like only yesterday the, then, smallish pints and pie place, Blind Lady Ale House, opened its doors on Adams Avenue, but a check of the calendar shows three whole years have passed. In that time, owner Lee Chase has...
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American Brown Ale (8.1% ABV)
At their most traditional, brown ales are mild in flavor, exhibiting a low roast against a medium-low body, and come in at an ABV ranging from 5 to 7 percent. Not surprisingly, this restrained style seldom sets West Coast beer connoisseurs' palates aflutter. That contingent wants its hops and that’s just what they’ll get from this atypical Santee-brewed...
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Old Ale (12.2% ABV)
What’s old is new again. At least it is where San Diego’s oldest post-Prohibition brewery is concerned. Karl Strauss Brewing Company is celebrating the big two-three and, instead of downplaying their aging, their celebrating it. This year’s anniversary offering has been aged in American oak...
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From left to right: Greg Peters, The Lost Abbey; Heather Brisson, Caffe Calabria Coffee Roasters; Kim Lutz, Maui Brewing Company; Yiga Miyashiro, Pizza Port Ocean Beach
Even with around 2,000 breweries operating in the US, the craft beer industry is a seriously small world and one where like-minded individuals tend to gravitate to each other. Such is the case with
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Red Ale (6.66% ABV)
Love is grand, but let’s face it—Valentine’s Day can be seriously stressful. Haggling for coveted restaurant reservations, picking just the right gift, dealing with the sticker shock on a dozen roses—it’s enough to drive someone to drink. And that’s if you’re lucky enough to have a date on February 14th. Whether you’re seeking relief from...
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Extra Special Bitter (5.8% ABV)
ESB—it’s the lesser known of the English beer acronyms and will likely never crawl out from under the immense shadow cast by IPA. Despite being hugely popular in the UK, this style is one of the lesser explored on this side of the pond, but when you have a freshly hand-pumped pint of this archetypal version (crafted by an honest-to-goodness Englishman right in our own...
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Botte art for the first release from the new box set, inspired by Van Halen's "Runnin' with the Devil"
Move over iTunes, San Marcos brewery’s releasing 12 rock-inspired beers
No stranger to innovation, The Lost Abbey (the Belgian-inspired production brewing arm of the Pizza Port empire) is thinking outside the barrel,...
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We all have drinking stories we’d rather not share. Some, however, merit proclamation. Case in point—the second annual San Diego Brewery Awards. Local company, Tap Hunter, is soliciting stories from craft beer enthusiasts about memorable experiences enjoyed at breweries, brewpubs and tasting rooms around the county.
Submissions will be accepted from now through February 4th. At that point, Tap Hunter will post the submissions online for...
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Chili-Infused India Pale Ale (7% ABV)
In a town known for IPAs—not just crafting good versions, but originating the West Coast subcategory altogether—the debate often arises as to which San Diego brewer makes the best. Most often, beer enthusiasts point to Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits’ Sculpin IPA. The winner of numerous awards, it has...
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Black India Pale Ale (7.4% ABV)
It looks dark brown but pours as green as the Super Galena, Nelson Sauvin, Delta, Citra and Galaxy hops used to give its botanic punch. The first sip simultaneously brings on vibrant piney hop resins and the light roast of a traditional English porter. Seconds in, the latter drops out leaving plenty of hop bitterness in its wake. Local hopheads are bound to love this brew, but...
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