Spending My Savings in San Diego

Hey everyone.

I figured as a way to start off the blog I’d do a few posts from some adventures I’ve been on over the last few months. I could go farther back but I won’t for two reasons; 1) the past is the past and I’m sure I’ll have enough content to update this over the coming months & 2) I’ve been to some cool places like New York, Denver, Montreal, etc but I always forget to take pictures while I’m there. Now that I have a blog I’m hoping to do a better job with that. Wish me luck.

I wanted to start the blast from the (recent) past with my trip to Orange County and San Diego in August. Both are areas that are home to some amazing breweries doing some really cool things with their beer. I definitely spent more money on beer on this trip than any other trip I’ve been on. (Apologies to my kids. Only 1 of you can go to college now). 

Welcome to Anaheim…..

I started off landing at the Santa Ana airport and headed to Noble Ale Works, a cool little spot in Anaheim. My fav beers I tasted there were “Big Whig” IPA & “Naughty Sauce” Milk Stout. Next up was Bottle Logic. These guys are doing some great stuff with barrel aged beers but the popularity of these beers has turned it in to an online craps shoot to get tickets to buy them. Kind of a bummer but at least you can still go to the brewery and try their stuff. My favs I tried there were “Never Tella Me The Odds” Imperial Stout & Local Dialect” Lager. My last brewery stop in O.C. was The Bruery. These guys specialize in barrel-aged and sour beers and they do an amazing job with them. Their beer menu is massive so make sure you come with more time than I did….and plan to take an Uber. I tried “Melange No.3 (2014)” and it was an amazing barrel aged ale that was super strong and sweet but easy to drink.

Before I left Anaheim I also had to pay a visit to Mr. K’s. They have the most amazing craft beer selection you’ll ever see. I could’ve spent hours in there but I didn’t have that much time. I was lucky enough to chat up the owner (Mr. K??) and he keeps some rare stuff behind the counter that you can buy (and I did). This is where I started to lose my kids’ college fund.

Next stop San Diego…..

Now, I will preface this by letting you know I was on a trip for work. I wasn’t just down there to visit breweries, I just try to squeeze that in whenever I can. 

My first brewery stop was at Resident Brewing because it was right down the street from my hotel in San Diego. It wasn’t on my list of breweries to check out but it was pretty good. They had a good food offering and their beer was decent. Next stop was at Ballast Point in Little Italy. I showed up a little early for a group dinner around the corner so I figured I’d check it out. I only had time for one so I went with the “Aloha Sculpin” IPA which is a tropical version of the “Sculpin” IPA that you can find almost anywhere. It was just alright.

Take note; here’s a good dinner spot for you if you’re in San Diego, the Crack Shack. If you like chicken and a decent craft beer selection, then this is the spot for you. I had the Firebird sandwich which is a spicy chicken thigh on a potato roll with ranch, pickles & crispy onions. Soooo good. I also tried some of the fried chicken which was also clucking awesome (so what I did there?). 

The Silicon Valley of Craft Breweries

My next night in San Diego was in an area called Miramar (aka Beeramar), where you could probably get a hotel and just hit breweries for 3 days straight. It was like the Silicon Valley of craft breweries with Pure Project, AleSmith, Mikkeler, Green Flash, Ballast Point, Saint Archer….the list just keeps going. Unfortunately I didn’t have 3 full days to visit all the breweries so I went with a few that were on my hit list.

First stop was Pure Project. It was a small, cozy tasting room that you could tell would have a line up to get in on a weekend. The staff was super friendly and every beer I tried was outstanding! My two favs were “Jade Dust” IPA and “Roes Red” Flanders Red Ale. I will definitely be back here on my next visit to SD. Literally right next door to Pure you also have Amplified Ales which is a music themed brewery that had some cool posters and music memorabilia on the walls. It seemed like a cool spot but after being at Pure I can imagine it’s hard for Amplified to compete. I tried their “Electric Mud” NE IPA and it was decent but I may have also been jaded from all the great beer I just had at Pure.

Next stop just up the street was AleSmith. The brewery was massive and definitely seemed more marco than micro. No joke, they could probably fit 600-700 people in there. Plus they had a patio that could fit another full brewery on it. They had a merch shop to buy bottles, shirts, glasses and other accessories. This place was yuuuuge. Take that for what you will, at the end of the day AleSmith makes some damn good beer and was at the top of my list of breweries to visit in San Diego, and they didn’t disappoint. The Jamaican Blue Mountain Speedway Stout and the Vietnamese Speedway Stout were insane!! I wish I could’ve bought bottles of those to bring home but I did get some bottles of other barrel aged stuff to bring back with me.

Searching For Dinosaurs

My last full day in San Diego was a good one. I ended my work obligations early and was able to set off for a hike up Cowles Mountain. It wasn’t a long hike but there’s a decent amount of elevation gain over a short period and it was also 30C (86F) degrees with absolutely no shade coverage from trees. Definitely not like i’m used to in the Pacific Northwest. The views on the hike were great though, at the top you get 360 views all around California. You can see all of San Diego and in to Tijuana. It was a great spot to stop and have some Pseudo Sue from Topling Goliath Brewing.

After making my way back down (and changing my sweaty clothes) I decided to skip the shower and bring my sticky body over to Modern Times Lomaland Fermentorium. WOW! I was blown away by this tasting room. It has super cool decor, great vibes, friendly staff and of course, great beer. They also roast their own coffee and they do some really cool stuff with that too like barrel aging the beans in bourbon barrels. Beer and coffee are two of my favorite things so I was ready to set up shop and couch surf in the tasting room, unfortunately, I think they would’ve kicked me out.

After leaving my new favorite brewery I had one last stop I wanted to visit before I departed San Diego early the next morning. With camera in hand and beer in backpack I went walking around the paths at Sunset Cliffs. It was a great way to spend my last night in SD, chillin on the cliffs watching the sunset. 

Til next time San Diego (“which of course in German means a whale’s vagina” – Ron Burgundy).