Saturday starts off as another grand, partly-sunny day in southern California! We look forward with great eagerness to not only visiting a number of quality breweries but also calling to wish our oldest son/stepson, Shane, a happy birthday. Wish you were with us, Shane!

Our first destination on this jam-packed tasting day– takes us to
Ballast Point Brewing Company, Scripps Ranch facility, aka: the Old Grove production facility. This is their newest brewery where much of their production takes place. Both this facility and the older facility in Linda Vista are true breweries, allowing both tasting and purchasing of beer to go.
As we arrived at the facility we pulled up adjacent to the front door and parked directly behind a pickup truck with Alaska personalized plates decrying “BEERME.” Upon entering the tasting room, we asked about the truck, and we were soon informed by Amber (yes, that’s her real name – talk about having the right name for the right job!) that the “BEERME” truck belonged to her. Amber is a fairly recent transplant from Anchorage yet her knowledge didn’t let on that she was new to the business. We struck up a conversation with Amber and her boss, Karen, and started to experience some of their tasty brews.
We started out, as usual, on the light side, both in color and flavor. The first sample was
Wahoo Wheat, an unfiltered ale having a slightly spicey/nutmeg aroma which was quite drinkable. Next came one of their more popular beers,
Yellowtail Pale Ale, a rather mild “pale ale.” This was actually more of a Kolsch style ale, rather similar to a pilsner, but with slightly more body. The third selection on our tasting tour was the
Schooner Ale, a dry-hopped offering poured from a nitro (nitrogen gas, either used in place of or in conjunction with carbon dioxide gas) tap. This was a special release beer, not available year around. It was a rather creamy but not noticeably hoppy beer considering that it was dry hopped and had a IBU rating of 20 and a 4.5% ABV. The fourth sample in the first batch was the
Calico Amber, another very popular
Ballast Point ale that has a very nice balance of malt and hop flavors.
The second (and last) batch of five tasters consisted of three hoppy selections and two dark beers – a porter and a stout. For the first three “hoppy” ales, we tried the
Fathom IPL, a hoppy lager version of an India Pale variety. This 7.0% ABV was quite hoppy (70 IBU’s) and quite smooth, no doubt due to its cooler, bottom fermenting process that are a signature of lagers. Next came the
Sculpin IPA, also a 7.0% and 70 IBU beer and the
Big Eye IPA, 7.0% and 91 IBU’s, which we sampled side by side. Even though the
Big Eye had a higher IBU rating, the
Sculpin seemed to have a hoppier nose than the
Big Eye. The
Big Eye was also slightly bitter tasting and had a mild earth-toned flavor to it. By this time, Lee was really starting to appreciate the bigger IPA’s and we agreed that the
Sculpin was our favorite so we bought a bomber of this to go!
We sampled the two darker varieties side by side as well. The
Black Marlin Porter had a lighter colored head than the
Sea Monster Imperial Stout, but both were opaque and black in color. Our server, Amber, had mentioned that she compared the
Black Marlin Porter to
Deschutes’ Black Butte Porter. I told her that I had yet to find one of comparison, but after tasting
Black Marlin, I did think that it was a very good option. It was a very nice, light-bodied porter (6.0% and 42 IBU’s), that was not as “chewy” as
Black Butte Porter. For those who may prefer a drier porter, this may just be your favorite! But the
Sea Monster was our favorite of the
Ballast Point beers. A whopping 10% ABV (and a secret IBU rating!) gave us a hint that this limited release beer would be a worthy candidate for our favorite. This dark-headed black ale was aged 14 months in Fitzgerald bourbon barrels and had a very complex “liquor” nose with incredible complex flavors (coffee, bittersweet chocolate and possibly hints of caramel) – WOW! As
Ballast Point states, “Don’t Fear the Monster!” Naturally, we wanted to take home some of this wonderful brew, but since bombers weren’t available (darn) we ended up taking a growler of this luscious lovely home (yay!)!!
And one last item to mention to those of you who may visit
Ballast Point sometime: check to see if they have their Victory At Sea – a coffee-vanilla flavored imperial porter! It wasn’t available when we were there but sounds wonderfully delectable!

Stop #2 for the day took us on a short drive west across I-15 (through rather heavy traffic due to the air show taking place at neighboring Miramar Air Base) to the
AleSmith Brewing Company.
AleSmith is another brewery located in a newer industrial park, just north of Miramar Road. We arrived about 12:55 pm and found the doors to be locked. Fortunately the owner, Peter Zien, pulled into the parking lot just after we got to the door and let us in. Peter is a young, approachable gentleman who not only takes great pride in brewing great beer but also makes cheese. In fact, his goal is to have some of his homemade cheese available to the patrons at future tastings (hopefully in the very near future)!
But on to the beer.
AleSmith had 11 scrumptious offerings on tap that day, of which we tried six. Of these, three were on the “lighter” side (alcohol-wise):
Lil’ Devil Ale, a very nice Belgian-style yeast yielding an orange peel and coriander flavor,
Anvil, an English-style Extra Special Bitter ale having a malty nose with a nice hoppy balance on the tongue, and
Evil Dead Red, a dark-reddish (almost blood colored) amber ale with a hoppy nose and a floral/hoppy flavor. I guess that the meteorologist in me thought that
Anvil would be a favorite, but
Evil Dead Red was very nice and complex and was our favorite of the three. Interesting to note that the ABV is 6.66% on this beer.
Of the three “heavier” beers that we tried (
Grand Cru, Horny Devil and Speedway Stout), we found the
Speedway Stout to be our favorite.
Grand Cru and
Horny Devil were somewhat similar with the
Horny Devil having a more noticeable nutmeg/coriander flavor.
Speedway Stout had a dark, foamy head with a nice chocolaty nose, and was brewed with coffee beans. This “big” beer had a 12.0% ABV – a point higher than the other two “high octane” beers (
Grand Cru and Horny Devil)! We purchased a bomber of their
Holiday Ale (the summer version) as well as a growler of the
Evil Dead Red, which we figured would be appropriate to take to our annual Halloween Party.
We could have easily stayed longer at
AleSmith, but alas, we had more places to go, people to meet and beer to sample! Our next stop was up I-5 to the city of Carlsbad and the
Pizza Port Brewing Company, a brewpub serving great pizza alongside their 18 house beers served on tap (one on a beer engine, or cask conditioned). Located a short walk from the beach in Carlsbad they also serve a number of guest beers on tap from local to not so local breweries. This place seems to be best suited for surfers and beach combers looking to carb-up after burning some calories on the surf. The facility has an inside and outside section, composed of picnic tables and barstools, and was adorned with lots of surfing paraphernalia and photos. Next door is their outlet store allowing you to purchase many beers from all over the world, complete with an area to stand (or sit) inside or outside and enjoy a brew.
Back at the production facility, I started by ordering a small pizza (the “Laguna” – a vegetarian pie with lots of artichoke hearts, made on whole-wheat crust) in the “pizza line”, then I quickly jumped over to the longer “beer line” to get our first set of samples. Princess was the beer server today, and she informed me that only four samples can be purchased at a time. After consulting with Lee prior to getting in line, I ordered their
Sharkbite Red Ale (cask conditioned), R
evelations Belgian Gold, None-the-Weisser Bock, and Carlsbad Cream Ale (after finding they were out of their
Port Pale Ale).
I met Lee back at our outdoor table with the four beer samples just before my name was called to pick up the pizza. We started off our beer tasting with the
Revelations, featuring a very nice Belgian-style yeast, yet not overly spicy. Surprisingly, this sucker packed quite a wallop, coming in at 8.5% - quite high! Next up was the
Carlsbad. This cream ale had a light color with a flavor to match – very similar to a
Pilsner. The third in this group was the
Sharkbite. I looked forward to this beer with great anticipation, as it was our first cask conditioned beer of the weekend. Cask beers are not propelled out of the keg with the aid of a gas (either carbon dioxide, nitrogen or a combination thereof) – they are pumped out with the aid of an “engine.” Cask beers have more of a true-flavor, not taking on another flavor due to the added gas. The
Sharkbite was very smooth and had a nice balance between malt and hops. Since it is a cask-conditioned beer, it is served at a slightly warmer temperature than the gas-propelled counterparts. And last, but certainly not least, was
None-the-Weisser. This was a rather heavy, dark Belgian-style ale – our favorite of the first batch of brews.
My second trip back to order four more tasters from Princess yielded
Night Rider, Poor Man’s IPA, Black Lie IPA and Port Truck Stout.
The Night Rider was a big beer – 10%! – black in color with a dark head. This chocolate-roasted imperial stout had a good balance for a stronger beer.
Poor Man’s IPA had a very hoppy nose and a good, double IPA flavor and was our favorite of the second batch. We both really enjoyed the “over-the-top” hoppy ales, featuring a strong citrusy-piney nose and a puckering-thick hop flavor!
The Black Lie IPA was another black beer but had a white head (hence the name) and also had a very hoppy nose. It tasted more like an IPA even though it looked like a porter and was another favorite of ours. And the final of this four was the
Port Truck Stout. This low-alcohol (only 4.0% - similar to
Guinness) stout was very creamy yet didn’t have much in the way of a chocolate or coffee flavor.
After finishing our samples, we headed next door to the “outlet store” – a place of opportunity for one to purchase beers from all over the world. They also have an outdoor section where you can sample one of your favorite brews. While at this facility, we ran into a couple of friendly guys enjoying a beer together. “Chili”, a groundskeeper at
Stone Brewery, and his buddy, Larry, were just as approachable as nearly everyone we have encountered, whether employee or patron, throughout the entire weekend. Maybe something can be said about those that frequent quality beer sites, or maybe the possibility that quality beers help calm the soul of all men and women?! Regardless, we have found everyone on this San Diego beer excursion as interesting, enjoyable, and knowledgeable about their beers. We then chose to depart with a couple of Port bottles, a bomber of their
3rd Anniversary Ale, a 10.0% offering, and a 12.7 oz. bottle of
Old Viscosity Ale, a 12.0% strong ale, partially aged for 6 months in bourbon.

The fourth stop of the day was
The Lost Abbey, located about 10 minutes east of Carlsbad in the city of San Marcos. This was the third “industrial-type” brewery we visited today. Walking into the oversized entry door, we gazed upon many wood storage barrels, mash tuns and fermentation tanks. Also present was a rather lengthy bar, complete with bar stools fashioned from ½-barrel kegs covered with full bags of barley – a nice touch, albeit a rather difficult stool to maneuver. The beers on tap available for sampling today included:
Red Barn Ale (6.8%),
Carmevale Ale (6.5%),
Devotion (6.5%),
Inferno Ale (9.0%),
10 Commandments (9.5%),
Judgment Day (10.5%) and
Older Viscosity (13%).
The Older Viscosity, a
Port brew (
Port and the Lost Abbey have been affiliated at the same location until recently) is a big beer aged in bourbon barrels for 1 year.
While enjoying our sampling at
The Lost Abbey, we noticed a very mellow gray and white cat snoozing on the bar. This “mascot” seemed very disinterested in all of the conversation and activity, and even tolerated gentle tail-pulling by some of the regular patrons. Two of those patrons were young guys, Jesse and Justen, who are part of the band “Dead Feather Moon,” a band that, according to Justen, has a southern rock groove. While at
The Lost Abbey, one of their music videos was played from YouTube and displayed on the large flat screen plasma t.v. behind the bar, much to the delight of the patrons and employees.

Leaving
The Lost Abbey around 6 pm, we made our way to our fifth and final stop for the day –
Stone Brewing Company. In the early 2000’s, the first beer I tasted from San Diego county came from
Stone Brewing Co. And how convenient - it was located only minutes away from
The Lost Abbey! Not only do they have a consistently great lineup of regular offerings,
Stone has some incredibly wonderful seasonal and anniversary ales released annually. My taste buds begin to salivate the upcoming seasonal releases with great eagerness! Therefore, I left the taster notepad in the car and Lee and I went to just “experience” the aura of their new huge facility, complete with huge landscaped, outdoor grounds and a large gift shop at the main entrance. This amazing shop allows you the opportunity to purchase everything from hats to glassware, shirts, sweatshirts, towels, and of course, beer! Bombers, growlers and kegs can be ordered and purchased here.
After passing though the store room, you enter into the seating area, where you can ask the host/hostess for a table (outside on decks or inside, either downstairs in the main “gallery” room adjacent to the centralized bar or upstairs for a little more intimacy). Walking into the main dining room, separated from the outside area by large sliding glass windows, you will find a fountain to the right and the bar to the left. The brewing area is behind the large windows to the left of the bar, where tours are held regularly throughout the day. The upstairs dining area is accessible via the Robinson Crusoe-esque stairs, located behind the bar. The restrooms, with their heavy rock doors are dungeon-like in design. This place is an adult’s amusement park, built around quality beers and food.
Speaking of food…the menu is quite extensive and very well planned. They strive for natural, whole foods and often go to painstaking limits to insure the quality of the food that comes forth - admittedly, sometimes at a higher price. This is not a place for a budget-conscious family to dine while quaffing a few quality brews. This is a place to celebrate – a place to take someone that you want to impress or a place for special occasions. Needless to say, the food menu is very impressive.
As for the beers…
Stone has always had several “flagship” beers - including their
Stone Pale Ale, Stone IPA and Arrogant Bastard. They also have other wonderful year-round offerings, such as
Levitation Ale (a lower ABV amber beer),
Ruination Ale (a very hoppy double/imperial IPA with over 100 IBU’s),
Stone Smoked Porter and their “supreme version” of Arrogant Bastard, the
Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale. Their anniversary ales for this year are
Stone’s 13th Anniversary Ale and
Stone 09-09-09 Vertical Epic Ale, both of which are remarkable ales that are best purchased and saved for future use, preferable at least 5 years down the road. We “sampled” all of their taps, not so much to get to know them but to experience them at the source. It was great to try the
Arrogant Bastard side by side with the
Oaked Arrogant Bastard, as there is a notable difference – the Oaked variety takes on a slightly smoother, richer flavor. But the one that we both agreed was our favorite was this year’s
Vertical Epic, a dark Belgian-style porter with incredible complexity. This beer used dark candy sugar giving a molasses flavor, vanilla bean and a touch of tangerine peel added to the complexity of the Belgian spices. Amazing!! This was my favorite
Vertical Epic by far, and I don’t know how
Stone will eclipse this in future versions. Knowing
Stone, they’ll somehow achieve the monstrous feat!
James Omlid