San Diego County Brewery Tour + Board Game

My wife knows me pretty well. For my Christmas present she got together with a good friend's wife to plan a full brewery tour for the both of us. And together they picked out some of the best breweries in San Diego, but not necessarily the most convenient driving route. To me the breweries mattered more than the time spent between breweries. The wives even figured out a way to make the driving fun. They rented a 12 passenger van and invited some of our close friends. And to help time pass as we drove, they created a beer board game.

Here are the basic rules of the game:

• You are read a description of a beer from one of the breweries we visited and you must correctly identify the beer (you are given a cheat sheet to narrow down the choices).
• A correct answer advances your piece on the game board (they used a cork board and the pieces were decorated push pins - genius). For every consecutive correct answer you get to move an extra space.
• Follow directions of whatever space you land on (see picture for examples)
• If you get "Slammered", you must finish your drink to get out.
• Winner gets a growler from the last brewery

Results: The board game needs some work with the details (Impossible to win due to the move back a space squares (the girls were drinking as they invented the game)) - so we'll try again next year.

Start: @ 11:00 am at Alpine Brewing 

They make fantastic beer and the big hoppy beers they are know for are very good. Make sure to get here early as the place feels up quickly. And the back patio is really the place to be, especially with our great San Diego weather.

Next stop: Green Flash's Brand New Brewery in Mira Mesa

This place is huge including their tasting room. We ordered one of everything, we enjoyed 13 samples. They have a very nice spread of beers, so it is easy for everyone in the group to find something they like. Also on the weekends, they have food trucks right by the patio. The hot french fries paired nicely with the "Brisk" San Diego winter weather and a Green Flash Double Stout (my favorite).

Food: Pizza Port Carlsbad

By now we needed some food to soak up the copious amounts of beer we "sampled". And what better place than one that has won Brewpub of the Year several times. And their pizza is pretty darn good, big on the toppings to really fill you up. A couple glasses later of their Bourbon 15th Anniversary Blend  and it was time to go.

Fourth Stop: Iron Fist Brewery

They might be somewhat new in the San Diego beer scene, but they make the style of beer I really enjoy. Their selection is mostly Belgian styles and a few American classics. They make a great Belgian Dubbel and thanks to their Velvet Glove (Stout), Ben has a new nickname. This is a great family run company that is producing great beer.

Last Stop: Lost Abbey/Port Brewing

Probably my favorite brewery from a sour and Belgian beer standpoint and their tasting room is great. They have all their barrels out and you can see what is aging in each. And for some of the barrels they just put a sack of grain on top to make a seat. The beer speaks for itself and I happily took home a growler of Red Barn (and a bottle of Cuvee de Tomme) - I won the beer game!

It was a very enjoyable time and can't wait to keep up the tradition. We have another 35 breweries to still visit.

Pub Crawl: Las Vegas

For me, it is getting into Bachelor Party Season. Which for me living in Southern California means . . . VEGAS.

I put this pub crawl together for a friend's party last year. We didn't follow the plan, but anyone that has been to Las Vegas they know how easily it is for things to get off track. We did still end up hitting most of these places. See the map below.


View Larger Map

I recommend that you start with dinner at Hofbrauhaus. Get yourself a giant sausage and das boot, (get reservations for dinner so you can be in the main hall) then see where the night takes you. Then, the next 2 stops are in good stumbling distance across the UNLV campus. I can't give reviews on those 2 places because we decided to head straight to the strip but they seem to be the only sorta real beer bars in Vegas. From here your best bet is to take a taxi over to the South End of the strip (save your energy because you still have 6 more stops and several miles).









The rest of the places are nothing fantastic for the good beer lover but they are a great way to see the strip and still find good beer with exception of Burger Bar. We actually went to Burger Bar on our way home from "swimming" at Mandalay Bay and it is one of my favorite places period. The burgers were great and it had a pretty decent tap and bottle list.













We had a group that wasn't into the clubs but still wanted to walk from casino to casino. The random dance parties and pictures that the dressed-up groom has to take while on the sidewalk of the strip is the whole reason to come to Vegas.













Here are some graphics if you want to make a little package for the Pub Crawl like this nerd did.

Also if I'm missing any places let me know. I know there are other beer places in Vegas, but they were not in walking distance.

26th Birthday Pub Crawl : North Park

I love good beer and so do a lot of my friends. And the rest of them were looking for a good reason to drink on a Sunday. We are lucky that a few miles from our house is the community of North Park that has somewhat recently been converted into the good beer bar area of San Diego. So below is a map of our little Sunday stroll. I wanted to add more places but the wife thought that it was excessive and she was right with 6 places we were cooked.

So here is a brief description of each place we went:
Start 2:00 - Sea Rocket Bistro (decent beer list,bit pricy,but unique)

- drank Stone Porter w Amer. Oak on cask(nice), Airdale Dark Smoky (a bit hot for me)

Next Blue Foot Bar - Lounge - (ok beers, and good atmosphere)

- drank New English ESB (nice balance)

Next Linkery - (Great beer, several casks, local food)

- drank Sampler only standout was the Braggot from Craftsmen

Next Toronado - (Best Beer list, but terrible staff (don't smile too loud))

- drank Cantillion Iris (thanks PJ, amazingly complex), Cuvee de Jacobins (might be my favorite Flanders Red)

Lastly Ritual Tavern - (I think my favorite place, great beer and atmosphere)

- drank Nostradamus (super complex dark strong)

So those 5 are all we were able to make it too but the following are a great way to extend the crawl or will probably be the ones we do next year:
Whistle Stop Bar - 2236 Fern St (still need to try)
Station Tavern - 2204 Fern St (still need to try)
Hamiltons Tavern - 1521 30th St (probably my favorite place)
oh and we skipped Urban Solace (a little too fancy for a pub crawl)