Sublime Ale House Opens in San Marcos

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north county beer bars, sublime ale house san marcos

Even though there are a ton of great breweries and a handful of great bars and restaurants up there,  I don’t make it up to North County to drink much. It’s so easy for me to have a beer within a short distance of my house at Toronado, Blind Lady, Hamilton’s or any number of other beer places that driving up to North County to drink beer just doesn’t make sense.

That said I do find myself drinking up north every once in a while, and last night I got to check out one of the newer beer-centric restaurants, Sublime Ale House during a media preview night.

Located in San Marcos’s Restaurant Row, Sublime Ale House isn’t far from Churchill’s Pub & Grille and while it’s certainly an oversimplification on one level Sublime Ale House felt like Blind Lady to Churchill’s Toronado. There is no judgement in that statement at all, I love both BLAH and Toronado quite a bit and my more limited experiences at Churchill’s and now Sublime have been great as well. But they do have a different feel from one another.

Sublime Ale House is bright without being too bright and feels like it has plenty of space. There’s a bar in the middle of the restaurant, with different types of tables spread throughout, some long picnic style tables and other smaller more intimate.

I’m told they have 56 taps (I didn’t count) and the draft list was good, a lot of local stuff, plenty of craft beer from the rest of the country, a handful of Belgian’s and a few other beers from Europe and Canada. Not a macro beer in sight on the draft list. They also have bottled beer but I didn’t look to closely at the list. I had beers from Pizza Port Carlsbad, Coronado Brewing and Iron Fist.

The food is upscale pub grub (Gastropub?), with salads, pizza, macaroni and cheese, burgers, sandwiches and more. The salad and pizza I tried were both good. You can see the full menu here.

With San Diego Beer Week events already showing up on their website Sublime Ale House is a great addition to ever growing craft beer scene in North County. There might not be enough to draw folks from central San Diego up just for food and beer, but if you find yourself up there, or better yet if you live nearby, check it out.

Fiery Mac & Cheese

Mac & Cheese photo by Kinsee Morlan

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Assembly – Vegan Beer Dinner with Jolly Pumpkin at Sea Rocket Bistro

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Assembly, jolly pumpkin, Jolly Pumpkin beer dinner, Josh Higgins, LOVELIKEBEER, San Diego Beer Week events, SDBW events, vegan beer dinner, vegetarian beer dinner

I’ve been busy lately which means blogging here hasn’t been happening as much as usual, but thankfully things seem to be slowing down for the next week or so leading into San Diego Beer Week. Look for an event round up, and a hopefully updated event calendar next week before SDBW gets underway.

And speaking of SDBW, I’ve teamed up with LoveLikeBeer to host an all vegan Jolly Pumpkin beer dinner at Sea Rocket Bistro. Chef Chad White is working on some amazing pairings for the four Jolly Pumpkin beers that will be featured that night.

Tickets are being sold in advance for the four course prix-fixe meal and it is expected to sell out. Last time I checked a couple days ago there were only a handful of tickets left, so if you’re interested in attending don’t wait to buy your tickets.

It’s not often you get to try four Jolly Pumpkin beers on draft side by side and from the ideas I’ve been hearing Chef Chad toss around the food menu should be spectacular as well.

In addition to the food and beer, limited edition prints (with Jolly Pumpkin beer mixed in with the ink!) will be available. They were created by local artist Josh Higgins who recently got appointed creative director for the Obama 2012 Presidential Campaign.

A portion of the proceeds will go to the local chapter of Engineers without Borders as well.

Click here for more info and be sure to buy a ticket soon if you plan on coming.

San Diego Brewed: Bruery / Elysian / Stone La Citrueille Celeste de Citracado

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Elysian Brewing, La Citrueille Celeste de Citracado, stone collaboration, Stone pumpkin beer, The Bruery pumpkin beer

San Diego Brewed is sponsored by Bottlecraft.

Bottlecraft is a retail shop and tasting room in Little Italy showcasing local, domestic and international craft beers. They offer hundreds of beers for your enjoyment in their onsite tasting room or to-go, as well as daily beer flights, events, glassware, merchandise, and gifts. Open Noon-10pm seven days a week. 2161 India Street, San Diego, CA 92101.

I thought I’d give pumpkin beers a second shot after last week’s SD Brewed (which one commenter called a drain pour). La Citrueille Céleste de Citracado isn’t your ordinary pumpkin beer. Sure it has pumpkin in it (grown at Stone Farms no less) but it also has yams, toasted fenugreek, lemon verbena and birch bark in it. This certainly isn’t a pumpkin pie beer.

The name roughly translates from French as The Celestial Pumpkin of Citracado. Citracado is of course the street on which Stone Brewing Co. is located (and where this collaboration beer was brewed). I say roughly because Citrueille is not a French word. The proper spelling of pumpkin is citrouille, I’m assuming the misspelling is a nod to Patrick Rue of The Bruery. La Citrueille Céleste de Citracado was brewed at Stone as a collaboration with Orange County’s The Bruery and Seattle’s Elysian Brewing.

There’s no sign of cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice here, the usual pumpkin beer ingredients, with aroma’s that waft out of the glass. La Citrueille Céleste de Citracado doesn’t smell like ordinary beers. There’s a bit of citrus, which I can only assume is the lemon verbena as well as some earthy woodiness which I assume to be the birch bark.

The taste is good, but it’s hard to pick out the distinct flavors (partially because I’m not terribly familiar with all of them). To over simplify things I’ll say overall there’s spice and herb like bitterness with just a bit of sweetness up front. I don’t think I pick up any pumpkin or yam flavors, but I imagine compared with lemon verbena, fenugreek and birch bark those are the more subtle flavors.

When cold the mouthfeel is rich, creamy and full feeling, much thicker than I expected from a 5% beer. As it warms it does become a bit sweet less pleasant. I’d recommend drinking this on the cooler side, around 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

For all the crazy ingredients (fun fact: according to Wikipedia fenugreek is a galactagogue) this beer comes together nicely.

Tiger!Tiger! Now Open

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lee chase, t!t!, tiger!tiger! soft opening

Tiger!Tiger! the new bar/restaurant from the owner’s of Blind Lady Ale House opened it’s doors for the first time last week. They’re calling it an ultra soft opening for the time being but when I stopped by things seemed to be running smooth enough. I didn’t get a chance to eat while there, but heard from friends that the food is great.

The beer selection had many of the usual suspects often found at BLAH. Prices seemed similar.The space itself is pretty nice, with a long bar, a handful of picnic tables for seating and a couple of tables outside on the front patio.

For now Tiger!Tiger! is only a bar and restaurant, but co-owner Lee Chase told me recently that he’d like to use Tiger!Tiger! as a sort of pilot brewery for the soon to be expanded brewhouse at BLAH.

Located at 3025 El Cajon Blvd (just east of 30th Street), Tiger!Tiger! is currently open 5pm-Midnight Tuesday through Sunday. According to their website they’ll be adding lunch hours Friday, Saturday and Sunday soon.

Here are a few photos they posted from the first weekend.

Above Photo: Kinsee Morlan

San Diego Brewed: Manzanita Brewing Company Witches Hair Pumpkin Ale

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manzanita pumpkin ale, witches hair pumpkin ale

San Diego Brewed is sponsored by Bottlecraft.

Bottlecraft is a retail shop and tasting room in Little Italy showcasing local, domestic and international craft beers. They offer hundreds of beers for your enjoyment in their onsite tasting room or to-go, as well as daily beer flights, events, glassware, merchandise, and gifts. Open Noon-10pm seven days a week. 2161 India Street, San Diego, CA 92101.

Last year, just a few short months into Manzanita Brewing Company’s existence they brewed a pumpkin beer. It wasn’t bottled and was sold only as growler fills and on draft in the tasting room (and a few select accounts). Last year Garry Pittman at Manzanita told me that the first keg they tapped was dry within 7 hours, I picked up a growler at the time and was impressed, in fact it might have been my favorite pumpkin beer out of all those I tasted last year. With all that in mind I jumped at the chance to try it again this year.

Now it’s called Witches Hair Pumpkin Ale and is being bottled in 22oz bottles for the first time this year but unfortunately I wasn’t nearly as impressed with it as I was last year and I’m left with a question: how old was the beer I drank? After I bought it I noticed in the small print on the label that it says “2010 Edition.” Unless that was a typo I’m left to believe that this beer is about a year old. Witches Hair is a fairly big beer, the label lists it at 8.8% ABV, and many higher alcohol beers will age ok for a year or two, but in my opinion this one didn’t.

The smell didn’t give anything away about how the beer might taste, pumpkin pie spices were abundant just like I expected. But upon first taste things weren’t so good. The carbonation was extremely low, not entirely flat but close to it. This lack of carbonation caused the beer to feel extremely thick, syrupy and cloyingly sweet. It seemed more boozy than I remember it, which could be another effect of the low carbonation, but I would have expected the alcohol flavors to mellow with age, not increase.

I’m hoping this was just a bad bottle, maybe it didn’t get properly carbonated or sealed? I’ll certainly be looking for a 2011 bottle to try the beer fresh again as it was one of my favorite pumpkin beers from last year.

There are some people out there that might like this beer, but I’m not one of them. If you’re a fun of pumpkin beers it’s worth a shot. I on the other hand will be out looking for a bottle of the 2011 edition.

San Diego Brewed: AleSmith IPA

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AleSmith IPA, American-Style Strong Pale Ale, gabf, great american beer festival

San Diego Brewed is sponsored by Bottlecraft.

Bottlecraft is a retail shop and tasting room in Little Italy showcasing local, domestic and international craft beers. They offer hundreds of beers for your enjoyment in their onsite tasting room or to-go, as well as daily beer flights, events, glassware, merchandise, and gifts. Open Noon-10pm seven days a week. 2161 India Street, San Diego, CA 92101.

AleSmith IPA recently picked up a Silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival in the American-Style Strong Pale Ale category. It might seem weird that a beer called IPA and marketed as such would be entered in any category other than an IPA, but that’s one of the interesting things about beer judging, brewers get to choose which category to enter their beers in (although the American-Style Strong Pale Ale and American-Style India Pale Ale categories are very similar).

Until recently AleSmith IPA was bottle conditioned resulting in some sediment in the bottom of the bottle which could cause for a cloudy beer if not poured carefully. But AleSmith got a new bottling line this summer which allows them to force carbonate some of their bottled beers and results in a nice clean looking beer.

AleSmith IPA has a big hoppy smell and a taste to go along with it. There’s a lot of pine and citrus bitterness fairly well balanced by some slightly sweet caramel like malt and maybe just a bit of toastiness from the malt as well. In San Diego, the land of big hoppy IPAs this might be considered a balanced IPA, but that’s not too say that it isn’t hoppy.

At 7.25% ABV it’s a bit warm from the alcohol, constantly reminding you that it’s not a low ABV beer, but it’s still pretty easy drinking. It finishes dry with a bitter pine like hop finish.

This isn’t the hoppiest of West Coast IPAs, but it’s no slouch. No complaints here especially because it’s widely available and reasonably priced.

AleSmith doesn’t date their bottles so make sure to buy from a shop that has good turn over (I picked this bottle up for $5 at Bottlecraft and it was pretty fresh). The bottles still mention being bottle conditioned even if they’re from the new bottling line and were force carbonated, so don’t let that fool you into thinking you’re getting an old bottle. Just hold the bottle up to the light and look for sediment in the bottom, if it’s clear you can be fairly certain you’re getting a bottle from the new bottling line.

The Mixed Six Pack

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mixed six pack

I don’t buy many six packs. In talking with other friends that I would consider beer nerds most of them don’t buy six packs much either. I realize we’re in the minority among the general beer drinking public. Six packs of 12oz are a great bargain compared to buying individual bombers, but personally I like to try a variety of beers, not the same six beers in a row. Because of this the ‘mixed six pack’ is something I really enjoy. It’s a simple concept: instead of buying a six of the same beer, you can mix and match buying singles of different beers.

The term ‘mixed six pack’ is a bit of a misnomer, most shops that sell beer this way don’t actually require you to buy six beers, they’ll gladly sell you singles as well. Locally Best Damn Beer Shop and Bottlecraft are the only two shops that have really embraced this model that I know of. Olive Tree Market offers a few 12oz bottles as singles, but not many.

Bottlecraft doesn’t really market a mixed six pack, rather they just break up their six packs and sell them individually. They have empty six pack holders handy if you need one to help carry things but there isn’t really the suggestion of mixed six packs. That’s fine, it all works out the same in the end. The individual bottle prices I’ve looked at are generally 1/6th of the price you’d pay for a six pack of that beer at other stores so there isn’t much of a premium for building your own six pack.

Best Damn Beer Shop does market their individual bottles as a mixed six pack, but they won’t turn you down if you don’t want to buy six. Bottles are individually priced and from a quick look they appear to be just a bit more than 1/6th of the cost of a six pack of that beer. Many of the beers I looked at were $2 each (which would make a $12 six pack) but if you were to buy a sixer off the shelf of that beer the price would probably be a buck or two lower. To make up for this BDBS offers a ten percent discount for those buying a full mixed six pack instead of just one or two singles.

Whether you’re like me, and don’t want the same six beers in your fridge, or just want to try different beers you’ve never had without having to committing to a full six pack, the mixed six pack is a good way to sample various beers at a reasonable price.

Know of any other shops in San Diego that offer mixed six packs? If so leave a comment below.

Update: It was pointed out in the comments below that Pizza Port Bottle Shop up in Carlsbad offers mixed six packs as well.

San Diego Brewed: Ballast Point Black Marlin Porter

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Ballast Point Black Marlin Porter

San Diego Brewed is sponsored by Bottlecraft.

Bottlecraft is a retail shop and tasting room in Little Italy showcasing local, domestic and international craft beers. They offer hundreds of beers for your enjoyment in their onsite tasting room or to-go, as well as daily beer flights, events, glassware, merchandise, and gifts. Open Noon-10pm seven days a week. 2161 India Street, San Diego, CA 92101.

Until recently I can’t remember that last time I had Ballast Point’s Black Marlin Porter. I know I’ve had it in the past, it’s been around a long time and it’s around quite a bit it’s available year round and never too hard to find. Which means I’ve often overlooked it in favor of beers that might not be around the next time I’m at the bottleshop or pub. (I think I’ve mentioned this before, but one of my intentions with the San Diego Brewed column is to highlight some of the great beers being brewed here in San Diego that don’t get talked about much, maybe because they’re fairly ubiquitous.) To further highlight this point I know I’ve had Bourbon Barrel Aged Black Marlin, Black Marlin with Chocolate and Chipotle, and I think Black Marlin with Cocoa Nibs in the not too distant past, but it’s been a while since I had a pint of the regular Black Marlin Porter.

With that in mind I picked up a 22oz bomber at Bottlecraft for around four bucks ($3.99 if I remember right). In the beer geek world that’s a great price, not many beers I buy are that cheap. The bottle doesn’t list it, but Ballast Point’s website shows that Black Marlin is 6% ABV and 45 IBU. Black Marlin is pretty easy drinking despite it’s dark (sometimes intimidating) color.

The smell is roasty with more coming through in the taste. Roasted coffee flavors are an obvious comparison (probably due to roasted malts). There’s a light sweetness as well that’s a bit reminiscent of semi-sweet chocolate. The bitterness is more similar to coffee than hops until the very end when a long, pleasant hop bitter finish and aftertaste come along. One of my complaints about many porters is that they often feel thin (maybe due to the expectation that such a dark beer will be heavier) but that isn’t the case here, Black Marlin isn’t heavy but certainly isn’t thin and watery.

A solid beer at a great price.

San Diego Brewers Bring Home Awards Aplenty at 2011 GABF

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gabf 2011, gabf san diego 2011, gabf san diego awards, gabf san diego medals, great american beer festival, san diego beer awards

Last year San Diego breweries brought home fifteen medals from the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Saturday afternoon the awards were announced in 83 beer categories with San Diego breweries bringing home twenty medals. In addition to the individual beer categories six brewery awards are given out and San Diego breweries brought home two of those titles.

Pizza Port Carlsbad was named Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year for the third year in a row. Pizza Port Ocean Beach and brewer Yiga Miyashiro took home the award for Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year for the first time. Overall the three San Diego Pizza Port locations dominated, bringing in twelve of San Diego’s twenty medals (Pizza Port San Clemente took home one bronze medal).

Pizza Port Carlsbad alone brought home six medals, tied for second place for most medals with Firestone Walker (Rock Bottom also took six medals, but all Rock Bottom locations were entered together, not separate for each location as Pizza Port was). Pizza Port Carlsbad also tied for second place with Firestone Walker for most gold medals won with three. Sun King Brewing in Indianapolis took home the most gold medals (four) as well as most medals overall with eight.

California breweries took home the most medals with 51 total while Colorado came was second with 44. The state of Oregon was third with fifteen medals. Think about that for a moment, San Diego breweries alone came home with five more medals than the entire state of Oregon and San Diego accounted for nearly 40% of California’s medals.

Congrats to Pizza Port Carlsbad, Pizza Port Ocean Beach, Pizza Port Solana Beach, Rock Bottom La Jolla, Rock Bottom San Diego, The Lost Abbey/Port Brewing Company, AleSmith and Karl Strauss for their awards. Keep reading for the list of San Diego winners and a link to the full list.