South Bay Drugs Reopens as Bine and Vine in Normal Heights

South Bay Drugs has reopened as Bine and Vine Bottle Shop at 3334 Adams Ave in Normal Heights. Until they closed early last year, South Bay Drugs was one of the most beloved craft beer shops in all of San Diego despite their inconvenient-for-most-people location just a few miles north of the border in Imperial Beach.

Unlike South Bay Drugs, Bine and Vine doesn’t have a pharmacy attached and instead is instead nearly 100 percent focused on quality beverages: craft beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages, like gourmet soda’s and tea.

They’ve been open a few months now, fixing things up and getting the shop setup just they way they want it and just recently officially announced the name of the new shop and started telling all of South Bay Drugs old customers where the new location is.

The prices are fair, they’ve got plenty of cold storage and Geoi the owner is a cool guy that knows beer. And if you have out of state friends that are always hounding you to ship them beer, send them to Bine and Vine’s website, they ship to over 30 states.

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South Bay Drugs to Move Locations

There are a handful of bottle shops that are often cited as “the best” or “one of the best” in San Diego County. While beer geeks will argue about which store has the best prices, the best selection, gets the rarest beers, has the best location and is ultimately the best place to buy beer in San Diego, South Bay Drugs is considered by many to be up there among the best around.

South Bay Drugs has been involved in an eminent domain dispute with the City of Imperial Beach for the past few months, and this past weekend they announced that they will be moving locations. The last day the retail store will be open at 779 Palm Avenue in Imperial Beach is today. South Bay Drugs does online sales and ships beer as well, the last day for online orders is this Saturday, February 5th. They have not yet announcing where their new location will be but I’ve heard rumors that they may be moving farther north, possibly even up to the beer-centric North Park area. This is a totally unconfirmed rumor which may or may not turn out to be true but a move closer to central San Diego would be welcome by many, myself included. The only reason I don’t visit South Bay Drugs more often is because I’m not often down in Imperial Beach.

Think you know where South Bay Drugs is moving? Leave a comment below.

They expect it could take up to four months for them to get moved and reopen. The full text of their email is below.

San Diego Beer Events 12/09-12/15

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2nd saturday, Affligem Noel, Avery Old Jubilation, ballast point barmy ale, Barmy Ale, Delerium Noel, Epic Beer Tasting, fiji yogurt, food truck beer pairing, hamilton's second saturday, hamilton's tavern second saturday, holiday night on adams, Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza, miho gastrotruck, o'brien's belgian holiday weekend, patrick rue, san diego Christmas beer, san diego holiday beer, Santa's Little Helper, Scaldis Noel, second saturday, tabe bbq, tap hunter, taphunter

Plenty of great beer related stuff going on this week. If you know of anything that isn’t on our events calendar, email events@sandiegobeerblog.com to get it added.

Thursday, Dec 9:

Stop by Ballast Point in Linda Vista where MIHO Gastrotruck will be parked and serving food for a special pairing dinner with some of Ballast Point’s beers. They’ll also have the delicious Barmy Ale on tap for samples and growler fills. Fiji Yogurt next door to Ballast Point will also have a Black Marlin Porter based yogurt. Click on over to Westcoaster for the pairing menu.

Friday, Dec 10:

TapHunter recently held an online poll to determine their users favorite brewery. The votes are in and they’re throwing a party with the first and second place winners which are conveniently located just down the road from one another. The party starts at 4pm at Alesmith Brewing Co.’s tasting room and then heads over to Hess Brewing Co. from 6-8pm. After a few hours of drinking at two of San Diego’s best breweries you might need some food, so it’s a good thing that Tabe BBQ will be parked at Hess Brewing Co. And mention “Taphunter” to get a 15% discount on all merchandise – growlers, shirts, hats, and glassware at Alesmith. More details on Facebook.

Saturday, Dec 11:

It’s the second saturday of the month, which means 2nd Saturday at Hamilton’s Tavern! This month they’ll be hosting Alesmith Brewing Co. They’ll have dueling casks of Winter Yulesmith and Wee Heavy conditioned with Islay Scotch soaked oak chips. They’ll of course have plenty of other Alesmith brews on draft and some delicious sounding food.

Ready for Holiday Beers? Blind Lady Ale House sure is. Saturday night is the Holiday Night on Adams, where many shops on Adams Ave have Holiday themed specials. BLAH is tapping some great beers and is offering a flight so you can taste more. They’ll have Port Brewing Co.’s Santa’s Little Helper, Affligem Noel, Delerium Noel, Scaldis Noel, Avery Old Jubilation, Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza and maybe more.

Sunday, Dec 12:

Didn’t get enough Holiday Beers at Blind Lady? O’Brien’s Pub is having plenty of Belgian Holiday Beers all weekend including Sunday. They’ll have at least seven on tap and more in the bottle.

Monday, Dec 13:

As always, Toronado does local pint night on Monday’s. Stop in for some of the best beers around from all over San Diego for only $3 each.

Tuesday, Dec 14:

Chicks for Beer at The High Dive is a ladies only beer group that meets once a month. This month they’ll be hosting The Bruery and Patrick Rue will be on hand to chat about beer. $20 gets you six tasters, a food pairing and a pint of your choice. But don’t fret guys, while the Chicks for Beer meeting will be women only, you’re still welcome to hang out at the bar and drink the awesome beers from the Bruery.

Wednesday, Dec 15:

The third Wednesday of the month means it’s time for the DrinkAbout. Free shuttles will be running between some of the best uptown bars. No word on what will be on tap yet, but we expect plenty of great Holiday beers.

Best Damn Beer Shop and South Bay Drugs have teamed up for what they’re calling an Epic Beer Tasting with 100% of the proceeds going to charity. Downtown Johnny Brown’s will host the tasting where $35 will get you ten 3-4oz tasters. The list of beer is seriously epic and DTJB’s will have more great beer on tap. Check out the Facebook Event page for all the beers and more info.

This post updated 12/12/2010.

Ten Beer Related Reasons I’m Excited to Return to San Diego

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BLAH, dog friendly bars, grand cru, keg n bottle, la jolla brew house, old viscosity, pizza port real ale festival, quaff, quality ale and fermentation fraternity, san diego beer week'nd, san diego beer weekend, san diego festival of beer, san diego international beer festival, speedway stout, stone anniversary and international beer festival, stone bistro and world gardens, stone late night movies, stone sourfest, tap hunter, taphunter

Durango, Colorado, where I’ve lived for the past year and half, isn’t a bad place to be a beer geek (check out my old beer blog from Durango). But it’s not San Diego. It’s also in the middle of nowhere. Durango has four breweries and but it’s also about 300 miles from Denver, which means the many beers brewed in the Front Range, and those from out of state breweries that get distributed in Colorado often don’t make it down here. I don’t mean this as a complaint about Durango but rather a way to show how excited I am about returning to San Diego. Below are ten (of the many) beer related reasons I’m glad to be back.

Hanging out on the patio at the La Jolla Brew House with my dog. The patio at La Jolla Brew House isn’t a bad place to drink a beer, and it’s made all the better because I can bring my dog. Firehouse Brewing Co.’s beer garden is also dog friendly so I’m sure we’ll be enjoying some pints there too. Before I left San Diego Hamilton’s allowed dogs, if anyone knows if they still do please leave a comment below.

Festivals and Events: Summer typically means beer festival season no matter where you are, and because of the number of breweries and beer lovin’ folks in San Diego, there are plenty of festivals. Pizza Port’s Real Ale Festival, Stone SourFest, San Diego International Beer Festival, San Diego Festival of Beer, San Diego Beer Week’nd and Stone’s Anniversary and Invitational Beer Festival. I’ve probably left a few out, but those are the first that come to mind.

QUAFF: Quality Ale and Fermentation Fraternity is a San Diego based home brew club. Their member’s beers have won numerous American Homebrewer Championships over the years. I’m excited to check out and join the club and hope I can learn some skills to further my home brewing.

Beer Box Tijuana. Sure Tijuana isn’t San Diego, but to me they’re inseparable. I came across Beer Box Tijuana while visiting friends and was amazed at their beer selection. In Tijuana terms (where Tecate pretty much rules to the city) they have an impressive beer selection. They have a good selection of San Diego craft beers, but of more interest to San Diegans they have plenty of Mexican craft beers that don’t get distributed in the US and many beers from Europe. In addition to all that the folks at Beer Box Tijuana are homebrewers and often host homebrew club meetings and tastings.

Beers: Regardless of everything else, beer blogging is about the beer. And there are plenty of beers I haven’t been able to easily get out here in Durango that will be much more accessible in San Diego. Here’s a short list of some I’m most looking forward to: Alesmith’s Speedway Stout and Grand Cru, Port Brewing’s Old Viscosity, and so many Lost Abbey beers I’ve never tried.

Stone Bistro and World Gardens: This is one of my favorite places to have a beer and eat dinner. And since it’s all the way up in Escondido I don’t make it up to often, which keeps is special and ensures it will never become ordinary. I’m hoping to make it up for a few movie nights this summer as well.

The beer bars that have opened in the last year or two: Blind Lady Ale House, Small Bar, The Station, Ritual Tavern, Toronado just to name a few. I’ve been to BLAH, Small Bar, and Toronado but I’m looking forward to spend far more time at each.

The Liquor Stores: South Bay Drugs, The Best Damn Beer Shop and Keg N Bottle just to name a few. The beer selection at these stores is phenomenal. I’m like a kid in a candy store every time I walk in.

The Newer Breweries: I’ve never had any beers from Airdale Brewing Co., New English Brewing Co., or Mother Earth Brew Co. There are plenty of other small breweries that have opened tasting rooms or expanded their lineups recently. I’m excited to try them all.

Tap Hunter: Tap Hunter is one of the coolest ideas and websites around. I’m sure every San Diego beer geek already knows and uses it (if you don’t click the link above to check it out) and now I’m happy that I’ll be able to also. Tap Hunter launched shortly after I left San Diego last year. What Tap Hunter does (in a nutshell) is crowd source a list of what beers are on tap at various bars and restaurants. You can check the website before you go out to see what is most likely on tap and use your smartphone to report corrections if a new beer has gone on tap or a keg is empty.

10306 San Diego Mission Road