Beer Tasting @ Carl Strauss
I've been quite lazy in posting this year, but I'll try to get up-to-date in the next couple of weeks. This post should have been around the the beginning of January 09. It's simple...beer.
The main focus of our trip to San Diego was to hit up some of the local breweries and do a little beer tasting. Sadly, I found out while trying to plan, most Breweries are only open during the days I’m working, at least the ones that all the locals recommended. So we went to four places leaving out two top-rated establishments;
Green Flash and
Lost Abbey.
Karl Strauss- One might think with the company having several restaraunts in the area, having their beer featured at the San Diego Zoo and Disney’s California Adventure that this would be San Diego’s version of Coors! A nasty overrated beer that college kids buy in excess just to get drunk. But in my opinion you would be wrong. KS has a descent selection of tasty brews with a fine representation of Ales, IPA’s, and Lagers. They might not be the best beer in town but you could certainly do worse.
San Diego Brewing Co.- When I mentioned above that you certainly could do worse, I had this brewery in mind. Before we get to the beer, let me just say that the décor made me feel like I was walking into a sleazy 80’s bar…think Patrick Swayze in roadhouse before Pat got there and kicked butt. Oh this place needs a Swayze to come in and clean up! Beyond that, the beer just wasn’t very good. I’m certainly not a beer connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination, so I can’t come out and pinpoint the overall problem with their beer, so I will simply say that most of my beers I left unfinished. This is especially true of the Blueberry Ale they served us, one word…Nasty!
Stones Brewing- On the topic of Decors, Stones got it right with the design of their brewery and restaurant. The have a top notch, modern restaurant with beautifully landscaped, half or full acre of land with a patio area. After looking online at the site and getting some thumbs up from friends we thought this would be a great place to eat dinner with our families, especially since they had a children’s menu! However, while the dinner might be reasonable…Hmmm, no it’s just a little overpriced the main problem for us was how crowded the place was on a Monday evening. The only way to order was either wait two hours to be seated or eat on the patio. The patio option was great for us since we had seven adults and six kids, the kids were a little more free to be loud and run around. The only difficulty was that you had to go inside to the bar and place your order. There were no servers outside, and placing your order meant standing at the bar for fifteen minutes to be recognized. Thus, my family opted for some appetizers and beers (no, the beers were not for the kids). On further reflection even though they have a kids menu and plenty of room, don't be like me and drag them along, don’t do it! LEAVE THE KIDS AT HOME! Think of this as more of a date night (That’s right it has all the qualities- brews for men and ambience for the ladies) for singles or couples.
If you don’t know Stones beers, you should get yourself acquainted. Their
Arrogant Bastard Ale was one of the first beers I had that I thought, “Wow! I guess beer doesn’t have to taste like urine.” When I first started drinking beer in my adulthood this was the one that won me over, it was my beer of choice. I’ve moved on since then, but that doesn’t mean Stones isn’t making great beer, they definitely are still producing beer at a high quality level.
A previous boss of mine once remarked about drinking AB that it was “Like drinking tire tread.” I know that might not be an endorsement of AB, but you should realize that he was quite use to drinking Corona or Bud light, so this was entirely a new experience. Stones beers are thick, full bodied, and you can definitely taste the hops. If you’re not really a beer drinker or only toss back a lager here and there then prepare yourself for a completely different type of taste.
Anyhow, while we were there I had Double Ale, which was delicious. My wife enjoyed the Imperial Russian Stout. We still remember after almost a year, so you know it was good. Don't miss their amazing AB battered onion rings. They were amazing. Stones Brewery also hosts some amazing special events. I almost don't want to share this with you, it's that special. Check out their
events calender, this weekend is what sounds like a super awesome evening of Beer and Chocolate pairings, if you read this in time you should go and enjoy it for me. What a coincidence, next week is officially Beer Week in San Diego! November 6-15, 2009!
Pizza Port- This was our last stop of the day. We had planned to go and get a couple of tasters and maybe a beer float, but since we opted not to eat at Stones we decided to get a couple of pizzas. Rest assured this place is a pizza joint through and through. They even had bench seating. There was nothing modern, romantic, or relaxing about the port. Not that it’s bad, it’s just a Pizzeria. A good one at that, the place was jammed packed at 10:00 pm on a Monday night.
The pizza was fresh and delightful. Mine was anyways; Kellee as usual went for some weird concoction that she thought had a white sauce only to be disappointed. The beer I’m told was terrific. I had their brown Ale, but after sipping all throughout the day I felt bloated and my taste buds were starting to meld everything together. Jonathan went back a week later or so and has since declared his undying love for the establishment, so I suppose I’ll have to give it another try next time I’m down South. There are other locations of Pizza Ports, one other of which we have since enjoyed, but there will be more on that later.
Near my parent's house is the small Central Coast community of Arroyo Grande. I've passed the place numerous times, but thanks to our WestWays magazine, decided to take a 
gander at the Grande. The main reason was to see their swinging bridge. The little downtown section is quaint and relaxling to walk around. Its filled with antique stores and other little knick-knack shops, most of which we by passed. 
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