With over 35 craft breweries located in San Diego County alone, it’s more than safe to say that we have one of the most vibrant and thriving craft beer scenes in the nation.
Year after year, our breweries have continually garnered a wealth of coveted titles ranging from “Small Brewery Company of the Year” to “World’s Best,” beating out famous beer towns and breweries in Colorado and Germany. Not too shabby eh?
Because our beer is oh-so-splendiferously-delicious, our favorite San Diego restaurants and brewpubs have joined in on the fun and started to carry tasty local brews on tap. From Blind Lady Ale House and Sessions Public, to The Tap Room, Pizza Port and URBN Coal Fired Pizza, get thirsty my friends and discover our favorite craft beer bars in San Diego.
Sessions Public
A straight forward laid back bar/restaurant in Point Loma, Sessions Public not only serves sustainable, farm-to-table global comfort food, but also brews 16 taps daily that are continually changing. If you’re looking for a refreshing taste, indulge in Lightning’s American Amber Ale, a unique spin on the English Extra Special Bitter with hoppier and maltier flavors and a higher ABV. If you’re nursing a hangover or simply love sweets, Ballast Point’s Black Marlin is a rich, dark and chocolaty Porter with a distinctive American hop character that will pair perfectly with Sessions’ hearty comfort foods and tasty desserts; or swig a glass of Coronado’s full-bodied Imperial Red Ale with deep roasted caramel flavors, subtle hints of chocolate, a soft hop presence and a lasting finish.
Pizza Port Ocean Beach
As the newest member of the Pizza Port family, the Ocean Beach location opened its doors to thirsty and hungry masses of patrons back in May of 2010. It goes without saying that Pizza Port is famous for their gourmet pies and delicious handcrafted brews. You’ll not only find amazing, awards winning beers brewed fresh on premise, but you’ll also find dozens of great craft beers from breweries throughout San Diego, across the country and around the globe. However, it would be downright absurd if you didn’t taste a Pizza Port original. Brewed year-round, the O.B. Chronic is a great go-to beer no matter what season it is. Brewed with English malt and American grown noble hops, the Chronic makes a nice malt back bone with just the right amount of hops to keep it balanced. Or opt for the delicious Jetty IPA, a year-round ale blended with Simcoe and Chinook hops that give it its hoppy flavor and aroma.
Hamilton’s Tavern
An infamous watering hole located in the easygoing neighborhood of South Park, Hamilton’s Tavern has been serving up the finest local craft brews to beer thirsty patrons for over 75 years. With 28 tap handles and 2 cask beer engines that feature carefully selected micros and imports, plus the finest ales crafted by local beer artisans, Hamilton’s is your one-stop shop for all things barley and hops. Sip and savor Alpine Beer Company’s Mcilhenney’s Irish Red, boasting a carmel malty sweet that fades to a chocolate roasty finish and dry from a touch of rye. Or opt for Stone’s Old Guardian Barley Wine, an über malty, super hoppy mega beer that is simply downright delicious.
Blind Lady Ale House
A Normal Heights hot spot, the Blind Lady Ale House serves up a tasteful, no-nonsense menu of Neapolitan-style pizza topped with sustainable meats and fresh cheeses that richly complements the wide selection of local and craft beer brews. Diners will find a variety of beers on tap from local breweries including Ballast Point, Green Flash, Pizza Port, and Stone. This spring, nosh on tasty cheese slathered pies and enjoy an “honest pint” of the Green Flash/Pizza Port Carlsbad/Stone “Highway 78 Scotch Ale” (named after the 18 mile stretch of asphalt that unites each of the three breweries). A very malty style of beer, the Highway 78 Scotch Ale is formulated with three different crystal malts, chocolate malt, and English pale malt to provide a rich, bready body.
Toronado
North Park’s infamous Toronado is undoubtedly the holy grail of for beer bars. Boasting over 50 beers on tap, 3 cask-conditioned ales, and a large fridge full of unique bottles, it’s safe to say that even the most seasoned beer swindler wouldn’t be akin the wealth of distinct choices. Each beer contains a flavor, a feeling and a history and someone on the Tornado staff will most likely feel it necessary to demonstrate their capacity of beer wisdom, provoked or not. Throw back a pint of Green Flash’s 6th anniversary 30th Street Pale Ale that pays homage to the local craft beer movement on 30th Street. Or opt for Alpine Beer Company’s always popular Pure Hoppiness, so mega-hopped that all others pale in comparison.
Craft & Commerce
Piecing together antique reclaimed snow fencing from Wyoming on the ceiling, metal and glass front doors with Model T Ford steering wheels as the handles and quotes from notable books, like the Grapes of Wrath and On the Road written on the walls and across the booths, Craft & Commerce dares to test Henry David Thoreau’s philosophy of social engineering in San Diego’s ultra-modern community of Little Italy. Out of all the draft beers they carry, it’s safe to say that Craft & Commerce is best known for their ample selection of brews by Stone. If you’re a true fan of India Pale Ale, Stone’s bold 14th Anniversary Imperial IPA boasts peppery hops with malt sweetness making a brief appearance before being beaten back by a long, complex, and decisively bitter finish. If you desire a crispy and refreshing style, Stone’s Levitation Ale is a deep amber ale with rich malt flavors, a big hoppy character, and subtle citrus overtones.
The Tap Room
Located in the heart of Pacific Beach on Garnet, The Tap Room offers a proliferous bounty of 32 local craft beers on tap by Karl Strauss, Pizza Port, Stone, Ballast Point, Ale Smith, Coronado Brewing Co., and Green Flash. This spring, savor Alesmith’s Horny Devil, an authentic Belgian Style ale which imparts a refreshing citrus flavor. When a full-size Horny Devil is a bit too strong, Alesmith’s Li’l Devil Ale, complete with lighter clean malt flavors and tangy hop notes, is sure to satisfy your Belgian flavor craving. If you’re a fan of Ballast Point, The Tap Room showcasing eight different selections that are sure to satiate your appetite. We suggest lighter bodied selections such as the refreshing Sculpin IPA, complete with bright flavors and aromas of apricot, peach, mango and lemon; or the Wahoo Wheat with soft notes of sweet citrus derived from orange and coriander.
URBN Coal Fired Pizza
Based on the overwhelming success of BASIC, owner Jon Mangini opened the doors to a new URBN Coal Fired Pizza concept in Vista in 2008 and most recently, a second location in the gastronomically enlightened North Park district in the fall of 2010. URBN knows exactly what makes you happy: lots of frothy and delicious craft beer. We guarantee you’ll go nuts over Green Flash’s Le Freak, an "out of the box" convergence of beer styles where American Imperial IPA meets Belgian Trippel. The end result is a zesty brew with enticing American hop and Belgian yeast aromatics that lead you to delicious malts and a complex layering of hop flavors that quench and refresh your pallet. Or opt for Ballast Point’s flagship IPA, Big Eye. Made with bitter and hoppy flavors thanks to American Columbus and Centennial hops, this signature brew is sure to be a welcome addition to your repertoire of IPAs.
Eleven
From the guys who brought you Hamilton’s Tavern and Small Bar, Bar Eleven (aka Normal Heights’ revered Radio Room) has been reinvented as a snazzy rock ‘n’ roll joint where live music and craft beer come together as one. Eleven carries a plentiful selection of quality ales, lagers porters, and IPAs that are sure to gratify any craving your tase buds may desire. Known to reduce even the most intelligent to a blithering "idiot,” Coronado’s Idiot IPA is brewed with over three pounds of hops her barrel to create a big and bold beer taste. If an ale is what you crave, opt for Coronado’s Mermaid Red Ale, a well balanced, medium to full bodied brew with generous notes of caramel malts and a hints of chocolate to create a full hop flavor and aroma.
Pacific Beach Ale House
A self-sufficient brewery located steps off the boardwalk, Pacific Beach Ale House is a premier destination for beer aficionados, tourists and locals alike. It doesn’t get much more San Diego than Ale House’s Crystal Pier Pale Ale made with two-row malted barley, crystal malt to create citrus and floral hop flavors and aromas; and the crisp Whitewash Wheat, a light and refreshing Belgian style wheat beer that displays fruity and spicy flavors from additions of coriander, Curacao orange peels and a special Belgian yeast strain, tastes like a glass of sweet sunshiney spring. If you’re nursing a whopper of a hangover, trust in the Shipwrecked Stout, brewed with huge amounts of black, chocolate and dark crystal malts to create a sweet stout with hints of espresso and toffee, and an order of tender Baby Back Ribs, and you’re sure to feel A-OK in no time.
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