With a new brewery opening
practically every day, it’s hard to keep up with all the craft beer that’s
available. That’s why events like the
recent San Diego Winter Brew Fest are the perfect way to sample the products of
a lot of different breweries and find some new favorites.
San Diego had its Winter Brew
Fest on February 22, 2014. The Brew Fest
is put on by RightOn Productions, LLC, which first started organizing brew
fests in Denver, Colorado, another craft beer mecca. Summer and Winter Brew Fests are now held
annually in Denver, and RightOn expanded to hold Winter Brew Fests in San Diego
as well. When Brad Sandler of RightOn
offered to put me on the VIP list for the San Diego Winter Brew Fest, you can
guess my response.
The San Diego Winter Brew Fest
was held at The San Diego Hall of Champions in Balboa Park. What better place to hold a beer festival
than in a sports museum? Forty-two
breweries were featured throughout the three levels of the museum, amongst
displays of jerseys, trophies, racing boats, and all sorts of other sports
paraphernalia. They even had Blazing Saddles playing in the museum’s
theater for those who needed a break from beer tasting.
With so many breweries
represented, I skipped the ones I had tried before and tasted the new and
unusual.
The first taste occurred with
Black Market Brewing Co. based out of Temecula, California. Black Market was serving four of their beers
and I tried the Holiday Porter. The
Holiday Porter is an American style porter interestingly brewed with tangerines
and with a pleasantly effervescent feel.
Brew Rebellion of Yucaipa,
California was serving two of their beers and the Chris Martin S’more Porter
immediately grabbed my attention and almost blew my mind. The S’more Porter literally tastes like
chocolatey marshmallowy s’mores and is a rich combination made with actual graham
crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows.
Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. of
Buellton, California was next, serving their Paradise Pilsner and Stagecoach
Stout. The Paradise Pilsner, while a
see-through beer, was very flavorful with a slight bitterness from hops. The Stagecoach Stout is an oatmeal stout with
a refreshing coffee taste.
Oceanside Ale Works of Oceanside,
California was pouring their Dude Double IPA and Orange Agave Wheat. The Dude Double IPA had a front of the mouth
taste of citrus while the hops hit in the back.
While I’m not usually a fan of wheat beers, I really enjoyed the Orange
Agave Wheat and its pleasant citrus flavor.
The next stand was one of my
favorite discoveries of the evening. 2
Towns Ciderhouse is located in Corvallis, Oregon and produces craft hard apple
cider. I tasted three of their hard
ciders, The Bad Apple, Bright Cider, and Cherry Poppin Cider. The Bright Cider tastes very much like biting
into a juicy green apple. The taste was
crisp and it is an easy drinking cider.
The Bad Apple was more complex as it is aged in oak. It had a mellower taste than the Bright
Cider. While The Bad Apple was probably
my favorite, I became conflicted when I tasted the Cherry Poppin Cider, made in
collaboration with the Cherry Poppin Daddies.
The tartness of the sour cherries added another dimension to 2 Towns
Ciderhouse’s delicious cider.
Another surprising taste was from
Refuge Brewery in Temecula, California.
Refuge Brewery was pouring their Blood Orange Wit, a Belgian Style White
Ale. Again, this is not usually one of my
beers of choice, but I was thrown for a loop again by this ale with its
strong blood orange aroma and sparkling fruity taste.
If you live in San Diego or
Denver, or are planning a trip to either of these great beer cities, be sure to
plan around the Summer or Winter Brew Fest.
Who knows what fun new beer you’ll discover. The Denver Summer Brew Fest will be held July
25-26, 2014. Visit the Brew Fest Events website for more information on upcoming events.
