What’s Tapping (3/20)

Welcome to San Diego Beer News‘ weekly list of beers tapping for the first time or returning to beer lists at breweries throughout San Diego County, including links where you can find additional info or purchase the beers online. For more details regarding release/tapping dates, times and locations, consult the official website or social-media accounts of the brewing companies listed.

And keep scrolling for Bottlecraft staffers’ recommendations about beers they are excited about that can be found at their bottle shop locations in North Park, Little Italy, Point Loma and Oceanside!

• Athletic Brewing (Miramar): Athletic Non-alcoholic Pale Ale, < 0.5%
• Ballast Point Brewing (Little Italy, Miramar): IWD Rye Pale Ale, 6.4%
• Ballast Point Brewing (Little Italy, Miramar): Lager, Mate! Australian-style Sparkling Lager, 3.9%
• BattleMage Brewing (Vista): Color Spray Mulberry Hard Seltzer, 5%
• Bay City Brewing (Point Loma, East Village): Murky Muchacho Hazy IPA, 6.5%
• Bay City Brewing (Point Loma, East Village): TurboZero Non-alcoholic Hop Seltzer
• Black Plague Brewing (Oceanside, Escondido, North Park): Gothica Mexican-style Lager, 5.5% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Black Plague Brewing (Oceanside, Escondido, North Park): Hype Wave Extra Pale Ale, 5.4% (collaboration w/ Jack Knife Brewing) – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Black Plague Brewing (Oceanside, Escondido, North Park): Open Mind Hazy IPA, 6.8% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Brewjería Company (Chula Vista): We Love L.A. West Coast Pilsner, 5.7%
• Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad, Vista, Escondido, Downtown): Dream State Hazy IPA, 6.3% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad, Vista, Escondido, Downtown): Mixed Greens Double IPA, 8% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Coronado Brewing (Bay Park, Coronado): We Love L.A. Double Dry-hopped American IPA, 6.5%
• Deft Brewing (Bay Park): Austere Abbot Belgian-style Singel, 4.9%
• Deft Brewing (Bay Park): Curly Tail Irish-style Red Ale, 5.4%
• Deft Brewing (Bay Park): Triumph of Oak Oak-smoked Saison, 5.6%
• Division 23 Brewing (Miramar): Nailed It! Hoppy Pilsner, 4.6%

• Fall Brewing (Miramar, North Park, South Park): Let’s Go! IPA, 7%
• GOAL. Brewing (North Park): Celebrate Legends Barrel-aged Imperial Stout, 13.7%
• Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): Australian for Pale Hoppy Pale Ale, 5.8% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): DDH The Other Brian Double Dry-hopped Single-hop Hazy Double IPA w/ Citra, 8.5% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): DDH Radiant Beauty Double Dry-hopped West Coast IPA, 6.7% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): Josh’s New Tiny Shoes Session IPA, 4.8% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): Living in the After West Coast Pilsner, 5.6% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): Salty Message German-style Sour Ale w/ Salt & Tea, 4.5% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Harland Brewing (Scripps Ranch, Carmel Valley, Bay Park, South Park): Prey for Pineapple Piña Colada Sour Ale, 7% (collaboration w/ Prey Brewing)
• Helix Brewing (La Mesa): Puff Puff San Diego Pale Ale, 5.5%
• Julian Beer Co. (Julian): Howl! Stout, 5.3%
• Ketch Brewing (Kearny Mesa, Downtown, Point Loma): Yellow Submarine Lemon IPA, 7%
• The Lost Abbey Brewing (Vista, San Marcos, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, East Village): Serpent’s Imperial Stout, 11%
• Mother Earth Brew Co. (Vista): 4Seasons Bourbon Barrel-aged Mexican Chocolate Imperial Stout, 11.5%
• North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers Hill, Pacific Beach): Crispy-Fu! West Coast Pilsner, 5.6% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers Hill, Pacific Beach): House of Fu! Triple Dry-hopped West Coast Double IPA, 8% – PURCHASE ONLINE

• North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers Hill, Pacific Beach): Mess with the West, Die Like the Rest Double Dry-hopped West Coast IPA, 6.8% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers Hill, Pacific Beach): Stratus-Fu! Triple Dry-hopped Hazy IPA, 7.2% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Pizza Port (Solana Beach): Solana 38th Anniversary IPA
• Pizza Port (Solana Beach): Wave Single-hop IPA w/ CH Exp#1, 6.8%
• Pizza Port Carlsbad Village (Carlsbad): Irish Hello Irish-style Red Ale, 4.8%
• Pizza Port Carlsbad Village (Carlsbad): Oceano Hazy Australian-style Pale Ale, 5%
• Poor House Brewing (North Park): Rocky Road to Dublin Ale Imperial Stout, 11.6%
• Pure Project Brewing (Vista, Carlsbad, Miramar, North Park, Bankers Hill): Thousands of Money Murky IPA, 7.1% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Pure Project Brewing (Vista, Carlsbad, Miramar, North Park, Bankers Hill): Transdimensional West Coast Double IPA, 8.5% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• The Roadies Brewing (Vista): We Love L.A. West Coast IPA, 7.4%
• Seek Beer Co. (North Park): Aesthetic Vision Hazy IPA, 6.8%
• Societe Brewing (Kearny Mesa, Old Town): The Apprentice IPA, 7.2%
• South O Brewing (Oceanside): Find a Way West Coast IPA, 7.2%
• Sunny Grove Brewing (Santee): Bavarian Blitz Maibock, 7.5%
• Sunny Grove Brewing (Santee): Delaney’s Irish-style Red Ale, 5.1%
• Sunny Grove Brewing (Santee): Sun Kissed Blonde Ale, 5.8%
• Sunny Grove Brewing (Santee): Velvet Shadow Irish-style Stout

Gene Fielden | Bottlecraft North Park Manager

Dear Readers: I am afraid that none of the picks this week will be available to you in San Diego. Nor will you find me at my usual spot inside Bottlecraft North Park, for I am away on a whirlwind trip to Tokyo and Taipei, and will be sharing with you a few of the drinks I have been enjoying this last week. Cheers from a hemisphere away!

Namachan Baby Rauch | Rauchbier (5.5%): Not far from Sugamo – a neighborhood of Tokyo known as the “Harajuku for grannies” owing to its demographically advanced residents and associated fashionable boutiques – lies a small brewery named Namachan. This operation specializes in smoked beer of all stripes – highly niche but taken to the zenith. They are clearly devoted to the aromas and flavors derived from this preservation process, as all of the snacks that come as part of the experience are smoked as well: rice crackers, mixed nuts and quail eggs. Furthermore, each beer is served alongside a small painted canvas from which the labels appear to be derived – past brews are memorialized by a gallery of these miniature creations all along the walls and the staircase of the tasting room. Kanpai!

Yonghe Night Market Cane Sugar Juice | Non-alcoholic Refresher: Taipei is home to a vast array of night markets – up to a hundred by some counts – all across this fascinating metropolis hemmed in by brooding verdant mountain ranges. They operate every single night of the year and offer a dizzying cornucopia of foods and drinks, often dispensed from a simple stall or kiosk. Taiwan’s subtropical climate and frequent rainfall allows for three harvest seasons per year, with an overabundance of fruits and other delicious crops. Upon arrival at the Yonghe Night Market in the selfsame neighborhood, a cup of fresh-pressed sugar cane juice was just the ticket. Buoyed by its lightness of being, I commenced to taste more new flavors in a single evening than in the entire previous year put together. 干杯 / Gānbēi!

Formosa Mountain Pepper Wheat | Herb / Spice Beer (5%): Portuguese seafarers dubbed Taiwan Ilha Formosa, or Beautiful Isle, and the latter part of the name stuck to the place for centuries in European cartography. The eponymous Formosa Brewing Company, a craft brewery from the here and now, makes a point to utilize indigenous ingredients where possible. This wheat-based beer, with expressive estery yeast and fluffy carbonation, also adds a measure of maqaw – also known as mountain pepper – for a hint of counterbalancing spice and a subtle drying effect. This beer was enjoyed at Café Theatre, a coffee roastery in the Neihu district of Taipei. In addition to outstanding pour-overs, the indefatigable owner, Norman, has assembled an impressive selection of Japanese whiskies, and is assisted in his efforts by a delightful little café cat by the name of Berry.

Click here to explore the quality beers at Bottlecraft’s four San Diego locations