What’s Tapping (3/27)

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!

• AleSmith Brewing (Miramar): Barrel-aged Speedway Stout: Monster’s Park Chocolate Espresso Edition, 13.6% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Athletic Brewing (Miramar): Personal Record Non-alcoholic IPA, < 0.5% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Ballast Point Brewing (Little Italy. Miramar): East to West IPA, 7.6%
• Ballast Point Brewing (Little Italy. Miramar): Fire Dragon Red IPA, 6.6%
• Barley & Sword Brewing (North Park): Liberation Czech-style Pilsner, 5% (collaboration w/ Pivovar Raven & Pivovar Stern)
• BattleMage Brewing (Vista): White Wolf IPA, 6.2%
• Bear Roots Brewing (Vista, Escondido): Kora’s Legend IPA, 7.4%
• Booze Brothers Brewing (Vista, Oceanside, Fallbrook): Siesta Fiesta IPA, 6.7% (collaboration w/ Craft Coast Beer & Tacos)
• Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad, Vista, Escondido, Downtown): Swingin’ Pine IPA, 6.9% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad, Vista, Escondido, Downtown): Unknown Heights Hazy IPA, 6.2% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Burning Beard Brewing (El Cajon): Postmodern Prometheus: Brooklyn Godfather Adjunct Imperial Stout, 13.5%
• Deft Brewing (Bay Park): Dark, Light & Scrummy Dark Mild Ale, 3%
• Deft Brewing (Bay Park): Deft Hef Hefeweizen, 5%
• Deft Brewing (Bay Park): Deft Poets Society Czech-style Pilsner, 5.3%
• Deft Brewing (Bay Park): Deftoberfest Märzen, 5.5%
• East Village Brewing (East Village): Ballpark Special American Lager, 5.2%
• East Village Brewing (East Village): Kyiv Kvass Ukrainian-style Kvass, 5.6%

• Embolden Beer Co. (Miramar, North Park): Platinum Record West Coast IPA, 7.5%
• Fall Brewing (Miramar, North Park, South Park): Sweet Resistance New Zealand-style IPA, 7.1%
• Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): All Your Friends New Zealand-style IPA, 7% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): Chance Favors the Prepared Mind Double Dry-hopped West Coast Double IPA, 8.6% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): False Memories West Coast IPA, 7% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): It Just Works Cold IPA, 7% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): Wherever You Go Double Dry-hopped Hazy IPA, 7% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): Zombi Shark Fight Italian-style Pilsner, 5.2% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Harland Brewing (Scripps Ranch, Carmel Valley, Bay Park, South Park): High Times West Coast IPA w/ Terpenes, 6.5%
• Harland Brewing (Scripps Ranch, Carmel Valley, Bay Park, South Park): Lime & Shine Hazy IPA, 6.7%
• Harland Brewing (Scripps Ranch, Carmel Valley, Bay Park, South Park): Natural Mystic Bourbon Barrel-aged Stout w/ Coconut & Vanilla, 12%
• Helix Brewing (La Mesa): Puff Puff San Diego Pale Ale, 5.5%
• Hodad’s Brewing (Serra Mesa, Ocean Beach, Downtown): Bussin Hazy IPA, 7%
• Latchkey Brewing (Bay Ho): West Coast IPA (collaboration w/ San Diego Brewing Co.)
• Lightning Brewery (Poway): Sauerstrom Ale Berliner-style Weisse, 4.5%
• Mason Ale Works (Vista, Miramar, Point Loma, Barrio Logan): Strawberry, Fruit Bomb Sour Ale, 5.2%
• Mother Earth Brew Co. (Vista): Wakumi Japanese-style Lager, 4.8%
• New English Brewing (Sorrento Valley): Humbly Legit IPA, 7.5%

• North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers ): Ice-Fu! Double Dry-hopped Cold IPA, 7% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers ): NZ-Fu! Triple Dry-hopped New Zealand-style IPA, 7.4% – PURCHASE ONLINE
• North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers ): X-raying Citra Triple Dry-hopped Hazy Double IPA, 8.5%d – PURCHASE ONLINE
• Northern Pine Brewing (Oceanside, Carmel Valley): Trail Angel American Stout, 6.4%
• Pizza Port (Imperial Beach): PPIB American Cream Ale, 4.5%
• Pizza Port (Ocean Beach): Norsewoman IPA, 7.5%
• Pizza Port Carlsbad Village (Carlsbad): 2 Row Jimmy West Coast IPA, 6%
• The Roadies Brewing (Vista): Sound of Silence Nitro Milk Stout with Vanilla, 6.7%
• San Diego Brewing Co. (Mission Valley): Pineapple IPA, 8%
• San Diego Brewing Co. (Mission Valley): San Diego Light Beer, 4.2%
• San Diego Brewing Co. (Mission Valley): We Love L.A. Session IPA, 4.3%
• Seek Beer Co. (North Park): Seek Beer on a Monday! Light Lager, 4.2%
• Stone Brewing Tap Room (Oceanside): West Specific Pilsner, 4.9%
• Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station (Point Loma): Low Angle Heroic Brut IPA, 6.5%
• Sunny Grove Brewing (Santee): Block Party Session IPA, 5%
• TapRoom Beer Co. (North Park, Pacific Beach): A Usual Brown English-style Brown Ale, 5.4%
• TapRoom Beer Co. (North Park, Pacific Beach): Zen Scientist Rice Lager, 5.4%
• Weir Beer Co. (Vista): I’m Sprung Lavender Limoncello Hard Seltzer, 5%

Gene Fielden | Bottlecraft North Park Manager

An even more unorthodox column this week: spirits of Taiwan and Tokyo!

ONCE Café & Bar Takoyaki-Q | Whisky Cocktail: After bicycling all around the historic core and riverfront of Taipei, a wind-down drink was called for. The nightlife in the gayborhood of Ximen is dizzying, a case of too many choices rather than too few. Walking down Xining Road, strung with multicolored lights, we observed an enormous queue for Crispy Milk Donuts ‒ clearly the hot ticket once the sun sets. Tucked away shortly thereafter was ONCE Café & Bar, a quiet gin joint away from the hustle and bustle. A peated whisky was given a dose of roasted tea and seaweed, after which the whole cocktail was smoked. It was savory, iodine-laced and gently sweet all at once. 干杯 / Gānbēi!

Brewery Kiuchi Hinomaru Sherry Cask Finish | Japanese Whisky (96 Proof): The mercurial owner of Hitachino Nest had generously invited us to his Akibahara outpost for beers and highballs ‒ who could refuse such hospitality? Toshiyuki Kiuchi, whose last name graces the family sake business (in operation for two centuries), expanded into craft beer in the mid-1990s, with the signature owl motif making their labels instantly recognizable. [As an aside: their White Ale remains among the absolute best of the style to be found outside of Belgium, but that is a story for another day.] Six locations of Hitachino Nest can now be visited in greater Tokyo as well as a distillery in Ishioka, circa 45 minutes away on the blindingly fast trains. The Hinomaru series of drams explores differing cask finishes, from sakura (cherrywood) to umeshu (plum liqueur) to sherry and so forth. With a topper of carbonated water and fused ice cubes to make an off-center spear, this made one hell of a highball. Many thanks to Toshiyuki and everyone at Brewery Kiuchi!

Nanto Ryūkyū Lemon Sour | Chūhai (5%): The Ryūkyū island chain extends south and west of Kyūshū in a gentle arc all the way to Taiwan, the best-known one being Okinawa. The traditional distilled beverage in this archipelago is called awamori, made from long-grain Indica rice and with black koji mold as a part of the fermentation process. The clever minds at Nanto Brewing have combined their awamori with millet honey and the juice of shiikwāsā, a citrus fruit indigenous to the islands. The resulting canned “chu-hi” was delightfully refreshing, with an acidulated zing to it. Kanpai!

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