With a vaccine plus reduced and relaxed restrictions on social-distancing and mass gatherings, many in the brewing industry had hoped to be back in force and in-person this San Diego Beer Week (SDBW), care of large-scale events like the annual Guild Fest. Held on the opening weekend of SDBW—which will take place this year from November 5 to 14—the festival, which features beers from breweries that are members of the San Diego Brewers Guild and raises money for that organization’s efforts to publicize the region’s beer scene, is the official kickoff of this 10-day suds celebration. Due to COVID, the fest was canceled last year, then again this year, but local breweries are making sure the show goes on by delivering a taste of San Diego County’s standout brewing industry to fans’ doorsteps.
Twenty-two breweries are contributing one beer a piece to a pair of boxed “tasting tour” packages. A total of 350 tour packages will be sold—175 of each—and are available online while supplies last. The boxed beers will be shipped directly to purchasers in time for San Diego Beer Week and include detailed tasting notes as well as access to video interviews with brewers form the participating brewing companies.
Both packages will include 11 beers from 11 breweries as well as this year’s edition of Capital of Craft IPA, a collaboration beer that involves different Guild-member breweries each year. This year’s edition was brewed at Kearny Mesa’s Societe Brewing with representatives from Ballast Point Brewing, Booze Brothers Brewing, Craft Coast Beer & Tacos, Eppig Brewing, Latchkey Brewing, Puesto Cerveceria and Rouleur Brewing. Ingredients for that beer—which include Centennial, Simcoe, Idaho 7, Azacca and Cryo Chinook hops—were donated by Country Malt Group, White Labs and Yakima Chief Hops, and local company Mobile West Canning is providing complimentary canning services.
The beer for the tour packages is also being donated by each respective brewery. Those companies were selected via a lottery member breweries were invited to enter when receiving a notification from the Guild that its festival would not be taking place. Once selected, breweries were allowed to select any beer or style they wished to contribute. The following are the beers included in each tour package.
Tasting Tour #1
- Capital of Craft IPA | Collaboration Beer
- Dichotomy Double IPA | Belching Beaver Brewery (Oceanside, Vista, North Park)
- Fear.Movie.Lions Hazy Double IPA | Stone Brewing (Escondido, Point Loma, Downtown, East Village, Harbor Island, Oceanside)
- Frosty the Hazeman Hazy IPA | Second Chance Beer Co. (Carmel Mountain Ranch, North Park)
- Hidden Paradise Hazy IPA | Embolden Beer Co. (Miramar)
- La Costa IPA | WestBrew (Vista)
- Runaway Lawnmower Cream Ale | TapRoom Beer Co. (North Park)
- Shipwrecked Double IPA | Mission Brewery (East Village)
- Speedway Stout with Mexican Dark Chocolate, Sea Salt & Mexican Coffee | AleSmith Brewing (Miramar)
- Strata Mind West Coast IPA | Abnormal Beer Co. (Rancho Bernardo)
- Treevana IPA | Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad, Escondido, Little Italy)
- Vice Watermelon Apricot Fruited Berliner Weisse | Wild Barrel Brewing (San Marcos)
Tasting Tour #2
- Capital of Craft IPA | Collaboration Beer
- DOPEUR Juicy IPA | Rouleur Brewing (Carlsbad, North Park)
- Dream Trip IPA | Pizza Port Brewing (Carlsbad, Solana Beach, Ocean Beach)
- Hilltop West Coast IPA | Chula Vista Brewery (Chula Vista)
- Japanese Lager | Harland Brewing (Scripps Ranch, Bay Park, Carmel Valley)
- Noble Tendencies Czech-style Pilsner | The Lost Abbey (San Marcos, Cardiff-by-the-Sea)
- Palm Sway Island-style IPA | Coronado Brewing (Bay Park, Coronado, Imperial Beach)
- Subconscious Mind Murky IPA | Pure Project Brewing (Vista, Miramar, Bankers Hill, Carlsbad)
- Tangible Fruited IPA | Karl Strauss Brewing (Pacific Beach, Downtown, Sorrento Mesa, 4S Ranch, Carlsbad)
- Victory at Sea Imperial Porter with Coffee & Vanilla | Ballast Point Brewing (Miramar, Little Italy, Linda Vista)
- Watermelon Tajin Gose | Owl Farm Unique Fermentations (Vista)
- World of Wonders Hazy IPA | Societe Brewing (Kearny Mesa)