What’s Tapping (11/23)

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): Schwarzbier Black Lager, 5.2%
• AleSmith Brewing (Miramar): Still Trending Double Cold IPA w/ Terpenes, 8.6%
• Ballast Point Brewing (Miramar, Morena, Little Italy): Golden Spruce IPA with Spruce, 7%
• BattleMage Brewing (Vista): Divine Light Black Currant Blonde Ale, 4.8%
• Bay City Brewing (Point Loma, East Village): Organic Blonde Ale, 4.5%
• Black Plague Brewing (Oceanside, Escondido, North Park): Four Horsemen West Coast IPA, 6.5% (collaboration w/ Solaris Beer & Blending) – BUY ONLINE
• BLAH Brewing (Normal Heights): RIP!TIGER! IPA, 6.7%
• Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad, Escondido, Little Italy): 2023 Bourbon Barrel-aged Dutchman’s Pipe Imperial Stout, 12% – BUY ONLINE
• Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad, Escondido, Little Italy): Dutchman’s Pipe Imperial Stout, 10.3% – BUY ONLINE
• Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad, Escondido, Little Italy): Manilita Extra Pale Ale, 5% – BUY ONLINE
• Burning Beard Brewing (El Cajon): Atlas Complex Baltic-style Porter, 8%
• Burning Beard Brewing (El Cajon): Cognac Barrel-aged Postmodern Prometheus Imperial Stout, 13.5%
• California Wild Ales (Point Loma, Ocean Beach): Graf of Draft Pear Cider & Saison Blend, 7%
• Craft Coast Beer & Tacos (Oceanside): Craft Roast Coffee Stout, 6.5%
• Culture Brewing (Solana Beach, Encinitas): Apple Cinnamon Vanilla Cream Ale, 5.4%
• Culture Brewing (Solana Beach, Encinitas): Vanilla Cream Ale, 5.4%
• Deft Brewing (Morena): Dark, Light & Scrummy Dark Mild Ale, 3.5%
• Division 23 Brewing (Miramar): Lunch Break Blonde Ale, 5.5%
• Division 23 Brewing (Miramar): Passion Fruit Hard Seltzer, 4.5%
• East Village Brewing (East Village): Big Guy Ginger IPA, 6.5%
• East Village Brewing (East Village): Very Cherry Barrel-aged Cherry Ale, 9.5%

• Fall Brewing (Miramar): Language of Influence Maibock, 6.5%
• GOAL. Brewing (North Park): Gulf Blue West Coast IPA, 6.7%
• GOAL. Brewing (North Park): Juice_ Mango White Peach Smoothie Ale w/ Mango & Peach, 6%
• Gravity Heights (Sorrento Valley): Barrel-aged Shady Oak Brown Ale w/ Coffee & Cacao, 8.1%
• Gravity Heights (Sorrento Valley): Lil’ Green Flowers Hazy IPA, 6.2%
• Gravity Heights (Sorrento Valley): TuneWave West Coast IPA, 6.3%
• Harland Brewing (Scripps Ranch, South Park, Bay Park, Carmel Valley): Lost Translation Fresh Stout, 8%
• Harland Brewing (Scripps Ranch, South Park, Bay Park, Carmel Valley): Lunar Maps IPA, 6.5%
• Harland Brewing (Scripps Ranch, South Park, Bay Park, Carmel Valley): Red Pomelo Foeder-fermented Belgian-style Witbier, 5%
• Hopnonymous Brewing (Kearny Mesa): Got Tegridy? San Diego IPA, 7.1%
• Hopnonymous Brewing (Kearny Mesa): Ice Ice Hazy IPA, 7.2%
• Jacked Up Brewery (Escondido): Apricot Amber Ale, 5%
• Jacked Up Brewery (Escondido): El Gato Mexican-style Lager, 5%
• Jacked Up Brewery (Escondido): Hazy Talk Hazy IPA, 6.5%
• Jacked Up Brewery (Escondido): Honey Ale, 5%
• Laguna Beer Co. (Vista): Orange Sunshine Hazy IPA, 7%
• Laguna Beer Co. (Vista): Sleigh Rye’d Winter Rye IPA, 6%
• Mike Hess Brewing (North Park, Ocean Beach, Downtown, Imperial Beach, Alpine): Christmas Bonus Barleywine, 9.6%
• Modern Times Beer (Point Loma, North Park, Encinitas): Black House: PSL 4Lyfe Pumpkin-spice Coffee Stout, 6.8%
• Modern Times Beer (Point Loma, North Park, Encinitas): Coffee Fruitlands Sour Ale, 4.8%
• Modern Times Beer (Point Loma, North Park, Encinitas): Daywalker Coffee IPA

• Modern Times Beer (Point Loma, North Park, Encinitas): Dungeons & Dragons Fruit West Coast IPA w/ Dragon Fruit, 7.2%
• Modern Times Beer (Point Loma, North Park, Encinitas): Mega Devil’s Teeth aged in Bourbon Barrels: Café de Olla Imperial Stout, 13.5%
• Modern Times Beer (Point Loma, North Park, Encinitas): Utopian Harvest Session IPA w/ Blueberry & Raspberry, 4.6%
• Nickel Beer Co. (Julian): 2017 Red Wine Barrel-aged North Star Belgian-style Tripel
• Nickel Beer Co. (Julian): 2019 Bourbon Barrel-aged Constantine’s Russian-style Imperial Stout
• Nickel Beer Co. (Julian): 2019 Rye Barrel-aged Darkside of the Moonlight Imperial Porter (collaboration w/ Moonlight Meadery)
• North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers Hill): Brainier Park Triple Dry-hopped Hazy Triple IPA – 10% (collaboration w/ Widowmaker Brewing) – BUY ONLINE
• North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers Hill): Friends & Neighbors Vienna-style Lager, 5.3% – BUY ONLINE
• North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers Hill): Pipes & Pour Overs Smoked Porter w/ Coffee, 7.7% (collaboration w/ Cellarmaker Brewing) – BUY ONLINE
• North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers Hill): West Assured Double Dry-hopped Hazy West Coast IPA, 6.3% (collaboration w/ Cellarmaker Brewing) – BUY ONLINE
• Novo Brazil Brewing (Chula Vista, Eastlake, Imperial Beach): Corvo Negro Russian-style Imperial Stout, 11%
• One Season Brewing (Grantville): Our First Sour Ale, 4.5%
• The Original 40 Brewing (North Park): Cherry Tart Cherry Pie-inspired Sour Ale, 5%
• Pizza Port (Ocean Beach): OB Spaceman West Coast IPA, 7.4%
• Poor House Brewing (North Park): Bitter Winter IPA, 6.9%
• Puesto Cerveceria (Mission Valley): La Cabra Winter Bock, 7.5%
• Quantum Brewing (Kearny Mesa): Tiramisu Brown Ale, 5.8%
• Seek Beer Co. (North Park): Alright Fine West Coast Pale Ale, 5.9%
• Seek Beer Co. (North Park): Create Your Own Ambience Pineapple Tepache-inspired Fruited Sour Ale, 5.5%
• Seek Beer Co. (North Park): Warm Smile Tropical Punch-inspired Fruited Sour Ale, 5.5%
• South O Brewing (Oceanside): Mind Fuzz West Coast Pilsner, 5.4%

Gene Fielden | North Park Bottlecraft Manager

Burgeon Everybody’s Juicin’ | Hazy IPA (7.1%): Upon my first meeting with Burgeon Beer Co. co-founder Matt Zirpolo in February 2017 (barely a month after they’d opened their doors), he presented me a flight of their beers. All were excellent examples of style, but Everybody’s Juicin’ was the one that caused me to sit up and take notice that this young brewery would be going places. Only sporadically brewed in the intervening six-and-a-half years, each appearance is a good chance to revisit this beer! With Citra and Nelson hops ‒ the latter from New Zealand’s Freestyle Farms ‒ at the forefront, expect striking notes of key lime, gooseberry and that ineffable tropical tone.

Dupont Avec les Bons Vœex | Holiday Saison (9.5%): Wallonia’s Brasserie Dupont makes the gold standard for classic farmhouse ales with their flagship saison. Their peppery proprietary yeast strain and copper fermentation vessels create something ineffable, a rustic beer for the onset of modernity. Once a year, however, they release their “With Best Wishes” (word-for-word, “with the good wishes”, but this is an idiomatic translation), a beer ideal for gift-giving. Sort of a combination of a saison and a tripel, this holiday beer maintains the trappings of their base recipe but adds candi sugar to crank the ABV (alcohol-by-volume) up another couple of notches. As with Trappist ales, this non-malt-derived sugar source is like steroids for their voracious yeasts, which respond by producing much higher levels of alcohol and carbonation. Enjoy with good friends!

Fremont Mélange | Barrel-aged Cuvée (10%): Arguably a younger sibling to the incredible Rusty Nail, this new release from Fremont Brewing blends that hefty bourbon barrel-aged stout with a fresh porter brewed specifically for the occasion. As aficionados will be aware, Rusty Nail is a massive imperial oatmeal stout put away in oak for a spell with a light dusting of cinnamon and licorice. This “proofed down” version maintains that delightful winter spicing but adds a touch more chocolate and ‒ crucially ‒ is considerably more affordable than its wax-topped inspiration. A warming dessert beer for the holiday table.

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