What’s Tapping (7/20/23)

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!

• Abnormal Beer Co. (Rancho Bernardo): 3-DPO German-style Pilsner, 5% – BUY ONLINE
• AleSmith Brewing (Miramar): Ever Faithful Double Dry-hopped Double Hazy IPA, 8% – BUY ONLINE
• Artifex Brewing (Oceanside): See Ya Later West Coast Double IPA, 8%
• Athletic Brewing (Miramar): Tropical Reset Non-alcoholic Piña Colada Sour Ale, < 0.5%
• Ballast Point Brewing (Miramar, Little Italy, Morena): Oh, Are They? Schwarzbier, 5.8%
• Ballast Point Brewing (Miramar, Little Italy, Morena): Piper Bock Scottish-style Bock, 6.75
• Barley & Sword Brewing (North Park): The Edwin Fox English-style IPA, 5.3%
• Barley & Sword Brewing (North Park): Orkney Scottish-style Export Ale, 4.7%
• Barrel & Stave Brewing (Vista): Almond N Joy Milk Stout w/ Almond, Coconut, Vanilla & Cacao, 7%
• BattleMage Brewing (Vista): Speak with Dead IPA, 6.6%
• Bear Roots Brewing (Vista): Philadel-IPA Sour IPA, 6.7%
• Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad, Escondido, Little Italy): Campsite IPA, 6.7%
• Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad, Escondido, Little Italy): Peak Presence Hazy Double IPA, 8%
• Creative Creature Brewing (El Cajon, San Marcos): The Grim Reefer Milkshake IPA w/ Blueberry, Acai, Taro, Raspberry, Vanilla & Terpenes, 8% – BUY ONLINE
• Creative Creature Brewing (El Cajon, San Marcos): Milk of the Siren Green Milk Milkshake Ale w/ Orange, Passionfruit, Kiwi, Orange Blossom & Vanilla, 5%- BUY ONLINE
• Deft Brewing (Morena): DeftHopt Rustic Hazy-ish IPA, 5.6%
• Deft Brewing (Morena): Deft Leicht Leichtes Helles-style Lager, 3.4%
• Deft Brewing (Morena): Not-So-Austere Abbot Belgian-style Blonde Ale, 6.8%
• Deft Brewing (Morena): Sunset in Bruges Flanders-style Red Ale, 5.9%
• Duck Foot Brewing (Miramar, Leucadia): Orange Creamsicle Beer Slushie, 5%
• Fall Brewing (North Park, South Park): Out On An Island New Zealand-hopped Pilsner, 4.4%

• GOAL. Brewing (North Park): Bred Ones Hazy IPA, 6.4% *
• GOAL. Brewing (North Park): Chicago Ones Hazy IPA, 6.7% *
• GOAL. Brewing (North Park): Metallic Blue Ones Hazy Petite IPA, 5.7% *
• GOAL. Brewing (North Park): Racing Yellow West Coast IPA, 6.7% *
• GOAL. Brewing (North Park): Speed Yellow West Coast IPA, 6.2% *
• GOAL. Brewing (North Park): Suchen Helles-style Premium Lager, 5% *
• Harland Brewing (Scripps Ranch, South Park, Bay Park, Carmel Valley): Melona Sour II Sour Ale w/ Kiwi, Honeydew Meon & Mango, 6%
• Harland Brewing (Scripps Ranch, South Park, Bay Park, Carmel Valley): Vino Noir Oaked Dark Lager w/ Syrah Grapes, 5%
• Helix Brewing (La Mesa): N&N’s New Zealand-hopped IPA, 7%
• Helix Brewing (La Mesa): Surveza Mexican-style Lager, 4.5%
• Hopnonymous Brewing (Kearny Mesa): The Dorsty Lion Belgian-style Golden Strong Ale, 8.3%
• InZane Brewing (Vista): Pearadise IPA w/ Pear
• Jacked Up Brewery (Escondido): Honey Pale Ale, 5%
• Jacked Up Brewery (Escondido): Reaper Spicy Pale Ale, 6%
• Ketch Brewing (Kearny Mesa): Zwickelbier Unfiltered Pilsner, 5.5%
• Lightning Brewing (Poway): Thunderweizen Ale Bavarian-style Hefeweizen, 5.5%
• Mcilhenney Brewing (Alpine): Valley Breeze Double Dry-hopped New Zealand-hopped IPA, 6.5%
• Modern Times Beer (Point Loma, North Park, Encinitas): Decahex 10th Anniversary Bourbon Barrel-aged Imperial Stout, 16.2%
• Modern Times Beer (Point Loma, North Park, Encinitas): Forest of Sight Saison w/ Raspberry, 5.8%
• Modern Times Beer (Point Loma, North Park, Encinitas): MT10 Hazy Double IPA, 9%
• Modern Times Beer (Point Loma, North Park, Encinitas): Monsters’ Park Espresso Macaroon Stout, 13.2%
• Modern Times Beer (Point Loma, North Park, Encinitas): Opinions of Reality: Pecan Pie Edition Barrel-aged Barleywine, 13.2%
• Modern Times Beer (Point Loma, North Park, Encinitas): Zip Line West Coast IPA w/ Terpenes, 6.5% (California Craft Brewers Association Collaboration)

* denotes opening-day beer

• My Yard Live Beer Co. (San Marcos): Life Gose On Gose, 4.1%
• My Yard Live Beer Co. (San Marcos): Red Rover American Amber Ale, 5.4%
• New English Brewing (Sorrento Valley): Humbly Legit IPA, 7.5%
• Night Parade Brewing (Scripps Ranch): Siren Song West Coast IPA, 7.4%
• North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers Hill): Art Is Hard Double Dry-hopped Hazy IPA, 7% – BUY ONLINE
• North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers Hill): Night of the Ninja Hop Zombies Triple Dry-hopped Hazy Double IPA, 8.5% (collaboration w/ Beer Zombies & Black Ninja) – BUY ONLINE
• North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers Hill): Simcoe Slammer West Coast Pilsner, 4.5% – BUY ONLINE
• North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers Hill): Space Dojo Double Dry-hopped West Coast IPA, 6.8% (collaboration w/ Casa Agria Specialty Ales) – BUY ONLINE
• Northern Pine Brewing (Oceanside, Carmel Valley): Rolling Pineapples IPA w/ Pineapple, 6.8% (California Craft Brewers Association collaboration)
• Poor House Brewing (North Park): Continuous Drift Sour Ale, 7%
• Protector Brewery (Miramar): Pale Rider Citra Pale Ale, 5%
• Pure Project Brewing (Vista, Carlsbad, Miramar, North Park, Bankers Hill): Kira-Kira Japanese-style Lager, 5.2%
• Quantum Brewing (Kearny Mesa): 650 Nanometers Irish-style Red Ale, 6.8%
• Rip Current Brewing (San Marcos, North Park): Lupulin Lust Double IPA, 9%
• Rouleur Brewing (Carlsbad): Bunny Hop West Coast IPA w/ Superdelic Hops, 6.3%
• Seek Beer Co. (North Park): Advance Notice Hazy Double IPA, 8.6%
• Thr3e Punk Ales Brewing (Chula Vista): Old Glory Dry-hopped German Lite Lager, 4%
• WestBrew (Vista, Del Mar, East Village): WestBrew Pils German-style Pilsner, 5.2%
• Wild Barrel Brewing (San Marcos, Temecula): Catch You On The Hazy Side Hazy Juicy IPA, 7.5%

Gene Fielden | North Park Bottlecraft Manager

Cellarmaker Dobris | Pale Ale (5.7%): A flagship beer from Cellarmaker Brewing, only espied once beforehand in San Diego a year and a half ago in cans, Dobris is an all-Citra pale ale. It’s light-bodied yet aromatically hoppy…in other words, ideal for the forthcoming heat wave. Golden Promise malt from Scotland‒an innovative choice for this style of beer‒provides a Golden Grahams impression, while Citra imparts tropical tones. The dancing pineapples on the label complete the picture.

Anchor Steam | California Common (4.9%): Last week’s sudden news of Anchor Brewing’s impending closure hit like a thunderbolt. As someone who was born in San Francisco and works in craft beer, the unsentimental jettisoning of such an iconic piece of history hit me in a twofold manner. Whether your last Anchor Steam was consumed decades ago or yesterday‒and regardless of whether that beer is to your taste‒the influence and impact of the brewery’s resurrection by Fritz Maytag in 1965 is undeniable. Arguably a foundation stone for our entire craft-beer culture, Anchor helped bring all manner of hitherto obscure types of beer to general attention. For those of a certain age, Anchor Porter and Old Foghorn Barleywine may well have been their first exposure to those respective styles, and thus a “Eureka!” moment in a bottle. The final shipment of Steam‒one of the very few styles native to this hemisphere‒arrives at Bottlecraft on Tuesday the 18th of July. Afterwards, it will have faded only into memory.

Fremont Rusty Nail | Bourbon Barrel-aged Stout (12.3%): Full disclosure: I do not typically care for cinnamon or licorice in beer. Yet, I adore Rusty Nail. This is a neat trick to pull off‒who better than Fremont to achieve it so effortlessly? A massive oatmeal stout base with brewer’s licorice is then aged on cinnamon bark before 15 months’ rest in bourbon barrels, resulting in a brooding beast of a beer. With their signature overlong wax treatments drooping as far as the bottom of the bottle, Fremont’s barrel program and branding are second to none.

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