What’s Tapping (5/21/26)

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 staff recommendations about beers they are excited about that can be found at their bottle shop locations in North Park, Little Italy and Point Loma!

Artifex Brewing (Oceanside): Beer Paper Pale Ale, 5.5%
Artifex Brewing (Oceanside): Cloudy Boi Hazy Double IPA, 8%
Athletic Brewing (Miramar): Fruited Fields Radler w/ Raspberry, Grapefruit & Blueberry – PURCHASE ONLINE
Ballast Point Brewing (Little Italy): Blurred Hazy IPA, 6.4%
Ballast Point Brewing (Little Italy): Lazy Days Session IPA, 4.1%
Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad, Vista, Escondido, Downtown): Beach Daze Double Dry-hopped Hazy IPA, 6.3% – PURCHASE ONLINE
Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad, Vista, Escondido, Downtown): Swingin’ Pine IPA, 6.9% – PURCHASE ONLINE
Culture Brewing (Solana Beach, Encinitas): 3 Citrus Gose, 6.1%
Deft Brewing (Bay Park): Deftoberfest Pils German-style Pilsner, 5%
East Village Brewing (East Village): Flight of the Peach Ale w/ Peach, 7%
Fall Brewing (Miramar, North Park, South Park): Park Life Hoppy Lager, 4.7% (collaboration w/ BLAH Brewing)
Good Pressure Brewing (Allied Gardens): New Zealand IPA, 6.8%
Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): As the Pendulum Swings Double Dry-hopped West Coast IPA, 7.2% – PURCHASE ONLINE
Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): Bier German-style Helles Lager, 5.2% – PURCHASE ONLINE
Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): Forced Optimism Double Dry-hopped Hazy IPA, 7.6% – PURCHASE ONLINE
Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): Parking Lot Tattoos Double Dry-hopped Hazy IPA, 7% – PURCHASE ONLINE
Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): Thinking with My Face Double Dry-hopped Hazy Double IPA, 8.6% – PURCHASE ONLINE
Green Cheek Beer Co. (Oceanside): Zombi Shark Fight Italian-style Pilsner, 5.2% – PURCHASE ONLINE

Harland Brewing (Scripps Ranch, 4S Ranch, Bay Park, South Park): Calamansi Meringue Pie Pastry Sour Ale w/ Calamansi, Marshmallow, Vanilla, Graham Cracker & Brown Sugar, 6% (collaboration w/ Ambitious Ales)
Harland Brewing (Scripps Ranch, 4S Ranch, Bay Park, South Park): Strawberry Sticks Pastry Sour Ale w/ Strawberry Milk Powder, Strawberry Ice Cream & Vanilla, 5%
Helix Brewing (La Mesa): Haze for Horses Hazy IPA, 7%
Hopnonymous Brewing (Kearny Mesa, Normal Heights): Daddios Pale Ale, 5.8%
Hopnonymous Brewing (Kearny Mesa, Normal Heights): No Siree Bob Hazy IPA, 6.8%
Hopnonymous Brewing (Kearny Mesa, Normal Heights): Oh Really? Cold IPA, 6.8%
Karl Strauss Brewing (Downtown, Sorrento Mesa, 4S Ranch, Carlsbad): Wes Coast Pils West Coast Pilsner
Ketch Brewing (Kearny Mesa, Downtown, Point Loma): Red, White & Brew American IPA, 7.3%
Koobrew (Miramar): Double Dry-hopped Pale Ale, 5.5%
Koobrew (Miramar): Japanese Dark Lager, 5.5%
Koobrew (Miramar): Old School West Coast IPA, 6.8%
Latchkey Brewing (Bay Ho): Garage Fridge West Coast IPA, 7.2%
Mason Ale Works (Barrio Logan): Hop Dogs IPA, 7.1%
Mcilhenney Brewing (Alpine): Highest Times Triple IPA, 11%
Mcilhenney Brewing (Alpine): OnCORE West Coast IPA, 6.2%
Mike Hess Brewing (North Park, Downtown, Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach, Alpine): Apricot Hop Cloud Hazy IPA, 7%
Mike Hess Brewing (North Park, Downtown, Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach, Alpine): Free the Trail Pale Ale, 5.5%

Mike Hess Brewing (North Park, Downtown, Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach, Alpine): R&D Pickle Beer, 5%
Mike Hess Brewing (North Park, Downtown, Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach, Alpine): Tanada Japanese-style Rice Lager, 4.6%
New English Brewing (Sorrento Valley): Por Favor Pilsner, 4.8%
North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers Hill, Pacific Beach): The Dankmobile Double Dry-hopped West Coast IPA, 7.1% – PURCHASE ONLINE
North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers Hill, Pacific Beach): Waka Round the Sun Triple Dry-hopped Hazy Double IPA, 8.5% – PURCHASE ONLINE
North Park Beer Co. (North Park, Bankers Hill, Pacific Beach): Worth a Squiz New Zealand-style Pilsner, 5.4% – PURCHASE ONLINE
Pizza Port Brewing (Carlsbad, Solana Beach, Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach): Happy Logger Hoppy Lager, 5% (collaboration w/ Shoots Beer Co.)
Pure Project Brewing (Vista, Carlsbad, Miramar, North Park, Bankers Hill): Murkshake Murky Triple IPA w/ Strawberries & Vanilla – PURCHASE ONLINE
Pure Project Brewing (Vista, Carlsbad, Miramar, North Park, Bankers Hill): Sunset Crush Cream Ale w/ Strawberry & Vanilla, 5.8% – PURCHASE ONLINE
Seek Beer Co. (North Park): Notable Notes Hazy IPA, 7%
South O Brewing (Oceanside): Intergalactic West Coast Pilsner, 5.4%
Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station (Point Loma): 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Ale Belgian-style Strong Dark Ale w/ Oak, Tangerine & Vanilla, 8.6%
Sunny Grove Brewing (Santee): Rage Bait Hazy Pale Ale, 5.9%
TapRoom Beer Co. (North Park, Pacific Beach): Underlying Theory Extra Pale Ale, 5.2%
Weir Beer Co. (Vista): It’s a Beer! Italian-style Pilsner, 4.6%
Weir Beer Co. (Vista): Pi-Stashe-io Pistachio Hard Seltzer, 10%

Gene Fielden | Bottlecraft North Park Manager

If you could only drink three beers for the rest of your life, what would they be? It is all too difficult to winnow it down, but here is my game attempt! What are your “desert island” beers? Email us and let us know!

Russian River Blind Pig | West Coast IPA (6.25%): Before Russian River Brewing opened their Windsor facility, Blind Pig was not to be found in bottles around San Diego. Locating it on draft in my neighborhood ‒ whether at the now-shuttered Toronado, Tiger! Tiger! or eternal survivor Live Wire ‒ was reason for jubilation, and usually caused me to stop reading the draft-list any further. Carrying on the name of Vinnie Cilurzo’s first brewery, a Temecula operation that was active in the mid-to-late 1990s, Blind Pig is a marvelous expression of classic Pacific Northwest hops, with that ineffable citrus/pine dichotomy that forms deep memories. The lower ABV (alcohol-by-volume) ‒ especially compared to bigger brother Pliny the Elder ‒ means that Pigs often come in multiples. Cheers!

Augustiner Lagerbier Hell | Helles Lager (5.3%): A returning champion! Few beers have given me more pleasure to profile in the (virtual) pages of this publication than this one. Augustiner has been brewing for nearly seven centuries (!) in Munich and is arguably the best of the “big six” breweries that have their own tents at Oktoberfest. Hitherto only their Edelstoff (a heftier pale lager) and Maximator (a sturdy doppelbock) had been exported to the United States. Whenever I am in Germany visiting family or friends however, it is the Lagerbier Hell that animates me. An absolutely pitch-perfect helles, this beer has endless sparkle and brightness. I used to pack a pile of bottles in my return luggage; it brings a smile to my face that it is regularly available on our shelves now. Prost!

Stiegl Grapefruit Radler | Radler (3.2%): Fun fact: the word for bicycle in German is farhrrad, literally meaning “drive-wheel”. This is often shortened to simply rad, especially when stating by which mode of transportation one traveled ‒ mit dem rad (with the wheel) means “by bike”. A radler is therefore a bicyclist! Originally a Bavarian combination of pale lager and lemonade dispensed in equal parts on draft (so as to be thirst-quenching but not intoxicating, ensuring the ability to bike in a straight line), the style has evolved to encompass all manner of soft drinks. The best one ever created, however, is that of Stiegl in neighboring Salzburg just over the Austrian border, which incorporates grapefruit soda in place of the lemonade. Spritzy, citric, light-bodied and refreshing, this is also a requirement in my household when sipping mezcal. ¡Salud / Prost!

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