Oktoberfest - prost!

So this past weekend, I ventured over to Oktoberfest in El Cajon. Now some quick, cursory googling and yelping basically made it seem like there were two main Oktoberfests in San Diego - El Cajon and La Mesa. El Cajon was touted as the more traditional, while La Mesa was presented as bigger but a little more Street Fair-ish. El Cajon 4.5 stars, La Mesa 2. Since it was my first Oktoberfest, I figured we should go with traditional, so off to El Cajon we went!

... Does anyone know of any other Oktoberfests in San Diego? Really good ones?

This was small. Too small. The beer was good, the band was good, the food was German, but man, it got boring really fast. It was very family friendly, in a way that perhaps a celebration of beer shouldn't be. The weekend before we went to New Belgium's Tour De Fat, and that was not only free (though we made a donation, of course) but also a million times more fun!

On the flip side, how killer is this stein I bought? It's like Small World Deutschland.

After about 3 beers, and having walked through all 10 or so vendors about 7 times, we were done ... off to small bar we went, with better beer, lower prices, and a more fun crowd. I'm glad I did it, but unless there's a great Oktoberfest I'm missing out on, I'll stick to the Tour De Fat, thanks.

Still, can't beat the company!

Is it Mead you're looking for?

Yesterday, the beau and I took a jaunt up to Oceanside for the most traditional of drinks ... honey wine, mead! It's touted as the ancestor of all fermented drinks, so no wine, no beer, no gross-tastes-like-vinegar kombucha without it. And wouldn't the world be a little darker for it?

Anyway, this place is tucked away in an industrial office complex, I guess you would call it? It's a bit tricky to find, but am I ever glad we did. This mead, you guys! We tried 6 different varieties -

On tap:
Orange blossom - this was the sweetest of the bunch, with a very strong honey flavor. That sounds obvious, but when did you last have a wine that had a strong grape characteristic? This was brewed with orange blossom honey, that is, honey from bees who pollinate orange groves almost exclusively.

Ginger - this was my favorite of the first four, though if you ask nicely they may pour you a half ginger half orange blossom, which was amazing. This was pretty dry, brewed with ginger and black tea, and a wonderfully complex brew.

Sassafras - Give it a chance. The first sip was funky ... like, wasn't sure if I was gonna drink it levels of funky. But after two or three sips, this grew on me in a big way. It still wasn't my favorite - mead that reminds you of rootbeer is definitely an acquired taste - but it was definitely worth the 2 oz taster.

Sour - This was the house favorite, the guys behind the bar couldn't get enough. Truth be told, I am generally not a fan of sour beers, so I was trepidatious. But the sweetness cut the sour, and it was far more palatable than I thought it would be!

 Drinking like a nord!

Eventually, the ginger ran out (we were enjoying it a bit too much), and was replaced with the Savage Bois. Oh, the Savage Bois! Hands down my favorite ... we ended up buying two bottles, along with a bottle of the sour. We also got to try their Golden Jun, their version of kombucha but a billion times better. Brewed with honey and green tea, it's probiotic and low in alcohol (about 1.5%).

The guys behind the bar, Alex and Ryan, were great - we only planned on staying for a round, but they made it so much fun we ended up staying for a few hours and had a few glasses of mead. Deelish!

Ballast Point, India Street

Brew Tour!

San Diego is pretty well known for their beers - we have Stone, Karl Strauss, Green Flash ... the list goes on and on! Today though, we're taking a gander at Ballast Point's newest location over on India St.

I've been to a few of their locations, and while their beer tends to be a bit hoppy for my typical taste, they always have something new, fun, and worth a try. Their Little Italy location, though, takes things to a whole new level. They have experimental brews here, made by employees, that are sold nowhere else. And man, do they get crazy and delicious!

 "Dedicated to the Craft" indeed!

I tried the Agave Cream Ale, Q.U.A.F.F., and a few others that I forgot to post on ... and they were nothing if not inventive! My favorite was one the beau got, a (I think) Calico IPA on cask with  vanilla beans ... oh, oh yes, a thousand times yes. If it's still there, get it. Yowzah. Hoppy without being overwhelming, lightly sweet, and a bit spiced from the fresh vanilla, oh my. Most fun of all is that we went during ComicCon and everyone was dressed up! Our bartender had a mid-change Supergirl thing going - sweet and so adorable and knowledgeable!

Also awesome? Three tasters for $5, and a kitchen - if you go brewery hopping, you need that food to soak up all the tasty goodness. The beau says they have amazing pretzels, good enough to give Stone a run for its money, and that's saying something ... more on Stone some other time.

Follow me on Untappd @thehoppypoppy, and tell me about your favorite local brewery below!

America's Finest City

I know - so boastful, San Diego! Someone needs to pop that ego bubble ... but it's unlikely to be me. I'm a pretty big fan, to be honest.

There's so much to do, so much to see, so much to eat, so much to drink! Yeah, this is going to be a lot of restaurant and brewery reviews, but if you ever come down to visit, I'll be tagging my top spots with "Numero Uno" - follow the bouncing tag!

Hang loose, bros and brosephinas.