Dirty Birds Gets Little Missed

The ABC has denied Dirty Birds Bar and Grill's new Ocean Beach location its liquor license.  The Ocean Beach planning board voted 9-2 to approve a recommendation for the license after Dirty Birds agreed to stop selling liquor after 10:00 pm, but the ABC nixed the license anyway.  Dirty Birds has already completed a partial build-out of its space in a new building at the corner of Santa Monica Avenue and Cable Street.  The ABC pulled a similar move on Little Miss Brewing's Ocean Beach tasting room in late 2017.  It looks like Dirty Birds has stopped construction and Ocean Beach is not listed on Dirty Bird's website.

What is going on?  Like the new fish restaurant, Blue Water Seafood Market & Grill, which apparently received its license to sell beer and wine, Dirty Birds would have attracted a more family-oriented crowd, at least more family-oriented than most of the bars along Newport Avenue, especially as Newport gets close to the beach.  Dirty Birds would have been good for Ocean Beach.  Mr. Moto's Pizza, which is right next to Dirty Birds in the same new building, also has an alcohol license pending, and it too, will attract a family crowd, not angry drunks.  Good luck Mr. Moto, but don't order any fresh mozzarella.

This decision makes me mad, and many of the comments on the OB Rag discussing the decision show the closed-minded thinking that pervades Ocean Beach.  Stopping Dirty Birds, and probably Mr. Moto's, is not going to stop the problems at the west end of Newport Avenue, not only that, it'll be two less spots for families to venture.  Instead, the big, elevated decks along the new, vacant building are going to make nice spots for the homeless to sleep.  

BeerAdvocate Magazine Shutters

BeerAdvocate has mailed its last magazine. Its final issue, Issue 134, will be released as a PDF in April.  I am a founding subscriber and always liked the magazine.  It did a good job promoting the craft beer industry and never shied away from tough issues.  BeerAdvocate is not going away and plans to focus its resources on its website, its festivals, and a new app.  In looking at BeerAdvocate's website, I don't see much current news, just articles from the past issues, so I guess Good Beer Hunting is now my place for general industry news, while West Coaster and a few local reporters (Brandon Hernandez, Beth Demmon and Peter Rowe) remain my source for local beer news.

I am not sold on the beer app concept.  I have the TapHunter and the San Diego Brewers Guild apps, which I never open, and I deleted Untapped years ago.  I am open to suggestions or pointers on how I can use these apps to make beer drinking better, easier, or more fun.  I hope the Alstrom brothers have an idea for a relevant beer app

Thanks BeerAdvocate magazine for twelve years of quality beer news.

Ketch and Release

I have some back reviews I need to write.  Late last year, I had a Vienna Lager from Ketch Brewing, the Brigantine restaurant group's new brewery.  The beer was Alta Mar Vienna Lager (my notes list it as a Mexican lager). The beer looked good, clear, amber and without much foam.  You could smell its yeast.  The heavy malt and yeast gave the beer a whole grain bread character.  I caught some initial pepper, too, which was the beer's highlight.  Alta Mar had a mineral quality that became more noticeable as the beer warmed.  The beer had a solid mouthful and it drank above its 5% abv. 

I found Alta Mar a fine enough beer that went well with the Mexican food at Miguel's, but it's not a beer I would go out of my way to drink again.  We sampled Ketch's Klosch and IPA, too, and Alta Mar was superior to both.  Ketch Brewing has the benefit of being sold through the Brigantine's group of restaurants.  Without this captive audience Ketch would struggle in San Diego's competitive beer market, but even with this assured distribution, Ketch needs to focus on brewing better beers. 

We like the Brigantine's restaurants, so I will have more Ketch beers to see whether there is any improvement.  Ketch has a Kearny Mesa tasting room (see link above).  The Ketch Grill and Taps is a place I want to visit, but if the beers are not improved it's good to know Eppig Brewing's waterfront tasting room is only a short walk away. 

I had a hard time finding much in the way of a website for Ketch Brewing.  Its Facebook page is the best place for information, but, like Ketch's beers, it's not great.

Little Miss Moving Ahead

SanDiegoVille has a positive article on Little Miss Brewing's expansion to San Diego's East Village and La Mesa.   I wrote about Little Miss in late 2017 after the ABC rejected its application for a tasting room in Ocean Beach after Little Miss had finished its build-out.  I am glad to read that Little Miss is moving ahead after its set-back in Ocean Beach.

My Thoughts On Societe Brewing

The news of Travis Smith's Societe Brewing exit has been quiet across the beer news sites and beer Twitter I follow.  I thought the Brew Master and co-founder's departure from one of San Diego's best breweries would have warranted a bigger commotion.

I found this passage, and its implications, from Societe's announcement marking Smith's departure important:

A company must remain nimble, and that means making lots of decisions and adjustments; the difficult kind that can mean so much in the long run. Doug’s and Travis’ visions for what they wanted the company to be and become have become increasingly divergent over the years. They no longer have the same vision, and that was the key factor necessitating this difficult but mutual decision.

There is a lot to think about in these three sentences.  I expect Societe to adopt some of the practices that have boosted other new breweries, which Societe has so far avoided.  I don't think Societe has brewed a hazy IPA, but suspect that will change.  Whether you like hazy IPAs or not, at this point in their life cycle they are not going away and their popularity is not slowing.  I have stated before that many hazy IPAs - far too many, in my opinion - lack any distinguishing flavor or character.  But when a hazy IPA is made right, it can be great.  Modern Times Beer and Burgeon Beer Company have figured out how to bring strong flavors and distinction to their hazy IPAs.  I have no doubt Societe would make fantastic hazy IPAs.

Societe has avoided canning or bottling its beers, with the exception of its barrel aged beers.  I would not be surprised to see Societe produce regular, limited release beers in cans, or even its Pupil or Apprentice IPAs.  This strategy helped Mikkeller, Modern Times, Pure Project, Burgeon, and other new breweries build their customer base, their business, and their brands.  Established breweries see the benefits of special canned releases, too, with Pizza Port putting out a new canned beer a month.

Imagine the crazy demand for a Societe four- or six-pack IPA release.  The lines at the brewery, or the rush to buy the beer on Brown Paper Bag, would rival, if not exceed, any recent release from any brewery.  Maybe, just maybe, and I know I am getting fantastical at this point, but maybe Societe could open a satellite tasting room, say in Ocean Beach, or Point Loma, or Bay Park, or on my street.

The San Diego craft beer industry is competitive and breweries need to adapt to the changing environment.  What worked in 2012 may not be right for growth and profitability in 2019.  Societe has big advantages over many breweries with whatever "decisions and adjustments" it makes.  It has an excellent reputation and its beers across the board are outstanding.  Not many breweries can make both these claims.

Societe Brewing News

Societe Brewing announced in a blog post this morning that co-founder and Brew Master Travis Smith is leaving the brewery.  The entire blog post is linked here.  This is a shock.  I will post information as I get it either here or on Twitter.

Beer Maelstrom

The closure of Reckless Brewing was fast.  So fast, I didn't even get a chance to follow it.  On March, 5, 2018, Reckless sent one of its emails that caused big controversy.  (West Coaster said the message was on Facebook but I received it via email.)  In the message, Reckless stated that it was renaming its black lager, Black Lagers Matter, and according to West Coaster, the post further "leaned on a series of African-American stereotypes, racist themes and even riffed off Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I have a dream” speech."  I did not read Reckless' whole email, stopping after a few lines thinking it was not good.

The response was fast.  Reckless issued an apology, but that was not enough.  I received another email from Reckless this afternoon, announcing that it was closing its brewery over the next few weeks.  If you are just catching up with this story, I recommend this this West Coaster article and Beth Demmon's commentary in San Diego City Beat. 

Mike Hess Expansion

Here is a West Coaster article on Mike Hess Brewing's new Imperial Beach tasting room, which soft opened last week and will expand with a deck and fire pits.  It is good to see Mike Hess Brewing getting good press.  Its Ocean Beach tasting room is a gem, filled with locals.  Mike Hess Brewing's beers do not get enough credit.  Its Claritas Klosch is outstanding, and its IPAs are excellent.  Its grapefruit IPA tastes like grapefruit, unlike some grapefruit IPAs I have had from other breweries, including a recent big name re-release.  It is also the time of year for the delicious Hooligan Irish Stout.  I don't know when I will get the chance to visit Imperial Beach, so I will have to raise a glass in appreciation next time I stop by Mike Hess's Ocean Beach tasting room.

Crowler Spillage Problem Solved

I have switched almost exclusively to crowler can fills when getting fresh beers from breweries. My lonely collection of 64 oz growlers now just take up space.  One problem I have found with the big crowler cans is that they spill everywhere when poured, no matter how slow and careful I am when filling my glass.  I heard on the Indie Beer Show Podcast that leaving the tab at a 45 degree angle helps solve messy pours.  No, this does nothing and sometimes makes dispensing worse.  I finally figured out how to fix the crowler spillage problem - make a second hole in the top of the can. 

I am not sure why I did not think of this sooner.  It is so obvious, and so simple.  You used to punch two holes in a can of Hawaiian Punch, and even a can as small as condensed milk needs two holes.  A crowler is no different.  I thought that since a crowler is just a big beer can it should pour like one.  I kept thinking it was operator error, or that somehow the crowler had been incorrectly filled and sealed, and that if I just found the right angle or speed I could fix the problem.  You'd think that after dozens of crowlers I'd have realized sooner that there was a bigger force than pour angle causing beer puddles every time I filled a glass of beer.  A crowler is no different from a can of Hawaiian Punch or condensed milk:  punch a second hole and pour your beer without a mess. 

Doing My Part

We are five days into Flagship February and I had one of those "Aha" moments.  I almost always have a flagship beer in my beer fridge:  Pizza Port's Swami's IPA.  This beer is so common around my house that I can't even find a picture of it.  This is a great IPA, picture or not.  To me, Swami's ranks as one of the top IPAs in San Diego, which means one of the top IPAs anywhere.  I plan to keep it stocked in my fridge as long as Pizza Port brews it.  I do need to take a picture of it, though.

Flagship February

The craft beer marketing idea of Flagship February is dominating my beer twitter today.  The idea is to drink flagship craft beers, like Stone Brewing's IPA, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, or Anchor Brewing's Steam beer in the month of February.  The campaign also seems like a way to direct attention away from the latest shiny object beer trend and redirect focus and sales to core beers.  What a good idea, and it's perfect for social media. 

Stone Brewing's IPA or Sierra Nevada Pale Ale are easy flagship choices.  What about flagship beers from new or semi-new breweries?  How old does a beer have to be to qualify as a flagship beer?  I am guessing Societe Brewing's Pupil IPA or Apprentice IPA are flagship beers, as well as Modern Times' Black House and Blazing World, but what about flagship beers for newer breweries like Culture, or Kilowatt, or Burgeon, or any other brewery that has opened in the past few years?  Do they even have any flagship beers yet?   I guess you drink with whatever beers are always on these new breweries' tap lists or canning/bottling schedule.  Maybe I just need to not over think this hashtag-driven promotion and crack open a doggone Stone Brewing IPA, or an AleSmith .394. 

Wait, has .394 been around long enough to be considered a flagship beer?   I'm so confused.  Hmm,.. wait a minute, I see a hazy IPA on that tap list, I think I'll just drink it while I figure out the correct definition of flagship.

Karl At Thirty - Thank You

The San Diego Reader published an article last week on the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of Karl Strauss Brewing's original Columbia Street brewery.  I did not attend the opening, but I sure went soon after it opened.  I remember it being quite the scene with a lot of people going after work and on weekends.  Those trips and Karl Strauss's beer started my love of craft beer.

We'd hit Karl Strauss for a few Amber Lagers and then head north a few blocks for some English/Irish beers at the then named Princess of Wales Pub.  I found the Karl Strauss beers superior to the harsh, metallic Harps at the less raucous pub.  But both far exceeded the endless pitchers of macro beer we drank at places out near SDSU.

Karl Strauss's Columbia brewery was not just a weekend stop for pints, it became a favorite for non-beer work lunches, even though I worked in Mission Valley, and a destination when family and friends visited San Diego.  I remember the beer battered fish and chips almost as much as the beer.  Trips to the brewery slowed over the years as other breweries opened, but the memories remain.

It is not a stretch to say Karl Strauss's Amber Lager was my formative craft beer.  It and Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale changed my beer drinking*.  Amber Lager had so much flavor without the hop bitterness of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, that I soon stopped drinking the bland Coors and Coors Light as much as I could. (My fondness for bitter hopped beers would come later.)  My search for other craft beers began, as Heineken, Harp, and other European beers that I thought offered superior flavor just did not compare to the ales being made by American craft brewers.

I am sure there are other San Diego craft beer drinkers that have similar experiences and fond memories of Karl Strauss's early days.  We are the craft beer drinker pioneers and we are indebted to Karl Strauss Brewing.  Beer drinkers today have an abundance of choices.  This was not the case thirty years ago when Karl Strauss opened a microbrew pub on a quiet street in a quiet part of a quiet downtown. Thanks Karl, and Cheers!

*  I had tried, and tried to like, Anchor Brewing's Steam Beer but I never acquired a taste for Steam.  To this day Steam is not my favorite beer.  I wonder if my craft beer conversion would have been faster if I had tried Anchor's Liberty Ale or its Porter before I tried Steam.