Rock & Roll Happy Hour

News broke last week, O'Brien's did it again! Three times in a row voted the best Craft Beer Bar in America from USA Today! Tom and Tyson from O'Brien's drop in all week to talk about that victory and the up coming St. Patrick's Day celebration. We start the week of right, with a Double IPA well known for always being on tap at O'Brien's Russian River's Pliny The Elder.

It's time for the big show! It's almost too obvious that a company with the name Tigers Blood would have their most popular beverage be a riff on that iconic Tiger's Blood Hawaiian Ice flavor. Hawaiian Punch is the beverage that will get you hooked into Tigers Blood! You may come for the punch but you'll say for the vitimans and electrolytes.

As a beverage maker its always fun to make an adult version of your favorite soda. For Marc and Walden from Tigers Blood it was Hansen's Mandarin Lime that inspired today's flavor Tangerine.

What do a rockstar and a surf legend like to drink? Tigers Blood, of course. Marc and Walden are back with another killer favor, Black Cherry. Its a scary beverage if you've ever had a Black Cherry seltzer because it taste just like it's non-alcoholic counterpart except Tigers Blood is 5% ABV.

Strap in for this week! Marc and Wladen, founders of Tigers Blood Vodka Sltzr are in the studio. This is what happens when you take a rockstar and a competitive surfer an let them make a beverage! Tigers Blood is 5% AVB vodka based seltzer that's infused with vitimans AND Electrolites! We start our journey together with their Kiwi flavor that taste a lot like you added fresh squeezed kiwi to a vod...

Wrapping up a week of non Ballast Point beers with Jeff and David from Ballast Point as they've been shocasing thier "friends" beers leading up to The Art of Beer happening on March 14th. We end with a beer that has traversed space and time to arrive in the glass we're drinking out of. Societe Brewing's The Visitor is a bright IPA that still has hits of pine with a clean and balanced finish.

With the plethora of tropical IPAs out in the market today I was surpised to see Pizza Port throw their hat in the ring with Coastin' but in true Pizza Port form they make this IPA true to style and focus on the hoppiness of their beer with a hint of tropical-ness.

It is noticably DANK in the studio and it's not because someone just dropped by the dispensary. It's because Jeff & David from Ballast Point brought in the brand new Hazy IPA from Coronado Brewing called Hazy Weekend. Adding to their "Weekend" line up of beers this hazy is exactly what you would imagine a Hazy Weekend in San Diego tasting like.

Another day that Jeff from Ballast Point, didn't bring an Ballast Point beer! Instead we sip Fall Brewing's Tora! Japanese Lager and talk about how Fall's can art really seperates them from every other 6-pack.

It's been too long since we've seen Jeff from Ballast Point in the studio, this week he drops in to talk about the upcoming Art of Beer showcase happening at Ballast Point Little Italy. The crazy thing is, this whole event is based around some of San Diego's oldest and more storied breweries and Ballast Point isn't even pouring thier own beer for it! We start things off with an offering from Karl...

MItchell from Smile Spirts hit it a few times this last week. Smile Spirts is like a vacation in a can, something that could have only been spawned in San Diego. Smile Spirits Pineapple Orange Voda Soda is what a San Diego vacation would taste like if you put it in a cocktail. A perfect blend of Pineapple and Orange with that signature Smile light carbonation and zero alcohol burn will envoke visi...

It's one of the most iconic cocktials that is also the most simple, a Cranberry Voda Soda from Smile Spirits delievers on expectations you'd have from any bartnender in your favorite spot in town.

It's a dangerous proposition putting "Spicy" on a cocktail because you can instantly cut your audience in half but for Smile Spirits it's almost a dare beacuse once you try their Spicy Vodka Mule you'll understand why there was never a regular vodka mule for them. Huge aroma of green jalapenos with that same fresh green flavor and ZERO heat or warmth!

With the San Diego sunshine (most of the time) it's hard to beat this go-to Smile Spirits cocktail, Lemonade Tea is the perfect mixture of Black Tea with Lemonade with just the right amount of carbonation. At 7% ABV this does not drink like it!

Mitchell from Smile Spirits is back! As we get into spring time, there is no time like now to get into Smile Spirits. Bringing good news of more distribution in 2026, we start with an instant classic that was suppose to be a "season beverage" their Smile Espresso Martini.

Viscus is the best way to describe todays beer. At 18% ABV Gravitas Infinitum has it's own gravitational pull. Aged for three months in bourbon barrels pulled out, then agaed again in fresh bourbon barels, then agaed again in even more fresh bourbon barrels. Finally finished with Tahitian vanilla for the perfect ending the day or blasting off into the next 10 years.

Winslow from Pure Project loves his barrel program and you can taste the passion in the glass! Today showing off their Deja Fruit Barrel Aged Sour with Nectarines and Strata hops. What makes this farmouse saison truly uinique is the once-used necatrines that offer up a very subtle addition of flavor along with the light hop addition.

Toasting to ten years of Pure Project with another Anniversary beer you'll find on tap this weekend. Going back to the "murk" with Planetary Alignement Murky IPA, is like sipping a tropical drink in paradise. Big pineapple and mango flavors with subtle hints of orange peel.

Winslow from Pure Project drops a bomb on how many Pure Project beers will be on tap during thier Anniversary party on Saturday. It's no surprise they can feature 50 plus beers when they are constatly dropping seasonals like today's West Cost Pale called Sun Rays Like Stilts. Taking it's name from Tommy Guerrro the beer, like the song drifts on like a cloud on a calm breeze. Aromas of resin, citru...

Just another reason why its near impossible for a San Diego craft beer fan to completely make it through a "dry January," this weekend finds Pure Project celebrating their 10th Anniversary! All week Winslow from Pure Project joins us in the studio to talk about what you'll find on tap this weekend including today's beer, The Force West Coast Pilsner, brewed using an experimenal hop to showcase a b...

After a week of celebration O'Brien's Tion weekend, its here! Only one beer can mark this mometious occation and that's a blend that Russian River and the O'Brien's crew put together for O'Brien's 25th Anniversary, say 'Hello' to Ovation and say 'Goodbye' if you miss it because the last kegs of it are on tap this weekend!

It is without a doubt the Grand Poobah for out of market IPAs, Russian Rivers Pliny the Elder is like a mark of honor at San Diego watering holes. Due to their strict policies on how their beer should be handeld, you'll only find it on tap in places that have high standards of excellence in their beers and O'Brien's is one of those spots! In fact outside of their Tion weekend its one of the few sp...

O'Brien's Tion Weekend approaches and while it hightlights Russian River's "Tion" beers, the brewery also has a wide range of styles outside of their speciality Belgians. Today I get to try my first Russian River Hazy IPA and from what I already know about the brewrey it 100% lives up to expectations

Russian River is known for it's IPA's from the Pliny family to one of the most OG Blind Pig, there's a flavor for everyone! Blind Pig IPA is one of my favorites because of it's brite almost "lemony" notes and it's ties back to the San Diego beer scene that Tom Nickel from O'Brien's does a fanstic job in explaning!

Kicking off the 32nd Anniversary for O'Brien's their Tion Weekend is upon us! Celebrating one of the more storied Califronia breweries Russian River makes a wide variety of well known hoppy beers as well as Belgian inspiried styles all bearing a name ending in "Tion." We'll get into one of the more rare beers on tap today with Beatification that is naturally fermented from their "Cool Ship" in Win...