Rock & Roll Happy Hour

Music and collabs are in the very blood of Athletic Brewing, so it was an easy partnership for Althetic and The Warpped Tour to collab on a Hoppy Pale Ale called Side Stage. Bright citrus flavors with a hint of citrus and tropical hop flavors all balanced with a clean finish will have you asking your self, "are you sure this is a NA beer?"

Coming down from San Diego Craft beer week it seemed like a good idea to take a break from beer. But, I didn't want to take a break from beer so I invited the crew from Athletic Brewing to showcase what they've been working on in Beer-amar! With 5 days of non-alcoholic beers to get into, Johnn, Chris and Chris started in easy with their Golden called Upside Dawn.

Tom was gushing over what he called one of his most perfect beers while we were talking about DDH Pliny the Elder and as soon as we fired off into Tom Waits, he pulled out a bottle of Russian River's Shadow of A Doubt. Sit back and relax as he breaks down why this is only one of three beers he wouldn't do anything to change.

There's a lot of San Diego connections with Russian River including one part owner that calls Julian home. So, they make it a priority that The Pub at Lake Cuyamaca is always stocked with Russian River beer, more so this week as for SDBW they are featuring the Santa Rosa Brewery! One of the special beers on tap include this double dry hopped version of Pliny the Elder.

San Diego Beer Week is a tribute to the camaraderie amongs brewers from San Diego and beyond! Tonight O'Brien's celebrates that was a night to Kern River Brewing and friends! Lots of like-minded hop-forward brewers coming together to share the passion of their craft. Tom has brought one of the beers that fits into the bill, a collab with Brandon from SanDiegoBeer. News and McIlhenny Brewing called...

Leave it to San Diego to have an oddity like being home to possibly the only Schaerbeek Cheery grove outside of Belgium. Chad who's behind Lyon's Peak Brewing has painstakingly bought them to Jamul to focus on one time of beer, the Handgeplukte Kriek.

The first weekend of San Diego Beer Week is behind us, which means that we've got a full week of celebrating San Diego Beer left! Tom Nickle is back from O'Brien's to talk about all the different events you can be a part of starting with a fine selection from The Lost Abbey! Kicking off our week with a light freshing sour ale that showcases Peaches and White tea called Peach Afternoon.

It's the kick off of San Diego Beer Week! That means a lot of sharining and a lot of collaborations go do with all the local makers! To celebrate that BC and Scones from Kilowatt Brewing brought a collab with a former Division 23 Brewer called San Diego Dream Extra Pale Ale.

More then anything the Kilowatt crew loves to play with styles and flavors, they demonstrated that with the Pickel Beer...today BC and Scones brought a twist on the Gose style with Watermelon, Lime and a hint of Tajin. This beer may need a warning because it could be habit forming!

Playing with new hops is a brewers dream and we get the reap the rewards! The former "Experimental hop" got a new name, Dolcita so Kilowatt Brewing deicded to Live la Dolcita Loca with their new Hazy IPA. This peachy-pineappley Hazy give you all the juice with a dry and crushable finish.

It's a fad in the same way the hazy IPAs were once a fad! Today Scones and BC brought their take on a Pickle Beer, light bodied, slightly dilly with a little salinity and a WHOLE bunch of garlic. This beer is one that you'll either never touch after first sip or obsess over to the point of contemplaing your next tattoo.

The countdown to San Diego Beer Week is on! With the kick off on Friday, I figured it would be cool to have one of San Diego's more "energetic" brewies in for Last Call. Scones and BC from Kilowatt Brewing are back and swinging for the fences with their flagship IPA on a Monday. 250 KWH IPA is a 10 year old San Diego staple that rides the line between Old School and New School IPAs.

Truly a ghost of years past, one of the most beloved Double IPAs ended it's production run with Mother Earth Brewing, but the taproom in Vista is keeping the dream alive! Still brewing small batches of Hop Digitty, Andrew brought a growler of this strawberry-jam like IPA to toast Halloween with.

Project X from Mother Earth Brewing is a very cool limtied run beer that pairs visual art along with brewing arts. MEBC brewers always try and take inspiration from the art and translate it to the beer. Like with Mystical Misfit, you get all the resin notes from the Pacific Northwest Hops PLUS an almost intersteller depth thanks to Southern Hemisphere Galaxy hops.

Halfway throught the week and Andrew from Mother Earth double down on the hops (kind of). Not only did he bring their latest flagship modern IPA called Ascent, but he's also poured out something clear and very hydrating with their tasting room only offering Hop Water...but this water has it's secrets!

It always a treat around this time of year to try all the different Wet Hop beers in the market. Mother Earth does Fresh As It Gets Wet Hop IPA every year to honor that special time. Always a single hopped beer to showcase it's flavor, this year focused on the Simcoe wet hops.

It's been too long since we've seen Andrew from Mother Earth Brewing Co. in the studio! All this week we catch up on what MEBC has cooking in both their core line up and tap room exclusives, we start with not a beer....Mother Earth's tap room only Hard Seltzer.

Evolving from their surf break series, the crew from Coronado Brewing chose a bright note to end the week on. Still named after legednary surf spots, Costa Azul Grapefruit IPA takes all the best parts of the fruit and jams it togeter with a modern IPA. If you've shy'd away from grapefruit in the past, this beer just might change your mind.

A long time friendship and a one time collab turned into something beautiful. Coronado brewing has long partnered with the C4 Foundation to help Navy Seals and thier families, with Aloha Warriors IPA they put that parnership to liquid form. This beer is unique because it balances OG Dankness with modern tropical flavors.

Aidan from Coronado Brewing shocked me last year when he introduced their Nice & Dry Hard Cider, it was so well recieved that started doing seasonal one-offs which eventually spun off Super Fruit! Semi-sweet, fruit forward and packed full of blueberries.

It's always a blast to see what different brewries do when they get fresh hops. The crew from Coronado Brewing knocked this one outta the park with their Hazy IPA, Fresh Hoppurtunity.

Fresh off a trip from Denver, the crew from Coronado Brewing Company have come back with some metal from The Great American Beer Festival! All this week Aidan, Brendan and Bart swing by to share what they've been working on, starting with their Bronze Medal winning Blonde Ale, Salty Crew.

With O'Brien's Wet Hop Festival ofically kicking off Tom has rolled out the big guns! A storied single hop double IPA that still uses all wet hops. It's big on flavor, big on hops and if you don't get your fill before its gone will leave a big hole in your palate.

We've gone 180 deg around from where we were yesterday! Nickel Beer Co My Way IPA is a more in line with how IPA's are brewed today. Ligher malts and tropical hops make every sip of this beer an experience that you can only get during wet hop season.

Throwing to back to the old school. This was your Dad's IPA. Classic malt bill with those infamous "C" hops. High Country Wet Hop IPA is a modern take on what IPA's were "back in the day."