San Diego Beerventure: Day Three

During an amply sufficient breakfast of In-N-Out cheeseburgers, we charted our course for the last day of our beerventure in San Diego.  While I was a bit intrigued with all the secret menu choices that everybody seemed to know but me, the sight that caught my attention was when an order of fries came out "animal style."  Unable to identify all the ooey gooey toppings, I diligently loaded up knowing that a full day of exploring would fill our day up until boarding our 8:45pm flight.

San Diego Brewing Company
www.sandiegobrewing.com
The rich history of this brew pub's namesake prompted it to be our first stop.  Originally opening nearly 120 years ago, the brewing company became the largest manufacturing business in the country.   Replaced by the Pacific Fleet base in 1942, today's SDBC resides by Qualcomm Stadium.  With forty some taps, nine of which were their own, the decision of what to try was a bit difficult.  Going with SDBC's own, ten hefty samples soon arrived.  The most notable of these were the Callahan's Blueberry Wheat and Lakshmi Imperial Red.  The Blueberry Wheat was clear and crisp, with sweet yet tart blueberry flavors.  A welcomed refreshing and thirst quenching sip on a warm SoCal afternoon.  The hophead in me gravitated towards the Imperial Red.  Hoppy in all the right places, I preferred this to their house IPA.

Societe Brewing Company
societebrewing.com
The empty patio outside of this brewery was calling my name to bask in its sunshine before I could even make it out of the car.  Simple yet exquisite, this 16,000 square foot space features a large tasting room area that is right in the middle of the action.  Opening just a year ago with some distinguished Russian River Brewing Company and The Bruery alums, Societe seemed to be off to a solid start.  Getting quick sips of their IPAs, I chose a pint of The Pugilist.  This Dry Stout was a surprisingly good pairing with that aforementioned patio basking.

Stone Brewing Company
www.stonebrewing.com
With the availability of Stone beers back home, we hadn't planned on visiting this brewery.  It seemed out of the way and with so many to try within the city limits, we figured that this could be one to skip.  Disappointed and thirsty at a nearby brewery, we decided to make the five minute drive to Escondido.  Highly recommended by every beer lover privy to our adventure, we pulled into what seemed to be a fancy multi story office building.  Walking through the doors proved to be a different scene.  A gorgeous 360 degree bar sat in the middle of their World Bistro and Gardens.  

Dozens upon dozens of tables sat in the sunshine outside on their patio, which happened to be at the very edge of their gardens.  Enjoying an Enjoy By 5-17-13 Imperial IPA and freshly made hummus, our eyes ventured out to see just how far that lush landscape stretched.  Refilling our pints, we embarked on a walk around the grounds.  Adirondack chairs made from old barrels were found in every nook of the property, by the stream filled with turtles and tucked away among the shrubs.  What started off as a five minute walk turned into a two hour garden respite.  Stone not only exceeded our expectations beer wise, the ambiance of their lush gardens made this a must visit to anyone that ventures down to Southern California for beer.