Chapman Crafted

Chapman is in a random area but has a large tap room that got quite crowded on a Friday night when I visited. Despite all the people, they were not uncomfortably loud and they had a good breeze going through that kept the place nice and cool on a warm night. I started with a flight of their lighter beers, pilsner, cream ale, blonde on nitro with vanilla, and hoppy lager.

The pilsner and cream ale were both fantastic. The pilsner was smooth, delicious, and full of flavor. The Cream ale was a bit more fruity than the pilsner and had a nice medium body. Both of these would be great to enjoy a few pints of. The blonde to me was the perfect balance of vanilla and creamy nitro. It was almost like drinking a cake but without being cloying sweet. Others around me found the vanilla a bit too much. The hoppy lager was very impressive with how they balanced all the flavors. It bursted with herbal hop aroma without adding any noticeable bitterness. I will be keeping an eye out for this in cans in San Diego.

After that flight, I ventured into their coffee milkshake IPA, hazy (not really) double IPA, dopplebock, and raspberry berliner. The coffee milkshake IPA was surprisingly awesome. I generally can’t stand the white stouts with lactose and coffee but I don’t think this had any lactose and the coffee complemented the tropical hop notes wonderfully. The hazy double IPA was barely hazy but it had a ton of tropical hop aroma and a good thick mouthfeel so I wouldn’t complain too much. The dopplebock was excellently done and nicely attenuated. The beer had a nice mix of notes of caramel and raisins. The raspberry berliner had a bright pink color and tons of fruit flavor with a mild tart finish. It managed to be a fruit bomb without being overly sweet.

The only negative thing at Chapman was that they only had a dry stout and no other stronger stouts so there was nothing for my husband to drink. Almost every beer was fantastic. You can find their cans in San Diego so I would recommend you try some of their lagers if you can find them, especially the hoppy lager.

Top 3:
Raspberry Berliner
Hoppy Lager
Milkshake IPA with coffee

Green Cheek

Green Cheek is about a 10 minute drive north of Chapman. They have a decent sized tasting room but it also amplifies the sound of all the people making the tasting room uncomfortably loud. on Friday nights I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was surprised when I saw that all of their hazy IPAs have lactose even though not all of them are noted on the menu. So if you are lactose intolerant or vegan, ask them before ordering any of the hazy IPAs or the sour IPA. The menu is hyper modern with a few traditional styles . I am also a huge fan of their flight pricing because it is only $6 for 4 tasters.

I had a flight of the helles, berliner weisse, nitro stout, and brut IPA. The helles was creamy and complex with light floral hops. The berliner was quite flavorful despite the low alcohol. It was super tropical with notes of papaya and pineapple. The nitro stout was a fairly standard stout, roasty and notes of caramel. The brut IPA was super dry and had notes of tropical fruit, melon, and vanilla. I ended with the sour IPA. After tasting a splash I ordered a pint and it was so good I wish I could have brought some home with me. The sour IPA is made with lactose, pineapple, guava, and passion fruit. I got tons of guava and pineapple and the lactose wasn’t too much, mostly adding to the creamy body. It was like drinking a tropical milkshake. It wasn’t particularly sour or tart so I don’t see why they don’t just call it a tropical milkshake IPA.

I really enjoyed the beers at Green Cheek but I would avoid returning on a Friday night with how loud it got. They offer a few beers in crowlers but sadly not the ones I wanted. If you see their brut IPA on tap in San Diego, I suggest giving it a try. I stopped by Green Cheek again on the way South this time on a Sunday. The atmosphere was much more to my liking and I got to enjoy a few other beers, mostly to avoid some insane traffic caused by another accident. My husband was driving most of the way South.

Top 2:
Berliner Weisse
Sour milkshake IPA