Tag Archives: IPA

Fresh Hop Ales

November 13, 2013 Paul McGuire 1 Comment

Hopefully you have tasted at least one variety of fresh hop ale in the past few years. The trend has grown over time. Don’t feel bad if you didn’t though because I didn’t hear about this idea until I was in Denver in September. I happened to stop by Great Divide Brewing and saw that they had a fresh hop pale ale at around 6%. As usual I ordered a few tasters, one of the fresh hop pale, and one of the IPA. I was so impressed by the hop flavors I tasted that I didn’t order any IPAs that night but instead a few pints of the fresh hop pale. Thankfully Great Divide Brewing has some solid distribution so I found a bottle of the Fresh Hop Pale in San Diego recently. Today I decided to open it with Sierra Nevada’s Fresh Hop Harvest Ale to see how the two compared.

To put this into some perspective, consider that the average IPA is around 6.5-7.5%. The average pale ale is between 4.5 and 5.5%. So when you have a fresh hop pale ale at 6.1 (like the Great Divide) and 6.7 (like the Sierra Nevada) it is almost like having an IPA. Sadly, only the Great Divide had an enjoy by date on the bottle so I can’t know how fresh the Sierra Nevada was when I tried it. I think they were overly generous though with the Great Divide since I found it in late October and it says enjoy by mid December of 2013.

Taste wise, both beers have a nice fresh hop on the forefront although I would say the Sierra Nevada was a bit more heavy on the malts. Both would satisfy IPA fans and hop heads and are worth checking out.

Did you try any other fresh hop beers recently? I’m interested in your suggestions in the comments.

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Woody’s Burgers

November 12, 2013 Paul McGuire Leave a comment

Besides pizza, beer goes with beer like hops and ipas. When Woody’s opened I came to love the Angus patties. Later they added on a ton of local beers. Located right off Miramar Road they are surrounded by breweries. Saint Archer is right around the corner and Rough Draft, Alesmith, and Hess aren’t far.

With sixteen different selections that change regularly you will likely find something to drink. Local ipas are common and also lighter wheat beers.

Do you like their burgers? Let me know in the comments.

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Tasting Room

Rough Draft Brewing

November 9, 2013 Paul McGuire Leave a comment

Rough Draft had a bit of a rough start. I almost didn’t want to go back after that first batch of beers. Thankfully, I heard that they had stepped it up and returned six months later to find a nice impressive selection of beers. I went back today to see how things were going and get some photos for this post.

To start with I had a taster of the Weekday session IPA. It drinks like a pale ale but is dry hopped like an IPA. The smooth taste will seem light if you are used to IPAs but it is perfect for those all-day drinking sessions where you might not want to start off with some IPA. It is also very popular at parties because it doesn’t have the bitter taste people associate with IPAs. It is one of the better session IPAs out there, along with Green Flash, and is a great one to drink if you want to have a few pints.

To move things along, I tried the Southern Triangle and Eraser IPAs. I stuck with tasters for these two and they were a bit lighter than I remembered. They had a nice crisp taste although weren’t too bitter like a Sculpin or the IPA over at New English. At a later visit I was able to distinguish the differences a little more. Though they are very close, the Southern Triangle has a bit more of the nelson hop flavor with heavy grapefruit while the Eraser is a bit more of a traditional west-coast style IPA. Both are beers that I return to quite regularly.

Southern Triangle (darker) and Eraser (lighter).

I moved on to the barrel aged strong ale. At 10% I stuck with just one 8oz pour. It had the smooth bourbon flavor you would expect. I think the strength of the beer kept it from getting an overpowering bourbon flavor like lighter beers tend to take on. The base beer has a bit of a syrupy caramel flavor and it works nicely with the bourbon.

Rough Draft is a nice place to hang out as well. It is one of the only breweries where they have couches and soft bar stools. The tasting room has a nice modern look to it and is usually at least half full. They also have a really nice lighter stout that my friends all love and a big hearty double IPA that I enjoy. They bottle most of the beers as well so you might find them in stores or pick up a bottle when you are at the brewery.

Couches are usually full but they were empty when I left.

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Tasting Room

New English Brewing

November 8, 2013 Paul McGuire Leave a comment

It’s been a while since I was last at this brewery. A while ago they had four or five solid beers and an ESB that I really liked but I wasn’t excited enough to head back for a long time. Thanks to a friend suggesting I try them, I stopped in for a pint after an evening bike ride and got to try two amazing beers that were up there with the best San Diego has to offer.

I got to try a 12oz of the Zumbar chocolate coffee imperial stout on cask to start. It impressed me from the nose alone and then once I got to taste it, the coffee was mostly overtaken by the bitter chocolate flavors. It had a nice bitter chocolate flavor that came through even on cask but was very mellow. I’m looking forward to coming back to taste it on tap some other time.

Zumbar coffee chocolate imperial stout on cask.

If you have never tried a stout or porter on cask, you are in for a treat. Both styles of beer tend to have a nice mellow flavor but the cask really smooths everything, leaving you with a creamy flavor that you can’t re-create anywhere else.

After the imperial stout on cask I went straight for the west coast style IPA called Humbly Legit. And damn, this was a legit west coast IPA. Immediately the grapefruit from the Nelson hops just hit me and I liked it. The color was in the middle between the more malty IPAs and the really hop-forward like you see from Societe’s Apprentice and Intergalactic’s Perseus. You can barely taste the malts though, and it really comes at you with that heavy hops flavor.

If you expected to be disappointed by the English style ales here, you will not find anything to hate from the Humbly Legit and the Zumbar. I also remember really enjoying the ESB the last time I was here, although I didn’t give it a fresh taste this time around. The Troopes Tipple is an English style IPA so it has a lot lighter taste than you might expect in San Diego and almost tastes like drinking a lager. Still, it has a good flavor to it that impressed the friend I came here with. Hop heads should absolutely check out the Humbly Legit.

Do you have a favorite beer at New English Brewing? Share with me in the comments.

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Best Pizza and Brew

November 7, 2013 Paul McGuire Leave a comment

Pizza and beer have been going together since before craft beer became a huge phenomenon. It seems only natural to open a pizza place with tons of beer taps. Pizza port of course did this first and even included their own beer. Along comes Best Pizza and Brew to combine big pizza slices with fresh beer from around the area.

There are plenty of options for the pizza whether you like the traditional works or something with ricotta cheese or pesto. Stop in for a slice or two or grab a full pie to share with your friends. The beer selection will satisfy most with a variety of wheat beers and ipas and the occasional stout or porter. The selection changes frequently so the list in the photo should be used to get an idea but not to rely on for your next visit.

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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San Diego Hop Addict

Tag Archives: IPA

Fresh Hop Ales

Paul McGuire

Woody’s Burgers

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Rough Draft Brewing

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New English Brewing

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Best Pizza and Brew

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Exploring San Diego's Craft Breweries