My husband and I are craft beer junkies, and we live in San Diego, arguably one of the best craft beer scenes at the moment. We’re also parents. It’s pretty awesome that breweries all over San Diego allow children in their tasting rooms during the day, but let’s face it, it’s much more fun drinking beer sans kids!
So, on a recent weekend when my parents offered to take the kids for a couple of nights, I decided we needed to cram in as many brewery visits as we could. I kind of sprung the idea on the hubs and told him we were going on a North Park brewery tour and our goal was to conquer six breweries in one day, on foot. He may have thought I was crazy, but he happily went along with my plan!
A bit on our beer background first. My husband, Ben, has always loved beer and is a self-professed hophead. The hoppier the better, and he gravitates toward high ABV beers. I spent most of my life not really loving beer (how could I when PBR and Amstel Light were all I knew?!) In adulthood, I grew to like beers like Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada. I eventually started warming up to hoppy beer and quickly became an IPA devotee like my husband. I, however, tend to shy away from the higher ABV beers and prefer more of a session IPA or even a hoppy wheat.
We both count Pliny as a fave (who doesn’t?!) and also regularly drink Lagunitas IPA or Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’, Stone beers of all sorts, and Ballast Point Sculpin or Even Keel. We have an appreciation for all styles of beer, but these are what you’ll most often find in our fridge. We also have some minor home brewing experience, but nothing I’m going to brag about just yet.
North Park Brewery Tour Itinerary
Knowing the weather would be decent the day of our North Park brewery tour, I didn’t mind planning for some walking, so I mapped out a route that encompassed about 3 miles of walking in total, ending up right back where we started. I figured the walking would help burn off the calories (and the alcohol), and North Park has a ton of fun things to see along the way anyway. We had hoped to hit 6 breweries, but knew we might only make it to a few in reality. We ended up tasting 32 beers at 5 different breweries, not bad for under 8 hours! Obviously, there are a ton more places along and near this route, but here’s a map of where we ended up going:
Brunch – Urban Solace
We started with brunch at Urban Solace and had parked just North of University on 30th, which turned out to be a perfect spot. Urban Solace is absolutely ah-mazing, so it made a great place to start the day. None of the breweries open until noon anyway, so we made an 11am brunch reservation and made it to our first brewery at 12:05. My advice, eat something with a lot of carbs, you’ll be able to drink without getting too sloppy. The Roasted Porn Loin Sandwich was pretty much the best sandwich I’ve ever had, so you’re welcome, now you know what to order! Continue to Page 2…
NICE