Three Breweries: Ballast Point, Hess, and Green Flash

The three breweries we went to on Wednesday couldn't have been more different.

Ballast Point - in an office park, big tap room, quiet during the day. They had a number of good beers, and Chris really liked the Sculpin IPA. I liked the Wahoo Wheat. It was nice - quiet, nice people working there, low key.



Hess - in an industrial park, whole public area was the size of my living room, people everywhere since I think it was Food Truck Wednesday. They call it a nano brewery, and we had just a couple of samplers - they were good. We did not stay long. Ha!

Green Flash - enormous area, like a giant party, thirty-ish taps on the wall, served 12 different beers. We bought a few for home, I really like the saison. Marketing genius...also had a good truck outside.



We have some great ideas for JM and the new brewery - these places really know how to pull the public in and keep them there. For a Wednesday, it was like a Saturday night!

Lunch at Neighborhood

After we got back from La Jolla, we walked down to a restaurant called Neighborhood - heard they had good food and a great beer list. We went in, and my mouth was watering just thinking about another Pliny. I looked over, the tap handle was there...and then she said, "Oh, we are out of that."

Then. Take. The. Tap. Handle. Down.

In any event, we got salads and split a burger. All were actually fantastic. I had the beet salad and WOW, super good. I was pleasantly surprised - great food. Crabby about the beer.

Breakfast in La Jolla

We had breakfast in La Jolla on Wednesday at this cute little place called the Cottage. Great food, lovely little California bistro. We then went for a walk down to the beach. It was pretty windy yesterday, so not as warm as it had been, but the sun was shining and it was beautiful!

I wonder what it would be like to live somewhere like La Jolla, right on the ocean, weather beautiful all the time. Would you appreciate it? I'm not sure - but I could definitely spend time here just relaxing and looking at the view.

Off to La Jolla and More Breweries!

We are off to La Jolla this morning, and then to three more breweries - Green Flash, Ballast Point, and Hess. We already have one box of "souvenirs" to ship home...we may have another one after today. Looks like it is going to be a beautiful day!!

Dinner with CG and EG

Last night Chris and I had dinner with CG and EG - I worked with CG almost nine years ago on a software project, and he was a consultant. We had such a fantastic time!! It's good to connect with old friends that are not only wonderful, but make you laugh your ass off. So thanks to CG and EG for having dinner with us - it made our trip!!

A Day at the Breweries

On Tuesday, we dedicated most of the day to breweries - Stone and Lost Abbey/Port Brewing. Stone was pretty cool - got there at 11:00, signed up for the noon tour, had a sampler (the Ruination IPA on tap is to die for), went on the tour, and then had lunch there. So the food is good, but REALLY expensive. Glad we ate there, the grounds were beautiful, and the inside was pretty cool too.





We then went to Lost Abbey and had a couple of samples - good beer, bought a few bottles for home!!

Toronado and The Linkery

Why don't we have a bar like Toronado at home? We went there for a beer before dinner.

I had not one, but TWO PLINY THE ELDER! Maybe it is just 'cuz you can get a crazy selection of really amazing IPAs, maybe it is just because you can get Pliny on tap, maybe it is just the cool ambiance, maybe it is because they are so nice and give you great suggestions and ask about where you are from. Whatever, it was fan-tastic.

Chris had a Pliny and the Red Barn Ale from Lost Abbey - wicked good Saison. We are going to Lost Abbey today (Tuesday) so maybe we can get some for home!!



We also ordered the Bar Nuts, and they came in a bowl that held about three cups of nuts. A bit much? Yes, but they were damn good.

We then went to The Linkery for dinner - sausage is their game. And what a game it is! I will let the picture speak for itself...