The Rotation - Beer Post

As you all know, I am an unrelenting beer snob.  Okay, snob may be too strong of a word, because I will happily drink whatever beer given to me at a party.  But if I'm going to spend my own money, I'm not going to buy Pabst.  Not that there's anything wrong with Pabst. . .okay, there totally is something wrong with Pabst, but that's a topic for another post.

Now, thanks to my days spent at the Green Leafe Tavern, I break down my beers into two categories - beer I drink to explore the world of beer, and beer that I drink because I want to drink beer.  Seems odd, but once you get into beer, you find that there are thousands of flavors in beer, from sweet to sour.  Belgium has really lead the way in this, though it does seem ironic that a country without a functioning government, and which is constantly on the verge of splitting in two, could lead the world in anything, but its true.  I have had my mind blown by the likes of Oerbier by the Mad Brewers of Belgium, Rodenbach (the first sour beer I've ever tasted, and easily the best), Allagash Interlude (from Maine, true, but very Belgium-ish). 

But, like I said, sometimes I don't want my mind blown, I just want to drink beer.  For these times, I have the Rotation - beers that I tend to buy that are almost always in my refrigerator.  Like any good rotation, I go from one beer to the other depending on mood, but I almost always come back to these beers.  So, without further ado, here are the beers that are in my rotation:


Stone Brewing - IPA - Stone is the godfather of San Diego's craft brewing scene.  Okay, maybe not the godfather, but definitely the leader, defining San Diego's brewing style for the past 15 years.  And for me, the best beer Stone produces is the IPA.  Its light, crisp, and bitter as hell - the product of a ridiculous amount of hops added to the beer that gives it its fragrance and spice.  Now, I love all of Stone's beers, but I always come back to the IPA.  Always.

Grupo Modelo - Pacifico Clara - Here's proof that I'm not a beer snob - I drink Pacifico.  Its basically Corona, but with slightly more character.  I don't know why I prefer Pacifico to Budweiser or Corona or Coors, but I do.  There, I said it.  Let's move on.


Ballast Point - Yellowtail Pale Ale - Okay, as a rule, I dislike pale ales because every craft brewer makes a pale ale.  It is, after all, the easiest beer for a homebrewer to make, and is usually the first beer that craft brewers learned to make.  As a result, most brewers hold onto the pale ale out of nostalgia.  That said, Yellowtail Pale Ale is not a true pale ale, but rather, a German style Kolsch ale.  As a result, its a sort of a cross between a pilsner and a pale ale. . .definitely a plus for a rotation beer.


Julian Hard Cider - Hard Cider - Okay, here's the curveball.  Julian Hard Cider isn't a beer at all, its a cider.  At around 7% abv, its alcohol content is pretty much like a beer, but instead of being made of barley, hops and yeast, its simply apples and yeast.  Anyway, the cider made it to the Rotation by being so damned good and food friendly.  Its completely dry, slightly acidic, smells of apples, light and crisp.  The only problem I have with this cider is that my girlfriend likes it as much as I do.

Guinness/Czechvar/Pilsner Urquell - Okay, these are three very different beers, but they fit into my foreign beers category.  While Czechvar and Pilsner Urquell are both lagers, they are completely different from Pacifico.  Specifically, both are crisp with a good amount of hops.  Seriously, try Czechvar and you'll never really want to drink Budweiser (which stole its name from Czechvar, long story) again.  Guinness, of course, is the great beer of Ireland.  And as much as I hate the conglomerate that owns the brewery (Black lager? Seriously?) I love the beer.  Whenever I'm drinking out with friends, and I don't know what to order, I'll order a Guinness.  Its my go-to beer.

So, as I said, here are the beers in my rotation.  Are they my favorites? Not really.  But they are all good beers (or ciders) in their own right.  So, if you haven't tried them yet, do so.

Pre-Thanksgiving Rant

For what seems like an eternity, the corner of 6th and Broadway, about two blocks from where I work, was empty or in construction.  About a month ago, they finally put in a brewery and restaurant.  Now being a bit of a beer snob, I was pretty stoked.  A decent brewery right by work would be kickass.

But then I walked by the place today and saw the name: Beer Company Restaurant and Brewery.  Seriously, "Beer Company?" What, were the owners too lazy to come up with a cliche Irish name? And it gets worse - the house beers are called: Brown Ale, Pale Ale, Hef, IPA, and Red Ale.  And the menu?  Well, its literally the standard pub fare.  There is absolutely no originality in the menu, in the name, or anything.

And that pisses me off because the whole point of the craft brewing movement was specifically to avoid generic beer.  Don't get me wrong, the macrobrews are just fine, but craft brewing is all about experimentation, fun, and some profit.  What's the point of brewing beer if you're going to brew the exact same beer as everyone else.  More to the point, why have a restaurant when you don't even have a name for it? Just call yourself Applebee's and be done with it.  Actually, wait, Applebee's has an original name.

Ugh.

Foodie Blogging

This idea is kinda been playing in my head for awhile.  Like half the country, I grew up eating Chinese food, and loving it.  For the most part, though, I don't eat Chinese much anymore because the Chinese restaurants in my neighborhood aren't great (though the Mandarin House isn't bad).  And that's completely strange because my neighborhood, and the surrounding neighborhoods, are some of the best restaurant areas in all of San Diego.  Its like all of the Chinese restaurants have been replaced with Thai restaurants.  Part of the problem, I think, is that many restaurants are either ridiculously outdated, cater almost exclusively to Chinese patrons.

Its the latter of these two types of restaurants - the one that caters almost exclusively to Chinese patrons - that holds the most promise.  The food at China Max, Spicy City, Ba Ren, Emerald, and others, is quite good - and its food that draws people in.  So, here's my restaurant idea for San Diego's interior - a Chinese restaurant that uses local produce as much as possible (playing into the locavore movement), and serving craft beer and cocktails. 

I got the idea from San Diego Beer Week when Ba Ren presented a beer tasting menu.  Now sure, this would be a blatant rip-off of the Linkery - and I'm sure Jay Porter has this on his agenda - but how cool would it be to have a place that could serve good beer with good Chinese food?  Look, if Jayne's Gastropub and Shakespeare's can make English food cool, how hard would it be to make Chinese food, with all of its complexity and depth of flavor, cool?