Thursday was International IPA day so I picked up an American IPA to celebrate with. Beer 284 was Shipyard Brewing Co Monkey Fist IPA. Piney hop flavor in this beer. Overall flavor isn’t really overpowering but at the same time not much to complain about. I could have picked many IPAs that I like better than this one but when it came time to pick a new IPA to add to this list I was sold by the label. Overall this is a descent beer, but there are so many beers coming out of the west coast from breweries that specialize in IPAs that this one gets left behind.

Friday night we headed out to San Diego to start the first weekend of birthday celebrating. We stayed with our friends Kari and Tad and started the party as soon as we got there on Friday. Beer 285 was Deschutes Black Butte Porter. This porter had a lot of chocolate in the aroma and the taste. Really impressed with the beer. Had it before heading out to Seven Grand, which is a new whiskey bar in San Diego. Had a little bit of whiskey there, then a few beers like Rasputin and Ports Wipeout IPA.

Saturday we started the day at the Stone Brewery. Beer 286 was Stone’s IPA Wet Hoped with Cascades served from a cask. Although I have had the Stone IPA the wet hop made this a completely different beer. The aroma was so strong and smelt just like fresh hops. This beer was one that I sipped on and made sure to enjoy because its not one that I will come across again. Because of the size of our group and time we got to Stone we weren’t able to do brewery tour. But I can say that the facility is beautiful and be beer is awesome. This was my first visit there, and I am looking forward to returning in a couple of weeks.

Beer 287 was Port Brewing’s Summer Pale Ale. I had this one when we stopped at Lost Abbey/Port. This pale ale has lots of hop flavor. Grapefruit and citrus are the most present flavors from the hops. This was the second stop of the day for us. When we go there I was looking or a beer that I didn’t have that was also a IPA or Pale Ale. This Summer Pale Ale fit the bill and delivered. The facility was closer to you average tasting room. It was pretty crowded while we were there and that was expected with the quality of the beer that is being brewed and served by the brewery.

Our next stop was Ballast Point. We were able to get on the tour while we were there. This tour was informative and entertaining. After the tour I drank beer 288, Ballast Point Dorado Double IPA. Its nice to have beers this good on tap from the source. You know the beer is fresh so you are getting all the flavors and aromas that the brewer intended. Lots of hops in this double IPA. As far as Ballast Point beers go I have to say I prefer Sculpin, but this Dorado is awesome. Ballast Point is a brewery that knows what it is doing when it comes to making big hoppy beers.

After Ballast point we headed over to El Dorado bar for their Beer and Cocktail Showcase. I started there with beer 289, Monekey Paw Waypoint 730. This pale ale had a bit of a tangy aftertaste. Wasn’t a big fan of it so I didn’t return to the booth for the other beer they were offering. Not too much flavor, and with other great local breweries I decided to go with other breweries for the rest of the night. I used two sampler cups at a time to make sure that the beers I was trying could count as a real beer and not just a small taster. And it also helped that not all the breweries were too strict with marking the drink cards.

Beer 290 was Green Flash’s Park West Porter. I did enjoy this one alot. Roasted malt and coffee flavors in both the aroma and the taste. The tap was labeled porter, but I did not remeber ever seeing a Green Flash porter on the shelves of any bottle stores. I later discovered that this specific beer is part of their San Diego beer series that is only available down in San Deigo, directly from Green Flash. It is beers like this that make beer fest fun since I don’t know when I’d end up being able t o try the Porter.

Beer 291 was The Beer Co’s Dark IPA. I’m assuming that the beer might have a name other just the style that it is, but the chack tap handle only said “Dark IPA” and the employee serving the beer only called it the same. The cool thing about the set up at this booth is the hoses from the cooler were running through a filter that was filled with hops. I had never had this Dark IPA so I can’t say how much flavor or aroma was added to the beer, but the novelty was definitly there. I would say this is an average IPA. A little maltier, but the flavor from the hops was still there. More on the piney side than anything else. Good beer, and the people serving it seemed to be having a good time.

Also from The Beer Co, beer 292 was their Imperial Stout. This was ran though the same filter that the Dark IPA went through. The stout had a much stronger flavor on its own so if the hops in the filter were doing anything it was much more subtle. This brewery was not too bad. If the food is good I think it would be a cool place to check out in San Diego. The people working the booth definitly did a good job selling the product. Descent product, but there are so many good breweries in San Deigo I can see these guys getting lost in the shuffle.

Sunday morning we stopped for brunch on the way home. Beer 293 was Karl Strauss Wreck Alley Impreial Stout. This was a good beer, but probably a little on the heavy side for brunch, especially after the previous day was filled with beer, pizza, and Thai food. I was pretty impressed wiht the Karl Strauss brunch, good offering of food and good quality as well. The beer was very dark, minimal head, lots of alcohol in the aroma, but not too hot of a taste. Beer and food were a nice end ot the weekend.

The weekend as a whole were a great way to start off the birthday celebrating. I’m going to streatch the celebrating out as long as I can since most the celebrating will revolve around beer, and who doesn’t like that.