Most girls want chocolate, wine or flowers from their boyfriends, but the way to this girl’s heart is a beer with some hops. Luckily, I have a boyfriend who shares my love affair for craft beer.

Before Erik, my palate was dull and boring. I was content with chugging down a Coors Light or a Michelob Ultra. Two years ago he asked me to try a Stone Arrogant Bastard. Not only was the name slightly intimidating, but so was the label on the back on the bottle stating, “This is an aggressive ale. You probably won’t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth”

Even though the label basically warned me to stick with my usual fizzy yellow beer, I decided to give it a try. The taste was nothing I ever expected. I went from complacently drinking a domestic beer to finding myself actually enjoying a beer with flavor. Stone Brewing Company has become my beer of choice. The Stone Brewery World Bistro and Gardens in Escondido has been labeled by Beer Advocate magazine as the “All-time Top Brewery on Planet Earth”.

Before summer ended, Erik and I wanted to go on one last trip before the reality of school and insanely busy schedules finally sank in. I heard from a friend that Stone had opened a new location in May 2013 in Point Loma at their historic Naval Training Center called the Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens Liberty Station.

Stone’s newest venue celebrates the venue’s prior history as a U.S. Navy mess hall. Stone has also incorporated new industrial and organic features of concrete, metal, reclaimed wood, plant life, water and glass into the Brewery. The restaurant encompasses more than 23,500 square feet of indoor and outdoor dining and bars. They also have a bocce ball court and an 11,315-square-foot garden.

Once we checked into our hotel, we immediately called a cab (always be safe) to take us to the Brewery. The place was much, much bigger than the Escondido location. The beer list had about eight new beers! Finding out that this location created an assortment of new beers was our equivalent of going to Disneyland!

They had 40 beers on tap, over 100 bottles of different types of beer, and, interestingly enough, they had wine on tap! We wanted to try all these new beers, so we ordered eight four ounce tasters for just $2 each!

Without a doubt, each and every one of these beers was amazing. Our favorite out of all of these was the Commander in the Crosshairs and the Enjoy by 10.25.13. Everything was perfect: the food, the drinks, the service and the atmosphere. The bathrooms were pretty cool as well. The girl’s bathroom had a big glass wall full of old Stone bottles.

We enjoyed everything so much that we went back the next day for lunch before we had to come back home… BEST grilled cheese I’ve ever had. I highly recommend for anyone who loves Stone or any craft beer to make a trip to one of their breweries. I promise that you will not be disappointed.

Stone has changed my tastes forever and I hope they change yours too.

The Stone Brewery Point Loma List we tried:

Stone Commander in the Crosshairs- English Pale Ale/ ABV: 4.7%

Stone Burton Snatch- English IPA/ ABV: 8.4%

Stone Supremely Self-Conscious Ale- Black Session IPA/ ABV: 4.9%

Stone Enjoy by 10.25.13- Imperial/ Double IPA / ABV: 9.4%

Stone Witty Moron- Black Witbier/ ABV: 4.9%

Stone Angry & Wit Wheat IPA- American IPA/ ABV: 6.9%

Stone Great Bowman’s Beard- Scotch Ale/ ABV: 9.5 %