Rock & Roll Happy Hour

Evolving from their surf break series, the crew from Coronado Brewing chose a bright note to end the week on. Still named after legednary surf spots, Costa Azul Grapefruit IPA takes all the best parts of the fruit and jams it togeter with a modern IPA. If you've shy'd away from grapefruit in the past, this beer just might change your mind.

A long time friendship and a one time collab turned into something beautiful. Coronado brewing has long partnered with the C4 Foundation to help Navy Seals and thier families, with Aloha Warriors IPA they put that parnership to liquid form. This beer is unique because it balances OG Dankness with modern tropical flavors.

Aidan from Coronado Brewing shocked me last year when he introduced their Nice & Dry Hard Cider, it was so well recieved that started doing seasonal one-offs which eventually spun off Super Fruit! Semi-sweet, fruit forward and packed full of blueberries.

It's always a blast to see what different brewries do when they get fresh hops. The crew from Coronado Brewing knocked this one outta the park with their Hazy IPA, Fresh Hoppurtunity.

Fresh off a trip from Denver, the crew from Coronado Brewing Company have come back with some metal from The Great American Beer Festival! All this week Aidan, Brendan and Bart swing by to share what they've been working on, starting with their Bronze Medal winning Blonde Ale, Salty Crew.

With O'Brien's Wet Hop Festival ofically kicking off Tom has rolled out the big guns! A storied single hop double IPA that still uses all wet hops. It's big on flavor, big on hops and if you don't get your fill before its gone will leave a big hole in your palate.

We've gone 180 deg around from where we were yesterday! Nickel Beer Co My Way IPA is a more in line with how IPA's are brewed today. Ligher malts and tropical hops make every sip of this beer an experience that you can only get during wet hop season.

Throwing to back to the old school. This was your Dad's IPA. Classic malt bill with those infamous "C" hops. High Country Wet Hop IPA is a modern take on what IPA's were "back in the day."

Sierra Nevada Harvest is universally accepted at the original wet hop IPA, but since they don't distribute that outside the brewery fans in San Diego have to make their own versions. Nickel Nickel from O'Brien's and Nickel Beer Co is one of those fans! Rolling out his own Harvest inspired beer, Children of the Rye plays on that Harvest inspiration but puts a little more kick in the malt bill with some rye.

It's Wet Hop Season! Like grapes hops are harvest once a year and before they become pelletized, Cryo-ised and Dynaboosted growers will set a side a portion of the harvest to ship directly to the brewers so that the flower goes from cut to kettle within 24-48 hours. For brewers that like to play around with the different flavors that hops yeid, this is playtime! Tom Nickel from Nickel beer brings one of his own Wet Hop beers that features Ramona grown hops that he called Valley of the Sun Wet Hop Pale Ale.

Peter from AleSmith teased us on Monday about this, a new cocktail in a can! Speedway Espresso Martini. A perfect nightcap for the evening; Vietnamese Coffee, vodka, demerara sugar and served under nitro makes this a classy way to wrap up the night or get one started.

AleSmith Speedway Stout is an iconic San Diego classic. Ominous dark color thanks to a hefty dose of malts and a healthy dose of coffee. This beer offers a wide open canvas for flavors and experiences. This variation features Vietnamese Coffee and Coconut!

AleSmith Party Tricks IPA on it's own is a fantastic IPA full of cirtus and passion fruit notes. During wet hop season you can take an already fantastic beer and kick it up a notch and that's what the brewers did! This brewery only Wet Hop Party Tricks IPA gives you all the expected flavor with this little added hint of lemon.

It always rises from the grave around this time, a beer so red that you might beleive it was brewed in blood. If you don't see it first you'll know it from it's intense aroma of pine and citrus, AleSmith's Evil Dead Red is back and we take a bite out of this hoppy seasonal beer that's perfect for your Halloween party.

It's been far too long since we've had Peter from AleSmith in the studio, so this week we get him to take a break and drink some beers as we get ready for the Rancho Beer-nardo festival this weekend. We kick things off with an amazingly crushable lager that might have you convinced that you're enjoying a Peach soda or maybe even a peach seltzer.

I'm my not so humble opinion I think I saved the best Oktoberfest beer for last. A brewery long rooted in it's German heritage, Karl Strauss' Oktoberfest offers the perfect balance of malty goodness, mixed with the perfect hop presence and a clean finish. If I'm holding a full stein at home, it's full of this beer.

So, I may have shopped a bit faster then I should have when picking up beers this week. I had originaly planned to feature a few Festbeirs and a few Marzen sytle beers. I THOUGHT when I saw Festival Lager on the can it was a Festbier, after opening the can and reading the rest of the label I was wrong...but in the best way possible. Let's get into Smog City's Smogtoberfest!

Take the godfather of Pale Ales and put them with a German brewer known for experimentation like Stortebeker and you're bound to get a beer that stands out from the pack! That's exactly what Sierra Nevada's Oktoberfest does. A traditional Marzen stytle Lager with all the matly/breadyness that you'd expect, mixed with a pronounced hop bitterness on the back end to help clean up all that perceived sweetness.

Keeping with this week's quest to find Oktoberfest beers available at a store near you, I grabbed a sixer of AleSmith/AleSchmidt Oktoberfest Marzen Lager. For fans of more malt-forward beers, this traditional style Marzen always delievers in bolt and robust flavors but still light a very drinkable.

Flying solo this week due to a last minute brewery cancelation, I decided to dip into my own beer fridge and do a week of Okotberfest beers! There are a bunch of local options but I wanted to highlight some of the ones you'll find in the wild...today's I found just yesterday while shopping at Trader Joe's. Oktoberfest Festbier, brewered in Germany's own Flensburger Brauerei; this beer is a great jumping off point to dip your toe in the Festbier style.

BONUS BEER! Not always does a brewery bring an extra beer, but when they do...we drink it! A super casual off-air conversation with Chris and Ryan from BattleMage over a Booze Bros. Collab Mexican Lager called Brujo Borracho or the drunken wizard.

Wrapping up the week of beers with BattleMage with a brand new core IPA, White Wolf. Packed with keep it simple hops and a dry finish, this beer is trouble because it makes you want to come back again, and again and again.

It's time for Pinball and Old Ales! Chris and Ryan are back with a 10% big ABV English Old Ale called Hooded Assassin. They also drop the detials about a rare pinball machine they have in the tasting room along with a weekly tournament!

Dungeons & Dragons is at the heart of what inspires BattleMage Brewing's creativty. That comes full circle with the inspiring Dungeon Masters who drink their beer and host campaigns at the brewery. So, brewers and DMs conspired together on a Hazy IPA that would become a pivotal moment and plot point in one of their latest games, roll initiative because your going into combat over this Angelic Betrayal Hazy IPA.

Amber beers don't often take the main stage when it comes to beers of note, but BattleMage has crafted something truly unique with this award winner Amber called Summon Ifrit. Subtle toffee notes on the front end with a very dry clean finish aided by the right balance of hops makes this beer infinitely drinkable and a possible inspiration to summon a fire demon.

Ask any D&D player and they'll tell you any good journey starts in a tavern. For BattleMage Brewing, they built the tavern and coming in Ocotber their are "leveling up" to 8! All week Chris and Ryan from BattleMage join me in studio to talk about thier up coming anniversary, Octoberfest and collabs they've got coming out. We start with something, light, bright and crushable, Divine Light Blonde with Strawberry.

Its Santo Tequila Blanco turned up! Wrapping up our week with Ana from Santo Tequila, she is ending with a BANG! 110 Proof Blanco tequila that is an absolute creeper. It drinks just like their standard Blanco but with a little more perceived sweetness, mixing with this spirit will get you "there" fast. Exactly how fast? We'll have to ask Sammy.

They call it Mezquila First of Its Name. OK, maybe I added the last bit, but this one of a kind creation from Santo really does blend the best of both worlds. A Tequila with a "whisper of smoke" that adds depth to cocktails and could even woo whiskey drinkers away from their everyday sipper. Check out what makes Mezquila so unique.

Being a bourbon fan, this one had me at the nose! Of course, a tequila backed by Sammy Hagar and Guy Fieri would have it cranked to 11! Spending double the required time in the barrel to classify it as an Anejo, this tequila offers all the depth of flavor you could ask for in a sippin' spirit with an unbelievable clean finish.

We're adding some barrel! Ana from Santo Tequila is back to up our I.Q. on what is "good" tequila. She points out what makes Santo part of only 30% of the tequila distillers out on the market and of course we do it with drink in hand, their Reposado is up on the tasting block today.

This weekend we party at the Adam's Avenue Street Fair with Santo Tequila at the Ould Sod! Ana from Santo Tequila joins me all week to give us a preview of what's to come! Being a tequila rookie, it feels kinda daunting, so Ana is taking it slow with their Blanco and a little info on what I should be looking for in the flavor.

We're no stranger to the Paper Plane, after being introduced to that cocktials years ago from CaseyHeartsCocktails, but Rich from Cask & Coast has put his subtle twist on the drink by changing up one ingredient. Find out what that is!

Rich drew the line at 5 incgredients, so today he just brought two. A simple mix of bourbon and ginger ale to highlight how easy bourbon is to get into and all the flavors in Batch 4.

Rich from Cask & Coast is the only person I know, that would bring a measuting cup for three days and NEVER use it once! As we wrap up a Wednesday afternoon, he's brought all the same ingredings AGAIN plus one more. You'll find out what that is in this cocktail he calls a Gold Rush.

In order to keep the cocktials light and bright for these warm September days, Rich from Cask & Coast is keeping it simple. Almost the exact same ingredients as he bought yesterday with the addtion of some brewed Lemonaide, all mixed together to create a John Collins cocktail.

Took a week off after Labor Day and came back with a wild hair for some cocktials! Since Cask & Coast just rolled out their new Batch 4, I figured it was time to get our cocktail on! Rich from Cask & Coast drops in for week of cocktials begninning with a classic Highball that he puts a subtle twist on.

We forgot one more beer! William from Shogun / Embolden dropped by eventhough we were in the middle of a Labord dAy to Z weekend and brought a perfect Friday beer to kick off the weekend. Broken Record West Coast IPA, Nelson and Mosaic hops that provide a crushable yet very classic San Diego style IPA.

Wrapping up the week of Shogun by Embolden with William and he picked a big one to end on. Going back to the Hazy IPA's but where Monday's beer was a little green because of the Matcha, this Dawn in Ube is a beautiful gray-purple. The beer not only takes it's name from the Japanese city called Ube but the purple yam that gives it, its out of this world flavor.

Today's beer brings us lessons in Japanese Yuzu and how Shogun has blended 1st press Yuzu with a Blonde Ale to Create, Spring in Okinawa. A truly unique beer that's light, bright and citrusy, yet still balanced. William from Shogun also gives us a quick glimpse of what's to come with their first dedicated tasting room.

Getting into some of the new core beers from Shogun by Embolden, William brings another beer showcasing Matcha tea, but this version features a toasted Matcha called Hojicha and it opens up a whole new flavor profile for this lager style beer.

It's been months in the planning, after the last time William from Embolden/Shogun was in I knew we had to have him back in when they had more beer! Now Shogun has a full suite of core offerings that he's going to showcase through the week. First we start with the first Shogun beer Midnight In Tokyo, a Macha Hazy IPA that as you would expect is a little green in color and packs a whole lot of flavor.

One of the things we haven't touched on yet during our week with AJ and Bock in South Park, is how a lot of old world breweries names are synonymous with they style of beer they brew. For Kostritzer it's the German Black Beer, Schwarzbier.

Just because Bock focuses on Germanic style beers, doesn't mean they don't carry a full suite of some of the finest new world beers out there. Proof in point, we open up a Russian River Pliny The Elder and talk about the beer release from SanDiegoBeer.News and McIlhenny Brewing Higher 5 IPA you can try this weekend for the SanDiegoBeer.News 5th Anniversay party at Bock!

Coming off a weekend of Kolschs, AJ from Bock brings a Reissdorf Kolsch to share on a boiling Wednesday afternoon. She talks about the difference in the style and how to find out about the next big event.

Its nice to have a break from the San Diego Common (aka DIPA) and focus on some more traditional Germanic beers. Today AJ from Bock brings one of the more celebrated Pilsners from The Black Forest, Rothaus Pils.

It's no small order to replace a San Diego Craft Beer Instituion like Hamilton's Tavern but after the fire and SanDiegoBeer.News broke the story that Brian Jensen from Bottlecraft had taken over the space the excitment built over what would be reborn for Hamilton's ashes. Now we have Bock and AJ joins us all week to talk about what they are serving in the South Park nbhd, we start with their very own beer a Helles Bock that clocks in around 6% ABV.

If you're gonna go big, Friday is the day to do it. No doubt, Bay City Brewing when hard in the paint on thier 10th Anniversary Triple IPA. Blending all thier years of IPA brewing experience and (almost) every hop product known to humankind, they've crafted a big flavor expeirence with a very sneaky 10% ABV.

It's just hop candy! Bay City Brewings Ron Murkundy Hazy IPA it a true experience in hop flavor and drinking it might cause you to consider a velvet smoking jacket and a sweet-sweet mustache. I'm Ron Murkundy?

It's an oldie but a goodie! All San Diego breweries have their flagship IPAs and a majority of them revolve around 3 paritcualr hops. Bay City Brewing's Bay City IPA offers a little something else, that makes thier IPA stand out.

With such fuit extravagance this beer could only go by one name! A summer seasonal part of the Bay City line up, Ziggy Sourdust is a kettle sour with big flavors or Passion Fruit and guava with a perfect balance and a little surprise that Austin and Alex give us the details on.

The crew from Bay City is back in the house! It's a special week for them as Saturday they celebrate 10 years of making amazing San Diego Beer! Austin and Alex start things off light with a beer they've been tweaking for a while that's finally hitting the big time, Bay City Lager.