Rock & Roll Happy Hour

A perfect way to end a great week of NA beers from Athletic Brewing! With the holiday season it can be difficult to satisfy that "winter wamer" category with a Non-alcoholic option, but Athletic nails it with their Winter Wonder Winter Warmer!

Being a memeber has it's benifits with Athletic Brewing, like today's hoppy monster Triple Palm Triple Hopped IPA. Today Chris, John and Chris brought a memebers only beer that will have hop-heads asking, "how quickly can you sign me up?"

I've always said drinking beer for a good cause is the best reason to drink beer. Well Athletic Brewing takes that a step further, so I can drink beer for a good cause and have it be a little better for me because its non-alcoholic! Every year Athletic partners with Yakima Chief Hops and a armed services orginization to creat a beer that gives back to our military heroes. The beer is called Ready Front IPA and this years beer is second to none!

Music and collabs are in the very blood of Athletic Brewing, so it was an easy partnership for Althetic and The Warpped Tour to collab on a Hoppy Pale Ale called Side Stage. Bright citrus flavors with a hint of citrus and tropical hop flavors all balanced with a clean finish will have you asking your self, "are you sure this is a NA beer?"

Coming down from San Diego Craft beer week it seemed like a good idea to take a break from beer. But, I didn't want to take a break from beer so I invited the crew from Athletic Brewing to showcase what they've been working on in Beer-amar! With 5 days of non-alcoholic beers to get into, Johnn, Chris and Chris started in easy with their Golden called Upside Dawn.

Tom was gushing over what he called one of his most perfect beers while we were talking about DDH Pliny the Elder and as soon as we fired off into Tom Waits, he pulled out a bottle of Russian River's Shadow of A Doubt. Sit back and relax as he breaks down why this is only one of three beers he wouldn't do anything to change.

There's a lot of San Diego connections with Russian River including one part owner that calls Julian home. So, they make it a priority that The Pub at Lake Cuyamaca is always stocked with Russian River beer, more so this week as for SDBW they are featuring the Santa Rosa Brewery! One of the special beers on tap include this double dry hopped version of Pliny the Elder.

San Diego Beer Week is a tribute to the camaraderie amongs brewers from San Diego and beyond! Tonight O'Brien's celebrates that was a night to Kern River Brewing and friends! Lots of like-minded hop-forward brewers coming together to share the passion of their craft. Tom has brought one of the beers that fits into the bill, a collab with Brandon from SanDiegoBeer.News and McIlhenny Brewing called Highest Five IPA.

Leave it to San Diego to have an oddity like being home to possibly the only Schaerbeek Cheery grove outside of Belgium. Chad who's behind Lyon's Peak Brewing has painstakingly bought them to Jamul to focus on one time of beer, the Handgeplukte Kriek.

The first weekend of San Diego Beer Week is behind us, which means that we've got a full week of celebrating San Diego Beer left! Tom Nickle is back from O'Brien's to talk about all the different events you can be a part of starting with a fine selection from The Lost Abbey! Kicking off our week with a light freshing sour ale that showcases Peaches and White tea called Peach Afternoon.

It's the kick off of San Diego Beer Week! That means a lot of sharining and a lot of collaborations go do with all the local makers! To celebrate that BC and Scones from Kilowatt Brewing brought a collab with a former Division 23 Brewer called San Diego Dream Extra Pale Ale.

More then anything the Kilowatt crew loves to play with styles and flavors, they demonstrated that with the Pickel Beer...today BC and Scones brought a twist on the Gose style with Watermelon, Lime and a hint of Tajin. This beer may need a warning because it could be habit forming!

Playing with new hops is a brewers dream and we get the reap the rewards! The former "Experimental hop" got a new name, Dolcita so Kilowatt Brewing deicded to Live la Dolcita Loca with their new Hazy IPA. This peachy-pineappley Hazy give you all the juice with a dry and crushable finish.

It's a fad in the same way the hazy IPAs were once a fad! Today Scones and BC brought their take on a Pickle Beer, light bodied, slightly dilly with a little salinity and a WHOLE bunch of garlic. This beer is one that you'll either never touch after first sip or obsess over to the point of contemplaing your next tattoo.

The countdown to San Diego Beer Week is on! With the kick off on Friday, I figured it would be cool to have one of San Diego's more "energetic" brewies in for Last Call. Scones and BC from Kilowatt Brewing are back and swinging for the fences with their flagship IPA on a Monday. 250 KWH IPA is a 10 year old San Diego staple that rides the line between Old School and New School IPAs.

Truly a ghost of years past, one of the most beloved Double IPAs ended it's production run with Mother Earth Brewing, but the taproom in Vista is keeping the dream alive! Still brewing small batches of Hop Digitty, Andrew brought a growler of this strawberry-jam like IPA to toast Halloween with.

Project X from Mother Earth Brewing is a very cool limtied run beer that pairs visual art along with brewing arts. MEBC brewers always try and take inspiration from the art and translate it to the beer. Like with Mystical Misfit, you get all the resin notes from the Pacific Northwest Hops PLUS an almost intersteller depth thanks to Southern Hemisphere Galaxy hops.

Halfway throught the week and Andrew from Mother Earth double down on the hops (kind of). Not only did he bring their latest flagship modern IPA called Ascent, but he's also poured out something clear and very hydrating with their tasting room only offering Hop Water...but this water has it's secrets!

It always a treat around this time of year to try all the different Wet Hop beers in the market. Mother Earth does Fresh As It Gets Wet Hop IPA every year to honor that special time. Always a single hopped beer to showcase it's flavor, this year focused on the Simcoe wet hops.

It's been too long since we've seen Andrew from Mother Earth Brewing Co. in the studio! All this week we catch up on what MEBC has cooking in both their core line up and tap room exclusives, we start with not a beer....Mother Earth's tap room only Hard Seltzer.

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.