My cousin Amanda and my brother Peter both work at
Bridlewood Winery in Santa Ynez which is lucky for me. For one, I'm surrounded by winos when I go home to visit and second, they have access to lots of wine. I told them they should head down my way for a day of wine tasting in Temecula so they could compare our wines to the wines of the Santa Ynez Valley. I finally got a text from Amanda saying "we're coming" but curiously enough they did not want to go wine tasting. They wanted beer! My brother has always been a 'Beer Snob' and I say this not with negativity but that is just the best way to describe his taste in beer. When he came of age and started drinking beer, he started with Guinness and sneered at my cans of Tecate and Corona. My bestie Nate has also always been a 'Beer Snob' and saved me from the clutches of Bud Light and MGD at many a college party. Much like he did with wine, Nate introduced me to the different styles of beer and even learned me a few things about the history of the brews. In college, he took me to Stone Brewery's 5 year anniversary celebration at their first location and I began to realize there is quite a microbrew culture here in beautiful San Diego! Last year, as Nate's going away last hoorah, we bought tickets for the beer bus which on the weekend takes you to 3 breweries, serves you lunch and gives you a souvenir pint glass. The best part is that they pick you up at your house! We had a ton of fun and I thought the beer bus would be perfect to introduce my guests to the San Diego Craft Beer scene. We booked it again and the beer bus rolled up to my front door around 11 am and headed to our first stop, the now world famous
Stone Brewery Bistro and Gardens in Escondido. We were given 5 tasters over the course of an hour and also had time to roam the beautiful grounds (I love taking out of towners here) and the gift shop. Stone makes some really hoppy beers and while I enjoy tasting them, their beer isn't really something I could drink on a regular basis. We did get a keg of their Pale Ale a few weeks ago and it was pretty tasty, definitely one of their more mellow beers.
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| Discussing the tastiness of our brew |
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| Taking a picture break as we roam the gardens of Stone |
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Beer makes you think about things...
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After 5 tasters and a shared pint of their Imperial Russian Stout we hopped back onto the bus and headed to San Marcos Brewery for a few more tasters and some lunch. While the beer was so-so the food was delish and after drinking beers with 9-12% alcohol content at Stone, there was definitely a little bit of a buzz starting so the food was much needed. At this point the various groups on the bus began socializing and we started to get to know our fellow beer lovers. We also started talking to our bus driver Steve who was a plethora of SD Craft Beer knowledge.
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| Me and my brother, captivated by something |
After filling our bellies we hopped back on the bus and by this time the bus was much louder than when we first got on. The driver announce we were heading to our last stop and it was all the beer you can drink for the 50 minutes we would be there.Woo hoo! Our final stop was at
The Lost Abbey in San Marcos. When Stone moved into their current, ginormous facility, The Lost Abbey moved in and took over. They specialize in monastic and Belgian style brews but also have Port Brewing which is their more American style beers. Needless to say, we had quite a selection to choose from!
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Decisions, decisions
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We had a lot of fun trying various beers from both Port and Lost Abbey. The place was pretty crowded but we had no problem getting refill after refill. The bus driver, Steve, gathered our group and a few other from the bus that had expressed an interest in the brewing process (and not just getting drunk) and gave us a behind the scenes tour of the facility. He pointed out all the different machinery and told us various statistics so it was also educational and piqued my interest a little on the home brewing front. Could be a fun (and tasty) hobby!
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See how happy The Lost Abbey makes us???
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| Amanda and I snuck into the Awards Room |
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When you are overserved, things like pretending to pee on a wall like a boy are funny
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As our time at Lost Abbey came to an end our now rambunctious bus mates turned the beer bus into a party bus as we headed home. It is amazing how in five hours and after a few beers people you never met and will never see again are your best friends...Jeff and I were the only San Diegans on the bus so we enjoyed telling our new friends where they had to visit and where they should go eat while in SD. It was a fun day and I think our guests enjoyed the taste of the SD Beer scene.
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| Our Beer Bus Family |
