THE NAMELESS BEERMAID
San Diego: The Libation Destination S
unday morning means a sticky floor, grumpy me, and a quiet brewery – save for Johnny Cash singing overhead. I roll in around 10:30, eyes like slits from last night’s fun, and a less-than-eager attitude. The haze will lift by noon and that’s okay because I won’t get my first customer ‘til two. Ex- cept that isn’t true anymore. A year ago, yes, but now... I have customers at 10:40, bright eyed and “brewery”-tailed. I chug my coffee in hopes of regaining the en- ergy I expelled Saturday on four groups of thirty that all decided to show up at the same time to my brewery. Welcome to my weekend.
Something shifted. It didn’t use to be like this. My tasting room didn’t use to host 75+ people at once. My tasting room didn’t use to have a line of people waiting to get in while most are still at church. If you saw my tasting room – which remains a mystery for the fun of it – you’d see how shocking this really is. During the summer we had our share of tourists, spanning from Phoenix to Sydney. You’d expect as much, though,
right? Spend a week in sunny San Diego – see Shamu, take a Segway tour through Balboa Park, and drink some local beers. But it’s not summer and something strange is happening: MORE tourists are coming. Not just on the weekend, either. People are making San Diego a destina- tion. They are driving all night from Ve- gas on a Tuesday for a taste of Sculpin. They are honeymooning in Escondido because they don’t care about ocean views, only about The Lost Abbey’s lat- est release. They are even bribing their kids with the newest Nintendo DS all so they can savor the taster flight from a brewery which isn’t being distributed in their Midwest state. Last Saturday, two dudes from New Hampshire spent their entire afternoon with me. I had too many tabs to remem- ber names, but I would call out “What you need, New Hampshire?!” and they’d grin like kids in a candy store. Towards the end of their visit, they were trying to buy a bottle to go. The line was long and their tab was already settled, so I said, “Don’t worry about it. It’s on me.” I
Hamilton’s Tavern during 2nd Saturday event with Karl Strauss (February 12th). This month (April 9th), Sierra Nevada is coming to town. Complimentary food for all patrons: Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Smoked Hocks and Greens, Crawfish Mac Salad, and Red Velvet Cakes
might as well have been Ed McMahon with Publisher’s Clearing House. I had made their life with a bottle of beer. “Are you serious? It’s for a friend back home?” I was in a ham-it-up kind of mood: “What’s his name, I’ll sign the label.” And sign it I did. This Sharpie-laden task earned me not one, but two, kisses on the cheek. For a second I was a celebrity. All thanks to San Diego’s crazy-amazing beer scene. – The Nameless Beermaid
Agree? Disagree? Let The Nameless Beermaid know what you think: beermaid@
westcoastersd.com
Coronado Golden Orange Avenue Wit Mermaids Red Islander IPA Idiot IPA
BUY ONE Entree get one FREE
Buy 1 entree get the 2nd of equal or lesser value free Must purchase 2 beverages Not valid with any other discounts 1 per table
Expires May 1st 2011
10-
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