GUEST TAP


On the Road Again Y


By Alissa Fry-Harris


ou’ve gotta love San Diego – the place that beat Portland in 2010 for the most craft breweries, and home of three of Draft Magazine’s “100 Best Beer Bars: 2011.” I’ve probably seen you at some of them, though I haven’t had time to hit


them all – yet. What I have done over the past couple years is travel. Lately I’ve been to Portland,


Denver, Boulder, Longmont, Las Vegas, Tucson, Phoenix, Dallas, Wisconsin, D.C., North Carolina and Boston. Most of these trips have been business, but I skip the generic hotel bars and uninspired local pubs. I find the craft beer instead. Why? Because I’ve learned that wherever you go, you’ll discover great beer, and even greater people. I’m not a homebrewer, and I don’t work in brewing. But I learned to love beer growing


up in Wisconsin, the land of beer. I’m also the one hauling a keg of Karl Strauss Amber along on every long weekend in Mexico, and I always have beer on tap at home – current- ly two from Green Flash. But the best part of being a beer lover is the welcome I get from other beer lovers all across the country. Here’s an example: this spring, I was in D.C. at a trade show, and I wanted to visit the Church Key, a bar specializing in craft beer from all over the world. It happened to be walking distance from my hotel. Was it pouring rain while I walked there? Sure, but that didn’t stop me or anyone else the – place was packed. The draft list is epic, and the bar- tenders know their beer. Everyone at the bar got friendly when I told them I was from San Diego. They peppered me with questions about our famous beers, and cheerfully steered me through some of their local choices.


Beercycling in our nation’s capital. Photo: Evan Cohan, evancohan.smugmug.com/travel


Everywhere I go people ask me about Stone, but the Church Key only had one on tap. When I asked them about that, there was a little pause. The bartender and the manager looked at me, deadpan. Finally, the manager said, “Well…we’re still recovering from the weekend-long Stone tap takeover...” Earlier this year, I went on a different beer-tasting weekend – this time to Colorado. I came armed with a long list of interesting-looking breweries, expecting to choose a few. My companion (and designated driver) saw it as a “to-do” list, so we actually visited six breweries the first day: Avery, Walnut, Upslope, Asher, Twisted Pine & Mountain Sun. Six was a lot. But we made many friends that day. At Asher, we watched the Packers with some Wisconsin natives. Upslope staffers introduced us to craft beer in a can, and we got in a plug for the TapHunter app. We found a taster flight of 18 beers at Twisted Pine, including several chili-infused choices. A friendly neighbor at Twisted Pine gave us directions to Mountain Sun, and joined us there for dinner. They also recommended a brewery not on our list. So the next morning we threw out our list and headed to Left Hand Brewing in Longmont, which is clearly a local hangout. We sat right down at the bar and made friends with a big family – mom, kids and grandparents. They helped us pick from a great selection of stouts and dark beers, including a delicious milk stout on nitro. Our new friends at Left Hand tipped us off to Oskar Blues, another brewery we hadn’t heard of, right down the street. Love at first sip! The knowledgeable staff told us about the brewery’s recent growth spurt and new canning line. It must be working for them because I see their beers popping up on tap all over. People often ask me how styles differ by region. I’ll maybe tell them how there are more Belgians in SD than elsewhere, or that most breweries outside California serve food, but the truth is there aren’t any absolutes about the beer or the places you find it. What I can tell you is that from one end of the country to another, beer people you meet are generous about sharing their love of beer and giving you all their local insider tips. By the time you read this article, I’ll be in Baltimore, visiting a few local breweries and beer bars. But who knows where I’ll really end up? I’ll just follow the advice I get from the folks I meet along the way. Where will you be? Let me know at beer-cation.com.


We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! We lend out Guest Tap every month to someone involved in the local industry with an interesting perspective or story to tell. If you fit the bill, send an email to mike@westcoastersd.com with what’s on your mind and we’ll run it (may be edited for size, content). -Ed


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