California soul

Ben McFarland visits the beer hot spots of sunny San Diego

America’s backlash against bland beer began on the West Coast. San Francisco, always keen to stick it to the man, got the ball rolling in the 70s. Then the defiant, drizzly duo of Portland and Seattle, picked it up, ran with it and kept scampering along like some kind of crazed, craft beer-drinking Forrest Gump.

Yet despite all the infectious innovation taking place above it, the sunny surf city of San Diego remained stoically immune to the microbrewing bug and was long regarded by beer boffins as a brewing wilderness where locals relied on the brews made in ‘Frisco and the Pacific Northwest. Quite why remains a bit of a mystery – with more than 300 days of sunshine a year, maybe it was just too hot? Or maybe, it lacked the leftfield liberalism of its northern neighbours? Who knows? But what is certain is that, after years of living in the brewing shadow of its west coast peers, the sunniest city in America is now arguably the America’s most vibrant brewing metropolis.

You won’t want for fine beer in San Diego. It’s here, there and every bloody where. Not content with a dozen maverick microbreweries, a mesmerising array of switched-on beer bars and a smattering of brewpubs, San Diego has even got its very own beer style. Double IPAs (DIPA) are the signature suds of San Diego. For English drinkers more accustomed to mild-mannered milds and balanced, balmy bitters, DIPA is a desperately daunting drop. Brimming with more hops than a one-legged arse kicking competition, serio.....

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By Ben McFarland

Section : Beer Journeys

Page number : 58