Yesterday the wife and I took a leisurely drive from Orange County, CA to San Diego for today’s start of the 2014 Beer Bloggers Conference.  The trip included stops at two breweries – Mike Hess Brewing and Ballast Point Brewing.

Mike Hess Brewing started in 2010 as San Diego’s first nano brewery with a 1.6 bbl system, but has rapidly grown into a full scale craft beer microbrewery with a 30 bbl system and a great reputation.  We visited the original location for Mike Hess Brewing in Miramar. This location is now just a tasting room but is the site of the original brewery.  As we entered the tasting room, we were greeted by Kelly – our friendly and knowledgeable server.  I splurged and purchased a sample flight of 5 beers (5 oz. pours) with souvenir glass for $14.

Here are my abbreviated tasting notes:

Claritas Kolsch (5.8% ABV / 30 IBU): Clear straw color with white foam. Nice malt biscuit and light fruit aroma. Delicious malt biscuit flavor. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Good session+ starter beer.

City Park Strong Ale (8.5% ABV / 69 IBU): Very dark, but clear amber color with lush off-white foam. Fantastic malt caramel aroma. Rich malt caramel flavor followed by assertive hop bitterness. Sit me on a city park bench and bring me pints of this till I fall over.

Habitus Rye IPA (8% ABV / 85 IBU): This beer is a 2014 World Beer Cup Gold Medal Winner. I had a nitro version that had a hazy copper gold color with thick white foam. Rye aroma with some hop floral and virus on the nose. Great malt and rye flavor followed by assertive and complementary hop bitterness. Nice dry finish. Medium to full-bodied with very mild carbonation. Love it!

Deceptio Black IPA (8.5% ABV / 90 IBU): Very dark brown color (basically black) with tan foam. Huge dark roast coffee and chocolate aroma. Strong coffee flavor followed by dark cacao chocolate. Dry hop bitter finish. Full-bodied with moderate carbonation. Excellent!

Umbrix Rye Imperial Stout (10.2% ABV / 84 IBU): Dark black color with rich brown foam. Strong coffee and dark chocolate aroma. Intense, deep coffee and dark cacao chocolate flavors followed by nice strong hop bitterness. Dry finish. Full-bodied with moderate carbonation. Get ready to rumble with this delicious monster!

Mike Hess is an excellent brewery and well worth a visit. I will try to visit their new North Park brewery later this weekend and provide a follow-up report.

Just a few miles down the road from the Mike Hess tasting room is the Ballast Point Brewing Miramar location.  Ballast Point has rapidly developed an international recognition and reputation for great beer -especially their IPAs. We arrived about 4:20 pm and the place was very busy.

This location has both indoor and outdoor tables.

While there, I managed to try six beers on tap.

Longfin Lager on cask with pear, guava, and mango – Not my favorite. Tasted like a tropical Capri Sun fruit drink.

Calico Amber – A very nice amber ale with great malt favor.

Sour Wench – A fruit sour beer that was too sweet and syrupy for my taste preference.

Fathom India Pale Lager (IPL) – Nice hop citrus aroma and flavor in this medium bodied lager.

 Grapefruit Sculpin IPA – The name says it. Take 2 grapefruits worth of flavor and cram them into a IPA (this is a figurative description, not literal). Out comes a full-bodied and delicious tasting beer.

Tongue Buckler Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Red Ale – Massive bourbon and malt flavor. This is a monster of a beer that may be a bit boozy for the weak of heart.

My conference starts in 45 minutes so time to sign off. I’ll be listening to experts and fellow beer enthusiasts, sampling beer, and blogging throughout the weekend so stayed tuned!