First things first – Carmageddon was a joke.  Honestly, there was less traffic than normal since everyone decided to remain indoors.  This allowed us to arrive home with only one bathroom stop, so cheers to that.  We cooked some dinner, put our feet up, and hydrated.

It had been a beautiful day in San Diego, and our VIP tickets granted us the opportunity to enter the brew festival an hour before the rest of the crowd, and the first thing I did was make my way over to the Hawaiian Volkswagen at the Kona Brewery tent.

I was really excited to drink a bunch of the Pipeline Porter – a porter made with Kona coffee – but I only saw two options: the Longboard and the Wailua Wheat.

I liked the Wailua- it was refreshing on the sunny day. Longboard is so easily accessible these days that I refused a pour and found my way to Firestone.

Having recently toured the brewery, I was hoping to get a few glasses of some of their specialities, but once again there were only two options: the Double Barrell Ale and the Union Jack.

Both solid, yet not exactly what I was craving, so I asked the Firestone Rep where he was hiding the Abacus and the Parabola.

“This isn’t really a tasting festival,” he explained, “This is more of a drinking event.”

I cocked my head to the side and took a sip of the Double Barell Ale.  It’s a great beer, but I had my heart set on tackling the rare brews of my favorite breweries.  I complained a bit to my friend as we stood in the tent, looking out and seeing all the tents and the people beginning to line up at the gate, the band setting up on the stage. I felt the sun on my face.

“All right,” I said to the rep as I turned back to him, “I’ll have another.”

Highlights:

To the best of my knowledge, Duvel, Kronenburg, and Pacifico did not show up.

Weihenstephan, the oldest brewery in the world, was the tent I ended up frequenting the most – they carried five beers that day.  All were bold and still easy to drink, and the Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel ended up being my favorite.  It’s a dark wheat beer – something I don’t see very often.

Maui Brewing Co. had their Coconut Porter available, which I love.  I had it at Father’s Office a while back – definitely a brew to try if you see it on a beer menu. The coconut flavor really shines.

Drinking Gulden Draak (10.5% alcohol) is always fun. Piraat is good, too.

Worst beer of the day award goes to Lhasa Beer – avoid!

Overall, a really nice day and strong ending to what was a wonderful weekend in a pleasant city.  I’ll have more coverage of San Diego this week (our dinner at Searsucker, for sure) before I head to the East Coast on Thursday (New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York).

Here are some photos of the San Diego Brew Fest.  My advice is to check for the next one happening in your town. (Or better yet, go to San Diego.)