Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Beer Week surprise

A straightforward IPA from Mike Hess Brewing stands tall during SDBW

North Park IPA from Mike Hess Brewing Company at Slater's 50/50 in San Marcos
North Park IPA from Mike Hess Brewing Company at Slater's 50/50 in San Marcos
Place

Mike Hess Brewing North Park

3812 Grim Avenue, San Diego

It was the best of times. No, really, it was the best of times! This year’s edition of San Diego Beer Week was one of the finest since the 2009 advent of this annual ten-day liver endurance challenge. Not because of big, blow-out events, either. Sure, there were plenty of total tap takeovers, multi-course banquets, and festival-sized happenings, but this year it seemed that many breweries and beery venues figured out you don’t have to go insane lengths to put together a memorable and, more importantly, enjoyable Beer Week event.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Because there were so many smaller-sized, tamer affairs, I was able to get around to more of them. In the process, I easily tried more than 50 different beers. Through it all, I took notes so that I’d be able to write about some of my favorites. Many of the standout brews will appear in my annual, year-ending round-up of best beers from the past 12 months, but there was one that was so surprisingly good I felt compelled to bring it up early. And it’s not a barrel-aged oddity, booze-laden imperial ale, style-bender, or revelatory innovation. It’s a rather simple and simply wonderful India pale ale. Not a double, triple, or even quadruple IPA (but way to go on that Hop Wine, Rip Current Brewing Company). It’s just a base model single IPA with such good flavor, it needn’t rely on a boosted alcohol level.

It came into my life with warning sans fanfare, the fourth in a parade of seven beers from Mike Hess Brewing Company served during a beer-pairing dinner at Slater’s 50/50’s San Marcos restaurant. When perusing the menu, it failed to pique my interest due to the company it kept—a fig saison, rye imperial stout, and imperial pumpkin ale. But when all was said and done, Mike Hess North Park IPA was the beer I wanted more of. Fortunately, it’s something that can be procured at the brewing company’s brewery in the community of the same name. Cascade, Centennial, and Columbus hops give the beer tremendous aromas of orange and flavors akin to tangerine with soft notes of rosemary and peppercorn, all presented via a highly drinkable, 7% alcohol-by-volume quaffable that unexpectedly won me over during a week awash with fine brews.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Dating Sites For Little People: Best Platforms & Tips

North Park IPA from Mike Hess Brewing Company at Slater's 50/50 in San Marcos
North Park IPA from Mike Hess Brewing Company at Slater's 50/50 in San Marcos
Place

Mike Hess Brewing North Park

3812 Grim Avenue, San Diego

It was the best of times. No, really, it was the best of times! This year’s edition of San Diego Beer Week was one of the finest since the 2009 advent of this annual ten-day liver endurance challenge. Not because of big, blow-out events, either. Sure, there were plenty of total tap takeovers, multi-course banquets, and festival-sized happenings, but this year it seemed that many breweries and beery venues figured out you don’t have to go insane lengths to put together a memorable and, more importantly, enjoyable Beer Week event.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Because there were so many smaller-sized, tamer affairs, I was able to get around to more of them. In the process, I easily tried more than 50 different beers. Through it all, I took notes so that I’d be able to write about some of my favorites. Many of the standout brews will appear in my annual, year-ending round-up of best beers from the past 12 months, but there was one that was so surprisingly good I felt compelled to bring it up early. And it’s not a barrel-aged oddity, booze-laden imperial ale, style-bender, or revelatory innovation. It’s a rather simple and simply wonderful India pale ale. Not a double, triple, or even quadruple IPA (but way to go on that Hop Wine, Rip Current Brewing Company). It’s just a base model single IPA with such good flavor, it needn’t rely on a boosted alcohol level.

It came into my life with warning sans fanfare, the fourth in a parade of seven beers from Mike Hess Brewing Company served during a beer-pairing dinner at Slater’s 50/50’s San Marcos restaurant. When perusing the menu, it failed to pique my interest due to the company it kept—a fig saison, rye imperial stout, and imperial pumpkin ale. But when all was said and done, Mike Hess North Park IPA was the beer I wanted more of. Fortunately, it’s something that can be procured at the brewing company’s brewery in the community of the same name. Cascade, Centennial, and Columbus hops give the beer tremendous aromas of orange and flavors akin to tangerine with soft notes of rosemary and peppercorn, all presented via a highly drinkable, 7% alcohol-by-volume quaffable that unexpectedly won me over during a week awash with fine brews.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pacific Beach – car thief's paradise

Take photos of your automobile and license plate
Next Article

Pet pig perches in pocket

Escondido doula gets a taste of celebrity
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.