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

Belgians and barrels

Rip Current Brewing wading deeper into the suds spectrum

Place

Rip Current Brewing

1325 Grand Avenue #100, San Marcos

Despite tackling a wider range of beer styles than almost any brewery in the county, Rip Current Brewing Company (1325 Grand Avenue, San Marcos) has only dabbled in Belgian-inspired beers. That’s about to change big-time as co-owners and brewers Paul Sangster and Guy Shobe shift their focus to the beers of Belgian descent. It wasn’t lack of interest that kept Rip Current from going the Belgian route in a big way. Sangster is such a fan of that country, he’s visited it 30 times. His hesitance was based on the fact that other San Diego breweries such as The Lost Abbey and Societe Brewing Company already brew various Belgian-style ales. So, he and Shobe started out with English, German and Scottish ales, all of which are lesser represented throughout San Diego.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Weather was another factor. Belgian yeast strains thrive in warmer temperatures, lending more vivid fruit and spice character to the beers they ferment. Last summer, Sangster and Shobe missed their window, so this year, they’ll be taking full advantage of the sunny season, starting with a trio of ales—Double Point Break Dubbel, Take Off Tripel, and a yet-to-be-thematically-named dark strong ale. The latter is the latest of the duo’s many attempts to recreate Westvleteren 12, one of the world’s most coveted beers. Sangster says Rip Current’s version will be a hint drier and offer a bit more dark fruit complexity while remaining true to the Trappist quad that inspired it. As if mimicking a beer many aficionados consider the best on Earth weren’t enough, Sangster and Shobe will funnel some of it into Bourbon-soaked barrels where it will sit until it’s extracted and released next year.

This brings us to another exciting Rip Current news item. The company purchased 32 Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels with which they plan on aging four of their bigger beers. Those beers include the aforementioned Westy homage, Rescue Buoy Russian Imperial Stout, Vanilla Storm (an imperial porter brewed with Kona coffee and vanilla), and Black Lagoon Scottish Strong Ale. The high alcohol content of the beers brings greater anti-microbial properties to stave off infection while the brews rest in the barrels. It will be roughly a year before the barrel-aged beers surface in the tasting room, but the first Belgian-style beer, Double Point Break Dubbel, should be available by the end of this month.

The latest copy of the Reader

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

For nutty pies at Pizza by Aromi in La Mesa

Sicilian cousins add to the Italian goodness they dish out around Lake Murray
Next Article

San Diego Holiday Experiences

As soon as Halloween is over, it's Christmas time in my mind
Place

Rip Current Brewing

1325 Grand Avenue #100, San Marcos

Despite tackling a wider range of beer styles than almost any brewery in the county, Rip Current Brewing Company (1325 Grand Avenue, San Marcos) has only dabbled in Belgian-inspired beers. That’s about to change big-time as co-owners and brewers Paul Sangster and Guy Shobe shift their focus to the beers of Belgian descent. It wasn’t lack of interest that kept Rip Current from going the Belgian route in a big way. Sangster is such a fan of that country, he’s visited it 30 times. His hesitance was based on the fact that other San Diego breweries such as The Lost Abbey and Societe Brewing Company already brew various Belgian-style ales. So, he and Shobe started out with English, German and Scottish ales, all of which are lesser represented throughout San Diego.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Weather was another factor. Belgian yeast strains thrive in warmer temperatures, lending more vivid fruit and spice character to the beers they ferment. Last summer, Sangster and Shobe missed their window, so this year, they’ll be taking full advantage of the sunny season, starting with a trio of ales—Double Point Break Dubbel, Take Off Tripel, and a yet-to-be-thematically-named dark strong ale. The latter is the latest of the duo’s many attempts to recreate Westvleteren 12, one of the world’s most coveted beers. Sangster says Rip Current’s version will be a hint drier and offer a bit more dark fruit complexity while remaining true to the Trappist quad that inspired it. As if mimicking a beer many aficionados consider the best on Earth weren’t enough, Sangster and Shobe will funnel some of it into Bourbon-soaked barrels where it will sit until it’s extracted and released next year.

This brings us to another exciting Rip Current news item. The company purchased 32 Heaven Hill Bourbon barrels with which they plan on aging four of their bigger beers. Those beers include the aforementioned Westy homage, Rescue Buoy Russian Imperial Stout, Vanilla Storm (an imperial porter brewed with Kona coffee and vanilla), and Black Lagoon Scottish Strong Ale. The high alcohol content of the beers brings greater anti-microbial properties to stave off infection while the brews rest in the barrels. It will be roughly a year before the barrel-aged beers surface in the tasting room, but the first Belgian-style beer, Double Point Break Dubbel, should be available by the end of this month.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Gonzo Report: Bob Long played piano for Tina Turner and Ray Charles

And he got the crowd shaking at InZane Brewery
Next Article

Barrio Logan’s very good Dogg

Chicano comfort food proves plenty spicy
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.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader