After an amazing Month spent in Canada, it was time to return to the road and start exploring the far reaches of the world once again.  However, there was something that needed to be done first.  Go to a lot of Breweries in San Diego with my running friends from Oakland!

The East Bay Beer runners based out of Oakland California are a running group which meets every Tuesday and goes for a run followed by beer at a beer bar or brewery.  I had been going to this running group for over a year when I left on my trip, and many of them have become some of my closest friends.  Last year a group of us went to Portland on a beer trip and it was amazingly fun, so this year when we were talking about what we wanted to do, San Diego came up and I told them I could probably make it if we did it around July 4th as I would be in North America already.  We made it happen and this was the result!

I landed in San Diego and two people were already getting started, so I met them at Bolt Brewing and had a flight.

We then went across the street where I had seen there were some pinball machines, which I had not been able to play in a while.  I was excited!

After some pinball we checked into our AirBnB and rested a bit before heading out for the evening.

I was a little tired evidently.

After a short nap, we headed downtown on some electric scooters which had launched in NA after I left and I had not had the opportunity to try yet.

We ended up at Half D0or brewing , which I had actually already been to before, but I remember it being good so we returned.  We then headed to a brew pub down the street for some food, which was definitely not very good.  We actually ended up leaving some of the beer.  It was called Knotty Barrel.  Would not recommend.

We had then received word that the other carload of people had made it, so we headed to mission brewing to meet up with them.

After mission, we headed to Monkey Paw brewing, which I had also had before and since it was blender Thursday, Ella and I decided to get a fresh fruit smoothy drink.  When we were there the bartender told us that they were up for sale and since then they have actually closed down, so I was able to visit in the last few months of it’s existence.

The next stop was the Bell Marker which was actually a bonus stop on our trip as it was not on any of our lists and we just happen to walk by.

By the end of the Bell Marker we really really needed food, so we did what every person should do in San Diego when they need food after a night of drinking.  Get a Burrito!

After that, we headed to Resident Brewing for end of night night cap!

But that was not the end, since I realized there was a pinball bar around the corner.  I really only wanted to play pinball, but their tap list was pretty good, so i got one more!

That stop was for sure the last one of the evening though!

The next morning, it was time to put the Running into EBBR.  A few of us got up at a decent time for a morning run, since it got really hot pretty early.  We met at a coffee shop then set off for an adventure run through Balboa Park!

Then it was breakfast time!

After we all got cleaned up from our run, the decision was made to head up North to Green Flash and then make our way back down south, hitting breweries along the way.

I have actually been to green flash on several occasions, but their beer is always pretty good, and it was the perfect day for a patio beer!

After Green flash we headed to Saint Archer which similar to Green flash I had been to a few times, although it’s probably because they are very close to each other.

From Saint Archer we headed towards our next stop, but saw another bonus stop along the way!  Legacy brewing was right around the corner from Saint Archer, so we stopped in for a quick one.

We then walked down the street to 32 North Brewing which was in a cool warehouse space down the street from Saint Archer.  I had been to this place once before as well, but they made a very noticeable upgrade.  They now have a PINBALL MACHINE!

The beer was pretty good too!

Next up we had a short walk to Duck Foot brewing which was again, just a short walk down the street.

The beer wasn’t that interesting but the decor and vibe of the place was pretty rad!

Next up we walked a few steps down the street to one of my favorite stops on the whole trip.  Pure Project Brewing was a small place with only a few seats, but the beer was incredible.

They had a great mix of beer styles and all of them were excellent!

We realized that it would probably be a good idea to get some food and so we headed to one of the big breweries in the area.  Ballast Point, which has a giant facility and a kitchen for food!

I didn’t want to wait in line, so I headed across the street to check out an unknown brewery called Reckless.

It had a wacky waiving arm flailing inflatable tube man out front, which means it’s got to be good.

While I was there, the bartender was getting ready to set off his Rube Goldberg Beer pouring machine.  It takes a long time to set up, so they only really do it once a day, so i was lucky enough to be there when he set it off.

The whole vibe of the brewery was really cool and friendly.  I ended up talking to this group of older beer lovers for a while and had a great time.  I eventually had to go back to Ballast Point and retrieve the group, because there was no way i was letting them miss this place.

I brought the gang back with me and we drank a few beers and enjoyed the cool vibe of this place.

It was starting to get a bit late and we had been to a lot of breweries that day, so we decided to head to one more on the night.  The last time I had been to Alesmith they were still in their old facility which was also down the road, but this time they have moved into their new MASSIVE custom built facility.  It was beautiful.

They even have a “speakeasy” hidden bar where they serve their barrel aged and special beers.  On weekends you even need a password to get in.

After Alesmith, it was time to head back to our respective AirBnB and get ready for day 3!

Day 3 was a Saturday and so there was a Mikkelar running club run at their San Diego brewery (which is actually located in the old Alesmith facility, I had been to previously.  We got there juuust in time and set off for a 5km run around the block.  It was a hot day and I kept up with the leaders until the one leader guy started to drop off the pace.  I went on ahead but realized that I didn’t know the exact route.  It was marked with chalk, but i wasn’t 100% that I was going in the right direction.  It turned out to be fine and I finished ahead of everyone else.  Fun run or not, it always feels great to come in first.  haha

We then went off to find some food and when we were on the run, we noticed a sign that said cheaop craft beer and sandwiches called the Craft Butcher, so we headed there for some lunch.

After the Crafty Butcher, our next stop was White Labs, which is one of the major yeast producers in the world.  It was really cool, because they have a larger brew kettle than their fermentors, so they brew a batch of beer and then ferment in in 4 different fermentors with 4 different strains of yeast.  Therefore it is the exact same beer, just brewed with different yeasts.  I didn’t realize they need to brew beer in order to get wart to grow their yeast, which makes sense why they need a large brew kettle.  We did the tour and it was really interesting how they grow the yeast in these large bags and then just heat seal the bags in various sizes based on the size of the order from the customer.  So you could get individual bags or large 200lb bags.  It was a really cool tour and I am glad we decided to do it!

No photos on the tour though, so I can’t show you some of the cool stuff we saw.

We really needed to meet up with the others, but Societe was right around the corner and you can’t pass by a brewery without stopping in for at least one.

The beer was not what I expected on first pour, but then i realized there was a secondary list where they will pour you a taster out of the bottle.  It was more expensive, but that’s where the good stuff was!

After a few tastes at Societe, it was time to head back, shower up and then meet the others.

We ended up meeting them at Belching Beaver which is not the actual brewery, but one of their several tap rooms in the SD area.

Next up were two breweries right beside each other in the same building.  Eppig and Pariah.

We even had a fellow run club runner who happened to be in the area join us for a few beers!

Up next was just a short walk up the street to Fall brewing!

Poor house was up next and despite having darts, the beer was not ideal.

On the way to get some food, shenanigans ensued.

And of course, when in San Diego, you have to get Burritos but not just any Burrito, A Lucha Libre burrito!

After dinner it was time to make one of the last stops of the evening.  Modern Times tap room in North Park.  This also marked the last brewery of the trip.

All in all, throughout the whole weekend we managed to visit 24 Breweries and they were all unique in their own way.  It was also really cool to get to spend the weekend with some of my EBBR friends.  I always love meeting up with some of my friends.  Hanging out with people you know for once is amazing because you don’t have to go through the same questions and answers with the new people you meet in your travels.

The next day I was scheduled to fly out of LAX to Amsterdam and so I was getting a ride to LA on Angeliques drive home.  They left pretty early in the morning and my flight was not until the evening, so i had some time to kill in LA.  I ended up taking the train to Santa Monica and just hung out there.  Walked around, chilled on the beach and generally just chilled.

I then jumped on the bus and headed to the airport.  Onwards to the UK!!!