Council Brewing is a Hidden Gem, Making Excellent Beer in San Diego
Walking into Council Brewing passing by bourbon barrels
When we walked into Council Brewing, being flanked by bourbon barrels in the entrance, our noses immediately alerted us to the hoppy wort going on in the brewing happening. This third stop on day two of our SD beer tour, having stopped off at Ballast Point and Societe Brewing already, so I was more than buzzed and we decided not to get the entire offerings of this brewery, but we started off with something quite different
Flight of saisons
They serve flights of five beers each, so we ordered saisons for the entire first flight, starting off with Farmer’s Gold (5.7% ABV), a Belgian saison, which had some funky, lageryness – pilsner malt character, and quite clear.
Board of Beers
Then we moved on to some ridiculously delicious liquid offerings; four of their Béatitude saisons. We drank the Béatitude Blueberry Tart Saison (3.8% ABV), which was delicious; Béatitude Passionfruit Tart Saison (3.8% ABV), which was more intense than the blueberry; Béatitude Three Berry Tart Saison (3.8% ABV), which was delicious; and, finally, the Béatitude Raspberry Tart Saison (3.8% ABV), which was the most delicious amongst the four. And wowowowowowow these beers are REALLY wonderful!!!!! Wow! Wow!! Wow!!! These beers were sour, tart, fruity, amazing, amazing, amazing, and lightly bodied. Wow. Our breaths were taken away with how incredible these beers were. Moreover, they were also quite a welcome respite from the hoppy bombardment our palates had endured.
Farmers Gold with Brett
Following that amazing flight, a very friendly brewer up with whom we had struck a conversation came out and shared with us some Farmer’s Gold with Brettanomyces, which was really flavorful and tasty. The Brettanomyces sharpened up the regular Farmer’s Gold and added tropical flavors (pineapple and papaya), which was very delicious.
A flight of a tripel with IPAs
Well, after having those delicious saisons, I was not going to leave that brewery without tasting more of their beers, so I ordered a second flight. I started off with their Belgian Tripel (9.0% ABV), a Belgian-style tripel, which was sweet, boozy, delicious, and a little lagery, perhaps some breadyness, great body, and interesting tree fruityness. For the rest of the flight, I moved on to their IPAs. I began my IPA-ing with their Chizzam!! IPA (6.5% ABV), an IPA, which had a subtle pineyness on the nose, and a pleasant pineyeness and balance with the body. Next up was Gavel Drop (7.2% ABV), an IPA with Nelson hops, which didn’t give off much of an aroma on the nose, but was pleasantly smooth and a danky character provided by the hops. We then had the Bully Pulpit (7.2% ABV), an IPA, which was very interesting – danky and fruity and strangely intriguing hops flavor from the Mosaic and Simcoe hops. Finally, we had the Quorum IPA (7.2% ABV), an IPA, which used an experimental hop, Hallertau Blanc (sorry, no tasting notes (perhaps due to my lack of sobriety (I was certainly not driving))).
Our drinking group with Tyler, one of the brewers
Our visit to Council Brewing was very enjoyable, first for the incredibly delicious saisons, second for the tasty IPAs (and for the tripel(!)), and third for the cool brewer who hung out with us. It was nice to visit Council Brewing as a nice break from the hoppiness we had been having and enjoy those delicious sours. While it might be pointed out that we then proceeded to drink IPAs, but it was great to take that break. Council Brewing, which has been open for only a little more than a year, is making fantastic beers and I wouldn’t be surprised if they take off.
