Lesbian Exclusive Exchange

My girlfriend and I have a bucket list and one of the many things we each wanted to do before we die was to go on a beer tour.  Yes, we love beer!  A couple Christmases ago we stumbled across Arrogant Bastard (made by Stone Brewery) in a Bevmo store…awesome brew!  So naturally as this brewery is pretty local, North San Diego, we decided the inclusion of this brewery was a must on whatever beer tour we chose.   I looked through a couple different websites to see which tour sounded like the best fit for us and finally found the perfect one!  Brewery Tours of San Diego (BTOSD), not to be confused with another tour with a very similar name that actually operates out of Carlsbad.  BTOSD offers private and public tours which are quite affordable considering they pick you up at your house, or hotel in our case, drive you around to 3 different breweries with 4-6 tastings each, feed you lunch and then drop you off at the end of the day.  Because it was just Anna and I the public tour seemed like a perfect fit and it truly really was! 

We took the Sunday 10-4pm tour,which started out at Stone, then progressed to San Marcos Brewery, and finally ended at Lost Abbey. 

TAKE US TO THE BREEEEEWERIES PLEASE!

Jon was our beer tour guide extraordinaire! 

As promised Jon called us the day before to confirm pick up time and location, and even better...he was there right one time to pick us up for a day of over indulgence.  The sign posted on the inside of the bus over the drivers head had me cracking up the minute I sat down in my seat.  Great saying for a Lush like myself.

We picked up a few more people and then were on our way to our first stop, the most anticipated, Stone Brewery.  This place is fantastic. 

Definite highlight of the entire tour.  The grounds are rugged and sexy.  The outside patio was spectacular.  Perfect for anything from a large event to a small afternoon of lunch and brews.

They also have this garden of indigenous plants on display which was such a pleasant surprise for us LA girls.

The deco was on point, even in the ladies bathroom.  I mean seriously…I want to duplicate this in my house! 

Both Anna and I thought all of the beers were excellent with the exception of one that had a meaty flavor…almost like a beer marinade.  The only complaint I had is I would have liked to go on an actual tour here, and definitely would have loved to spend more time "tasting" at this brewery.  But alas I guess that’s the point of a 3 brewery tour, to give you a small taste of a couple so you know where you will return.  Stone Brewery is a definite repeat for us!  We will come next time with a larger, private group.
       
Next, we went to San Marcos Brewery. I am not sure many of the people on our tour were big fans of this place. However, this is where we had lunch and by this time we were all quite hungry. Anna and I both had the turkey burgers. The beers were not particularly impressionable in my mind and neither was the food, however it was a very relaxing setup where the patrons on the tour actually got to chat a bit, discussing their favorite brews and beer stories.

 

The last stop now that we had a full tummy was the Lost Abbey, which was literally in a warehouse.  When we drove up I think we were all taken back a bit as it wasn’t at all what we expected.  Once you walked into the roll up metal doors in the docking area, there it was...cylinders and barrels full of beer and a bar with taps of all sorts of interesting flavors to enjoy.  This was a nice local experience.

Our tour guide showed us around the brewery and explained the process as well as pointed out that Stone Brewery actually started in the exact warehouse the is now housing the Lost Abbey.  Stone came a long way from a little rinky dink brewery in a warehouse to a very large well know brewery ranked #16 in the US (according to our guide Jon).  He gave us a quick run down of the entire brewing process that takes place at the Lost Abbey and then we were free to have as many tastings as we could down in the remaining time. The beers were delicious and quite strong.  At this point in the day no one was able to drive, so thankfully we didn't have to! 

The Lost Abbey brewery cat also enjoyed the tasting!

Although it appeared we were the only "family" on this specific tour, it was clear the neither Jon nor anyone else on the tour seemed to mind that a lesbian couple was amongst the straights.  It was a really fun and next time I would like to get a bunch of friends together and go the private tour route.  We will definitely be back again!

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