NYC Tastes

Friday morning I got one last Baileys tart for breakfast, put in a full hour in the sun and made a final walk around the beach.  I said goodbye to my parents at the airport and walked inside feeling a bit sad.  I hate when vacation ends, especially when it was so much fun. I checked my gate and decided to walk around for an hour until boarding when I stumbled across this... Stone Brewing in the airport!  What a perfect excuse to do one last round of vacation beers.  Stone Ruination, Smoked Porter and Pale Ale before getting on the plane...now I'm officially ready to say good-bye to the West Coast.

This winter has been absolutely brutal, so when my parents invited me along for a quick San Diego getaway I jumped at the opportunity.  I got in late Tuesday night...just enough time for dinner at Coronado Brewing and a few drinks at our gorgeous hotel the Del Coronado.  Wednesday I awoke early and joined my parents for a leisurely morning walk and a delicious Baileys Tart for breakfast before hitting the poolside for some sun.  The weather was awesome.   It honestly got so warm I couldn't take anymore direct sunlight by the time 11:00 AM rolled around.  Luckily I had more than a few pit stops in mind to fill the rest of the day.  First a trip up to Alpine Beer Company.  I was worried this would be quite a hike from the hotel but the drive only took about 45 minutes and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous.  We walked into the roadside first and I was immediately struck by the 1980's decor. Maybe it was the fact that Journey was playing...

Stone Brewing is such a household name most people who don't even drink beer know about this amazing brewery out in Escondido, California.  They're constantly testing the boundaries of beer and brought in the winners of a home brewing contest to collaborate on a special one together- The Robert Masterson & Ryan Reschan/Rip Current/Stone Coconut IPA. Although this ale was brewed with 280 pounds of coconut it doesn't get any coconut flavor besides a slightly suntan lotion aroma.  However the crazy blend of hops they used to create this beer is truly incredible.  It's got a lots of pine, as most Stone brews do, and a ton of tropical citrus flavors that just made this a super refreshing and tasty beer that I would gladly drink any day.  Cheers! Stone Brewing Collaboration