San Diego - Karl Strauss

The original Karl Strauss Brew Pub.

San Diego will always be special to me since it's where I met my husband. It was over a pint of John Courage at the old Princess of Whales Pub in downtown San Diego that we fell in love. It's been over twenty years since I've lived there, and a lot has changed. It's become a mecca for microbreweries, and a favorite of craft beer aficionados who love heavily hopped ales. Back in 1989, it all began with the Karl Strauss. On this short visit to San Diego we decided to go back to the original and see how their beer has stood up over time. I'd have to say, it still is great. I love the fact that they brew a wide range of beer styles, from German wheat to a nice balanced hoppy black rye IPA.

A flight of Karl Strauss craft beer, and a pint of wheat. 

What did we have:  Per usual, I ordered the featured flight of four beers. They included the Windansea Wheat, Pintail Pale Ale, Amber Lager and my favorite, the Blackball Belgian IPA. I enjoyed all four featured beers, but the Blackball was really special.  I love a beer with a high IBU (international bittering unit), that's balanced with malt to cut the bitterness.  The complexity makes it interesting, and so enjoyable.  My ever-predictable husband drank a pint of his summer fave, Windansea Wheat, which was reminiscent of our trip last year to Germany.  He followed it with one of his all times favorites. Red Trolley Ale, a Karl Strauss standby.  We wanted to eat light, so we shared a Seared Ahi Salad that was surprisingly tasty and quite the work of art.

The Ahi Salad is a work of art. 

What was fun:  There are now numerous Karl Strauss brew pubs around San Diego, but we went to the downtown original.  It was mid-afternoon and the Happy Hour crowd had yet to arrive. We had a great table on the outside patio and received excellent service. It's great to know that Karl Strauss is still a major player in the craft beer scene after all these years and I definitely recommend a stop there when visiting my former home town.

My "partner in fun" enjoys his beer.