Beer Me!
October 12, 2012
It’s Friday night, you are among good company and the night is only growing later. Left without many options, you and your surrounding friends decide to take it easy and opt to grab a beer and just relax. Well I have found the perfect spot if this sounds like the night you seek. Located on the north side of Little Italy, situated on the right side of India Street, is a little brew house called Bottlecraft Beer Shop and Tasting Room. A humble, small business in San Diego, Bottlecraft is a pet-friendly beer shop housing over 597 different options for your beverage of choice. Open Monday through Sunday, 12pm to 10pm, Bottlecraft offers a wide selection of various brews, both domestic and international, for purchase-and-drink, purchase-and-takeaway, tastings, and kegs. Additional items may be purchased during the tastings such as snacks, or you may choose to bring your own food to enjoy while at the shop. If the experience moves you to become an in-house brewer, or a fashionista, the shop offers a beer making kit and other fashion items for purchase.
For a better visual, the ambiance of Bottlecraft is very unique in style. From outside the shop, patrons are greeted with huge glass windows that welcome them into a well-lit showroom. As you enter, to your left is an elevated metal counter that allows the consumer to view the street and take in the views of San Diego while seated. As you move from the front left of the shop towards the back, next, one would come upon a wooden picnic table for tastings. Typically 10-12 persons may seat and try up to four beers from the showroom floor. The staff is very educated and well-versed to satisfy your palette. The rest of the showroom is confined within red-brick walls covered in shelves that provide patrons with a presentation of each beer Bottlecraft offers. If you do not decide on something on the wall, the floor of the shop is a maze of kiosks housing additional beers for your pleasure both in the store or for carryout. If you are looking for a chilled beer, the front right of the store houses a variety of the same beers that one may purchase to consume in the shop, or for carryout. For a better visual of the shop, one will have to visit this gem of San Diego themselves.
Bottlecraft offers flight tastings for people that are not sure they want to commit to just one beer. The beers on the various flights change every day. But, on this particular visit, I chose to try a bottle and sit with friends before we made our way to dinner. Deciding to stay in town, I tried Rayon Vert, a Belgian pale ale from Green Flash Brewing in San Diego. It pours a cloudy orange color with a lot of foam head. The taste is more spice and fruit than hops with some citrus. A very good beer for fall because it almost gives the same feeling as pumpkin spiced chai on an autumn day. Belgian pale ales are a medium bodied style beer, so lighter than a stout but heavier than a lager. Rayon Vert is really easy to drink.
Bottlecraft offers drinkers, and non-drinkers, a great atmosphere to relax and enjoy a nice cool beverage on a hot day, or a free night. All are welcome and we wish you bottles, or cans, up. All you have to say is, “Beer Me!”
Bottlecraft Beer Shop and Tasting Room
2161 India St.
San Diego, CA
(619) 487 – 9493