After checking into our Comfort Hotel (we’re on a budget) we headed out to San Diego Beer Week’s edition of Craft Beer + Bites. The event, celebrating San Diego State University’s College of Extended Studies Business of Craft Brewing Program, was held at SILO in Makers Quarter and benefited the SD Brewer’s Guild.
What a phenomenal outdoor event space! Nestled in the heart of East Village, this multi-use venue hosts collaborative community events all year long. Infused with culture, art, fashion and fun, Craft Beer + Bites was just up our alley. In addition to sampling the innovations of 15 local breweries we played games such as Ping-Pong and bean-bag toss, danced to the custom tunes of ZB Savory and Andy Mauser, watched graffiti artists create exceptional murals on the surrounding walls, and ate delicious octopus and shrimp tacos from a food truck.
The team got the opportunity to meet some new breweries like Lightning Brewery and Thorn Street Brewery, chat with friends like Craft Beer’d Art and Apparel and even discover cool new vendors like Doggie Beer Bones that make all natural dog treats using repurposed spent brewing grain sourced from local San Diego craft breweries. All-in-all it was a great time.
Following the festival we walked on over to Monkey Paw Pub and Brewery for a quick flight. The extensive tap list at the jamming pub included some great West Coast Breweries. Even so, we restricted our samples to Monkey Paw brews (when in Rome, right?). Those tried included Monkey Paw Oatmeal, Monkey Paw Lab Monkey, Monkey Paw Bonobos IPA/SD Pale, Monkey Paw Muriqui.
