by Cody Thompson | Suds in the city

From brewery grand openings and anniversaries to exclusive bottle releases and craft beer dinners, Uptown is a true beer lovers’ destination. From North Park’s 30th Street corridor and beyond, this is a destination for many locals and tourists looking to soak up the suds from breweries housed not just in their own backyard, but from all around the country.

Two of the upcoming events that we are looking forward to happen to both be anniversaries for local establishments. They’re set to feature tons of alluring — and incredibly exclusive — beer offerings.

Bine & Vine

Bine & Vine, a premier bottle shop located at 3334 Adams Ave. that focuses on craft beer and quality wine alike, is set to celebrate its third anniversary. Looking to take this celebration to the next level, owner Geoi Bachoua joined forces with local craft beer kings Alpine Beer Company to create a special one-off American IPA exclusive to his shop. To add to the exclusivity of the brew, it will blend three different hops for a unique taste.

“I approached them back in April or May and we met a few times to shoot ideas back and forth,” Bachoua said. “I knew I wanted it to be an IPA and loved what Mosaic hops tasted and smelled like. I thought it would be cool to include three hops since it was my third anniversary. Once we agreed upon Mosaic as one of the hops, we sampled a bunch of IPAs that had Mosaic and concluded that Simcoe and Citra would make a great three-hop combination.”

Alpine Beer Company is known for brewing arguably some of the best IPAs currently on the market, not only in San Diego, but possibly the country. They were Bachoua’s number one choice to create this anniversary ale. Alpine is famous for their offerings including Duet (a perfectly balanced single IPA), Pure Hoppiness (a massively hopped double IPA), and of course, Nelson (a golden rye IPA named after the hop used to make it: Nelson Sauvin). Nelson also was this year’s winner of the coveted Sore Eye Cup, being named “Best Beer in San Diego.” You can find all three at Bine & Vine.

“I’m of the opinion that they make the best IPAs in the world, so yeah, it seemed like a no-brainer,” said Bachoua on collaborating with Alpine Beer Company. “I didn’t want any quirky sub-styles, just an American IPA that tasted ‘Alpine.’”

Bine & Vine’s Third Anniversary Ale clocks in at 6.5 percent ABV. Approximately 120 cases are to be bottled. There will be a six-bottle limit per person, per day, and it will be available exclusively at Bine & Vine. The 22-oz bottles became available Oct. 6.

After receiving an early tasting of the final product, Bachoua was happy to share his initial tasting points: “Light-colored, a lot of tropical fruit, guava, melon, blueberries, tangerine in the aroma and flavor. Clean maltiness, medium-bodied and finishes dry. Well structured and not too bitter. Another world-class IPA from Alpine.”

Waypoint Public

Another exciting event will be going off for over a week at Waypoint Public located at 3794 30th St. in North Park.

Named one of “The Best New Beer Restaurants” in the country by DRAFT Magazine in 2014, Waypoint Public will hold their official one-year anniversary celebration on Oct. 15. The weeks leading up to this explosive day are promised to be filled with exclusive craft beer offerings, each of which is paired with a culinary experience never before seen or tasted. They are to be put together by none other than Waypoint’s world-class executive chef, Amanda Baumgarten.

Baumgarten, also an avid homebrewer, spent over a decade training and working at some of the top restaurants in the industry. She has brought her many years of talents and expertise right here to North Park.

Over the two-week celebration, Baumgarten will put together perfectly paired dishes to go along with the rare and exclusive beer offerings tapped every evening at 4 p.m. By the way, these paired dishes will be complimentary to guests. Yes, you read that correctly. Each dish will be a tapas-style plate designed to bring out the flavors of each beer tapped that day.

Waypoint Public’s Brian Jensen (also owner of Bottlecraft in Little Italy and North Park) has put together a lineup of some of the most elusive beers he could find for this extravaganza. Waypoint Public will tap one of these specialty beers each evening until the grand finale, when they will put on anywhere between three to five “uber-exclusive” beers.

“We’re pretty excited about our lineup of rare beers being released during our anniversary celebration,” owner and partner John Pani said. “The full lineup is being kept a secret, but some of the brews you may see include The Abyss by Deschutes Brewery (Bend, Oregon), Red Poppy by Lost Abbey/Port Brewing (San Marcos) and Bomb! by Prairie Artisan Ales (Krebs, Oklahoma).”

The Lost Abbey Red Poppy Ale — a Flanders Red Ale — will be paired with fried oyster, chili, avocado and Meyer lemon. Deschutes Imperial Stout The Abysswill be accompanied by braised bacon, fennel soubise and pomegranate. Orange County’s The Bruery’s BeRazzledAmerican Wild Ale will be served alongside grilled octopus, ancho chili and beet purée and shaved radish.

“I love that beer is such a blank canvas. The possibilities are endless when it comes to developing nuances in flavor and texture,” Baumgarten said of using craft beer as a key element in her dishes.

During the two weeks leading up to Oct. 15, Waypoint Public will highlight the best of the best in the world of not only craft beer, but also fine dining. Representatives for Waypoint Public could not tell us about all of the exciting tricks they have up their sleeves for the upcoming days, but we were told to keep an eye on social media, as announcements will be made regarding all upcoming tappings.

—Contact Cody Thompson at [email protected].