Beer

At San Diego Beer and Wine Tours we LOVE good beer and wine.  We also love our pets, but as any vet will tell you, booze and Fluffy don’t mix – no matter how much they want it. Well, until now.  If you want to share your tasting experience with your dog or cat, you can now do so without fear of doing them serious bodily harm.  A company from Seattle has pioneered – wait for it – Bowser Beer. The non-alcoholic and non-carbonated drinks come in flavors like Beefy Brown Ale and Cock-A-Doodle-Brew. This isn’t the first marriage of pets and potables.  A San Diego company, Doggie Beer Bones, uses recycled grains from homebrewed beer to make baked dog treats. San Diego Beer and Wine Tours loves dogs. There is also a wine on the market for dogs and cats…

San Diego Beer and Wine Tours is off and running to the races!  Are you ready for a day at the racetrack? The rest of San Diego certainly is. Some 45,000 people are expected to head out to the Del Mar race track on opening day.  If you’ve never been, you’re in for a treat: it’s a see-and-be-seen kind of event, where thoroughbreds meet high fashion and haute couture. It’s also the perfect day to sit back with one of San Diego’s finest craft beers or a glass of wine and watch the crowds and their sartorial choices: big hats and short skirts on the women, linens and pinstripes on the men, and bright colors for everybody. San Diego Beer and Wine Tours enjoys a day at the races! What you wear and where you place your bets is totally…

San Diego Beer and Wine Tours is grateful for all its growth in the first two years.  My, how we’ve grown! It’s been exactly two years since Shira Bliss and her partner Paul Anthony first launched La Jolla Wine Tours, and what a ride it’s been since then!  We went from wine and food walking tours, to chauffeured winery and brewery tours of San Diego’s Wine Country, to our environmentally-friendly “green” train tours. San Diego Beer and Wine Tours is proud of their success… That first jaunt, on July 12, 2010, was a three-hour walking tour that began at the Empress Hotel and ended at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Our seven guests tasted the best of La Jolla: seafood, freshly made pasta, and other delectable dishes. Today, you can take your pick of outings, and on our chauffeured tours we’ll pick…

For those of you who follow soccer (or what the rest of the world calls football) today is an important day: it's the final day of the Euro Cup, the little sister of the World Cup.  Today, football fans all over the world will watch with bated breath as Italy and Spain square off for the European championship.  We would like to take this opportunity to toast both teams.  For Spain, we recommend a lovely Priorat from the northeast, but if dropping $50 on a bottle isn'tyour thing, we of course think a Rioja would be superb, or a garnacha blend from the Campo de Borja region. If Italy's your team, southern Italy boasts the dry and strong white Fiano variety, or go north for one of Umbria's nearly-black, aromatic Sagrantino wines.  Of course, if you want to be non-partisan and…

Happy Independence Day! This is the national day of the United States, and in case you haven't been paying attention, it usually involves fireworks, backyard barbecues, and – of course – beer. We at La Jolla Wine Tours and San Diego Beer and Wine Tours have a special place in our heart for beer. We think it's delectable, especially something from The Lost Abbey or AleSmith Brewing Company. Yet, this year, for something different, how about pairing wine with your 4th of July barbecue fare. But not just any wine. Instead of red and white, try orange and green wines on for size. Green wines, or vinhos verdes, are light, delicate, and fizzy whites – perfect for summer! The “green” refers to the youth of the wine. It's supposed to be consumed a year after bottling at most and as…

What do freaks, geeks, zombies, vampires, and scantily clad superheroes all have in common? They're all very thirsty people. We know this well. If you're one of them, you know it, too. On July 12th through the 15th, 2012, these strange and startling characters will be descending on San Diego for ComiCon. ComiCon is an annual convention that was originally for comic book collectors and fans. (Hence the name.) Since the 1990s, however, it has swelled into a four-day extravaganza that fills San Diego with superfans dressed as their favorite characters, zombie flash mobs, Hollywood producers looking for ideas and actors looking for parties, and a few dazed-looking tourists. You may want to don your bat wings and get away from the spectacle for a while and enjoy different fruits of San Diego – like the best of our food and…

Congratulations, Grads! You've pulled your last all-nighter and aced your last final. You're getting ready to don your cap and gown and go for a night out on the town to celebrate your achievement. But is something missing? Something indefinable? Could it be… you miss learning? Exactly. You're a graduate now, and educated people don't go around mindlessly drinking. Oh, no. They learn about what they're imbibing, and study their drinks thoughtfully. Lucky for you, Graduate, La Jolla Wine Tours and San Diego Beer and Wine Tours are here to help. We'll help you be a lifelong learner by teaching you best way to pair wines, beers, and food, and give you some history lessons besides. Come have some fun with us! You've earned it – and we promise there won't be a test later.  In vino doctrina! Brooke B., Professor

We here at La Jolla Wine Tours and San Diego Beer and Wine Tours don't talk politics very much, except maybe to discuss the favorite beers of elected officials. (We approve of your decision to make June Craft Beer Month, Mayor Sanders. We approve very much.)  However, we'd like to make an exception today to remind you to go vote in today's election. It's an essential part of being in a democracy, and who doesn't love democracy? That's what we thought! Standing in long lines to vote can be thirsty work. That's why we think you should go home and have a nice glass of your favorite tipple. And if you need help pairing a wine with your favorite political party, don't hesitate to drop us a line – we're happy to help! Brooke B., Enthusiastic Voter

June takes its name from Juno, the most important goddess in the Roman pantheon. Juno was called Hera by ancient Greeks and Uni or Cupra by the Etruscans, who once populated what is now Tuscany. She helped rule heaven alongside her husband, Jupiter. Juno, whose name means “vital force,” is the goddess of marriage, women, and new beginnings. The first day of every month also belongs to Juno. New beginnings are also on our mind right now. La Jolla Wine Tours is growing to include San Diego Beer and Wine Tours as we expand and bring you the best wine AND beer throughout San Diego County! We’ll even have a online booking system on our website to show off to you soon. Follow us on Twitter to keep abreast of all the new happenings. Incidentally, one of Juno’s many aspects…

 The long Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start to summer here in San Diego, and this is the first weekend of the year that beaches are well and truly packed with slowly reddening bodies roasting in the late-May sun. Speaking of barbecues, potlucks are an unofficial Memorial Day tradition along with – you guessed it – beer!  Here are our beer suggestions for your celebration: In hot weather, light beer reigns supreme; it's best for keeping you cool on sunny days. We recommend the wonderfully named Witch's Wit from The Lost Abbey, which includes grapefruit, orange, and coriander.  And let's not forget hops. Stone IPA is one of San Diego's iconic IPAs, and it's perfect for a backyard picnic. Taking it down a notch, hefeweizen is a nice accompaniment to the coleslaw and ambrosia that somebody inevitably brings to…