san diego summer

Hey baby, it's nearly the Fourth of July.  We love this time of year! The days are at their longest and warmest and everybody is in a party mood for Independence Day.  We prefer the annual San Diego rite of passage of heading out to the beach, where you can barbecue next to the surf, but really, there's fun to be had just about anywhere! We know that you're probably going to have a cookout, so we won't waste our time recommending food.  You know what to do. What we have done, however, is once again sampled some of San Diego's finest in order to help you best pair your favorite local brews with your meals! We'll start off with an oldie, but a goodie – a classic in the vibrant world of San Diego's beer scene: Karl Strauss's Red…

 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…