Societe Brewing Co.

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

4.34/5  rDev +11.3%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.75 | selection: 3.5 | $$

Somewhere near Alesmith, but before you really get into the major North County SD hotspots, sits Societe, a little bit hidden in a complex, but with relatively decent parking.

Walk on in, the cleanliness and newness of the place is apparent. Wide open floorplan, long wooden tables, chairs, long bar, around 8 taps I'd guess. Brewing area to the back, easily visible to the naked eye. Tons of stainless steel. High ceilings.

Quality is top notch. IPAs, DIPAs, Tripel, ImpStout = all phenomenal. The Pupil might just be the greatest single IPA ever made. Sure, the recipe isn't innovative, people have been imitating Russian River's hop bill for years from all over the country.

Service was amazing. Every time we asked for another beer, while one guy was filling it, another would come by and ask if we had been helped yet. Score. Funny thing is, it was a busy Saturday afternoon when we stopped in, and yet, the help there was so attentive. Major, major props for that.

The minute they start filling non super expensive growlers, I'm going to be bringing lots of stuff home from Societe.

Seriously, my vote is already locked up for the best new brewery of 2013.

03-27-2013 18:24:49 | More by Beerandraiderfan

Retsinis

California

4.23/5  rDev +8.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$$

Stopped in Societe just this past Saturday, during the Miramar Airshow.

A: The motif of the tasting room is that of the Old East (not to be confused with Far East) so sort of a cross between Gangs of New york, & 19th century music, farming, and a rural mountain lodge. Long (oak I believe) L shaped bar, with very solid, heavy stools. Also a few standalone tasting tables, barrels, tools, Chalk boards, etc. Impressive for new brewery, with plenty of space.

Q: Each beer was solid in my opinion. For me, they basically were good, really good, to great. Not a bad beer in the whole flight. IPA's, fresh, crisp, juicy, to dank, and almost musty, awesome. The Butcher, roasty, roasty, roasty, but not sweet. Fantastic.

Clean as could be otherwise, both in the tasting room, the bar, and the bathrooms.

S: Quick, professional. Possibly short/curt, but think this is by design (sign on the bar said something of the effect of get your beer and mosey along) lol, but never waited, and no one was rude, on the contrary, they were very on it & attentive.

S: Three IPA's, The Dandy, The apprentice, and the The Pupil, followed by 2 Belgians, & a Stout. (The Harlot, The Debutante, & The Butcher respectively.)

Food; N/A

Value: Aside from the growlers, tasters & glasses were of good price & value. I don't live locally, so didn't opt for a growler. If I did though, even for the price, I would get one. Great growler quality, and filling with nitro flush, pretty rare, from my experience to see that.

Someone I met recently said it best, you can tell, walking into a brewery, between a homebrewer gone pro, and a startup with guys that already come from successful commercial breweries ( even ones that started by homebrewers gone pro) Societe speaks to this exactly. As both owners, from my understanding worked at The Bruery, and the head brewer previously worked at Russian river as well. This shows primarily in the quality of the beer, but also the passion, pride, and executition of the busines details. From the names, motif, growler choice, etc. Well done, I will be back, regularly.

10-15-2012 23:00:54 | More by Retsinis

rikatine

New York

4.56/5  rDev +16.9%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Our goal in SD was to try as many local beers as possible. We started our week at Societe Brewing. Got off the plane and went straight there and oh boy, vacation had begun. We started out right away with the sampler in the keeper glass trying all the IPA's and they all met the bill. The Apprentice was our favorite. The Everymans double IPA was great as well.

The tasting room itself is really nice. A huge bar area, and many large tables. All the seating looks custom made. Service was friendly and relaxed. No food is served her, but I guess they get food trucks at different times.

We liked the beer so much, we ended up stopping in a second time during the week. We were tempted to buy a growler to take home, but couldn't bring ourselves to drop $42.

Put this place on your list of breweries to go to in SD. This took the number one spot for us.

11-03-2012 01:33:19 | More by rikatine

TheBeerBadBoy

California

2.46/5  rDev -36.9%
vibe: 2 | quality: 4.25 | service: 1.5 | selection: 1.5 | $$$$

I had Roustabout at O'Brien's and it was great. So I decided to try out the Brewery a few weeks later. $25 for a growler??? Are you kidding me??? WEAK!!!! I know there has been some conversation about this price, but come on. That is a ridiculous price. Names like the Pupil and Apprentice totally fit because these guys need to go back and learn more from the great VINNIE.

04-19-2013 04:05:47 | More by TheBeerBadBoy