AleSmith Brewing Company

tourdot

Wisconsin

4.75/5  rDev +10.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

Stopped into Alesmith on a Sunday afternoon. Being my gf and I were the only people there at 1pm, we had the place to ourselves and received top notch service. It is a surprisingly small tasting room and very plain atmosphere but the tap list and value is phenomenal. BA Old Numbskull and BA Wee Heavy along with Vietnamese Speedway were on tap with all the regulars. 4oz samplers were only $2-$4 depending upon choice. 8 oz were $3-$5 and pints were $7 at most. Bottles of the regulars are available to go. This was my #1 brewery stop in San Diego and I would highly recommend it to others.

05-13-2013 04:28:11 | More by tourdot

retry4z

California

4.83/5  rDev +12.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$

This is my favorite brewery, and rightly so. Not only do they brew the best beer, but this San Diego's second craft brewery (after Karl Strauss) is also friendly and welcoming.

There are always people here when I come who are keen on meeting new people. I've been approached by several folks who started conversations with me.

I've also been on the brewery tour, and tried their foor truck food, which is delicious.

Everyone is friendly, and the brewers are passionate about what they do. Even the bar menu, a hand-written outline of the beers, is meticulously drawn (which took 8 hours per board, I heard, with two boards).

Their new bottling station is a $300k state-of-the-art machine (from Europe?) that saves space and time.

This is a fast-growing brewery with a dedicated fan base. Wherever you go, you'll hear that Speedway Stout is a favorite here in San Diego.

They also brew excellent IPA, Scottish-style ale (Wee Heavy), a Belgian Strong Dark Ale (Grand Crew), Barleywine (Old Numbskull), Quadruple (Decadence 2012), Belgian Strong Pale Ale (Horny Devil), and some excellent seasonal brews.

You can get 2-ounce tasters for $1-2, a pint for ~$4 or take a bottle for about $11.

Overall, it's a world-class brewery whose brewers' passion shows through. I am looking forward to coming here many more times and experiencing the heart-warming brews. As Peter Zien, AleSmith owner, says, "[beer] can be quite an exciting beverage, with all the complexity of wine."

04-24-2013 11:57:47 | More by retry4z

CasanovaCummins

Nevada

3.33/5  rDev -22.6%
vibe: 3.25 | quality: 3.5 | service: 2.75 | selection: 3.75 | $$

Disappointed by the smallness and lack of personalness here. Seemed aimed for hipsters and visiting local professionals. Service was minimum and not very inviting. No tour to seak of. They were too busy catering to the visitors and weren't well staffed. Their barral aged Speedway was exceptional, but not much else was. Alas, no-where near what I was expecting.

04-19-2013 03:02:38 | More by CasanovaCummins

MilwaukeeCrusher

Wisconsin

4.73/5  rDev +10%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$$

This was probably my favorite place during my time in San Diego (if it wasn't Alpine). The tap room had a festive atmosphere, although I wish they were open a little later. Their world class beers even tasted better out of the tap than the bottle. I mentioned to the guy next to me how great a particular beer was sitting next to me and he thanked me, saying he was the brewer and then handing me his business card. Without a doubt, I will go back here if in the San Diego area. The service was a little slow only because of the crowd that was there which is the only thing that prevents this from being a perfect score.

03-15-2013 21:13:31 | More by MilwaukeeCrusher

KidsDoc

California

4.35/5  rDev +1.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4 | $$$

Overall a great tasting room. Still small, but usually not overwhelmed with people.

New bar installed has a a great look. Love the keg barrel tables for standing room only crowds.

Rotating selection of specialty beers keeps it interesting as a regular.

LOVE the option for the 32 oz "Grumbler" fills!!

Awesome staff that work really hard in the tasting room.
Food is via food trucks usually just on weekends.

Special cask days announced ahead of time on the blackboard in the tasting room.

Very clean and large restrooms too - a huge bonus.
Great place to hang out and grab a beer.

Reason I put "a bit pricey" is the high octane beers go for a pretty penny. 32 oz grumbler fills generally $10 with growler fills $20. The QUALITY can justify the price in most cases, but these are more expensive than most beers in the general area (Mira Mesa/Scripps Ranch)

03-12-2013 05:26:38 | More by KidsDoc

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

3.98/5  rDev -7.4%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 3.75 | $$

On the most recent trip to San Diego, we went and hit up Alpine first, then made the short drive over to Alesmith for the first time. Picking up kopi luwak speedway and ba old numbskull. Located in an industrial park type setting, but relatively easy to find. There was a flood in the parking lot though? Nice weather, flooded parking lot.

After wading through the parking lot, we entered a small, clean tasting room. It was packed, but the servers were attentive. Man, Speedway never tasted so fresh. Nothing real unique from the bottled stuff on tap, but it was all good stuff nonetheless. Some barrels around the place. Not really much else to speak of. There is nothing wrong with it, but there also is nothing really worth stopping by for, especially if you have access to their bottles around you. The beer is damn good, thats for sure.

It is close to Societe though, so its nice that you can get more bang for your mileage buck when visiting this area of San Diego.

03-01-2013 06:24:29 | More by Beerandraiderfan

UCLABrewN84

California

4.36/5  rDev +1.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $

The AleSmith tasting room is pretty small with a nice bar and some wooden casks for tables. All the beers are listed above the bar on a chalkboard type setup, along with the bottles they have for sale. When I went, they had a bunch of brewery only beers on tap such as Vietnamese and Kopi Luwak Speedway. Everything was fresh and tasty straight from the source. They were also selling limited bottles like My Bloody Valentine and BA Wee Heavy. Prices were cheap for the tasters, and bottles were competitive with store prices. I was able to wander around the brewery and got a chance to check out the brew space and bottling area. This is definitely a nice place to stop at if you are in the area, especially for their more limited beers.

01-27-2013 07:34:34 | More by UCLABrewN84

John_Deas

4.3/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Alesmith is a good place to get a fresh draft in the Miramar area of San Diego. On tap is a decent selection of house beers. Average prices of about $5/pint as of December 2012. Beer is served in a plain glass at about 55 degrees (my guess).

Typical micro brewery ambiance. Standing room only, no stools. Oak casks for tables. About 20 well-behaved patrons were there on a pre-Christmas weekday afternoon.

Limited parking is available in the industrial park's lot. It's easy to get there off I-5 or I-15 and to find with GPS.

12-27-2012 20:51:11 | More by John_Deas

DocJitsu

California

4.44/5  rDev +3.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

AleSmith is another of several San Diego breweries that have a tasting area in the adjacent open space of the brewery itself. However, AleSmith outdoes places like Green Flash and Ballast Point by attending to the aesthetics of the tasting area. The bar is L-shaped with a few bourbon barrels strewn around the floor for tables. The layout is geometrically appealing and the colors and stainless steel contribute nicely to the aesthetics. There is a narrow bar that parallels the stack of bourbon barrels in the front, offering more surface area for sitting your beer. Flights are available to taste any or all of the beers on tap, of which there is an ample variety. The staff are very helpful, accommodating, friendly, and quite knowledgeable. Very charming for a brewery tasting room. And, of course, the beers are magnificent. The Vietnamese Coffee Speedway--dear Lord!

11-04-2012 16:16:32 | More by DocJitsu

caryt

Oregon

4.73/5  rDev +10%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $

Alesmith has it right with this establishment, sure I would like to see food there everyday but they focus on great beer. Not a restaurant.

The atmosphere is classy and different than most breweries you will go to in San Diego. This is where they brew and bottle not just serve up there fine beers. So you have the opportunity to pick there brains about what goes into there beers. The people serving you beers here know what they are talking about because they are at the source of the creation.

Of course the quality of the beers are fantastic, but they also serve several one-off beers that aren't bottled. As well as some fantastic weekly cask offerings.

The selection is the array of there beers which they offer $1 four ounce pours of there brews.

Weekends they have local food carts come in to serve up good local variety.

My favorite thing about Alesmith is that they fill your corny keg at a good price, not many places I've seen do this. It is a deal breaker for me.

Keep it up Alesmith!

10-27-2012 21:09:20 | More by caryt