Craft beer establishments are starting to spread into zip codes that had previously been barren, or close to it.
Two examples include newly-opened neighborhood spot The Ugly Dog — located at 6344 El Cajon Boulevard in the College Area –and Steins Pub, coming in the spring to Tierrasanta. Both are owned and operated by QUAFF homebrew club President Larry Stein and his wife Gail.
The Ugly Dog boasts 30 taps of mostly craft beers with a local focus, poured by Cicerone Certified Beer Servers who are working on obtaining the Certified Cicerone level. There’s also a sizeable mead and cider selection. A growling bottle list is available to-go thanks to how long the liquor license has been around.
As for events, tomorrow The Ugly Dog hosts Matt Akin from Benchmark Brewing for a meet-the-brewer event; Akin has been a QUAFF member since 2002, and worked as AleSmith head brewer until leaving to start his own brewery in 2011. On the 15th, there’s a BrewStormers meetup, complete with deals on beers. On the 26th, owner and head meadmaker from Boulder, Colorado’s Redstone Meadery, David Myers, will be in the house along with Queso Diego, a local cheese club bringing several varieties to pair with mead flights. March 1 welcomes the CityBeat Beer Club, and on March 29 homebrewers-turned-pros Paul Sangster and Guy Shobe from Rip Current will make the trip down from San Marcos for a meet-the-brewer event.
One of The Ugly Dog’s weekly specials specifically highlights local brews: on Thursdays, a flight of four San Diego beers is $4. On Mondays, active duty and retired military personnel and families get $2 off glasses of beer and $4 off pitchers on Mondays. Wednesdays promise fun, too, with a 30-sided die; roll for a discount of 1-30% off your beer.