{"id":13463,"date":"2016-04-07T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T15:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/?p=13463"},"modified":"2016-04-07T09:34:13","modified_gmt":"2016-04-07T16:34:13","slug":"whats-with-the-beav-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/2016\/04\/07\/whats-with-the-beav-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s with The Beav\u2014Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bbeaverpub_logo\"<\/a>Vista-based Belching Beaver Brewery<\/strong><\/a> has carved out a good fan-base behind a line of mostly hoppy beers augmented by various forms of milk stout, including its popular peanut butter-flavored version. Enough of a fan-base that the company has been able to grow rather quickly, adding numerous brick-and-mortars to its wide-ranging empire faster than most of its contemporaries. Not long after opening its initial Vista brewery, Belching Beaver opened a satellite tasting-room in North Park, something only Stone Brewing<\/strong><\/a> had attempted at that point (2013). Last year, the company had two big construction projects going simultaneously\u2014a new, larger brewing facility in Oceanside and renovation of a Vista Village bank into a brewery-equipped restaurant. The latter, Belching Beaver Brewery Tavern and Grill <\/strong>(302 East Broadway, Vista)<\/em> scheduled to open very soon\u2014if all goes as planned, the brewpub\u2019s outdoor area will be open in time to welcome patrons this Saturday (it\u2019s perfect timing with the San Diego Brewers Guild<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s annual Rhythm and Brews Festival<\/a><\/strong> happening right next-door that very day.<\/p>\n

\"12647561_549902635176913_6068460665235869767_n\"<\/a>Though this is their first food-equipped venue, the Tavern is a rather polished product with a number of stylish touches. Were it not for the safe-door off the bar, which remains the shiny, sturdy, heavy-metal icon it was in the building\u2019s previous use, it would be tough to peg this place as a former money depository. (That portal leads into the former 17-foot-by-17-foot vault, which is being converted into a wine-room.) All this from a project originally conceived strictly as a tasting room. But the 6,740-square-foot building (roughly 12,000 SF, including the outdoor area) spot was simply too large, so they challenged themselves to take things to the next level. In doing so, they enlisted the services of chef Ramiro Guerra<\/strong>, who has put together a menu of familiar proteins made interesting through the inspiration of multiple culinary cultures and Belching Beaver\u2019s beers.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_5285\"<\/a>An early draft of the opening-day bill of fare was broken down into \u201cbeaver small nibbles\u201d, \u201cbrewers flat breads\u201d, \u201cbeaver building materials (vegetation)\u201d and \u201cthe beaver\u2019s tail\u201d. That last category encompasses main-course meats, poultry and fish plus sandwiches with house-made dressings (e.g., lillekoi kombucha or soy-smoked lemongrass vinaigrettes, Me So Honey mustard dressing) or \u201cfat sauce\u201d as they\u2019re affectionately known here. Once more, all naming conventions aside, the menu sounds rather good, as does the fact vegetables are sourced from Cyclops Farms, Olive Crest Farms and Palmquist Elementary School Farm, along with herbs and citrus from the Tavern’s own outdoor area.<\/p>\n

The flatbreads are made with a combination of brewer\u2019s yeast and Belching Beaver\u2019s Dammed IPA, and come in four varieties\u2014sausage and leeks, four-cheese, pepperoni and sausage, and a blend of smoked duck breast with barbecue sauce. The \u201cvegetation\u201d equates to salads, including a soy-dressed, sesame-crusted ahi number drawing Asian inspiration, a duck-fortified riff on a Cobb, and a \u201cSan Diego Salad\u201d with chili-rubbed chicken, black bean-corn relish and southwestern Ranch dressing. Starters include house-smoked chicken wings, roasted bone marrow, a duo of \u201cdueling\u201d poke (tropical vs. smoked) and a trio of sliders (bratwurst, chorizo and braised pork Cubano).<\/p>\n

\"bbeaverpub_flames\"<\/a>The entr\u00e9es range from a pork Bahn mi sandwich and burger (beef or turkey patty) with milk stout-infused ketchup to miso-coated white-fish steamed in a banana leaf, chicken cooked in a corn husk with Ranchero sauce, passion fruit-glazed pork chop with pineapple fried rice, and three regionally inspired steak dishes\u2014Central America with chimichurri and Peruvian beans, Brasilian Picanha with yucca fries and a U.S. version with cold-brew coffee steak sauce and mashed cauliflower. Belching Beaver could easily have gone with standard pub fare. It would have been both expected and easier, so an A for effort and ambition are in order.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_5149\"<\/a>The same goes for the d\u00e9cor. There could have been sawdust on the floor and lame neon and tin bric-a-brac lining every wall, but roll-up garage doors give way to a put-together spot. Varying shades of reclaimed wood, patina-enhanced copper and stained concrete flooring make for a complete, earthen color palette punched up by TVs at the 70-tap bar displaying the full beer list. Separating the 40-foot bar from the dining room (which seats around 120, though the entire venue can hold about 350) is a 30-foot-long faux fire-feature that uses colored lights to make mist look like flames. Outside, there\u2019s a bar equipped with 15 taps, a quartet of fire-pits surrounded by Adirondack chairs and plenty of space for the weekend barbecues the venue intends to hold.<\/p>\n

\"Belching<\/a>
Belching Beaver Brewery Tavern and Grill head brewer Thomas Peters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the brewing side, the 10-barrel system will be manned by veteran Belching Beaver brewer Thomas Peters<\/strong>. Most famous for crafting Pound Town, the triple IPA that took top honors at the annual Great American Beer Festival<\/strong><\/a>-aligned Alpha King Challenge in 2013 (as well as a malt liquor called Hot Liquor Stank), Peters will get to brew exactly what he wants, which is essentially the dream of every brewer on the planet. Up first will be a pale ale, Helles lager and a \u201cmalt liquor IPA.\u201d For now, I\u2019ll leave you to ponder that, but check back to West Coaster<\/a> <\/em><\/strong>next week for a look at The Beav\u2019s new main brewery in Oceanside.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vista-based Belching Beaver Brewery has carved out a good fan-base behind a line of mostly hoppy beers augmented by various forms of milk stout, including its popular peanut butter-flavored version. Enough of a fan-base that the company has been able to grow rather quickly, adding numerous brick-and-mortars to its wide-ranging empire faster than most of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[368,369,1],"tags":[1353,2646,376,1007,442,390,2647,2650,2651,466,467,2459,15,475,2648,2649,2644,2610,1439,189,2652,2645,44,1637],"class_list":{"0":"post-13463","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-beer-news","7":"category-beer-styles","8":"category-san-diego-beer-beverage-news","9":"tag-sdbeer","10":"tag-alpha-king","11":"tag-beer","12":"tag-belching-beaver","13":"tag-brandon-hernandez","14":"tag-craft-beer","15":"tag-cyclops-farms","16":"tag-dammed","17":"tag-flatbreads","18":"tag-gabf","19":"tag-great-american-beer-festival","20":"tag-indie-beer","21":"tag-north-park","22":"tag-oceanside","23":"tag-olive-crest-farms","24":"tag-palmquist-elementary","25":"tag-ramiro-guerra","26":"tag-rhythm-and-brews","27":"tag-san-diego","28":"tag-san-diego-brewers-guild","29":"tag-the-beav","30":"tag-thomas-peters","31":"tag-vista","32":"tag-west-coaster","33":"entry","34":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdtr4y-3v9","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13463\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}