Longship Brewing, Sorrento Valley
Longship Brewing’s Viking theme can be seen not just in their logo but also in the shields and arms that line the walls (and hang from the brewing tanks!) and in the names of their beers. It makes a fun–okay, nerdy-fun, which is just my thing–atmosphere in the tasting room. The fun attitude continues with the service, which is open and personable. I spent a good chunk of time chatting with Ryan, the tasting room manager, and Chuck, the assistant brewer, about everything from the new Mass Effect: Andromeda video game, to local brewers and breweries, to the Cicerone exam.
Longship opened just last July (2016), and I have to say that for a place that is less than a year old they have their beers really well dialed-in. The six I tried were all good.
Valknut-meg (American Brown Ale with Nutmeg, 6% ABV). A Valknut is a symbol consisting of three interlocking triangles that stands for slain warriors in Old Norse. Nutmeg is…well, you know what nutmeg is. The combination makes for a very interesting beer that is spicy, hot, and malty sweet with some caramel notes. This is just me, but at one point during my tasting this suddenly reminded me of Chef Boyardee canned pasta–which has positive, nostalgic connotations for me, in case you were wondering. 3/5
Abomination (Strong Ale, 9.3%). I found this to be very malty, sweet, and much like a red ale. It was smooth, balanced, with a little bite from the alcohol. 3.25/5
Huginn (Milk Stout with Vanilla, 5.6% ABV). This is a very enjoyable vanilla milk stout. Not too sweet, and not overpowering with the vanilla. The roasted malts have an undertone of smokiness. 3.5/5
Huginn on Nitro. Equally good, this time swapping some of the aromatics and flavors for the creamy mouthfeel of nitro. The nitro also brought out more of the smokiness. 3.5/5
Funeral Pyre (Smoked Porter, 5.6% ABV). This was indeed smoky, with a bit of spice and sweetness in the background. I detected a slight sourness. The roast was not quite as thick/dark as I would have expected. 3.25/5
Allfather (IPA, 5% ABV). This is an excellent IPA, just the right level of hoppiness in aromatics and bitterness. At 5%, you would enjoy having several on a hot day. 4/5
A BBQ food stand was set up out front, which I gather is a regular thing. The also have free trivia on Tuesdays, which sounds fun. There’s a big shelf of board games, too. The location is right on the border of Mira Mesa, quite close to Green Flash. This is a very enjoyable brewery; I look forward to returning.
https://www.longshipbrewery.com/ 10320 Camino Santa Fe, Ste C, San Diego, CA 92121
