Double Peak Brewing, San Marcos

The landscape outside Double Peak Brewing is stunning: mountains and valleys, and covered in green and flowers when I visited in spring. I counted three peaks, but whatevs.

The exterior of the building is a bit forbidding—just a tall, concrete warehouse.. There is parking in the lot and more on the street.

Inside the tall, roll-up garage door, there is a four-seat bar and a scattering of high top tables. Down a small hall, you can see the tanks gleaming. Around the corner there is additional seating I hadn’t expected, and it looks like there is space to expand the tasting room more as popularity demands. The finishes are a step above the typical warehouse tasting room.

They were the final brewery to open at the end of 2018, so it has only been four months. Given the relative newness of the place, the beer is better than I would have bet on. Excepting a couple of missteps, the beer is really quite good. They were pouring seven taps on my visit, so I tried them all.

Nameless Amber (Amber Lager, 7.2% ABV). Malty goodness. I’m used to ambers as ales but this amber lager really works. Flavorful with a sharp clean finish. 3.75/5

Let’s Gose (Gose Sour, 5.1% ABV). The Belgian yeast note and cloves flavor are stronger than I expected. Bready, fruity, with a lager-like finish. I don’t detect the juniper berries. Not at all sour, not lemony. I don’t think it is a gose, it certainly doesn’t match the tasting notes, but it is not a bad beer overall. 3.25/5

Haboob (Red Ale, 5.8% ABV). Bread/cracker malt flavor, cloudy amber. Thin mouthfeel. Something a bit unpleasant on the finish I can’t place. (The handy-dandy Google machine tells me a haboob is a dust storm.) 3.25/5

1st Ascent (IPA, 6.4% ABV). This has a fruity opening and a pleasant floral/piney/earthy finish. An earthy astringency lingers a bit too much. Bright beautiful light amber color. 3.5/5

Resilience (IPA, 6.8%). This is the Sierra Nevada Brewing recipe that 1500 breweries made to support relief efforts for those affected by the major California brush fires of 2018. This version is excellent. I hope every brewery brews Resilience in perpetuity. The recipe is great, and the slight variations at each place make it really interesting to try and compare. 3.75/5

Portal Porter (Imperial Porter, 8.9% ABV). Smoky/roasty. Loads of flavor, maybe a bit out of balance. Mouthfeel pretty thin. Lingering flavor is delicious. 3.5/5

Black Mountain Stout (Imperial Stout, 10% ABV). Thick, roasty, balanced, tons of flavor. Too drinkable at 10%! 4/5

Service was good, though the bartender was mostly occupied with her two friends who were sitting at the bar.

https://doublepeakbrewing.com/ 1801 DIAMOND ST STE. 101, SAN MARCOS, CALIFORNIA 92078