Sunday 20th of April 2014 03:54:44 PM

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A absolutely perfect April San Diego day in 2014 saw wife Persimmon, #1 son Lewis and I venturing out to discover three (3) brand new breweries in North County that had somehow remained invisible to our beer-radar (or beer-dar for you other experts!)

A special day this since #1 son was about to move cross country and this would be the last time for awhile that we would be able to share a brew and, in his words, "good times."

Barrel Harbor was one of our first stops and we had high hopes.

First it was off the beaten path, a coupla of miles down the road from Iron Fist, a much more well-known and well-worn place that we often frequent because of the quality of beers they put out on a consistent basis. That of course brings with it many dozens of people regardless of day or time which in turn brings a great groundswell of noise and a variety of dogs and that becomes too much to bear even for good beer! So we look for smaller places and hopefully, comparable beer.

Barrel Harbor sits on a side road in an industrial park where so many new breweries now choose to open. With somewhat of a whaling ship motif with a large sepia-toned picture of Ahab's ship, harpoons and nets on the wall and of course, barrels for tables we bellied up to the bar for a 12-sampler tasting.

Thinking back now, we probably should have realized we were going to be disappointed. Whaling ships, 19th century, sailing around Cape Horn...it brings back stories of the beer had that to be preserved so as not to spoil and that was done with hops. Lots of hops. Of course now, the West Coast has bastardized this idea and brewery after brewery have created beers that taste like liquid straw.

The West Coast IPA...and here, of the 12, half were!

No other beer stood out. Nothing spectacularly bad...nor good, I'm sorry to report.

The TV was on, the sound was off...like that. The service was fine. The place, comfortable. The bartenders friendly. Wi-Fi is free, that's a plus! But there was just nothing unique here.

I can't commend them....or condemn them.

All in all, this trip for a schooner or two was not something I care to repeat.