Monday 26th of January 2015 06:58:12 PM

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Any investor today can well be forgiven when approached by a wide-eyed home brewer who insists he has a great idea for a "new" brewery.
With so many breweries and brew-pubs springing up almost every week, the industry has yet to reach its apex and therefore, it is about as close as anyone can get to a "sure thing."
(Well breweries and the Seahawks winning their 2nd Super Bowl!)
But I remain dumb-founded as to how some of these places stay open!
Case in point, Dos Desperados in San Marcos.
Wife Persimmon and I have visited every brewery / brew-pub on the aptly named "Hop Highway" of Northern San Diego county (California state route 78) and stretches from Oceanside east to Escondido. Each, in their own way, trying to represent their "take" on what is a good craft beer.
(We do NOT include Stone Brewing in this perception since it has become a craft brewing behemoth soon to be expanding into Germany)
Most have at least one or two flagship brews that bring back their convenient customers. I say convenient because I believe that's one of the big reason why some of these places can stay open; their just "down the block" from a neighborhood; a 5 or 10 minute drive from the backyard barbeque.
We'd been hearing about Dos Desperados for a while now so we were actually looking forward to a visit in hopes of finding some unique, delicious, one-of-a-kind beer exploding with flavor and personality.
What we found was something akin to a slice of American cheese on white bread.
14 different brews with names (keeping to the Wild West theme) like Mamacita's, Che-che's, Pancho Villa's, Jailbreak and Homicidal Maniac (although I'm more than a bit leery about that last one!)
Of course, being on the West Coast you can rightfully assume that most of those mentioned were IPA's and you'd be right, par'dner!
What you would then expect would be different taste levels...and there, you'd be dead wrong.
Not one of those 14 brews tasted one wit different than the other...and I'm including the Oatmeal stout, the Habeernero Scottish and the Farmhouse.
The bartender was kind and courteous, not looking at us askance when we suggested that he pour 2 rather than 4 ounces since we share and never finish a taster. We are there to sample, not drink. And the $10 price was well within reason for the amount provided....but after the tour bus with 22 already looped riders showed, we decided it was time to mosey on down the trailhead.
It pains me to review a brewery this way, it truly does. I want them all to succeed and am certain most if not all will, with or without my approval.
But craft beer drinkers (like us!) know what can be done given a little bit of time and effort to accept and offer anything less is just down right criminal.
And if it were up to me, Wyatt and the boys would be a-hankering for another OK corral shoot-out to put these beers out of my misery.