Time flies. Want proof? OK, here goes. I can remember a much younger me, a freshly minted food writer with less than a year of experience, hobnobbing with fellow journalists at an incredibly fancy media party at The Grand Del Mar’s since triplicate-starred Michelin honored Addison. One of the individuals my wife and I gravitated to – a feisty, opinionated woman with a love of cuisine who readily admitted to sometimes wielding a poison pen – invited us to join her at a new restaurant that had just opened in Normal Heights: Blind Lady Ale House. Being the North County-based noob that I was, I hadn’t yet caught up with the rest of my contemporaries covering the local dining beat, so I was excited to join her at what sounded like a spot that was right up my alley as a beer-loving foodie. As it turns out, it was. I was wowed by BLAH’s beer lineup, and have continued to be for 17 years. Anytime and every time I’ve strolled into what’s become an iconic mid-city locale, I’m blown away, not just by the variety of styles, but the simultaneous devotion to serving local beer while also turning patrons on to beers from other cities, states and nations, whether upstart operations or standard-bearers from across the Atlantic. It would have been easy for ownership’s initial passion to wane over such a long period of time, but it’s been a fixture at BLAH that I’ve very much appreciated. So, it’s with great gusto that I look forward to raising a glass of this week’s featured beer, BLAH / Fall 17 Speed, in celebration of that steadfast dedication. A double dry-hopped IPA developed by BLAH co-owner Jeff Motch and produced on a large scale by his friends at Fall Brewing, it builds on years of collaborations by the two companies, taking that partnership farther than ever before and presenting trademark West Coast flavors (think pine, citrus and resin) in the process. Cheers to an iconic public house as sturdy and enduring as the next-level beer fervor behind it, and the hop-bomb crafted in recognition of 17 years of both. (And thanks to BLAH for all those saisons! Don’t mind if I Hüsker Düpont. #IYKYK)
Fall Brewing owner Dave Lively and I were business partners before we opened BLAH and before he got involved with Fall. So, it’s been natural for us to work together on various projects over the years. For our 12th anniversary five years ago, we collaborated with Fall on an old-school-inspired IPA we called 12 Speed. It was a huge success. So much that we’ve brewed our own version at BLAH every year since for our 14th, 15th and 16th anniversaries (the lucky 13th was interrupted by shutdowns). This year we’ve partnered with Fall once again, but this time at their Miramar production headquarters for a bigger and even more rad version of the beer called 17 Speed. This release will be in full distribution in both draft and can format, so expect to see it all over San Diego on store shelves and flowing from taps. We’re definitely kicking it old school with this one. A medium malt backbone gives a nice bread-crust flavor to build upon with a classic lemon-and-orange peel, pine and woody hoppiness that’s amplified by double dry-hopping.”
Jeff Motch, Co-owner, BLAH Brewing / Blind Lady Ale House
Blind Lady Ale House is located at 3416 Adams Avenue in Normal Heights