Mike Hess Brewing Company

I love this brewery! Definitely one of my favorites.
I came here late, on a Saturday night and it was packed, however the service was still quick and friendly. The guys at the bar gave great suggestions and let my friends & I taste a few beers before choosing our glasses. Decently sized, but hard to find spots for large groups (I had a group of 8 and we found a table after waiting around for about 45 minutes). They have tons of table games to check out with a photo ID, and even have a couple of dart boards on the wall. We were there until closing but the guys that worked there never made us feel like we were annoying them by sticking around.
Try the Umbrix and Grazias!

One of my favorite breweries in the city. They’re super hop forward but still make a good stout too. Food trucks rotate and so does the beer. So follow on Instagram for updates. Try the Solis– it’s a rotating recipe RyePA. The Habitus DIPA is also a must try.

Pretty awesome of a brewery. Driving past it, I saw all the storage silos, def draws you in as you cross a bridge over them into an area of artwork, board games, and seating. They also have an opening in the back where they usually have a food truck serving munchies. Add some TVs and hang up some xmas lights. Dog friendly also is a plus. Really chill spot to get a quick buzz.

Fiiiinally visited Mike Hess Brewing this past weekend — went to this location and the one in OB. We had 20% off the tab coupons from Shirts on Tap at both visits so that was extra cool.
As others have said, the entrance to this location is pretty impressive (and scary if you’re not into heights, like me). I liked being greeted by the huge fermenting tanks and the narrow catwalk to the seating and tasting area. Plenty of seating as well — long tables everywhere. One of the hippest, most open spaces I’ve enjoyed so far.
I got the Grapefruit Solis and then the Solis 50. I wish I knew about the buy a taster, get a souvenir glass deal! Is this deal forever? Hope they still have it next time in SD.
Fun games to choose from — our group just settled for some cards — very versatile. :P
There’s some art on the walls to enjoy as well. I know that this location, at least, puts on occasional art shows (not sure about the other locations). I know some friends who have showed their art here before but I have not been able to make it out before (or submit my own work!). Maybe someday.
Cool place. Even cooler if you’re with cool people.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
The first thing you’ll notice walking into Hess Brewery Northpark is how blasted tall the fermenting tanks are as you walk through them to the second story (ground level) tasting area. Friggin’ rad!
THE BREWS
Mike Hess brewing is a classic California brewery. They favor bright, hoppy ales with their rotating recipe IPAs, but also tease me with some delicious Belgian recipes and stouts. This is my go-​to watering hole in Northpark simply for the quality of the beer they brew. Plus, it sure is nice walking away with a giant 32oz can of fresh Umbrix that they poured and canned in front of my very eyes.
THE VERDICT
Affordable, delicious, local craft beer nestled in the middle of one of the most popular communities in town right now. Hess is the place to be any time you’re in the area!

Been meaning to review this place so here goes…
Craft beers are all over San Diego, but to me: this place makes my top 5. The place is spacious and I like how it’s not on a major street in NP, it’s on Grim by 30^th st. The outdoor seating is minimal but there’s plenty of room… beer selection is very good, I usually get flights so I can taste everything and decide from there. When u order their flight, they give u a token to redeem one of their glasses which I find pretty cool. I’m a dark beer kinda girl, so I stick to that… no IPA’S here… lol. they don’t serve food but u can order from elsewhere and bring it in. Definitely a fun place to hang with friends…

This place is pretty cool. right when you walk in, the entrance is dope because you can see all the brewing tanks as you walk along this bridge to the tasting room. I’m not sure if they always have this but there was also a food truck in the back. I got the stock stout which was great and my friend got the flight. The flight came with a poker chip that you turn in for a complimentary collectible glass which was pretty cool. They also have tvs to watch football and two darts boards. Will definitely bring visiting friends here to have a few drinks.

First time there last week, went on a Wednesday night with my boyfriend and his brothers. The beer selection was great, the girl working was really cool and answered questions like a pro. I like how they had games to play.
Only thing missing was a food menu, but the free snacks were a plus, and you can bring in your own food, so that’s cool too. I’ll definitely be back!

Came here to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
I love everything about this place! The beer selection is great. There is plenty of space in the tasting room for your buddies (including your furry, slobbery ones) to hang out. You can borrow games (Monopoly, Cards Against Humanity, Jenga, etc.) from the beer counter to bring back to your table to play or you throw darts in the corner. I also found the employees to be friendly and happy to talk with me.
You should know that this brewery doesn’t sell food, but it does appear that outside food is allowed. They do have some snacks for sale and you can help yourself to the bowl of Snyder’s Pretzels.
Right now, Mike Hess Brewing Company is giving a can-​size glass cup with every flight purchase. The cups are really cool and kind of have this «Game Of Thrones» design to it (I got «Grazias» which has a picture of a dragon holding hops). Definitely worth $ 15, especially since there are no limitations on what beers you can choose for your 5 tasters.
Bottom Line: Definitely coming here again

Really friendly staff. Came from Denver with a recommendation to try Hess. Super Laid back and dog friendly! Free pretzels. We both ordered a flight. Which came with 5 samples and a chip to redeem for a free souvenir glass. They have a large selection of beers. My favorite was the magna cucurbita (spelling) which is a pumpkin. Yum. Very light. Not too heavy and a balanced pumpkin flavor and not too sweet!

A few years back I was spending Halloween night at a local SD bar. I went to see Mega Ran perform, because I’m a true hiphop head and a retro gamer. The place he performed at had Hess Ex Umbris rye stout on tap (now called Umbrix). I’ve always been a fan of dark beer, especially Russian Imperial stouts. I gave this one a try and was ecstatically surprised to have discovered my favorite rye stout for all time. After that experience I became more closely acquainted with the Hess lineup. I bought what I could in cans, before eventually venturing down to N. Park to check out the brewery.
The brewery is just off Grimm ave. You’ll know it when you see it, an obvious brewery by the equipment visible from the street. The entire front of the building is open and you can see straight in. The side also has the Hess logo painted on the building, so that helps to locate it. If you still can’t seem to find it, rely on Google navigation to get you there because the experience is worth your time.
The front of the building offers open patio seating. The entrance is accessible by both ramp and stairs. As you pass through the main doors, you’ll walk up a long ramp past brewing equipment that is so close you can actually touch it, into the tasting area. The tasting area is nice, really nice actually, for a brewery. High wooden tables and chairs are everywhere, both round and rectangular. For entertainment they have two steel tip dart boards and a lot of board games (way more than just Janga and Cards Against Humanity). This is a popular place and getting seating for a large group may be a challenge. I’ve only ever gone with a small group and finding a place to rest our bottoms while we toss back a few has never been a real issue.
The serving area has two registers, taps on two sides, and an easy to read and understand menu. They also sell t-​shirts, growlers, and glasses from this area. To the side of this area is a serve-​your-​self water tap with glasses. Over the years I have interacted with a variety of staff members and they have always been informative, helpful, friendly, and cool. Hess knows how to hire and train their staff! The staff will go out of their way to make sure you are informed about the beer and happy with your choice. If you aren’t sure what to try, get a 5 beer flight. This is a great way to check out what they offer.
I won’t comment on the beer itself because my pallet is not yours. I will, however, encourage you to ask questions and sample things. You may find a gem among their beer listing, just as I have.
They accept cash and credit cards. The bathrooms are modern and clean. The building is open air, and can feel muggy during the humid months. The paid parking lot next door helps a lot if you can’t find street parking. Its in walking distance of some excellent restaurants and bars. My only complaint is the small front patio space, it fills up fast and can get overwhelmed by smokers.
If you are looking for a fun way to spend an hour or two, enjoy trying new beer, and want to experience a great brewery, then give Hess a try.

Super relaxed and casual environment. Great place to watch a game.
Saw people with their dogs walking in and out. So definitely pet friendly.
Good variety of local beer.
Food truck conveniently next to it.

I LOVE THE AMBIANCE OF THIS PLACE!!! Everyone is so friendly here. The beers are good, the designs (architecturally and graphically speaking) are awesome, and I love the sense of community. Today they had a huge tub of ahi poke that a customer had brought in for everyone. They always have free snack sized bags of chips and pretzels. And you can’t beat a $ 5 cool lookin’ Hess glass. Saw them putting out dog bowls full of clean water, so I assume they’re dog-​friendly too. Can’t wait to bring Kirby here!

Damnit. I accidentally reviewed the wrong spot. Lol Oops.
Okay, here’s the correct one.
*ahem*
Upon entering, you’ll see that the ambience is everything, the seating is spacious, and the décor simplistic. They have TV’s around the area in case you like to watch sports and whatknot. If you’re a beer n00b like me, you can get their flight of 5 which is 5 beers of your choice, but in smaller cups than their original beer cups. Think of it as beer taste testing.
I found that I liked their Grazias Vienna Cream Ale, 8 West Orange Honey Wheat, and their pumpkin stout. I can’t even begin to break down the taste levels, and the aromas to you because like I said before n00b status so sorry.
Anyways, this place also has board games, and you can even play a game of darts! They have a food truck that opens up in the back but I’m not sure of their specific hours.
One thing I do find weird though is that they allow little babies and kids inside. um what? This is a brewery. That’s just strange.
Otherwise, this place is pretty good. & I’m glad it’s right in my neighborhood too!

Awesome place!
There’s games, darts, and great beer. I forget which one I got last time. but I’d definitely come back. It’s pretty spacious for a tasting room as well! I love how it’s not a warehouse like most breweries :)

North Park Beer Crawl!
While it’s been long-​established now that San Diego is a craft beer Mecca, a more recent development has been the emergence of North Park as a craft beer Mecca within the craft beer Mecca. On a recent weekend trip down to SD from NorCal, I made the rounds of North Park’s burgeoning craft beer presence.
My 1^st time visiting Mike Hess Brewing was about a year ago. I didn’t have any inkling at the time that North Park was turning into such a craft beer-​drenched neighborhood. But in the time since that visit, I kept hearing about more & more craft beer places opening shop around here. So the beer crawl was devised. In the midst of said beer crawl, a return to Hess was mandatory.
Thus Hess became the 3^rd stop on this epic North Park Beer Crawl. From the 2^nd stop, Rip Current, it was a short walk roughly 2 blocks down & 2 blocks over or about 0.4 miles. This time around, I was with the homebrew partner & he got to check out the unique sunken brewhouse arrangement. It’s a pretty slick setup I never get tired of seeing. The tasting room is also pretty slick & sleek with lots of seating.
Getting down to it, it was tasting flight time again. As mentioned in my previous review, the tasting flight here includes a cool Hess Brewing design glass. Staff, like last time, was friendly while I picked out what I wanted from the dozen or so beers available. Something sort of amazing was that between the 2 visits, I got to try mostly different beers each time. Below are my notes from Untappd:
* Grazias: 3.75÷5
* Coffee Grazias: 4.25÷5, refreshing, like an ice coffee
* Habitus: 3.5÷5
* Solis Occasus #46: 3.25÷5, interesting, creamy, almost like IPA on nitro, slightly off, maybe not the freshest?
* Deceptio: ⁴⁄₅
* Magna Cucurbita: 3.25÷5, some strange hint of pumpkin but not convincing
* Hoptuitus: 3/​5, something off about it
* My Other Vice: 3.75÷5, tart with pomegranate, pretty decent
* Anno Quinto: 4.25÷5, 5^th anniversary ale for Hess
Also like last time, the beers were mostly solid across the board. For the 9 tasters I tried, by my personal scoring, it’s an average of 3.67 out of 5. Over the year since my 1^st visit here, North Park has added some great craft beer options. But Mike Hess Brewing is 1 of the very few actual breweries in the neighborhood. & is, therefore, an absolute must for any North Park Beer Crawl.

there is so much i like about Hess. It has been amazing seeing it transform from its very beginning tiny micro brew tasting room in miramar opening day (when was that…2010?), to where it is today, expanding to this spacious open floor plan in north park.
its a place to «stay awhile» with its long community tables, its delicious beer (seriously, if you havent had their Grazias Vienna Cream Ale yet, get on that), partnership with City Tacos for ordering and delivery to your table right inside Hess (on the weekends, i believe), free chips (who doesnt like free delicious chips?), friendly service… it’s just the whole package and a great neighborhood spot. they rotate different beers on nitro and have different special varieties (like the coffee grazias) giving each visit and opportunity for some unique flare.

The last time the hubs and I went to BevMo to stock up on beer, I found myself picking only local craft brews. I bought a (large) handful of bottles, which we took home to sample. Of the bottles I purchased, the one that had me craving more was Mike Hess’ Grazias. Whoo boy, is that stuff tasty!
I was immediately taken in by the smooth, malty, subtly dark tones of the brew. My husband, who had chosen his own selection of beers to try, took a sip (or four) of my Hess and was immediately intrigued, as well.
A quick Google search later revealed that Hess has two locations within easy driving distance from us. We decided at that moment that we had to stop in to get a growler of the Grazias.
Parking in the lot next door is free for two hours. You can probably also find street parking if you’re lucky, but the lot is the way to go (unless you’re planning on camping out there, which we weren’t).
The brewery itself is super cool — the second you walk into the front door, you’re engulfed by the smell of malt and barley. You take the short walkway up from the door to the tasting room area, passing several large tanks or kettles or… something beer-related…on the way. Once at the top of the walkway, you enter into the «drinking area», with the bar right in front of you. They were doing a brisk business by the time we got there, but the line gave us a chance to view what they had on tap that day.
We walked up to the bar and my husband asked if they had growlers. We were told that they didn’t at that moment, but the guy told us that we could have their «Purr-​rowlers», instead — basically 32 oz cans that they fill and seal right there. They’re better than a growler because they’re given an airtight seal, which means the beer can last «up to a year» (according to our friendly bartender). We laughed, of course — no Hess is going to last that long in our house!
I knew I wanted the Grazias — draft Grazias? YES PLEASE! So, we ask for a Purr-​rowler of that, and the bartender asks if we’d tried their Coffee Grazias yet. Say what, now? He offered up a splash, and we immediately fell in love. It’s just as smooth as the Grazias, but the coffee notes in there really adds a layer of dark nuttiness. Good! So good, in fact, we got a Purr-​rowler of the Coffee Grazias, as well.
I’m in love with this brewery, and eager to try everything they’re tapping, but the hubs is making me exercise caution and abstinence, since I’m a lightweight these days. Still, knowing that there are two locations close by, and that I can get a fresh pour of Grazias to bring home with me whenever I want… I might have just gotten a bit teary!

This is a very cool brewery. I liked that you get to see all the inner workings as you walk in. They offer a great selection of craft beers, something for everyone who likes beer. I like my beers on the lighter side so I went for one of their flagship brews, the Claritas Kölsch a German style beer that reminds me of a Pilsner. The pint was only $ 4.
The Claritas was definitely light in flavor with a very mild fruity sweetness but with a hint of dryness and bitterness towards the finish. The beer was crisp and refreshing, just the right elements I like in a beer. I had a couple, including a free pretzel snack available at the ordering counter.
I liked the openness of the brewery with its spread out seating. They offer free Wi-​Fi, which I thought is a great idea, and they also have some games, such as dart boards an such. The employees were great. They were all well spoken and knowledgeable regarding Hess’s products.
By the way, try playing darts after a couple of beers, it’s quite fun!

What a gorgeous establishment they built in North Park. Right when you walk in you go over a cool bridge with brew tanks below you. How things have changed as I remember when it was just a little garage in a warehouse facility with beers and a giant fan to keep the patrons cool.
But anyway lets talk about the beer. They have a great selection and at great prices. If you get a taster flight you get a free glass. The glasses are really awesome and you can choose from about 6 different ones. I ran through the IPAs they had to offer and hit a couple stouts while I was there. The names slip me but I know that I enjoyed each one as we played a round of Pictionary. The beer that I do remember the most was the Grazias which is a cream ale but this version was infused with coffee. Absolutely delicious.
If I am back in the area I will be making my way back to Mike Hess Brewing. It really is a neat place to hang out. It can get super crowded so be advised if you are coming on a weekend you may be waiting. But good things take time… right? CHEERS!!!