Sunday 14th of July 2013 08:05:22 PM

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Bressi Ranch.

It's a relatively new community in Carlsbad, California and since San Diego County and the surrounding area has been calling for so many years, homes anywhere aren't cheap. Especially homes near the beach....and here, if a home / apartment / condo is within 5 or 6 miles, then it's "minutes to the beach."

Bressi Ranch is not but they've got themselves a brand new brewpub thanks to the folks at Pizza Port.

Now Pizza Port got started almost at the beginning of the craft brewing phenomenon back in 1987 in Solana Beach, a small beach community (Yes! It really is right on the beach) near the Del Mar Fairgrounds and Race Track (built, by the way if you don't know, by Desi Arnaz). The Solana Beach pub is still the one to beat for atmosphere since it's the smallest. Here you can actually have a conversation. No screaming yourself hoarse to be heard over the music, PA announcements of pizza, salad and garlic sticks and 100 of your close personal friends all screaming as well. San Clemente with its two levels is also a more customer friendly environment. Solana Beach in fact was named Small Brewpub of the year 2 years in a row back in 2003 - 04.

But....and it's a big BUT....Bressi Ranch has taken its cue from the Carlsbad location (Named Large Brewpub of the Year in 2012 at the Great American Beer Festival) and created a monstrous, high-ceilinged, cavernous maw of noise and activity. Imagine elbowing your way to the counter to order a beer from one of two bartenders (woefully inadequate for the continuous crowd), getting a less than proper pour, probably paying $6 for a pint (or in some cases, a 9 ounce tulip glass because the beer is "very expensive to produce" or it's "higher in alcohol" or some such excuse when the only reason to make mo' money, then having to sit at a long, wooden table with long, hard wooden benches and listen to your new best friends shout their dis-pleasure of it all until laryngitis sets in and the iPhones come out. THAT is Bressi Ranch Pizza Port.

The pizza is outstanding...can't be beat. Some of their beers, delicious. Many swear by the Chronic and Night Rider and of course any of their IPA's. Reed's Scotch is one of the best I've ever tasted....and we wait for Christmas to roll around so we can grab a Santa's Little Helper. But the uproar? The jet engine turbulence of all those sounds is just un-bareable. Call ahead. Order your pizza...take it home then stop by your local store & buy your favorite brew. If you must visit, do so early afternoon, early in the week.

Please.

You've been warned.