North County Times has a good profile of North County (San Diego) breweries and the brewing climate there. The highlight brewery is Stone Brewing—one I wish I’d thought to visit when we went to San Diego last year.

Microbrewers say their best advertisements are the beers themselves — richer, stronger and far more individualistic than the factory-produced pablum pushed at Joe Six-Pack. When the commercials get more attention than the product itself, that’s a problem.

That message is hitting home in North County and the rest of San Diego, where it’s easy to find microbrews in just about any city or community.

"San Diego is becoming really known as a bit of a microbrew haven," said Mike Hinkley, chief executive of Vista-based Green Flash Brewing Co., founded in 2002. "Brewers have won a ton of awards nationwide."

Green Flash took a bronze medal in the 2004 World Beer Cup Awards for its Green Flash 1st Anniversary Ale. And Stone Brewing was named Brewery of the Year for 2004 by Malt Advocate Magazine, a prominent publication for beer and whisky fans.