San Diego breweries get into the Halloween spirit

As Comic-Con prepares Wednesday afternoon for preview night, zombies from AMC The Walking Dead rehearse their characters before the official opening Wednesday night.

Oct. 25, 2018

9:21 AM

Spooky but true: Halloween is a huge day for U.S. beer consumption, especially among adult trick-or-treaters who are going out for the evening.

San Diego’s beer elite are on top of this trend. For instance:

AleSmith: Friday from 6:30 until 11 p.m., the brewery is the site of “Night of the Evil Dead… Red!” Besides AleSmith’s hoppy red ale, Evil Dead Red, my Ouija board — or was that a press release? — tells me to expect live music for dancing and a costume party. Tickets, $35, can be bought at alesmith.com.

Second Chance: The brewery’s North Park Beer Lounge is hosting its first anniversary/Halloweekend party. Festivities start at 10 a.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday. Look for holiday-themed brews — Pumpkin Pi, Candied Apple Mulligan and more.

Modern Times: Tuesday, the Point Loma Fermentorium will hold a pumpkin-carving party. Tickets, $25, can be bought at moderntimes.com and come with a pint, a pumpkin and the use of appropriate carving implements.

Saint Archer: On Halloween, the Miramar brewery will sponsor a costume competition and roll out its latest beer, Citra 7 IPA. 4 p.m. until closing.

O’Brien’s Pub: The Kearny Mesa pub’s tradition of Haloween hysteria will be honored by the annual costume party Wednesday. Didn’t get your fill of Evil Dead Red at AleSmith? A fresh keg will be tapped.

Craft Beer

Peter Rowe

Peter joined The San Diego Union-Tribune in 1984. A native Californian who grew up in Encinitas, Rowe is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Northwestern University. He is past president of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and a former Fulbright scholar. He has won a few journalism awards, but would trade them all for a chance to avenge his 1994 “Jeopardy!” loss. Married to a terrific woman who has saved him from errors in writing and in life, he has three sons. At the U-T, Rowe writes profiles and features and is even paid to review beers, which hardly seems fair.