Telegraph Brewing Company - Santa Barbara

Last weekend I had a chance to visit the Telegraph Brewing Company in Santa Barbara.  The brewery is in a great location, just a few blocks off of state street in an industrial area, and adjacent to a winery (that also has a tasting room, making it a good spot even for those who don't like beer!).  They have been open for about five years, but it is a relatively small brewery and is probably brewing close to its capacity (I was told they are currently brewing around 1800 barrels per year).

The entrance to Telegraph off of the appropriately named Salsipuedes St.

They did have a formal tasting area, however there were no taps in the tasting area.  They had 3 permanent taps coming from their refrigeration area for their year-round beers, along with 2 temporary picnic taps for their seasonal beers.

The taps coming out of the refrigeration unit. They had two people working the tasting room, one of them was one of their brewers, Paul, who was a real nice guy and was willing to answer all the questions I had for him.

The bar in the tasting room.

The five-beer flight was $8 and included a 10-ounce pour of any of the five beers after finishing the flight.  The five beers I was able to try were the White Ale, Cerveza de Fiesta Pilsner, California Ale, Stock Porter, and Reserve Wheat Ale.

The list of beers available on tap for the flight.

My favorite of the five was definitely the California Ale, which I chose as my 10 ounce pour and followed up with another pint of it.  It seemed very similar to a California common, and in fact apparently has been compared to a California common in many beer ratings, but is an ale rather than a lager.  It was very well balanced, had a medium body, a nice piney flavor and spiciness from the hops, balanced by the malt and also some some subtle fruit flavors as well.

A pint of the California Ale.

I also really enjoyed the Reserve Wheat Ale which was a wild sour ale brewed using brettanomyces and aged in oak barrels.  The sourness was not overpowering but gave it a good flavor, although it really didn't have any fruitiness to it and I think it might have been a little better with some fruit flavor mixed in.

Overall it was an excellent place to visit.  I really enjoyed the atmosphere and hanging out right amongst the brewing equipment is always fun.  I'd love to see them have a few more beers to try and maybe take a few more risks on some of their beers, but overall it was very fun and solid beers, definitely worth checking out if you find yourself in the Santa Barbara area.