Bluewater's Own Brew: High Spot
February 14, 2017
Bluewater is tapping its own draft beers! High Spot Blonde, Pale Ale and IPA are brewed exclusively for our nine restaurants and named for famous Southern California fishing spots. Try our Bluewater High Spot Flight.
Newport Beach, California
In another sign of its emergence as a major regional restaurant operation, Bluewater Grill has partnered with a noted San Diego small-batch brewmaster to create and pour its own line of draft beers at its nine neighborhood restaurants in California and Arizona.
High Spot Beer is now being brewed exclusively for Bluewater by Dan Selis in San Diego’s East Village neighborhood in Blonde, Pale Ale and IPA varieties. As a tribute to Bluewater’s rich fishing tradition, the beers feature names inspired by famous Southern California fishing spots where the restaurant sustainably harvests much of the fresh seafood and shellfish listed on its lunch and dinner menus.
High Spot Blonde, Pale Ale and IPA are now available only at the seven operating Bluewater restaurants and two opening later this year in Carlsbad and Santa Barbara. To introduce the proprietary new line to customers, all our Bluewater locations will offer a flight of three 5-ounce tastes for $7 through the end of March.
High Spot 289 Blonde Exclusively for Bluewater | High Spot 14-Mile Pale Ale Exclusively for Bluewater | High Spot 182 IPA Exclusively for Bluewater | ||||
| Brewed with lightly roasted “pale” malts to offer an equal malt-to-hop balance and a moderate hoppiness, this beer gets its name from the 14-mile Bank High Spot halfway between Newport Harbor and Catalina Island. A unique current upwelling at this fishing spot attracts rock cod, marlin, tuna and dorado in the summer. (4.2% Alcohol by Volume, 42 IBUs, 10 SRM) | An American spin on the English IPAs, this beer is more aggressively hopped with a full-bodied flavor and hints of resinous pine and bitter grapefruit. It is named for the 182-fathom (1,092-foot) High Spot 26 miles west of Point Loma, off San Diego Harbor – a fishing location ideal for marlin, swordfish and tuna when warm summer currents push north from Mexico. (5.9% Alcohol by Volume; 58 IBUs, 6 SRM) |
Per Bluewater co-founder Jimmy “Jim-U” Ulcickas, the High Spot beers are a testimony to Captain Sean Burke and the crew aboard The Pilikia, Bluewater’s private harpoon boat who regularly fish the waters between Santa Barbara and San Diego.
“We worked closely with Dan to make sure our first-ever proprietary beers were what our customers wanted and paired perfectly with the freshest seafood and shellfish,” said Ulcickas. “Hand-crafted in small batches exclusively for us, they are meant to complement Chef Jason’s lunch and dinner menus. The fact that they are also named after local spots that Captain Sean and Bluewater founders and managers regularly fish for swordfish and other varieties make them even more personal. The result is some great fishing stories.”