Axios San Diego
With Bock, South Park has a new neighborhood pub that embraces the 2010s "beer bar" era
Fifteen years ago, craft beer bars dominated San Diego's food and restaurant world. Beer lovers anticipated special releases popping up on rotating tap lists, and a "Drinkabout" bus launched just to deliver drinkers to beer bars up and down 30th Street.
Many of those stalwarts have since closed — though not all — and craft beer consumption has largely shifted to brewery tasting rooms.
State of play: Bock — the new spot from the craft beer veterans at Bottlecraft — is partially a throwback to the 2010s, but also something simpler and older: a neighborhood pub.
Fitting, because it's in the former space of Hamilton's Tavern, which was one of the country's most celebrated beer bars and a neighborhood haunt before a 2020 fire ended its run.
Brian Jensen, the company's owner, had a moment of self-doubt when a well-known local brewer asked what made him want to open when so many others were closing.
"I suddenly thought, 'Oh, man, am I just opening the type of place I love, and that I want to go to?" he told Axios amid the bar's soft opening Wednesday. Within an hour, Bock was packed.
What to expect: The bar will evoke nostalgia for the "peak beer" period, but Jensen has no expectation that the hype-driven era will return. The bar's Europe-focused Old World theme hardly signifies the IPA-obsessed 2010s.
Jensen said he doesn't try to predict trends, but his choices have shifted from some recent tropes.
He did not want the ubiquitous inside-outside feel, with its roll-up garage doors, and was eager to move away from the COVID-era need for distance between patrons.
What he's saying: "I wanted it to feel dark and intimate and shoulder-to-shoulder, where you naturally find yourself in a conversation with your neighbor or meet your next boyfriend," he said.
The interior of Bock. Photo: Brian Jensen/Bock
The vibe: The bar's liquor license permits it to stay open until 2am — increasingly rare among new establishments — and it's home to a pool table and shuffleboard, both standbys from its predecessor.
"It's been the right amount of time since Hamilton's closed, where people are happy we're honoring its legacy but letting us do it our own way, without expecting us to, like, serve their tater tots," he said.
It's stocked with cases of Underberg, the German digestif that's a favorite after-shift drink among bar industry workers.
The pool table at Bock. Photo: Brian Jensen/Bock
What to expect: Jensen was excited to highlight great German beers, which he thinks are rising in esteem among beer lovers, but Bock's 32-beer tap list isn't limited to them.
The chalkboard list is split. On the left, Old World styles from Germany and Belgium, and on the right, "anything part of the new conversation," including plenty of choice IPAs.
On opening night, that included world class offerings like Tannenzäpfle pilsner from Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus, alongside offerings from West Coast heavyweights like Green Cheek Beer Co., Highland Park Brewery and Russian River Brewing Co.
There are also two house lagers brewed by Puesto Cervecería in Mission Valley.
Yes, but: Bock is serious about its wine, too — Jensen owns Vino Carta in Little Italy — with 16 rotating selections and a focus on Austrian and German options.
German street food is also available from Biersal, which has its own space inside the pub, freeing Jensen to focus on what he knows, while the longtime food truck owners specialize in what they do best.
What's next: In April, Bock will celebrate Frühlingsfest, Germany's traditional spring festival, as a warmup for Oktoberfest.
Jensen says they'll also take part in traditional cultural events for Belgian beer, Austrian wine, Italian beer and more.
