A common theme that you’ll likely read about on Spirits Untapped will include the amazingly wonderful things that can happen when one is open to new experiences and following slightly uncharted paths when exploring.

Liz and I do a LOT of that when we travel together.

While we were wandering north from our hotel room in search of a brewery (Acoustic Ales) we had spotted from San Diego’s Green Line Trolley public transit system the day before on our way back from Old Town, we spotted Bolt Brewery in Little Italy just one block east of where we’d been walking.

We made a quick mental note of the location, as a spot to stop in at on our way back, and continued on our way, somehow convinced that the place we were looking for had to be “just another block or two north” from where we were. (Without consulting the smart-phone GPS, we actually ended up stopping our northward journey perhaps about 3 blocks south of where Acoustic Ales was; convinced that it was likely at least another mile. We had no idea we were so close and decided to check out Acoustic another day. But, we enjoyed the walk up Kettner Blvd and (as has become customary for us) enjoyed so many of the sights and sounds along the way. And, also remembering seeing Bolt on that journey north, we re-purposed our journey’s end destination to there.

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A great little spot that was hopping with a lively crowd of people, Bolt Brewery ended up being as fun as it looked while passing on the street. We enjoyed several brews from their great selection (Mango Me Crazy and Citra Pale Ale were two of our faves) and had a fun time sitting on the small street-side patio, playing a few games of Jenga from the wonderful pile of games they had for their customers to enjoy and also enjoying the lively buzz of activity coming from inside the bar as well as the people moving along India Street. (The patio is a GREAT spot for people watching)

It was a rich, fun-filled evening involving a little spot that we didn’t even know existed when we began that evening’s walk.

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