Compañía cervecera Hillcrest
1458 University Ave. (Hillcrest)
619-269-4323
Happy Hour: 4 to 6 p.m., daily

Come On Get Happy! | Dr. Ink

The home brews at Hillcrest Brewing Company (HBC) will have you snickering before taking the first sips. Although just because they’re provocatively named, it doesn’t mean connoisseurs should dismiss them in a Victorian snit. In today’s world of craft beer, a little sexual innuendo can distinguish the serious suds from the unimaginative, yellow fizzy stuff, which once dominated every beer tap in town.

Filling a niche that was perhaps overdue, HBC is the first and only joint in Hillcrest where fermentation tanks loom over customers as they imbibe on brews like Crotch Rocket Irish Red, Banana Hammock and Perle Necklace Pale Ale. The latter is named after its perle hops, although not entirely.

If the racy interpretations of the beer names (and some of the pizza titles) evade you, the staff will playfully explain. For the pale ale, plastic pearl necklaces are utilized as part of the demonstration to help you better grasp the concept.

The bar is rigged with 24 taps, nine of them devoted to house-made microbrews and the others featuring “guest” beers of local origins such as Green Flash Citra Session IPA, Mission Hefeweizen and extra-hoppy Dam! by Belching Beaver.

During daily happy hour, all drafts, flights, growlers and wines are $2 off their regular prices. In addition, pizza slices are $2 each, which extends to about three or four different varieties that change daily or sometimes by the hour. And from 6 to 11 p.m. on Mondays, HBC’s succulent, oven-baked chicken wings sell for only 50 cents apiece.

In sticking to the house brews, my companion started with Hoppy Endings, an American-style pale ale that the menu describes as “having more hops than a rabbit.” The claim wasn’t evident at first, but as he took several more sips, the desired flavor bite became pleasantly distinct. Like wine, never judge a beer until you’ve knocked down a few ounces.

I chose Brain Lubricant, which indeed offered whispers of caramel as the menu suggests. The promised hop flavor, however, was weaker than expected, although it’s still a drinkable beer that doesn’t feel terribly heavy in the stomach.

We later upped the ante with Banana Hammock, a Scotch ale ringing in at 9 percent alcohol. The higher sugar content was also unmistakable, as was the smooth and malty banana finish. Given its richness, we concurred that it’s a good beer to mark the end of a drink outing (yes, we too had to ask what its name suggests, which is a garment that comes up readily on any internet search).

With our appetites effectively induced, we plowed through a couple of pizza slices. One was topped with tomatoes and mozzarella, though not as plain-tasting as it appeared, and the other was crowned with pepperoni and fennel-spiked homemade sausage, which rivaled in flavor many I’ve eaten from Italian kitchens. The crust on each was perfectly textured, unlike the ubiquitous cracker-thin crusts that are growing old in my book.

The wings were heavenly, too. They’re marinated and baked rather than deep-fried, which means the meat slides off the bones from a gentle squeeze. I chose “spicy” to counterbalance the sweetish Banana Hammock remaining in my glass.

Operated by MO’s Universe, Hillcrest Brewing Company also serves brunch from 9 to 2 p.m. on Sundays and is currently celebrating Ocktoberfest with $5 house brews every day until Oct. 6.

CALIFICACIONES
Bebidas: 4
The beer list is rather extensive, ranging from nine types that are brewed in-house to more than a dozen others of local origin. Several wines with familiar labels are also available, but we passed them up in lieu of hops and malts.

Comida: 5
Back-East transplants who whine about the lack of flavor in San Diego’s pizza crusts and sauces will take exception with HBC’s carefully crafted pies.

Valor: 4
Deduct $2 off anything you drink here during happy hour and apply the savings to $2 pizza slices, or on Mondays to 50-cent baked wings.

Servicio: 5
The staff is fast and friendly, adding to a whimsical, less-stogy tone to the place that you generally don’t find at other breweries.

Duración: 4
From drafts to growlers, the deals flow seven days a week for a reasonable two hours each day, allowing you to dabble in a variety of suds within a single visit.