Brewpub Profile: Oggi's

Oggi's is a brewpub chain mostly located in the San Diego area and up to Orange County. Thankfully they also have one located a bit more inland in Corona, which is only about 20 minutes away from me. They have a standard lineup of 7, maybe even call it 8 regular beers (though their website will only list 7).

(hefe not pictured because they ran out)

1. Sunset Amber Ale (Gold, 2004 World Beer Cup)
2. Sweet Spot Hefe (Bronze, 2003 GABF)
3. California Gold Blonde Ale
4. Paradise Pale Ale
5. Torrey Pines IPA
6. McGarvey's Scottish Ale
7. Black Magic Stout (Bronze, 2004 World Beer Cup)
*8. Hop Juice Double IPA (located in the center "hefe" position)

The asterik on #8 denotes that this beer isn't even mentioned on their website, but it has a cult following among Southern Californian hopheads who frequent Oggi's. They make some fantastic pizzas and appetizers, especially the Oggi Stix-

Our light pizza dough brushed with a garlic and olive-oil sauce, topped with parsley, Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Served with ranch dip or Marinara sauce.

Separated a bit from the main restaurant seating is a nice bar area that contains many flat-screen mounted TV's broadcasting sporting events. In the regular dining room there are I think 14 TV's including 1 big screen around the walls. If you order the beer sampler you get 8 samples of about 4-5 oz each. That's a lot of beer you have to get through in a short amount of time before it warms up too much, so I would suggest sharing it.

As for the beer, I would say the Pale Ale is their best crafted. It is quite hoppy and juicy (my term for the opposite of dry). The IPA, Amber, and Scottish Ale, and Hop Juice are all pretty good as well, though the IPA contains a somewhat abrasive, weird bitterness. Personally, I don't like the Stout that much, as it has a really huge anise & coffee mixture in it that make it undrinkable. The hefe is also interesting, it doesn't contain notes of banana, it contains what seems like gigantic amounts of banana flavoring. It almost feels like you are drinking some sort of super-concentrated artificially flavored banana liqueur (if you can imagine that). It is definitely a place to try, for some beer and pizza.