A set of tasters at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens: Left-right, Lost Abbey Devotion, Green Flash Le Freak Belgian Style Ale, Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA, Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine 2007. Read on…

I’VE JUST GOTTEN BACK FROM MY FIRST VISIT TO THE NEW Stone Brewing restaurant in Escondido in the hills of northern San Diego County and yes, the place is wild and interesting. Loved it. This place is a destination, worth a long trek to visit, for the impressive beer list, the setting and the food.

But first, two complaints. My wife points out that the restaurant HAS NO DIET COKE! Yes, they have all-natural, cane sugar sodas, but for my wife, a restaurant without her favorite drink is a desert.

My comment: There’s no damn sign. It’s on one of those drab roads in a brand new industrial area and it looks like one of those ubiquitous Southern California mini-malls, a row of shops clustered together, so new there’s been no time to put up signs.

We knew it was the right address because “the bitch” told us so. That’s what we call our GPS system. Also, there was a truck parked on the side that said “Stone Brewing” and two guys were loading cases of beer into their car in front.

This place is impressive and modern, lots of glass and high ceilings. There’s the usual “gear shop” as you enter the building, and you can see the brewery and a long line of stainless steel fermenters behind glass to the left. Straight ahead’s the restaurant – the Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens.

It’s large and spacious and multi-leveled with rocks and a pool and a 30-foot high clump of bamboo in the middle. There’s a long, L-shaped bar with stacks of glasses, Belgian style. The western wall is glass and frames the brewery.

The whole eastern wall also is glass with lots of openings all leading to the outdoor part of the restaurant. Outdoors, tables are scattered around on different levels between cottage-sized boulders and trees and pools of water.

The effect is stunning and very relaxing. We got there around 2 p.m. on a Thursday, the place was half-full and no one was rushing.

The menu – which my wife thought was a bit too precious, the usual references to locally sourced food, no corn syrup, no industrial beer – starts with dressed up pub food, things like “Artisanal Sausage Platter, $13; Grilled Buffalo Burger, $14; Bruchetta BLT Sandwich, $12.50; BBQ Duck Tacos, $11.

We ordered the “Soft and Stinky Cheese Plate,” $12, and Spicy Tuna Hand-Rolls sushi , $15 and Teriyaki Beef Skewers, $11.

While my wife dithered about the lack of Diet Coke, I was having a mind-blowing trek through the beer list. I counted 32 beers on tap, all the Stone regulars and many others, Alesmith X to St. Bernardus Witbier. The bottled list was even more vast. Adnam’s Strong Ale, lots of Russian River beers, Rodenbach, Thomas Hardy’s Ale 2005, Meantime Coffee Stout (UK). Whew.

I finally ordered four tasters: Lost Abbey Devotion, Green Flash Le Freak Belgian-Style Ale, Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA and Stone Old Guardian 2007.

My tasting notes:

–Lost Abbey Devotion***1/2, Lost Abbey/Port Brewing, San Marcos. A cloudy gold with a mildly malty nose. It’s 6.25 percent with a soft, almost spritzy taste on the tongue. The finish is mildly malty with an enticing, slight sourness. It’s available up here in the Bay Area (at good beer stores – ask for our good beer store list.).

–Green Flash Le Freak Belgian-Style Ale***3/4, Green Flash Brewing, Vista, CA. This 9 percenter’s from a San Diego County brewery that made it’s reputation with an Imperial IPA and a Tripel. It’s apparenltly not bottled and I expected something sour. But instead, it’s slightly sweet. A clear, light copper color with just a skiff of foam, the taste is mouth-filling, multi-level taste, dry, sweet, sweet, dry. Whew.

–Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA****, Dogfish Head, Milton, DE. On this sunny Southern California afternoon, I found this powerful, 9 percent double IPA just about perfect. Hops to die for in the nose, intense, spicy, bananas and apricots. The first sip delivers a sweet malt taste, but there’s a mounting, intense dryness, leaving just a touch of bitterness on the tongue. I’m delighted that this one’s now available in the Bay Area. It’s going to become a regular in my beer fridge.

–Stone Old Guardian 2007 Barley Wine,***. Stone, Escondido. This beer’s one to tuck away for awhile. With a whopping 11.26 percent ABV, it will do nothing but improve for a few years. The upfront taste is hugely sweet with a drying follow with rising hop bitterness. It’s strong, but still a baby, if a beer this big could be described as an infant.

Final note: It does have precocious side to it. But, after all, this is northern San Diego County and they have to play to a mostly local crowd. In the San Francisco Bay Area, we may have passed this stage a few years ago – remember California cusine? But most of the world has not. I salute Stone Brewing. Stick to your guns: No Diet Coke. Wish I lived closer.