Cinqo De Mayo at Port Brewing Company

Despite an increasingly sore throat, I decided Friday night that Port Brewing's 1st year anniversary only happens once and I should be there to celebrate it. At that point I didn't have a designated driver and a friend had just called me to tell me he couldn't go after all. I decided to call a buddy who lives in LA and SD and was going to be making the drive towards SD on Saturday, and he said he would meet me down there around noon. Early Saturday morning I also got a call from my sister Vicki who said she would drive if I wanted her to. Shortly after that, about an hour before leaving, my friend Steve Timmins calls and says a class of his was canceled and he could go too. Now it was starting to sound like a party. We loaded up the USC MOM Toyota Avalon (since my truck isn't big enough for 3 people when driving more than 10 minutes) just as we had to Vegas a year ago and Vicki, Timmins and I hit the 15 freeway to San Marcos.

We arrived at 12:15 and payed our $15 at the door in exchange for cards with 8 spots for taster signatures. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) they didn't have a designated driver free entry so we had to pay for Vick even though she wasn't planning on drinking. It worked out ok though as we had 8 extra tasters (4 oz each) and she got access to the open taco bar. We headed to the already 2-deep bar and ordered up a taster each of their Lost Abbey bourbon barrel aged Angel's Share - an American Strong Ale fairly similar to Arrogant Bastard and with a nice bourbon-y taste and warmth to it. Because Vick hadn't liked the Angel's Share, she insisted we get an IPA next so we ordered up Port's Hop 15, a double IPA made with 15 different hops. That was very good, and the next taster we moved on to was Lost Abbey En Guard- a barrel aged version of their year round release Avant Guard. That was also quite yummy, and after these 12 oz's of strong great beer coupled with empty stomachs, the buzz was slightly setting in.

At that point I had told Timmins about the special release bottles that they were selling and he decided he'd like to purchase some too. So we both ordered our allotted amount (4 bottles per person) of the Cuvee De Tomme, which is based on their year round release Judgment Day that they then age for a year in Bourbon and French oak wine barrels with sour cherries and a wild yeast strain. These ~12oz bottles were being sold for $15 a pop. We also bought a handful of their special 1st anniversary beer called Ten Commandments, a Belgian Strong Dark Ale brewed with raisins.

After those bottles had been purchased we made our way to the taco bar which contained a multitude of great mexican food. Once we got our food my friend Francesco met us there and began to catch up on the beer. Other beers that we tasted included High Tide IPA, Amazing Grace (barrel aged Lost Abbey Lost & Found), Judgment Day, Wipeout IPA, Old Viscosity, Santa's Little Helper, and Devotion- a Belgian Style Blonde ale that is going to be released later this month. Within this last couple hours of tasters there was lots of spillage, worst coming when Francesco accidently hit my entire taster of Old Viscosity out of my hand. Being the great citizen she is, Vicki actually got a bunch of napkins and cleaned it up.

We ended up leaving after buying some merchandise and called it a day. The only thing that could have made it better was a trip 2 miles down the road to the Stone Brewery, but we had to get back to Upland.

To see pictures, follow this link: http://www.pbase.com/may07ss/portbrewinganniv