Summer Of Beer

Testing, Testing: Jonesy Special at Russian River Brewery Santa Rosa CA.jpg

2012-01-26T00:02:00.000-08:00

Just testing this thing out, Won't be to Russian River for another week

Test

Maryland, Here I Come Again!

2011-05-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

This Saturday the 21st I will be departing to Maryland to visit my friend The Baltimore Beer Guy, as we will be doing some heavy beering for a full week until I leave on Sunday the 29th. Last year's trip was a bit shorter but absolutely awesome, as we hit Baltimore city, all the surrounding suburbs and their awesome beer scene, and D.C. This year we have a trip to Philly planned, a roadie into Delaware to visit Evolution Brewing Company (who makes arguably the best IPA in the region, even this West Coaster was impressed last time) and Dogfish Head.

Aside from those short roadies, I'm most looking forward to re-experiencing the local Maryland beer scene in the suburbs outside Baltimore. If you're not from Maryland or don't know anyone from Maryland you would have no idea the quantity and quality of pubs and bars that focus on good beer. Outside some of the big hitters like Max's Taphouse, there are many smaller places that carry nice assortments of beers I can't get in CA, especially local fare like Flying Dog and Heavy Seas.

The beers I'm going to look most forward to hunting down are those from the small outfit known as Stillwater Artisan Ales. Each of the offerings I've had from them has been very good to stellar.

I will try to post some random updates here and there on this blog, and definitely on my twitter (@ssage) as usual.

HOtD Blue Dot DIPA on tap in SD

2011-05-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

Been waiting for this for a looong time! (BLAH)
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This is amazing!

2011-02-15T13:51:00.000-08:00

PtY on tap and this is what the ToroandoSD looks like. Classic! I'm drinking an Alpine Hoppy BDay after 2 glasses of younger.
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Santa Rosa Recovery, Photo Dump

2011-02-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

Some selected crappy blackberry shots from the Pliny the Younger trip.

Sanctification

A nice sunny day at the Pub the morning of the PtY release.

Obviously busy but perfectly controlled

The waiters....

The line outside RR on the first day. This was around 2-3pm.

Moonlight at the Flavor Bistro post-Younger

Hopmonk Tavern. Had a hard time finishing my Kellerbier. Hit the wall that day.

Finnegan's Irish Pub in Novato. Really cool bar where we caught the shitty Manchester United game at Saturday morning.

Moylans. This visit was much better than last considering I didn't have a wine hangover this time. Fresh Hopsickle here was one of the best beers of the trip.

Firestone taproom in Buelton on the way home to watch the Super Bowl.

Union Jack

Santa Barbara, the last leg home.

Day 3 Santa Rosa Road Trip

2011-02-06T09:05:00.000-08:00

We drove down south and hopped (literally) our way back up from Novato up to Healdsburg. Watching the Man United game at a really cool Irish pub in Novato was both nice and disappointing (the result), but Moylan's tasted much better to me this time than it did when I went there last a couple years ago (I had a bad wine hangover that day). Hopsickle was so fresh and delicious. Next stop was the Lagunitas taproom which was pretty big. There were at least 100 people there, mostly on the outer "beer garden" area. Good beers, and the Hop Stoopid tasted more like weed than even Alpine Nelson IPA does. Next stop up the 101 was Bear Republic where we had a pint and hit a minor wall. I had their Nor Cal bitter which was meh. We mellowed out for a couple hours after that before heading back to the RR brewpub for the final time. The last night is always the best and this was no exception. When we got to the pub at 9:30 or so there was a still a line of about 15 people waiting for entrance... amazingly PtY was still pouring. After a short wait we went in and enjoyed a few beers, Kev going with Younger and Elder and myself going with Compunctions and Elder. Met some interesting people in that pub this weekend, good times. Time to hit the road and head back down South. Will be posting pictures soon.

Lagunitas Taproom

2011-02-05T15:52:00.000-08:00

The taproom at Lagunitas is new to us... Last time we were up here we tried to get a tour but were too early... The whole taproom and patio is really cool. Excellent chili and a wide arrangement of brews. Liked the gift shop too!
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Moylans

2011-02-05T12:25:00.001-08:00

Hopsickle straight from the source. Also hit Finnegan's pub in downtown Novato... Really cool irish pub.
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Day 2 Santa Rosa Road Trip

2011-02-04T19:14:00.000-08:00

We hit downtown Santa Rosa at 9:15 this morning to find a small crowd of about 10 people waiting outside the brewpub (they open at 11). It was a bit chilly but with clear skies... kinda like the Rose Bowl on Jan 1. The sun was out and eventually in the pub we didn't need jackets. Perfect weather for PtY release. We got in line around 9:30 and they strapped everyone in line with wristbands so no cutting was allowed. They actually started letting people in the pub around 10:30 which was awesome. It wasn't a mad rush, they seated groups one by one. We got a bar table and started ordering our Youngers and beer buddies. After about 3 hours of drinking in the pub we headed out and went to Flavor Bistro for a quick moonlight brew and a cheese plate. After that it was off to Hopmonk Tavern in Sebastapol where we finally hit the wall. It was tough to take down a 20 oz of the Hopmonk Kellerbier and a plate of fish and chips so after that it was back to the hotel for a bit of relaxation. In a little bit we will head back over to Russian River for some more pints.. Younger will be long gone for today, so maybe some Compunction? So many choices......... :)

Finally, Pliny the Younger

2011-02-04T11:44:00.000-08:00

PtY at a packed pub in Santa Rosa. Huge line outside. They let us in at 10:30 instead of 11. Can't ask for a better day.
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Day 1 of Santa Rosa Pliny the Younger Road Trip

2011-02-04T07:47:00.001-08:00

We made it to SF (~400) miles in about 6 hours and 1/2 tank of gas (hybrids are pretty cool I guess). Saw a license plate that said "JD Bode" on it... perhaps the spirit of the Booze Reviews crew is with us. We scored a parking spot right across the street from Toronado and had a couple pints there. Reality Czeck tasted great, and my 2nd beer was even better. It was actually the Moonlight Twist of Fate bitter that I had on hand pump, not Bombay by Boat (which is the IPA... Kev had that one). Twist of Fate on hand pump was really juicy and very easy to drink. Only being fueled by my little sister's brownies up to this point we headed over to 21st Amendment brewpub (should have gotten a sausage from Rosamund's or whatever it's called). Had the 21A Brew Free or Die IPA which I didn't like that much before and still don't prefer much. After that stop it was to our usual Friday night pre-USC NorCal weekender game spot, the Buena Vista irish pub for their awesome Irish Coffees. We ended the night at Russian River brewpub... the calm before the storm you could say. It is going to be a madhouse today and they were starting to brace for it. They said 200 people would be let in initially so if you're not in that batch it'll probably be a while before you get in. The question is, will the PtY allotment for today last beyond those first 200 people?? Since they open at 11, Kev and I are going to see what the crowd is like around 9... I'm guessing it'll be down the street even though PtY is going to be on tap for 2 weeks. Dammit, I told myself I would never wait in lines like this for beer again.

Russian River Sanctification

2011-02-03T22:45:00.001-08:00

Its super sour again! Thank you!
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Buena Vista irish coffee

2011-02-03T20:19:00.001-08:00

Its been 4 years since I've had one of these!! Way to long
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Buena Vista

2011-02-03T20:12:00.001-08:00

Irish Coffee time
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Toronado 2

2011-02-03T16:54:00.000-08:00

Moonlight Bombay By Boat on hand pump
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Toronado SF- first stop

2011-02-03T16:35:00.000-08:00

Moonlight Reality Czeck.
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Farewell to the Summer of Beer

2010-04-25T18:36:00.001-07:00

Summer of Beer started primarily as a way to document some of the adventures I was having in a way that my friend Brian, who lived in Pensacola at the time and now in Baltimore, could track and discuss what was happening and what I was doing on this side of the beer world. It began to evolve into something more- a combination of a release from the daily school/study grind, and a way to wrap myself up in the adventure of craft beer hunting. It was fun but as time has gone on this whole thing has become more of a lifestyle than an adventure. I don't walk into places really looking forward to trying something new, although that's always a plus if I think or know it's going to be good. No, hitting my local pub and having a pint of Racer 5 or Blind Pig brings as much, if not more satisfaction than trying that "new" beer everyone is talking about.

I asked myself back in 2005, as I was drinking and reviewing as many different beers as I could, if I really liked beer, or if I just liked beer and really liked the concept of being in the small minority of people in our country who participate in such a quest. At the time I didn't know. I've evolved to know I really like beer, and don't give too much thought to the quest anymore.

I feel very fortunate to have been able to discuss craft beer over the span of a few years where I think it really took off. Sure the late 90's and early 2000's saw great advances, not just in numbers but in brewing concepts. Just look at what Stone was doing then (with a much smaller following than now of course). But I was able to see and attend the emerging wave of special release events (thank you Lost Abbey), the opening of one of the country's greatest brewery/restaurant destinations (thank you Stone World Bistro & Gardens), drink Pliny the Younger before you had to wait in lines that wrap around the bars serving it, and much much more. Maybe in a small way I've become one of those people I despised in high school who use to say "Yeah I loved Green Day before they got big and everyone started liking them." You know secretly they were still listening to Green Day in their cars and at home, maybe they just weren't lining up for concert tickets the minute they went on sale.

Perhaps one day I'll have enough time to travel around the country and experience more of our country's craft beer culture. I'm sure I'll be writing about it when it happens. Until then, there's not much to be said.

A Few Quick Beer Notes - Kern River Citra DIPA, Malheur, and Sly Fox

2010-04-09T07:46:00.001-07:00

2 kegs of Kern River Citra DIPA made their way down south recently and this was my first chance to try it while I was at O'Brien's. The keg had just tapped, so although it is unfiltered, it was probably a bit more cloudy than when normally settled. I was surprised how much this tasted like a "imperial" Blind Pig, if you will. That's a good thing, but what was even better was how much more of a mango flavor this beer had. The mango frutiness of the Pig is my favorite aspect about it.

O'Brien's just also recently had their U.S. Malheur launch party, featuring the 10 and 12 (a tripel and quad I presume you can call them). I tried the 10 and it turned out to be a fairly nice tasting tripel. I've strayed so far away from Belgian-brewed Belgian ales lately that I don't have a lot to say about them. This one was big and phenolic, definitely strong in terms of alcohol, noticeably so, but not a fire breather.

My friend Adam just got back from PA and brought back some Sly Fox. I've had the Pikeland Pils before and I'd say it's my second favorite pilsner behind the unbeatable awesome Moonlight Reality Czeck (yes they spell it czecK). I like this beer so much its on my regular Summer trade list. I plan to obtain some more as these hot months roll around.

The Sly Fox Phoenix Pale Ale was a new one to me. Not sure how old it was, but I'm guessing fairly fresh because it had a date on the bottom of the can of 6/2010, so I'm guessing that was a "drink-by" date. This was more grainy pale ale. Not really assertively hoppy, a bit of the usual crystal/caramel malt and graininess. Tasty, easy drinking brew. Don't be expecting Sierra Nevada Pale Ale hoppiness or anything.

Oh and a new batch of Sculpin is out.... that's always news. Ballast Point's Old Grove location is expanding, meaning they're gonna be making a whole lot more Sculpin, and per the people at Ballast Point, they're going to focus on meeting the demand in San Diego first. Bravo. Highly demanded product that the brewers have decided to take care of their local people with before meeting outside demand.... 2 thumbs up.

Last Wednesday's Drinkabout

2010-03-31T09:24:00.001-07:00

When you hear "it got a bit out of hand" or "it jumped up a notch real fast" it could have easily referred to last Wednesday's marathon of beering. The day started out innocently, as my Wednesdays off usually do, with a couple pints at O'Brien's while taking in the Champions League matches for lunch. I always tell myself I want to try something new when I go here but invariably end up ordering whatever ends in "IPA". This day involved a Green Flash West Coast IPA and a Pliny the Elder, the latter of which I don't partake in much anymore, but this one was pretty fresh and nice. I usually stick with the awesome 3 Grilled Cheese but I revisited the Spicy Pepper Jack burger which is a delicious burger (it has chili paste or something in it).

I usually retire back to my place for an afternoon nap to recover for whatever may present itself at night, but instead headed south towards SDSU for a visit to KnB Wine Cellar which the Booze Reviews crew always raves about. It's a cool little wine/beer/liquor store with a nice indoor/outdoor lounge area. They have about 10-12 beers on tap, mostly very high quality, although there was PBR also (on special to boot). I was shocked to see Flying Dog's Raging Bitch on tap so I immediately ordered one. The girl began to pour it and said the keg had kicked so I got a little taster glass. At that point I had to text my friend Brian in Maryland who happens to be the unofficial (or is it official yet?) spokesman for Raging Bitch. I also received a message that part of the Booze Reviews crew would be joining me at KnB in 45 minutes, so I had to order up another round- another Green Flash West Coast IPA.

When the rest of the crew arrived at KnB they inquired about Raging Bitch having had kicked, and guess what, it hadn't. Must've been a pressure issue before or something, I dunno, but we ordered another round of Raging Bitch. This beer is a delicious hoppy Belgian brew. I was amazed at how different the bottled and tap versions smelled, though both really hoppy and good, they had a different character each time. This time on the tap I got much more of a Belgian yeast thingy as well. After some appetizers and a couple rounds it was somehow decided that we should hit Blind Lady Alehouse for some pizza to wait for the DrinkAbout shuttle.

Blind Lady was offering a Twitter drinkabout special of $5 Margherita Pizzas if you mention the secret word. That was a great deal and the pizzas were much needed before what ensued. We also quickly downed half liters of Apline Nelson as the drinkabout bus was waiting outside. My beer drinking manhood took a bit of a hit as I think Ashley had to help me finish off the last of my Nelson to catch the bus in time. Thankfully they are sympathetic to someone who had a head start.

The first stop we decided to take off the drinkabout bus was Small Bar, a bar in north North Park owned by the Hamilton's people. This is where I had my worst beer of the night, Napa IPA. It was pretty bad and I didn't finish it (everyone else thought the same). The horrible Napa IPA does not change my view of the Small Bar though, I really like that place. Their food is really good too. After the quick round we hopped on the next bus to catch a ride to our next destination.

The next place we decided to visit was Live Wire, new to all of us I believe. It's a very dark/divey sorta place but they had a good set of taps there, even including Raging Bitch. More Raging Bitch was ordered here, along with Allagash Curieux. I don't even remember what I had here, that was the state I had entered after about 7 hours of beering at this point.

We took the next bus all the way down to Hamilton's, even though the word "Sea Rocket" had escaped our mouths at least 10 times earlier that night. I had never heard of Sea Rocket before and I'm still wondering what the hell the Sea Rocket is like. Anyway, the usual Hamilton's craziness ensued but I didn't even remember hitting Hamilton's until the early morning rehash as I was being driven to my car which was parked at KnB.

Back on the Bus.....

The night ended back at KnB for a round of Ballast Point Sculpin IPA. For as much beer as we'd drank by this point Sculpin still tasted really good. Oh yeah, the night actually ended with Sun Tacos. Can't forget that.

Saturday Morning Post-Hike Beer Session

2010-03-21T22:03:00.000-07:00

After a 2+ hour hike through the Mission Trails Park early Saturday morning with the Booze Reviews crew it was time for beer tasting and English Premier replays from that morning. We were able to brave the snakes, poison oak, and ticks to make it back before noon for our first beer- Kriek De Ranke. This beer was crazy sour cherry. I don't think I'd met a sour beer maker that could match the mouth puckering ability of Cantillon, but they did. There was also a nice subtle funk thrown in there too, adding to complexity of this delicious kriek. A refreshing way to rehydrate after the 7 or 8 mile hike. Arsenal took a 1-0 lead right out of the gate. Lesson #1 learned on the day: [for certain reasons] the Booze Reviews crew may not be the best to ask for directions to the parking lot when you're lost on the trail with your kids.

The next beer was Smuttynose Wheat Wine, a beer from their Big Beer Series. I've had a wheat wine before but I don't remember it being anything like this. This brew smelled and tasted like the aroma that fills the area when you're in/near a brewery (usually the vapors coming off the boiling wort). Now I like that smell in that setting, but not condensed into the final beer. JTH was right when he immediately said I would not like this beer as he handed it to me. Actually, I didn't hate it, I just wouldn't drink more than a couple ounces of it at one time.

Up 3rd, batch #1 of Brooklyn Local 1. I acquired this bottle long ago, it's gotta be at least 2 years old now... maybe more? I remember it being better fresh. It was aight now but nothing spectacular. Flavors were kind of a bit muddled in my opinion. I dunno. Arsenal was up 2-0 by this time and on another station Senor Greasy was crying as usual. Lesson #2 learned on the day: It's probably wise to eat before this sorta thing, especially when it's already past noon and you've been exercising all morning. Lesson #3: Sun Taco saves the day, but they need to work on tortillas that are a bit stronger for their burritos and don't explode out of the bottom.

All 3 of the Booze Reviews Crew had raved about Flying Dog's Raging Bitch while we were hiking. I was caught by surprise. I had never heard anyone in Southern California mention this beer. I didn't know it was even in bottles out here, and had only ever seen it tapped at Beachwood BBQ a few weeks ago. Of course, I've heard about it relentlessly from The Baltimore Beer Guy. Flying Dog Raging Bitch seems to be worshiped in Baltimore... I think BBG is forming a cult... instead of Kool-Aid... Raging Bitch. Well it makes sense because this beer was fantastic. The smell was like a citric, fresh green hop sorta thing punch to the face. Very clean hoppy aroma, slight Belgian background but not much- that was more in the flavor. Probably 1 of the top 2 Belgian IPA's made on a semi-large scale in the world (along with Green Flash Le Freak).

At some point in the last couple years I had officially declared myself NOT a Maharaja fan. It's just too boozy for me. The alcohol heat overtakes all the orange citrusy goodness coming from the hops. But this batch was supposedly a little more refined. Either I was still just really thirsty or it was actually much better, because it was a taste of tropical goodness.

Lastly, a bottle of Ithica Le Bleu made an appearance. A new beer to me, it was a really nice tasting sour. Quite sour. But I didn't taste any blueberry. Still grateful to have tried it!

Lesson #4 learned: Morning sessions are pretty draining when it comes to having to go out and start drinking beer again later in the afternoon. I forced a pint of Dorado Double IPA down at Ballast Point and then switched to scotch, Captain & Coke, and back to a tall boy of Miller Lite (at a concert) to round out the day.

Great day all around!

Weekdays off are a good excuse for a beer or few

2010-03-16T23:51:00.000-07:00

I usually have a weekday off, and O'Brien's is a good place to grab a couple beers, a grilled cheese, and sometimes garlic fries (when I don't mind breathing fire the rest of the day).

Alpine Duet IPA --------- Bear Republic Apex DIPA

Finishing the day off with a tasting session is not bad either. We tasted Southern Tier Unearthly IPA, Gemini, Raspberry Wheat, Ithica TEN, the new small Supplication bottles, and probably another somethin or two. Unearthly was pretty nice, and earthy. Alcohol well hidden for such a huge beer. Or was that the Gemini? Ithica TEN was a killer imperial red tasting sorta beer.

And Green Flash Imperial IPA is king. A kick ass beer. I forgot exactly how much this bottle cost but BJR of BoozeReviews.net got a sweet deal (somethin' like $3 a bomber?) on a case of these suckers which were "short pours." The fill barely came up to the neck so I guess Green Flash holds them back instead of sending them into distribution. They lack probably about 20 mL less than a normal bottle but still totally, Totes McGotes worth it. Just a fantastically pungent and aggressive beer when fresh. Some people say it's the quintessential "grapefruit bomb" type DIPA.

Some Sunday Beers Cruisin Around SD North County

2010-03-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

We started up at the Brigantine in Poway for our obligatory 10am fish tacos. Usually they are accompanied by an Alaskan IPA or Lightning Elemental Pilsner but they had just replaced that with Lightning Thunderweizen. This might've been the cloudiest hefe I've ever seen (fairly meaningless but someone's gotta win that title right?). Super yeasty with a good deal of clove in it. Not bad, but I like my hefe's a little more "clean."

Churchill's: Firestone Saucerful of Merken. Suppose to be some sort of stout/barleywine/Belgian strong ale hybrid. Smelled sweet like a barleywine, tasted roasty like a stout with some fruity Belgian dark ale type notes in it. Quite interesting.

Allagash Fluxus - very saisony... light fruits such as peach and mango wrapped around a heavy earthy yeast presence.

Deschute's Dissident. Nice little tart beer, lots of fruit in it.

Pizza Port C-bad: Pure Hoppiness... redeemed itself a bit. Very fresh, pretty tasty.

Pizza Port Slap & Tickle (pickle). On cask. Bartender said it's a "hoppy american pale ale." Quite good, wonder how much better it woulda been on tap.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale at Mas Fina Cantina up the street from Pizza Port. This is where better judgment didn't prevail this day.

Callahan's pub in Mira Mesa. SD Brewing Co Hopnotic IPA. Very good, but a victim of overindulgence here.

Southern Star Buried Hatchet Stout

2010-03-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

Before a couple days ago I had never heard of this brewery, but here sits a can of this 8.25% "Strong American Stout" as it's called by the brewers. This would be my second craft beer ever from my least favorite of our 50 united states (Texas, if you haven't looked it up yet). The head builds up nicely in this brew and is actually much lighter than I expect, it's pretty close to off white (the picture makes it looks a bit darker). This sucker is smooooooth, no doubt from the rolled oats they use. The taste is really rich with tastes of mild coffee and Whoppers malt balls. I consumed this in 3 stages. Those first flavors came out before I started eating. Then as I drank it with my spicy chili I got more of an alcohol presence (like that you pick up in a cocktail) along with a bit of licorice. When I was finishing it with my Samoas girl scout cookies I got the first flavors but much less of the coffee bitterness, probably because the chocolate was coating my tongue.

I think there might be a special ingredient in this because when I drank it I was knocked the fugg out. Like someone had shot shot me IV with 2 mg of Versed.

Surprise Box 'O Beer from East Coast

2010-03-03T08:45:00.000-08:00

My friend and beer brother, Steve, stationed in the middle-of-nowhere Georgia right now took a little trip last week into Charleston, SC and sent be back a few brews. This box of beer is a very welcome surprise! 4 of the 5 beers I haven't had before. I've really liked everything Southern Tier has made (except that horrendous buttered-popcorn pumpkin ale they make) so I'm looking forward to trying these others!

Day-off of Beer

2010-03-02T19:31:00.000-08:00

Meaning a day off from work filled with beer. First hit O'brien's for a grilled cheese and garlic fries paired with a nice fresh Alpine O'Brien's IPA. Great IPA as always. The malt bill in that is fantastic! (I rarely will even want to say that about an IPA but the complexity WORKS here)

After that I made my way to SD Brewing Co. Their sampler is pictured. The hefe, nut brown, and amber were all solid. The blueberry ale and the raspberry chocolate porter were, well, fruity. They didn't have Hopnotic IPA on but after the bartender noticed my disappointment he magically found me a sample. It was a very delicious IPA. My tasting notes said "citrus, mango, blind pig like, citric bitterness, light fruits"

From there I met Bohdon and Ashley at Toronado. Their Bad Boy, El Camino IPA, and Duet's were much better than the dud Red Chair Pale Ale I got (it was the dregs, was cloudy, tasted muddled and bad- definitely not Deschutes' fault). Strike 2 Toronado.

Lastly that night we had a little growler sess with growlers my friend Steve (steve #2) who is currently in GA sent me. The first was Coast Hop Art IPA. It was pretty good, not great. It had a really big bitterness to it but lacked something overall in the flavor and crispness category. The second was a growler of Double Simcoe IPA which tasted a lot better than any time we've had it out of bottles. Lastly a bottle of White Zin made an appearance (thanks!). It was delicious. The thing smells like a white wine and champagne and then tastes like a bourbon barrel. Really weird how the smell and taste are so polarized!

Couldn't think of a better way to spend a day off!
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Sam Adams Noble Pils

2010-02-28T22:31:00.000-08:00

The first time I had this beer was the other night when a friend surprisingly offered it to me from his fridge and it was a delicious treat as I drank it straight from the ice cold bottle (that's how we roll). It left enough of an impression to pick up a 12 pack at the grocery store today. After reading some of the discussion on Rate Beer about the beer's apparently poor shelf life I made sure to find the freshest batch out right now (best before July '10). I came home, popped an ice cold bottle into a ice cold glass and enjoyed a couple bottles. But not as much as I enjoyed it the other night. Maybe it's best enjoyed straight from the bottle, or maybe I was just more thirsty that first time. It was still good tonight and I look forward to drinking the remaining 10 bottles, but out of the glass it just doesn't come off as clean and snappy as a couple of my favorite Pils- Moonlight Reality Czech and Sly Fox Pikeland Pils. Snappy is the descriptor I give the most weight to when describing a pilsner. Either it snaps or it doesn't. Reality Czech snaps, Pikeland snaps, Prima Pils snaps, even Lightning Elemental Pilsner snaps, but Sam just didn't reach that height tonight. Maybe next time.... oh snap.

Younger day in Temecula

2010-02-22T20:16:00.001-08:00

Barley and Hops Old World Tavern in Temecula.

1) Russian River IPA on tap. Probably my favorite single IPA out there (ahead of Blind Pig too)

2) Keg tapped at 5. We were towards the front. Keg lasted about 30 min.

3) Younger.

Must say, this is about the 4th year I've had drinking this stuff and it finally didn't blow me away this year. I don't know why, my palate has not matured nor fatigued any more than the last couple years at the very least, but Younger just didn't wow me this year on either occasion that I had it. Oh well, on the positive side it means less waiting in lines in the future.
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Alpine Bad Boy DIPA Outshines Pure Hoppiness

2010-02-18T22:38:00.000-08:00

Alpine Bad Boy Double IPA. It's better than Alpine's flagship beer, Pure Hoppiness, which is another double IPA (and was one of my all-time favorite beers). Maybe a year or two ago I would have never said that, but something about Pure Hoppiness has changed recently and I'm not digging it one bit. Bad Boy is fresh, green, bitter, and DRY. Pure Hop on the other hand just tastes old (even when fresh) and tastes muddled and weird- a far cry from the snappy, citrusy, dry beer that let the hops shine through so well a couple years ago. Thoroughly enjoyed this pint of Bad Boy at O'Brien's today.

Younger, Pizza Port, and Tales Of A Garage Session

2010-02-14T20:02:00.000-08:00

Before we get to this week's garage session shenanigans, the week started out with a bang on Wednesday night when Stone put Pliny the Younger on tap. I drove up that evening to imbibe and stumbled outta there after 5 glasses (only 8oz pours) and managed to get home somehow. Better judgment will prevail next time, I promise. The Baltimore Beer Guy's dad was snowed in trying to get back to Maryland and was staying with BBG's brother (who lives in San Diego), so they happened to be out on the beer trail at that time, at Oggi's, and met me up at Stone to share some Younger. I must publicly thank them for their generosity in buying me rounds of Younger, and I am now in debt of what I would call a large package of Pliny the Elder and other goodies which will eventually make their way out to Baltimore to ring in the spring days. Younger was phenomenal, although I can't say it tasted as good as I've known it the last couple years. Maybe I put it on a pedestal.

On Friday night my friend Pete the mad Greek Anagnostopoulos met me in Escondido at Stone for some beers. I had a Vertical Epic 09.09.09 which, while being a solid beer, doesn't really excite me much. Tastes like a porter. Nice. Next up was Avery DuganA which I must give high compliments to. This is a sweet beer that I wouldn't want to drink a whole pint of, but in a cold 8oz pour it is very nice. Smells and tastes like fruit loops. Kinda reminded me of Bear Republic's Apex IPA, just kinda. The next morning we got up and headed to Pizza Port in Solana Beach. Perfect day for that. It was about 70 degrees out and sunny. I started off with a beer called Night IPA or something which was dubbed as Solana Beach's clone of San Clemente's El Camino IPA. It tasted quite similar and was very good. Then I had their American brown ale called One Down Brown. That was a good, somewhat hoppy brown ale.

Onto O'Brien's where I finally got to try some Port Mongo DIPA. Wow this was an aggressive beer. Bitter as hell and super hoppy. Probably the most aggressive IPA i've had in a long time. Really unbalanced (just how I like it!) with delicious juicy hops.

The night concluded with a garage session with the J's (and B + A). First up was a growler of Stone Old Guardian which had been Belgianized. It had a lot of similar qualities in terms of that Belgian yeast flavor + the hops to Green Flash Le Freak, or really any Belgian IPA for that matter. The second beer was a bourbon barrel aged Partridge in a Pear Tree from The Bruery. This was the unanimous beer of the night for everyone (I think). The bourbon just exploded from the glass (which is fine with me!) to add to an already great base beer (quad).

Since we didn't have any dead rats or broken chairs infiltrating the session by this point we pressed on. Lost Abbey's Duck Duck Gooze was mouth puckeringly sour. Tasted like that lemon bubbilicious. I don't really have the palate to describe sour beers beyond "sour" and "funky." This one was pretty much all sour to me. Loved it. Founders Backwoods Bastard was next. It was good, just don't remember anything about it, and by this point at garage sessions I've long forgotten to keep up with my tasting notes.

This was a good beer too. Super sour as usual for the Cantillon beers... I hear it's even better out of the bottle.

After this delicious Duvel the night concluded with the obligatory game of Horse, which wasn't even finished this time (meaning I'm still the reigning champ).

Ritual Tavern and Alpine

2010-02-10T08:38:00.000-08:00

Last week included a couple stops I hadn't been to in quite a while. First I finished up work downtown and drove out to Alpine for a few Super Bowl weekend growlers. Picked up a Duet, Pure Hop, and Token Imperial Porter. Headed back into North Park and hit Ritual Tavern. I love their bar area. It's got a dark, cozy, classy, old school feel to it. They had some good beers on tap, as usual, but I felt like ordering something on cask for some reason (stepped outside my comfort zone for once... err make that twice in one night). The cask pour of Lightning Amber was a new beer to me, in any form. Can't say I've had an amber ale in a very long time. This one was good. It tasted like my 2nd batch of homebrew about 4 years ago, which is either good or bad. I'm not sure. I drank it down and headed over to Toronado to have a Velvet Merkin and sausaaaaage.

Saturday morning started off with a year old Belgian Strong Pale Ale / Tripel hybrid I brewed with the Baltimore Beer Guy aka @MdBeerSpotter. It's good.

Gratuitous Duet shot. What a great beer. It's so amazingly citrusy.

This is the new Alpine Token Imperial Porter. This was a really great beer. So easy to drink. A bit of coffee in the flavor but as a good Imperial Porter will do, not enough to take it into the stout category. Lots of chocolate. Really good.

This little bastard ripped my Hamilton's sweatshirt. Oh well, I needed a new one anyway.

Lucky B's for Manchester United, Arsenal (wankers) and Beer

2010-02-10T01:12:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago the Upland crew (Kevin, Pat, Spencer, and myself) got up real early in the morning to hit Lucky B's, our neighborhood pub (well, only 25 min away) for some bangers, eggs, Manchester United, and beer. It was a great morning, with Manchester United grabbing a huge victory and us grabbing some great beer. Lucky Baldwin's usually doesn't have Pliny the Elder on tap (except for their IPA and Strong Ale fests) but they had it that morning. It was a sign from the Gods.

One thing I've always been impressed with is the lacing beers leave on the glasses at Lucky B's. Not sure exactly what they clean theirs with but I've never been able to duplicate it.

The beer I moved onto (while the rest drained the Pliny) was a Stone Smoked Porter which is always on tap here, and usually always a delicious choice. Still better with a vanilla bean in it though.

Studies have shown the effects of 6 Pliny's over a span over 2 hours can make you a much more interesting person to be around.

It was back to Spencer's house afterward for Green Flash Nut Brown we picked up the week before. 24 bottles for $20. A solid brown ale. Light chocolate, caramel, and no metallic twang. A steal at that price.

Black Butte XX - Over A Year Later...

2010-02-04T18:25:00.001-08:00

... And it has lost a LOT of its coffee character. BUT, on the other hand the bourbon and dark chocolate malts shine through so nicely. I actually prefer it like this, so similar to Black OPS, one of my favorite bourbon barrel aged imperial stouts.
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Russian River night at O'Brien's + Garage Session 1/30/10

2010-02-02T09:37:00.001-08:00

After getting off work at a convenient 3pm in Pacific Beach I tweeted my thoughts about stopping at O'Brien's before meeting the SD Booze Crew (otherwise known loosely as the J's) for a garage session later that night. JTH was able to meet up and we got to O'Brien's to find part of the Russian River beers on tap. This was a hush-hush event. Posted in the bathroom was a plead to not tweet or tell anyone that the beers would be going on Friday instead of the promised Saturday that was mentioned in the newsletter. This is awesome because it means no Pliny-the-Younger-2009 type crowd. The first beer I had was Dead Leaf Green, which I never got around to trying in my two trips to Santa Rosa. It was an excellent English Pale Ale, a style which I doesn't excite me and I don't find myself drinking much. JTH enjoyed the Aud Blonde. The next beer I had was Benediction. This is a dubbel, 6.7% ABV. It was very good, not the best I've had (that would probably have to go to Brewer's Art Resurrection) but nothing I would ever complain about either. After these couple rounds we moved on.

Next stop was Hoffer's Cigar Bar in La Mesa. Very good taplist which you can't see because of the glare. I gave the Anderson Valley Oatmeal Stout a second chance (it's first chance was a few years ago when I found it remarkably thin and bland). It was solid yet still not my favorite oatmeal stout (Velvet Merkin anyone??). I loved the vibe of Hoffer's. A real cozy place with a classy put together bar. Also has a cool patio with lights and jazz bands- looking forward to going back when they have one playing.

Back to JRhode's pad for the garage session, which would not be possible without the pink britta filter.

JTH pouring the first beer, Temptation batch 003. As seen in the 2nd pic, you can have this beer one of two ways. Filtered and unfiltered. While I like my Double Barrel Ale unfiltered, I like my Temptation filtered. This beer was MUCH less sour than I remember it. Not that it's ever quench-gum-mouth-puckering, but it seemed much less tart than usual. Not a whole lot of funk here either. Lots of chardonnay character of course, but much more wine-like this time without the tartness (although I think I was the only one who thought it was less tart than normal). Personally I like Temptation FRESH.

Next beer, The Bruery's Oude Tart, a Flanders style red. Without tasting notes, all I can say is it was GOOD, and I wonder if they use cherries in it like Tomme does with Red Poppy? Compared to Red Poppy I believe there were a little bit less tannins in Oude Tart, but then again this is off foggy memory, I haven't had Red Poppy in a while.

Next up- Captain Lawrence Smoke From the Oak aged in apple brandy barrels. Sounds pretty cool right? Well, yeah, if it weren't infected. I still want to try the regular Captain Lawrence Smoked Porter despite this horrible joke.

This is the Brewer's Art Coup De Boule Belgian strong pale ale. Spiced with Saffron and some other stuff. It was pretty good. The smell was pungently spiced, taste was similar. We all enjoyed this. I don't think Brewer's Art makes a bad beer.

This is one of Alpine's newest releases, GREAT, a barrel-aged barleywine. It's a sweet beer, literally. In some ways it tasted like Black Tuesday to me. At least with the huge caramelized sugar part of it. Like a sweet roasted marshmallow. It was very smooth for being such a big beer (14%) and aged in Jack Daniel's barrels (a whiskey I'm not too fond of).

This certainly contributed to the stout-mouth I had the next morning. '04 I believe? Very smooth, but a little bit past it's peak probably.

This Weekend's Shennanigans

2010-01-24T20:04:00.001-08:00

At Phileas Fogg's, Poway, about 10:30am waiting for Loren and Rene to arrive down in SD from Upland. Grolsch special for 3.95 a bottle I think. Nice beer to start the morning off. Their buffalo wings are pretty great also, and their fries are amazing. And we know our fries. Seasoned with lemon pepper and so soft and sexy. Pat says they were the best fries he'd ever had. Wow- Bold statement after consuming many a Lucky Baldwin's chip!!

Karl Strauss Tower 10 IPA at Fogg's. Not bad. Not great. Smell was above average, taste was solid but not mind blowing.

Lost Abbey. Loved their new tasting room arrangement, and as always, Sage and Molly provided great service even with like 2 or 3 busfulls of bar hoppers filling up the room. Was crazy busy, but they ran it super smooth. Red Barn (middle) was "on point" and Pat enjoyed a Santa's Little Helper (right) among other things.

Birthday boy Loren enjoying his brews. Rene to the right.

Hot dog lady was going a great job!

Green Flash Brewery. Had myself a Le Freak, the best Belgian IPA brewed in the country, no argument necessary. Actually best Belgian IPA brewed in the world... again argument n/a.

Cases of Nut Brown Ale (which is very tasty) for only $20! Pat is super happy any time he can get a beer for under $1 a bottle. And it wasn't old either. They said it was bottled in September. Not bad.

Green Flash

Brigantine Escondido for some fish tacos. Must say, the Poway location is SO MUCH better. Escondido didn't put enough creamy sauce in their tacos. Pat volunteered to make up for it but we all declined. Still a fun time. Love the Brig, which I was introduced to by my friend the Baltimore Beer Guy who just so happens to be the foremost authority on anything beer information in the Chesapeake Bay area.

Fish tacos. I know it's getting repetitive. Stone Pale Ale

Brig bar. I like the Poway location A LOT more. Escondido location had an older weird feel to it. Poway is super classy and nice.

Fillin up some growlers at Stone. Pat looks like a fat snowball. Alaskan Smoked Porter.

O'Briens. Havin a... hmm I forgot. Rene had the Sierra Nevada Limb & Life session ale. Pat had a couple Elders.

Wendy's. 99 cents sure gets you a lot!!!

Hammy's was hopping. Ok tap list, nothin amazing. Pat loved the Avery Dugana but it was way too fruity for me to want a whole or multiple pints of.

You can't see here but I think it was Armenian chick night at the Ham. Not that there's anything wrong with that.... well..... I'll refrain. Just haven't seen that on the beer circuit in... ever.

Sunday morning beers at O'Brien's watching the Jets/Colts game. Sierra Nevada Porter. Solid. First time I'd had that in maybe 5 years.

Garlic fries at O'Brien's. A must have any time you set foot in SD county.

Back to the Brig in Poway for Sunday dinner. These margaritas were goooooood!!! And of course the fish tacos were amazing (but you knew that!)

What I've been drinking the last month

2010-01-22T09:16:00.001-08:00

Homebrewed Belgian Strong Pale/Tripel hybrid I brewed with the Baltimore Beer Guy about a year ago. Tasting very delicious. The two strains of yeast we use really kicked out a ton of yeast flavor. This was a partial mash beer, but we used late extract addition to keep the caramelization of the pilsner extract low and it worked out really well.

Lightning Elemental Pilsner and the Brigantine's amazing fish tacos. My favorite place for Sunday morning football and breakfast.

More fish tacos at the Brig, this time with an Alaskan IPA. A very underrated IPA. Super crisp, nice citrusy hop character. They served this to me with a crushed ice rim, which I've never seen before and would have never even thought of. Actually I would have turned my nose up at the idea a couple years ago. But this was f!#$%ing delicious!

Stone IPA as me and Pat stopped into Newport Pizza and Alehouse in Ocean Beach.

Vodka and 7-up break after a morning of beer. Dive bar in Ocean Beach.

Green Flash Belgian Brown at Hamilton's. Good beer, easy to drink. Not ridiculously Belgian but enough to give it some flair.

One of the best sours ever. Cascade Kriek. We needed a sour to keep our palates going.

Green Flash Hamilton's 3rd Anniv beer. No hops in this. It was pretty tasty, and I would have never guessed there were no hops in it.

After a long day of drinking, this Duet was pretty much a waste.

From the Beers of the World gift pack my aunt got me. Chang beer was actually quite delicious!

On the other hand, Carlsberg tasted skunked. No wonder it's the official sponsor of L'pool.

Mixing things up with a good scotch. MacAllan's 12 yr. My new go-to!

Hangar 24 Orange Wheat at McAllan's pub in Rancho Cucamonga. I'm not really a fan of this place and this is the best beer they have on tap. The waitress was amazed I took the orange off the rim.

Stone IPA at the Yardhouse before Fleming's happy hour

Firestone Double Barrel at the Yardhouse in Rancho Cucamonga.

Firestone Union Jack and Fish 'n Chips at Shakespeare's Pub in San Diego watching the Arsenal v. Bolton game.

Guinness at Shakespeare's. A nice proper pour, but not too tasty of a beer.

Sometimes this just hits the spot after a day of work.

A couple bombers

IMG00529-20100110-1403.jpg

2010-01-10T14:04:00.001-08:00

Biker bar, ocean beach, ballast point wahoo wheat, listening to lipstick boogie...uuuuuh, great time!!!
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Clipper City Heavy Seas Yule Tide

2010-01-01T17:30:00.001-08:00

Sent to me by my friend in Baltimore. Good tripel. Aroma has a very nice balance between the Belgian yeast derived phenols and the fruity esters. 10% alcohol well hidden. Smooth flavor combinations of fruitiness and earthiness. Another big winner by Clipper City. Pairs well with 12 hour Sudafed.
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Christmas Tree flavor in a bottle.

2009-12-20T17:18:00.000-08:00

Best one of the last few years by Anchor I would say.
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Mid day snack

2009-12-20T16:40:00.001-08:00

Nothing like piney hops in the afternoon around Christmas!
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Moving Day

2009-12-19T13:18:00.000-08:00

Our reward for helping Spencer and Monika move into their new house. These beers bottled less than 2 weeks ago. Yum!
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JTH's Birthday Bash

2009-12-16T00:18:00.000-08:00

Barrel Aged Alesmith Speedway Stout
This beer was absolutely phenomenal. Probably one of the 3 best imperial stouts I've ever drank (Black OPS and Black Tuesday might be the other two). The normal big coffee flavor of regular Speedway goes into hiding with the barrel aging, but what is left is smooth, chocolatey, bourbony, and mellow roasty perfection. Nobody disagreed that this was an amazing beer.

Lost Abbey Veritas 04
JTH was determined to consume his Veritas 04 so we headed back for an outdoor garage session. Veritas was deemed very similar to Cable Car. It probably had the sourest, quenching smell of any sour I've had. Just a faint whiff stimulated my saliva reflex immediately. The flavor was like that super sour lemon bubblicious (the one who's flavor disappears in like 10 chews).

Captain Lawrence Nor' Easter
This NY-brewed beer was the first I've had from Captain Lawrence. It's a Belgian dark ale brewed with Elderberry and aged in bourbon barrels. The elderberries give of a grape or plum type character. I use to have to take this Sambucol elderberry extract when I was sick and that flavor was easily detected here in the beer. There is a slight hotness to it, not unexpectedly, being 11% and aged on the bourbon. Interesting and good brew.

The Bruery Two Turtle Doves
Two turtle doves is a Belgian dark ale brewed with cocoa nibs and pecans. How delicious does that sound? This was a really interesting beer which we probably drank too cold. I was trying to find out where the pecans factored in and I'm not sure I was able to figure it out. There did seem to be a big flavor of unsweetened chocolate. At 12% ABV the alcohol was hidden really well. I'll have to revisit this soon.

Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
This was probably not the best idea at this point in the night.

A picture dump of what I've been drinkin'

2009-12-01T23:39:00.000-08:00

Kona Longboard Lager and Newcastle as we were getting dressed at my Sister's and soon-to-be brother-in-law's house before heading out to the wedding.

One of the many reasons I like to go back home to Upland when I can. San Biagio's New York Pizza. Now that I think of it, that wasn't even my beer, it was my friends. I find it hard to drink the day after USC tailgates.

1903 Berliner weisse at Hamilton's. The flash makes it look like orange juice.

Stone/Maui/Ken Schmidt Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter. Shared this bottle with my buddy The Baltimore Beer Guy when he was out here in October.

My beer happiness can be satisfied at all times now that The Bruery's Hottenroth Berliner Weisse is now being bottled!

My first Sierra Nevada Celebration this year. Always a treat in the winter. I came down with a nasty infection which hit me about 2 hours after consuming this beer.

Lightning Pilsner at The Brigantine seafood restaurant. Best fish tacos ever. Was watchin' the morning Colts/Ravens game there a couple weeks ago with a friend. I love the Brig's bar area. It's really classy and has a couple super nice plasmas.

Brigantine makes some very good margaritas too!

Cheap pitchers ($12.95) on Sunday of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale at Phileas Fogg's.

In the middle would be a Victory Kolsch, at Toronado.

Stone Ruination, our annual toasting beer for when we play the bRUINS, because we RUIN them. Get it? 28-7!

Such a good porter and I hadn't had one in nearly 2 years.

Founders Breakfast Stout

2009-11-26T10:54:00.000-08:00

Always have one of these on Thanksgiving morning. 3 year tradition.
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Pizza Port Solona Beach Swami's IPA

2009-11-26T09:58:00.000-08:00

Easily one of the best IPA's in southern california. Tastes great even before 10am! Sister thinks it's not bitter enough, says it doesn't have enough bite. Seriously? This is a very dry beer with an above average bitterness (the dryness factors in there). She must be having a Lupulin Threshold Shift- such the life of an IPA lover.
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TAPS IPA

2009-11-25T21:09:00.000-08:00

Very tasty IPA, quite a nice bitterness, pretty dry. Underrated IPA in the So Cal area. Very consistent from year to year too.
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TAPS Pumpkin Ale

2009-11-25T19:50:00.000-08:00

My first pumpkin ale of the year. Not really a big fan of this style but do enjoy it in limited quantities. TAPS makes a very tasty one.
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Guinness Cupcakes... Psshhhhh. How About Southern Tier Choklat Cupcakes!

2009-11-06T09:34:00.000-08:00

Just to confirm how little I really know about my sisters (whom I've always been super close with) I find out my older sister is quite the flourishing baker, and has started a little blog called Cupcake Wednesdays. I have been bugging her to make beer cupcakes for a long time, and I think she did for my graduation party back in May. If memory serves correct she used Firestone Walker Reserve as the beer. Blame alcohol induced retrograde amnesia for the foggy details. However, I still have a couple bottles of Southern Tier Choklat, an uber chocolatey stout which I think can take a chocolate beer cupcake to the next level (forget that recipe of Guinness beer cupcakes you see everywhere) . If you haven't had it lemme just say it tastes like alcoholic dark chocolate milk, and is by far the most chocolatey "chocolate" beer I've tasted (way beyond Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout and Foothill's Sexual Chocolate). Looking forward to this experiment!

Newport Pizza & Alehouse, Ocean Beach

2009-11-06T08:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had the opportunity to stop by Newport Pizza & Alehouse in Ocean Beach after work. My first interests were sparked by a review from The Beer Rover. I can see this being a densely packed party spot in the summer, but when I arrived it was the late afternoon and getting chilly which seemed to limit the amount of people hanging around. I got a spot at the almost empty bar and ordered a Lagunitas Lil' Sumpin Extra. I was pretty stoked to see this after having had the regular Lil' Sumpin a couple months ago. The bartender went over to the Lagunitas Brown Sugga tap handle and drew me a pint. I thought it was a bit strange but often bars won't have the tap handles matching the exact beer. I drank it, thinking "wow this is more like a (very) sweet East Coast DIPA or barleywine." Only a bit later did I realize there actually was a Lil' Sumpin Extra tap handle when a guy ordered a pitcher of it. Great, they poured me the wrong beer. I don't have a huge problem with Brown Sugga, but it definitely wasn't what I felt like.

The pizza is pretty good, it's a fairly thin, light, and crispy crust. The deals were good during happy hour too (from 3-6). $6 for a slice and a pint I think.

To end things I ordered a small pour of the Stone Double Bastard that was on cask. Just like how IPA's really suck on cask, Double Bastard lost all of its domineering flavor- the bitterness is quelled to an amber ale level and the hops aren't bursting with bitterness. Double Bastard on tap is where its at if you want that pint-punch to the face.

I'll be returning to this place at some point. Good pizza, great beer, potentially cool atmosphere in a great location, and I'll have to get the breadsticks next time.

San Diego Beer Week

2009-11-03T08:06:00.000-08:00

I probably won't get the chance to get out to the San Diego Beer Week festivities too much with the sister's wedding on the horizon and sucky work hours, but if I can find a few minutes here is what I'd like to do.

Monday 9th - The Tomme Arthur Experience @ Stone. This will be slammed, but maybe good enough to brave the crowd. For the most part I'd rather hit less popular/crowded destinations but like I said, this would probably be worth it.

Tuesday 10th - Small Brewery NorCal Night @ Hamilton's. All the beer we normally don't try when we head up north (save for the awesome Moonlight brews). This could be a good chance to be introduced to them. With Valley Brewing on the list, I'm guessing there's a good chance their highly respected DIPA could be there. Hamilton's will surely smell (and I'm sure feel) like a sweaty sock this whole week.

Thursday 12th - Liars Club Redux @ Hamiltons. Holy Shit!! The old Liars Club Fuego Melt makes a return to Earth for one night only!!! Plus the tap list for that night is even better than the A+++ it usually is.

Winter Beer Is Here

2009-11-01T19:52:00.000-08:00

It's always good to see Sam Adams Winter Lager out in the Fall. Except for it being 90 degrees in So Cal in November. Cheers
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Small Bar, San Diego (University Heights)

2009-10-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a tip from the J's at BoozeReviews I learned about a newer San Diego beer bar called Small Bar. It's located a few blocks north of all the great stops on 30th street on an unassuming little strip of peculiar bars. And Small Bar fits that genre. A glowing neon red sign with the words "Small Bar" greets you at the front. There is a small patio outside the door with two bench style tables (can hold around 8 people each) and as you walk inside you'll see old barrels which are now masquerading as tables along with clubby couch style booths. To go along with that neon red sign, the inside is lit partly by red lights. Sometimes that sorta thing is annoying, but it works here. The bar is long and the chalkboard taplist is deep. Without knowing anything about this place going in you get the feeling you've been here before. The chalkboard looks vaguely similar to a certain bar on 30th street and the glass I was served my sour beer in (Rodenbach) was the same exact one I had an 1809 Berlinerweisse served in at said 30th street bar last week. The food menu - long and intriguing - and oh, yep, that confirms it, they have "Hamilton's Hop Sausage" on their menu. Small Bar must be owned by the same people at Hamiltons. No wonder the beer selection is so great.

Their mission statement is:

We’re very excited to bring the kind of bar you previously could only find in big cities like New York or San Francisco right here to San Diego. Premium beers, spirits, and food, at reasonable prices with a touch of rock and roll. Small Bar.

So I went with a glass of the Rodenbach and a pint of West Coast IPA. They chill their pint glasses in ice here which I LOVE (don't bite my head off beer geeks, I like my beers below proper serving temps). I got there around 8:30 on a Monday night to only a handful of people in the place. I figured they were slowing down for the day. Nope, not so. By 9:30 the place was packed and there was even a happy birthday being sung to a couple people.

Back to the food menu, it looked really good. I haven't ever eaten at Hamilton's but I know their burgers, hop sausage and beer cheese soup are real popular there. They were all on the menu along with a bunch of other things. I had the chicken sandwich.... which was good, and their fries are really good. My friend Alicia had the corndogs... or about like half a corndog and 3 fries, with positive reviews.

One other thing to note about the Small Bar. It's not just beer. They have a full bar and specialize in great classic drinks like Old Fashioned, Sidecar, Mint Julep... you get the point. Small Bar is definitely going to be a regular stop for me. It's got a unique vibe to go along with the great beer.

USC vs. Cal drinkin....

2009-10-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

A week ago USC played the hippies up in Bezerkeley and we cracked open some good beers. The first was Hangar 24 Pale Ale, from a local brewery who is making very good beer in Redlands. This beer has a big caramel flavor to it offset by mildly spicy hops. It has a nice little hop bite. Hangar 24 also makes a pretty tasty, albeit quite malty IPA and a nice light flavored beer called Orange Wheat that is similar to a witbier to me.

Next up was Sculpin IPA, which has overtaken Minneapolis Town Hall Masala Mama as the #1 IPA on BeerAdvocate. I've had both and there's no doubt people got this one right. Orange citrus and tropical flavor explosion and a nice bitterness to back it up. Oh, and dry. It has to be dry.

Lastly for our Friday night pregame drinking we opened an '08 Stone IRS. I love this beer with some age on it, and don't generally prefer it fresh. With 3 years this beer becomes amazingly smooth and chocolatey. With only a year age it's still a big improvement over fresh.

Onto Saturday, we started off with a growler of Hop 15 I got on my way home from moving that morning. This was our toasting beer with The Baltimore Beer Guy for the USC game. There was also an old Michelob Ultra sitting in the fridge, left over from a golf tournament in June, so Pat polished that off (he's been known to double fist Michelob Ultras). Hop 15 was tasty, but man is that a syrupy DIPA. On the other hand, what do you expect when it's 10% ABV?

Next up was a growler of Lost Abbey Red Barn. This was a fairly big crowd pleaser. One of my favorite beers of all time. Light, spicy, tropical, a little Belgiany.

As we got towards the end of the game we broke out some Stone/Maui/Ken Schmidt Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter. Pete had bought like 10 of them when he was at Stone and he said he didn't think it was that great so he brought over his last 3 bottles or so. I think everyone really liked it, but I forget at this point. All I know is I really like it. Love it actually. After some harrassement Pete admitted to thinking it was really good, but only after it warms up quite a bit. That's what a lot of people have been saying.

USC dispatched Kal 30-3.

The Station, South Park San Diego

2009-10-11T22:57:00.001-07:00

Located just a couple seconds from the famed Hamilton's Tavern is a little burger joint I stumbled upon tonight. It's called The Station Tavern. They have about 6 beers on tap. The ones I can remember are Stone Levitation, Spaten Oktoberfest, Mission IPA, Lightning Hefe, and some other real light lager. The menu is very small, they specialize in burgers. They do regular and turkey burgers. I got a cheeseburger which was delicious (came cooked about medium, maybe medium rare). The sides to choose from are tater tots(!), sweet potato fries, garlic fries, and regular fries. I got the sweet potato fries which were awesome and my friend got the tater tots which were cooked to perfection. The Mission IPA I ordered didn't taste so fresh, it tasted somewhat stale/oxidized. The Spaten Oktoberfest I had next was very good.

The vibe was pretty cool and the staff is friendly. It's just a little bar area that has a big patio out back and both areas are joined by a big door that stays open, so they are somewhat connected. The bar is open to the outside portion too, so they can serve people who are sitting inside at the bar and outside at the bar. Pretty cool and a setup you don't see often. Here is a look at the front of the place from Google Maps street view. If you are down around Hamilton's in South Park often I would make a point to hit this place for a brew and a burger.

More Sneak Peek- Bruery Black Tuesday

2009-10-09T21:46:00.000-07:00

Patrick and Jonas(sp?) shared another bottle with us, this of the famed Black Tuesday which will be released later this month but is already a top 10 beer in the world (#4 to be exact) on beeradvocate. You gotta have a sweet tooth to love this beer... But who doesn't have a sweet tooth? Wait until the release date later this month, people outside of So Cal have already been going nuts trying to set up trades for this beer, it's only gonna get crazier.
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Bruery Night at Downtown Johnny Browns

2009-10-09T20:37:00.000-07:00

On tap we have Autumn Maple, Snicklefritz, Hottenroth Berlinerweisse, Mischief 3, Black Orchard, Humulus India Pale Lager(!), Trade Winds Triple, White Zin.

Pictured is a taster of barrel aged Autumn Maple so graciously provided by the Bruery staff here. Good stuff-- Yams and then some-- and potent.
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The Summer Lives On

2009-10-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

Seasons change, but the Summer of Beer has persisted for 2 1/2 years. It was a fun release to write about beer while going through the grind of grad school. Now I actually have a job (never thought that day would come, and didn't want it to either) and a new place in San Diego. The amount of work I've put into this blog has dropped considerably over the last few months but I expect it to pick up soon with all the anticipated San Diego beer excursions. I'm looking forward to it but I've gotta try not to overdo it... ya know... I want to buy a house with a little picket fence and a couple of dogs soon.

Anyway, anticipate some changes here in both content and approach as I get back into the beer swing of things.

My new humble abode is located:

1.5 miles from Ballast Point Old Grove

2.7 miles from Alesmith

6 miles from Lightning Brewery

8.6 miles from O'Brien's pub

14 miles from 30th Street

16 miles from Pizza Port Solona Beach

18 miles from Stone

19 miles from The Lost Abbey

And only 35 miles from Alpine Beer Company, instead of 135 miles!

German Beers

2009-09-28T23:34:00.000-07:00

Steve's Uncle from Germany brought these beers over the pond for us to try. Apparently it's a very local brewery to them. These beers were really tasty... The pilsner and hefe were awesome. We returned the favor and let him taste Sculpin and Serpent Stout and he spit both of them out... Germans...
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Friday's San Diego Beer Run

2009-09-21T22:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks to an interview I had in Rancho Bernardo we had an excuse to hit some of the San Diego beer circuit last Friday. I hope one day it will be as easy for me to get a day off whenever I want as it is for Pat and Spencer who accompanied me. Guess that's how it goes when you work for mom and pop or the government. They dropped me off at my interview destination around 10am and went searching for beer. Nothing was really open so I guess they hit a Denny's that had some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. By the time I was through with my stuff they were at the Chili's in the parking lot of where I was. Chili's had Stone IPA in bottles-- Nice!! I think that's better than what Chili's up in our area offers.

After a beer at Chili's we hit Ballast Point around noon. Unfortunately nothing great on tap, I chose the lager (4.2%) while Spencer and Pat went with the Big Eye IPA and Sextent Stout, respectively. I love the beer color spectrum covered here. The better news was that Sculpin IPA was just bottled the day before so I picked up a few bottles of that.

From Ballast Point we headed over to O'Brien's for lunch. To accompany the heaps of garlic fries we ate I had an Alpine Duet which tasted A LOT like Nelson to me (very grapey, really sweet). The second beer I tried was Pizza Port Belgian IPA (I forget its exact name). It was ok, but nowhere near as good as Green Flash Le Freak, which to me is the standard of an American made Belgian IPA (and still better than all the real Belgian IPAs).

On our way back north to go home we stopped at Stone. I had a Perdition (pictured in the middle) but was a little tired at this point and didn't really enjoy it as I usually do. I still contend that the best time to enjoy a Russian River Perdition is before noon, preferably between 8 and 10am.

Beer in the Inland Empire

2009-09-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

There are better beers out here in the IE - think Hangar 24, BJ's, or places that carry Stone - but sometimes you find yourself where ya gotta drink this stuff, it's horrible but in good company it's fine. On second thought, you should really never have to drink this stuff.
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Russian River Janet's Brown Ale

2009-09-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

I was given this growler by a couple friends who happened to stop by Russian River in Santa Rosa on their way back down to Southern California from Oregon. They asked the bartender which beer on tap would be the rarest to someone who lived down in this area and he recommended a new beer from Russian River, Janet's Brown Ale. The story behind this beer made it especially cool to me. Over the last couple years I listened to The Brewing Network quite a bit, going back through their archives and listening to everything. One of the brewcasters goes by the name of Mike McDole, who you may remember for winning a spot in the Sam Adams Longshot competition with his Double IPA that is more or less a Pliny the Elder clone. Well, I remember him talking quite a bit, especially on The Jamil Show, about his brown ale. Turns out Russian River decided to brew this beer with him.

We cracked the growler open today during the start of the USC-Ohio State game. What I remember of his recipe was that it's along the lines of an imperial brown (I think up there around 8% ABV) and is hopped a ton. And it is. A good amount of hops in this, no mistake. You get a real green sorta flavor from the hops... some pine and maybe grassy. The body is quite toasty with some chocolate to it, but not too much. It's actually a real easy drinking beer, the body not being too thick (probably slightly more thin than Indian Brown). A real winner of a brown ale, with a little different take on the style. A big thanks to my friends Loren and Rene for picking this up. Loren was able to share part of the growler and he along with everyone else who sampled some really liked it.

Daily Pint's Stone Vertical Epic Release Night Recap

2009-09-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night's 09.09.09 Vertical Epic release was a big success at The Daily Pint in Santa Monica. After braving a bit of heavy traffic on the 10 fwy filled with people who were probably heading to see the pier's 100th year birthday party firework show we arrived at a pretty packed bar. The bartenders were working their magic and it didn't take long before we got our pours of 09.09.09. To be honest I was expecting a bit more. It was a good beer, don't get me wrong, but other than what I may normally expect out of an imperial porter there seemed to be nothing else. I didn't get any citrus from the tangerine peel, or vanilla from the vanilla beans. Even the Belgian yeast quality seemed to be very muted. I'll be opening up the bottle of this beer tomorrow and hope it leaves me with a different impression.

Aside from the Vertical Epic, lots of other good Stone beer was flowing, most notably the Smoked Porter with vanilla bean. It was the most vanilla tasting batch I've had, by far. It was the perfect beer to wash down my Frank's Hot Dogs "Hot" Dog with extra hot sauce. Tasty dog but I must say it was quite overpriced. $5 for something that wasn't even that big? I thought you only paid that much for a hot dog at Dodger games. I could get 2 huge ass burritos from a taco truck for the same price as that hot dog. Aaanyway, it was a fun night with the Beer Geek LA gathering going on there, and it was good to finally meet the head Beer Geek... er "Beer Guy" - Dave - of Hair of the Dog Dave fame who I have conversed with for a couple/few years via email and these blogs. Thanks for the glass of La Folie by the way Dave, if you still read this.

The Daily Pint is definitely worth future stops on my trips out to the west side.

Funny Thread On BeerAdvocate

2009-09-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

Title: Do west coast BA's rave about east coast DIPA's like us east coaster do a west coast DIPA?

Didn't even read the thread but the question posed makes me LOL

Wednesday's 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Day in Santa Monica

2009-09-08T12:08:00.001-07:00

As Ron Burgundy once said, "That is GOOD news!" Actually it's awesome news coming from the Daily Pint in Santa Monica.

Vertical Epic Day falls on a Wednesday this year, so we’ve got some very special mid-week beers that are going on tomorrow. On deck to be tapped tomorrow are a whole handful of Stone beers, including 09.09.09, Sublimely Self Righteous, Arrogant Bastard, Oaked Bastard, Old Guardian, 13th Anniversary, and Imperial Russian Stout.
The always popular Vanilla Bean Porter will be tapped as well, but this time we’ve got a keg and not a firkin! This beer is extremely rare outside of the brewery and will be a special treat for all you fans of the cask version. Here’s an article from the Stone Blog about the creation of this beer.
In addition to these great beers, the Pint will also be welcoming the Let’s Be Frank hot dog wagon, which will be serving up fine 100% beef hot dogs. For more information on Let’s Be Frank, you can check out their webpage for their mission statement and info on sustainable farming, or follow their truck on Twitter.
The frankomobile will be around from 6ish-9pm, so come on out to the Pint for some 09.09.09 Vertical Epic and some great dogs!

I think this will generate my frist trip to this popular beer bar.

Beer of the First College Football Saturday

2009-09-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

The best time of the year arrived yesterday and that would be USC football season. The tailgate beer we decided to go with was Sierra Nevada Kellerweis, the beer which has replaced the old Sierra Nevada Wheat Beer in their year round lineup. I definitely can't throw up a formal review yet because we were drinking these out of their bottles, but it was definitely a tasty and easy beer to throw a handful down before the game, especially on this hot hot morning in LA! That won't be the last time I spend some quality time with the Kellerweis.

As is tradition, we concluded the tailgate with a toast that includes Stone beer. Most often the beer of choice here is Stone Ruination, but superstition dictates that Ruination is specifically only needed for a couple certain games. So for San Jose State I decided to pick up a Stone 13th Anniversary. The toast always includes our friend Brian, The Baltimore Beer Guy, but it's always my sister who calls him so I have no idea what he was drinking for the toast yesterday. What say you Brian?

As for the 13th Imperial Red Ale... I took a sip of my friend's pint a month or so ago at a bar and didn't care for it. I just didn't know how I would be able to drink something so ridiculously aggressive and enjoy it (it tasted like Tongue Buckler x2). But yesterday it was so smooth and deliciously hoppy. Maybe it was the plastic cups (ha)? Everyone else liked it as well.

I can already tell you what the toasting beer will be for next week when USC travels to Columbus to face Ohio State. Stone's 09.09.09 Vertical Epic comes out this week and it sounds delicious. A Belgian Imperial Porter brewed with malted barley of the chocolate variety, tangerine peel, dark candi sugar, and vanilla bean. This really strikes my beer geek nerve because Stone uses that vanilla bean so well (see Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean) and I'm sure they've done a good job here. The Belgian yeast thing should make this recipe interesting as well. Will be looking forward to that in a week.

Blue Dot IPA

2009-08-29T16:11:00.001-07:00

Hair of the Dog Blue Dot IPA at Lucky Baldwin's this morning- getting some age on it but it's still amazingly tasty. Wish I ever had the opportunity to get it fresh on draft. And ManU 2-1 Arsenal! Woo!

Beachwood Sour Fest 2

2009-08-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

10oz of new belgium love barrel #13 and a 5.5oz of Russian River Consecration batch 2
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Beachwood BBQ Sour Fest

2009-08-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

The sour fest has kicked off as of yesterday morning and I stopped by for an hour to check it out on my way home from Long Beach. Lots of familiar things on after having attended the Stone Sour Fest a month ago. Anyone remember Chili Wonka? That was one of the most talked about beers at Stone and deservedly so.

I started off with a 5.5 oz glass of Allagash Confluence. It is their blonde ale made with a couple strains of brett. It has quite few similarities to Russian River Sanctification, especially with the way Sanctification has been going lately (less tart). Confluence has an extra dimension though since they also use their regular house Belgian yeast to ferment some of it. It's super light, earthy, slightly lemony, mildly tart and super easy to drink. It has shown up around my house in bottle form for $20, might be worth a bottle or two for a special occasion.

The next glass I got was of the Cantillon Bruocsella Grand Cru '07. My intention was to smack the shit out of my palate with some ultimate Cantillon-brand sourness. This Lambic did not produce the mouth puckering sourness I was inaccurately expecting. It's spontaneously fermented and aged in oak barrels for 3 years. It is also a still beer- no carbonation. It pours a murky deep gold and was moderately tart with some malty sweetness behind it. Other than that it was unremarkable to me, although I could have come up with more to say about it over a full glass perhaps.

The last glass was the always fantastic Bruery Berliner Weisse. It's hard for me to see this beer on tap anywhere and not order it, so I did. As I've said a million times before, I could drink this allllllll day. And good news for non-So Cal area residents, it's being bottled now so it'll be easier to get.

Tonight they feature New Belgium sours, and Thursday they'll feature Lost Abbey sours. I won't be able to make either but you definitely should.

Long Beach Area Brewery Hop

2009-08-25T08:38:00.001-07:00

Finally made an effort to experience some of the beer destinations around Long Beach with a friend who lives down here. I'm in the area fairly often and have slacked at trying out these places.

The first stop was Red Car Brewery in Torrance. They only had 4 beers on tap and I went with their IPA which was listed as 9% ABV and 65 IBU. It was drinkable but not particularly aggressive. As for their buffalo wings, I'm a fan of pepper but wow, these things set my face on fire.

The second stop was San Pedro Brewing Company. I tried their Pale Ale (picture 1). It was nothing special, only slightly hoppy but not with any major faults. This place appears to be a bRuin bar so I probably won't be back :-P

Third stop was Rock Bottom in Long Beach. They had a good number of beers on draft. I went with the Coffee Stout (picture 2) which was on cask and it was delicious. My friend ordered their IPA which had a very nice smell, similar to Blind Pig, but lacked that full and aggressive flavor.

The last stop was Belmont Brewing in Long Beach. Cool place with good beers on their guest list (picture 3). I tried the Belmont Hop Head Red (picture 4) which was tasty, and as expected fairly hoppy.

All in all, this circuit of beer stops around Long Beach isn't really anything to go out of your way for but there are formidable options if you happen to be in the area, like on a Monday when Beachwood is closed.
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Beachwood BBQ Sour Fest

2009-08-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

Starting Tuesday is Beachwood BBQ's Sour Beer Festival. The festival will run all day all week and feature special breweries on the first few nights (The Bruery, New Belgium, Lost Abbey). Beachwood is the highly acclaimed beer bar in Seal Beach also well received for their top notch food. There will no doubt be some amazing sour beers on tap (think Stone sour fest encore) and I'll try to brave the ridiculous crowds that will pack this tiny joint and surely send a few claustrophobics running for open air.

The beers to be tapped as posted on BeerAdvocate:
Abbey St. Bon Chein 07
Allagash Confluence
Avery Brabant
Avery Voltron
Avery Vogelbekdieren
Ballast Point Sour Wench
Bear Republic Cuvee de Buba
Boon Oude Lambic
Bootleggers Kentucky Wild
Bruery Berliner Weisse
Bruery Cuvee June
Bruery Sour in the Rye
Bruery White Zin
Cantillon Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru 07
Cantillon Lou Pepe Frambiose 05
Craftsman Summers End Sour
Deschutes Green Monster
Deschutes Little Budha
Duchesse de Bourgogne Cellared 1 year
Echte Kreickenbier Cellared 3 years+
Green Flash Grand Mantis
Ichtemans Grand Cru
Jolly Pumpkin La Roja Reserva
Lost Abbey TBD
Lost Abbey Cuvee de Tomee
Lost Abbey Duck Duck Gooze
Lost Abbey Phunky Duck
Lost Abbey Isabelle Proximus
Lost Abbey Red Poppy
Moonlight Sourpuss Black cellared 1.5years
Moonlight 25 to Life
New Belgium La Folie
New Belgium La Terior
New Belgium Lechee Tart
New Belgium Love #30
New Belgium Transatlantic Kreik
Ommegang Rouge Batch 07
Ommegang Rouge Batch 08
Rodenbach Grand Cru
Russian River Consecration batch 1
Russian River Consecration batch 2
Russian River Temptation
ST. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition
Telegraph Reserve Wheat
Valley Brewing TBD
Valley Brewing TBD
Valley Brewing TBD
Valley Brewing TBD

Russian River Temptation on draft

2009-08-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

If you are in the Orange County area and crave the tart bliss that is Russian River Temptation, their sour blonde ale aged in French oak chardonnay barrels, better get on over to Hollingshead's Deli and get it while it lasts. It's not often that Russian River's sours show up on draft in Orange County, and last time Hollingshead's had on Consecration it went in a day or so. By the time you read this Temptation might be gone too.

Miscellaneous Night

2009-08-20T00:44:00.001-07:00

Watching Step Brothers with a couple brews. That Choklat is now 2 years old or so and still drinking very well. Tastes like a blend of malt balls and chocolate milk. It's definitely one of Southern Tier's better brews as far as their extreme series goes (which I think they call Blackwater series).

Lost Wages

2009-08-16T15:14:00.001-07:00

I don't really wanna go back to Las Vegas for a long time, but at least here are a couple of the beer pics I took.

Waiting for Grimaldi's Pizza to open at around 10:30. Alpine O'Brien's IPA so generously given to me by The J's. We pulled around to the back of the strip strip mall and polished this growler off before heading in for our pizza.

Bottle of Fat Tire at Grimaldi's. I never bothered with this beer much before, but I really enjoy it at places where it's one of the better beers in stock.

$2.50 Dos Equis for Happy Hour. Couldn't complain at this point... it's Vegas.

Tenaya Creek Brown Ale

2009-08-13T14:19:00.001-07:00

At Alligator Bar in The Orleans. Not bad, only cost me $20 since I lost it all on video blackjack.
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Stone / Cambridge / BrewDog Juxtaposition Pilsner

2009-08-11T20:01:00.001-07:00

After a couple months of beer and beer writing apathy, I feel like I'm back into the swing of things. So today I decided to go out and find a new beer. I headed only a couple miles down the road to Pacific Wine Merchants (so I could do some cigar shopping at the same time- going to explore the Arturo Fuente line a bit more soon) without knowing what I would really find. They only have about 3 fridge doors worth of beer, but generally it's very good beer (Pliny, Pig, West Coast IPA, everything Stone, Oskar Blues stuff... you get the drift). To my surprise there were Blind Pig bottles in there that were only 3 weeks old! I haven't seen bottles that fresh at the best beer stores in So Cal for a long time.

So aside from stocking up on the Pig, which I would take any day over Pliny, I also noticed the recently released Stone/Cambridge/BrewDog collaboration Juxtaposition Black Pilsner. For the last year or so I've thought the whole trend of "blackening" traditionally light beers was kinda gimmicky and lame. I didn't like the Stone 11th Anniversary black IPA so much and I think that's where it started. If I see one of the many Black IPA's on tap these days I never order it. But I figured I'd give this one a whirl, since The J's seemed excited about it. So it's a 10% ABV black pilsner. It pours with an obviously thin body... ok that's good, because if it didn't it'd basically be a porter disguised with lager yeast. The smell is quite interesting at first, and maybe that's because I served this puppy COLD- the way it should be (probably around 40F). At first I get really nothing other than some lager yeast byproduct stuff in the aroma, but after a bit it starts mirroring the flavor a little more with a mild roastiness. In the taste there's no question this contains a good amount of roasted malt (as opposed to that darkened malt that imparts no roastiness, I think one of the Carafa's). Anyway, it's basically an imperial chocolate porter with a thinner body and a less fruity yeast. The 10% ABV is easily detected on the back end of the palate and has a belly warming effect. This aspect wears on me a bit as the beer warms up towards the end of the glass. The body was not overdone here which is nice. It's still within the "thin" spectrum of mouthfeel, just slightly below medium. I enjoyed this beer for the most part but as I got to the final 1/3'rd I began to get tired of it. An interesting brew, but give me a well crafted regular pilsner like Sly Fox Pikeland or Moonlight Reality Czeck and I'll be much happier.

Cool Beer Label

2009-08-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

Nothing new for Lost Abbey to pump out some awesome artwork for their beer labels, but I especially like the new Duck-Duck-Gooze lable.

Brewing Like A Monk

2009-08-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

I started to read "Brew Like A Monk" by Stan Hieronymus a while back and there were a couple paragraphs in the foreward by Tim Webb that really grabbed my attention:

"Unfortunately, in the permanent, and I for one think misguided, quest to keep down production costs, the recent falls in the quality of the fermented beers are now revealing the effects of flawed recipes rather more than was previously the case. At Rochefort the taste impact of the beers has diminished a little, through reduction in lagering time and, I suspect, by rather too enthusiastic filtration. In Chimay and Westmalle beers one finds the acrid backtastes of fast fermentation, set against a backdrop of svelte character. Orval remains a classic brew but is less extreme in its statements and is the smaller for that."

"In a head-to-head tasting of Belgian-style abbey beers made by American microbrewers, in Arlington, Virginia, in early 2005, I was shocked to find that the American imitations were knocking the socks off certain freshly imported "real" Trappist ales." I should not have been. After all, the Belgians have been imitating them for years, and some the pretenders, such as St. Bernardus, Kapittel, Witkap, Dupont, and St. Feuillien, are way better than most of the originals."

"So if you want to brew like a monk, what should you do? Not imitate current practice, that is for sure. Perhaps the best advice would be to brew with good intentions."

A 221 Mile Brewery Hop

2009-08-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

221 miles of driving took us to three of the best breweries in America Sunday afternoon. Granted we've been to each of these places many times before, but this was the first time that I've ever hopped over to Orange County and then down to SD just for the afternoon. It was worth it. We started up at The Bruery in Placentia, about 25 miles from my house. JRhode and JTH ("The J's"... no connection to our friend from the Plantae kingdom... well... maybe....) came up from SD to check it out for the first time and reserve a couple bottles of The Bruery's new 19.5% ABV barrel aged imperial stout called Black Tuesday. After having a few tasters of it, I noticed JTH rated it his first 5.0 ever... nice! I started off with one of my favorites, a Hottenroth Berliner Weisse, at barely over 3% ABV and super tart and funky it's an awesome breakfast! As we sampled beers, a couple blokes from the East Coast had brought in some beers to share. Got a little taster of Southern Tier's Cherry Saison. Not bad, quite a fruity Saison obviously, but not sure how much I could drink of that as it didn't seem dry enough for a saison. The J's brought up a growler of Alpine Duet to share and people seemed to like it (how could you not??). My last glass was their new Humulus Lager, which could probably place in competitions in the IPA category if they kept the lager part hush-hush. We all agreed this beer was strikingly similar to the amazing Ballast Point Sculpin IPA. Hops abound, orange citrus, tropical fruits, a swift bitterness... it was delicious. After just under a couple of hours at The Bruery the fellas helped me talk myself into heading back down to SD with them to hit Stone and Pizza Port.

We set out from North OC, a little 91 fwy to the 15 and before ya know it (1:15 min later?) we were at Stone. Only 1 Alpine growler casualty occured, and the cause of death was determined to be from JTH's small bladder. Ok maybe it's not small (the bladder part), after all he was waxing off the rest of that Duet growler in the car on the way down. Stone's taplist was solid and other than those bush league little "8oz" tumbler glasses they pour like half of their beers in, we didn't have much to complain about. Please, Stone, for the millionth time, please get better glassware for your small pours! No way should a barleywine and a saison be poured in the same 8oz tumbler glass! In fact, get rid of like 75% of those 8oz pours and put them in regular glasses... it's making American's look bad (errr worse)! I digress. First round consisted of Firestone Double Jack, one of Dupont's saisons, and a Lagunitas Lil Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale. Lil Sumpin' was refreshing, moderately bitter, hoppy, with just a tinge of wheat. After some munching on Stone's new soft pretzel dish (which is delicious, but only 3 for $8.50?? --> NOT worth it) and another round of brews (not for me) we headed for the main course at Pizza Port.

Pizza Port's selections were kinda strange today. Guest taps were just ok and Blind Pig is obviously solid, so we got a pitcher of that first, but Pizza Port's own beer selection seemed bland. A couple bitters/milds, a couple wheats, Wipeout IPA (good, but I prefer El Camino IPA and Swami's IPA which can be found at the other locations), a couple Stouts (Sticky Stout and Night Rider) and some other stuff. We ended up also getting pitchers of their new Double Wheat Ale and the Imperial Red named 547 Height Street (after the Toronado SF). And for the record, I've decided Pizza Port is my second favorite pizza (behind Grimaldi's in Las Vegas and of NY fame).

After that, it was back home from Calrsbad, back up through OC and into the armpit of Southern California known as the Inland Empire. 221 miles, about 3/4th's of a tank of gas, and a handful of beers. Just another Sunday around here.

Pizza Port '09 Reunion Double Wheat Ale

2009-08-09T18:03:00.001-07:00

What's the story behind this beer? I dunno but it's a double wheat and awesome. On tap right now at the Carlsbad location. Oh yeah, also, Pizza Port is officially the best pizza west of Las Vegas (Grimaldi's is the best, of course).
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Stone Brewing Co, Escondido, CA

2009-08-09T16:04:00.001-07:00

Lagunitas lil sumpin sumpin Ale... Hoppy wheat ale, very good. Nothing interesting in terms of growler fills unfortunately. They should make Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean a regular, I would go broke if they did but at least my belly would be happy.
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The Bruery, Placentia, CA

2009-08-09T13:13:00.001-07:00

This is their new Humulus Lager, an India pale lager, and this could pass for a great IPA. Quite similar to Sculpin IPA. Very orangy, fruity, dry. Stimulus Sundays are pretty cool, 25% off all draught pours and growler fills!
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A Pretty Random Big Beer Tasting

2009-08-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

We started with a couple Alesmith beers that I had never tried. As ubiquitous as these are at the better beer stores in Southern California it was only a matter of time. Alesmith Grand Cru is described as an amber Belgian style beer, and that's about it. It poured with close to no carbonation, which is usually a dealbreaker for me but I paid $10 for this bottle so I was gonna try to enjoy it one way or another. The flavor was actually really nice. I didn't take notes this whole night so all I can remember was that it had a nice malty flavor, almost dubbel-ish but not really.

The next Alesmith beer was their Wee Heavy Scottish ale, and it is a wee heavy at around 10% ABV. Good beer though. Nice and malty, toasty like a scotch ale should be but the high alcohol cuts that bite some to smooth it out. No wonder people go crazy over the barrel aged version of this beer, I can see it doing very well in a barrel.

The next beers came from a brewery that would rank in my top 5 most overrated, although it's hard to say that as much as I love their Gumballhead. This would be Three Floyds in Munster, Indiana. My buddy picked up this first beer, Behemoth Barleywine, from our local liquor store for over $20. I would have never bought it, which is why I've left it sitting in the cooler every time I've been in this store for the last few years. The smell was very odd. Main thing I remember is it had some oxidation with wet cardboard (we have no idea how old this bottle was) and an off-smelling sweetness. The taste did not match at all though, and it was actually quite tasty for a barleywine. I still wouldn't drink it ever again but at least it wasn't a drain pour.

The next beer, also from Three Floyds was their Fantabulous Respendence XI Anniversary beer, which was released in the Summer of 2008. It's listed, at least on BA, as a 7% IPA. That doesn't sound too promising to me, considering it's now a year old, and it tasted just like that- an old IPA. I could maybe detect some potential in it if fresh.

At this point we started losing focus and somehow a couple of really old bottles of Pliny the Elder and Blind Pig were opened. Blind Pig was bottled in 11/08, and while I didn't taste it, the whiff I took from the bottle actually smelled pretty good still, thus adding to my suspicion that Blind Pig has a pretty good shelf-life when stored properly (ie FRIDGE). As for the Pliny, Pat drank that so fast I don't know how it was.

Lastly we opened a bottle of Deschutes Black Butte XX, which now has a year of age on it. The consensus was that it still could use a bit of mellowing, although I certainly did not agree with those sentiments. It was hot when it was fresh, the alcohol was certainly detectable. I noticed much difference and a melding of flavors between the mildy roasty malt coffee type flavors and the chocolate and alcohol. I think it'll still hold up for quite a while though, so no need to drink your bottles anytime soon if you are cellaring.

Quick Beer Notes On Last Week's Trip To SD

2009-08-09T08:44:00.001-07:00

-Hit the Ballast Point tasting room right off the bat. Went with their flight of special releases. This included a scottish ale, Even Keel session ale, Victory at Sea imperial coffee porter, and Dorado DIPA. I hadn't had Dorado in a LONG time because the last time I had it I didn't get a sense of great drinkability from it (too soupy, not dry enough, too orangy). That was maybe 3-4 years ago. The pour I had in the tasting room was awesome. The hoppiness- so citrusy, the body- not too thick... it was superb. The scotch ale was truly solid though not my favorite style, Even Keel was essentially a very hoppy beer with practically no body (which is exactly what they are going for) and Victory at Sea is dessert in a glass (woh vanilla!) and a little less coffee-ish than I remember from before.

-Next stop was O'Brien's with nothing too much to note other than that I tasted the latest batch of Alpine Nelson. This beer is getting crazy grape-y. I know that Nelson Sauvin hop is known for its grape-like taste but MAN was it a grape-bomb (no not grapefruit, just grape). I usually like Nelson, but this was actually hard to drink. Oh, I also had a pint of Coronado Idiot IPA. I had a bottle last Summer and chalked up my dissatisfaction for it to an old bottle (even though I had no way of knowing... no date on it). Well, it turns out I really just don't like this beer. It's thick, not crisp, the hoppiness is weird, and it's overly sweet. It baffles me that San Diego beer geeks can rave about this when they are drinking it next to Pure Hoppiness, Pliny the Elder, Ruination, and Green Flash Imperial IPA all the time.

-At Hamilton's there wasn't much to note other than those Cascade sours I tasted with the Booze Reviews crew. Cascade is the side project of Raccoon Lodge brewpub if I'm not mistaken, and the guy is pumping out amazing sour beers.

-Also hit Toronado and Blind Lady Alehouse. BLAH is doing some amazing business over there. I don't think I've ever not seen it packed. One of the best taplists in SD as well and delicious pizza.

Bruery Sour in the Rye

2009-08-07T20:49:00.000-07:00

Nice sour bite to this, quite sour, the carbonation doesn't hit a ton, maybe the rye smooths it out or something. Definitely a bite at the end that isn't just from the acid.

Also just had the Black Tuesday imperial stout, wow! An interesting balance of sour and sweet going on there, and the finish has a taste unlike I've ever had in a stout- its sweet, maybe it's the molasses.
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Why The West Coast Cannot Be Beat

2009-08-04T23:03:00.000-07:00

You cannot find a tap lineup like this anywhere on any occasion in the country.

Blue Palms Brewhouse 1st anniversary party, August 8th.

ALPINE PURE HOPPINESS
ALPINE NELSON RYE IPA
ALPINE DUET
BALLAST POINT DORADO DOUBLE IPA
FIRESTONE DOUBLE JACK
AVERY MAHARAJA
PIZZA PORT LIGHT WEIGHT LAGER
PIZZA PORT WAY HEAVY
SAN DIEGO BREWING COMPANY HOPGODESS
STONE PALE ALE DRY HOPPED
GROTTEN BROWN ( PIERRE Celis Signature )
SAMICHLAUS BIER 06
FIRESTONE PARABOLA
FIRESTONE BRAVO
FIRESTONE ABACUS
THE BRUERY SOUR IN THE RYE
RUSSIAN RIVER TEMPTATION
OMMEGANG ROUGE
PORT BREWING SANTA'S LITTLE HELPER
OSKAR BLUES WHISKEY BARRAL AGED TEN FiDY
PORT 3RD ANNIVERSARY
STONE ANNIVERSARY 12
PORT BREWING 3RD ANNIVERSARY
NORTH COAST OLD STOCK 06
KARL STRUASS 20TH ANNIVERSARY
Gueze Fond Tradition
GUINNESS 250
DOGFISH 90
EVEN KEEL

CASK
Alpine Exponential Hoppiness
Bad Boy IPA Alpine
Pizza Port Killer Dana Double IPA
Firestone Unfiltered DBA

More Cascade Sours

2009-07-31T17:09:00.000-07:00

Glad I found Cascade brewing, great sour beer. GREAT beer. Close to Russian River Temptation, but this is a 9.2% abv sour beer, we were very surprised. This brewery from Portland area is about to hit big time. Bout time we got some west coast sour beers from the north around here!! Wow
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My first Cascade sour at Hamilton's Tavern

2009-07-31T16:13:00.000-07:00

This is their Kriek, very good, similar to Lost Abbey Red Poppy but not as much wood/tannin flavor in it. Different style of course but a very good kriek in and of itself.
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T. Phillip's Alehouse, La Verne, CA

2009-07-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

We use to frequent this spot when my buddy went to ULV in undergrad. Lots of taps, a good number of good taps... Stone IPA, Arrogant Bastard, Alaskan IPA, Lagunitas, Firestone, New Belgium, Anderson Valley, Lost Coast, along with all the cheap stuff. I got me a couple Alaskan IPA's, a VERY solid IPA that probably doesn't get enough recognition.

At the same time I just realized La Verne has a street fair on Thursdays... I thought Upland was the only one......
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Port Brewing Hop 15

2009-07-27T17:58:00.000-07:00

This is my first Hop 15 in a loooong time... And it's tasty, AND boozy. Yay for 10% beer!
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Drakes IPA @ Hollingsheads Deli

2009-07-27T17:27:00.000-07:00

Pre-Angels game drinkin at Hollingshead's Deli in Orange. Nice pre-game crowd in here as usual. Drakes IPA, best pour I've ever had of it. Crisp and super hoppy, and very fresh tasting. Drakes IPA just skyrocketed up my list of favorite IPA's.....
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Firestone Double Jack IPA

2009-07-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

At the Paso Robles location today. The beer is 9.5% ABV. Smell is obviously hoppy, kinda orange marmalade (I'm thinking from centennial hops and crystal malt combination..?), but the aroma is also boozy at the same time (altho a bit less than Maharaja). The taste is without a doubt sweet but on the drier side for a DIPA which is great. Hop flavors are earthy, like leafy, citrusy (orange) and caramel. I really like this DIPA, but it's obviously bigger in all aspects than say our standard Pliny the Elder. JRhode- highly recommended. (EDIT: I used the term "boozy" a little loosley here. It really isn't that boozy. Maharaja is boozy. Hop 15 is boozy. Avery The Beast is boozy. Double Jack has some obvious heat but it is nowhere near as prevalent as the others)
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Frog & Peach Pub, downtown SLO

2009-07-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

1) Some of their tap handles
2) Which one do I have?
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Firestone Taproom, Buelton

2009-07-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

1) View of the bar
2) Double Jack DIPA delicious!!
3) Timmins and an Unfiltered Double Barrel Ale
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Brewer's Art Ozzy

2009-07-23T20:44:00.001-07:00

As always, thanks a million to my friend Brian, aka The Baltimore Beer Guy, for another bottle of this. One of the best Belgian Strong Pale Ales I've had. This bottle has such an awesome candy, maple syrup like aroma, something I've never noticed in past bottles of Ozzy. The taste is also less spicy/peppery and more sweet and fruity. Too bad most of the country has no idea who Brewer's Art is because they make some fantastic beer.
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Perfect night for a Russian River Damnation

2009-07-23T19:56:00.001-07:00

Actually I would argue any night is a good night for this, but as we sit here watching Sideways before our trip to Pismo this weekend it is hitting the spot extra nicely. This bottle is I believe at least 6-7 months old (batch 47), and pours with verrry generous carbonation. Taste is right on, earthy, musty, yeasty, a tad fruity, very dry.

Newport Beach Brewing Co. Pelican Pale Ale

2009-07-21T12:58:00.001-07:00

Brewed with Cascade hops... Actually tastes quite a bit similar to Stone Pale Ale even though there's no cascade hops in that.

My first trip to Newport Brewing Company was nice. The beers were good (not great or anything) and the food was quite good as was the atmosphere. I also tried their German Hefe which was tasty, although I found their IPA to be lacking any sort of punch. We also tried their Belgian Pale Ale (6.3%) which was good and very heavy on the Belgian yeast flavor. It's kinda sad I never knew about this place when I lived a few miles away from it in my undergrad days.

Stone's 3rd Annual Sour Beer Fest Recap

2009-07-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

Not even the sweltering heat which unexpectedly showed up in [Escondido] could ruin what was Stone's best sour fest yet. Each year the fest has grown, now into the hundreds (I would estimate 400-500 sour fest goers), and at this rate Stone will soon have to book Cal State San Marcos twice a year for their parties. As if the tap list wasn't good enough last year, Dr. Bill - Stone's newest beer guy - was able to arrange a massive list of sour beers spanning from San Diego to Portland to Michigan and of course all the way to where sour beer finds its roots, Belgium.

We arrived down there at 11am ready to indulge ourselves. The line for on-site ticket purchases was an early indicator how big this thing was gonna be (online ticket sales were stopped at 250). As I made my way in I stopped by the first of three locations where they were pouring beers. The first sample I went with was a Ballast Point Hout Geuze. Unfortunately I didn't really take any notes and all the flavors begin to be muddled in your head as the day wears on but this geuze by Ballast Point was a real winner. My friend tried their Hout Dark Cherry and had good things to say as well, so two thumbs up to Ballast Point who at this time can't really do much wrong. The next beer I figured I would go with would be what I expect was the culprit of very long lines at tent B. That beer would be Lost Abbey's Duck Duck Gooze. This was another winner, which I probably didn't even need to tell you. The next handful of tasters were sampled from Valley Brewing and New Belgium. Standing out was New Belgium's Spicy Folie (it was surely spicy, slightly roasty, but didn't have near the acidity of La Folie) and Love Barrel #3(4) which was a sour roundhouse kick to the face, and New Belgium's Bottlework's 10th Anniv sour (amazing!). My favorite from Valley was their DysFunktion-Ale Part Deux although I can't remember what it tasted like. Oh, Valley's Chilie Wonka (mildly spicy) was also solid beer and a cult hit this day.

To digress a bit, JTH got a call from JRhode and said that Greg (Stone CEO) twittered he was going to have a special sampling for whoever could find the Bischofia tree in the next hour. After a lot of walking around the gardens, checking google on our mobile phones to find out what the hell a Bischofia tree looked like, and constantly checking for more updates via TwitterBerry, we (or at least JTH) finally spotted the group assembling for a toast with a Boon Mariage Parfait 2003. Pretty cool stuff.

As the day wore on and our hydration wore down the few beers that I remember specifically were the always-amazing Lost Abbey Cuvee de Tomme, Russian River Sanctification (which seems to now get funkier and funkier every batch), and Drake's George Brett Tripel (a very delicious funktified tripel). At the same time I reaffirmed that Hanssen's Oude Kriek is probably the best kriek in the world. I was actually finding it hard to use my last couple taster tickets until JTH motivated me and we finished with somewhat of a sour flurry before heading out and over to Pizza Port. (Major thing of note- Three Floyds Pride & Joy ESB was actually on tap at PP Carlsbad....)

We had a very nice time talking to the owner of Valley Brewing, which is now a must-stop (in Stockton) on my next trip north, and the brewer from Captain Lawrence out in NY. Two very cool guys indeed.

Overall it was just a great day. It doesn't get much better than having a ridiculous amount of awesome sour beers in one place and having your money to sample those go to charity. There was really only one disappointment of the day which I don't even really wanna talk about because it's from a brewery who has always been near and dear to my heart (looking at you Deschutes). Can't wait to see what next year brings!

Public House Temecula

2009-07-19T20:20:00.001-07:00

Blind Pig... This might be overkill after Stone Sour fest and pizza port Carlsbad...
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Lime!

2009-07-17T16:56:00.001-07:00

No I'm not enjoying it... The beer that is... Gimme a crown n coke
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Alesmith Summer Yulesmith

2009-07-15T20:37:00.001-07:00

At lucky baldwins, my first taste from this year's summer version. Not as outright hoppy as I remember. More round... Not necessarily a good thing. Just a tad too much sweetness. In the end I did not really like this beer, and I have liked it before (not loved it). But my friend Spencer and some random chick who is a Coors Light drinker really liked it.

This is how I celebrate being done with board exams...

2009-07-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

(As long as I passed both of them)... Green Flash DIPA- the definition of grapefruity beer. I could sure go for a nice cold Blue Dot IPA and chips tonight too... Hmm we'll see what the rest of the day brings...

Yum, Hair of the Dog Blue Dot IPA and chips