Terrapin-De Proef Collaboration: Monstre Rouge at The Linkery this Sunday Sept 5th

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de proef, monstre rouge, monstre rouge san diego, terrapin beer co, terrapin beer co san diego

Here in San Diego we’re surrounded by a number of world class breweries and because of our great beer culture plenty of amazing beers from elsewhere in the country and the world are distributed here. But there are some breweries that for one reason or another don’t distribute here. Many great East Coast breweries aren’t available out here in California, off the top of my head I would list 3 Floyds, Bell’s, Founder’s and Terrapin (although there are plenty more those are just the first few that come to mind).

But this weekend we’ll get a small taste of one of those breweries. Terrapin Beer Co. is the latest American brewery to send a brewer over to Belgium to brew with De Proef for their Brewmaster’s Collaboration series. The result is Monstre Rouge, billed as an Imperial Flanders Red. I haven’t seen any bottles of it yet on liquor store shelves (but that doesn’t mean it isn’t here or isn’t coming, I’m not sure about bottle distribution) but The Linkery will be tapping a keg this Sunday at 11:30am.

Reviews on beer blogs are all over the place for Monstre Rouge, I haven’t read a bad review, but many people are saying it isn’t what they expected. At 7.5% ABV Monstre Rouge is on the lower end of the “Imperial” spectrum, but should be quite drinkable. I’ve heard it’s fairly hoppy and has a bit of sour funk (that’s a good thing) from the Brettanomyces. It’s surely going to be an interesting beer that I’m looking forward to trying.

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Chris Bauweraerts, founder of Chouffe brewery in Belgium to visit San Diego

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Achouffe Brewery, Brasserie d'Achouffe, Chris Bauweraerts, Chris Bauweraerts san diego, Houblon Chouffe, Houblon IPA Mac n' Cheese, La Chouffe, la chouffe beer pairings, la chouffe san diego, McChouffe, meet the brewer, N'ice Chouffe

UPDATE: Bauweraerts will also be stopping by Pizza Port Carlsbad on Monday from 5-8:30pm. They’ll have bottle and glassware specials in the Bottle Shop and draft specials in the restaurant. And as for the lineup at O’Brien’s Pub, in addition to the beers listed below, they’ve also been saving a keg of 2009 N’ice Chouffe, the annual Christmas beer, a 10% dark beer spiced with thyme and curacao.

Chris Bauweraerts, founder of Brasserie d’Achouffe (the Achouffe Brewery in English) and often referred to as just La Chouffe (which means gnome in the Walloon dialect) is paying a visit to San Diego, and based on all the events he’ll be attending it looks as if he has a pretty busy schedule. Which means you shouldn’t have a difficult time finding a time that works if you want to meet this Belgian brewer.

Friday, September 3rd Bauweraerts will pay a visit to Small Bar. They’ll have La Chouffe (Belgian Stong Pale Ale), Houblon Chouffe (Belgian IPA) and McChouffe (Belgian Strong Dark Ale) on tap. Buy any La Chouffe beer and keep the glass for $7, with $6 refills all night. They’ll also have a flight of all three (4 oz pours) for $7.75. Or food pairings with a six ounce pour, $10 each or $25 for all three:

• McChouffe with Idiazabal cheese plated with fresh fruit, artisan meat & crostinis
• Houblon Chouffe with spicy mussels, shrimp, corn, potatoes, & hop sausage in a Houblon Chouffe/garlic/shallots bath & crusty baguette for dipping
• La Chouffe paired with warm toffee apple crisp a la mode

Saturday, September 4th Blind Lady Ale House will host a ‘Meet the Brewer’, 3 course lunch paired with La Chouffe beers. Bauweraerts will be on hand to discuss the beers. The three course lunch (with vegan and vegetarian options) with beer pairings is $48 and space is very limited. Email Clea@BlindLadyAleHouse.com to secure a spot. Looks like they’ll be serving La Chouffe, Houblon Chouffe and McChouffe. Check out the Blind Lady blog for the full menu and pairings.

Later that afternoon Bauweraerts will be stopping into O’Brien’s Pub from 3-5pm where they’ll have La Chouffe beers on tap and La Chouffe inspired food specials including the delicious sounding Houblon IPA Mac n’ Cheese. It looks as if Small Bar and Blind Lady will be featuring the same beers, so it will be interesting to see if O’Brien’s will be serving any additional La Chouffe beers.

Stone Brewing Co. 14th Anniversary Festival Mini Reviews

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Belgo Imperial Russian Stout, Black Raspberry Nectar, Colette Farmhouse Ale, Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout, fireworks saison, great divide san diego, great divide socal, great divide southern california, Hop Diego, hop-it, Imperial Russian Stout 10th Anniversary Blend, La Granja Coffee Stout, lost abbey tea, mike's beer cheese, Modus Hoperandi ipa, nogne o saison, norrebro, Red Stone Meadery, Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers, stone brewing co. 14th anniversary, traditional experimental ale, triple white sage

The Stone Brewing Co. 14th Anniversary Celebration and Invitational Beer Festival came and went this weekend, and plenty of great beer was consumed. The festival itself seemed fairly well organized, I heard many people complaining about long lines and the lack of shade, but we never waited more than two or three minutes for a beer, nor did we have any problem finding a place to sit or stand under the large tents. It was warm but not nearly as warm as it could have been in San Marcos in August.

We opted for Session A, arriving at exactly 11am, we got our glasses and wristbands without a wait and were drinking our first beers just a few minutes later. As far as I could tell everyone in attendance was having a great time. Mike’s Beer Cheese was a crowd pleaser for sure. We tried all four varieties offered with Napalm Bastard being the favorite.

Below are short notes about each beer tasted, not so much reviews but quick and mostly distracted thoughts on the four ounce tasters offered, a few at the end were shared among us and I didn’t get a full taster.

• Stone Brewing Co. Belgo Imperial Russian Stout. Stone’s IRS with a Belgian yeast strain. I quickly looked over the beer list the day before the festival and this was the beer I was most excited about, so it makes sense that it was also the beer I was most disappointed with. It wasn’t bad, but it couldn’t live up the high expectations I had for it. I’m not sure how fresh it was, but it tasted more mellow than the fresh IRS I’ve had lately. But I thought it was sorely lacking many Belgian characteristics.
• Stone Brewing Co. Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers. This is a beer I had been wanting to try for a while since I love spicy foods and Stone Smoked Porter. The chipotle flavor was fairly mellow, but prominent. It gave the already smoky beer a nice smoky/spicy kick. Not at all like other chili beers I’ve had, but this was my first chipotle beer.
• Nøgne Ø Saison. A good saison, but fairly unremarkable. Crisp and refreshing in the San Marcos heat. It seemed to lack the fruity esters and spicy phenols and all around funky farmhouse flavors I enjoy in a saison. It could also be that my palate hadn’t quite recovered from those two previous beers, I’ll be giving this one another shot.
• Great Divide Brewing Co. Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout. Great Divide is one of my favorite Colorado breweries that doesn’t get distributed out here, but according to the sign at their booth that will be changing soon as they’re coming to Southern California. I love Yeti, and have had Oak Aged Yeti but never Espresso Oak Aged Yeti. The oak was pretty prominent up front with a great coffee flavor on the finish.
• Lost Abbey TEA (Traditional Experimental Ale). I had no idea what this was going in. The lemon citrus flavors were overwhelming. I once had a Belgian Wit where the brewers accidentally substituted the same amount of the much stronger dried lemongrass for fresh lemongrass. This tasted similar. This would have been my first and only pour of the day but I ate some of the wonderfully spicy Mike’s Beer Cheese Napalm Bastard and this did a good job of putting that fire out.
• San Diego Brewing Co. Hop Diego. Not my favorite Belgian style IPA but not bad. Will drink this again to get a better feel for it.
• Stone Brewing Co. Imperial Russian Stout 10th Anniversary Blend. If you can’t tell by now I love Imperial Russian Stouts. And Stone’s is one of my favorites. I thought this was just delicious. I’m not sure the exact make up of this blend but it was smoother and sweeter with the hop and alcohol flavors of fresh IRS much subdued. Stone’s IRS with a few years on it is just great.
• Urthel Hop-It. Very carbonated. Good and hoppy with some nice earthy yeast flavors.
• Craftsman Brewing Co. Triple White Sage. This was the standout beer of the festival for me. I had seen Craftsman’s name around but never had any of their beers. I’ve spent a decent amount of time hiking around the foothills of Southern California and that’s exactly what this beer tasted like. A good but not overpowering white sage flavor. Refreshing enough to drinking on a hot day, but complex enough to keep it interesting.
• Craftsman Brewing Co. Fireworks Saison. Another great beer from Craftsman. Slightly spicy phenol flavors and some good yeast flavors made this very enjoyable.
• Red Stone Meadery Black Raspberry Nectar. Amazing honey flavor but almost overpoweringly sweet.
• Julian Hard Cider. A very nice cider. Was refreshing on such a warm day. Looking forward to trying this again sometime.
• Norrebro La Granja Coffee Stout. I wasn’t too impressed by this one. One of my least favorite coffee stouts I’ve had.
• Great Divide Brewing Co. Colette Farmhouse Ale. A good saison. Nice and yeasty good farmhouse flavors as the name implies.
• Ska Brewing Co. Modus Hoperandi IPA. I had to finish out the day with something from my friends in Durango. I was hoping for some Saison Du’Rango but they had temporarily run out. So Modus it was (the other choice would have been Merlot Stout, a great beer but I couldn’t do another Imperial Stout). Nice and piney with a great hop aroma, Modus is one of my favorite IPAs.

Click below for a few photos from the day.

Beer Review: Cucapá Imperio

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Cucapá, Cucapá brewery, imperio, mexicali beer, mexican ale, the beer box tijuana

I knew only three things about this beer before I opened it:

1. It’s from Cucapá, the brewery in the Mexicali
2. It’s 9.2% ABV according to the label
3. I’m told it is sold exclusively at The Beer Box

It’s rare for me to know so little about a beer before drinking it. Usually if I’m drinking a beer it’s been recommended by a friend or bartender, or I’ve read something about it. Or I at least know what style it is before drinking it. Not with Imperio. While paying a visit to The Beer Box in Tijuana earlier this month I picked up a few beers from Cucapá that aren’t readily available in the US. I was told this beer was exclusive to The Beer Box, and the label says it’s 9.2%, but that’s about all I know.

Appearance: Red with a small tan head that dissipated rather quickly in this standard pint glass. It’s a dark red, but when held up to the light it is the color of cranberry juice.

Smell: Boozy. The 9.2% ABV gives it away that this is going to be a strong beer, and that is apparent in the smell. Not much malt but some hop smells come through.

Taste: Boozy again. Also a bit hoppy. Far less malt than I expected. The alcohol and the hops are what stand out. It’s bitter, after a few minutes a bit of sweetness comes through from the malts as it warms up.

Mouthfeel: Good carbonation but slightly cloying because of the sweetness.

Drinkability: This isn’t an easy beer to drink. The high alcohol content makes it up front and aggressive.

I would give Imperio another shot when the weather gets cooler, I’d also like to try it with a bit of age on it to see if the alcohol mellows out a bit (unfortunately this bottle isn’t date coded so I’m not sure how old it is).

The Avery Experience Magic Bus Ride, Thursday August 19th

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2005 Beast, adam avery, avery 2006 samael, avery fifteen, avery ipa, avery seventeen, avery sixteen, depuceleuse, ellies brown, hog heaven, karma, Maharaja, out of bounds stout, salvation, White Rascal

The monthly Drinkabout is getting started as I write this, but if you missed it, or didn’t get your fill of craft beer drinking and free bus bar hopping, the folks at Hamilton’s have you covered.

Hamilton’s, Small Bar and the new Eleven (see our previous coverage here) are hosting Avery Brewing Co. night with founder Adam Avery on hand. Free buses will shuttle people between the bars and Avery beers will be on special for $4.50 with $3 refills and you get to keep the glass.

Word from Hamilton’s is that they’ll be getting started at 5pm. Checkout the beer list for each bar below and we’ll see you tomorrow.

• Hamilton’s: Avery Sixteen, 2005 Beast, Maharaja, White Rascal, Dryhop Keg conditioned IPA and Brabant small pour special!
• Small Bar: Avery Fifteen, Hog Heaven, Karma, Salvation, Maharaja, White Rascal, Seventeen and Depuceleuse small pour special!
• Eleven: Avery 2006 Samael, Out of Bounds Stout, Ellies Brown, Seventeen, Maharaja, White Rascal, Dryhop Keg conditioned IPA with different hop varietal than Hamilton’s.

This post was updated 8/19/2010

Hamilton’s Second Saturday and Toronado 23rd Anniversary, Saturday August 14th, 2010

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'twerp, Abandon Ship, Bad Boy, Barmy Ale, Barrel Aged Black Marlin, Barrel Aged Piper Down, Barrel Aged Sea Monster (nitro), Barrel Aged Three Sheets, Big Daddy IPA, Big Eye, Black Marlin, Brother Levonian Saison, cable car 2010, Calico, Cocoa nib Black Marlin, devotion, Duet, Exponential Hoppiness, Fathom IPL, Gift of the Magi, Great American Brown, hamilton's second saturday, hop 15, lost abbey cable car, Mongo IPA, Night Rider Imperial Stout, Oktoberfest, port brewing co. 547 haight, Road to Helles, russian river toronado 20th anniversary, san salvador saison, sculpin cask, sculpin ipa, Sea Monster Stout, Sour Wench, speakeasy ales and lagers, Three Sheets Barley wine, toronado 20th anniversary, toronado 23rd anniversary, Tuatara, Tuatara Session, Victory at Sea, wahoo, White Knuckle IPA, Yellowtail

There are plenty of great beer events going on this weekend (click on over to our events calendar to see them all) but two of them look to be extra special so we thought we should highlight them.

Tomorrow being the second Saturday of the month means it’s Second Saturday time at Hamilton’s Tavern. This month they’re featuring San Diego’s own Ballast Point Brewing Co. They’ll have Sculpin IPA and Brother Levonian Saison on cask, as well as the following Ballast Point beers on draft: Victory at Sea, Barrel Aged Sea Monster (nitro), Barrel Aged Black Marlin, Cocoa nib Black Marlin, Sea Monster Stout, Abandon Ship, Fathom IPL, Sculpin IPA, Barrel Aged Piper Down, Sour Wench, Brother Levonian Saison, San Salvador Saison, Barmy Ale, Oktoberfest, Three Sheets Barley wine, Barrel Aged Three Sheets, Yellowtail, Calico, Big Eye, Black Marlin and Wahoo.

As with most (all?) Second Saturday’s there will also be food: San Diego Back County Buffalo Burgers (gardenburger for veggies), housemade sour wench brined pickle chips, Sea Monster BBQ Sauce and Sculpin Beer Mustard, Black Marlin Porter Texas Beans with Chorizo Hop Sausage, Yellowtail Potato Grautin, Housemade Salt –n-Vinegar Chips, and Summer Fruit Cups.

We’re looking forward to trying San Salvador Saison, the San Diego inspired Saison, Ballast Point recently brewered with the help of The Linkery.

Tomorrow also happens to be Toronado’s (the original in San Francisco) 23rd anniversary. They’re having a big party up in San Francisco, but lucky for us Toronado SD is also celebrating. Starting at 11:30 am they’ll have Lost Abbey 2010 Cable Car and Port Brewing Co.’s 547 Haight on draft. They’ll have plenty of other great beers including: Night Rider Imperial Stout, Great American Brown, and ‘Twerp from Pizza Port Carlsbad. Mongo IPA, Devotion, Gift of the Magi, Road to Helles, and  Hop 15 from Port Brewing/The Lost Abbey. As well as Alpine Exponential Hoppiness, Duet, Bad Boy, and Tuatara Session and more White Knuckle IPA from Marin Brewing and Speakeasy’s Big Daddy IPA.

If all that wasn’t enough, they’ll have some bottles of Russian River’s Toronado 20th Anniversary in the cooler.

Eleven: A New Bar from the Owners of Hamilton’s Tavern and Small Bar

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dennis borlek, eleven lager, eleven san diego, liars club, Louis Mello, radio room, scot blair, zombie lounge

Eleven, the new bar from Scot Blair and Dennis Borlek, the guys behind Hamilton’s Tavern and Small Bar is now open. The space where Eleven is was previously Radio Room, and before that The Zombie Lounge, but Blair, Borlek, and Co.  have done an impressive job of transforming the place. Located at 3519 El Cajon Blvd., the bar is dark inside, with few windows, a small stage in the back, this is a rock n’ roll bar with some nice touches. The bar top is all new, red velvet hangs from parts of the ceiling, record covers line some of the walls. Eleven has a full bar, and 16 taps of quality on what they’re calling their tap tower. They’ll also be doing beer events and pouring cask ale from time to time as well.

Eleven will have live music, but we’re told they won’t have live music every night. We’ve known for a while now that a new bar from Blair and Borlek was coming, but one pleasant surprise was to see Louis Mello behind the bar. Louis will be the general manager of Eleven, and if you don’t know Louis’s name, you might recognize him. He was the owner of the Liar’s Club and knows a thing or two about beer. And speaking of beer, one of the taps you’ll find at Eleven is “Eleven Lager” brewed locally by Gordon Biersch. At $3.25 a pint it might be one of the best deals around, the board lists it as an American Pale Lager, but we’re told it’s actually a Helles lager.

And why the name? Straight from the Hamilton’s newsletter: “Lastly, why Eleven?  Well, it’s “one more” isn’t it? If you don’t get the reference go to Netflix now and rent Spinal Tap. Nuff Said..”

Click below for a few more (dark and blurry pictures) as well as the tap list as of last night (which is sure to change,  but will give you an idea of the types of beer to expect).

Stone 14th Anniversary Beer Festival, August 20th and 21st

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san diego beer festival, stone 14th anniversary, stone 14th anniversary celebration and invitational beer festival, stone beer fest, stone beer festival

If you’re reading this blog, we probably don’t need to tell you about Stone Brewing Co.’s 14th Anniversary Celebration and Invitational Beer Festival. In fact you probably already have your tickets. But just in case here’s a bit of a reminder. The main festival takes place Saturday, Augusts 21st in two parts. Session A runs from 11am-2pm and Session B runs from 3pm-6pm. Tickets are $40 which gets you into one session and includes ten taster tickets for samples from the 42 guest breweries (see below for our thoughts on a few of the breweries, and click on over to Stone’s site to see the full list of breweries on hand and buy tickets).

There were a limited number of all access tickets sold, which included access to both sessions (but only ten taster tickets) as well as access to an exclusive rare beer section, but it looks as if those tickets have sold out.

New this year is a Friday night (August 20th) Brewers Reception. The $65 tickets for this event get you into a special tasting reception with brewers from many of the participating breweries on hand.

Tickets for both Saturday sessions will almost certainly sell out, so if you’re interested pick them up in advance. Now a few quick notes on some of the breweries that will be on hand:

Many of the breweries listed you’re probably familiar with, about a quarter of them are from the San Diego area, and many more have distribution in San Diego. We hope that some of these breweries bring some limited releases and out of the ordinary beers that we don’t see at area bars and on the shelves of liquor stores everyday, but we’re not too worried, these guys hardly ever disappoint.

Looking down the list I did notice two of my favorite Colorado breweries that don’t get distributed in California will be on hand. Ska Brewing Company from Durango, CO (the town where I was living before moving back to San Diego a few months ago) are good friends of mine, and make great beer. I’m not sure what they’ll be pouring, but it will surely be something tasty. Also attending is Denver’s Great Divide Brewing Company. Rumors have been circulating for a while that Great Divide would start distributing in the San Diego area, and a rep from the brewery did tell me it’s likely they’ll be coming to SD, nothing is confirmed yet and no timeline is set. So make sure to stop by and see both of these breweries while you still have some drink tickets left, as they’ll probably be pouring something you haven’t had before, and won’t see for a while to come.

Alesmith Brewing Co. Cask Dinner at The Linkery this Thursday (Aug 12, 2010)

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alesmith x, anvil esb, cask ale, lil' devil, nautical nut brown, real ale, summer yulesmith, wee heavy

There are far too many beer dinners going on around San Diego County to highlight them all, we try to add as many as possible to our Events Calendar, but some slip by. This one however caught my eye.

This Thursday (August 12th) The Linkery and Alesmith Brewing Co. are pairing four Alesmith cask beers with four plates pateured meats. The pairings will be available individually and the beer will be available on it’s own as well. In addition to the casks listed below The Linkery will have Alesmith Lil’ Devil and Alesmith X on draft as well. See below for the menu and pairings. Check The Linkery’s blog for more info.

Alpine Beer Company Pub

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alpine beer co pub, alpine brewing co., ned flanders red, Tuatara

The 'Open' Sign at the Alpine Beer Co. Pub is Finally Lit Up

With the Alpine Beer Company Pub now open, my brother and I decided that Saturday would be the perfect time to stop in for lunch and a beer. Thinking it would be far too easy to just hop in the car and drive out to Alpine, we decided to hop on our bikes and earn those beers. Leaving San Diego around 10am it was overcast and a bit chilly, but as we rode east, the sun came out, the weather got warmer and the road got steeper, we arrived about two hours and 25 miles later in Alpine ready for some food and a beer.

Being vegetarians we’re not the proper people to give a full review of the BBQ themed food, both of us had the Vegetarian Portobello Sandwich which was delicious. Most of the sandwiches were between $5-$6. Appetizers, salads and sides were in the $4-$8 range. While the food was good, that’s not the real reason we were there. On tap were plenty of Alpine Beer Company beers, all for very reasonable prices. Hoppy Birthday, Duet, Nelson, Tuatara, Pure Hoppiness, Willy, Willy Vanilly, Captain Stout, Mandarin Nectar, McIlhenney’s Irish Red, Ned Flanders Red, 2005 Great and 2009 Great Barleywines. Beers were available in 5 oz tasters, 10 oz tulips, 16 oz pints or full pitchers, all for very reasonable prices (pints were $4.50 for beers less than 8% ABV and $5 for beers over 8%)

The restaurant was smaller than I expected, but not too small. All the seats were taken most of the time we were there (lunch time on a Saturday) but no one seemed to be waiting for a seat), if I had to guess I’d say the restaurant seats about 4o people.

The service was great, everyone working was friendly and very receptive to feedback. The pub has much more extensive hours than the tasting room next door (11AM to 10PM Tuesday through Thursday, 11AM to 12AM Friday and Saturday, 10AM to 9PM Sunday, CLOSED Mondays). They don’t do growler fills at the pub, but do sell many Alpine Beers in 22oz bombers for take away. I expect having the restaurant open later will help many people get out to Alpine and get some fresh beer. And the food isn’t bad either.

Click below for a few more pictures.