San Diego Beer Events 10/28-11/04

Tags

2010 Stone Double Bastard release, Alesmith Evil Dead Red, Halloween san diego, Hamilton's 4th Anniversary Fire Roasted Pumpkin Ale, Hamilton's Back in Black, Hamilton's Bourbon Back in Black, hobgoblin beer, honest pint, new brew thursday, new brew thursday 1 year anniversary party, Stone Double Bastard, Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine

Since most beer events happen on the weekends, we thought we would post weekly beer event roundups on Thursdays. But we’re not just focusing on the weekends, listings will highlight beer events throughout the week. Next Friday (11/05) is the start of San Diego Beer Week. Next week we won’t be doing our usual event listings, but look for a special San Diego Beer Week event page early next week. As such we’ve included next Thursday in this week’s listings. Make sure to see the full calendar below or click over to our Events page to see more beer events.

Got an event coming up you would like to see listed? Email us at events@sandiegobeerblog.com

Thursday, Oct 28:

Hobgoblin Pint Night – Ritual Tavern. Hobgoblin from Wychwood Brewery in the UK will be on tap for a special keep the glass night. We’ve heard these are some special glasses, not your ordinary pints.

Friday, Oct 29:

Firkin Friday with Hamilton’s 4th Anniversary Ale – Hamilton’s Tavern. They’ll have Hamilton’s 4th Anniversary Fire Roasted Pumpkin Ale by Green Flash Brewing Co. on both draft and cask as well as Hamilton’s Bourbon Back in Black on cask and a couple others on draft.

Saturday, Oct 30:

Dishonest Pint “night” – Blind Lady Ale House. Blind Lady pride’s themselves on serving an honest half liter in those cool glasses they have. They recently got a shipment in of glasses that are slightly smaller than they should be. Starting when they open at 11:30 you can get a beer in one these slightly smaller than normal glasses (but still larger than what many bars server) and take it home with you.

Sunday, Oct 31:

2007 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine – Stone Brewing Co. Company Store. Head on up to Stone to fill up a growler of the 2007 Old Guardian with almost four years on it I’m sure it’s tasting mighty fine. Afterwards, head on over to Blind Lady Ale House where they’ll have Alesmith Evil Dead Red on cask(et) to celebrate Halloween. They’ll be showing movies starting at 5pm with Nightmare Before Christmas followed by Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2. Wear a costume as they’ll be giving out gift cards for the best dressed.

Monday, Nov 1:

As always Toronado is doing their Local Pint Night – Every Monday night all San Diego County beers are just $3. Or try your luck at your local liquor store to see if you can find the just released today 2010 Stone Double Bastard.

Tuesday, Nov 2:

There’s probably something going on. If you know what it is email us: events@sandiegobeerblog.com Otherwise stay home, rest your liver and get ready for San Diego Beer Week starting Friday, November 5th.

Wednesday Nov 3:

Stone Brewing Co.’s Bistro is doing a 2010 Stone Double Bastard keep the glass night. Stop in for a glass of Double Bastard and take the glass home.

Thursday Nov 4:

We love New Brew Thursday, you love New Brew Thursday, what better way to show them how much you love them than to attend their 1 year anniversary party. They’ll be celebrating with some awesome beers at Churchill’s Pub and Grille the night before San Diego Beer Week officially kicks off. Click here for more details and to purchase tickets.

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Karl Strauss Brewing Company Big Barrel Double IPA

Tags

big barrel double ipa, fruity hops, karl strauss coastal reserve series, karl strauss ipa, nelson sauvin hops

Karl Strauss Brewing Co.’s Big Barrel Double IPA qualifies as a double IPA by the numbers at 9% ABV and 90 IBU. The big hop aroma and taste should satisfy most hopheads, while the fruity Nelson Sauvin hops and big malt backbone make this easily drinkable by those that typically shy away from hoppy beers.

Big Barrel Double IPA has a huge hop aroma, slightly floral and definitely fruity with no hints of pine. Karl Strauss describes it as tropical fruit and I’m reminded of mango’s. It’s fairly citrusy as well but not the typical grapefruit smells, it’s more orange citrus.

The taste is much the same. The initial taste is slightly sweet caramel malts and then the sweet and fruitiness of the hops hit. The finish is fairly dry and more bitter thanks to the use of Warrior and Ahtanum hops. This beer doesn’t taste like it’s 90 IBU at all and also masks it’s alcohol well. The mouthfeel is a bit thick, probably from the extreme amount of malt they must have used to balance out the hops, but it’s certainly drinkable.

This is a great beer, not a hophead’s dream DIPA, but certainly good. I drank this with a few people that in their own words typically hate IPAs and hoppy beers, but loved this. The kegs and bottles currently around town are from the third batch brewed by Karl Strauss, this beer is limited but I’m not sure it’s seasonal as it was brewed last fall, this spring and again now if I recall correctly. It’s available on draft at Karl Strauss and other bars as well as in 22oz bombers. It’s also priced extremely well at about $5/22oz.

Bavarian Beer Flights, Wednesday Oct 27th at El Take it Easy

Tags

Hopf Weisse, mark gerlach, Reutberger Helles, Reutberger Josefi-Bock, Schoenramer Gold, uplifter spirits

El Take it Easy isn’t exactly one of the must-go-to beer venue in San Diego, but they might just be a must-go-to lager venue. This Wednesday, October 27th they’ll be doing a Bavarian Beer flight with Mark Gerlach of Uplifters Spirits.

They’ll have flights of Reutberger Helles, Reutberger Josefi-Bock, Hopf Weisse, and Schoenramer Gold for $10. I can’t comment on any of these beers as I haven’t tasted any of them (yet), but they all get good marks on Beeradvocate and Ratebeer.

Read all the details at The Farm and the City, the blog of The Linkery and El Take it Easy.

Beer Book Review: The Beer Journal by Chris Wright

Tags

beer books, beer logs, beer tasting log, beer tasting notes, chris wright, the beer journal

Last month I (along with at least one other beer blogger, and certainly more) got an email from Skyhorse Publishing offering to send a review copy of The Beer Journal by Chris Wright. A few weeks later the book arrived and I’ve spent some time flipping through it’s pages and thought I would share some thoughts.

It’s a hardcover book of about 260 pages, it’s too big to comfortably fit in a pocket but would easily fit in a bag or purse. The aim of the book is to be a tasting log, it’s solid construction is something that will help it hold up for those that want to keep long lasting notes on the beers they drink.

The first 25% of the book is a listing of beer styles, seemingly taken from the BJCP website. One thing that I found a bit disappointing about the listings is that they styles are listed but commercial examples of each style are not listed. There’s a short section on tips for tasting beer as well as proper glassware and then about 100 pages of beer tasting logs. The listings are comprehensive, but maybe overkill. I often take short notes when tasting beer but I don’t think I would ever bother to list the awards a beer has won or the specific brewer (not the brewery, but the person that brewed it). I also chuckled a bit when I saw the room for the brewer’s autograph. I’m sure there are people out there that would want to get the brewer’s autograph, but I’m certainly not one of them.

In addition to the individual beer log there are short sections along with accompanying note taking space for beer festivals, cellared beer, and beer and food pairings.

This isn’t really a book for me. But that’s not to say that other’s wouldn’t find it useful, I have a friend that has a very similar journal for wine tastings. At $12.95 it’s not a bad price for a solid journal that should last a while and you can keep a record of many beers and beer events all in one place. But myself, I prefer to scribble notes on random pieces of paper and sometimes blog about beers.

Manzanita Brewing Co. Pumpkin Ale

Tags

imperial pumpkin ale, manzanita pumpkin ale, pumpkin ale, pumpkin pie ale, san diego pumpkin beer, santee beer, santee brewery

My quest for pumpkin beers hasn’t been going too well. I tasted Shipyard Brewing Co.’s Smashed Pumpkin two weeks ago with plans to sample many more pumpkin beers this fall. I’ve found that many pumpkin beers are only sold in six packs (or four packs in some cases) and I’m just not a big enough fan to buy that many at a time. But the search goes on and I’m hoping to get a few more in before Thanksgiving.

I recently stopped by Manzanita Brewing Co. in Santee to try their Pumpkin Ale and wasn’t disappointed. Headbrewer and Co-Founder Garry Pittman poured me a sample and I enjoyed it so much a took home a growler full.

Manzanita Brewing Co.’s Pumpkin Ale is more of an Imperial Pumpkin Ale at 9.5% ABV but it’s very easy drinking and hides it’s alcohol well. No fresh pumpkins are used to make the beer, but canned pumpkin pie mix which does include actual pumpkin is added to the boil along with ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon (the pumpkin pie mix used includes all of those spices as well as cloves and allspice).

I picked up cloves and nutmeg while smelling the beer, it has a strong aroma of typical pumpkin pie spices. The taste is very much spices as well. There is a bit of sweetness from the malt and maybe a bit of ginger (I’m not sure if the pumpkin pie mix includes any additional sugar). I couldn’t taste any hops, Manzanita uses a small amount of Fuggles but the hops don’t play a big role in this beer (they don’t calculate the IBU as it’s not really important). There is a slight hint of alcohol, but it doesn’t come across as being as strong as it actually is. In addition to the spices and Fuggles hops, Maris Otter is the base grain and an English ale yeast finishes out the ingredient list.

Pittman tells me that there has been quite a demand for Pumpkin Ale. The first keg tapped in the tasting room was sold out within 7 hours between tasters, pints and growler fills. They have sold out of their first batch at the tasting room in Santee, but they’re fermenting another batch now and are hoping to keep it available until Thanksgiving. Kegs have been gone out to some bars and restaurants but I didn’t get a list of which specific locations have Pumpkin Ale.

2010 Ballast Point Victory at Sea released today!

Tags

2010 victory at sea, ballast point victory at sea, coffee beer, imperial coffee porter, Victory at Sea

Ballast Point Brewing Company will be releasing the 2010 Victory at Sea bottles in less than an hour if all went well with bottling this morning.

Below is the info Ballast Point sent out yesterday.

San Diego Beer Events 10/21-10/27

Tags

10-10-10 vertical epic, craft beer with the expert, Crossbreed Blonde Ale, Double Dry Hopped 14th Anniversary Ale, festivus, firkin friday, Fleabite English Pale Ale, great divide fresh hop pale ale, Imperial Russian Belgo Stout, Imperial Russian Stout 10th Anniversary Special Blend, lee chase park 2 park, oak aged yeti, oktoberhess, pariah ipa, park2park, san diego beer events, san diego oktoberfest, sd park 2 park, Sighthound Stout, Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans, travis smith

Since most beer events happen on the weekends, we thought we would post weekly beer event roundups on Thursdays. But we’re not just focusing on the weekends, listings will highlight beer events throughout the week. Make sure to see the full calendar below or click over to our Events page to see more beer events.

Got an event coming up you would like to see listed? Email us at events@sandiegobeerblog.com

Thursday, Oct 21:

Great Divide Brewing Co. night at Toronado – Five beers from Great Divide including their limited release Fresh Hop Pale Ale and Oak Aged Yeti (not to be confused with Espresso Oak Aged Yeti)

Friday, Oct 22:

Celebration of Change at La Jolla Brew House – La Jolla Brewhouse has hired a new brewmaster, Travis Smith previously with The Bruery and Russian River Brewing Company and is putting a focus back on beer. They’ll be sampling the new house brews, Sighthound Stout, Fleabite English Pale Ale, Crossbreed Blonde Ale and Pariah IPA.

Firkin Friday with Stone Brewing Co. at Hamilton’s Tavern – They’ll have the new 10-10-10 Vertical Epic on cask as well as Double Dry Hopped 14th Anniversary Ale, Imperial Russian Stout 10th Anniversary Special Blend, Imperial Russian Belgo Stout and Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans on draft.

Saturday, Oct 23:

OktoberHess at Hess Brewing Co. – They’ll have German food and plenty of great beer including their German style Alt Bier, Festivus.

Craft Beer with the Expert – Park2Park Shuttle will pick you up at one of their designated stops and take you to Blind Lady Ale House for a guided beer tasting with Blind Lady co-owner and Automatic Brewing Co. brewer Lee Chase. Pizza will be served and then it’s back on the bus to Home Brews and Gardens for a homebrew demonstration.

Sunday, Oct 24:

The O’Brien’s Pub Wet Hop Festival has been going on all weekend and Tom Nickel of O’Brien’s expects most if not all of the kegged beers to still be on tap when they open Sunday morning. Throughout the weekend they’ll have over 15 different wet hopped beers on tap.

Monday, Oct 25:

Toronado Local Pint Night – Every Monday night is local night at Toronado. All San Diego County beers are just $3.

Tuesday, Oct 26 and Wednesday Oct 27

We couldn’t find any notable beer events, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any happening. If you know of anything going on, email us at events@sandiegobeerblog.com

Ballast Point Brewing Co. 14th Anniversary Festival

Tags

7 grain saison, cocao nib black marlin porter, fathom india pale lager, Fathom IPL, habanero sculpin ipa, pariah ipa, san salvador saison, schooner wet hop ale, sculpin ipa, Sour Wench, travis smith, velvet merlin

San Salvador Saison in the Ballast Point 14th Anniversary Taster Glass

The Ballast Point Brewing Company 14th Anniversary party this past Saturday was a big hit. Held at Liberty Station in Point Loma and only $20 for 10 tasters it was quite the deal. Ballast Point had at least 40 beers on tap and there were plenty of guest breweries on hand as well. The festival was pretty full but not overly crowded and the only real complaint I heard all day was the lack of water. There were no water stations as far as I could tell and not even any drinking fountains inside the festival. (Sure, some people were complaining about the lines for the bathrooms, but it’s a beer festival, a bathroom line should be expected).

Below are some notes on the beers we tasted as well as a few pictures from the event.

• Ballast Point San Salvador Saison – Brewed using local ingredients (including pine nuts, agave, elder flower, white sage, manzanita berries, curacao and local sage honey) and described by Ballast Point as tasting like the San Diego countryside, this was the beer I was most looking forward to. It smelled and tasted of sage but wasn’t over powering. It was fairly malty and it was obvious there were more exotic ingredients than just the sage but I couldn’t identify anything else. Not much of this beer was made, but I’m hoping it will show up either at one of the Ballast Point tasting rooms or a bar or restaurant again before it’s gone.
• Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin IPA – Ballast Point’s extremely popular Sculpin IPA with a bit of a habanero kick. This was another one I was looking forward to. I was at the Ballast Point tasting room about five years ago and tried a sample of what they were simply calling “Habanero beer” at the time. I don’t remember all the details, but it certainly wasn’t Sculpin with Habanero. Habanero Sculpin was hoppy, with hardly any habanero flavor coming through over all those hops, but it had a nice spicy aftertaste. Not too much heat came through, just enough to let you know it’s there. I probably wouldn’t take a pint of this over a pint of regular Sculpin, but it’s a nice little variation.
• Ballast Point Sour Wench 2010 – I had never had this before so I decided to go with the 2010 instead of the 2009 which they also had on tap so I could see how it was fresh. It smelled a bit like Parmesan cheese but tasted like blackberries, sweet and tart.
• Ballast Point Cocao Nib Black Marlin Porter – It’s been a while since I’ve had Black Marlin Porter, so I  can’t compare this to the regular version but this one both smelled and tasted strongly of chocolate. The four ounce taster was good, but I’m not sure I could drink a full pint of it.
• The Bruery 7 Grain Saison – A fairly straight forward saison. Good earthy yeast smell and maybe even some cereal malts. A good representation of the style.
  

  La Jolla Brewhouse's new brewer Travis Smith

• Ballast Point Fathom India Pale Lager on cask – Hoppy but not over the top. It’s enjoyable but I wouldn’t see myself drinking this over Sculpin if both were available.
• Ballast Point Schooner Wet Hop Ale – I was a bit disappointed in this one. Maybe it’s because I tried it right after Fathom, but it seemed far less hoppy than I expected and I didn’t get many of the fresh hop flavors that typically stand out in wet hopped beers. I’m hoping to try this one again soon with a clean palate.
• La Jolla Brewhouse Pariah IPA – A good standard IPA. It’s not over the top with the hops, but has plenty of flavor. This is one of the new beers from La Jolla Brewhouse’s new Brew Master Travis Smith. I’m looking forward to try more of this and his other beers soon.
• Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin on cask – This beer is partially aged in bourbon barrels, but I didn’t get much of that in the small taster I had (I’ll be sampling more soon though!). It was rich and creamy, oatmeal and chocolate stood out.

Mike and Ryan from West Coaster were on hand volunteering, click on their names to read each of their takes on the festival, pouring two of the most popular casks there.

Calavera Mexican Imperial Stout

Tags

calavera beer, calavera mexican imperial stout, chili beer, imperial stout with chili, mexican craft beer, mexican imperial stout

Calavera, which means “skull” in Spanish is a small Mexican brewery specializing in types of beer typically not found in Mexico. I picked up a 750ml bottle of Mexican Imperial Stout at The Beer Box in Tijuana. It’s bottle conditioned and weighs in at 9% ABV and used chili peppers for a very Mexican take on the style.

It pours black letting no light through with a solid tan head. The alcohol comes through in the smell as do the hops, I can also smell chili peppers.

This is a beer that needs to be drank fairly warm. The label recommends 10-13 degrees Celsius (approximately 50-55 degree Fahrenheit). Bitterness from the hops and roasted barley dominate the flavor. The alcohol is very apparent. The finish tastes strongly of chili peppers, there isn’t much heat or spiciness, but the flavor of chilies.

This is a beer I would love to age and taste with a few years on it, hoping for the hops to mellow out a bit and let the sweetness of the malts and maybe even more of the chili flavor to stand out. But I’ve been warned that Calavera’s current bottling system is inefficient and the possibility of oxidation is high. This beer isn’t easy to find (it’s not distributed in the US) but if I can ever get my hands on another bottle I will age it for a few years to see how it stands up.

San Diego Beer Events 10/14-10/20

Tags

21st amendment brewing co., back in black ipa, ballast point brewing co. 14th anniversary, beer for boobs, black ipa festival, black ipa san diego, cascadian dark ale, cascadian dark ale san diego, grand teton brewing co., hamilton's tavern 4th anniversary, iron fist brewing co. grand opening, iron fist brewing company, jon maier, keep-a-breast benefit, ritual oktoberfest, rouge brewing co., san diego beer, san diego beer events, thank you mamm belgian white, trout hop ipa, weihenstephan

Since most beer events happen on the weekends, we thought we would post weekly beer event roundups on Thursdays. But we’re not just focusing on the weekends, listings will highlight beer events throughout the week. Make sure to see the full calendar below or click over to our Events page to see more beer events.

Got an event coming up you would like to see listed? Email us at events@sandiegobeerblog.com

Thursday, Oct 14:

Ritual Tavern Oktoberfest with Weihenstephan – Ritual Tavern is celebrating Oktoberfest with Weihenstephan. They’ll have keep the glass specials and plenty of German beer and food.

Friday, Oct 15:

Iron Fist Brewing Company Grand Opening – San Diego Counties newest brewery celebrates their grand opening in Vista. They’ll be serving Golden Age – Belgian Style Golden Strong Ale 9% ABV, Spice of Life – Belgian Style Spiced Ale 6.5% ABV, Renegade Blonde – Klosch Style Ale 5 % ABV, Dubbel Fisted – Belgian Style Dubbel (with a CA Twist) 8% ABV and Hired Hand – Belgian Style Saison 6.5% ABV

KNB Wine Cellars Black IPA Fest – Black IPAs seem to be all the rage these days. KNB will have at least 12 on tap. We’re looking forward to trying 21st Amendment Brewing Co.’s Back in Black and Grand Teton Brewing Co’s Trout Hop among others.

Saturday, Oct 16:

Ballast Point 14th Anniversary Festival – 45 Ballast Point beers on tap. 18 guest breweries and only $20 for 10 tasters. From 1-5pm at Liberty Station.

Hamilton’s Tavern 4th Anniversary Festival – It’s hard to believe Hamilton’s Tavern is only 4 years old but it’s true. They’re doing a second saturday like celebration with Rogue Brewing Co. Brewmaster Jon Maier will be on hand with plenty of great Rogue beers and some excellent sounding food.

Sunday, Oct 17:

Blind Lady Ale House Keep-a-Breast Benefit – The first of two breast cancer benefits. Blind Lady will have Automatic Brewing Co.’s latest beer, Thank You Mamm Belgian White (which is actually pink in color) on tap. Artist Pamela Jaeger will be painting a breast cast during the event.

Monday, Oct 18:

Toronado Local Pint Night – Every Monday night is local night at Toronado. All San Diego County beers are just $3.

Tuesday, Oct 19:

Beer for Boobs Fundraiser at Pizza Port Ocean Beach, Solana Beach and Carlsbad – Buy a Beer for Boobs pint glass for $10 and get two house beers.

Wednesday, Oct 20:

SD DrinkAbout – Get on the bus! A free shuttle runs between Hamilton’s, Station, Sea Rocket, Ritual Tavern, Blind Lady Ale House, Small Bar, Livewire and Toronado from 7-11pm.