San Diego Beer Events June 2nd– June 8th

Tags

Barrel Aged Tail Waggin Double White Ale, Brewsday Tuesday, dark and stormy, grand teton brewing, hamilton's mystery bus, karl strauss 22nd anniversary vanilla imperial stout, lost abbey ad-lib, sweet grass apa, twenty/20 grill, Who's Brett Dark Sour

If you know of anything that isn’t on the events calendar, please email events@sandiegobeerblog.com to get it added.  Not all of the beer events happening in a given week make it on the list below, I pick one or two per day to avoid information overload. Make sure to check out the Events page or the calendar below this post for all the week’s events. As always, events are subject to change, check with the venue putting on the event before hand for more details.

Thursday June 2nd:

Today kick’s off Poway’s Phileas Foggs‘s Fogg-a-Palooza, a four day celebration of San Diego craft beer. The beer lineup they’ll have on throughout the weekend looks great (a few examples: Lost Abbey Ad-Lib and Karl Strauss 22nd Anniversary Vanilla Imperial Stout). In addition to all the great beer a few brewers will be stopping by throughout the weekend. Tonight it’s Ballast Point Brewing Co. Lead Brewer James Murray. Check Phileas Foggs website for the full lineup.

Friday June 3rd:

Hamilton’s Tavern will be hosting Grand Teton Brewing Co. for Firkin Friday this week. They’ll have Sweet Grass APA in the firkin with plenty of other treats on tap. There should be something for everyone but a few that standout to me: Barrel Aged Tail Waggin Double White Ale and Who’s Brett Dark Sour, I haven’t had either of those but I’m definitely intrigued.

Saturday June 4th:

I have no idea where the Hamilton’s Tavern Mystery Bus will be going, but I’m sure there will be beer. There are two trips, at two hours each, both leaving from Hamilton’s Tavern. Sign ups are at the bar on a first come basis the day of. The first bus leaves at 1:30pm and the second at 4pm.

Sunday June 5th:

Stone is hosting Chef Celebration, a nine course beer and food pairing festival. Nine local chefs will serve food paired with 18 local beers (paired by Dr Bill) out in the Stone Brewing Co. World Bistro and Gardens. Proceeds help fund a scholarships to send local students to the Culinary Institute of America. Check out the full menu here and buy tickets here.

Monday June 6th:

As always Monday night means $3 local pint night at Toronado.

Tuesday June 7th:

Up in Carlsbad the Twenty/20 Grill at the Sheraton is doing a weekly series called Brewsday Tuesday. This week they’ll have Oceanside Ale Works on hand. No word on what they’ll have on tap but they’ll have some featured beer on happy hour special all night.

Wednesday June 8th:

Head on out to Main Tap Tavern in El Cajon where they’ll have Airdale Dark & Stormy on cask. They’ll also have some ice cream on hand if that’s your thing.

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San Diego Beer Events April 7th – April 13th

Tags

2008 Stone Imperial Russian Stout, beer u: stouts, big sky brewing, citybeat festival of beers, hamilton's second saturday, progressive cask, rustic saison, sam adams perfect pint glass, samuel adams perfect pint, second saturday, sierra nevada second saturday, sierra nevada stout, sierra nevada torpedo ipa, silva stout, stone sunday funday, trumer pils, union jack ipa

If you know of anything that isn’t on the events calendar, please email events@sandiegobeerblog.com to get it added.

Thursday April 7th:

Pizza Port Ocean Beach will have some beers from Samuel Adams on tap, including Rustic Saison (which I haven’t tried yet, but hope it will be the subject of a Farmhouse Friday post in the near future). In addition to the beers from Sam Adams they’ll also have some Sam Adams Perfect Pint glasses available for purchase. There’s plenty of notes on what this glass does to accentuate the beer over on Sam Adams website. And they’re also pretty cool looking.

Friday April 8th:

Last week Blind Lady Ale House started opening up for lunch on Friday’s. And with their extended Friday hours came a “progressive cask” in which from the time they open at 11:30am until 2pm pints are only $2. Each hour after 2pm the price goes up a buck. So $2 until 2pm, $3 until 3pm, $4 until 4pm… you get the point. This week they’ll have a cask of Firestone Walker’s Union Jack IPA. They don’t expect it to last long, last week’s was gone before 2pm.

Saturday April 9th:

The CityBeat Festival of Beers is officially sold out, so if you don’t have a ticket already you’re not getting in. Lucky for you it just so happens to be Second Saturday at Hamilton’s Tavern. This month they’re hosting Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. They’ll have Sierra Nevada Stout and Torpedo IPA on cask as well as thirty other Sierra Nevada beers on draft. As always there will be complimentary food as well.

If you are headed to the CityBeat Festival of Beers (or just in the area) and want to drink beer before or after (or if the crowds become too much and you need to escape and grab a full pint of beer) Live Wire has you covered. Trumer Pils is hosting the after party, it might not be the beer geekiest of beers, but after four hours of unlimited beer drinking it might be just what you need to round out the evening. But if that’s just not your thing they’ll have happy hour pricing all day on all of their other taps.

Sunday April 10th:

Sunday’s tend to be one of the slower days for special craft beer events, luckily Stone Brewing Co. has been pulling out some great beers lately for their Sunday Funday growler fills. This week it’s 2008 Stone Imperial Russian Stout. Stone IRS is one of my favorite beers, especially aged a couple years.

Monday April 11th:

In addition to pint night at both Toronado and Eleven with $3 drafts in which Eleven offers all of their on-tap beers for $3 from open to close while Toronado offers locals for $3 from 6pm to close, Stone is also hosting the latest installment in their Beer U series. This month it’s Beer U: Stouts. $25 gets you a lesson in all things stout as well as tasters of eight different stouts, including the aforementioned 2008 Stone Imperial Russian Stout as well as one of my favorite beers to be released last year, Green Flash’s Silva Stout

Tuesday April 12th:

If you know of anything that isn’t on the events calendar, please email events@sandiegobeerblog.com to get it added.

Wednesday April 13th:

Small Bar will have a handful or beers from Montana’s Big Sky Brewing on tap. $5 gets you a glass to take home with your first beer in it, with subsequent refills only $3.50.

If you’re out in east county, El Cajon’s Main Tap Tavern will have Iron Fist’s Velvet Glove on cask with some glasses to take home. I’ve had Velvet Fist on draft and it’s delicious, I imagine it will be equally as good if not better on cask.

San Diego Beer Events March 17th – March 23rd

Tags

2007 Stone Imperial Russian Stout, blackball belgian ipa, coffee rain, firestone walker 14th Anniversary ale, Fortuna Hiberniae, Framboise de Amorosa, la bella pizza, Matt Bryndilson san diego, McIlhenney's Irish Red, saint patricks day san diego, san diego citybeat beer club, shipyard stout, st patrick's day san diego, stone brewing co. sunday funday, union jack ipa, velvet merlin

If you know of anything that isn’t on the events calendar, please email events@sandiegobeerblog.com to get it added.

Thursday Mar 17th:

Plenty going on for St. Patrick’s Day. Blind Lady Ale House will be open for lunch and will have a ton of porters and stouts including six on nitrogen offered as a flight including Automatic Brewing Co.’s latest beer, Coffee Rain. Both Main Tap Tavern in El Cajon and O’Brien’s Pub will have casks of Alpine Beer Co.’s McIlhenney’s Irish Red. Pacific Beach Alehouse will have a cask of their Shipyard Stout. Small Bar, Hamilton’s Tavern and Toronado will all have Guinness keep the glass specials in addition to some nice sounding food specials.

Friday Mar 18th:

Matt Bryndilson, Brewmaster at  Firestone Walker will be at Hamilton’s Tavern from 5pm-6:30pm and then at Small Bar until 8pm. Hamilton’s will have Union Jack IPA on cask with a few other Firestone Walker beers on draft including their 14th Anniversary Ale and Velvet Merlin. Small Bar won’t have a cask but they’ll be doing some keep the glass specials.

Saturday Mar 19th:

Framboise de Amorosa is being released at Lost Abbey. 375ml bottles are $15 a piece with a limit of six per person. I’ve heard good things about this one, but never tried it myself. It’s not expected to make it into regular distribution so the brewery will be the only place to purchase it.

Hess Brewing Company is celebrating St Patrick’s day a bit late. They’ll have Fortuna Hiberniae, their all organic coffee stout on draft and nitrogen as well as all their other beers. They’ll have food from BBQ Republic and music from Family Wagon.

Sunday Mar 20th:

Another great Sunday Funday release at Stone Brewing Co. They’ll be filling growlers with 2007 Stone Imperial Russian Stout. Stone IRS ages well, this one should be delicious.

Monday Mar 21st:

In addition to the regular $3 beer nights at Toronado (locals only) and Eleven (all drafts) Stone is holding another beer class, Beer U: Craft Beer Around the World. Tickets are $25 and often sell out, so purchase in advance if you’re thinking about going.

Tuesday Mar 22nd:

Whether you’re a dedicated homebrewer or want to start, the monthly QUAFF meeting at Randy Jones BBQ in Mission Valley’s Hazard Center is the place to be Tuesday night.

Wednesday Mar 23rd:

San Diego Citybeat’s monthly Beer Club will be at La Bella Pizza in Chula Vista. They’ll have 8oz cask pours of Karl Strauss’s Blackball Belgian IPA for only $1 in addition to plenty of other great beers. You’ll need to be on their list to get the discounted prices, sign up here.

San Diego Beer Events, February 18th – February 23

Tags

2007 Decadence, 2007 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine., 2008 Imperial Russian Stout, 2011 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine, AleSmith My Bloody Valentine, Barrel Aged Wee Heavy, beer u: abbey ales, green flash double stout, My Bloody Valentine, speedway stout, Stone Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine, Vanilla Bean Smoked Porter, Will Powered IPA

If you know of anything that isn’t on the events calendar, please email events@sandiegobeerblog.com to get it added.

I got caught up with some other things this week and am putting this post up a day later than usual. Luckily, as far as I can tell, it doesn’t look like a whole lot was going on yesterday.

Friday Feb 18th:

This week’s cask at Hamilton’s Firkin Friday is AleSmith’s My Bloody Valentine. I haven’t had it yet this year but I hear it’s good.

Both Friday and Saturday Stone Brewing Co. is doing growler fills of the recently released 2011 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine and Stone Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine.

Saturday Feb 19th:

Blind Lady Ale House will be tapping the last kegs of their latest beer, Will Powered IPA. This was the beer brewed for the Will Farrel related charity event they had a few weeks ago where they raised a ton of money for Cancer for College.

The Saturday Night Special growler fill at Stone is 2008 Imperial Russian Stout. IRS is one of my favorite beers, and IRS with a few years on it is even better in my opinion. As with all the Saturday Night Specials,  they’re only filling growlers from 8-10pm.

Sunday Feb 20th:

One more Stone growler fill. They’ll be filling a limited amount of growlers with 2007 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine. Another one that’s great with some age on it.

At O’Brien’s Pub they’re doing a tasting with AleSmith. Owner/Brewer Peter Zien will be on hand to lead the tasting of about 10 beers. Barrel Aged Wee Heavy, 2007 Decadence and some vintage of Speedway Stout should make appearances as well as many other AleSmith beers. Some of Zien’s cheeses will also be available for tasting. Cost is $40, check with O’Brien’s for tickets. You’ll want to get them ahead of time.

Monday Feb 21st:

In addition to the $3 pint nights at Toronado and Eleven, this Monday is another Beer U at Stone Brewing Co. This month is Beer U: Abbey Ales and they have quite the tasting list. Be sure to buy tickets in advance as they often sell out.

Tuesday Feb 22nd:

The monthly QUAFF homebrew club meeting happens on the fourth Tuesday of every month. Even if you’re not a homebrewer (yet) check it out, you’ll certainly learn something new.

Wednesday Feb 23rd:

There’s a lot going on Wednesday night and surely more than I’m listing here. Main Tap Tavern is featuring a cask of Green Flash Brewing Co.’s Double Stout. URGE Gastropub will have a handful of Stone Brewing Co. beers on (many “Double Dry Hopped) as well as the delicious Vanilla Bean Smoked Porter. The Pizza Port Carlsbad Bottle Shop will be hosting a “Sweet Beer” tasting. And as with every Wednesday, KNB Wine Cellars has $3 pints.

San Diego Craft Beer News from the Last Few Weeks

Posts were slow here over the past few weeks, it’s not that nothing happened in the world of craft beer, I just got busy with Christmas, New Year’s and everything else that comes along around this time of year. Below are a few tidbits and little beer related news items that did happen recently.

• Travis Smith became the brewmaster at the La Jolla Brew House just this past fall but as of last Friday he has left. Smith, formerly of The Bruery and Russian River Brewing Co. has plans to open a new production brewery and tasting room in San Diego. Societe Brewing Company is currently in the planning stages and hopes to be brewing by 2012. Smith is partnering with an experienced brewer who at this time is anonymous. A few of Smith’s beers and various guest beers are still on tap at the La Jolla Brew House while they look for a new brewer. I’ll post an update with any new news on La Jolla Brew House or Societe Brewing Company as I get more info.

• Good news for those of you in East County, Main Tap Tavern in El Cajon recently reopened their doors. Main Tap Tavern is one of the better craft beer bars in East County and they rather abruptly shut down a few months ago. Hopefully they have solved whatever problems caused them to close in September and can continue serving up craft beer.

• Most people didn’t know about a strange side effect in the California law preventing breweries from providing marketing help to retailers. Often referred to as “tied-house” laws, this is the reason that many breweries were unable to promote events at bars and restaurants when their beers were on tap. If you ever saw a post by a brewery on Facebook or Twitter with obscure information about a location you could find their beer, this law is what was to blame. I don’t have all the info on the changes to the law, but according to The Bruery’s Facebook Page, this law has been changed and they can now advertise various events going on outside of their own brewery tasting rooms and restaurants. Expect to see more info about special beer releases and beer dinners put out by the breweries. If I can find out more specifics on the law, and more details about what breweries can and cannot do I’ll post an update.