Pliny the Younger in San Diego, 2012

Tags

pliny the younger, pliny the younger san diego, pliny the younger san diego 2012, where to find pliny the younger in san diego

This post last year about where and when to find Pliny the Younger in San Diego got a ton of traffic and a whole bunch of folks told me it was very helpful. Since I’ve already been asked multiple times if I’ll be keeping a list this year I figured I should start. See last year’s post (linked above) for more info on Pliny the Younger and some notes about how quickly it tapped out at various bars in San Diego last year.

Pliny the Younger hits taps at Russian River’s Brewpub in Santa Rosa today according to their website. At the brewpub they have a dedicated number of kegs each day to make sure it lasts until at least mid February (meaning if they’ve sold enough one day it might be gone at 9pm, but they’ll have more on tap the next day when they open). Down here in San Diego we’re not so lucky. Most bars get a limited amount and it goes rather quickly, so if you want to get a taste don’t straggle, and be prepared for long lines, crowded bars (and sometime higher than usual prices for smaller than usual pours). But I think most people would agree, it’s worth the hassle.

It should be noted that we probably won’t see Pliny the Younger down here in San Diego for a week or two, I’d guess it will start showing up around town sometime between Feb 8th and 15th.

Below is a list of bars that I expect will be getting Pliny the Younger or have confirmed to me that they will be getting it. Any of the information could change, I suggest you check with individual bar’s if you want to be 100% sure, but I’ll do my best to keep this list updated.

Upcoming 2012 Pliny the Younger:

Blind Lady Ale House – Fundraiser, Monday 2/20/12 from 6-8pm. Tickets must be purchased in advance and will go on sale at 6pm today (2/13/2012). $16 for .25 liter of Younger, .25 liter of Elder and a raffle ticket. Read more about the fundraiser, all the details and buy tickets here. Tickets sold out in approximately ten minutes.

Churchill’s Pub – March 3rd for Churchill’s Renaissance via Beer Advocate

Downtown Johnny Brown’s – Friday, February 17th for a Russian River Night

Encinitas Ale House – They say they’re getting a full keg, no word on date it will be tapped.

El Take it Easy –  From their newsletter: “The Chef’s dinner at El Take It Easy featuring Pliny The Younger and other rare/allocated drinks, will be on Monday, February 27th.”

O’Brien’s Pub – via their newsletter. They’ll tap a keg on Saturday 2/11/2012 at 5pm. According to a comment below the keg ran dry after about 22 minutes.They’ll be tapping another keg for a charity event (proceeds going to local animal shelters and programs). There will be a sign up list at the bar, which your will be required to get a pour. Details will follow in their email newsletter next week (week of 2/12/12). They’ll tap another keg on Friday 2/24/12 at 11am.

Pizza Port Carlsbad – Saturday Feb 11th at Noon for the Brewbies Festival. As of this writing there are 40 $25 General Admission tickets left. Proceeds benefit Keep a Breast. Unconfirmed but according to this Untappd Checkin Pliny the Younger is on tap as of 4pm 2/17

Tap Room – Tuesday 2/21 at 5pm. And again Saturday 3/3 at 1pm for their 5th Anniversary Party.

Tiger!Tiger! – Saturday 2/25 12-2pm and Sunday 2/26 11:30-12:30pm. After selling over 100 ticket’s to the Pliny the Fundraiser night at Blind Lady Ale House in only 10 minutes, the folks at BLAH/Tiger!Tiger! were able to score a bit more PtY to make more money for a good cause. Tickets are limited to 75 people per day and go on sale Monday 2/20 at 7:00pm for Saturday and 7:30pm for Sunday. Same deal as before, $16 gets you a .25 liter of Pliny the Younger, a .25 liter of Pliny the Elder and a raffle ticket. (Dates above link to the online sales). Don’t straggle, they’re sure to sell out fast.

URGE Gastropub – Probably early March for a Triple IPA night, see comment below from Grant at URGE.

Suspected based on Previous Years (but not confirmed):

Pizza Port Ocean Beach

Past 2012 Pliny the Younger:

Breakwater Brewing Company – 2/10/2012 via Facebook and it’s gone.

Eleven – Tonight (2/13/2012) at 8pm. Pre-sale at 7:30pm. Reportedly sold out during pre-sale time, before 8pm tapping.

Hamilton’s Tavern – Tapping PtY at 3pm on Wednesday, February 8th.

Live Wire – On tap as of 9pm 2/8/12 – via Twitter One person on Twitter says it ran out the same night.

Neighborhood – Sometime mid February via their Twitter (warning bit of profanity at the link). A reader emailed to tell me that they got 2 kegs, at least one of which will go on at 4pm today (2/13/2012). This has not been confirmed by Neighborhood. (Also, see this tweet from Neighborhood)

Newport Pizza and Alehouse – Wednesday 2/15/2012 at 4pm. A reader wrote in to say that it was gone an hour and six minutes after they first started serving it.

Pizza Port Solana Beach – Someone emailed to tell me that they put PtY on last night and as of this writing (2/10/12 at 4:45pm) I see it listed on the tap cam. Gone from the tap cam.

San Diego Brewing Company – Tuesday, February 14th at 4pm

Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – 2/9/12 “At the Inside Bar Only!” Reports are that it ran out sometime around 6pm. A few people have told me that they’ve been told by bartender’s at Stone that they would have some Younger on tap Tuesday night, February 14th (not confirmed with Stone)

Toronado – 10am February 8th (they’ll be putting it on as soon as it shows up) and will tap a second keg when the first one blows per their newsletter. Toronado tapped two kegs, the first at 10am and the second when the first blew. The second ran dry around 12:45pm.They may also be tapping a keg when they open on Sunday at 11:30am. 10oz for $8 on Wednesday, “slightly more expensive” other times they tap it. 6pm tonight (2/14/12) for their last keg of Younger.

If you know of a bar or restaurant in San Diego that will be getting Pliny the Younger, or what day/time they’ll be tapping it, send me an email to get the list updated.

If you’re looking for Pliny the Younger in Orange County check out Craft Beer Culture’s list here.

Updated 2/17/12 at 4:04am

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New York Times San Diego for Beer

If you’re reading this blog it’s not news to you that San Diego is known for beer, but it’s nice to get some national recognition.

In the recent The 45 Places to Go in 2012 list in the New York Times Travel section San Diego gets a mention at spot number fourteen, but not for our near perfect weather, sunny beaches or delicious Mexican food. Instead they point out what makes San Diego really great: our brewers and beer culture.

Even in times of tight budgets, finely crafted beer remains a relatively approachable luxury, and few American regions have more brewing momentum than San Diego County. Maybe it’s time, then, to think about building a beer safari in the land of sunshine, fish tacos and hopped-up American IPAs.

On the brewery side Karl Strauss, Stone Brewing Co. and Hess Brewing get shoutouts. On the retail/bar side our friends at Bottlecraft along with the Pizza Port Bottleshop get mentiioned with Hamilton’s Tavern, O’Brien’s Pub and Local Habit.

And no talk of San Diego beer would be complete without mentioning San Diego Beer Week.

It’s worth noting that San Diego is one of only four US cities to make the worldly list. I don’t know how many people follow the recommendations of the NY Times Travel section when planning their vacations, but I’d be willing to be beer tourism is still on the upswing in this fine town of ours.

San Diego Brewed: Alpine Beer Co. Ugly

Tags

alpine beer co. ugly, American-Style Black Ale, Black IPA, Duet, Escondidian Imperial Black IPA, ugly

San Diego Brewed is sponsored by Bottlecraft.

Bottlecraft is a retail shop and tasting room in Little Italy showcasing local, domestic and international craft beers. They offer hundreds of beers for your enjoyment in their onsite tasting room or to-go, as well as daily beer flights, events, glassware, merchandise, and gifts. Open Noon-10pm seven days a week. 2161 India Street, San Diego, CA 92101.

This past Labor Day weekend I took a trip up to Alpine, CA and brought back with me (among other things) a growler of Ugly, Alpine Beer Company’s Black IPA American-Style Black Ale. The name of the style has caused plenty of controversy among craft beer drinkers. Some find ‘Black IPA’ to be the best descriptor, it’s an IPA that’s dark in color. Others see an inherant contraction in that name Black India Pale Ale just doesn’t work for some people. Some in the Pacific Northwest want the style called Cascadian Dark Ale, which Stone Brewing Co. poked fun at with their recent Escondidian Imperial Black IPA. But earlier this year the Brewer’s Association stepped in and officially named the style ‘American-Style Black Ale‘ (whether this put the name controversy to rest is a different matter).

In general I’m not a huge fan of this style. I don’t dislike it but if I’m going to drink an IPA I generally go for the good old fashioned pale colored kind. But when I was up at Alpine this past weekend I decided to fill up with Ugly ($12.99 plus $10 for a grolwer if you don’t already have one).

Ugly is black with a bit of mocha head. From looks alone this could be a porter or stout, but upon first sniff it’s obvious that it’s not. Pine and grapefruit like hops take front and center with just a little bit of roasty chocolate like smells coming through. The taste is very much the same, just a hint of roast in the form of chocolate and coffee, but the grapefruit and pine flavors from the hops dominate and leave a long bitter finish after each sip. As the beer warms and sits in the glass a bit more of the roasty malts come through, but don’t be fooled, this is first and foremost an IPA.

Ugly is only available on draft, which means if you want to enjoy it at home you’ll have to make the trek out to Alpine (which isn’t too bad of a drive, about half an hour from North Park without traffic- avoid the 4-6pm rush hour on weekdays). Toronado and O’Brien’s Pub often have some Alpine beers on draft. And even though you can’t get Ugly in a bottle, some of their other beers often show up at area shops and usually sell out pretty quickly. This past weekend when I stopped into Bottlecraft they had a few bottles of Duet in the cooler.

Viktor at Sentence Beer (one of my favorite beer blogs) published an interview with Alpine’s Pat McIlhenney just last week. Again they don’t discuss Ugly directly but there’s plenty there about their other beers and the brewery itself.

Photo: Chris Hammett

San Diego Beer Events July 15th – July 20th

Tags

2011 Bourbon Barrel-aged Santa’s Little Helper, 7th annual tj beer fest, christmas in july, Dupont Avec les bon Voeux, green flash treasure chest, tijuana beer festival 2011

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.

Lots of beer related stuff going on this weekend and into next week.

O’Briens Pub will hold the first of two “Christmas in July” parties happening this weekend on Friday. They’ll have plenty of Christmas/winter beer on tap and in bottles including one of my favorites, Dupont Avec les bon Voeux. The next day The Lost Abbey/Port Brewing celebrates the release of 2011 Bourbon Barrel-aged Santa’s Little Helper with their own party. They ask that you bring a $15 new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots as the price of admission. Make an additional $15 cash donation and you get to pick a gift from under their Christmas tree which will include rare bottles, Port Brewing & Lost Abbey gear and tickets to their Barrel Night during San Diego Beer Week. Food, entertainment and photos with Santa will all be provided.

Looking to try some beers you’ve never had before? Grab your passport and head to the 7th Annual Tijuana Beer Fest happening Friday and Saturday from Noon-2am on Revoluccion in downtown Tijuana. It’s an easy walk from the border (take the trolley or park near the border). I’m unsure about how much tickets are, but last year they were pretty cheap. Read more about last year’s festival here.

Manzanita Brewing Company out in Santee is celebrating their one year anniversary with a party. They’ll have three food trucks on hand and of course plenty of beer. The $5 admission goes to Beer for Boobs a breast cancer charity. That $5 admission also gets you a Manzanita glass and five 4oz tasters.

Tuesday is Chicks for Beer at The High Dive with Green Flash Brewing Co. and their Belgian Pale Ale Treasure Chest among others. As the name implies Chicks for Beer is ladies only.

Wednesday brings with it the monthly DrinkAbout, free shuttles provided by Brewery Tours of San Diego that stop at some of the best beer bars in Normal Heights, University Heights, South Park and North Park.

News and Photos from the National Homebrewers Conference

Tags

cheesesmith, Doug Constantiner, greg koch, julian brewpub, mitch steele, national homebrewers conference 2011 photos, nhc 2011 photos, peter zien, stone Cherry Chocolate Stout, Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA, tom nickel, travis smith, vince marsaglia

Photos by Chris Hammett
Last weekend’s National Homebrewers Conference brought nearly 2000 homebrewers, professional brewers and other beer lovers to San Diego. The conference included a Pro Brewer’s Night where around forty professional breweries were pouring their beers, Club Night where homebrew clubs from all around the country brought some of their best brews as well as plenty of seminars and panels with subjects ranging from homebrew techniques to topics on going pro and everything in between.

During those seminars a few bits of San Diego beer related news and info were announced.

Peter Zien of AleSmith spoke about cheese making and other food related hobbies. Zien is in the process of opening an artisianal cheese making company to be called CheeseSmith.

A bit more beer related news from Zien was that AleSmith is working on getting label approval for bottles of single origin coffee versions of Speedway Stout. Zien didn’t mention what single origin coffee’s they had in mind, or if this would include bottling the much loved, and previously very-limited draft only Kopi Luwak Speedway Stout, but one can hope.

Doug Constantiner, who is working with Travis Smith (both of whom formerly brewed at The Bruery) to start Societe Brewing Company here in San Diego revealed to NBC San Diego that Societe would be located in Kearney Mesa. No word on the exact location but it will be a nice stop between downtown and some of the breweries farther north. They hope to be open in early to mid 2012.

Tom Nickel of O’Brien’s Pub announced that he is working with Vince Marsaglia of Pizza Port to open a brewpub with BBQ food in Julian, CA. According to Taphunter the land in Julian has already been acquired and General’s American Pub, which Nickel was hoping to open in Scripps Ranch is no longer going to happen.

During his talk on collaborations, Greg Koch of Stone Brewing Co. mentioned a few things about their two upcoming collaborations that are in the fermenters now. He said that they’re currently working on getting fermentation restarted on Stone Cherry Chocolate Stout, this year’s AHA Rally Winner brewed at Stone by Mitch Steele, John Togner of Tröegs Brewing Co. and winning homebrewers Jason Fields and Kevin Sheppard. The yeast apparently didn’t like the addition of the cherries. No release date has been planned but Koch said it will be out “at somepoint in the not too distance future”.

He also mentioned that Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA, a collaboration between Stone’s Mitch Steele, Bryan Baird of founder of Numazu, Japan’s Baird Brewing and Toshi Ishii—former Stone brewer and now founder of Guam’s Ishii Brewing Company should be out in early-mid July.

San Diego Beer Events June 9th– June 15th

Tags

2008 Barrel-Aged Speedway Stout, 2009 Barrel-Aged Decadence, black ops, blind lady ale house mini sour fest, blue bridge coffee stout, Consecration, coronado black ops, frogs breath ipa, miho gastrotruck, miho gastrotruck anniversary, miho gastrotruck pint giveaway, national homebrewers conference, national homebrewers conference san diego, nhc events, Red Poppy, san diego beer hall, summer yulesmith, Tanzanian Devil, Treasure Chest

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 9th:

Stop by AleSmith for a special preview cask of Summer YuleSmith, it’s only a ‘pin’ (smaller than a firkin) so stop by early if you’re interested in trying it. AleSmith is open today from 2-7pm.

Friday June 10th:

This Friday kicks off the San Diego Beer Week Preview Weekend with the Beer Hall at The Lodge at Torrey Pines. It’s $65 per person for beer and food pairings from some of San Diego’s best breweries and restaurants in an amazing venue.

Friday is also the release of Treasure Chest, a Belgian Pale Ale from Green Flash with proceeds benefiting Chicks for Beer. It’s only available in 12oz bottles and only sold by the case at the Green Flash tasting room

Saturday June 11th:

Second Saturday at Hamilton’s Tavern hosts Coronado Brewing Company this month. They’ll have plenty of great beers including the newish Black Ops (Black IPA) and Frogs Breath IPA, as well as the Blue Bridge Coffee Stout which I’ve heard good things about. The food theme this month is Baja Fish Fest.

Sunday June 12th:

The Sierra Nevada beer dinner at O’Brien’s Pub is almost sold out, so hurry if you’re still looking for tickets.

Homebrew Mart/Ballast Point will be teaching a homebrew class at their Linda Vista location. If you’ve never homebrewed before (or even if you have) learning to brew with some of the pros will be sure to teach you some tips on making great beer.

Monday June 13th:

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

MIHO Gastrotruck will be celebrating their 1 year anniversary at Blind Lady Ale House from 6-8pm with a pint glass giveaway for the first 50 customers.

Tuesday June 14th:

Automatic Brewing Co. kicks off their CASKoDAY at Blind Lady Ale House with a new cask of Tanzanian Devil, a 3.6% ABV coffee mild. They’ll be tapping a new cask every day until Saturday.

Wednesday June 15th:

With the National Homebrewers Conference in town this upcoming weekend there’s sure to be plenty of events going on. Wednesday seems to be the kick off with all sorts of options.

AleSmith will be releasing bottles of their 2008 Barrel-Aged Speedway Stout and 2009 Barrel-Aged Decadence at noon. Tickets which will allow bottle purchases must be picked up at 8:30am.

Blind Lady Ale House is doing a Mini Sour Fest with plenty of great stuff on draft including Lost Abbey Red Poppy and Russian River Consecration and more. They’ll open for lunch at 11:30am.

It’s also the monthly DrinkAbout with plenty going on at all the various area bars, be sure to check the calendar below for all the details.

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.

A Great Weekend of Beer

Tags

black market brewing company, black market rye ipa, deschutes, deschutes the abyss 2009, infected abyss, jolly pumpkin, Madrugada Obscura, nickel bag ipa, Red Poppy, san salvador saison, stone belgo old guardian barleywine, victory, victory golden monkey, Vrienden

San Salvador Saison

I usually make it a point to have a couple good beers every weekend, but for some reason this weekend seemed to  be all about beer. Maybe it was the rain on Saturday, what else is there to do when it rains? Regardless of the reason, I drank some great beer this weekend.

Friday night I had dinner at KNB Wine Cellars and somehow managed to only have one beer. Their tap list is so good it was hard to decide on what to drink but I had Vrienden, the slightly sour and a little sweet (thanks to hibiscus flowers) New Belgium/Allagash collaboration. This wasn’t the first time I had Vrienden and I’m still undecided on it. The first time I had it out of a bottle I thought it was good but not great. I had it on draft about a month ago and really enjoyed it. This time it seemed sweeter than I remember, the fruity hibiscus flowers were very apparent. A good beer but I didn’t like it as much as I remembered.

Saturday I started the day off watching the SDSU/BYU game and opened my last bottle of Deschutes 2009 The Abyss. It’s been reported that many of The Abyss bottles from 2009 were infected and had off smells and flavors which was the case with this bottle. (The last bottle I opened before this one was last summer and the off smell/flavor wasn’t nearly as prominent.) There was a strong Brett smell and some off flavors, it wasn’t terrible but didn’t taste right. I’ve heard some people say they really like these infected bottles, and others say they can’t stomach it at all and have to pour it out. I was able to drink about half the bottle but am glad I don’t have any more of these bottles sitting around.

A bit later in the day I went to The Linkery for their 6th anniversary where they had some nice beers on tap. I started off with Ballast Point’s San Salvador Saison, which now is about five or six months old. I had a small taster of San Salvador at the Ballast Point 14th Anniversary Festival when it was fresh and it was one of my favorite beers of the day. If memory serves me it has changed a bit, but it still a great beer. It has a much stronger yeast characteristic that gives it a bit of a sweet flavor up front. There is still plenty of spice in there but the yeast is what stands out. I also had Black Market’s Rye IPA on cask dry hopped with Cascade and Amarillo hops. This was only my second time having this GABF gold medal winning beer, plenty of citrus hops and a nice mouthfeel from the cask.

Later that night I ended up at Counterpoint where they had a keg of Lost Abbey’s Red Poppy on. This is one of my favorite sours but sadly it’s pretty rare. I heard they weren’t doing too many kegs of it this year, so far I’ve seen it at Eleven, Ritual Tavern and now Counterpoint. If you see this on tap I highly suggest it. Bottles have started showing up at some of the better liquor stores in town, but they surely won’t last long. I also tried a Victory Golden Monkey, a strong Belgian-style golden ale, it was slightly sweet and fruity and had some serious alcohol heat to the first few sips but was overall a good beer.

Sunday I had to go for a bike ride to burn off all these beer calories, but that ride took me right past Pizza Port Ocean Beach where I stopped in for a few beers. Jolly Pumpkin’s Madrugada Obscura is a nice slightly tart and sour but still good and roasted stout. If only this is what the infected 2009 The Abyss had tasted like. I haven’t seen this on draft before, but I know some bottles showed up recently at some local liquor stores, I highly recommend it. It’s sour, but not too sour, so give it a chance if you like stouts and are on the fence about sours. And being a Pizza Port, I just had to try Nickel Bag, the double IPA brewed with help from O’Brien’s Pub’s Tom Nickel. This was so smooth and easy to drink (for being 10% ABV) it could be dangerous. There are a ton of hops in there, but it’s not overpoweringly bitter, it has some citrus and pine flavors from the hops and a nice malt backbone to balance things out.

And for the final beer of the weekend I cracked open a 2011 Stone Belgo Old Guardian Barleywine while watching the Oscar’s. I would have loved to do a side-by-side comparision for the Belgo and the regular, but wasn’t able to do that last night (I’m sure I’ll get another opportunity in the future). I really enjoyed the Belgo OG. The Belgian yeast made it fairly sweet, but not in an overpowering or cloying and syrupy kind of way, which took a lot of the alcohol heat off. At about $6/22oz this is a solid beer. I can’t wait to try it along side the original OG and probably put some of both versions away to age for a while.

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.

General’s American Pub coming to Scripps Ranch

Tags

scripps ranch bar, scripps ranch o'brien's, scripps ranch pub, tom nickel

UPDATE: 6/22/2011: Word is that this project is no longer happening. Nickel’s announced at the National Homebrewers Conference that he is now focused on opening a BBQ-centric brewpub in Julian, CA with Vince Marsaglia of Pizza Port.

These days a new beer bar opening up isn’t exactly newsworthy. It seems like craft beer focused bars are opening up all over the county at a good rate. It’s nice to see areas outside of the central San Diego – South Park/North Park/University Heights/Normal Heights getting better beer selections which is happening more and more. I try not to blog about every new place opening up, but this one caught my eye.

General’s American Pub is looking to open by June 1st in a shopping center in  Scripps Ranch, just off Scripps Poway Parkway not too far from the 15. The previous tenant of the space was a restaurant called Santorini Island Grill.

What stood out about General’s American Pub was the fact that Tom Nickel is involved. Nickel is a former brewer for Pizza Port Solana Beach, but these days he’s known as the owner of O’Brien’s Pub, one of the best beer bars around. I don’t know many details about what’s in store for General’s American Pub, but Nickel had this to say about it in a recent O’Brien’s newsletter: “Lindsey and I are helping our friend Larry open a pub in Scripp’s Ranch that should be operating by June 1st.  Larry will be the owner and his pub will be called General’s American Pub and it will feature great beer and food just like O’Brien’s.  Coral will be working up there full time when the pub opens, so soon you will be able to see her more regularly behind a bar.” Nickel is listed as an officer of the company applying for the liquor license for General’s American Pub, so it sounds like he’s formally involved with the new bar in some way.

If General’s American Pub is even just half as great as O’Brien’s Pub is it will be a great thing for the people living nearby. June is still a few months off, so if I hear anything else newsworthy about General’s American Pub I’ll post it. And I’ll be sure to post an update once they open and I get to check it out.

UPDATE 3/1/2011: I stopped by the location where General’s American Pub will be opening and took a picture of the posted ABC sign. It looks like Santorini is still operating in the space (they were closed when I went by but it looked like they were opening a bit later in the day). A sign posted in the window said they were planning on moving into a currently empty storefront next door and General’s American Pub would move into their current location, but it did note that the deal has not been finalized.