New Stone Company Store Coming to Oceanside

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Stone Brewing Co. Oceanside, Stone Company Store, Stone Company Store Oceanside, Stone Oceanside

The reader tips just keep on coming… After this morning’s post about Poor House Brewing Co. applying for a Type 23 license at a location on 30th St, a reader that would like to remain anonymous tipped me off that Stone Brewing Co. has set it’s sight on Oceanside.

Earlier this week Stone Brewing Co. applied for a Type 01 Beer Manufacturer license (the same type they have at the Stone Company Store South Park) for 310 N Tremont St in Oceanside. I’m not too familiar with Oceanside, but this location is just off the North Coast Highway near Mission Ave not far from museums, a movie theater and the Oceanside Pier. If I remember right from the last time I was up there the area has a lot of shops and restaurants and sees quite a bit of foot traffic, especially in the summer.

It’s unclear at this time if Stone will be brewing beer at this location or if it will operate like the South Park location with merchandise, bottle sales, growler fills and tasters. Based on the name on the license and the license type being the same as the South Park store I would bet the latter to be the case. At this point the details might not be set in Stone yet (pun intended) as it’s so early in the license application process that things could change at any moment.

If the license is approved and Stone opens this Stone Company Store in Oceanside it would be their third or fourth beer related location depending upon timing (they also operate Stone Farms). Escondido is home to the brewery, Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens restaurant, the original Stone Company Store and a hotel is in the works. Stone Company Store South Park opened on 30th St in June, 2011. Stone is currently working to open a second Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens in Liberty Station, which is planned to include a restaurant, 10 barrel brewhouse and Stone Company Store selling merchandise, growlers and beer.

I’ve emailed Stone for comment and will update this post if I get any more info.

Update: I heard back from Randy Clemens, Stone’s media guy, he confirmed that they are planning another Stone Company Store in Oceanside and are hoping for an early summer opening. It will be similar to the Stone Company Store South Park in that they won’t be brewing on site, but Clemens promises it won’t be cookie-cutter copy. He says they’re still in the early planning stages but hope to share some more details about what will differentiate the store in Oceanside in the coming weeks.

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Pliny the Younger in San Diego, 2012

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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

Jolly Pumpkin Collababeire

Tags

Collababeire, Jolly Pumpkin / Nogne-O / Stone Special Holiday Ale, Stone / Nogne O / Jolly Pumpkin Special Holiday Ale

A couple of years ago, Stone Brewing Co., Nøgne Ø, and Jolly Pumpkin got together to brew Special Holiday Ale in Escondido. After that the same recipe (which used chestnuts, juniper berry, white sage, caraway seed and rye malt) was brewed at both Nøgne Ø and Jolly Pumpkin’s breweries. The Nøgne Ø version came out about a year after the original brewed at Stone, and then Jolly Pumpkin version (dubbed Collababeire) was aged in oak barrels and released on a very limited basis earlier this year.

From what I’ve heard very few bottle shops in San Diego got this Jolly Pumpkin version when it was first released in the Spring. But now that it’s the Holiday season, it seems as if more is being released from the distributor. Bottlecraft posted on their New Arrivals page that they got some in, and while I haven’t heard about any other shops getting any, I’d be surprised if Bottlecraft was the only one.

The Jolly Pumpkin version is a great beer, and if you’ve hung on to the previous two releases makes for a nice tasting of all three together. According to Peter Rowe at Signon San Diego Stone, will be releasing some bottles at 11am on Sunday in Escondido. Rowe doesn’t specify if they’ll be for sale at the Stone Store for take away consumption, or in the Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens for on-premise consumption, nor does he elaborate on which version will be available, but regardless, they’re all pretty good. The original Stone brewed version seemed like it had dropped off a bit when I tasted it in the Spring, so I wouldn’t recommend holding any bottles past this Holiday season.

Cantillon Zwanze Day 2011 at Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens | Sept 17th, 2011

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cantillon, Cantillon Iris, Cantillon Zwanze 2010, Cantillon Zwanze 2011, De la Senne Taras Boulba, Honey and black peppercorn waffles with blackberry compote and Stone Cali-Belgique IPA-battered fried chicken, zwanze day 2011, zwanze day san diego, zwanze day stone brewing co., zwanze day stone brewing world bistro and gardens

For those into sour beer, Brussels Belgium based Cantillon produces some of the most sought after beers around. Not only do they make great indescribably amazing beer, but due to their limited production their beers can be pretty hard to find out here in San Diego which just adds to the demand. When bottles show up at local shops they typically sellout within hours. Kegs at bars don’t usually last long either.

Sour beers lend themselves nicely to experimentation, and Jean Van Roy, brewer at Cantillon embraces that with (among others) a beer called Zwanze. The beer changes from year to year, but the fact that each Zwanze beer is an experiment it what ties them together. In previous years the majority of Zwanze was bottled, but this year the majority of the beer is going into kegs (Van Roy explains why on the Cantillon website, hint it has to do with E-bay profiteers), all to be tapped the same day (Sept 17th) at 21 different bars around the world.

Lucky for us here in San Diego, Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens is one of only 10 locations in the United States (and only two locations in the Western US to get Zwanze, the other is Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa, CA).

With such a rare and sought after beer in such limited supply, the potential for this to be disastrous was huge. Long lines. Line cutting. Blown kegs. Disappointment all around. Thankfully Stone thought it through and is selling tickets before hand, without one you can’t get any Zwanze. For $25 plus a small service charge you get:

• De la Senne Taras Boulba (8oz)
• Cantillon Iris (4oz)
• Cantillon Zwanze 2011 (4oz)
• Cantillon Zwanze 2010 (4oz)
• Honey and black peppercorn waffles with blackberry compote and Stone Cali-Belgique IPA-battered fried chicken

Or for $20 you get all of the above except for the 2010 Zwanze.

On the surface it might seem a bit expensive, but 375ml bottles (approximately 3 4oz pours) can retail for around $15, let alone what they sell for on the secondary market. And since Cantillon won’t be letting any bottles out of their brewery, this is pretty much your one shot to get some. Stone hasn’t said how many tickets they’re selling, but this is sure to sell out. If you want to go, don’t wait to buy yours.

Oh, and if you don’t get your fill of sour beer at Zwanze day, this same day Churchill’s Pub and Grille just down the street is holding their 2nd Annual Peter Reeves Memorial Sour Fest.

Beer Books: The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.- Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance

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2010 Old Guardian Barley Wine Aged in Bourbon Barrels, 2010 Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine Aged in Bourbon Barrels, 2010 Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine Aged in Wine Barrels, Arrogant Bastard Ale Onion Rings, Dogfish Head / Victory / Stone Saison Du BUFF, dr bill, dr bill sysak, Garlic Cheddar and Ruination IPA Soup, greg koch, Heat Seeking Wheat, Jolly Pumpkin / Nogne-O / Stone Special Holiday Ale, Lee's Mild, Quingenti Millilitre, randy clemens, steve wagner, Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, Stone Ruination IPA, The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.- Liquid Lore Epic Recipes and Unabashed Arrogance

After fifteen years in the beer business the founders of Stone Brewing Co. have written a book. Greg Koch and Steve Wagner teamed up with published author and Stone Brewing Co. PR Coordinator Randy Clemens to co-author The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.- Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance.

The Craft of Stone Brewing Co. comes out September 27th and retails for $25. If you pre-order a copy through La Jolla’s Warwick’s bookstore before September 9th you’ll be able to purchase one of the beers in the next Quingenti Millilitre series release, 2010 Old Guardian Barley Wine Aged in Bourbon Barrels, 2010 Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine Aged in Bourbon Barrels or 2010 Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine Aged in Wine Barrels. This offer will also be available at The Great American Beer Festival later this month in Denver, and at the book release event on Sept 27th at Stone Brewing Co. See Stone’s blog for more details.

The two-hundred page book is broken down into three parts: Part 1 explains the basics of beer and gives a brief history of beer in addition to telling the story of Stone Brewing Co. Part 2 is a comprehensive list of most of the beers Stone has ever released with facts about each beer and often the stories behind the beer. Part 3 includes scaled down homebrew recipes for 18 different Stone beers, recipes food recipes from Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens (with pairing recommendations) and a few short “Beer How-Tos” from “Dr” Bill Sysak.

Before I received my review copy of the book I knew it would include a history of Stone as well as food and homebrew recipes, but I wasn’t sure if one section would dominate. They’ve done a good job of balancing things so the book doesn’t feel one sided towards any one of the parts. There’s enough content in each section to satisfy anyone that cooks, homebrews or is just a Stone fan that wants to know more about their history.

I’ve only been drinking Stone’s beer for about half of the fifteen years they’ve been around, so much of their early history was news to me. Well written and entertaining, it and kept me turning page after page, reading it in one sitting. There were one or two preachy moments when I briefly felt like I was reading a Stone brochure (a $25 brochure at that) but those times are very few and far between. There was even once when I nearly spit out the beer in my mouth because I started to laugh (I won’t spoil it for you, just be sure to look for Wagner’s story of a friend transporting some yeast for them).

There were a couple beers from Stone’s past that they no longer brew that I had never heard of, anyone out there get to try Heat Seeking Wheat? While the beer is very un-Stone, the label art was what really shocked me. Look for it on page 40, it reminds me of Stone’s gargoyle meets the Toxic Avenger, something I can’t imagine the brand conscious Stone Brewing Co. even thinking about releasing now.

I haven’t tried any of the homebrew or food recipes yet there are a couple I’m anxiously awaiting testing out. Some of my favorite Stone beers got the homebrew recipe treatment here including Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, Jolly Pumpkin / Nogne-O / Stone Special Holiday Ale, and Dogfish Head / Victory / Stone Saison Du BUFF as well as others that I never got to try including Lee’s Mild and some of the earlier Anniversary Beers. Other favorite’s are notably missing, including Stone Ruination IPA. I’m hoping some of the IPA recipes that aren’t here will make an appearance in the forthcoming IPA book being written by Wagner and Stone’s Brewmaster Mitch Steele.

The food recipes are equally tantalizing. I was pretty excited to find the recipe for my favorite Bistro item, the Garlic, Cheddar, and Stone Ruination IPA Soup included. There are plenty of other great looking recipes including the popular BBQ Duck Tacos and those infamous Arrogant Bastard Ale Onion Rings.

The sections on the basics of beer, the general history of beer and “Dr” Bill’s Beer How-Tos might be repetitive to those that really know their beer. But for those that don’t obsess about beer like some of us, they have the potential to be hugely educational.

Overall The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.- Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance is a pretty interesting read that can come in handy in the kitchen or the brewhouse instead of just being relegated to the bookshelf or coffee table when you’re done with it. Scoring the next Quingenti Millilitre series release if you pre-order just sweetens the deal.

Note: Ten Speed Press provided me with a pre-release copy of The Craft of Stone Brewing Co. for review purposes.

Beer Dinner – For the Love of Carbs: Italy at Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens

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bashah pairing, brandon shank, dr bill sysak, fantome magic ghost pairing, j.w. lees harvest ale pairing, older viscosity pairing, pliny the elder pairing

Baker Brandon Shank (left) and Certified Cicerone "Dr." Bill Sysak

As a vegetarian I don’t attend many beer dinners due to the menu’s often being very meat driven, but every once in a while a beer dinner comes along that caters to vegetarians. Such was the case with For the Love of Carbs: Italy at Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens last week. The dinner wasn’t 100% vegetarian, nor was it advertised as such, but a quick look at the menu showed that the only thing a vegetarian wouldn’t eat was the easily removable anchovy on the pizza.

As the name implies, the night’s bread focused menu highlighted the foods of baker Brandon Shank with beers paired by “Dr.” Bill Sysak. A five course dinner based around carbohydrates might seem like it would get boring by the end, but Shank’s dishes kept things interesting until the end and Sysak’s pairings were spot on each course.

Focaccia, oak-aged French Banyuls Wine Vinegar and Port Brewing Older Viscosity

The dinner started with a trio of bread: focaccia, ciabatta and sfilatino (a sourdough baguette) with Oro Bailen Spanish extra virgin olive oil and oak-aged French Banyuls wine vinegar. Paired with this opening course was the strongest beer of the night Port Brewing’s Older Viscosity. Dr. Bill said he likes to sometimes start a meal off with the strongest beer “to shock and awaken the palate.” The flavorful and strong beer wasn’t overpowered by the olive oil as many other beers could be. The sweet vanilla booziness of the beer cut through the acidic sourness of the vinegar and again wasn’t overpowered. It would have been easy for the bread to be overshadowed by the olive oil and vinegar, but it was good enough to have been enjoyed on it’s own if need be.

The second course might have been my favorite of the night, Dr Bill paired Fantôme’s  Magic Ghost with Shank’s ‘Deconstructed Pasta Salad.’ This pasta salad was like no other I had ever had before, large leafs of lettuce with watermelon, feta and olives on top of fried noodles. The cheese and olives seemed to pull the moisture out of the watermelon to help create it’s own sauce for the dish. As outlandish as it first sounded, the sweet watermelon went great with the salty feta and acidic olives. The Magic Ghost easily washed away the acidity and brought back just a bit of herbal sweetness. Both the dish and the beer would have been great on their own, but were amazing paired together.

Fantôme Magic Ghost with Deconstructed Pasta Salad

The third course, the middle in this five course meal was pizza paired with Russian River’s Pliny the Elder. Pizza and Pliny is like a beer pairing match made in heaven. I’m guessing a lot of people reading this have had a Pliny while enjoying some pizza. Both were great and paired wonderfully.

The fourth course saw BrewDog/Stone bashah paired with a sandwich of sorts, fried Como bread stuffed with bufala mozzarella, red pepper flakes and fresh basil. Fun fact, Pliny the Elder was born in Como, the city which lends it’s name to the bread here. It seemed to be the general concensus that everyone was feeling pretty stuffed at this point (in the best way possible of course) but both the bread and the cheese here were so decadent and creamy that no one could resist. bashah’s malty and slightly roasty sweetness was perfect for the rich, melty and just a little spicy sandwich.

Mozzarella en Carrozza

Even though everyone was completely filled up at this point, there’s always room for dessert as the saying goes. For the sweet finish to the meal Shank baked a dessert cake called Panettone that had orange and lemon peel, golden raisins, fresh vanilla with a limoncello and butter sauce. Paired with this Dr Bill selected a 2009 J.W. Lees Harvest Ale aged in Calvados (brand) Casks. The panettone was sweet with plenty of rich flavor from the raisins and vanilla, which paired well with the strong beer that had plenty of raisin, fig, and date flavors itself. Due to being aged in Calvados casks the beer also had an apple like brandy booziness to it, which seemed overpowering in the nose, but the flavor was much more mellow.

As a beer dinner rookie I can easily say this was the best I’ve ever been to. As much as I like the food at Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens, I had never pictured myself walking out feeling almost comatose from eating too much food rather thank drinking too much beer, but that’s exactly what happened here.

Photos by Kinsee Morlan

Note: Stone provided myself and a photographer with a press pass to this dinner.

More Local Beer Coming to Lindbergh Field

Tags

craft beer at lindbergh field, craft beer at san diego airport, craft brews on 30th st, stone lindbergh field, stone san diego airport

Yesterday the the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority Board approved ten new food and retail concession packages which include close to fifty outlets. Both of the approved food service concession packages include locations of interest to craft beer fans that often find themselves waiting for flights at the San Diego airport.

(I won’t pretend that I fully understand the way restaurants operate at the airport, but it’s my understanding that a restaurant (or any business) partners with a concessionaire, High Flying Foods and Host being the two involved here, which then operates the retail location inside the airport.)

Stone Brewing Co. has partnered up with High Flying Foods for a restaurant location with a bar in Terminal 2. As with Stone World Bistro and Gardens in Escondido and the planed Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens Liberty Station expect good food and quality beer. This Union Tribune article suggests that High Flying Foods will be using some produce from Stone Farms in their airport restaurants, which presumably includes the Stone restaurant.

One of the other new eateries at the airport that will be of interest to craft beer lovers is Craft Brews on 30th St a restaurant that will “promote the whole 30th Street experience in the airport” according to Jay Porter proprietor of 30th St restaurants The Linkery and El Take it Easy, and also one of the folks behind the future eatery at the airport. The focus will be to have great food and great craft beer while reminding visitors that 30th Street is one of the best stretches of road in the county for dining and craft beer. UPDATE: Jay Porter got in touch to let me know that the restaurant “Craft Brews on 30th St” that the Airport Authority approved is not the same restaurant that he was going to be involved with. The confusion was caused by similar names between the two proposed restaurants. If anyone knows anything more about Craft Brews on 30th St drop me a line mail@sandiegobeerblog.com

When talking about eating or drinking at any airport, the cost is one of the first things that comes to mind, as it did in the comments on the Union Tribune article about the new restaurants. Greg Koch, Stone Brewing Co. CEO left a follow up comment that should appease those worried about exhorbitant costs, “The airport requirements are that the prices be no more than 10% above the pricing you’d find outside of the airport (and stadiums and such were disallowed as comparables).” So expect prices to be slightly higher, but still within reason.

According to the press release put out by the airport, the new eateries will be located throughout all terminals at the airport, including the Terminal 2 expansion set to open in 2013. Some of the new dining and retail outlets are expected to open as soon as December 1st, 2012.

Stone’s Koch also commented on the UT article that they would be the first stop after security in Terminal 2. “You’ll be able to relax with a fresh local craft beer while you watch your fellow travelers get patdowns, fumble with their luggage & plastic baggies full of ridiculous amounts of lotions / cosmetics, and take ten steps before turning back around in momentary panic as they realize they didn’t grab their cellphone off the conveyor,” Koch commented.

Karl Strauss works with a concession partner at Lindbergh Field with locations in both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. They don’t anticipate much changing with the new dining locations coming in.

Click here to read the full press release which includes all of the new dining and retail outlets approved by the Airport Authority.

This post was edited to remove an artist’s rendering provided by the airport of the Stone restaurant as well as text describing it because Stone said the image was inaccurate and to clarify details about “Craft Brews on 30th St”.

Photo: San Diego Shooter. Used under Creative Commons license.

International #IPADay, Thursday August 4th, 2011

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#IPADay, #IPADay san diego

International #IPADay is an effort to unite craft beer fans, both new and old, on the internet to raise a toast to India Pale Ales while conversing about beer. As the # in the name implies, this is an online organizational effort, asking people to blog, tweet, post pictures and video and more all based around the hashtag #IPADay making it easy for others to join the conversation. #IPADay is the idea of beer blogger The Beer Wench, and San Diego’s own Ryan Ross. But not all of #IPADay will take place online, many bars and restaurants will be putting special IPAs on tap, running discounts and specials and helping to celebrate IPAs IRL (in real life).

As expected, there won’t be any shortage of places to get a good IPA on Thursday in San Diego. Below is a list of all the #IPADay events going on in San Diego that I could find. If you know of any more please send me an email events@sandiegobeerblog.com

 

• Ballast Point Linda Vista/Homebrew Mart will have IPAs all day long, with a special Sculpin IPA with Lime, Ginger and Szechuan Peppercorn brewed just for the occasion. They’ll also have plenty of other treats including Sculpin IPA with Habanero, Sculpin IPA on Nitro, “Regular” Sculpin IPA, “Regular” Big Eye IPA, Big Eye IPA with Ginger and more.
• Karl Strauss will have IPA specials at all of their brewpub locations. $4 pints and $9 growler fills of Tower 10, Heavy Petti and Boardwalk Black Rye will be available all day. They’ll also have a cask at night with Tower 10 IPA dry hopped with  Ahtanum, Amarillo, Cascade, Chinook & Pacifica hops. Heavy Petti was brewed by Karl Strauss’s James Petti especially for #IPADay. It uses Cascade, Palisade, Moteuka, and Nelson Sauvin hops with some rolled oats in the mash for a floral and tropical smooth IPA.
• Bottlecraft in Little Italy will be doing 3 IPA flights with four tasters each. One single IPA, one Double IPA, and of Mikkeller’s Single Hop IPA series.
• KnB Wine Cellars in Del Cerro will have a number of IPAs on tap including Stone Double Dry Hopped Ruination, Great Divide Rumble Oak Aged IPA, Karl Strauss Heavy Petti and more.
• Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens will host a tweetup from 5-7pm with a special cask of Stone IPA and other rare IPAs on draft.
• Ritual Tavern will host the release of Butcher Brewing’s latest beer, Imperial Mucho Aloha Double Shaka.
• Tatiana Peavey of the beer blog Fugglybrew.com is hosting a craft beer pub crawl in North Park with specials at IPAs at each bar. Bars and restaurants include: The Linkery, True North, URBN, El Take it Easy, Toronado and Ritual Tavern.
• Phileas Foggs in Poway will have at least 10 IPA’s on tap and 15 others in bottles with live music from 7pm to 10pm. They’ll also be serving an IPA Beer Cheese Soup in a Sourdough Bread Bowl and IPA Mustard Chicken Wings.
• Blind Lady Ale House will have many IPAs and Double IPAs on draft including  and Firestone Walker Double Jack, Grand Teton Trout Hop, Firestone Walker Union Jack, Russian River Pliny the Elder, Coronado Black Ops, Hanger 24 Black Rye IPA more.

Brewmasters Dinner & Meet the Brewers: Evil Twin and Stillwater

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't Brouwkot Netebuk, 't Gaverhopke Koerseklakske, brian strumke, Evil Twin Ashtray Heart, Evil Twin Before During & After Christmas Beer, evil twin brewing, Evil Twin Katz Pis, Evil Twin Ryan and the Beaster Bunny, Evil Twin Soft DK, Hopfenstark Baltic Porter de L'Ancrier, Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergso, mikkeller, Stillwater / Mikkeller - Two Gypsies - Our Side, Stillwater / The Brewer's Art Debutante, stillwater artisanal ales, Stillwater Stateside Saison

I don’t think there is another brewery that I’ve had as few of their beers, but hold in as high a regard as Stillwater Artisanal Ales. Stillwater is Brian Strumke, a so called “gypsy brewer” who doesn’t have a brewery of his own but rather travels around and brews his beer at other breweries, both in the US and Europe. Stillwater is a small brewery, their website lists nine beers, about half of which I’ve seen in San Diego either in bottles or on draft. I’ve had most of those that are available here and love everything about them. It helps that most of Stillwater’s beers are Saisons, which is one of my favorite styles of beer (and is also a very loose style allowing for a lot of creative freedom). But it’s more than just the beer itself, it’s also the idea of someone making it, both making a living and making great beer while traveling around and seeing the world.

I actually don’t know much at all about Evil Twin, except for the fact that brewer Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø is also the brother of Mikkeller’s Mikkel Borg Bjergsø. Evil Twin’s beers are rated pretty highly on Ratebeer, that combined with the fact that Stone is hosting the brewer makes me look forward to trying some of their beers.

Both brewers will be at Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens on Thursday, August 11th for two events. Starting at 5pm and lasting until 6:30 is a Meet the Brewer event at Stone’s outside bar. Strumke and Jarnit-Bjergsø will be on hand to chat along with 11 beers (including a few that will be poured on draft for the first time in the US that night). At 6:30pm both Strumke and Jarnit-Bjergsø will join dinner guests for a Brewmasters Dinner featuring four courses and eight of their beers.

The dinner is $65 which includes both tax and gratuity while the meet the brewers event doesn’t have a cover charge, you just buy your own beers.

It looks like the pairings aren’t yet finalized, but the menu can be seen here.

The beers expected to be on tap are:

• Evil Twin Before, During, & After Christmas Beer
• Evil Twin Soft DK
• Evil Twin Ryan and the Beaster Bunny
• Evil Twin Ashtray Heart
• Evil Twin Katz Pis
• Stillwater Stateside Saison
• Stillwater / The Brewer’s Art Debutante
• Stillwater / Mikkeller – Two Gypsies – Our Side
• ‘t Gaverhopke Koerseklakske
• ‘t Brouwkot Netebuk
• Hopfenstark Baltic Porter de L’Ancrier

Stillwater’s Cellar Door was a Farmhouse Friday pick last month.

Stone Sour Fest 2011

Tags

5th Annual Stone Sour Fest, cantillon, Cuvee des Champions, Iris, Oude Tart, Sinners Blend 2010, sour lavender, Stone Sour Fest, Tart of Darkness, The Bruery Sour Cherry Kriek, The Wanderer

Pouring Tart of Darkness

Over 100 different sour beers were available at Stone Brewing Co.’s Fifth Annual Sour Fest yesterday at Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens in Escondido. Among the 100 beers offered there was good variety of beers that were just barely sour to those that were so tart they made your mouth pucker.

Sour beers definitely aren’t for everybody, but you wouldn’t know that from how quickly Stone Sour Fest sold out this year (weeks in advance, no tickets were available at the door). Personally I love sour beers, but don’t have a lot of experience with them. Many can be pretty hard to come by and often rather expensive so there are a lot of well known and classics as well as obscure and limited release sours that I’ve never had before. Looking over the list I was excited to try plenty of new beers that I had either never heard of or just never had a chance to try before.

Cantillon, a Belgian brewery founded in 1900 is well known around the world among beer geeks for their sour beers, and they hardly ever make it to San Diego, so plenty of people were excited to sample their offerings. From what I’ve been told Cantillon Cuvee des Champions was the first beer at the fest to run out, one friend said it was gone by the time he got there at 10:10am, 10 minutes after the fest officially got under way. Another much sought after beer was The Bruery’s Sour Cherry Kriek, put on after The Wanderer ran out, word got around the through the crowd and a line quickly formed. I don’t know how long it took for the keg to kick but it didn’t take long, it was marked as empty soon after I got my sample.

A few of the standout beers I sampled are below.

• The Bruery’s Tart of Darkness. This one is around 5% ABV and has some good roastiness in addition to the sour tartness. I think it’s available in 750ml bottles as part of the Provisions series at The Bruery Provisions in Orange. I highly recommend picking some up if you get the chance.
• Cantillon Iris. One of the classics I had never had before. Quite a bit of funk in addition to the mouth puckering sourness with an extremely dry finish.
• Craftsman Sour Lavender 2010 and 2011. Both were good but I preferred the fresher 2011. I’m not a huge fan of lavender but I really enjoy this beer.
• The Lost Abbey Sinners Blend 2010. Bourbon, vanilla and a bit of caramel, this was sweeter than I expected while still being pretty acetic. One of the more heavy beers of the day.
• The Bruery’s Oude Tart. I absolutely love this beer. Dark fruit, leather, vanilla and oak, this is a beer I could sip on all day.

See below for a few pictures from the day.