Societe Brewing Company The Butcher

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Every Man's IPA, The Butcher, The Dandy, tiramisu

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Societe Brewing Company. Ever since I met Travis [Smith] and Doug [Constantiner] I knew they’d be making great beer. I’ve slowly sampled my way through all of their available beers (well, except for the new Every Man’s IPA they released this week that is). They have a handful of IPAs — five now by my count, and another four more non-IPAs, three of which are Belgian style beers. I enjoy all of their beers, though I certainly have my favorites (I’m looking at you The Dandy) but it was The Butcher that I had been wanting to try for a while now, but it had alluded me until recently.

It’s been on tap quite a bit, I’ve had a few chances to try it, but The Butcher is a roughly 10% ABV Imperial Stout that I just couldn’t bring myself to order when it’s close to 90 degrees outside. But thankfully it was on the menu, paired with dessert, at The Grill at The Lodge at Torrey Pines beer dinner with Societe Brewing Company and Rough Draft Brewing Company. Dinner took place outside, not far from the coast so by the time dessert rolled around some fog was in the air and the temperature had dropped below 80, making The Butcher more desirable.

The beer was paired with Tiramisu, which had been soaked in The Butcher to add some beer flavor. The pairing wasn’t perfect in my opinion (though no one was complaining, me included). The dessert was sweet, I didn’t really get much flavor from the beer in the Tiramisu, which contrasted pretty drastically with the deliciously roasty beer.

And how big and roasty it is. With all the roastiness it’s reminiscent of coffee and dark chocolate. It’s full and rich but it’s 10% ABV doesn’t show.

With weather like this I’m not sure when I’ll choose to enjoy The Butcher again, but come cooler weather The Butcher will be hard to beat. And while I haven’t heard that they have any specific plans, I imagine some day they’ll put some of The Butcher in some sort of old spirits barrels and it will only get better with age.

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Stone Brewing Co. Announces New 4-Packs

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Oaked Arrogant Bastard, Stone Brewing Co. 4-packs, Stone Ruination IPA, stone sublimely self-righteous ale

Stone Brewing Co. this week announced that they would be releasing Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale, their Black IPA previously limited to draft and 22oz bottles in 12oz 4-packs. They will also be transitioning Stone Ruination IPA and OAKED Arrogant Bastard from 12oz 6-packs to 12oz 4-packs.

It will be nice to have the 8.7% ABV Sublimely Self-Righteous available in 12oz bottles for those times you don’t want or need to drink an entire 22oz. And personally I think that removing two bottles and dropping the price a bit from Oaked Arrogant Bastard and Ruination should help with sticker shock as well a bit. Speaking of price, Stone tells me price per bottle for Ruination and Oaked Arrogant Bastard isn’t changing.

As you’ve probably noticed beer prices tend fluctuate from store to store, I’ve seen the 6-packs going for anywhere from $15 to as high as $16.50 which works out to $2.50-$2.75 per 12 ounce bottle. Keeping the price per bottle the same would equate to $10 or $11 4-packs, which sounds about right as Stone PR Specialist Sabrina LoPiccolo said in an email that they should retail for the same price as 6-packs of Stone Pale Ale, Stone IPA and Stone Levitation Ale, commonly between $10 and $11.

(As an aside, does this mean that if a particular store charges more for say Stone IPA 6-packs than they do for Levitation Al 6-packs they’re just making more profit on the IPA?)

Ruination and Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale will continue to be available 22oz bombers as well, but in my mind look much less attractive price-wise now. I don’t know that I’ve ever bought a 6-pack of Ruination, but I’ve picked up plenty of 22oz bottles of it over the years. But the 4-pack, at a lower cost per ounce and in smaller servings seems like a much better way to go. It’s far easier to drink two 12oz bottles than it is to only drink half a bomber depending on your mood.

4-packs for Sublimely Self-Righteous should be hitting shelves very soon (if not already) and the 6-packs of Ruination and Oaked AB will be coming out as current 6-pack inventory runs out. Which means if you’re still seeing 6-packs a few months from now you might want to take a good look at the date stamps on the bottles.

Alpine Beer Company/New Belgium Super India Pale Ale

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lips of faith, Super India Pale Ale

As a San Diego hophead I recognize that Alpine Beer Co. makes some of the best IPA’s in the world. Despite how infrequently Alpine’s beers show up at local bars and bottle shops, we’re pretty damn spoiled with the fact that the brewery is a short 30 minute drive from San Diego, where we can buy bottles and fill growlers five days a week.

Alpine has extremely limited distribution outside of their own brewery and pub, I’ve heard there are a few shops in the LA area that occasionally get Alpine’s beer (legitimately from an actual distributor, there are many more shops around the state that buy beer at Alpine and then resell it, a process frowned upon by the brewery) but for the most part if you want to drink Alpine’s beers you have to be in San Diego (and maybe even drive up to Alpine). The fact that their beer is so good, and so hard to come by outside of our small corner of the country has caused quite a bit of demand amongst beer geeks out there. Demand that just cannot be filled by Alpine’s rather small brewery.

So when I learned that Alpine Beer Co.’s Pat and Shawn Mcilhenney were headed to Fort Collins to brew an Alpine style Double IPA in collaboration with New Belgium Brewing Company I was certainly excited for the beer itself, but recognized this might be a much bigger deal to those folks within New Belgium’s wide distribution area but outside of Southern California. A whole lot of people are about to be exposed to Alpine Beer Company, many probably for the first time. Thankfully Super India Pale Ale is superb beer and even though it wasn’t brewed in Alpine, CA it’s well deserving of having Alpine’s name attached to it.

I picked up a bottle of Super IPA at Bine and Vine (which I hadn’t been to in a month or so, I have to say it’s looking pretty nice in there) last night for $6.99, I think I saw them tweet that they’re now sold out but are expecting more next week. New Belgium brewed a lot of this beer, 1400 barrels according to one of Alpine’s past email newsletters, which they state is almost equal to Alpine Beer Co.’s entire annual production, but demand is expectantly high. It’s all over town, but may take a bit of searching to find, especially at some of the more popular beer spots.

Super IPA is everything you would expect from an Alpine IPA, big and hoppy. Without having drank the two side by side (so this may not be an accurate comparison) it reminded me a bit of a bigger version of Duet. Quite a bit of citrus and pine hop flavors supported by a malt backbone that doesn’t get in the way of the hops. It comes in at 9% ABV but it’s not overly sweet or too boozy. Super IPA is delicious, but I don’t know that it’s any better than other Alpine IPAs/Double IPAs (in fact my tastebuds are still loyal to Nelson). So while I hope to drink a few more of these while they’re around, once this one-off beer is gone I’ll go back to drinking Nelson, Duet and Pure Hoppiness and have no complaints. But for those beer drinkers that aren’t as lucky to be able to pick up beer’s from Alpine regularly, this is indeed a special treat.

And as a side note, I think this might be one of the coolest beer bottles I’ve ever bought. I don’t save too many bottles, but this one is a keeper.

Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA

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Stone Ruination IPA, Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA

That Stone Brewing Co. decided to brew a stronger (10.8% ABV), hoppier (110 IBUs) version of their Stone Ruination IPA in honor of it’s tenth anniversary shouldn’t surprise anyone. Bigger isn’t always better in my opinion though, and while Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA certainly isn’t bad, now that I’ve tried it I’ll be reaching for the more subdued original Ruination next time that hop craving comes calling.

Note: Stone Brewing Co. provided this bottle of Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA as a promotional sample free of charge, but that in now way biased my opinion of it.

Societe Brewing Co. Grand Opening – June 30th, 2012

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societe brewing co. grand opening, The Apprentice, The Dandy, The Harlot, The Pupil, The Widow

When Societe Brewing Co. opened last month with two beers on tap, The Harlot, a Belgian Pale Ale and The Apprentice, a Strong IPA they called it their soft opening. Since then they’re released a few more beers in their tasting room and kegs have started to get around town. At the end of the month, Saturday June 30th to be exact, they’ll be celebrating their Grand Opening at their Kearney Mesa brewery.

There will be two sessions of 150 people each. Tickets went on sale yesterday and the first session is already sold out. The $5 tickets include entry (no entry without a ticket, no tickets sold the day of) and your first beer. Subsequent beers will be available for purchase. There will be six beers on tap for the Grand Opening, three IPAs, two Belgians and one San Diego Gold. That last style has me curious.

I’ve had tastes of both The Harlot and The Apprentice, both of them are quality beers that I look forward to enjoying more of soon. Since they first opened Societe has released three more beers, The Pupil, a Citra and Nelson hopped IPA that I’ve heard many people compare to an Alpine IPA (let’s face it, Alpine is the gold standard when it comes to clean hop forward IPAs), The Widow, a Belgian Strong Ale and the so-new-I-haven’t-heard-anything-about-it (other than that it’s a 6.4% “San Diego IPA”) The Dandy.

With how fast tickets to the first session sold out I wouldn’t wait to buy tickets for the second session if you’re interested in going. Societe has said on Twitter that they may add a third session on another day if there is enough demand and the two Saturday sessions sell out.

Image: Societe Brewing Co.’s Instagram

San Diego Beer News Roundup

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All Day IPA, Dogfish Head / Victory / Stone Saison Du BUFF, Founders Brewing San Diego, Green Flash bottled on dates, Green Flash date codes, Ken Schmidt, Ken Schmidt / Iron Fist / Stone Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout, Ken Schmidt / Maui / Stone Kona Coffee Macadamia Coconut Porter, Stone Company Store Pasadena, Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA, Stone Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers, Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean

Apologies for the lack of posts lately. Things have been busy outside of beer blogging.

The 2012 Craft Brewers Conference and World Beer Cup have come and gone. San Diego brewers didn’t do as well as two years ago at the WBC, but our local brewers still brought home a handful of awards. The full winners list can be seen here.

Earlier this week Green Flash Brewing Company posted a picture to their Facebook page of a bottle of West Coast IPA with a bottled on date. Until now it’s been hard to know for sure just how long that bottle of Green Flash beer had been sitting on a shelf, but once these new bottles with dates start getting out into stores it should be easy enough to tell exactly when the beer was bottled. I have to admit, the lack of bottle dates has kept me from buying Green Flash beers on more than one occasion (usually at larger stores, places like Trader Joes, where I don’t know how long the beer has been sitting around). I see more four packs of fresh West Coast IPA in my future.

For the last few weeks beers from Michigan’s Founders Brewing Company have been turning up at various bars, restaurants and even a few bottle shops around town. Founders hasn’t distributed in California in the past, and unfortunately this looks like it is only temporary. The beers started showing up around town during the CBC in early May, according to The Full Pint, Founders has a temporary 60 day license for distribution here, which will end next month after the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival. Some people have speculated that Founders could be using this time as a way to test the market, but so far there is no indication that Founders is looking to distribute here on a regular basis. So if you see anything from Founders on tap at your favorite bar in the next few weeks it might be a good idea to order a pint. The stand out for me has been the All Day IPA, a 42 IBU, 4.7% ABV session IPA that tastes much hoppier than the IBU’s let on.

A thread on the BeerAdvocate Forums last week pointed out that Stone Brewing Co. is looking into opening some sort of tasting room and retail store in Pasadena. The post links to a PDF at the City of Pasadena website regarding a public hearing for a conditional use permit. The notice describes the space as being 2,071 square feet including a 363 square foot outdoor patio which would have on-site tasting of beer and off-site (to go) sales. No word on exactly what this will be, but it sounds a lot like the Stone Company Store South Park and the in progress Stone Company Store Oceanside. The public hearing was held last week and it looks like the recommendation was to approve the permit.

Speaking of Stone Brewing Co., they have a number of special releases coming out in the next few months:

Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA will make it’s debut Sunday, June 10th with a special release party at Henry’s Pub downtown. It’s described as an amped up version of Stone Ruination IPA which clocks in at 10.8% ABV with extra dosings of Columbus and Centennial hops as well as Citra and Centennial for dry hoping. 22oz bottles should start hitting store shelves the next day.

Stone’s version of the second release of Dogfish Head / Victory / Stone Saison du BUFF was rebrewed in early May when Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione and Victory Brewing Company’s Bill Covaleski were in town and is set to be released Monday June 18th on draft and in 12oz bottles. I was a big fan of the original Stone brewed version released about two years ago, but recently picked up a bottle of the new release of the Dogfish Head version and was pretty disappointed. The herbs (the beer is brewed with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme) were way too over the top for my tastes. I typically like herb-y beers, but couldn’t finish a 12oz of this one. Here’s to hoping that I find the Stone version more palatable.

Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean and Stone Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers are also being released in 12oz bottles on Monday June 18th. Stone has been brewing both of these as occasional draft only beers for a few years now, so it’s nice to see them make it into bottles. Stone says “It’s a one-time only bottled release, unless we decide to change our minds later.”

Last but not least, Ken Schmidt / Iron Fist / Stone Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout was brewed a few weeks ago and is expected to be released on draft and in 12oz bottles sometime in early July. Ken Schmidt was the top prize at the Stone March Madness Homebrew Competition which earned him the right to brew his beer at Stone as a collaboration with them and another brewer of his choice. If the name Ken Schmidt sounds familiar it’s because he was also the winner of the original Stone March Madness Homebrew Competition a few years ago, which brought us Ken Schmidt / Maui / Stone Kona Coffee, Macadamia, Coconut Porter

(Not Quite) San Diego Brewed: Butcher’s Brewing Free Range IPA

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Free Range IPA, Knight Salumi, Rey Knight

I say not quite San Diego brewed because Butcher’s Brewing is currently contract brewing their beers at other locations (including Irvine’s Bayhawk) while they are working towards opening their own brewery in Carlsbad.

Butcher’s Brewing is the brainchild of Rey Knight, formerly of Knight Salumi Co. I talked to Knight at Bottlecraft a few weeks ago for the Free Range IPA release and one thing that stood out was the fact that he wasn’t shy about the beer being contract brewed for now. In my opinion there’s nothing inherently wrong about contract brewed beers, it’s when companies try to hide the fact that their beer is contract brewed that bothers me. Knight told me where the beer was made (they use two different facilities) and told me about his plans to open their own brewery here in San Diego County.

Free Range IPA isn’t a perfect beer, but it’s a great start from such a young brewery. The 7% ABV beer is hoppy with that sweet tropical fruit smell and flavor of Nelon Sauvin hops. Free Range IPA also uses Summit hops, which some people perceive as smelling and tasting like garlic or onions, but I don’t get any of that from this beer. It’s hoppy, but not a total hop bomb, there’s a bit of toasty malt, not overly sweet but it’s there. I prefer a more dry, totally hop forward, hop bomb of an IPA, which this isn’t, but it’s not bad and isn’t a bad start.

Free Range IPA is worth trying, but it may be hard for them to compete in such a crowded market. I paid $8.59 for this 22oz bottle at Bine and Vine, which is around the same price (or even more expensive) than other tried and true IPAs and Double IPAs like Alpine’s Nelson, Ballast Point’s Sculpin or Port Brewing’s Mongo. (This problem of pricing isn’t unique to Butcher’s Brewing, it’s a problem many new breweries face). This is one style of beer where Butcher’s will have plenty of competition, but this isn’t a bad start. Free Range IPA might not be my favorite IPA, but I’ll certainly drink it again.

Craft Brewers Conference and World Beer Cup in town Next Week

Brewers from around the world will be making their way to San Diego over the next few days to take part in the 2012 Craft Brewers Conference and World Beer Cup. The conference taking place at Mission Valley’s Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center is open to industry members only, but with so many brewers from all over the country and world in town there will be plenty of things going on at bars, restaurants and breweries that are open to the public.

I haven’t had time to make a list or guide to what’s happening, and unfortunately probably won’t have time before things get started next week. West Coaster has quite a few events listed on their Calendar. Check with your favorite craft beer spots, chances are pretty good they might have something special going on, new beers (look for the Green Flash / Founders collaboration Linchpin White IPA to make it’s debut at Green Flash on Tuesday, May 1st and elsewhere later in the week), rare beers, meet the brewer nights and more.

Karl Strauss brewed this year’s CBC Symposium beer, a 10% Double IPA named “San Diego Pale Ale” which will be given out to conference attendees. Chances are this beer will also show up at a few locations throughout town in the coming weeks.

Be sure to pick up the May issue of West Coaster which should hit the streets soon, it will have all sorts of info on the Craft Brewers Conference and World Beer Cup, including a look back at some of the 2010 WBC winners (the WBC takes place every other year) that are available locally.

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.

Poor House Brewing Co. & Supply, A New Brewery Coming to 30th St?

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Christopher Finch, Firehouse Brewing Co., Poor House Brewing Co. & Supply

Reader David Hess (@AudacityOfHops on Twitter) sent along this photo of a company called Poor House Brewing Co. & Supply applying for a type 23 Small Business Manufacturer license at 4494 30th St Suite B about halfway between El Cajon Blvd and Adams Ave.

On the pending ABC License a “Christopher William Finch” is listed as a Managing Member of the new business. While I haven’t been able to confirm that this is the same person, Christopher Finch was one of the founders of the now defunct Firehouse Brewing Company in Mission Valley. In February 2011 UT San Diego’s Peter Rowe reported on a change in leadership at Firehouse, that Finch had been replaced as President and Board Chairman. Two months later in April I reported that Firehouse Brewing had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and shortly after that their assets were sold at auction.

If anyone has any more info on Poor House Brewing Co. & Supply or knows if this is the same Christopher Finch that co-founded Firehouse Brewing please leave a comment below or send me an email, I’d love to hear more.

Update: The now expired ABC License for Firehouse Brewing Company also lists “Christoper William Finch,” still not confirmation that this is the same person but seems more likely.