Get Your Homebrew Ready: Competitions and Homebrew Share

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san diego homebrew, san diego homebrew competition

Homebrewers: get your best beers ready, a few local beer businesses are hosting homebrew competitions and beer and recipe swaps in the coming weeks.

First up is Escondido’s Holiday Wine Cellar’s 3rd Annual Homebrew Competition. You might remember last year’s winner, Indra Kunindra Curry Export Stout, which was brewed by Ballast Point and led to homebrewer Alex Tweet landing a job at the brewery. For this year’s winner will be brewedin collaboration with Iron Fist Brewing Company. There’s no entry fee, homebrewers are limited to three entries each and entries must be in by January 30th. So if you’ve got something good ready to go, read all the details here.

Next up is Bottlecraft’s homebrew share and recipe swap. This one isn’t a formal competition, just a friendly bottle share and recipe swap. There’s no charge, just bring some homebrew and recipes to share. It’s happening Wednesday February 15th at 7pm. Check Bottlecraft’s Facebook page for more info as the date nears.

Last but not least, Monkey Paw is hosting their first ever homebrew competition in February. Monkey Paw’s head brewer Derek Freese got his start as a homebrewer (in fact Monkey Paw is his first pro brewing gig). Entries are free and each brewer can enter two different beers. Beers must be delivered to Monkey Paw by February 24th. The winning entry will be brewed at Monkey Paw, check here for all the details.

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San Diego Brewed: Ballast Point Sculpin

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sculpin ipa

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.

Ballast Point Brewing Co.’s Sculpin IPA is a beer that I assume most people reading this blog know fairly well. At 7% ABV it’s right on the IPA/DIPA brink. It’s 70 IBU with a pretty light body and low malt profile which makes the hops really stand out.

Sculpin took the gold medal at the 2010 World Beer Cup in the IPA category, and it’s not hard to understand why. The hops jump out at you in both the smell and taste. It’s hugely fruity and juicy with smells and flavors reminiscent of all sorts of fruits: mango, peach, and apricot. I don’t get a ton of citrus flavors from it, but some people do. It’s not overly bitter, there’s plenty of hops but they showcase flavor over bitterness.

This is a beer that folks all over the country (and world) seek out, but we’re lucky enough to be able to get it year round with ease. Get a growler filled at the source (Ballast Point has two brewery locations with tasting bars/growler fills in San Diego) for the freshest possible taste. 22oz bombers typically cost between $7-8 while six packs of 12oz bottles go for around $15. I picked this 12oz bottle up at Bottlecraft for $2.50 (broken down from a six pack).

San Diego Brewed: Ballast Point Victory at Sea

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caffe calabria, Victory at Sea

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.

The most recent release of Ballast Point’s Victory at Sea (an Imperial Porter with coffee and vanilla) is my favorite batch yet. It’s a big beer, 10% ABV, but it’s dangerously easy to drink. Past years releases of Victory at Sea have always been good, but there’s something about this one that’s just great. Ballast Point uses cold brewed coffee from Caffe Calabria in North Park and the roasty coffee seems to come through much more than I remember it previously.

The vanilla is still present, and comes through mid sip along with some chocolate like flavors. There isn’t much hop bitterness, far more coffee roastiness, and the alcohol is there but pretty well hidden. Like I said it’s dangerously easy to drink.

Coffee flavor in beer can fade rather quickly. But big dark beers like this can age wonderfully. I highly recommend picking up a few bottles and drinking some fresh and aging some if that’s your thing. And be on the look out for Bourbon Barrel-aged version of Victory at Sea on draft popping up around town (especially at Ballast Point’s two locations) every once in a while.

Typically Victory at Sea is released once per year and usually sells out pretty quickly. I picked up a few 22oz bottles at Bottlecraft for $7.75 each (which I’m pretty sure was cheaper than buying at the brewery). Worth every penny.

San Diego Brewed: Ballast Point Black Marlin Porter

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Ballast Point Black Marlin Porter

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.

Until recently I can’t remember that last time I had Ballast Point’s Black Marlin Porter. I know I’ve had it in the past, it’s been around a long time and it’s around quite a bit it’s available year round and never too hard to find. Which means I’ve often overlooked it in favor of beers that might not be around the next time I’m at the bottleshop or pub. (I think I’ve mentioned this before, but one of my intentions with the San Diego Brewed column is to highlight some of the great beers being brewed here in San Diego that don’t get talked about much, maybe because they’re fairly ubiquitous.) To further highlight this point I know I’ve had Bourbon Barrel Aged Black Marlin, Black Marlin with Chocolate and Chipotle, and I think Black Marlin with Cocoa Nibs in the not too distant past, but it’s been a while since I had a pint of the regular Black Marlin Porter.

With that in mind I picked up a 22oz bomber at Bottlecraft for around four bucks ($3.99 if I remember right). In the beer geek world that’s a great price, not many beers I buy are that cheap. The bottle doesn’t list it, but Ballast Point’s website shows that Black Marlin is 6% ABV and 45 IBU. Black Marlin is pretty easy drinking despite it’s dark (sometimes intimidating) color.

The smell is roasty with more coming through in the taste. Roasted coffee flavors are an obvious comparison (probably due to roasted malts). There’s a light sweetness as well that’s a bit reminiscent of semi-sweet chocolate. The bitterness is more similar to coffee than hops until the very end when a long, pleasant hop bitter finish and aftertaste come along. One of my complaints about many porters is that they often feel thin (maybe due to the expectation that such a dark beer will be heavier) but that isn’t the case here, Black Marlin isn’t heavy but certainly isn’t thin and watery.

A solid beer at a great price.

What’s the deal with Fresh Hop Beers?

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dry hop vs fresh hop, dry hop vs wet hop, Fallbrook Estate Pale Ale, fresh hop, Get Wet IPA, High Tide Fresh Hop IPA, Low Tide Fresh Hop Pale Ale, Schooner Fresh Hop Ale 2011, Wet Coaster, wet hop

As we head into Fall here in San Diego the leaves might not change much, but the beers available on beer shelves around the county sure do. Gone are the lighter summer seasonals and out come the darker beers that are more fitting for the Fall season including: Oktoberfest/Märzen and pumpkin pie spiced beers. But there’s one group of beers that comes out in the fall out of necessity, there’s a short window at the end of summer and beginning of Fall these beers can be brewed, these are fresh hop, or sometimes called wet hop beers.

Hop Pellets

To understand the fresh hop beers you have to understand hop production. Hops are an herb that are harvested once per year at the end of summer (technically hops are harvested twice per year, once in the Northern Hemisphere and once in the Southern Hemisphere, but we’re going to ignore the Southern Hemisphere for the sake of explanation). Once harvested hops are delicate and must be used in their fresh form very quickly (which is why not many Northern Hemisphere brewers make fresh hop beers with Southern Hemisphere hops, although Sierra Nevada has done it). In order to brew beer year round most of the hops harvested are dried and formed into pellets or plugs, this allows them to last longer. The vast majority of beers are made with these dried hop pellets.

Fresh hop beers are often Pale Ales or IPAs, but typically not as bitter as their more common counterparts made with dried hops in order to better showcase the fresh hops which can often be more bright and fragrant. Depending upon the hop variety used the beers can showcase more herbal, floral, grassy and even fruity characteristics. It can be hard to describe and sounds kind of silly, but often compared to traditional beers made with hop pellets these beers just taste more fresh.

Fresh Hops

Locally there are a handful of breweries making fresh hop beers. Port Brewing Company released Fallbrook Estate Pale Ale a few weeks ago, made entirely with hops grown in North County. This one is pretty limited and is draft only and available only at the brewery, it’ll go quick (if it isn’t gone already).

Port Brewing Company also produces High Tide an IPA every year. This one does make its way into bottles and hits distribution so it should be easier to find. Check out pictures of Port’s Tomme Arthur’s trip to Yakima, Washington to pick out the hops for this year’s batch.

Ballast Point releases their Schooner Fresh Hop Ale 2011 today. It’s a 5.4% ABV American Pale Ale that is only available on draft. It will be at both Ballast Point locations until it runs out, I’m not sure if they’ll be sending kegs out to other bars and restaurants.

Hess Brewing Company brewed two fresh hop beers this year, both called Wet Coaster IPA. One uses Centennial and Amarillo hops while the other is a single hop brew using only Crystal hops. The first version was released last week, no word on if they have any left or not as for today (9/22) Hess still has some of the Centennial and Amarillo hopped version of Wet Coaster available, and they’re planning on releasing the second all Crystal version tomorrow. Hess brews in small batches so check with them before hand to see if it’s available before making a special trip.

The Pizza Port brewpubs often brew fresh hop beers. Get Wet IPA is at Pizza Port Ocean Beach, Low Tide a Pale Ale is at Pizza Port Solana Beach and Plant to Pint made with fresh Centennial, Cascade, Amarillo, and Simcoe is available at Pizza Port Carlsbad.

Fresh hop beers from Sierra Nevada, Great Divide and others usually make their way to San Diego in bottles, just make sure to drink them fresh like they’re intended to be had!

A note about the term “wet hop” and the process of “dry hopping” beers. Dry hopping means adding hops (in any form, fresh, dry, pellets, etc) to the beer after the boil while it is fermenting. This is done to add hop aroma. The term wet hop typically just refers to beers made with fresh hops. A fresh hop beer can be “dry hopped” with fresh hops, and some brewers choose to use the term “wet hop” instead of “fresh hop”. Kinda confusing ain’t it?

Got any questions about fresh hop beers? Leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Images used under Creative Commons license. Fresh hops: _Dekan_, Hop Pellets: epicbeer

Updated 9/22/2011 at 4:07pm

San Diego Weekend Beer Events Thursday 9/22 – Sunday 9/25

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2007 Stone Imperial Russian Stout, adams avenue beer taste, Ballast Point Behind the Brewery, beer for boobs, Beer for Boobs fundraiser, Dark Seas Russian Imperial Stout, Dorado DIPA, miho gastrotruck, San Diego County Beer Fair, Schooner Fresh Hop Ale, Stone Imperial Russian Stout

I’m hoping to get back into the habit of regularly posting beer events. I won’t be posting all events, and just because an event isn’t listed doesn’t mean it isn’t worth going to. I’ll just pick one or two a day. I try to keep the Events Calendar up to date, so check it for the full list of things going on around down. If you know of a beer event that isn’t listed send me an email, events@sandiegobeerblog.com

I’m also testing out a new format, instead of posting a weeks worth of events at once, I’ll be posting the weekend events on Wednesday night or Thursday and then posting on Sunday or Monday if there’s anything noteworthy going on Monday-Wednesday of a given week.

Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011:

The “Behind the Brewery” beer dinner’s at Ballast Point Linda Vista/Home Brew Mart are always fun. MIHO Gastrotruck pulls up behind the brewery and pairs their food with some of Ballast Point’s beers. It’s also the last day to get growler fills of Dorado DIPA and the first day to get your growlers filled with Schooner Fresh Hop Ale.

New Mission Brewery release - Dark Seas Russian Imperial Stout

Down at Mission Brewery they’ll be unveiling Dark Seas Russian Imperial Stout at 5pm with a cask tapped at 6pm. We hope that this is the first of many new and seasonal beers to come out of their new space. They’ll also have a food truck on site.

Friday, Sept. 23, 2011:

Up in North County Lost Abbey/Port Brewing Company is hosting a Beer for Boobs fundraiser. $10 gets you a commemorative pint glass and two pints of anything on tap.

Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011:

Some people say that the San Diego beer festival market is getting saturated, and that could be the case, but don’t let it stop you from checking out one of the two festivals happening today. The San Diego County Beer Fair is happening at Liberty Station. Prices range from $35-50 for 12 4oz pours.

Over at the Adams Avenue Street Fair they’re having the Adams Avenue Beer Taste and billing it as the cheapest beer tasting event in San Diego. $20 gets you 12 4oz tasters.

Sunday, Sept. 25, 2011:

Stone Brewing Co.’s Imperial Russian Stout gets better with age, stop by the Stone Company Store in Escondido to pick up bottles that Stone has properly cellared since 2007 starting at 11am when the store opens.

Adams Avenue Beer Tasting at Adams Avenue Street Fair, Saturday Sept. 24th

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adams ave beer taste, adams ave street fair, adams avenue beer taste, adams avenue street fair

The Adams Avenue Street Fair, which happens over two days in September every year along Adams Avenue in Normal Heights has long been one of the best street fairs and free music festivals around. In order to make things even better this year they’re adding a beer tasting area from Noon-6pm on Saturday, Sept 24th.

They’re not calling it a beer festival, but it’s a similar concept. $20 gets you in (far cheaper than most beer events of the kind) and 12 4oz tasters from fifteen breweries including Karl Strauss, Coronado, Manzanita, Stone, The Lost Abbey, Ballast Point and more. I’m told they’re selling a limited number of tickets, so things shouldn’t get too crowded and chances are good it will sell out before the day of the event.

The Adams Ave Street Fair always has good music, and now there will be good local beer as well. And if you still need more beer when you run out of taster tickets you can stop into Blind Lady Ale House, conveniently located in the heart of the festival for more.

Click here to buy tickets to the Adams Avenue Beer Tasting at the Adams Avenue Street Fair.

Photo: CC flickr user Roebot

Ballast Point Seafood Pairing Dinner at Sea Rocket Bistro | Sept 8th, 2011

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chad white, colby chandler, Even Keel Session Ale, sculpin ipa, Sour Wench Blackberry Ale, Tongue Buckler Imperial Red Ale, Wahoo Wheat

Taking a look at Ballast Point’s beer names and label’s it’s obvious that the folks at Ballast Point are into fishing. So it surprised me a bit when I read on Sea Rocket Bistro’s website that their upcoming Ballast Point dinner happening tonight, Thursday, Sept 8th was the first to pair Ballast Point’s beers exclusively with seafood.

I’ll admit, I don’t know a thing about seafood, but I met and drank beers with Sea Rocket’s chef Chad White last week, discussing flavors and pairing ideas for a vegan beer dinner we’re planning for San Diego Beer Week with LoveLikeBeer and the guy knows his stuff.

But more on that later. The five course, $60 Ballast Point seafood dinner is happening tonight at Sea Rocket Bistro with Ballast Point Specialty Brewer Colby Chandler on hand. Reservations are recommended (619-255-7049, sorry for not posting about this sooner) but walk-ins are welcome as well.

The Ballast Point beers for the dinner will be Wahoo Wheat, Even Keel Session Ale, Sour Wench Blackberry Ale, Sculpin IPA (on cask) and Tongue Buckler Imperial Red Ale. Click the image above or click through here to see the food paired with each beer.

Ballast Point Indra Kunindra India-Style Export Stout gets Label Approval

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indra kunindra India-Style export stout

Update 9/23/2011: Holiday Wine Cellar posted on their Facebook page that bottles are now available at HWC. I’ve heard rumors bottles may be available at Ballast Point in the future, but have not confirmed that.

Update 9/1/2011: According to Holiday Wine Cellar’s Labor Day newsletter bottles should be released in early October.

I wrote about Ballast Point’s Indra Kunindra India-Style Export Stout, a stout brewed with curry spices, coconut, kaffir lime, cayenne and cumin, a couple months ago when it was first on draft in their tasting room. Indra Kunindra, the winner of Holiday Wine Cellar’s 2nd Annual Homebrew competition last year, seemed to have an uncertain future at the time, the folks at Ballast Point told me they weren’t sure if it would ever get bottled or not. This week Ballast Point got label approval for 22oz bottles of Indra Kunindra, which doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed to bottle it, but chances are pretty good the beer will make it into bottles at this point.

Judging by the number of pageviews my previous post on Indra Kunindra received, there seems to be high demand for this beer. Putting it in bottles should help more people try it that can’t make it to one of Ballast Point’s locations.

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.