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San Diego Brewed: Lightning Brewery Thunderweizen Ale

13 Tuesday Sep 2011

Posted by Jeff Hammett in beer reviews, breweries, lightning brewing co., san diego brewed

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Jim Crute, Lightning Thunderweizen, Thunderweizen Ale

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.

ThunderweizenPoway’s Lightning Brewery often gets overlooked in the crowded beer market that is San Diego today. They don’t brew any over the top hop bomb West Coast IPAs, in fact they don’t brew any (American style) IPAs at all (although Lightning’s Jim Crute says their Black Lightning Porter is really a Black IPA, I’ll have to revisit that one when the fresh batch comes out. Unlike most other breweries in San Diego, Lightning focuses mostly on classic European styles, sometimes with tweaks and changes and sometimes brewed traditionally. Case in point: Thunderweizen Ale their German-style Hefeweizen.

I’ll admit I’m not hefeweizen expert (I wouldn’t call myself an expert on any style of beer, but there are plenty of styles I know a lot more about) so I can’t evaluate Lightning’s claim that this is a traditional German style hefeweizen, though I have no reason to doubt it.

Thunderweizen is listed at 5.5% ABV with no IBU given, but I would guess not much, this beer is much more about the yeast (‘hefe’ means yeast in German) and wheat than being hoppy. It’s cloudy and unfiltered, as even novice hefeweizen drinkers have come to expect from the style, dark yellow with a fluffy white head.

As soon as I stared to pour I could smell it, even with my nose about a foot away from the glass, this is a aromatic beer. Big sweet over-ripe banana smells dominate with just a bit of clove spiciness in the background when you really get your nose in there.

The taste however was just the opposite. Spicy clove flavors up front with a noticeable but somewhat subdued banana flavor coming second. The finish is dry, much drier than I expected for a beer like this. And there’s a pleasant bitter, clove like spice aftertaste that hangs around after taking each sip.

Thunderweizen is available in 22oz bottles ($4-6) and on draft.

Bottlecraft

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Farmhouse Friday: Lightning Brewery Electrostatic Ale

01 Friday Apr 2011

Posted by Jeff Hammett in beer reviews, breweries, farmhouse friday, lightning brewing co.

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biere de garde, imperial biere de garde, lightning electrostatic ale

Lightning Brewery’s Electrostatic Ale is a high gravity Biere de Garde, the lesser known of the two styles that make up “farmhouse ales” (the other style being Saison). More on the differences between the two styles in a future blog post.

Electrostatic Ale weighs in at 10% ABV and costs about $7 per 22oz bomber. I bought this bottle at the brewery in Poway but bottles can be found at many stores around town. Here’s what Lightning says about Electrostatic on their website:

This is our French Farmhouse Ale, whose rich aroma is full of sweet, fruity esters and notes of farmhouse yeast character. This medium-bodied, unfiltered beer has sweet malty foundation with a touch of sourness and hints of spiciness which add an intriguing character to the beer. Like the flavor, our carbonation is naturally produced by our fermentation methods – light, playful, champagne-like bubbles make enjoying this beer an experience not to be missed.

As soon as I started pouring this beer I knew I should have poured it more carefully the pillowy white head was building atop a tiny amount of beer. After letting it settle a bit I poured some more which is what you see in the picture. This beer was much darker than many farmhouse ales I’ve had before, a red or dark orange color. As far as I can tell Biere de Garde’s can typically range from a lighter golden color to a darker orange or red, so this isn’t unusual.

The smell was very sweet, sugary and candy smelling from the Belgian yeast. The taste however wasn’t anything like the smell let on. There were some bready malts at first and then the alcohol started to come through. It’s apparent this is a high ABV beer, but it’s not overpowering or distracting. Just a reminder that you shouldn’t drink too much of it if you have things to do afterwards. I didn’t pick up many fruity ester or any sourness that they describe but there was some spiciness possibly from both the hops and the yeast. There was some clove like phenolic flavors but they were kept in check enough to not overpower everything else.

This is a great beer for these warmer days, but still cooler nights we’ve been having lately. Probably not one you would want to drink on the hottest day of summer though.

San Diego Beer Events March 31th – April 6th

31 Thursday Mar 2011

Posted by Jeff Hammett in bars and restaurants, breweries, eleven, events, hamilton's tavern, KNB wine cellars, lightning brewing co., small bar, toronado

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hamilton's firkin friday, knb beerbq, mad river brewing company, shipyard brewing company, steelhead dipa, Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans, toronado tart tuesday

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

Thursday Mar 31st:

I haven’t heard of anything special going on. If you know of something please email events@sandiegobeerblog.comto get it added.

Friday April 1st:

Mad River Brewing Company makes some seriously good beers. At last year’s Great American Beer Festival they won the Small Brewing Company of the year category and took home a gold, silver and bronze medal. Hamilton’s Tavern will have their Steelhead Double IPA on cask for this week’s Firkin Friday. Chances are good they’ll have a few other Mad River treats as well.

Saturday April 2nd:

Now that it’s spring it’s time for KNB Wine Cellars to start up their BeerBQ’s again. This time it’s with Portland Maine’s Shipyard Brewing Company. They’ll have around 15 beers from Shipyard on draft paired with traditional New England food. Check out more details on Facebook.

Sunday April 3rd:

Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans seems to be showing on draft at more bars and restaurants recently, but the only way to get some to enjoy at home is to get a growler filled at the brewery in Escondido. They don’t do fills all the time, so if you’re a fan head on up Sunday to get a growler full.

Monday April 4th:

Pint night at both Toronado and Eleven with $3 drafts. Eleven offers all of their on-tap beers for $3 from open to close while Toronado offers locals for $3 from 6pm to close.

Tuesday April 5th:

Toronado hasn’t announced many details on this one yet, but they’re calling this “Tart Tuesday” and say it’s a night sour lovers won’t want to miss. I expect Toronado will post more details here as the date nears.

Wednesday April 6th:

Small Bar will have some beers from Poway’s Lightning Brewery on tap with a keep the glass special. $5.50 gets your glass and first beer and refills are only $3.50 after that. No word on exactly what they’ll have on draft but Lightning is a nice change of pace from some of the overly hoppy beers around town.

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San Diego Beer Events, March 10th – March 16th

09 Wednesday Mar 2011

Posted by Jeff Hammett in alpine beer co., blind lady ale house, chicks for beer, drinkabout, eleven, events, hamilton's tavern, homebrew, karl strauss brewing co., lightning brewing co., live wire, manzanita brewing co., pizza port ocean beach, press box, ritual tavern, sea rocket bistro, small bar, stone brewing world bistro and gardens, the high dive, the station, the tipsy crow, toronado, west coaster

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2010 Double Bastard Ale with Chipotle Peppers, aha rally, aison du BUFF, american homebrewers association, brewbies, crime, Double Dry Hopped Lukcy Basartd Ale, Duet, Exponential Hoppiness, karl strauss 22nd anniversary vanilla imperial stout, laura ulrich, Mchilhenny Red, oak barrel aged Double Bastard Ale, punishment, stone brewing co march madness homebrew competition, Stone Imperial Russian Stout GK's Mad Man Mix, token imperial porter, while the wife's away ipa

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

Thursday Mar 10th:

I don’t have many of the details on tonight’s “mini-Brewbies” Fest at Toronado, but they say they’ll have a few pink beers on tap and will be donating a significant portion of the money they make tonight to the Keep-a-Breast Foundation. There’s sure to be some great beer, and you’ll be supporting a great cause.

For those of you in the East County (of even if you’re not, it’s not that far of a drive) The Press Box Bar and Sports Lounge in Rancho San Diego/El Cajon is hosting Lightning Brewery. Head Brewer Jim Crute will be on hand with Lightning’s full lineup of beers. The $25 tickets include beer and food samples. If you’re set on going call ahead to reserve your spot. 619-713-6990

Friday Mar 11th:

Seems like it’s a slow Friday night beer-wise this week. Of course there’s always plenty of great beer around town, but Pizza Port Ocean Beach will be tapping a cask of While the Wife’s Away IPA at 5pm.

Saturday Mar 12th:

The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) is holding one of their homebrew get togethers (called the AHA Rally) at Stone Brewing Co. I attended an AHA Rally a few years back in Colorado and had a great time, I’m sure this one will be much larger with a lot more homebrew. The Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens sounds like the perfect setting. It’s free for AHA members or you can sign up at the door. Space is limited so RSVP (or get on the waiting list if it’s already full)

No Firkin Friday last night (at Hamilton’s Tavern anyway) means it must be Second Saturday. This month they’re hosting the Alpine Beer Co. They’ll have Duet and Token Imperial Porter with Oak and Vanilla Beans on cask and a whole slew of other Alpine beers on draft, including what is one of the last kegs of Exponential Hoppiness around. As with all Second Saturday’s, they’ll have complimentary food, this month an Irish feast with Mchilhenny Red Corned Beef and Cabbage, Token Porter Bread Pudding and more.

Sunday Mar 13th:

Know of a great beer event happening? Email events@sandiegobeerblog.com

Monday Mar 14th:

Pint night at both Toronado and Eleven with $3 drafts. Eleven offers all of their on-tap beers for $3 from open to close while Toronado offers locals for $3 from 6pm to close.

Tuesday Mar 15th:

Tipsy Crow is tapping a cask of Karl Strauss’s 22nd Anniversary Imperial Stout with Vanilla Beans. This is one of my favorite beers I’ve had on cask recently. There probably aren’t a whole lot of chances to get this on cask again. It’s good on draft, but great on cask.

This month’s installment of Chicks for Beer at The High Dive will feature Stone Brewing Co.’s Laura Ulrich (I wrote about Laura in the March issue of West Coaster). Ulrich, along with two other female brewers, brewed the first ever all female commercial collaboration beer earlier this year. Buy your tickets in advance and remember, this one is ladies only.

Wednesday Mar 16th:

The monthly DrinkAbout is happening at some of the Uptown bars. A free shuttle runs from 7pm-11pm between Hamilton’s Tavern, Station Tavern, Sea Rocket Bistro, Ritual Tavern, Blind Lady Ale House, Small Bar, Livewire and Toronado. There are sure to be plenty of specials but I’ve only heard of two so far. Sea Rocket will have flights from Manzanita Brewing Co. and Hamilton’s and Small Bar will have Brekle’s Brown, a new brown ale from Anchor Steam. This is the first time it will be on tap in San Diego and they’re doing a keep the glass special.

Up at Stone Brewing Co. they’re featuring Crime and Punishment keep the glass specials. Crime is Double Dry Hopped Lukcy Basartd Ale with chili peppers and Punishment is oak barrel aged Double
Bastard Ale with chili peppers. They glasses will be small (I can’t imagine wanting more than a taster of each) but you’ll get to take them home with you. They’ll also be filling growlers of Saison du BUFF, 2010 Double Bastard Ale with Chipotle Peppers, and Stone Imperial Russian Stout GK’s Mad Man Mix in the company store.

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San Diego Beer Events, March 3rd – March 9th

02 Wednesday Mar 2011

Posted by Jeff Hammett in alesmith brewing co., ballast point brewing co., beer dinners, breweries, chuchills pub, eleven, events, green flash brewing co., hamilton's tavern, KNB wine cellars, lightning brewing co., lost abbey, ritual tavern, sierra nevada brewing co., small bar, the bruery, toronado

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2008 Barrel Aged Sea Monster Imperial Stout, 2009 Sea Monster Imperial Stout, Abandon Ship Smoked Lager, Abandon Ship Smoked Lager with Dried Smoked Chipotles, carnevale, Churchill's Finest Hour, churchill's renaissance, fiji yogurt, firkin friday, habanero sculpin ipa, knb bbq, miho gastrotruck, Old Tempest Ale, pliny the younger churchill's pub, saison de lente, Sea Monster Imperial Stout, sierra nevada week, Tongue Buckler

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

Thursday Mar 3rd:

Ballast Point is teaming up with MIHO Gastrotruck and Fiji Yogurt for another casual beer dinner. MIHO will be serving Drunken Wild Mexican Shrimp and Grits prepared with Abandon Ship Smoked Lager and Fiji will have a Ballast Point Tongue Buckler wort based yogurt, flavored with Peanut Butter and Honey. Ballast Point will be pouring plenty of beers including Abandon Ship Smoked Lager, Abandon Ship Smoked Lager with Dried Smoked Chipotles, Habanero Sculpin IPA, 2008 Barrel Aged Sea Monster Imperial Stout, 2009 Sea Monster Imperial Stout and this year’s version of Sea Monster Imperial Stout. They’ll have recommendations on which beers pair best with what food. This all happens from 4:30-7pm at Ballast Point/Homebrew Mart in Linda Vista.

Friday Mar 4th:

Another Friday, another Firkin Friday at Hamilton’s Tavern. This week they’ll feature Poway’s Lightning Brewery with a cask of their Old Tempest Ale, their 9.5% ABV UK style strong ale. As usual Hamilton’s should have a couple other Lightning beers on draft as well.

Saturday Mar 5th:

Churchill’s Pub and Grille in San Marcos is hosting their second annual Churchill’s Renaissance. Starting at 11am they’ll have all sorts of delicious beers that don’t see the light of day too often. Sure they’ll have Russian River Brewing Company’s much sought after Pliny the Younger, but they’ll also have a ton of other delicious and rare beers including this year’s version of Port Brewing Co.’s Churchill’s Finest Hour, an imperial stout aged in Jack Daniels whiskey barrels. Get there early for the extra rare stuff.

Sunday Mar 6th:

Sierra Nevada Beer BrunchBQ Finale is happening at KNB Wine Cellars from 11am-3pm to finish off their Sierra Nevada week. They should still have plenty of great Sierra Nevada beers and some delicious food on the BBQ.

Monday Mar 7th:

Pint night at both Toronado and Eleven with $3 drafts. Eleven offers all of their on-tap beers for $3 from open to close while Toronado offers locals for $3 from 6pm to close.

Tuesday Mar 8th:

Ritual Tavern will be having a Fat Tuesday celebration. They’ll have The Bruery’s Saison de Lente and Lost Abbey’s Carnevale on draft. For food they’ll have fried oyster Po-boys, gumbo and beignets.

Wednesday Mar 9th:

Ballast Point and Green Flash are teaming up to take over all the taps at Rancho Bernardo’s URGE Gastropub. They’ll split URGE’s 51 taps fairly evenly and if you get there early you might even score a commemorative pint glasses to take home. No word on what each brewery will be brining but expect some great beers to be pouring.

Down at Small Bar they’ll be featuring AleSmith with some keep the glass specials and pint glasses to take home.

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San Diego Beer Week 2010 Preview Weekend, June 10-13

08 Tuesday Jun 2010

Posted by Jeff Hammett in alesmith brewing co., allagash brewing co., ballast point brewing co., downtown johnny brown's, hamilton's tavern, home brew mart, lightning brewing co., ritual tavern, san diego beer week

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bear republic brewing co., beer hall, black lightning porter, fairweather pale ale, firkin friday, hamilton's padres day, mission valley craft beer festival, san diego beer week preview, san diego beer week preview weekend, san diego beer week'nd, san diego beer weekend, speedway stout, speedway stout ice cream, suds for surgeries, the lodge at torrey pines, world cup san diego

Sure, it’s only Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean it’s too soon to start thinking about the upcoming weekend. Especially when that weekend just so happens to be the preview weekend for the 2010 San Diego Beer Week (sometimes cleverly referred to as San Diego Beer Week’nd). The first ever San Diego Beer Week took place last November, and the second year of the event will be taking place this year from November 5-14, but there’s just so much great beer around that they have decided to hold a special preview weekend.

San Diego Beer Week Preview Weekend events starts Thursday evening with a beginner brewing class at Home Brew Mart taught by Ballast Point Brewing Co. brewer Doug Duffield. Homebrewing is a great way to learn about beer and is fun and delicious. This class will go over the basics of brewing and will brew a 5 gallon batch. The class is limited to 30 people and costs $10. Call (619) 295-2337 to reserve a spot. And if a beginner brewing class would be too basic for you, stop by Home Brew Mart on Friday for a 10% discount on all products.

If you would rather drink beer than learn how to make it Thursday night both Ritual Tavern and Hamilton’s Tavern have you covered. Ritual Tavern will host a very special blend of Alesmith Brewing Co.’s Speedway Stout. Starting at 8pm they’ll have a 3 year blend of Speedway, 2008 and 2009 were barrel aged and blended with fresh 2010 Speedway Stout and Ritual Tavern will be pairing this with homemade Speedway Stout ice cream. This will be a unique beer, one you probably won’t ever get to taste again. Speedway Stout is in my top 10 all time favorite beers. I’m excited to try this.

Over at Hamilton’s Tavern they’re doing their Firkin Friday a night early on Thursday hosting Lightning Brewing Co. They’ll have Fairweather Pale Ale on cask and Elemental and Black Lightning Porter on draught.

Friday is Allagash Night at Downtown Johnny Brown’s (in case you missed the Allagash flights at Blind Lady Ale House this past weekend, or just want more). They’ll have Curieux, Victor, Victoria, Confluence, Wit, Interlude, Odyssey, Fluxus 09′, Four and Dubbel as well as BBQ brisket in a Curieux sauce. Also Friday night is Beer Hall at The Lodge at Torrey Pines. Seven chefs will join seven brewers to pair beer and food. It’s $60 per person and 10% of the proceeds will go to the San Diego Brewer’s Guild. Click here for the menu and beer pairings.

Saturday Ballast Point Brewing Co. will be hosting a tasting of their three beers that won the World Beer Cup Champion Small Brewery. That’s Sculpin IPA, barrel aged Piper Down Scottish Ale and Fathom India Pale Lager. Also on tap will be 3 Sheets Barleywine aged on 3 Sheets rum soaked oak chips. That all happens at Ballast Point Brewing Co. in Linda Vista from 1oam-5pm Saturday. After that head on over to Hamilton’s for 2nd Saturday with Bear Republic. There will be casks of Racer X Imperial IPA and Big Bear Black Stout and 18 Bear Republic beers on draught as well as complimentary BBQ from the kitchen.

Sunday wraps up San Diego Beer Week Preview Weekend with the 4th Annual Hamilton’s Padres Day (which as of this writing it appears as if there are still tickets available) for $45 you get field level tickets at Petco Park, a Hamilton’s baseball jersey, transportation from Hamilton’s to Petco and back, two drinks at the pre-game party at Downtown Johnny Brown’s as well as craft beer on the bus.

Sunday is also Suds for Surgeries, the first ever Mission Valley Craft Beer Festival at The Handlery Hotel. $30 gets you unlimited beer and food tastings.  Participating Breweries on hand will be: Airdale, Ballast Point, Coronado, Firehouse, Green Flash, Karl Strauss, Mission and Stone Brewing Co.

And if all that weren’t good enough, the 2010 FIFA World Cup gets started Friday June 11th. Plenty of bars around San Diego will be showing the games and offering drink and food specials. One game which ought to be pretty good and draw a crowd is USA vs. England on Saturday. If you know of any other beer events this weekend, or have a favorite bar (with a great beer selection) to watch the World Cup leave a comment below.

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