San Diego Brewers Bring Home Awards Aplenty at 2011 GABF

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gabf 2011, gabf san diego 2011, gabf san diego awards, gabf san diego medals, great american beer festival, san diego beer awards

Last year San Diego breweries brought home fifteen medals from the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Saturday afternoon the awards were announced in 83 beer categories with San Diego breweries bringing home twenty medals. In addition to the individual beer categories six brewery awards are given out and San Diego breweries brought home two of those titles.

Pizza Port Carlsbad was named Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year for the third year in a row. Pizza Port Ocean Beach and brewer Yiga Miyashiro took home the award for Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year for the first time. Overall the three San Diego Pizza Port locations dominated, bringing in twelve of San Diego’s twenty medals (Pizza Port San Clemente took home one bronze medal).

Pizza Port Carlsbad alone brought home six medals, tied for second place for most medals with Firestone Walker (Rock Bottom also took six medals, but all Rock Bottom locations were entered together, not separate for each location as Pizza Port was). Pizza Port Carlsbad also tied for second place with Firestone Walker for most gold medals won with three. Sun King Brewing in Indianapolis took home the most gold medals (four) as well as most medals overall with eight.

California breweries took home the most medals with 51 total while Colorado came was second with 44. The state of Oregon was third with fifteen medals. Think about that for a moment, San Diego breweries alone came home with five more medals than the entire state of Oregon and San Diego accounted for nearly 40% of California’s medals.

Congrats to Pizza Port Carlsbad, Pizza Port Ocean Beach, Pizza Port Solana Beach, Rock Bottom La Jolla, Rock Bottom San Diego, The Lost Abbey/Port Brewing Company, AleSmith and Karl Strauss for their awards. Keep reading for the list of San Diego winners and a link to the full list.

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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

This Weekend’s America’s Finest Beer Festival Canceled

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america's finest beer festival

The folks behind this weekend’s America’s Finest Beer Festival, which was slated to begin tomorrow at 3pm have asked me to help get the word out that the event has been canceled. The text below was posted to their website this afternoon.

According to West Coaster tickets purchased through Ticketweb will be refunded automatically.

San Diego Beer Events July 15th – July 20th

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

If you know of anything that isn’t on the events calendar, please email events@sandiegobeerblog.com to get it added.  Not all of the beer events happening in a given week make it on the list below, I pick one or two per day to avoid information overload. Make sure to check out the Events page or the calendar below this post for all the week’s events. As always, events are subject to change, check with the venue putting on the event before hand for more details.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pizza Port Carlsbad Poor Man’s IPA Earns Best in Show at 2011 San Diego International Beer Festival

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2011 San Diego International Beer Festival results, 2011 San Diego International Beer Festival winners, big wednesday belgian ipa, good grief brown ale, poor man's ipa, Red Poppy, San Diego International Beer Festival results, San Diego International Beer Festival winners, shark attack, veritas 008

The results are in from last weekend San Diego International Beer Festival competition and this year Pizza Port Carlsbad’s Poor Man’s IPA took home the gold medal for Imperial IPA’s as well as the best in show top honors. This marks the third year in a row that a beer from one of the four Pizza Port locations has been designated Best in Show. Last year’s Best in Show winner was Big Wednesday, a Belgian style IPA from Pizza Port Solana Beach. In 2009 Pizza Port Carlsbad received Best in Show for Good Grief Brown Ale (which recieved a Bronze this year in the English-Style Brown Ale category).

Plenty of other San Diego breweries took home medals this year. Stone Brewing Co., Tailgate Beer, Green Flash, Karl Strauss and AleSmith all walked away with a gold medal each. Pizza Port Ocean Beach took home two gold medals while Port Brewing/The Lost Abbey was awarded three gold medals (Shark Attack on the Port side and Veritas 008 and Red Poppy on the Lost Abbey side) as well as receiving the most overall medals out of any brewery with six total by my count.

Click here for a PDF of the full list of medal winners.

 

Stone Sour Fest 2011

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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.

San Diego Beer Events May 12th – May 18th

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american craft beer week, american craft beer week san diego, ballast point day, Barrel Aged Sea Monster Stout, Barrel Aged Tongue Buckler, Barrel Aged Victory at Sea, hamilton's second saturday, karl strauss beach to brewery, lost abbey 5th anniversary, LOVELIKEBEER, north park beer festival, north park festival of the arts craft beer block, port brewing 5th anniversary, progressive cask, stone green tea ipa, stone japan benefit beer, stone japan benefit collaboration, stone second saturday

If you know of anything that isn’t on the events calendar, please email events@sandiegobeerblog.com to get it added.  Not all of the beer events happening in a given week make it on the list below, I pick one or two per day to avoid information overload. Make sure to check out the Events page or the calendar below this post for all the week’s events.

Thursday May 12th:

LOVELIKEBEER is putting on their first all Vegan Beer Dinner at Sea Rocket Bistro tonight from 6-10pm. Each food and 6oz beer pairing is $10 and 10% of the night’s sales go to the International Rescue Committee.

Friday May 13th:

Seems to be a quiet Friday in regards to beer. Blind Lady Ale House will be doing another Progressive Cask with lunch as they do most Fridays. They haven’t announced what the beer will be but it’s sure to be something good. And only $2 from 11:30am-2pm with the price going up by a buck per hour after that until it’s gone.

Saturday May 14th:

It’s going to be a busy Saturday. If you don’t  have tickets to the sold out Lost Abbey/ Port Brewing 5th Anniversary Party don’t fret, just head over to Karl Strauss’s main brewery in Pacific Beach for their 8th Annual Beach to Brewery festival. There will be some great local music and of course great beer on tap.

But that’s not all, 2nd Saturday at Hamilton’s Tavern this month is featuring Stone Brewing Co. The lineup looks pretty good with some barrel-aged and vintage Stone treats, many Stone collaborations and of course some free grub.

Sunday May 15th:

Just a few blocks from 30th Street in the heart of North Park during the North Park Festival of Arts is the Craft Beer Block. $25 in advance, or $30 at the door gets you ten tasters from over 20 breweries.

Monday May 16th:

Monday marks the start of American Craft Beer Week so there should be plenty of great beer events going on throughout the week.

Beer U: Inside the Craft Beer Industry at Stone Brewing Co. is sold out, but in celebration of ACBW Stone is dedicating all the taps in the Bistro to Southern California breweries so stop in and have something local.

Tuesday May 17th:

Ladies only: Chicks for Beer at The High Dive hosts The Lost Abbey. $25 in advance, or $30 at the door gets you five tasters and food pairings in addition to learning a bit about beer.

Wednesday May 18th:

Third Wednesday of the month means it’s Drink About time! Get on the (free) bus and head to some of the best beer bars in the city.

Stone is teaming up with a couple brewers from Japan to brew a Green Tea IPA as a benefit beer. Ex-Stone brewer Toshi Ishii (now of Ishii Brewing Co.) will be on hand with Bryan Baird of Baird Brewing Co. to brew it up with Stone’s Mitch Steele and company. As with most Stone collaborations they’ll be hanging out afterwards, from 4-6pm at the Bistro to chat with beer drinkers.

As if all that wasn’t enough, May 18th is officially Ballast Point Day here in San Diego and they’re heading to The High Dive to celebrate. They’ll have 20 BP beers on tap (including Barrel Aged Sea Monster Stout, Barrel Aged Tongue Buckler, and Barrel Aged Victory at Sea) as well as four cocktails made with Ballast Point spirits.

2011 Stone Oakquinox

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bill sysak, dr bill, duck duck guava, Fifty Fifty Brewing Co., Fifty Fifty Eclipse, Fifty Fifty Eclipse Four Roses, marron acidifie, no randall required, Oakquinox, Stone Imperial Russian Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels

From the better late than never file…

The second annual Oakquinox beer festival at the Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens this past weekend was probably the best beer festival I’ve ever attended. Many beer festivals are in parking lots, Oakquinox was in a garden. Many beer festivals are crowded with long lines, Oakquinox was well attended but we weren’t packed in like sardines. With the exception of the bottle line (which still wasn’t too bad) I don’t think I waited more than about 2-3 minutes in line all day. And to say the beer list was phenomenal would be an understatement (check out the full list here).

A few of the highlights for me:

Lost Abbey’s Duck Duck Guava was the first beer I tried know it would be quick to run out. It wasn’t the first gone (that would be Hair of the Dog Cherry Adam from the Wood 2009) but it was second. Sour but not overly so with a good guava taste to it. I’m not sure how much of of this was made but check it out if you get the chance. Stone’s Jacob McKean described it as: “a blend of Mellow Yellow & Devotion fermented with Duck Duck Gueze cultures in French Oak barrels (previously containing Cuvee De Tomme) with 70 lbs of pineapple guava per barrel.”

The Bruery/Cigar City’s Marrón Acidifié. Some people love it, some people hate it but I fall in the “like it quite a bit category”. I got my first taste at Oakquinox and greatly enjoyed it, I didn’t taste nearly as much vinegar as some people have complained about. Looking forward to opening the bottle I have.

2008 Stone Imperial Russian Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels, this is the first spirit barrel aged beer from Stone I’ve had and it didn’t disappoint.

Fifty Fifty Eclipse 2010 – Four Roses was the last beer I had at Oakquinox and was a great way to end. Smooth bourbon, vanilla, oak.

Click below for a few pictures from Oakquinox.

San Diego Beer Events April 14th – April 20th

Tags

2008 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine Aged in Red Wine Barrels, Beer and Chocolate pairings, bitter and sour night, Bombay By Boat IPA, Death and Taxes Black Beer, DoBelgo DIPA, downtown johnny brown's bitter and sour night, Ginger Big Eye, Master Pairings Beer and Chocolate, miho gastrotruck, moonlight brewing, Oakquinox, pizza port real ale festival, real ale festival, Reality Czeck Pils, stone oakquinox, Two Weeks Notice Gruit Ale

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

Thursday April 14th: It’s not often that beers from Santa Rosa’s Moonlight Brewing show up down here in San Diego, but the folks at The Linkery will have four Moonlight beers on tap starting Thursday. They’ll have Death and Taxes Black Beer, Bombay By Boat IPA, Reality Czeck Pils, and Two Weeks Notice Gruit Ale. The Death and Taxes is in honor of Tax Day the following day.

Friday April 15th: The Real Ale Festival at Pizza Port Carlsbad gets underway, they’ll have over 50 cask conditioned beers which makes it the largest selection of real ale on the west coast. It takes place all day Saturday as well.

Another Tax Day celebration, Downtown Johnny Brown’s is doing their 3rd Annual Bitter and Sour Night featuring some of the best IPAs and sours around. The lineup looks stellar, if you’re a fan of either of those styles (which if you’re reading this blog I would guess you like one of them if not both) this night is highly recommended.

Saturday April 16th: The Real Ale Festival is happening all day, from 11am to 11pm. $30 gets you in with eight 4oz tasters. Starting at 7pm they’ll let you in for $20.

Sunday April 17th: If you don’t already have tickets for Stone Oakquinox you’re out of luck, it’s sold out. But do if you happen by Stone make sure you have your growler with you, they’ll be doing 2008 Stone Old Guardian  Barley Wine Aged in  Red Wine Barrels growler fills.

Monday April 18th: It’s $3 local pint night at Toronado from 6pm to close. I think Eleven is still doing their pint night as well (all draft beers) but I haven’t heard much about it lately. I’ve sent an email over to the folks at Eleven to confirm their Monday night special is still on. I’ll update this post when I hear back.

Tuesday April 19th: The Master Pairings Beer and Chocolate pairing at Stone sounds delicious. I’m not sure what beers they’ll be serving but it’s sure to not disappoint.

Wednesday April 20th: Third Wednesday of the month means it’s time for the DrinkAbout. No word on any of the specials this month but it’s sure to be a good time as always.

They’re also doing another beer pairing dinner at Homebrew Mart/Ballast Point Linda Vista with MIHO Gastrotruck and Fiji Yogurt. Fiji is making a Ballast Point Even Keel wort based Lemonade Ginger Sorbet flavored with Cascade Hop Oil. They’ll have a ton of great beers on tap including Ginger Big Eye and DoBelgo DIPA (Dorado with Belgian Yeast).