Blind Lady Ale House Meet the Brewer Tasting Flights

Tags

guided beer tasting, meet the brewer, san diego beer week, San Diego Beer Week events, sdbw, sdbw blind lady ale house

Chuck Silva of Green Flash Leading a Flight Tasting During SDBW 2010

Yesterday I posted a roundup of what in my opinion are some of the best events happening during San Diego Beer Week. (And also posted a list of some of the best looking food and beer events as well).

But I wanted to highlight a series of events that Blind Lady Ale House did last year and will continue to do this year, Meet the Brewer Guided Flight Tastings. Throughout the week they’ll have a handful of different brewers in leading tastings through some of their beers. Last year I went to guided tastings at BLAH with Mark Jilg from Craftsman, Chuck Silva from Green Flash and Pat Mcilhenney of Alpine Beer Co. All were extremely educational, there’s no better way in my opinion to learn about a beer than to hear the brewer himself talk about it while tasting it, and affordable. Last year prices were around $25 per event. I haven’t seen prices this year, but I’d guess they will be similar. In order to keep things fun and make sure everyone can hear and ask questions BLAH limits the size of the events, which take place in the Hamm’s Room (West room at BLAH). So make sure to get there early if you’re interested in sitting through one of these guided tastings.

Blind Lady’s Meet the Brewer Guided Flight Tastings start tonight (technically SDBW Eve) and go throughout San Diego Beer Week. The full schedule (subject to change, so check with BLAH) is below.

Thursday, November 3rd 5pm with Tomme Arthur of Lost Abbey and Port Brewing Co.

Friday, November 4th 12:30-2:30pm with Jeff Bagby of Pizza Port Carlsbad

Sunday, November 6th 12:30-2:30pm with Mother Earth Brewing Co.

Wednesday, November 9th 5pm with Yiga Miyashiro of Pizza Port Ocean Beach

Thursday, November 10th with Chuck Silva of Green Flash

Friday, November 11th 12:30pm with Patrick Rue of The Bruery

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Farmhouse Friday: Jolly Pumpkin Tasting

Tags

Bam Biere, Bam Noire, Calabaza Blanca, jolly pumpkin, La Parcela, La Roja, Oro de Calabaza

Some friends and I got together recently and tried six different beers from Michigan’s Jolly Pumpkin, and while not all of them are considered “farmhouse” beers, even those that aren’t in one of the farmhouse styles share many characteristics.

We drank:

• Calabaza Blanca
• Oro de Calabaza
• Bam Biere
• Bam Noire
• La Roja
• La Parcela

I had had most of these previously, although never together and never really comparing them with each other to see how the different styles at Jolly Pumpkin differ from each other while still have that Jolly Pumpkin aspect to them. It’s hard to describe what that characteristic taste is, maybe a ‘light funkiness’, not quite sour, due in part to their oak aging and open fermentation.

Calabaza Blanca, is a white ale brewed with orange peel and corriander, it’s both more tart and dry finishing than many Belgian-style Wit’s, but pretty similar. There was quite a bit of citrus and it was pretty refreshing, good for a hot summer’s day,  but probably my least favorite.

Oro de Calabaza was the strongest beer of the bunch at 8% ABV and it was obvious upon smelling the beer, a distinct boozy aroma came off of it. This was by far the least funky and most hoppy  beer of the six we tried. While I enjoyed it enough, I don’t think I would want a full glass of it, the five or so ounces I got of it was fine.

Bam Biere is an old favorite of mine, but I like it much more with a little bit of age on it, although I’m not sure how fresh this bottles was (they use batch numbers instead of dates on bottles of Bam Biere) it wasn’t as tart as I like it. But there’s plenty of green apple and pear flavors, it’s pretty sweet but finishes dry and is mighty refreshing.

Bam Noire is a bit decieving, it’s dark and looks heavy, but was actually the lowest ABV beer out of the six we tasted at 4.3%. It has a bit of caramel or toffee sweetness, smells a bit of coffee and some plum-like flavors. It’s a bit tart and funky but not too much, if I had to guess I’d wager this was also a fairly fresh bottle.

La Roja with a bit of age on it is probably my favorite of Jolly Pumpkin’s year round beers. This bottle was a year old and it was a bit sour, although it would probably get better with more time. Plenty of wood, some cherry like tart fruity sweetness and some cooking spices I couldn’t nail down.

La Parcella is Jolly Pumpkin’s pumpkin beer but as with most pumpkin beers if I hadn’t have known I would have had no clue there was actual pumpkin in it. It’s such a delicate flavor that really doesn’t stand out. Often pumpkin beers are more like ‘pumpkin pie’ beers. This one wasn’t sweet or overly spiced, it was actually pretty acidic for a pumpkin beer which threw my expectations off a bit. Not a bad beer, but hard to tell it’s a pumpkin beer.

International #IPADay, Thursday August 4th, 2011

Tags

#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.

San Diego Beer Events June 9th– June 15th

Tags

2008 Barrel-Aged Speedway Stout, 2009 Barrel-Aged Decadence, black ops, blind lady ale house mini sour fest, blue bridge coffee stout, Consecration, coronado black ops, frogs breath ipa, miho gastrotruck, miho gastrotruck anniversary, miho gastrotruck pint giveaway, national homebrewers conference, national homebrewers conference san diego, nhc events, Red Poppy, san diego beer hall, summer yulesmith, Tanzanian Devil, Treasure Chest

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.

Thursday June 9th:

Stop by AleSmith for a special preview cask of Summer YuleSmith, it’s only a ‘pin’ (smaller than a firkin) so stop by early if you’re interested in trying it. AleSmith is open today from 2-7pm.

Friday June 10th:

This Friday kicks off the San Diego Beer Week Preview Weekend with the Beer Hall at The Lodge at Torrey Pines. It’s $65 per person for beer and food pairings from some of San Diego’s best breweries and restaurants in an amazing venue.

Friday is also the release of Treasure Chest, a Belgian Pale Ale from Green Flash with proceeds benefiting Chicks for Beer. It’s only available in 12oz bottles and only sold by the case at the Green Flash tasting room

Saturday June 11th:

Second Saturday at Hamilton’s Tavern hosts Coronado Brewing Company this month. They’ll have plenty of great beers including the newish Black Ops (Black IPA) and Frogs Breath IPA, as well as the Blue Bridge Coffee Stout which I’ve heard good things about. The food theme this month is Baja Fish Fest.

Sunday June 12th:

The Sierra Nevada beer dinner at O’Brien’s Pub is almost sold out, so hurry if you’re still looking for tickets.

Homebrew Mart/Ballast Point will be teaching a homebrew class at their Linda Vista location. If you’ve never homebrewed before (or even if you have) learning to brew with some of the pros will be sure to teach you some tips on making great beer.

Monday June 13th:

As always Monday night means $3 local pint night at Toronado.

MIHO Gastrotruck will be celebrating their 1 year anniversary at Blind Lady Ale House from 6-8pm with a pint glass giveaway for the first 50 customers.

Tuesday June 14th:

Automatic Brewing Co. kicks off their CASKoDAY at Blind Lady Ale House with a new cask of Tanzanian Devil, a 3.6% ABV coffee mild. They’ll be tapping a new cask every day until Saturday.

Wednesday June 15th:

With the National Homebrewers Conference in town this upcoming weekend there’s sure to be plenty of events going on. Wednesday seems to be the kick off with all sorts of options.

AleSmith will be releasing bottles of their 2008 Barrel-Aged Speedway Stout and 2009 Barrel-Aged Decadence at noon. Tickets which will allow bottle purchases must be picked up at 8:30am.

Blind Lady Ale House is doing a Mini Sour Fest with plenty of great stuff on draft including Lost Abbey Red Poppy and Russian River Consecration and more. They’ll open for lunch at 11:30am.

It’s also the monthly DrinkAbout with plenty going on at all the various area bars, be sure to check the calendar below for all the details.

San Diego CityBeat Beer Club 3 Year Anniversary Party and Beer Tasting

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city beat beer club, citybeat beer club, citybeat beer club 3 year anniversary, san diego citybeat beer club

I still remember the first CityBeat Beer Club I attended, it was at Stout Public House in July 2008 (if memory serves it was only the second Beer Club event CityBeat had held). I can’t remember what we drank, but I do remember having a great time. The Beer Club has been going ever since, mostly monthly but sometimes more often, for the last three years and now they’re ready to celebrate. Typically the Beer Club is a fairly informal thing, get your name on the list through CityBeat’s website, show up at the bar hosting the Beer Club and get dollar beers for a couple of hours or until the kegs run dry. Things are going to work a bit differently for the 3 Year Anniversary Party which is being held on Monday June 20th from 7-11pm at Blind Lady Ale House, tickets are being sold in advance and the capacity is limited to just 150 people. The $35 tickets get you two flights of six 5 oz beers — or four full beers if that’s your fancy as well as some food samples of Blind Lady’s delicious pizza.

Yes it’s a bit more expensive than the regular CityBeat Beer Club nights, but it’s not everyday you get to celebrate three years of awesomeness. And the quality beer and food at Blind Lady should make up for it.

Click here, or the flier below to purchase tickets. Click here to sign up for the CityBeat Beer Club newsletter to hear about future Beer Club events.

In the interest of full disclosure I should note that my wife works for San Diego CityBeat but this is not a sponsored post or advertisement, I thought the Beer Club was awesome even before we were married.

San Diego Beer Events May 26th– June 1st

Tags

Belgian Beers with Goat Chees pairing, Belgian Beers with Goat Cheeses, cigar city, green flash mira mesa, green flash moving, green flash vista closing, Insider Belgian Cream Ale, marron acidifie, new belgium beerbq, new belgium grand cru, new belgium super cru, pints for prostates, shipyard brewing company, veritas 009, veritas 009 release, whistle stop

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 26th:

It’s probably your last chance to get some of Automatic Brewing Co.’s latest beer, Insider Belgian Cream Ale brewed for in collaboration with FM 9/49 for the North Park Festival of the Arts Craft Beer Block. They’ll be offering it up at Blind Lady Ale House by the glass and growler from 5pm until it’s gone.

Friday May 27th:

Hamilton’s Tavern will be hosting their 3rd Annual Shipyard Brewing Company Lobsterfest with a ton of the Portland, Maine’s beers on draft, two casks and as the name implies, plenty of Maine lobster.

Saturday May 28th:

Saturday is going to be a busy day. Most of the hardcore beer geeks within a 200 mile radius will be lining up at The Lost Abbey well before 10am when they open for the Veritas 009 release. A bit was poured last weekend and reports are that it’s great. 750ml bottles will be $35 with a limit of four per person.

If you’re looking to stay more central Blind Lady Ale House will be doing Bruery flights to celebrate The Bruery’s Third Anniversary. They’ll have The Bruery/Cigar City Marrón Acidifié collaboration and more.

Over at KnB Wine Cellars they’ll be hosting a New Belgium BeerBQ. They’ll have some delicious New Belgium beers including the recently release Grand Cru and Super Cru as well as grilled foods made with New Belgium beer.

Sunday May 29th:

It’s Green Flash Brewing Co.’s last day in Vista, and they’re throwing a customer appreciation party to thank everyone before they close shop and head down south (see Wednesday, June 1st below). They’ll have complimentary food and prizes.

There’s also a special Sunday daytime Drinkabout benefiting Pints for Prostates. The free shuttle will run from 1-5pm, going to all the usual Drinkabout spots in addition to Whistle Stop and Eleven. $1 from every beer purchased at each spot will be donated to Pints for Prostates.

Monday May 30th:

It’s Memorial Day, but it’s also Monday, that means $3 local pint night at Toronado.

Tuesday May 31st

Up at Stone Brewing Co. World Bistro and Gardens they’ll be pairing Belgian Beers with Goat Cheeses. $39 gets you seven pairings total. These events at Stone have been selling out, so if you’re interested I suggest buying tickets ahead of time.

Wednesday June 1st:

If things goes as planned, Green Flash Brewing Co. will officially be opening the doors at the new brewery and tasting room in Mira Mesa to the public from 3-9pm. I expect them to open as planned, but double check before heading over there to make sure there wasn’t a delay in their opening. This is only the soft opening, they’ll have a big grand opening celebration later this summer.

San Diego Beer Events May 19th – May 25th

Tags

Bacon & Eggs, Cho Saiko, Falco Imperial Red Ale, judgement day party, judgment day, kelsey mcnair, Night Rider, Night Rider Imperial Stout, North Park Beer Co., Pereo Pilsner, Pizza Port OB anniversary, Pizza Port Ocean Beach anniversary, San Diego County Session Ale, San Diego History Center, San Diego Now, The State of Beer in San Diego, Trintas Belgian Pale Ale

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 19th:

A brand new brewery is opening up in Carlsbad. On the Tracks Brewery is holding their 3 day Grand Opening celebration and kicking it off today from 4-7pm. They’ll be doing it again tomorrow from 4-7pm and Saturday from 1-7pm. I don’t know much about them but they say they are “specializing in the darker side of beer with tasty ales, ports & stouts,” they’ll have seven beers and one mead ready to go. If you stop by On the Tracks this weekend drop me a line and let me know what you think: events@sandiegobeerblog.com

Friday May 20th:

The third installment of Hess Brewing Co.’s Friday Afternoon Club (FAC) is shaping up to be the best yet. The Barnacles will be playing some music, a wood-fired pizza truck will be serving up some pies and of course there will be beer. Three new beers to be exact. They’re introducing Trintas Belgian Pale Ale, Falco Imperial Red Ale (a 9.3% ABV, 90+ IBU red using Falconer’s hops) and Pereo Pilsner, a rye based German Pilsner 100% Nelson Sauvin hops and designed by home brewer extraordinaire Kelsey Mcnair (of North Park Beer Co. and San Diego County Session Ale).

Saturday May 21st:

Some people say it’s Judgment Day. Whether the world ends at 6pm or not, the hours leading up to it at Lost Abbey should be a fun time. They’ll have discounts on their Belgian-style Quad as well as prize giveaways and the original label art on display. Apocalypse themed costumes are encouraged.

Blind Lady Ale House says they’ll have a flight of beers from The Bruery, I don’t have many details on it but the beer is bound to be good. I haven’t heard for sure but it sounds like The Bruery flight might be postponed. I’ll update this if/when I hear one way or the other. Read about the flight from The Bruery they had last summer (no word if Patrick Rue will be around this time).

Sunday May 22nd:

Pizza Port Ocean Beach is celebrating their One Year Anniversary all weekend long (starting Friday night and ending Sunday night). They’ll have some special beers from all the Pizza Port locations as well as The Lost Abbey and Port Brewing Co. Pizza Port OB brewed Cho Saiko and Bacon & Eggs will be back on draft as well as an OB anniversary beer.

Monday May 23rd:

It’s Monday, that means $3 local pint night at Toronado.

Tuesday May 24th:

QUAFF holds their monthly homebrew club meeting at Randy Jones All American Grill in Hazard Center.

But if that’s not your thing stop by The Tipsy Crow downtown where they’ll be tapping a cask of Pizza Port Carlsbad Night Rider Imperial Stout.

It’s also Toronado San Diego’s 3 Year Anniversary. Rumor has it they’re throwing a party but details are scarce at this point. Look for a full post with details when I know them.

Wednesday May 25th:

I don’t know much about this event, heck I’m not even sure there will be beer there. But from 6-7:30pm the San Diego History Center will host a discussion on The State of Beer in San Diego featuring “local brewmasters and industry leaders”. No word on who those people might be, but it could be interesting. Grab a beer at The Prado’s happy hour before hand or head somewhere after for a pint, the event is free.

Deschutes Base Camp San Diego

Tags

deschutes base camp san diego, deschutes brewery, deschutes jake harper, deschutes san diego, deschutes the abyss, deschutes woody, deschutes woody san diego

I had no idea until recently, when the Brewers Association released their annual report on the Top 50 Craft Breweries by Sales Volume that Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery made so much beer. They’re fifth on the BA list, which means they make a lot of beer. I always figured they must be somewhat sizeable based on their distribution, but I had no idea they were one of the top producers of craft beer in the country. But knowing how big they are, it makes sense that they’re rolling into town for a week as part of their Base Camp tour.

Deschutes Brewery is bringing Woody and will be spending some time here in San Diego over the next few days. They have ten events lined up over five days starting Tuesday when they’ll be at Toronado. Throughout the week they’ll be pouring a great lineup of beers including various vintages of The Abyss their barrel-aged Imperial Stout, Jubel 2010 (released once every ten years) and plenty of others at bars and restaurants including a two year vertical of The Abyss at Olive Tree Market, a beer pairing dinner at Churchill’s Pub and Grille, a Bourbon Beers and BBQ at Downtown Johnny Brown’s and more. Deschutes brewer Jake Harper will also be at many of the events .

Head on over to the Events page or read below for the full schedule of events from Deschutes.

San Diego Beer Events, February 18th – February 23

Tags

2007 Decadence, 2007 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine., 2008 Imperial Russian Stout, 2011 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine, AleSmith My Bloody Valentine, Barrel Aged Wee Heavy, beer u: abbey ales, green flash double stout, My Bloody Valentine, speedway stout, Stone Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine, Vanilla Bean Smoked Porter, Will Powered IPA

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

I got caught up with some other things this week and am putting this post up a day later than usual. Luckily, as far as I can tell, it doesn’t look like a whole lot was going on yesterday.

Friday Feb 18th:

This week’s cask at Hamilton’s Firkin Friday is AleSmith’s My Bloody Valentine. I haven’t had it yet this year but I hear it’s good.

Both Friday and Saturday Stone Brewing Co. is doing growler fills of the recently released 2011 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine and Stone Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine.

Saturday Feb 19th:

Blind Lady Ale House will be tapping the last kegs of their latest beer, Will Powered IPA. This was the beer brewed for the Will Farrel related charity event they had a few weeks ago where they raised a ton of money for Cancer for College.

The Saturday Night Special growler fill at Stone is 2008 Imperial Russian Stout. IRS is one of my favorite beers, and IRS with a few years on it is even better in my opinion. As with all the Saturday Night Specials,  they’re only filling growlers from 8-10pm.

Sunday Feb 20th:

One more Stone growler fill. They’ll be filling a limited amount of growlers with 2007 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine. Another one that’s great with some age on it.

At O’Brien’s Pub they’re doing a tasting with AleSmith. Owner/Brewer Peter Zien will be on hand to lead the tasting of about 10 beers. Barrel Aged Wee Heavy, 2007 Decadence and some vintage of Speedway Stout should make appearances as well as many other AleSmith beers. Some of Zien’s cheeses will also be available for tasting. Cost is $40, check with O’Brien’s for tickets. You’ll want to get them ahead of time.

Monday Feb 21st:

In addition to the $3 pint nights at Toronado and Eleven, this Monday is another Beer U at Stone Brewing Co. This month is Beer U: Abbey Ales and they have quite the tasting list. Be sure to buy tickets in advance as they often sell out.

Tuesday Feb 22nd:

The monthly QUAFF homebrew club meeting happens on the fourth Tuesday of every month. Even if you’re not a homebrewer (yet) check it out, you’ll certainly learn something new.

Wednesday Feb 23rd:

There’s a lot going on Wednesday night and surely more than I’m listing here. Main Tap Tavern is featuring a cask of Green Flash Brewing Co.’s Double Stout. URGE Gastropub will have a handful of Stone Brewing Co. beers on (many “Double Dry Hopped) as well as the delicious Vanilla Bean Smoked Porter. The Pizza Port Carlsbad Bottle Shop will be hosting a “Sweet Beer” tasting. And as with every Wednesday, KNB Wine Cellars has $3 pints.

San Diego Beer Events, February 10th- February 16th

Tags

06 06 06 Vertical Epic Ale, 2009 Double Bastard, 2010 Double Bastard, 2010 Dry Hop Lucky Bastard, 2010 Dry Hopped Chipotle Double Bastard, 2010 Lucky Bastard, 22nd Anniversary Vanilla Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, 2nd Annual Brewbies Festival, 60 Minute IPA, 90 minute ipa, Arrogant Bastard, Backlit India Black Ale, Bitches Brew, burton baton, Chateau Jiahu, Chicory Stout, Flan-Diddly-Anders Red, Habanero Sculpin, indian brown ale, karl strauss saison, lost abbey red poppy, Midas Touch, mongo, Oaked Arrogant Bastard, Palm Belgian Pale, Palo Santo Marron, Pangaea, Raison D'Etre, Red Poppy, Rodenbach Grand Cru, Rodenbach Vintage, will ferrell beer, will ferrell ipa, will powered oatmeal ipa

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

Thursday, Feb 10th:

Toronado will be opening early at 10am to tap Pliny the Younger. If it hasn’t been delivered yet they’ll let everyone in to wait for the delivery driver. They promise to have an empty tap, clean lines and that the keg will be delivered cold. Say goodbye to your productivity for the rest of the day. For more on Pliny the Younger around San Diego click here.

For Dogfish Head night at O’Brien’s Pub they’ll put on nine DFH taps and have two more beers in bottles. They’ll have 60 Minute IPA, Bitches Brew, Palo Santo Marron, Pangaea, Chateau Jiahu, 90 Minute IPA, Chicory Stout, Raison D’Etre and Indian Brown on draft and bottles of Burton Baton and Midas Touch.

Friday Feb 11th:

Downtown Johnny Brown’s is having a mini Belgian keep the glass with Rodenbach and Palm. They’ll have Rodenbach Vintage, Grand Cru and Palm Belgian Pale. Rodenbach will be $12 with glass and $6 refills while Palm will be $6 with glass and $3.75 refills.

Saturday Feb 12th:

There’s so much going on this Saturday it’s hard to pick just a couple things going on. First and foremost it’s Hamilton’s Second Saturday, this month with Karl Strauss Brewing Co. They’ll have 22nd Anniversary Vanilla Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout and Backlit India Black Ale on cask with plenty of great Karl Strauss beers on draft. I’m especially looking forward to trying the pilot batch of the Belgian-style they’re brewing with Flying Dog as well as their Saison and Flan-Diddly-Anders Red. This month is Mardi Gras themed and they’ll have plenty of New Orleans influenced food.

Automatic Brewing Co. will be tapping a keg of Will Powered Oatmeal IPA when Blind Lady Ale House opens at 11:30am Saturday. This was the beer brewed especially for the Cancer for College benefit with Will Ferrell they held last week.

The Lost Abbey will be releasing bottles of 2011 Red Poppy when they open at noon. I got a chance to try this on draft at Eleven recently and it is good! Bottles will be $15/375ml with a limit of six. They’ll also be releasing Port Brewing Co. Mongo in bottles as well. The bottled version is finished with Simcoe hops and I’m told that it’s even better than it is on tap.

O’Brien’s Pub will also be tapping a keg of Pliny the Younger at 4pm and the 2nd Annual Brewbies Festival, benefiting The Keep A Breast Foundation is happening at Pizza Port Carlsbad. For more on Pliny the Younger around San Diego click here.

Sunday Feb 13th:

Head to Stone Brewing Co. where they’ll be filling growlers of 06 06 06 Vertical Epic Ale. This one was a Belgian Strong Dark Ale which was recently on tap for Stone Winter Storm and folks say it’s holding up well, probably even better and more mellow with some age.

Monday Feb 14th:

Monday’s have become pint night with both Toronado and Eleven offering $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 Feb 15th:

Chicks for Beer at the High Dive is hosting Colby Chandler and Ballast Point Brewing Co. This one is ladies only and they should have some good beer and food pairings. I’m not sure what exactly what they’ll be pouring but I hear the excellent Habanero Sculpin will be on draft.

Can’t attend Chicks for Beer? Blind Lady Ale House will be tapping a keg of the ever-so-sought-after Pliny the Younger when they open at 5pm. It will probably go fast, and there will probably be a line. For more on Pliny the Younger around San Diego click here.

Wednesday Feb 16th:

The third Wednesday of the month means that it’s time for the Drinkabout. The monthly event means a free shuttle runs between Hamilton’s, The Station, Sea Rocket, Toronado, Ritual, Small Bar, Blind Lady Ale House and Livewire and most of the bars have drink and/or food specials. Small Bar is doing the “Night of the Bastards” with Arrogant Bastard, Oaked Arrogant Bastard, 2009 Double Bastard, 2010 Double Bastard, 2010 Dry Hopped Chipotle Double Bastard, 2010 Lucky Bastard, and 2010 Dry Hop Lucky Bastard all on draft. Three 6oz tasters will set you back $6.