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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Beer Books: The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.- Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance

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2010 Old Guardian Barley Wine Aged in Bourbon Barrels, 2010 Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine Aged in Bourbon Barrels, 2010 Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine Aged in Wine Barrels, Arrogant Bastard Ale Onion Rings, Dogfish Head / Victory / Stone Saison Du BUFF, dr bill, dr bill sysak, Garlic Cheddar and Ruination IPA Soup, greg koch, Heat Seeking Wheat, Jolly Pumpkin / Nogne-O / Stone Special Holiday Ale, Lee's Mild, Quingenti Millilitre, randy clemens, steve wagner, Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, Stone Ruination IPA, The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.- Liquid Lore Epic Recipes and Unabashed Arrogance

After fifteen years in the beer business the founders of Stone Brewing Co. have written a book. Greg Koch and Steve Wagner teamed up with published author and Stone Brewing Co. PR Coordinator Randy Clemens to co-author The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.- Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance.

The Craft of Stone Brewing Co. comes out September 27th and retails for $25. If you pre-order a copy through La Jolla’s Warwick’s bookstore before September 9th you’ll be able to purchase one of the beers in the next Quingenti Millilitre series release, 2010 Old Guardian Barley Wine Aged in Bourbon Barrels, 2010 Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine Aged in Bourbon Barrels or 2010 Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine Aged in Wine Barrels. This offer will also be available at The Great American Beer Festival later this month in Denver, and at the book release event on Sept 27th at Stone Brewing Co. See Stone’s blog for more details.

The two-hundred page book is broken down into three parts: Part 1 explains the basics of beer and gives a brief history of beer in addition to telling the story of Stone Brewing Co. Part 2 is a comprehensive list of most of the beers Stone has ever released with facts about each beer and often the stories behind the beer. Part 3 includes scaled down homebrew recipes for 18 different Stone beers, recipes food recipes from Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens (with pairing recommendations) and a few short “Beer How-Tos” from “Dr” Bill Sysak.

Before I received my review copy of the book I knew it would include a history of Stone as well as food and homebrew recipes, but I wasn’t sure if one section would dominate. They’ve done a good job of balancing things so the book doesn’t feel one sided towards any one of the parts. There’s enough content in each section to satisfy anyone that cooks, homebrews or is just a Stone fan that wants to know more about their history.

I’ve only been drinking Stone’s beer for about half of the fifteen years they’ve been around, so much of their early history was news to me. Well written and entertaining, it and kept me turning page after page, reading it in one sitting. There were one or two preachy moments when I briefly felt like I was reading a Stone brochure (a $25 brochure at that) but those times are very few and far between. There was even once when I nearly spit out the beer in my mouth because I started to laugh (I won’t spoil it for you, just be sure to look for Wagner’s story of a friend transporting some yeast for them).

There were a couple beers from Stone’s past that they no longer brew that I had never heard of, anyone out there get to try Heat Seeking Wheat? While the beer is very un-Stone, the label art was what really shocked me. Look for it on page 40, it reminds me of Stone’s gargoyle meets the Toxic Avenger, something I can’t imagine the brand conscious Stone Brewing Co. even thinking about releasing now.

I haven’t tried any of the homebrew or food recipes yet there are a couple I’m anxiously awaiting testing out. Some of my favorite Stone beers got the homebrew recipe treatment here including Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, Jolly Pumpkin / Nogne-O / Stone Special Holiday Ale, and Dogfish Head / Victory / Stone Saison Du BUFF as well as others that I never got to try including Lee’s Mild and some of the earlier Anniversary Beers. Other favorite’s are notably missing, including Stone Ruination IPA. I’m hoping some of the IPA recipes that aren’t here will make an appearance in the forthcoming IPA book being written by Wagner and Stone’s Brewmaster Mitch Steele.

The food recipes are equally tantalizing. I was pretty excited to find the recipe for my favorite Bistro item, the Garlic, Cheddar, and Stone Ruination IPA Soup included. There are plenty of other great looking recipes including the popular BBQ Duck Tacos and those infamous Arrogant Bastard Ale Onion Rings.

The sections on the basics of beer, the general history of beer and “Dr” Bill’s Beer How-Tos might be repetitive to those that really know their beer. But for those that don’t obsess about beer like some of us, they have the potential to be hugely educational.

Overall The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.- Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance is a pretty interesting read that can come in handy in the kitchen or the brewhouse instead of just being relegated to the bookshelf or coffee table when you’re done with it. Scoring the next Quingenti Millilitre series release if you pre-order just sweetens the deal.

Note: Ten Speed Press provided me with a pre-release copy of The Craft of Stone Brewing Co. for review purposes.

Pick your own Fresh Hops at Hopportunity Farm in Julian, CA

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Brewer.s Gold, Cascade, Centennial, derek freese, Galena, Goldings, Hopportunity Farm, julian hop farm, Magnum, Nugget, san diego fresh hops, san diego hop farm, san diego hops, san diego wet hops, Willamette

Up at about 4,000 ft elevation near the small town of Julian, just about an hour’s drive outside of San Diego lies the Hopportunity Farm. It’s one of the few hops farms in San Diego County (the only other one I know of is Star B Ranch near Ramona).

Hopportunity’s Phil Warren says that all the rain early in the year combined with the hot weather now is helping produce a healthy crop which is now ready for harvesting. Each weekend through early September the farm is inviting homebrewers and homebrew clubs up to pick fresh hops. The pick-your-Own hops go for a $1 an ounce or $10 per pound and varieties include Cascade, Nugget, Brewer’s Gold, Magnum, Centennial, Goldings, Galena, Willamette, and a local variety said to have been brought to the area by gold miners in the 1890’s.

Local homebrewer about to turn pro, Derek Freese from the local homebrew club CHUG picked some hops at Hopportunity last year and wrote a blog post with some pictures. 

If you’re interested in picking and purchasing fresh hops, call Phil at 858-735-2977 to schedule a time.

News and Photos from the National Homebrewers Conference

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cheesesmith, Doug Constantiner, greg koch, julian brewpub, mitch steele, national homebrewers conference 2011 photos, nhc 2011 photos, peter zien, stone Cherry Chocolate Stout, Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA, tom nickel, travis smith, vince marsaglia

Photos by Chris Hammett
Last weekend’s National Homebrewers Conference brought nearly 2000 homebrewers, professional brewers and other beer lovers to San Diego. The conference included a Pro Brewer’s Night where around forty professional breweries were pouring their beers, Club Night where homebrew clubs from all around the country brought some of their best brews as well as plenty of seminars and panels with subjects ranging from homebrew techniques to topics on going pro and everything in between.

During those seminars a few bits of San Diego beer related news and info were announced.

Peter Zien of AleSmith spoke about cheese making and other food related hobbies. Zien is in the process of opening an artisianal cheese making company to be called CheeseSmith.

A bit more beer related news from Zien was that AleSmith is working on getting label approval for bottles of single origin coffee versions of Speedway Stout. Zien didn’t mention what single origin coffee’s they had in mind, or if this would include bottling the much loved, and previously very-limited draft only Kopi Luwak Speedway Stout, but one can hope.

Doug Constantiner, who is working with Travis Smith (both of whom formerly brewed at The Bruery) to start Societe Brewing Company here in San Diego revealed to NBC San Diego that Societe would be located in Kearney Mesa. No word on the exact location but it will be a nice stop between downtown and some of the breweries farther north. They hope to be open in early to mid 2012.

Tom Nickel of O’Brien’s Pub announced that he is working with Vince Marsaglia of Pizza Port to open a brewpub with BBQ food in Julian, CA. According to Taphunter the land in Julian has already been acquired and General’s American Pub, which Nickel was hoping to open in Scripps Ranch is no longer going to happen.

During his talk on collaborations, Greg Koch of Stone Brewing Co. mentioned a few things about their two upcoming collaborations that are in the fermenters now. He said that they’re currently working on getting fermentation restarted on Stone Cherry Chocolate Stout, this year’s AHA Rally Winner brewed at Stone by Mitch Steele, John Togner of Tröegs Brewing Co. and winning homebrewers Jason Fields and Kevin Sheppard. The yeast apparently didn’t like the addition of the cherries. No release date has been planned but Koch said it will be out “at somepoint in the not too distance future”.

He also mentioned that Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA, a collaboration between Stone’s Mitch Steele, Bryan Baird of founder of Numazu, Japan’s Baird Brewing and Toshi Ishii—former Stone brewer and now founder of Guam’s Ishii Brewing Company should be out in early-mid July.

San Diego Beer Events May 19th – May 25th

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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.

San Diego Beer Events April 21st – April 27th

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Automatic Quartz Japan IPA, Boon Kriek, cy henley, double jack, easter beer brunch, firkin friday, Garrett Marrero, john trogner, latis imports, maui brewing co, mitch steele, pale 31, palm, Rodenbach Grand Cru, Rodenbach Vintage 08, Steenbrugge Tripel, stone Cherry Chocolate Stout, stone collaboration, troegs brewing co., Trooper's Tipple IPA, union jack, Why Not? Wheat

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 April 21st:

Head down to Pizza Port Ocean Beach where they’ll be featuring New English Brewing Co. for their keep the glass night. They’ll have Why Not? Wheat and Troopers Tipple IPA for $5 with $3 refills (or if you have enough glasses already you can just enjoy a pint for $3).

Friday April 22nd:

Hamilton’s Tavern will host Firestone Walker for this week’s Firkin Friday. They’ll have Double Jack and Pale 31 on cask with Pale 31, Union Jack, Double Jack and an unannounced special beer on draft.

Saturday April 23rd:

Small Bar has a delicious brunch and for this month’s Beer for Breakfast they’re featuring the beers of Latis Imports. That includes Rodenbach Grand Cru and Rodenbach Vintage 08 as well as Boon Kriek, Steenbrugge Tripel, and Palm. They’ll even give you discounts on refills and send you home with a glass.

Sunday April 24th:

If you don’t have Easter plans with the family (or can convince your family that beer is a necessary component of brunch) head on up to URGE Gastropub for their Epic Beer Brunch. $45 presale ($50 day of) gets you a four course brunch with beer pairings. Tax and gratuity are included, this looks like quite the deal.

Monday April 25th:

Blind Lady Ale House is opening their doors Monday night for a special fundraiser for Japan. $35 tickets will get you food samples and beers (donated by many local breweries). They’ll also be debuting Automatic Brewing Co.’s latest beer, Automatic Quartz Japan IPA brewed with the help of Cy Henley from Alpine Beer Co. It’s 7% ABV and made with 12% rice grist and Nelson hops with ingredients donated by Alpine and Home Brew Mart. There will also be a raffle for some wonderful prizes. All money from ticket sales and the raffle go to International Relief Committee’s fund for Japan. The event is limited to 150, so make sure to get your tickets before it sells out.

Tuesday April 26th:
The monthly QUAFF homebrew club meeting takes place at All American Grill in Mission Valley at 7pm, but if you need some homebrew goals to aspire to, head up to Stone Brewing Co. from 4-6pm for their Meet the Brewers: Collaboration Day Wrap-Up. Stone’s Mitch Steele is teaming up with Kevin Sheppard and Jason Fields, homebrewers whose Cherry Chocolate Stout won Stone’s Homebrew Competition last month and will now be brewed on Stone’s brewing system for commercial release. As with most (all?) previous Stone collaborations, they’ve also invited another commercial brewer, this time it’s John Trogner of Pennsylvania’s Tröegs Brewing Co. helping out with the brew.

Wednesday April 27th:

Maui Brewing Co. might be based in Hawaii, but founder Garrett Marrero grew up here in San Diego. He’ll be at URGE Gastropub with seven Maui beers. The first two-hundred people will also take home a Maui Brewing Co. pint glass and a festive lei.

National Homebrewers Conference Nearly Sold Out

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2011 national homebrewers conference, american homebrewers association, american homebrewers conference, national homebrewers conference, national homebrewers conference san diego, some like it hoppy

Just a word of warning, if you’re planning on attending the National Homebrewers Conference (NHC), taking place June 16th-18th at the Town and Country Resort in Mission Valley and you don’t have your tickets yet you better act quick. The American Homebrewers Association says the event is nearing a total sell out.

The NHC takes place in a different city each year and hosts an impressive list of speakers in addition to the National Homebrew Competition and more. Registration ranges from about $200-$300 depending upon the events you would like to attend. If you’re a homebrewer already, or looking to get into homebrewing this conference will be a great learning opportunity.

So if you’re interested in attending make sure you register soon, last year’s event sold out and they expect this year’s will as well.

5th Annual San Diego International Beer Festival at the San Diego County Fair

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big wednesday, big wednesday belgian ipa, san diego county fair, san diego county fair beer festival, san diego county fair beer festival homebrew competition, san diego county fair beer festival pre-sale, san diego international beer festival

The 5th Annual San Diego International Beer Festival takes place at the San Diego County Fair over four sessions Friday June 24th – Sunday June 26th. Each four hour session includes a souvenir tasting cup (white supplies last, no word on how many they’ll have) and unlimited one ounce beer samples. Admission to the festival is $45 per session, which also includes admission to the rest of the San Diego County Fair for the day (I recommend going on the Kamikaze before partaking in unlimited beer samples).

For the next week, from today, April 8th through April 15th, they’re offering a pre-sale discount for $10 off admission. Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com with the presale password: “Stout”

The festival also hosts both an amateur and professional competition. The BJCP/AHA-Sanctioned homebrew competition takes place on July 3rd, after the festival itself. Entry information is here and the deadline for registration is May 18th.

The judging for the professional competition will take place in May, with the results announced at 12:30pm on Saturday June 25th during the second session of the festival (the first Saturday session). Last year Pizza Port Solana Beach won Best in Show for their Big Wednesday Belgian IPA. This was the second year in a row that Pizza Port took top honors, let’s see if they can continue the streak this year.

Click here for more info on the San Diego International Beer Festival and here for more info on the San Diego County Fair in general.

Disclaimer: The San Diego County Fair has offered me complimentary passes to the fair.

San Diego Beer Events March 17th – March 23rd

Tags

2007 Stone Imperial Russian Stout, blackball belgian ipa, coffee rain, firestone walker 14th Anniversary ale, Fortuna Hiberniae, Framboise de Amorosa, la bella pizza, Matt Bryndilson san diego, McIlhenney's Irish Red, saint patricks day san diego, san diego citybeat beer club, shipyard stout, st patrick's day san diego, stone brewing co. sunday funday, union jack ipa, velvet merlin

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

Thursday Mar 17th:

Plenty going on for St. Patrick’s Day. Blind Lady Ale House will be open for lunch and will have a ton of porters and stouts including six on nitrogen offered as a flight including Automatic Brewing Co.’s latest beer, Coffee Rain. Both Main Tap Tavern in El Cajon and O’Brien’s Pub will have casks of Alpine Beer Co.’s McIlhenney’s Irish Red. Pacific Beach Alehouse will have a cask of their Shipyard Stout. Small Bar, Hamilton’s Tavern and Toronado will all have Guinness keep the glass specials in addition to some nice sounding food specials.

Friday Mar 18th:

Matt Bryndilson, Brewmaster at  Firestone Walker will be at Hamilton’s Tavern from 5pm-6:30pm and then at Small Bar until 8pm. Hamilton’s will have Union Jack IPA on cask with a few other Firestone Walker beers on draft including their 14th Anniversary Ale and Velvet Merlin. Small Bar won’t have a cask but they’ll be doing some keep the glass specials.

Saturday Mar 19th:

Framboise de Amorosa is being released at Lost Abbey. 375ml bottles are $15 a piece with a limit of six per person. I’ve heard good things about this one, but never tried it myself. It’s not expected to make it into regular distribution so the brewery will be the only place to purchase it.

Hess Brewing Company is celebrating St Patrick’s day a bit late. They’ll have Fortuna Hiberniae, their all organic coffee stout on draft and nitrogen as well as all their other beers. They’ll have food from BBQ Republic and music from Family Wagon.

Sunday Mar 20th:

Another great Sunday Funday release at Stone Brewing Co. They’ll be filling growlers with 2007 Stone Imperial Russian Stout. Stone IRS ages well, this one should be delicious.

Monday Mar 21st:

In addition to the regular $3 beer nights at Toronado (locals only) and Eleven (all drafts) Stone is holding another beer class, Beer U: Craft Beer Around the World. Tickets are $25 and often sell out, so purchase in advance if you’re thinking about going.

Tuesday Mar 22nd:

Whether you’re a dedicated homebrewer or want to start, the monthly QUAFF meeting at Randy Jones BBQ in Mission Valley’s Hazard Center is the place to be Tuesday night.

Wednesday Mar 23rd:

San Diego Citybeat’s monthly Beer Club will be at La Bella Pizza in Chula Vista. They’ll have 8oz cask pours of Karl Strauss’s Blackball Belgian IPA for only $1 in addition to plenty of other great beers. You’ll need to be on their list to get the discounted prices, sign up here.

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

Tags

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.