Siebel Institute of Technology Calibration Station of Off Flavors in Beer

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beer tasting, craft brewers conference, Off Flavors, siebel

The Siebel Institute of Technology hosted an off flavors in beer calibration tasting at The Craft Brewers Conference Friday.

The tasting used Coors Light as the control and base beer and then spiked twelve samples with different common off flavors found in beer. These included: Acetaldehyde, Contamination (Diacetyl and Acetic acid), D.M.S., Isovaleric Acid, Spicy (cloves), Papery (oxidation), Diacetyl, Ethyl Acetate, Ethyl Hexanoate, Geraniol, Hefeweizen (Eugenol and Isoamyl Acetate), and Isoamyl acetate.

Participants were instructed to sample the control beer first (unspiked Coors Light) and then move on to the spiked samples. Attention should be paid to smell, taste and mouthfeel with each of the spiked samples. The levels for the spiked samples were fairly high to help the off flavors stand out more and make them more easily detected.

For my part I was easily able to smell and taste the off flavors in all but one of the spiked samples. It turns out I’m not very susceptible to D.M.S. sticking my nose in the glass for a good whiff and then tasting there was a very slight difference, a dry sort of bland taste, but it wasn’t easy for me to pick up on. I even resorted to getting a second glass with the control beer in it to smell and taste side by side but the two samples were almost (but not quite) identical to me. In a commercial beer where D.M.S. might show up in lower amounts without a control sample I don’t think I would be able to detect it.

As strictly a beer drinker that might not be such a bad thing, but as a homebrewer and someone that likes to critically evaluate beer it could be a problem. With this knowledge that it is hard for me to detect D.M.S. I can work on improving my ability to taste it through more sampling and analysis.

On the other end of the spectrum the Isovaleric Acid spiked sample was one of the worst thing I’ve ever tasted. The description of sweat socks and cheesy held true for both the smell and taste, it was repulsive. I’m happy to say I’ve never had a commercial beer contaminated this badly with Isovaleric Acid, and hope I never do.

This was my first time doing a comprehensive off flavor tasting and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in craft beer.

The Siebel Institute offers classes on off flavors as well as kits one can purchase to spike beers with off flavors on their own.

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Ska Brewing Euphoria

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canned craft beer, euphoria pale ale, Ska Brewing

Euphoria (Ska Brewing’s Winter seasonal) might be the perfect word to describe things right now: quality craft beer in a can, just enough snow to set the mood for a white Christmas (but not enough to require the driveway to be shoveled) and a bald eagle perched up in the tree.
Unfortunately Ska’s beers aren’t available in California, but that makes vacations all the better.

Charlie Papazian’s BeerCity USA Poll

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beercity usa, san diego beercity usa, san diego beercity usa 2011

You might know Charlie Papazian’s name as the founder of the American Homebrewers Association and the Great American Beer Festival as well as the current President of the Brewers Association. For the past two years he’s posted a fairly informal poll on his beer blog asking which American city is “BeerCity USA”. As far as I can tell Papazian has been doing these polls since 2009 and San Diego has yet to do better than 3rd place. In 2009 Portland Oregon and Asheville North Carolina tied for first with San Diego in fourth place behind Philadelphia.

Last year San Diego took third place behind Asheville’s first place and Porland’s second place with a huge gap between San Diego and Portland.

The 2011 poll was posted just a few days ago and so far Asheville has a huge lead, but San Diego is in second place. I don’t take these things too seriously (and you shouldn’t either), we both know what city has the best beer. But it only takes a few seconds to vote, click on over and vote for San Diego as BeerCity USA 2011. Voting ends on Monday, so be sure to click over and help reinforce what the rest of the country already knows, that San Diego  has the best beer.

San Diego Beer Events March 24th – March 30th

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awesome beer drinkers, brewdog, brewdog bashah, brewdog keep the glass, brewdog tokyo, Bruton Brewery, cantillon, cantillon Classic Gueuze, Firestone Walker 14th Anniversary, Iacopo Lenci, Jean Van Roy, Mango Mongo DIPA, march madness beer tasting, mission valley craft beer festival, Paradox Imperial Stout, suds for surgeries, The Handlery Hotel & Resort, union jack ipa

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

Thursday Mar 24th:

Pizza Port Ocean Beach is doing a Pizza Port Keep the Glass night. They’ll have a tun of Pizza Port OB beers as well as a few favorites from the other PP locations. They’ll also have some treats from Lost Abbey as well including Red Poppy.

Friday Mar 25th:

More Pizza Port fun, Downtown Johnny Brown’s is doing a Pizza Port/Port Brewing Co. night with 17 different beers on draft. They’ll also have a cask of Mango Mongo DIPA.

Live Wire might not be the first place you think of when you think craft beer, but some say they’re the original San Diego beer bar. They’re featuring a Firestone Walker showcase with four draft beers, including Firestone Walker 14th Anniversary as well as a cask of Union Jack IPA.

Saturday Mar 26th:

My friends over at West Coaster, Awesome Beer Drinkers and Best Damn Beer Shop have teamed up to host a charity beer tasting at The Beer Company downtown. They have an insane VIP bottle list lined up as well as a more standard regular session with a chance to try five beers from The Beer Company, including three never seen before.

Sunday Mar 27th:

Jean Van Roy, owner and brewer at Cantillon, producer of some of the world’s most sought after sour beers will be at Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens Sunday afternoon. They’ll have Classic Gueuze on draft and six other Cantillon beers available in bottles. All Cantillon beers will only be available at the outside bar in 4oz pours only.

The Handlery Hotel & Resort is hosting the Second Annual Mission Valley Craft Beer Festival, Suds for Surgeries to benefit Fresh Start Surgical Gifts. They’ll have unlimited tasters as well as food and live music, all for a good cause.

Monday Mar 28th:

Another European brewer will be in town, this time it’s Iacopo Lenci from Italy’s Bruton Brewery. He’ll be at Hamilton’s Tavern with five of his beers.

Tuesday Mar 29th:

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

Wednesday Mar 30th:

There’s a lot going on for a Wednesday night, but BrewDog night at URGE Gastropub looks the most promising. They’ll have two different kegs of BrewDog’s Paradox Imperial Stout aged in different Scotch Whiskey barrels and have it on cask as well. They’ll have kegs of the 18.2% ABV Tokyo as well as the  BrewDog/Stone Brewing Co. collaboration Bashah. They’ll even send you home with your own BrewDog glass.

San Diego Beer Week 2010

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75 minute ipa san diego, beer wars, black freak, chuck silva, craft beer lagers, craft brewed lagers, craft lager fest, dj claire, dr bill sysak, history of beer in san diego, just outstanding ipa, kern river brewing co., kopi luwak speedway stout, liar's club redux, lips of faith, Louis Mello, mad river brewing co., maui brewing co, natalie cilurzo san diego beer week, new belgium brewing co., one of eight, san diego beer history, san diego beer week event, san diego beer week event guide, san diego beer week guide, silva stout, super freak, swim party

We’re just a few days away from the second San Diego Beer Week. This year promises to be bigger and better than last year with over 300 beer related events. The SDBW website is doing a great job of listing all events on their website, so we’re not even going to try to list all the events. Below are a few of the events we’re most excited about, it’s not a comprehensive list, and it’s weighted pretty heavily towards the uptown neighborhoods but it’s a few of the events we’re most excited about. It’s not going to be possible to do every (or even half) of the beer week events, but read below, and browse through the full event listing on the SDBW site and drink some great beer. Be careful out there, write down the number of a cab company, stay safe and have fun!

As always, check with the individual bars/restaurants/breweries as events are subject to change.

Friday, November 5th:

Beer for Breakfast: Kick off the second annual San Diego Beer Week at Stone Bistro and Gardens with Dr Bill Sysak for the Rare Beer Breakfast. All you can eat breakfast and 15 3oz tasters for $55.

Weasel Poo: O’Brien’s Pub is hosting Night of a Million Zillion Speedways. They’ll have eight different versions of Alesmith Brewing Co.’s Speedway Stout including the infamous Kopi Luwak Speedway (which is made with Kopi Luwak coffee which passes through the digestive tract of weasels). In order for as many people as possible to get to try them, the eight beers will be served as 2oz tasters only, split into two different flights of four. But be careful, each flight is only 8oz, but each beer is about 12% ABV. It’ll sneak up on you.

Who Said Fresh is Better?: When it comes to some beers, fresher is better, but not always. Downtown Johnny Brown’s will host their 2nd Annual Barrel Aged Night with complimentary food and 21 barrel aged beers on tap.

Saturday, November 6th:

The Official Kick Off Event: Yeah, you’re probably nursing a hangover from the night before, but get down to Liberty Station for the San Diego Brewer’s Guild Festival, the official kick off event of San Diego Beer Week. The $50 VIP tasting starts at noon. General admission ($35) starts at 2pm and runs until 6pm.

Beer Brewed by an Ex-NASA Rocket Scientist: Forget the fact that Mark Jilg is an ex-NASA Rocket Scientist, the owner and brewer at Pasadena’s Craftsman Brewing Co. makes some unique beers. Blind Lady Ale House will have Craftsman Brewing Co. flights all day long, and will host a tasting with Jilg at 12:30pm. Seating is limited, purchase tickets in advance.

Sunday, November 7th:

Nothing Wrong with a Little Nostalgia: I’ll admit, I’m a little too young to fully appreciate The Liar’s Club. Sure I had been a few times and I greatly enjoyed it, but it doesn’t hold the same spot in my heart that it does for many others. That won’t stop me from recommending that you get yourself to Eleven at 3pm for Liar’s Club Redux though. I’ve heard that last year’s Liar’s Club Redux at Hamilton’s Tavern was one of the most popular SDBW events. Get there early (they open at 3pm) and re-experience the Liar’s Club.

The Beers that Put San Diego on the Map: San Diego brewers make a ton of great beers, but it’s hard to deny the fact that our fine city is known for it’s IPA’s. Toronado‘ San Diego IPA Blowout will feature of ton of San Diego IPA’s on draft available as pints or smaller tasters to sample more.

Monday, November 8th:

A Little History with Your Beer: San Diego history to be precise. You’re at San Diego Beer Week, you already know that San Diego is one of the premier beer cities in the country. Find out how we got here at Stone Brewing Co.’s Beer U: History of Beer in San Diego with special guest, Green Flash Brewing Co.’s Chuck Silva. Tickets are only $25, so if you have your heart set on this, we recommend purchasing them in advance.

Another Educational Beer Experience: If you haven’t seen Beer Wars what have you been waiting for? Delete it from your Netflix queue and get down to Sea Rocket Bistro where they’ll be showing it at 7pm with their 3 course Cooking with Beer Prix Fixe menu.

Barrel Aged is a Big Deal: If you haven’t noticed, barrel aged beers are a big deal. Hamilton’s Tavern and Small Bar will host a plethora of rare Avery Brewing Co. barrel aged beers and will have a shuttle running between the two bars. Many of these beers are barrel aged special versions of some of Avery’s best beers. Chances are they’ve never been on tap in San Diego before, and quite possibly never will be again.

Tuesday, November 9th:

Seriously the Best Double Stout I’ve had in a Long Time: It’s not a secret that I think Green Flash’s Silva Stout is one of the best Imperial Stouts I’ve had in a long time. Head down to the Regal Beagle where the beer’s namesake brewer, Chuck Silva will be pouring it and chatting with beer drinkers. They’ll also have Green Flash’s Yellow Fizzy Beer Bohemian Pilsner and 8th Anniversary IPA on tap as well.

Beer Flights with the Brewer: This isn’t the first beer flight with the brewer flight at Blind Lady Ale House we’ve recommended you check out at SDBW, and it’s not the last. These guided flights with the people who brew the beers are a great way to taste beer and learn more about the beer making process. They’re also really fun and you get to drink tasty beer. Check out the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Flight with Steve Grossman, brother of founder Ken Grossman. Get there early for a bike ride with Grossman around Balboa Park before the tasting.

Wednesday, November 10th:

Get on the Bus: The DrinkAbout this month has been moved up a week for San Diego Beer Week. Ride the free bus between Hamilton’s, Station, Sea Rocket, Ritual, Blind Lady, Small Bar, Livewire, and Toronado from 7-11pm. Most bars will have specials going on and a fun time is sure to be had by all. This is one of the most fun beer happenings each month and is surely going to be all the better during SDBW.

Beer for a Cause: The High Dive will tap One of Eight, a collaboration beer brewed by Coronado Brewing Co. and Ballast Point Brewing Co. in honor of women with breast cancer. This Amber Strong Ale was brewed with Belgium yeast, African Cocoa nibs, fresh ginger and Grand Marne.

Russian River Night at Toronado: Who needs a witty title when Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing Co. will be on hand at Toronado with the following beers on draft: Pliny the Elder, Blind Pig IPA, Damnation, Damnation batch 23, Damnation batch 46, Supplication, Temptation, Redemption, Sanctification, Consecration, Porter, and Gaffer’s Bitter. They’ll also be bringing out some special Russian River bottles from the cellar.

Thursday, November 11th:

Lips of Faith: Eric Salazar from New Belgium Brewing Co. and namesake of the beer Eric’s Ale will be guiding a tasting flight of six beers from the Lips of Faith series at Blind Lady Ale House. Many, but not all, of the beers are sour.

Hang Loose: Get dressed up in your Hawaiian garb for Maui Brewing Co. night at Small Bar. They’ll have 8-10 Maui Brewing Co. beers on tap, some of which we rarely see on the mainland.

Just Outstanding: Yes, Just Outstanding IPA will be on tap at Downtown Johnny Brown’s Kern River Brewing Co. Night, but the whole night should be just outstanding as well. They’ll also be pouring Citra DIPA, Class V Stout, Barrel Aged Stout and more.

Friday, November 12:

Craft Beer Bonanza: There are so many great things happening at so many bars around the city why pick just one? Let the Park2Park Shuttle take you between great bars, restaurants and even a liquor store in the Uptown neighborhoods as well as downtown. See all the details and purchase tickets on their website.

Craft Lagers: Lagers are often overlooked in the craft beer scene. El Take it Easy will hold a Craft Lager Fest with Ballast Point Brewing Co. to showcase some of the best craft brewed lagers around. DJ Claire will be spinning some vintage soul to go with those smooth drinking lagers.

The East Coasts Most Experimental Brews: Dogfish Head Brewing Co. will be on tap and cask for Firkin Friday at Hamilton’s Tavern. 75 Minute IPA will be on cask with Punkin Ale, Palo Santo Maron, Chicory Stout, Sah’tea, Theobroma and more on draft.

Take Your Pick for the Best of Green Flash: Sit down at Blind Lady Ale House for a guided tasting flight (including Le Freak, Black Freak and Super Freak) with Green Flash’s Chuck Silva in the afternoon (or stop in anytime afterwards for the flight) or check out the 20+ taps of Green Flash Beer at Toronado later at night.

Saturday, November 13th:

Small Brewer of the Year: Mad River Brewing Co. just won Small Brewer of the year at the Great American Beer Festival. Check out many of the beers, paired with excellent food (and more likely available on their own as well) at The Linkery’s Mad River Serious Madness 3.0

Second Saturday: Hamilton’s Tavern pulls out the stops every month for the second Saturday, but the SDBW version will be just as good if not better. Marin Brewing Co. and brewmaster Arne Johnson will be in town with Brass Knuckle IIPA and Old Dipsea B-wine with Sherry Wood on cask and plenty of beer on draft.

More Green Flash: Didn’t get enough Green Flash last night? Well today is their 8th Anniversary Festival at the brewery in Vista. $35 gets you ten tasters and it all supports a good cause.

Sunday, November 14th:

One Last Flight: Blind Lady Ale House has hosted plenty of great flights and tastings during SDBW. The last one will be Allagash Brewing Co. with brewmaster and founder Rob Tod. Six great Allagash beers in a guided tasting flight and a small taste of the rare Allagash Blonde Ale after the tasting.

Relax, It’s Been a Long Beer Week: SDBW is coming to a close, it’s been a long ten days. Head to the Courtyard Cookout at Counterpoint in Golden Hill where The Linkery will be cooking in the courtyard and Counterpoint will have 15 taps of craft beer available.

San Diego Beer Week is Officially Coming to a Close: The Beer Garden at The Lodge at Torrey Pines is the official closing event of SDBW. $65 gets you tastes of local beer paired with food from local restaurants and chefs at the beautiful Lodge at Torrey Pines. Purchase tickets in advance here.

This post last updated 11/3/2010 at 8:07am

Click below to see the full event calendar courtesy of the San Diego Beer Week website. And again, click here to see their full list of events.

Beer Book Review: The Beer Journal by Chris Wright

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beer books, beer logs, beer tasting log, beer tasting notes, chris wright, the beer journal

Last month I (along with at least one other beer blogger, and certainly more) got an email from Skyhorse Publishing offering to send a review copy of The Beer Journal by Chris Wright. A few weeks later the book arrived and I’ve spent some time flipping through it’s pages and thought I would share some thoughts.

It’s a hardcover book of about 260 pages, it’s too big to comfortably fit in a pocket but would easily fit in a bag or purse. The aim of the book is to be a tasting log, it’s solid construction is something that will help it hold up for those that want to keep long lasting notes on the beers they drink.

The first 25% of the book is a listing of beer styles, seemingly taken from the BJCP website. One thing that I found a bit disappointing about the listings is that they styles are listed but commercial examples of each style are not listed. There’s a short section on tips for tasting beer as well as proper glassware and then about 100 pages of beer tasting logs. The listings are comprehensive, but maybe overkill. I often take short notes when tasting beer but I don’t think I would ever bother to list the awards a beer has won or the specific brewer (not the brewery, but the person that brewed it). I also chuckled a bit when I saw the room for the brewer’s autograph. I’m sure there are people out there that would want to get the brewer’s autograph, but I’m certainly not one of them.

In addition to the individual beer log there are short sections along with accompanying note taking space for beer festivals, cellared beer, and beer and food pairings.

This isn’t really a book for me. But that’s not to say that other’s wouldn’t find it useful, I have a friend that has a very similar journal for wine tastings. At $12.95 it’s not a bad price for a solid journal that should last a while and you can keep a record of many beers and beer events all in one place. But myself, I prefer to scribble notes on random pieces of paper and sometimes blog about beers.

Eleven: A New Bar from the Owners of Hamilton’s Tavern and Small Bar

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dennis borlek, eleven lager, eleven san diego, liars club, Louis Mello, radio room, scot blair, zombie lounge

Eleven, the new bar from Scot Blair and Dennis Borlek, the guys behind Hamilton’s Tavern and Small Bar is now open. The space where Eleven is was previously Radio Room, and before that The Zombie Lounge, but Blair, Borlek, and Co.  have done an impressive job of transforming the place. Located at 3519 El Cajon Blvd., the bar is dark inside, with few windows, a small stage in the back, this is a rock n’ roll bar with some nice touches. The bar top is all new, red velvet hangs from parts of the ceiling, record covers line some of the walls. Eleven has a full bar, and 16 taps of quality on what they’re calling their tap tower. They’ll also be doing beer events and pouring cask ale from time to time as well.

Eleven will have live music, but we’re told they won’t have live music every night. We’ve known for a while now that a new bar from Blair and Borlek was coming, but one pleasant surprise was to see Louis Mello behind the bar. Louis will be the general manager of Eleven, and if you don’t know Louis’s name, you might recognize him. He was the owner of the Liar’s Club and knows a thing or two about beer. And speaking of beer, one of the taps you’ll find at Eleven is “Eleven Lager” brewed locally by Gordon Biersch. At $3.25 a pint it might be one of the best deals around, the board lists it as an American Pale Lager, but we’re told it’s actually a Helles lager.

And why the name? Straight from the Hamilton’s newsletter: “Lastly, why Eleven?  Well, it’s “one more” isn’t it? If you don’t get the reference go to Netflix now and rent Spinal Tap. Nuff Said..”

Click below for a few more (dark and blurry pictures) as well as the tap list as of last night (which is sure to change,  but will give you an idea of the types of beer to expect).

Welcome to SanDiegoBeerBlog.com

Welcome to SanDiegoBeerBlog.com. My name is Jeff Hammett and I’m a beer geek. You can read a little bit about me and this blog on the About page, but I thought I’d write a little bit more in this first post to introduce myself.

I grew up in the craft beer mecca that is San Diego. I’m fairly young, but so are most of San Diego’s craft breweries. When I came of age there were only a handful of craft breweries in San Diego. My first positive experience with beer was Stone Brewing Co.’s Stone Pale Ale. Like most teenagers I drank some beer in high school, Miller, Coors, Budweiser, but hated it. After I tried that first craft beer I knew it would be a life long obsession.

Since then I’ve spent some time in San Diego, watching the beer scene grow. Traveled a bit and am just now returning to San Diego after spending some time in Durango, Colorado. I cut my teeth beer blogging out in Colorado, Durango specifically which has four breweries and about 20,000 people. I grew my blog Beernbikes.com steadily over the time I was blogging and learned quite a bit about the craft beer industry.

I’ve been homebrewing for a while now, which has taught me plenty about beer that I would have never learned just drinking it or even reading about it. I even got to brew a batch of beer with headbrewer Thomas Larsen at Ska Brewing Co. in Durango as a Beer Blogger – Brewery collaboration.

With my move back to San Diego I’ve decided to change the focus of my blog a bit, with a focus on beer and San Diego specific beer news and information.

You can follow SanDiegoBeerBlog.com on Twitter

If you have beer news or anything else you’d like to talk to us about, send us an email, we’d love to hear from you. You can also fill out the contact form at the bottom of the About page.