San Diego Weekend Beer Events Thursday 9/29 – Saturday 10/1

Tags

Art + Beer, Beer + Art, big sky brewing co., Evil Dead Red, grand teton brewing co., katie scott, kinsee morlan, san diego citybeat, tour de fat, Wake-up Call Coffee Imperial Porter

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

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. 29th, 2011:

Getting a little self promotional here, my wife (San Diego CityBeat Arts and Culture editor Kinsee Morlan) and I have partnered up to put on an art show and beer tasting at Bottlecraft. From 7-10pm the artist Katie Scott will be on hand with plenty of her work showing. There will be three different flights available for purchase as well as all the rest of the great beer at Bottlecraft. More info here.

Friday, Sept. 30th, 2011:

It’s 30th on 30th and there are a couple great casks getting tapped Friday night. AleSmith Evil Dead Red will be at Ritual Tavern and Hamilton’s Tavern will have Grand Teton Wake-up Call Coffee Imperial Porter as well as plenty of other great Grand Teton and Big Sky Brewing beers on draft.

Saturday, Oct. 1st, 2011:

Grab your bike and head down to Golden Hill Park (technically part of Balboa Park but nowhere near where it was held last year) for New Belgium Brewing Co.’s Tour de Fat. The bike parade starts at 11am and other entertainment will run throughout the rest of the day.

Hamilton’s Tavern Second Saturday with Big Sky Brewing Co.

Tags

2008 ivan the terrible, all souls imperial saison, big sky belgian sour brown ale, big sky brewing co., hamilton's second saturday, hamiltons 2nd saturday, ivan the terrible

Hamilton’s Tavern hosted Big Sky Brewing Co. for their monthly Second Saturday event yesterday, and according to the Missoula based Grizzly Growler beer blog it was the largest selection of Big Sky beers ever on tap at one time.

I didn’t make it out Saturday for the Second Saturday event, where they have free food and Big Sky’s founder and many of the brewer’s were on hand, but I did stop by Sunday afternoon for what I like to think of as one of the best kept secrets (until now?) for Second Sunday at Hamilton’s Tavern. It’s been my experience that typically over half the kegs (and sometimes more) from the Second Saturday event last until the next day, so if you ever miss a Second Saturday, stop by on Sunday. I was told that the Cherry Bourbon Cowboy Coffee was fantastic, but sadly that keg must have blown the night before, but I wasn’t out of luck.

I started with the 2008 Ivan the Terrible Imperial Stout, in addition to this they also had the more recent 2010 Ivan the Terrible. I went with the older vintage in the hopes that it would be nice and smooth without too much alcohol heat. I wasn’t disappointed. Imperial Stouts are one of my favorite styles and this was my first time drinking Ivan the Terrible. It was rich and tasted of chocolate but not overpoweringly sweet. There was little hop flavor and bitterness, I expect much of the hop flavor faded with age but the smoothness the aging imparted was well worth it. There was a bit of roasted malt flavors but not too strong. This was well balanced and easy to drink. I’m not sure if bottles of this ever show up in San Diego, but it’s one I’ll be keeping my eye out for.

For my second and last beer I was trying to decide between the All Souls Imperial Saison and the Belgian Sour Brown Ale. Both are styles that I love, and I sampled a small amount of the All Souls which seemed good, but after the boozy Imperial Stout I opted for the lower alcohol Belgian Sour Brown Ale without sampling it. I immediately regretted the decision. The Belgian Sour Brown Ale isn’t a bad beer but didn’t seem nearly as good as the All Souls Imperial Saison. It was far less tart than I had hoped for. It had a fairly sweet smell and only a bit of sour/tart taste. It had a bit of balsamic vinegar like sourness but overall was too sweet and not nearly tart enough. I’m curious if this is a product of too much souring or not enough, or if maybe something else entirely was going on?

San Diego Beer Events, January 6th – January 12th

Tags

10.10.10 Vertical Epic Ale, beer 101: intro to beer, big sky brewing co., Delirium Tremens, hamilton's second saturday, toronado local pint night, Vrienden

Looks to be a bit of a slow week. But just because their aren’t a ton of out-of-the-ordinary special events listed here, doesn’t mean there isn’t great craft beer on tap at local bars and on the shelves of local liquor stores. If you know of anything that isn’t on our events calendar, email events@sandiegobeerblog.com to get it added.

Thursday, Jan 6:

New Belgium Brewing Co. and Allagash Brewing Co. recently teamed up to brew a new sour beer, the 8.5% ABV Vrienden. According to O’Brien’s Pub, Vrienden is Flemish for Friends and was brewed with endive and hibiscus and then soured with lacto bacillus and brettanomyces. And O’Brien’s Pub just so happens to be tapping a keg of Vrienden on Thursday. They’ll have a few other New Belgium Brewing Co. beers on tap and some New Belgium globe glasses for sale.

Friday, Jan 7:

While I couldn’t find any special beer events going on this Friday. That doesn’t mean they’re not happening. If you know of something email events@sandiegobeerblog.com. Otherwise, I’d bet that your local bar has some delicious on tap.

Saturday, Jan 8:

For their Second Saturday this month, Hamilton’s Tavern is hosting Montana’s Big Sky Brewing Co. The draft list is mouthwatering – here are more than a few of the 20+ beers on tap that stand out: Cherry Bourbon Cowboy Coffee, Belgian Sour Brown Ale, All Souls Imperial Saison, 2008 Ivan The Terrible Imperial Stout, 2010 Ivan The Terrible Imperial Stout, 2009 Barrel Aged Slow Elk Oatmeal Stout, and 2008 Buckin’ Monk Cherry Tripel. They’ll also have Slow Elk Oatmeal Stout and Powder Hound Winter Ale on cask and some bottles as well.

UPDATE: According to the Missoula, Montana based beer blog Grizzly Growler, this will be the largest selection of Big Sky beers ever in one place.

Sunday, Jan 9:

Some people say that Stone Brewing Co.’s 10.10.10 Vertical Epic Ale tastes better on draft than it does in the bottle. I haven’t made my mind up for sure, but Stone will be doing growler fills of 10.10.10 VE this Sunday which makes it easy to do a comparison between draft and bottle at home — just be aware that this will leave you with 86oz of 10.10.10 VE. Come to think of it, that’s not a bad problem to have.

Monday, Jan 10:

Monday might be the busiest night of the week. I’ve noticed that Eleven seems to be doing fairly regular keep the glass nights on Monday’s. This week is Delirium Tremens, the glass and beer will set you back $6.50 (and don’t forget to throw an extra buck to your bartender) and and after that refills will run $4.50.

Or head on up to Escondido where  Stone Brewing Co. is teaching about beer, Beer 101: Intro to Beer will teach you the basics of beer. And the beer list for the class looks might fine. Tickets are $25.

And as always, Toronado does $3 local pints from 6pm-Close on Monday nights.

As always Toronado has $3 local pints all night.

Tuesday, Jan 11 and Wednesday, Jan 12:

Know of anything going on Tuesday or Wednesday? Email events@sandiegobeerblog.com