Blind Lady Ale House Second Anniversary Weekend

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automatic brewing co imperial coffee brown ale, Bam Biere, Bam Noire, BLAH, blind lady ale house 2nd anniversary, blind lady ale house anniversary, blind lady ale house koozie's, Blind Pig, Consecration, craft beer cans, craft beer koozie, Damnation, DRAFT magazine top 100 beer bars in america, Hanger 24 Alt, Hanger 24 Brewery, hanger 24 orange wit, jolly pumpkin artisan ales, La Parcela- Pumpkin Ale, Maracaibo Especial Oro de Calabaza, Noel de Calabaza, redemption, russian river ipa, Temptation

It’s hard to believe that Blind Lady Ale House is only two years old. They recently got named one of the top 100 beer bars in America by DRAFT Magazine for the second year in a row (in San Diego O’Brien’s Pub and Hamilton’s Tavern also made the list) making the list every year they’ve been open. This weekend they’re celebrating their anniversary with plenty of great beer.

They’ll start things off Wednesday night by putting their 2nd Anniversary T-shirts (with the tandem bicycle rider design) on sale and pouring flights from Russian River Brewing Co. They’ll have Temptation, Consecration, Redemption, Damnation, Blind Pig and Russian River IPA.

Thursday BLAH will have commemorative Blind Lady Ale House/Hanger 24 glasses for the first 155 people (over 21) through the door. They’ll get $2 fills of Hanger 24 Alt and Orange Wit for those with glasses until the kegs run dry. They’ll also have some Hanger 24 flights throughout the night.

Friday they’ll open for lunch with special 2nd Anniversary glasses for the first 155 people (again, only those over 21 will get glasses). Friday night they’ll probably have something else going on, but haven’t announced it yet.

Saturday the folks from Hanger 24 will be coming down to hang out at BLAH and they’ll have a special H24 cask. Later, at 3pm, they’ll have BLAH 2nd Anniversary koozie’s for the first 200 people to order craft beer in a can. They’ll have cans from Avery Brewing Co, Maui Brewing Co, Oskar Blues Brewery and possibly more.

Sunday will be the release of Automatic Brewing Co.’s latest beer an Imperial Coffee Brown Ale. I got a chance to taste this beer last week and it’s good. The coffee is apparent, yet restrained. The 8.3% ABV is hard to believe as this drinks smooth. They’ll have fifty 1 liter growler’s available which can be pre-purchased at Brown Paper Tickets and must be picked up between 11:30am and 12:30pm Sunday. There’s a good chance these will sell out, so get on it if you’re interested. They’ll also be live screen printing t-shirts as well. Later that afternoon at 3pm they’ll put on some beers from Jolly Pumpkin for a tasting flight, Bam Biere,  Bam Noire, La Parcela- Pumpkin Ale, Maracaibo Especial Oro de Calabaza, and Noel de Calabaza.

Check out the BLAH website for all the details and their Facebook page for additional info.

Big thanks to @RedTheTrucker on Twitter for tipping me off that the Automatic growler pre-sale was posted this afternoon.

Beer this Week(end) in San Diego September 15-19

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2005 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine, 2010 Stone Imperial Russian Stout, 90 minute ipa, BLAH, blind IPA challenge, Burton Baton IPA, Festina Peche, gabf, ghidorah, great american beer festival, lee chase, Midas Touch, mission amber ale, mission blonde ale, mission hefeweizen, mission ipa, Palo Santo Marron, pints for prostates, Punkin Ale, Shipwrecked Imperial IPA, Shuffleboard for Charity, Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans, Theobrama, union jack ipa, vegetarian beer dinner, worldwide stout

The Great American Beer Festival is set to get under way in Denver tomorrow (September 16th). Beer geeks and industry folks from around the world travel to Denver for the event, including many from San Diego. But fret not if you’re stuck in San Diego this weekend with no travel plans for Denver, because even though the biggest beer event in the country is going on a few states away, there are still plenty of great beer to be drank right here in San Diego.

Tonight Wednesday, September 15th

• Blind Lady Ale House will be tapping a keg of Sierra Nevada’s Ghidorah at 5pm (which BLAH’s Lee Chase helped brew at Beer Camp)
• The September DrinkAbout is happening from 7pm-11pm. Click here for more details.

Thursday, September 16th

• The Linkery is holding a Vegetarian Cask Beer Pairing Night. Each plate with half a pour of beer is $9. They have some great casks and the food sounds delicious. See the full menu here.
• Toronado will be hosting a Dogfish Head Night. They’ll have Punkin Ale, Palo Santo Marron, Midas Touch, Theobrama and 90 Minute IPA on tap and bottles of Festina Peche, Burton Baton IPA, Worldwide Stout.

Friday, September 17th

• Hamilton’s Tavern Firkin Friday with Mission Brewery. They’ll have Mission IPA on cask and Shipwrecked Imperial IPA, Blonde Ale, Amber Ale, and Hefeweizen at 5pm.
• O’Brien’s Pub is hosting a night of beers from Manzanita Brewing Co. in Santee. (We stopped into Manzanita when they first opened, check out that post here)
• Make sure your Stone Brewing Co. growlers are clean as they have three excellent growler fills this weekend. Friday they’ll have Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans

Saturday, September 18th

• Blind Lady Ale House will have Firestone Walker’s Union Jack IPA on cask at 11:30am. Pints are only $3.50 until 3:50pm.
• More growler fills at Stone Brewing Co. today they’re offering Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans again, and if you go after 8pm they’ll have 2010 Stone Imperial Russian Stout available as well.
• Hamilton’s Tavern is hold a “Shuffleboard for Charity” event. We don’t have any more details, but you can’t go wrong with shuffleboard and good craft beer.

Sunday, September 19th

• Pints for Prostates Fundraiser (DrinkAbout Part 2) Check Facebook for more info.
• Blind Lady Ale House will hold a Blind IPA Challenge. 11.30am to Midnight. Judge six IPAs which out knowing which is which. Click here for more info.
• If you only get one growler fill from Stone Brewing Co. this weekend this is the day to do it. Starting at 11am they’ll be filling growlers with 2005 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine

Ten Beer Related Reasons I’m Excited to Return to San Diego

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BLAH, dog friendly bars, grand cru, keg n bottle, la jolla brew house, old viscosity, pizza port real ale festival, quaff, quality ale and fermentation fraternity, san diego beer week'nd, san diego beer weekend, san diego festival of beer, san diego international beer festival, speedway stout, stone anniversary and international beer festival, stone bistro and world gardens, stone late night movies, stone sourfest, tap hunter, taphunter

Durango, Colorado, where I’ve lived for the past year and half, isn’t a bad place to be a beer geek (check out my old beer blog from Durango). But it’s not San Diego. It’s also in the middle of nowhere. Durango has four breweries and but it’s also about 300 miles from Denver, which means the many beers brewed in the Front Range, and those from out of state breweries that get distributed in Colorado often don’t make it down here. I don’t mean this as a complaint about Durango but rather a way to show how excited I am about returning to San Diego. Below are ten (of the many) beer related reasons I’m glad to be back.

Hanging out on the patio at the La Jolla Brew House with my dog. The patio at La Jolla Brew House isn’t a bad place to drink a beer, and it’s made all the better because I can bring my dog. Firehouse Brewing Co.’s beer garden is also dog friendly so I’m sure we’ll be enjoying some pints there too. Before I left San Diego Hamilton’s allowed dogs, if anyone knows if they still do please leave a comment below.

Festivals and Events: Summer typically means beer festival season no matter where you are, and because of the number of breweries and beer lovin’ folks in San Diego, there are plenty of festivals. Pizza Port’s Real Ale Festival, Stone SourFest, San Diego International Beer Festival, San Diego Festival of Beer, San Diego Beer Week’nd and Stone’s Anniversary and Invitational Beer Festival. I’ve probably left a few out, but those are the first that come to mind.

QUAFF: Quality Ale and Fermentation Fraternity is a San Diego based home brew club. Their member’s beers have won numerous American Homebrewer Championships over the years. I’m excited to check out and join the club and hope I can learn some skills to further my home brewing.

Beer Box Tijuana. Sure Tijuana isn’t San Diego, but to me they’re inseparable. I came across Beer Box Tijuana while visiting friends and was amazed at their beer selection. In Tijuana terms (where Tecate pretty much rules to the city) they have an impressive beer selection. They have a good selection of San Diego craft beers, but of more interest to San Diegans they have plenty of Mexican craft beers that don’t get distributed in the US and many beers from Europe. In addition to all that the folks at Beer Box Tijuana are homebrewers and often host homebrew club meetings and tastings.

Beers: Regardless of everything else, beer blogging is about the beer. And there are plenty of beers I haven’t been able to easily get out here in Durango that will be much more accessible in San Diego. Here’s a short list of some I’m most looking forward to: Alesmith’s Speedway Stout and Grand Cru, Port Brewing’s Old Viscosity, and so many Lost Abbey beers I’ve never tried.

Stone Bistro and World Gardens: This is one of my favorite places to have a beer and eat dinner. And since it’s all the way up in Escondido I don’t make it up to often, which keeps is special and ensures it will never become ordinary. I’m hoping to make it up for a few movie nights this summer as well.

The beer bars that have opened in the last year or two: Blind Lady Ale House, Small Bar, The Station, Ritual Tavern, Toronado just to name a few. I’ve been to BLAH, Small Bar, and Toronado but I’m looking forward to spend far more time at each.

The Liquor Stores: South Bay Drugs, The Best Damn Beer Shop and Keg N Bottle just to name a few. The beer selection at these stores is phenomenal. I’m like a kid in a candy store every time I walk in.

The Newer Breweries: I’ve never had any beers from Airdale Brewing Co., New English Brewing Co., or Mother Earth Brew Co. There are plenty of other small breweries that have opened tasting rooms or expanded their lineups recently. I’m excited to try them all.

Tap Hunter: Tap Hunter is one of the coolest ideas and websites around. I’m sure every San Diego beer geek already knows and uses it (if you don’t click the link above to check it out) and now I’m happy that I’ll be able to also. Tap Hunter launched shortly after I left San Diego last year. What Tap Hunter does (in a nutshell) is crowd source a list of what beers are on tap at various bars and restaurants. You can check the website before you go out to see what is most likely on tap and use your smartphone to report corrections if a new beer has gone on tap or a keg is empty.

10306 San Diego Mission Road