San Diego Brewed: Green Flash Double Stout

Tags

green flash double stout, silva stout

San Diego Brewed is sponsored by Bottlecraft.

Bottlecraft is a retail shop and tasting room in Little Italy showcasing local, domestic and international craft beers. They offer hundreds of beers for your enjoyment in their onsite tasting room or to-go, as well as daily beer flights, events, glassware, merchandise, and gifts. Open Noon-10pm seven days a week. 2161 India Street, San Diego, CA 92101.

For some strange reason (that I haven’t really been aware of until now) I often pass up Green Flash’s Double Stout, a 8.8% ABV Double (Imperial) Stout in favor others. I’m not really sure why that is, Silva Stout, the bourbon barrel-aged version of Double Stout that was first released last year was probably my favorite new beer to come out of a San Diego brewery in 2010, but for some reason I passed over Double Stout regularly when looking to drink a bigger stout. Thankfully I picked one up recently and won’t be neglecting it any more.

Double Stout isn’t the biggest stout around, many Imperial Stouts are coming in upwards of 10% these days, but it is insanely drinkable. Double Stout is 45 IBU, but I don’t think many people would describe it as hoppy. It has a fair amount of roasty bitterness, but think dark chocolate instead of coffee.

Green Flash uses oats in the grain bill to give it a smooth, creamy mouthfeel which I think adds to the chocolate comparison. In addition to the dark chocolate roastiness there’s also some toasted malt flavors, not a grainy texture but tasting like toasted grains. This all adds up to a nice rich and easy to drink stout.

Double Stout comes in 4 packs (12 oz bottles). I picked this bottle up at Bottlecraft as a single for $2.05, well worth the price (that’s the equivalent of a $3.75 22oz bomber).

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Green Flash Grand Opening, tommorrow, Saturday July 22nd, 2011

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green flash bus, green flash grand opening, green flash shuttle, jerry sanders beer, lil' freak, mayor sanders beer, silva stout

Green Flash Brewing Co. has been open in their new Mira Mesa location for a little over a month now, but tomorrow (Saturday, July 22nd, 2011) they’re holding their official grand opening from 12-4pm.

Mayor Jerry Sanders will be on hand to tap the inaugural cask at 1:30pm and in addition to their solid standard lineup they’ll have at least two special beers: Lil’ Freak gets tapped at 1pm and Silva Stout at 3pm.

Admission is free, you just have to buy your beers.

Green Flash is working with Brew Hop and a few local bars to provide complimentary buses to the event.

From what I’ve been told buses will leave from Churchill’s Pub in San Marcos at 11:10am, and 1:20pm with stops to pick more people up at Lumberyard Tavern in Encinitas 35 minutes later before heading on to Green Flash. Buses will also leave from Hamilton’s Tavern at 11:15am and 1pm, stopping at  Toronado at 11:45am and 1:30pm and O’Brien’s Pub at 12pm and 1:40pm before heading up to Green Flash. Buses are scheduled to depart Green Flash back to those bars every couple of hours up until about 4-5pm.

As always check with the individual bars to confirm times and for more info.

San Diego Beer Events April 7th – April 13th

Tags

2008 Stone Imperial Russian Stout, beer u: stouts, big sky brewing, citybeat festival of beers, hamilton's second saturday, progressive cask, rustic saison, sam adams perfect pint glass, samuel adams perfect pint, second saturday, sierra nevada second saturday, sierra nevada stout, sierra nevada torpedo ipa, silva stout, stone sunday funday, trumer pils, 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 April 7th:

Pizza Port Ocean Beach will have some beers from Samuel Adams on tap, including Rustic Saison (which I haven’t tried yet, but hope it will be the subject of a Farmhouse Friday post in the near future). In addition to the beers from Sam Adams they’ll also have some Sam Adams Perfect Pint glasses available for purchase. There’s plenty of notes on what this glass does to accentuate the beer over on Sam Adams website. And they’re also pretty cool looking.

Friday April 8th:

Last week Blind Lady Ale House started opening up for lunch on Friday’s. And with their extended Friday hours came a “progressive cask” in which from the time they open at 11:30am until 2pm pints are only $2. Each hour after 2pm the price goes up a buck. So $2 until 2pm, $3 until 3pm, $4 until 4pm… you get the point. This week they’ll have a cask of Firestone Walker’s Union Jack IPA. They don’t expect it to last long, last week’s was gone before 2pm.

Saturday April 9th:

The CityBeat Festival of Beers is officially sold out, so if you don’t have a ticket already you’re not getting in. Lucky for you it just so happens to be Second Saturday at Hamilton’s Tavern. This month they’re hosting Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. They’ll have Sierra Nevada Stout and Torpedo IPA on cask as well as thirty other Sierra Nevada beers on draft. As always there will be complimentary food as well.

If you are headed to the CityBeat Festival of Beers (or just in the area) and want to drink beer before or after (or if the crowds become too much and you need to escape and grab a full pint of beer) Live Wire has you covered. Trumer Pils is hosting the after party, it might not be the beer geekiest of beers, but after four hours of unlimited beer drinking it might be just what you need to round out the evening. But if that’s just not your thing they’ll have happy hour pricing all day on all of their other taps.

Sunday April 10th:

Sunday’s tend to be one of the slower days for special craft beer events, luckily Stone Brewing Co. has been pulling out some great beers lately for their Sunday Funday growler fills. This week it’s 2008 Stone Imperial Russian Stout. Stone IRS is one of my favorite beers, especially aged a couple years.

Monday April 11th:

In addition to pint night at both Toronado and Eleven with $3 drafts in which Eleven offers all of their on-tap beers for $3 from open to close while Toronado offers locals for $3 from 6pm to close, Stone is also hosting the latest installment in their Beer U series. This month it’s Beer U: Stouts. $25 gets you a lesson in all things stout as well as tasters of eight different stouts, including the aforementioned 2008 Stone Imperial Russian Stout as well as one of my favorite beers to be released last year, Green Flash’s Silva Stout

Tuesday April 12th:

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

Wednesday April 13th:

Small Bar will have a handful or beers from Montana’s Big Sky Brewing on tap. $5 gets you a glass to take home with your first beer in it, with subsequent refills only $3.50.

If you’re out in east county, El Cajon’s Main Tap Tavern will have Iron Fist’s Velvet Glove on cask with some glasses to take home. I’ve had Velvet Fist on draft and it’s delicious, I imagine it will be equally as good if not better on cask.

San Diego Beer Week: Day One

Tags

American ESB, avery rumpkin, Citra Session Ale, coconut speedway stout, Fire Roasted Pumpkin Al, Fizzy Yellow Beer, green flash fizzy yellow beer, kopi luwak, kopi luwak speedway stout, rumpkin, silva stout, speedway stout, Traditional Porter, vanilla speedway stout, west coast ipa

The burlesque of Brews and Burlesque at The Ruby Room

And San Diego Beer Week 2010 is here! I will (hopefully) be blogging everyday about the various beers I drink and SDBW events I attend. If you see me out and about say hi (my picture is on the About page). I wasn’t good about taking picture of beer last night, and felt like a total perv taking pictures of burlesque, so thats the only picture today, but there will be more going forward.

The SDBW festivities were supposed to start at O’Brien’s Pub for Night of a Million Zillion Speedways, where they had nine different versions of Alesmith’s Speedway Stout on draft and cask. I got stuck at work a bit longer than I had expected and by the time I got to O’Brien’s there were at least 50 people in a line snaking around the building. I decided to pass and kept driving, but I heard things went smoothly and everyone got in after a short wait and all waiting got to try all of the different version of Speedway. One friend I talked to later said that her top three were Coconut Speedway, Vanilla Speedway and Kopi Luwak in that order.

My night ended up starting at The Ruby Room for the Green Flash Brewing Co. Brews and Burlesque night. They had six Green Flash beers on tap: American ESB, Traditional Porter, Citra Session Ale, Fizzy Yellow Beer, Fire Roasted Pumpkin Ale, and West Coast IPA, the last of which was already gone by the time I got there around 9pm.

I started with a Yellow Fizzy Beer, the only one I could imagine drinking right after I arrived at The Ruby Room by bicycle. It was crisp and refreshing, with a bit of hop bitterness and spiciness, this is what Budweiser should taste like. If I had a lawn to mow this would be my go to lawn mower beer were Green Flash to bottle it. I tried the Traditional Porter next, the first sip was full of intense chocolate flavors but it seemed to die down after that first sip.

I made my way down to Downtown Johnny Brown’s next where they had over 20 barrel aged beers on tap for their 2nd Annual Barrel Aged Night. I started out with Avery Brewing Co.’s Rumpkin, an imperial pumpkin ale aged in rum barrels. At 13.2% ABV this was an intense beer with a boozy pumpkin pie spice smell. The flavors from the rum barrel aging came through immediately upon first sip. It wasn’t overpowering in the least, but tasted very strongly of rum. This beer is definetly a sipper, I think it had the 8oz glass in front of me for about 2 hours before I finished it. Rumpkin will be on tap at Hamilton’s Tavern on Monday night for their Avery Barrel Run Experience

I finished the night off with another Green Flash beer, Silva Stout. I wanted to try it on draft to see how it differed from the bottled version but the comparison was difficult since I didn’t have both in front of me at the same time. I think I actually prefer the bottled version of Silva Stout over the draft, but either way their both amazing beers.

Green Flash Brewing Co. Silva Stout

Tags

barrel aged imperial stout, chuck silva, silva stout

I’ll start off by saying that Silva Stout is one of the best beers I’ve had in a long time. I’m a huge fan of imperial stouts and Green Flash really nailed this one with the perfect combination of fresh and barrel aged beer.

Here’s what Brewmaster Chuck Silva had to say about the beer when it was first released last month:

“Silva Stout took a lot of patience. We aged our Double Stout in oak bourbon barrels for seventeen months. Flavors are very complex. It starts off with dark chocolate truffles rolled in cocoa powder. Next is the vanilla and wood notes, with rich cherry-like fruitiness. After racking and filtering the ale, we blended in just the right amount of freshly brewed Double Stout to provide the perfect balance of bourbon barrel aging and freshness. Enjoy the culmination of years of flavor development now – no further aging required!”

Silva Stout is as dark as you imagine it would be. The fluffy mocha colored head disappeared as I let it sit out and warm up to better bring out the flavors.

It has a very strong bourbon smell with something sweet, maybe vanilla. I don’t smell much chocolate. There isn’t nearly as much bourbon in the taste as the smell would have you believe. It’s bitter sweet, with chocolate and strong roasted flavors. The first thing that comes to mind is coffee, but I’m not sure there is coffee in this beer so it could be roasted barley or something else. It gets sweeter with noticeable vanilla flavors and finishes with a good bourbon aftertaste, but it’s not overpowering.

Silva Stout is pretty smooth drinking, it’s not something you can gulp down, but there isn’t as much heat from the alcohol and bourbon as their could be in this 10.1% ABV beer. One of the things I like most about Silva Stout is the consistency and mouthfeel. It’s heavy but not thick. I want to describe it as pillowy. I’ve tasted many other imperial stouts that have this characteristic, but not all do. I imagine it’s from using a certain type of grain, maybe oats, but I’m just not sure. If anyone has any insight into it I’d love to hear.

Silva Stout runs about $5-6 per 12oz bottle and it’s worth every penny. It’s on liquor store shelves now and should be on tap at a few events around town during San Diego Beer Week but it will certainly go fast. Search this one out and try it if you can.

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.

Green Flash to release Silva Stout

Tags

barrel aged green flash double stout, chuck silva, green flash double stout, green flash silva stout, silva stout

Green Flash Brewing Co. is set to release their new Silva Stout tomorrow, Friday October 1st from 4-8pm at their tasting room in Vista. This limited release stout, a blend of fresh Green Flash Double Stout and Double Stout aged in oak bourbon barrels for seventeen months is only available in four packs at the brewery during their normal tasting hours. Green Flash’s Double Stout is often over looked (in my opinion) for some of their hoppier beers, but it is an excellent double/imperial stout and I’m looking forward to this barrel aged blend.

The Green Flash Brewing Co. tasting room is located at 1430 Vantage Ct. Vista, CA 92081 and is typically open Friday 4-8pm, Saturday 12-5pm and Sunday 12-4pm. Below is the email from Green Flash with a bit more info.