Briggs and I arrived in San Diego at 11am local time. By the time we got the rental car it was closer to noon. We had three hours to kill before Steinfeld and Chad were getting in, so we decided to drive up to The Lost Abbey in San Marcos, CA to take part in the release of their Deliverance beer. Deliverance is a mix of the Brady Aged Angel's Share and the Bourbon Barrel Aged Serpent's Stout. We each got our maximum allotment of six beers, costing $15 each, but well worth it from what we sampled of it on draft. While there we also had the Serpent's Stout and Judgement Day. We didn't stay here too long because we are planning on going there again with Steinfeld and Chad.
On our way back to the airport to pick up the others, we stopped in at AleSmith. We got three samples of their beer: Decadence, Grand Cru, and Horny Devil. Decadence was good, but definitely needs some age to mellow it out a bit.
After we picked up the others from the airport we checked into our hotel (Bristol Hotel). After we got ready we drove to Pizza Port Ocean Beach location for dinner. This place has great beer and great food. I ended up having some Pliny the Elder on draft to start off with. Such an amazing beer that I hate not having access to in Louisville. I rounded out the beers at Pizza Port with a pint of Green Flack Double Stout and
We stopped in at Downtown Johnny Brown's for a couple of beers and some card playing to close out the night. Briggs and I split a Russian River Supplication and a Port Older Viscosity. Both are such amazing beers. The Older Viscosity was vintage 2009, which made it extremely mellow.
Day 1 down, many more to go. It was a great start to the trip, with a lot of good beers already had. We are hoping Day 2 will include trips to Green Flash Brewing, The Lost Abbey (again), and to Stone Brewing for dinner.
Day two started out with us getting breakfast at the awesome local Frech cafe called Au Revior. They had $5 bottomless mimosas, so lets say we definitely got our money's worth.
We walked around Ocean Beach for a couple of hours before heading to Green Flash Brewing in Vista, CA. They are located in an industrial park, with not much signage outside. They had a couple of foldout tables set up with 9+ taps on the wall. All four of us got a flight of beers for $6 that included a 2-3oz pour of nine beers. The nine beers were the following: 1) Summer Saison (4.3%), 2) Matt's Bitter (3.6%), 3) Hop Head Red (6.4%), 4) Palate Wrecker (9.7%), 5) West Coast IPA (7.3%), 6) Le Freak (9.2%), 7) Imperial IPA (9.4%), 8) Double Stout (8.8%), 9) Barleywine (10.9%). My favorite was probably the Double Stout, but that might be because it was so different than all the big hop bombs. Second place would be between the Palate Wrecker or the West Coast IPA. Walked away with a bottle of the Double Stout.
Keeping the ball rolling, we stopped at The Lost Abbey again. Steinfeld and Chad didn't get a chance to go yesterday with Briggs and me. We had several tasters, with mine including: 1) Port Brewing Bourbon Barrel Santa's Little Helper, 2) Port Brewing 4th Anniversary IPA, 3) Port Brewing Midnight Session Lager, 4) Lost Abbey Devotion. All were great beers, with the stand out for me being the Bourbon Barrel Santa's Little Helper. It was so good we walked away from our visit with three bottles and a few more of others.
We met up with Adam and Kristin at Stone for dinner. This building is amazing. I didn't hear good things about the actual tour, but the building itself and the land it's on is beautiful. I had the Wild Mushroom over Penne and it was great. Their soft pretzel appetizer was also good. I had a couple of beers at this point, the Stone Smoked Porter and the Bootlegger's Rustic Rye IPA. The Smoked Porter was good like always, but the Rustic Rye IPA was definitely dissappointing.
I think we topped Day 1 and I can only hope that trend continues. Day 3 plans include the beach, Ballast Point, Alpine, and Toronado Beer Bar.
Today started off with some relaxation at the beach. After spending a few hours there, we went to O'Brien's American Pub for lunch. It is located in a strip mall surrounded by Asian shops. There was a nice inside and out seating area, so we chose the outside. This is definitely a place that tons of locals frequent. I had the Alpine Pure Hoppiness and the Exponential Hoppiness while there. We hungout for a bit after eating, playing some cards and finishing out second beers.
Ballast Point Brewery was next on the list. Since we had to drive, us four split two flights. The pours where five ounces and cost a total of $11.50 for each flight. The beers included: 1) Wahoo Wheat, 2) Yellowtail Pale Alel, 3) Calico Copper ESB, 4) Bigeye IPA, 5) Sculpin, 6) Abandon Ship Smoked Lager, 7) Black Marlin Porter, 8) Navigator Doppelbock, 9) Brandy Barrel Aged Navigator Doppelbock. The tasting room is standing room only, but there was plenty of room. The guy serving us beer was very friendly and easy to talk to.
For dinner we drove to the Toronado (San Diego) Beer Bar. They had a good food menu selection and their potato salad was fantastic. Beer wise I had the Russian River Damnation, The Bruery Autumn Mapler, and Just Outstanding IPA. All were on draft and all very good, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be the Autumn Mapler. I was actually dissappointed with the Damnation.
It seems like we are beginning to drink beer later and later in the day. I guess we are getting old. Hopefully we can change that in a couple of days.
Today started off with us dropping off Chad at the airport. We'll miss you Chad...
Briggs, Steinfeld and I made reservations for one night in Dana Point, CA, so we had to make our way up the coast. We stopped in at the Best Damn Beer Shop (located in Super Jr. Market) to stock up on beers for the rest of the trip and see if they had any gems we might want to ship back home. "Talk about not judging a book by it's cover," said Steinfeld while walking out of the Beer Store. We walked away with a ton of stuff, with me getting two AleSmith Speedway Stouts, Left Coast Hop Juice, Black Diamond Imperial Porter, Hair of the Dog Doggie Style Barleywine, and a couple more that I can't remember right now. I'll come back and update this when I remember.
We made a three or so hour pit stop at Torrey Pines State Reserve. The scenery was amazing. They had tons of trails and we were able to make our way down to the beach. We took several pictures, so I'll throw them on here when I get them downloaded off my camera.
We checked into our hotel at Dana Point, CA (Double Tree Hotel) before heading to dinner at El Torito. We needed a bit of a beer break, so we split a couple of pitchers of margaritas and a couple of tequila shots. This place had good food and amazing guacamole.
We strolled back to our hotel, grabbed the beers we put in the fridge when we checked in, and ventured down to the hot tub. We split the Left Coast Hop Juice, the Black Diamond Imperial Porter, and a....time to travel. Will update when we check into our next hotel.
Goose Island recently issued a withdrawal on specific batches of their Matilda Belgian Style Pale Ale. There is a sour flavor to the beer that is, according to Brewmaster Gregory Hall, “out of our spec.” In a letter posted on Goose Island’s website, it lists specific bottle dates and sizes that contain the tart Matilda. The dates listed are as follows:
After learning of this, I started looking at the dates on Matilda bottles every time I was at the store. I finally ran across 650ml bottles, dated 05/21/2010. To my joy, these beers must have slipped through the cracks of the distributors. I have now split two bottles of the infected brew and I have to say, it’s damn good. I have now had three very different versions of Goose Island Matilda. My first encounter was a four year old bottle, dating back to 2006. I was disappointed to say the least. This beer is not meant to be aged. Well, at least for four years. Still have a bottle or two, but for why I have no idea. Second time I tried Matilda was on draft at a local bar. It redeemed itself. I tried a fresh bottle version and ended up giving it a 7.8/10 on my review. Step in version three. From the tart lemon aroma to the upfront sour notes, this is my favorite version. Don’t get me started about how this beer keeps getting better as it warms. My review of the infected version would approximately be an 8.3-8.4/10.
The infected Matilda seems to really be gaining popularity and rightfully so. I am seeing it mentioned more and more on beer trading sites. If you’re lucky enough to get Goose Island in your area, check out the date on the bottle of the next Matilda you see. Maybe you’ll get lucky and be in for a treat.
The only question is, will Goose Island realize the popularity of the infected Matilda and do a spin-off?
Beau, Mike and I had the pleasure of sampling two brews from Strangford Lough this past Tuesday. The great people at SLBC were kind enough to send us two of their beers (St. Patrick’s Best Ale and Legbiter Ale) for us to review.
Coors) have nothing on the St. Patrick’s Best Ale and the Legbiter Ale. These are the perfect beers for a hot summer day, while sitting on the beach, right after mowing the yard, or cooking on the grill.
So I've been dabbling in the homebrew world for about a year now. Some of my beers are good and some are bad. Going against every fiber in my body, I jumped into brewing without much research. After my first venture, which included a boxed recipe, I started making recipes from scratch. If I wanted an IPA, I added a bunch of hops. If I wanted a heavy stout, I added a pound honey and molasses to the boil. The actual flavors of my beers are surprising good, but it is the little details that usually turn these good beers into disasters.
After my second to last beer was popped and poured, I realized I have to figure out what this priming (carbonation) was all about. Who would have thought different styles of beer require different amounts of priming sugar to develop the appropriate amount of carbonation. There are several ways to carbonate a beer, but I have just been using priming sugar.
My research about carbonating a beer with priming sugar led me to a great website. TastyBrew.com has a simple, but effective calculator that spits out how many grams of priming sugar is needed for a particular style of beer. I tested this calculator out on my last beer (7.9% ABV IPA w/grapefruit) and the carbonation came out perfectly. SOLD! I will be turing to this calculator before every bottle filling event.
Remember that beer I said made me realize I needed to do some research? Well, it exploded yesterday, blowing out the bottom of the beer bottle. It has been over three months since it was bottled. Go figure. Moral of the story: A little research can go a long way!
Gravity Head is a celebration of big (high gravity) beers. Starting around the first of March, 17 or so beers will be available on draft that contain an ABV of approximately 8% or higher. When one keg is empty, a new beer takes it's place. This goes on for 2-4 weeks. The beers are rarities for sure. There are beers you can't usually find, Founders CBS. There are beers that aren't so hard to find, but happen to be 6 years old,Rogue Old Crustacean 2004. Make no mistake, the beers you're going to get at Gravity Head aren't your normal beers.
This past Friday was the start of New Albanian Brewing Company's (Rich O's) annual Gravity Head Celebration. I ventured up to New Albany, IN after work on Friday to partake in the festivities. The parents of one of the guys I went with are members of Fossils (Fermentors of Special Southern Indiana Libations Society), a homebrewing club. They invited us to sit with them in the members section of Rich O's, would was most appreciated since it saved us an hour wait. These guys were class acts and some I hope to hangout with again.
The main reason I ventured to the opening day of Gravity Head was because one of the first 17 beers on draft was the Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout. The Breakfast Stout and KBS are amazing beers, so I knew I needed to get there during the first day it was on tap. I followed up the CBS, which was amazing, with the BFM Abbaye De Saint Bon-Chien. This is a sour beer that was very good. It is definitely official, I like sour and smoked beers.
I can't wait to go back before the end of this big beer celebration. Do yourself a favor and check it out if you're in the area.
Most of us remember a time when we didn’t look too fondly on beer. Our first encounter with beer was not the “good” beer we have grown to love; it was most likely a Bud Light or for the unlucky few, a Natty Light. Most of our parents, and even some of us, grew up in a time where the microbrew scene was only a thought in the minds of pioneering brewers like Jim Koch. Because of this, no one can be blamed for our first exposure to beer being that of watery piss. Personally, I can remember the progression I went through in my beer drinking. Listed below are the different stages, in chronological order, I’ve gone through in my short beer drinking life. I would guess a lot of you have gone through similar stages.
Stage 1 – The Cheapskate (Age 21 to Age 22)
This is the stage where I started to drink beer. Before this stage, it was all liquor for me. Turning 21 had a lot to do with the switch over to beer because when I would go out, beer was cheaper than liquor. I was drinking whatever beer was the cheapest that month, which mostly consisted of Bud Light, Miller Lite, or Coors Light. I had no idea about beers besides the American staples. This was my life and looking back on it, what a sad life it was.
Stage 2 – Wannabe (Age 22 – Age 24)
Now I’m beginning to realize that there are other beers in this world besides the Great American Pilsner. I start frequenting a local beer bar (Flanagan’s Ale House in Louisville, KY) and attempting to finish their Centurion Club (drink 100 different beers). The great thing about this was their list of 100 beers didn’t consist of your baby beers. The list was made up of some big ass beers. I wanted to like these bigger beers, but I didn’t have the taste for them. Most of my venturing out into new beers ended with me chugging them so the pain of drinking them would be over.
Stage 3 – Poser (Age 24 – Age 25)
I start pushing out into “hoppy” beers and barrel aged stouts. This is where I start liking the taste of some bigger beers. I don’t know much about beer at this point, but I am enjoying the taste of these yummy microbrews. I’m drinking a lot of beers from the Bluegrass Brewing Company (local brewpub), Sierra Nevada is a staple, and I even venture out into the Sam Adam’s Triple Bock World (mistake!). At this point I know what I like, but I couldn’t tell you anything about want I was drinking. The extent of my beer vocabulary was hoppy, wheaty, and alcoholy.
Stage 4 – Lover (Age 25 – Present)
Finally, I learn what the hell I’ve been drinking for the past four years. I know the difference between lager and ale. I know what to look for in the different styles of beer. I start brewing my own beer. I start reviewing and writing about beer. I seek out new beer releases from breweries. I go to beer festivals and tastings. I rarely set out to drink more than a beer or two. I enjoy the experience of drinking a new beer and could care less about drinking to get a buzz. I am by no means an expert; I just enjoy the beer experience.
My journey to Beer Lover took about four years. I would guess this is a pretty average timeframe for most. Some people get stuck at a stage for years and others zip right through them. If you know somebody that is stuck in one of the three stages, give them a little nudge. Help them move up in the Beer World. Feel free to share your story by commenting on this blog post or by writing your own blog post on the User’s Beer Blog page.
Cheers!
Beau's blog post a couple of weeks ago inspired me to pull out my beers, take a few pictures, and tease myself with my "cellered beers" (whatever that means). Let me explain what I mean by tease. First, I am not referring to anything sexual. Although, I have heard people describe a beer as orgasmic. I'm sure I've been guilty of this a time or two. What I mean by tease is we beer lovers, for one reason or another, love to save our best beers instead of drinking them right away. In our head we think they will get better with age. This idea of "delayed gratification" when it comes to beer is silly if looked at from the outside. The non-beer lover would roll his eyes at the idea of saving beers. Who wants a sunked beer? Well, besides the Heineken drinkers of the world. To be able to pull out a six pack of beer you have had for two years (Bell's Expedition Stout in my case) is gratifying in a way that a true beer lover would only understand. We are sometimes looked at a bit weird. How could you pay that much for a beer? You drink how many beers a night? The people who ask these questions would look at the pictures of my Beer Porn and roll there eyes. I, however, look at these pictures with pride and consider it worth the tease.
If you want to share your Beer Porn, Sign In or Join, go to the User's Blog Page, and post a new entry (link in the top right corner).
Cheers!
Struise Brewery, based in Belgium, is consistently ranked as one of the best breweries in the world. Its lineup of award winning beers, that individually are some of the best beers out there, can now be purchased online at the Struise Beershop. This is their second attempt at an online store, so here is to them being successful and me being able to afford to place an order.
Currently there are twelve beers and a Struise beer glass for sale at the online beershop. These beer include:
A beer festival of all beer festivals
Right on the lake at a gorgeous little park in Madison Wisconsin, thousands… 
