What’s Happening

Hello Beer Fans!
 
The next few weeks will packed with great beers at the pub.  We still have some great Christmas Belgians on tap from this weekend.  Alpine Hoppy Birthday and Duet IPA are flowing and we will casks of both beers this Thursday.  Sculpin will be on tap and cask next week and we get to debut the Green Flash-St. Feuillien collaboration, Beer de L’Amitie (Beer of Friendship) on August 7th.  You can also look forward to the return of Malheur on draft in August.
 
This Week
 
As I write we have Gouden Carolous Noel, Lost Abbey Gift of the Magi and Delirium Noel all on tap from our Christmas in July weekend.  N’ice Chouffe, St. Bernardus Christmas, Dupont Avec les bon Voeux and Santa Cruz Mountain’s Ginger’s Winter Warmer will be coming back on tap soon as those kegs empty out.  So there will be great Belgian beer on tap all week.  Lest you hop heads become concerned, we have Russian River Pliny the Elder and Coronado Idiot IPA both on tap as well.  And keep an eye out for a keg of the brand new Mission IPA.  The brewery just hired former Stone brewer John Egan as its brewmaster and this is the first batch of IPA that John has brewed – please let us know what you think.  We will also have North Coast Old Number 38 Stout on the nitro tap for the first time this week.
 
Wednesday the 28th is the MLS All Star game at 5:30 pm and we will have our last keg of Alpine Red Card Ale on tap for the game.  The best players in the MLS will square off against English giants Manchester United.  From the kitchen, Cesar will be continuing his Mexican food specials on Wednesday nights with the amazing Carnitas Torta and his tasty Tostadas.  Lindsey will also have Beer Cheese plates for sale as well as several flavors of Beer Cheese available to go including Deschutes Hop in the Dark Cheddar Beer Cheese with Bacon and Green Onion.  Look for the Chimay Burger, made with Chimay cheese, later in the week.
 
The bottle list will be updated for Wednesday night.  Among the new bottles we will have: Steenbrugge Blond, Wit and Tripel, Jandrain V Cense (a 7% alcohol saison), Inveralmond Black Friar from Scotland (a hoppy psuedo wee-heavy), Dieu de Ciel Rosee de Hibiscus (wheat beer made with hibiscus flowers) and the Stone-21st Amendment-Firestone El Camino (Un)Real Black Ale.  This three-way collaboration uses ingredients found along the historic El Camino Real including fennel seed, pink peppercorns and mission figs.  It is dark and 9.5% alcohol.  Other recent additions to the list include beers from Theillier, Revelation Cat, Amager, Haandbryggeriet, De Molen, Oud Beersel, Geants, Struisse, Fantome and Ecausinnes.  We also have St. Peter’s Winter Ale, Alaskan Smoked Porter and a few magnums of Anchor Christmas still for sale from our Christmas in July weekend.
 
Cask night on Thursday will feature two great offerings from Alpine – Duet IPA and Hoppy Birthday.  The Duet will be a full size cask and the Hoppy Birthday is just a five gallon cask, also called a pin.  Both will tap at 5 pm and we will have all of our local beers on special as well.  I will also have a sign up sheet for our annual bus trip to the Stone Anniversary Party on Thursday night.  The cost is $25 and we will be going to Port Brewing for some food and beer before the 1st session.  We will leave at 8:15 am on the 21st and return around 3 pm.  Since I pay the bus driver in cash, we can only accept cash as payment for the bus.  This always sells out quickly, so don’t delay if you want to get on board.  You have to buy your own ticket for the Stone Anniversary Party on line (cost $40).
 
Over the weekend we will feature beers from Airdale Brewing Company which is based in San Diego.  We will have Dark and Stormy Imperial Stout and Horizon Pale Ale for sure and maybe some other selections as well.  The beers will be on tap Friday, Saturday and Sunday so you can stop by anytime to enjoy one.  We’ll also have our 10% off all bottles special on Saturday and Sunday and all Belgian draft beers will be $1 off from 9 pm until Midnight on Saturday.  Fish Tacos, Fish and Chips and the Chipotle Fish Sandwich will be on special Sunday and Monday (as they are every Sunday and Monday) from the kitchen.
 
Next Month
 
Next week’s cask will be Ballast Point Sculpin IPA on Thursday the 5th.  We will also have a draft keg of Sculpin so that the beer will be on tap all night.  Friday the 6th will be a Green Flash night, though the line up of beers has yet to be determined.  Saturday the 7th we will debut the new Green Flash Beer de L’Amitie which was a collaboration that head brewer Chuck Silva made at St. Feuillien during our annual Belgium Beer Tour earlier this year.  Chuck will be stopping by on Saturday along with the owners of Green Flash to help us kick off the new beer which will be a Belgian Golden Strong Ale hopped up with some American hops and a touch of spice added.  I will have more details on the event, the beer list and the timing in next week’s email.
 
There are still two seats left on our bus trip to the Real Madrid v. LA Galaxy game on Saturday, August 7th.  Cost for the bus, game ticket and beer on the bus is $66.  Please email me if you are interested.  The bus will leave around 2 pm for the 7:30 pm kick off in Pasadena and return around 12:30 am.
 
The following week is my annual birthday week celebration.  Monday the 9th is Port Brewing/Lost Abbey night with kegs of Older Viscosity and Angel’s Share Barleywine.  Tuesday the 10th the USA plays Brazil at 5 pm in its first post-World Cup match (actually, US Soccer did not consult me about this, it is just dumb luck).  Wednesday the 11th is Russian River night and I called in a favor for this one so that we could have Pliny the Elder, Blind Pig IPA and Russian River IPA all on tap again for a night.  We’ll also have kegs of Supplication, Temptation and Consecration.  Thursday the 12th is cask of Alpine Hoppy Birthday.  Friday brings the Alpine triple threat – Exponential Hoppiness, Bad Boy and O’Brien’s IPA all released on the 13th and only available at the brewery and O’Brien’s on that day.  I know we will also have Pure Hoppiness and most likely Tuatara and Nelson Rye IPA on tap too.  I am still working on Saturday – I will know for sure by next week.
 
Looking much further ahead, we will have the founder of the Chouffe Brewery in Belgium at the pub from 3-5 pm on Saturday, September 4th.  We will have plenty of great Chouffe beer on tap and I may even pull out one of our vintage kegs of N’ice Chouffe for the event.  The San Diego Festival of Beer downtown will be on Friday, September 10th – visit www.sdbeerfest.org for all of the details.  Still no word on an opening date for the pub at Alpine, but rumor has it that one might be announced next week.
 
That is your good beer news for now.  We’ll see you soon for a great beer.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Soccer Fans,

The World Cup may be over, but that doesn’t mean that there is not plenty of great soccer action on TV.  Many European clubs are on North American tours including Celtic, Manchester United, Tottenham, Sporting Lisbon and Manchester City.  Thierry Henry is now in the MLS with the New York Red Bulls who will host the New York Football Challenge July 22nd – 25th with all games on FSC.  The MLS All Star game will be on the 28th against Manchester United.  We have the MLS Direct Kick package for all of the regular season games.

The Premier League will start on August 14th.  Look for the Community Shield to be played on August 7th.  Europa League qualifying is already under way and Liverpool will play on July 29th – not sure if the game will be on Gol TV or not.  UEFA Champions League will have its third qualifying round at the end of the month as well.  The Concacaf Champions League also has qualifying games later this month.  And the USA will be back in action on Tuesday, August 10th against Brazil.

If you would like to go see some soccer, we are taking a bus trip up to the Rose Bowl to see the LA Galaxy take on Real Madrid on Saturday, August 7th.  Game tickets are $36 and the bus trip should be around $30-$35 with beer to drink on the way up.  We only have about 10 seats left – if you are interested in going, please email soon.  Locally, the San Diego Flash soccer club will have another eshibition match on Saturday, July 24th at 4 pm at Balboa Stadium on the San Diego high school campus.  The game is a tribute to the World Cup – wear any country’s jersey and get half price tickets.  For more info visit www.sandiegoflashsoccer.com.

Please sign the petition to support San Diego’s World Cup bid.  You can sign up at the O’Brien’s webpage, The San Diego Flash webpage or at the USA World Cup Bid webpage at: http://www.gousabid.com/city/local/san-diego-ca/.  You can also help the USA Bid get to 1 million signatures – it is almost at 900,000!

Here are the upcoming games:

Saturday, 7/17:

4:30 pm – USA Women v. Sweden – FSC – also at 8 pm and noon on Sunday

4:30 pm – NY Red Bulls v. Columbus Crew – MLS Direct Kick

5:30 pm – Real Salt Lake v. FC Dallas – MLS Direct Kick

6 pm – Kansas City Wizards v. Colorado Rapids – MLS Direct Kick

Sunday, 7/18:

Noon – Celtic FC v. Seattle Sounders FC – ESPN

4:30 pm – DC United v. LA Galaxy – FSC

Wednesday, 7/21:

4:30 pm – Manchester United v. Philadelphia Union – ESPN

5 pm – Celtic FC v. Sporting Lisbon – FSC - also at 8 pm

Thursday, 7/22:

5:30 pm – NYRB v. Tottenham – FSC – also at 8:30 pm

7:30 pm – San Jose Earthquakes v. LA Galaxy – ESPN

Friday, 7/23:

5:30 pm – Manchester City v. Sporting Lisbon – FSC – also at 8:30 pm

Saturday, 7/24:

1 pm – FC Dallas v. Toronto FC – MLS Direct Kick

4 pm – San Diego Flash World Cup Tribute Game – Balboa Stadium

4:30 pm – Houston Dynamo v. Crew – MLS Direct Kick

6 pm – US Soccer U-19 Boys National Championship game – FSC

7 pm – Chivas USA v. RSL – MLS Direct Kick

Sunday, 7/25:

12:30 pm – NYRB v. Manchester City – FSC

3 pm – KC Wizards v. Manchester United – FSC

Tuesday, 7/27:

5 pm – Toronto FC (Can) v. Montagua (Hon) – FSC – CCL qualifying

7 pm – LA Galaxy (USA) v. Puerto Rico Islanders (PR) – FSC – CCL qualifying

Wednesday, 7/28:

7 pm – Seattle Sounders FC (USA) v. Metapan (Slv) – FSC – CCL qualifying

Saturday, 7/31:

12:30 pm – New England Revolution v. Philly Union – MLS Direct Kick

1 pm – FC Dallas v. Rapids – MLS Direct Kick

5:30 pm – NYRB v. Dynamo – MLS Direct Kick

6 pm – DC v. RSL – MLS Direct Kick

7 pm – Sounders v. San Jose – MLS Direct Kick

7:30 pm – Crew v. Chivas USA

Sunday, 8/1:

4:30 pm – LA Galaxy v. Chicago Fire – FSC

Thursday, 8/5:

5 pm – Crew v. Union – ESPN

Tuesday, 8/10:

5 pm – USA v. Brazil – ESPN

We’ll see you soon for some great soocer.   Cheers, Tom

Hello Beer Fans!
 
We have lots of great cold beer for you at the pub over the next few weeks.  The World Cup is over and Spain is the new champion of the world.  It was nice to see team USA and Landon Donovan win an ESPY award this week for Best Sports Moment for the last second goal against Algeria.  There are a lot of great Belgian beers coming on tap in the next ten days and we have an awesome line up of IPAs and double IPAs right now as well.  Coming soon on tap keep an eye out for Alpine Hoppy Birthday, Dogfish Head Festina Peche (Berliner Weisse with a touch of peaches), Ballast Point Sculpin IPA and another keg of the very tasty Deschutes Hop in the Dark.  So here is what you can look forward to at the pub…
 
Thursday the 15th we get a double shot of casks from brewer Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing/Lost Abbey.  We’ll have the amazing 4th Anniversary double IPA and the equally fantastic Wipeout IPA.  Look for both casks just after 5 pm.  We’ll have Mongo IPA and the new Lost Abbey Road to Helles Lager on tap in addition to the casks.  You can also enjoy Kern River Just Outstanding IPA, Alpine Duet IPA, Alpine Nelson IPA, Russian River Pliny the Elder, Green Flash West Coast IPA, Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA and New Belgium Ranger IPA if you want something hoppy.
 
Friday the 16th we begin our 10 day celebration of Belgian Beer.  Sunday the 18th is the feast day of St. Arnoldus who is famous for imploring people to drink beer and not water during the great plague in the mid 14th century.  Since beer is boiled, it killed any infectious bacteria that might have been carried in the water.  Beer really was safer than water.  To celebrate St. Arnoldus and his “drink beer, not water” campaign, we will have Kwak and Tripel Karmeliet from the Bosteels Brewery on tap with the brewery’s great Deus champagne-style beer in the bottle, Bockor Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge which is a great Flanders-style sour red ale and the dark, spicy St. Feuillien Printemps (spring) all for Friday through Sunday.  Affligem Blonde and New Belgium’s Belgo-IPA and Eric’s Ale are all on tap right now as well.  We will have some limited amounts of Belgian and Belgian-style glassware over the weekend.
 
Next Week
 
Next week we celebrate Feestdag, which is Belgium’s Independence Day, on Wednesday, July 21st.  We will have another great round of Belgian beers on tap including Rodenbach Grand Cru, Palm, Ommegang Zuur (a barrel aged sour brown with fruit that was a collaboration with Leifman’s) and Duvel along with some bottled beers from Steenbrugge.  I expect to have a few of the Belgian ales around from the weekend as well as we have several kegs of each beer.
 
Thursday the 22nd we take a break from our Belgian theme to tap a a cask of AleSmith YuleSmith.  This will be the beginning of our Christmas in July weekend.  I have saved back some great beers including St. Bernardus Christmas, N’ice Chouffe, Scaldis Noel, Dupont Avec les Bon Voeux and Gouden Carolous Noel.  I also have bottles of St. Peter’s Winter Ale (very nice 6% dark English Ale) and Alaskan Smoked Porter.  My favorite part of tapping these beers nearly one year after they are brewed is to see how they have aged.  The holiday beers I only have one keg of each, so we will tap them Friday and when they run out, they will be gone – but only until November when the beers start coming back in.
 
Real Madrid Bus Trip
 
On Saturday, August 7th, the LA Galaxy will host Real Madrid at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena at 7:30 pm.  We will be taking a bus up to the game and buying a group of tickets (in the $40-$60 range).  We’ll have beer on the bus to help ease the pain of driving to LA.  If you are interested in going, we have about 15 seats left on the bus.  Please email me and let me know as soon as possible.  The next USA soccer match will be Tuesday, August 10th against Brazil at 5 pm.
 
You can look forward to a cask of Alpine Duet IPA on the 29th.  Every Monday night we feature our great pitcher special – just $10 for craft and local pitchers and $14 strong ale pitchers from 4:30 pm until close.  That is your good beer news for now.  We’ll see you soon for a great Belgian Beer. Cheers, Tom

Hello Beer Fans!

We have a great line up of beers in July including quite rather a good number of Belgian and Belgian-style ales.  But don’t worry, there are lots of hops right around the corner as well.  And the World Cup is finally winding down.  There are only two matches left – both at 11:30 am – on this Saturday and Sunday.  We will be celebrating our annual Christmas in July this month as well.  So onto the beer news…

Tomorrow (or tonight for those reading in the morning), Thursday the 8th we have a cask of the very tasty Coronado Idiot IPA at 5 pm.  We also have a draft keg of this great double IPA that I expect to be on tap soon.  All of our local beers will be on special including Alpine Pure Hoppiness, Alpine Red Card Ale, Alpine Nelson Rye-IPA, Green Flash West Coast IPA and AleSmith Wee Heavy to name a few.  Look for the new Bacon Gouda burger on the specials board.  And Lindsey tells me that her awesome Sausage-Chicken Gumbo will be back soon along with new batches of beer cheese.

Friday the 9th brings us a brand new beer from New Belgium Brewing Co. in Ft. Collins, Colorado – Belgo IPA.  This is a beer that uses a Belgian yeast strain but hopped up like an American IPA.  I have yet to taste it, but imagine it in the same vein as Green Flash Le Freak, Chouffe Houblon IPA or Uthel Hop It!.  We will be able to taste the Belgo-IPA alongside the brewery’s Ranger IPA which will be on tap as well.  To round out the evening, we will have Eric’s Ale from Lips of Faith series, which is a sour peach ale that has a great mouth puckering flavor.

Look for some great new bottles to hit the list this weekend.  La Trappe (formerly Konigshoeven) Quadrupel is back in stock after a short absence.  The brewery is now switching over all its brands to the La Trappe label.  Same great beer, just now under the original name.  Alaskan Smoked Porter has been re-added to the list for Christmas in July.  Chimay White is our current bottle special.  We’ll also have another new beer from the tiny Dutch brewery, De Molen – SSS Stout.  It is an English-style stout brewed from a recipe dating to 1914.

World Cup

The weekend brings us the last World Cup action until 2014.  Saturday the 10th is the third place match between Germany and Uruguay at 11:30 am.  The pub will open at 11 am.  Both teams had great tournaments and it should be an exciting game.  The Final is Sunday the 11th at 11:30 am featuring two teams that have never won the World Cup – Spain and the Netherlands.  I will lay plain my allegiance to the Netherlands, but I will be almost as happy to see Spain lift the trophy.  The pub will open at 10:30 am with our regular lunch menu on Sunday.  We will again set up an extra TV on the patio and we just got a new bulb for our 65″ big screen TV so the screen is much brighter and it looks brand new again.  I expect to have a very large crowd, so if you are not coming for the game, please avoid the pub until after 2 pm.

Next Week

Thursday the 15th we get a double shot of casks from Tomme Arthur at Port Brewing Company in San Marcos.  We will tap casks of Port 4th Anniversary and Wipeout IPA at 5 pm.  The 4th Anniversary is on tap now and tasting great – but be careful it is over 10% but drinks like a much smaller beer.  We should also have a keg of Port’s Mongo IPA on in addition to the casks.

Friday the 16th begins our mini 10 day Belgian fest.  We will be celebrating St. Arnoldus Day at the pub with kegs of Kwak, Triple Karmeliet, Jacobins and St. Feuillien all weekend.  St. Arnoldus Day is the feast day celebrating the patron saint of Belgium brewers.  Although widely celebrated in Belgium, the holiday is not much recognized over here.  So we will help change that by having a weekend featuring Belgian beers on tap and highlighting our extensive list of Belgian bottled beers.

More Belgians

Wednesday the 21st we continue our Belgian theme with Feestdag, which is the day of Belgium’s Independence.  On this day in 1831, Leopold I took the first constitutional oath as king of Belgium.  We will be featuring beers from Latis Imports on this day which include Rodenbach, Palm and Steenbrugge.  Look for a mix of draft and bottled beer.

Friday the 23rd we reach the conclusion of our Belgian trio – Christmas in July.  I have saved back some great Belgian Christmas beers including Scaldis Noel, Dupont Avec les Bon Vouex, N’ice Chouffe and St. Bernardus Christmas among others.  We will tap these beers on Friday night and feature them all weekend, along with other great Belgian ales.  So any time that you can stop in between the 16th and 25th of July, look for great Belgian beer on tap.

And just to tie in with our holiday theme, we will have a cask of AleSmith YuleSmith on Thursday the 22nd at 5 pm.

By request from the brewery, we have moved our Airdale night from the 16th to the end of the month.

That is your good beer news for now.  Check out Brewery Rowe for news on Santee’s new brewery – Manzanita Brewing Co. – at http://www.signonsandiego.com/weblogs/brewery-rowe/.  The brewery is having a grand opening party this Saturday.  And the pub at Alpine Beer Co. is expected to be open by the end of the month.  Follow the latest O’Brien’s updates on Facebook.  We’ll see you soon for a great Belgian beer.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Beer Fans!

The craziness of the World Cup has subsided for a day or two as we get our first break with no games since June 11th.  The madness will resume on Friday, July 2nd and Saturday July 3rd with games at 7 am and 11:30 am each day.  Friday we get Netherlands v. Brazil at 7 am and Uruguay v. Ghana at 11:30 am.  Saturday its Germany v. Argentina at 7 am and Spain v. Paraguay at 11:30 am.  The pub will be open at 6:45 am both days with coffee, OJ and light breakfast fare.  Beer, Champagne and Mimosas start at halftime – 8 am.  Look for the regular food menu to start up shortly after the morning games.

At the Pub

Thursday the 1st we tap a cask of Hanger 24 Double IPA.  This was one of my favorite beers at the Real Ale Festival and I am really looking forward to having a pint of it.  We’ll tap it at 5 pm and all of our local beers will be on special.  Russian River Pliny the Elder is expecte to be back on tap sometime Thursday night, hopefully by 7 pm.  We just tapped a fresh keg of Port Brewing Mongo IPA and the massive 4th Anniversary IPA will be back on tap soon.  Ale Smith Wee Heavy is also new on the tap list.

We will be open until Midnight on both Friday the 2nd and Saturday the 3rd.  The pub will be CLOSED Sunday July 4th for Independence Day.  We will have normal hours on Monday the 5th from 11 am until 10:30 pm with our great pitcher special ($10 crafts/locals) in effect from 4:30 pm until closing time.  Between now and Thanksgiving, Labor Day is the only day we will be closed.  So enjoy the holiday and make sure to buy some great San Diego beer for your holiday weekend.

More World Cup

Next week we get the two semi-final match ups on Tuesday the 6th and Wednesday the 7th, both games at 11:30 am.  No matter who gets through, these will be great match ups.  It certainly seems to be a great World Cup for South America so far.  It will be interesting to see if those teams can keep up the momentum.  The thrid place mathc will be Saturday the 10th at 11:30 am and the final will be on Sunday the 11th at 11:30 am.  We will be opening up early for the final, just not sure when yet.

The USA is bidding to host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup and San Diego is one of the 18 final cities in the bid.  It is likely that only 12-14 cities will end up hosting games.  Each host city would have 4-6 games – it is estimated that each World Cup match would have the local economic impact as a Superbowl.  Please support San Diego’s efforts to become a host city by signing the bid petition.  Most of the other 17 cities are way ahead of us.  You can sign on the O’Brien’s home page – www.obrienspub.net, the Go USA Bid page – http://www.gousabid.com/city/local/san-diego-ca/ or the San Diego Flash homepage – http://sandiegoflashsoccer.com/SDSoccer/default.cfm.  Please support San Diego and help get the word out!

Looking Ahead

Next week we will have a cask of Coronado Idiot IPA on Thursday the 8th at 5 pm.  Friday the 9th will be New Belgium Brewing Night with a new Belgian-IPA along with Ranger IPA and Eric’s Ale (sour peach).  Thursday the 15th we get a double shot of great hoppy casks from Port Brewing – 4th Anniversary and Wipeout IPA.  Friday the 16th we will have some beers from Airdale Brewing Company including Dark and Stormy Imperial Stout.

Our local beer writer, Peter Rowe at the Union-Tribune, now has a blog on the internet.  In addition to the bi-weekly Brewery Rowe Pint Sized Pour, Pete has additional stories and updates as well as news on what is happening in the San Diego beer scene each weekend.  The paper is sizing up which blogs will stick around and we certainly want to make sure that the beer blog is one of them.  Please support the Brewery Rowe blog by visiting it and checking it out.  You can read the story of how the American Homebrewers Association voted Pliny the Elder the best commercial beer in America for a second straight year.  Find it at: http://www.signonsandiego.com/weblogs/brewery-rowe/.  If you can link to it on a website or a Facebook page, that too would help.  Please visit the site and spread the word to help make sure that the San Diego beer scene stays in the mainstream media.

That is your good beer news for now.  We’ll see you soon for a great beer. Cheers, Tom

Here are the upcoming World Cup matches:

Friday, 7/2: Pub Open at 6:45
7 am – Netherlands v. Brazil

11:30 am – Uruguay v. Ghana

Saturday, 7/3: Pub Open at 6:45
7 am – Argentina v. Germany

11:30 am – Spain v. Paraguay

Tuesday, 7/6: Semi-Final
11:30 am – winner of Neth/Brazil v. winner Uru/Ghana

Wednesday, 7/7: Semi-Final
11:30 am – winner of Arg/Ger v. winner Spain/Paraguay

Saturday, 7/10:
Third Place Match at 11:30 am

Sunday, 7/11: We will open early, but time TBD
World Cup Final at 11:30 am

Th pub will open at 11 am on Monday and Tuesday, June 28th and 29th.  World Cup matches both days at 11:30 am.  Then two days off before the Quarterfinals start on Friday.  Down to 12 teams and we lose two more tomorrow.  Looks like my Germany pick in the pub pool is looking pretty good.  Cheers, Tom

Hello World Cup Fans!

The round of 16 is here and it is time for a little payback for 2006 against a very talented and physical Ghana team.  The pub will open at 6:45 am for the 7 am kick off of Uruguay v. South Korea.  We will have coffee, OJ and light breakfast fare (muffins, etc…) for that game.  We will start full breakfast service at 9 am with burritos and omelettes until around 10:30 am.  We will then serve our regular food menu starting around 11 am.  I expect the pub to be crowded long before kick off, but I really don’t know when it will fill up.  We will be adding another TV outside so that we can make use of the far side of the patio.  We will be replaying parts of the USA’s group stage games after the Uruguay game and before the USA kick off.

The pub has been greating some amazing exposure online and on local TV stations.  Channel 7 and 8 were both at the pub at 5 am for the Algeria game.  The link for the NBC video is: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/USA_Pulls_Through_at_the_Last_Minute_San_Diego.html.  We have it and the Channel 8 spot both taped at the pub.  Some great online video from Alex Kliotzkin show the pure, raw emotion that ran through pub when the USA finally scored against Algeria: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkzo3H7ZSaM.  This video was also featured on the New York Times Soccer Blog and apparently was sent out on Twitter by ESPN.  You can see the NYT website here:  http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/across-the-u-s-an-explosion-of-joy/.  It shows video from all over the country of fan reaction to the goal.  There are two other spots from San Diego county on the list as well.  There is also video of the pub singing Queen’s “We Are the Champions”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aVAlDjdeoU and the still unbelievable disallowed goal against Slovenia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdjzC7ZLZwc.

San Diego has been the number one US market for all three USA games on ABC and ESPN.  The Algeria match was the highest rated TV show of the entire day in San Diego.  And the ESPN and ABC numbers do not include the added audience on Spanish language Univision or broadcasts at pubs and bars around town.  You can see the complete front page story here: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/24/beautiful-game-entrances-soccer/. If you would like to contact the Union Tribune sports department to thank them for this story (or suggest other World Cup story lines) it can be reached at: sports@uniontrib.com.  You can also write a letter to the editor at: letters@uniontrib.com.

San Diego is still gathering signatures for its World Cup bid.  We need your help getting people to support the bid by signing the online petition.  You can find the sign up at the USA Bid website: http://www.gousabid.com/city/local/san-diego-ca/.  San Diego has over 13,000 signatures, but is way behind most of the other 18 cities in signature totals.  Please spread the word.  You can also find the sign up counter on the O’Brien’s homepage – www.obrienspub.net.

You can follow the San Diego American Outlaws on Facebook and Twitter for daily updates during the World Cup and losts of great fan posts.  If you are interested in joining the local chapter of US Soccer supporters club, or you just want to find out more about it, please visit: www.theamericanoutlaws.com.  And if you still can’t get over Koman Coulibaly, you can join one of the nearly 200 anti-Coulibaly Facebook pages, some of which have very funny names.  Alpine Red Card Ale, my collaboration beer for the World Cup is still flowing and I expect it to be on tap for the entire tournament.

Those are the updates for now.  Let’s help cheer out boys to victory on Saturday.  Sunday is an amazing day of match-ups with England v. Germany in the morning and then a great rematch of Mexico v. Argentina from the last World Cup.

Here is the upcoming schedule for the games:

Friday, 6/25:
On Tape – Portugal v. Brazil, North Korea v. Ivory Coast

11:30 am – Switzerland v. Honduras
11:30 am – Chile v. Spain

Saturday, 6/26: Pub Open at 6:45, full breakfast at 9 am

7 am – Uruguay v. South Korea

11:30 am – USA v. Ghana – get to the pub early!  Be ready to sing some chants!

Sunday, 6/27: Pub Open at 6:45, regular menu at 10 am

7 am – Germany v. England
11:30 am - Mexico v. Argentina
 
Monday, 6/28: Pub Open at 6:45
7 am – Netherlands v. Slovakia
11:30 am – 1G v. 2H
 
Tuesday, 6/29: Pub Open at 6:45
7 am – Paraguay v. Japan
11:30 am – 1H v. 2G
 
Friday, 7/2: Pub Open at 6:45
Quarterfinals at 7 am and 11:30 am
 
Saturday, 7/3: Pub Open at 6:45
Quarterfinals at 7 am and 11:30 am
 
Tuesday, 7/6:
Semi- Final 1 at 11:30 am
 
Wednesday, 7/7:
Semi-Final 2 at 11:30 am
 
Saturday, 7/10:
Third Place Match at 11:30 am
 
Sunday, 7/11: We will open early, but time TBD
World Cup Final at 11:30 am

Check this out:

One of them has over 60,000 views
right now, was tweeted by ESPN writer Bill Simmons and was requested
for clearance by ESPN to use on all their platforms (I didn’t see it
anywhere yet though). I think it’s pretty awesome, and all of the
videos do say that it’s taking place in O’Brien’s

Here are the links to the videos:

U.S. winning goal vs. Algeria: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkzo3H7ZSaM
U.S. vs. Algeria post game celebration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aVAlDjdeoU
U.S. disallowed goal vs. Slovenia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdjzC7ZLZwc

The first video was also featured on the New York Times Soccer Blog.  Way to go fans!  Showing the rest of the country how it is done!  Respect!  Tom

Hello Beer Fans,

I have to start by saying congrats to the U.S. Soccer team which won group C over England today.  The team played a great game and created tons of scoring opportunities – in addition to having another seemingly good goal called back.  Landon Donovan put in the winner in the 91st minute of play setting up a showdown with Ghana on Saturday at 11:30 am.  The pub will be crazy, but it will be a good crazy.  If you happen to read this early enough in the afternoon on Wednesday, you might be able to see the pub on Channel 8 or 7/39 on the evening news.  Both news trucks were at the pub at 5 am!  So now on to the beer for a bit…

Tonight, Wednesday the 23rd, we tap a cask of Bear Republic Racer X at 6 pm.  We don’t often get casks of this beer, so it is a real treat.  Thursday the 24th we host an AleSmith night featuring a cask of the new 2010 Decadence anniversary ale.  This year, the brewery remakes the award 2005 recipe which was an old ale, around 11% alcohol.  In addition to the cask at 5 pm, we will have Nautical Nut Brown, Speedway Stout and the new Summer YuleSmith all on tap.  You can also look for the remaining Six Rivers beer to be rotating into the line-up.  I seemed to be the only person who fell in love with the Chili Pepper Ale, but all of the beers were quite good.  The Alpine Red Card Ale is still flowing strong and I expect it to be on tap during the entire World Cup.  If you haven’t tried it yet, be sure to check it out next time you are at the pub.

Thursday lunch time will feature Denmark v. Japan and Netherlands v. Cameroon both at 11:30 am.  Friday the 25th will bring us Spain v. Chile and Switzerland v. Honduras at 11:30 am.

SDIBF
 
For those unfamiliar with the above acronym, it stands for San Diego International Beer Festival.  The fest is in its fourth year at the San Diego County Fair.  This year the festival will feature 4 four hour tasting sessions over three days – June 25, 26 and 27.  The sessions run from 4-8 pm Friday and then 11-3 pm and 4-8 pm Saturday and 1-5 pm on Sunday.  More than 350 different beers from 20 different countries will be available for sampling.  Admission to the fest is $30 and includes unlimited one ounce sampling of the beers during the session.  You must also buy admission to the San Diego County Fair.  You can buy tickets in advance and save some money – just go to www.sdfair.com/beer.  You will also find the winner’s list there from the competition.  This is an amazing chance to try a ton of beers you have never had before.  Don’t miss this San Diego version of the Great American Beer Festival!
 
While I am talking about fests, we have a few left over shirts from the San Diego Real Ale Festival that we are blowing out for just $10 each.  We have men’s Large, XL and 2XL along with a few girls shirts in Large (Bella brand) for $15 and few hats (S/M Flex fit) also for $15.  If you are interested, please email me with what you would like and I will have the shirts delivered to the pub.  I will have the shirts at the pub this Thursday (6/24) if you would like to pick one up.  If you have already emailed me about the shirts, I will have them set aside for you at the pub anytime starting Thursday evening.

World Cup this Weekend

So we now know this weekend’s match-ups for the World Cup.  This weekend starts the knockout round where it is win or go home.  The pub will open at 6:45 am on Saturday the 26th and serve coffee, OJ and light breakfast fare (muffins, bagels, etc..) with Beer and Mimosas starting at 8 am, full breakfast service (burritos, omelettes) from 9 am until 10:30 am and then lunch from 11 am through the rest of the day.  The morning game will be Uruguay v. South Korea at 7 am.  We will then show the USA v. Ghana game at 11:30 am.  We will be adding an additional TV outside to help with the overflow on the patio.  I expect to be completely full at least an hour, if not 90 minutes before the USA-Ghana match kicks off.  If you are not coming to the pub to watch the game, I strongly suggest you show up at or after 2 pm to avoid the standing room only crowd that we are sure to have for the game.

Sunday the 27th, we will again open at 6:45 am with coffee, OJ and light breakfast fare for the 7 am game between England and Germany.  We will start full food service with our normal menu at 10 am.  Mexico faces Argentina at 11:30 am in what is sure to be a great day of blockbuster matchups.

We still do not know the schedule for Monday and Tuesday’s games, but we will open at 6:45 am on both days.  For more soccer info, sign up for out soccer specific email.  Just reply to this email and let me know you want to be on it.  If you are interested in joining our San Diego chapter of the American Outlaws, or you just want to know more about it, go to www.theamericanoutlaws.com.

Looking Ahead
 
Thursday July 1st we will tap a cask of Hanger 24 Double IPA.  I had this beer at the Real Ale Festival and it was delicious.  We will be CLOSED Sunday, July 4th for Independence Day.  We will be open until Midnight on Saturday, July 3rd and normal hours on Monday, July 5th (which is our $10 craft/local pitcher night, strong ale pitchers just $14).  The Green Flash-St. Feuillien collaboration beer, Biere de l’Amitie (Beer of Friendship), will be released at O’Brien’s pub in July.  Green Flash brewer Chuck Silva joined us on the Great Belgian Beer Tour and then stayed a few days later to make the beer with owner Mike Hinkley and the St. Feuillien brewers.
 
I will end the email with a list of the upcoming World Cup matches.  We will see you soon for a great beer – and some great soccer.  Cheers, Tom
 
Upcoming World Cup Matches – All Games Are Being Taped

Wednesday, 6/23:     Pub open at 6:30 and serving breakfast
7 am – USA v. Algeria – ESPN – pub open at 6:30 am – replay at 6 pm
7 am – Slovenia v. England
11:30 am – Ghana v. Germany
11:30 am – Australia v. Serbia

Thursday, 6/24:
On Tape – Slovakia v. Italy, Paraguay v. New Zealand

11:30 am – Denmark v. Japan
11:30 am – Cameroon v. Netherlands

Friday, 6/25:
On Tape – Portugal v. Brazil, North Korea v. Ivory Coast

11:30 am – Switzerland v. Honduras
11:30 am – Chile v. Spain

Saturday, 6/26: Knock out round begins, Pub open at 6:45

7 am – Uruguay v. South Korea

11:30 am – USA v. Ghana – GO USA!!!

Sunday, 6/27: Pub open at 6:45

7 am – Germany v. England
11:30 am - Mexico v. Argentina
 
Monday, 6/28: Pub open at 6:45
7 am – 1E v. 2F
11:30 am – 1G v. 2H
 
Tuesday, 6/29: Pub open at 6:45
7 am – 1F v. 2E
11:30 am – 1H v. 2G
 
Friday, 7/2: Pub open at 6:45
Quarterfinals at 7 am and 11:30 am
 
Saturday, 7/3: Pub open at 6:45
Quarterfinals at 7 am and 11:30 am
 
Tuesday, 7/6:
Semi- Final 1 at 11:30 am
 
Wednesday, 7/7:
Semi-Final 2 at 11:30 am
 
Saturday, 7/10:
Third Place Match at 11:30 am
 
Sunday, 7/11: We will open early, but time TBD
World Cup Final at 11:30 am

Hello Beer Fans!

The World Cup is in full swing with every team having taken the field at this point.  We have a ton of great cask beer to tap in the next two weeks and this Friday we will be serving four beers from the small Six Rivers Brewery in McKinleyville, which is in northern California.  We still have some great Alpine beers on tap including Good barleywine, Ned Flanders Red, Duet IPA and more Red Card Ale will be on tap tonight.

This Week at the Pub

Tonight, Wednesday the 16th we will tap a cask of Stone Ruination IPA at 6 pm.  This is my favorite cask beer from Stone.  It is always very hoppy and finishes dry in the cask so the bitterness comes through really well.  We’ll also have all of today’s World Cup games on tape – Spain v. Switzerland, Chile v. Honduras and South Africa v. Uruguay which is the lunch time game.

Thursday the 17th we have two great casks that will be tapped at 5 pm – AleSmith IPA and Alpine Red Card Ale.  AleSmith IPA is always a crowd favorite and at just over 7% it packs a nice punch.  This will be the first time that Red Card is served cask conditioned and I can’t wait to try it.  We’ll also have the NBA Finals game 7 on all of the tvs for your viewing pleasure.  With apologies to the Laker’s fans, I am sure that we will have our small, but very vocal Boston fan contingent at the pub (feel free to abuse them).  France v. Mexico is the Thursday lunchtime World Cup game.

Friday is a big day as we will open at 6:30 am for the USA v. Slovenia match which kicks off at 7 am.  I am expecting a big crowd again, so don’t show up late.  We will be serving breakfast starting at 6:30 am for at least an hour.  We will have coffee provided by former bartender Coral Fodor (she won’t be at the game – she will be working at her coffee bar in Del Mar) and we will have tea and orange juice.  We will be able to serve beer, champagne and mimosas for the second half since we can’t serve alcohol until 8 am.  We will be staying open after the USA match to re-show the Germany v. Serbia game (live at 4:30 am) around 9:15 am.  We will have the kitchen re-opened for lunch by 10 am.  The lunch time game features the other group c teams – England v. Algeria.  A very big day for the U.S. team.  A win against Slovenia puts them in a very good position to advance to the next round.  We will replay the game at lunch and at 6 pm on Friday.

Friday night we will have four beers from Six Rivers Brewery.  This is the first time that we have had anything on tap from this northern California brewery.  We will have IPA, Kona Porter, Chili Pepper Ale and Raspberry Lambic.  All of these beers are just in 5 gallon kegs, so the supply is limited.  All four will be on tap by 5 pm on the 18th.  I would love to tell you about these beers, but this will be the first time that I have tried them myself, so I am really looking forward to Friday night.

Saturday the 19th we will open early at 11 am and have the Cameroon v. Denmark game on at 11:30 am.  We’ll have our regular bottle special all weekend – 10% off all bottles including imports to-go.  All of the new bottles from last weekend are still on the list including our two South African meads – one with coffee, one with fig leaves, Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus, De Molen 1914 Porter and Storm and Averij (double IPA), Struise Black Albert Royal Stout (13%), Fantome Dark White, Theillier La Bavasienne – which is an excellent French Biere de Garde, Amager Imperial Stout from Denmark and Haandbrygeriet Dark Force Stout.

On Father’s Day (Sunday the 20th) what many of you have asked for will come true – we will be open.  We will open at 11 am and have the great Brazil v. Ivory Coast match on at 11:30 am.  We will stay open until our normal 6 pm.  You can look for Fish Tacos, our Chipotle Fish Sandwich and Fish and Chips – all with our great beer battered cod.

Next Week

Next week the World Cup moves into the final group stage games which are played at the same time.  So Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, June 22-25 there will be two games on live at 11:30 am.  The USA’s final group game is at 7 am Wednesday, June 23rd against Algeria.  If we beat Slovenia on Friday, we could be playing for first place in the group.  England will face Algeria at the same time.  The pub will be open at 6:30 am and again we will be serving breakfast.  Hopefully there will be ecstatic celebration for making it to the next round after the game.  The next two games on Wednesday will be at 11:30 am – Ghana v. Germany and Australia v. Serbia – which will determine our group’s next round opponents.  We will replay the USA game at 6 pm on Wednesday.  We will also tap a very rare cask of Bear Republic Racer X at 6 pm Wednesday night.

Thursday the 24th we will host an evening of AleSmith beers with a cask of the brewery’s 2010 Decadence.  This year’s version revisits the award winning old ale recipe from 2005 which was delicious.  In addition to the Decadence cask we should have Nautical Nut Brown, Summer YuleSmith and Speedway Stout all on tap.  I will have more info next week on the exact draft list.  The cask will tap at 5 pm.  If there is any Racer X left from Wednesday, we will tap it for Thursday night as well.

Starting Saturday, June 26th, the pub will be open at 6:30 am for four straight days (June 26-29) for the Round of 16 games.  We will serve breakfast each day.  The teams will not be known until the end of next week.  We will also open at 6:30 am for the Quarterfinals on July 2nd and 3rd.  The Semi-Finals, Third Place Match and Final are thankfully all at 11:30 am.

SDIBF

For those unfamiliar with the above acronym, it stands for San Diego International Beer Festival.  The fest is in its fourth year at the San Diego County Fair.  This year the festival will feature 4 four hour tasting sessions over three days – June 25, 26 and 27.  The sessions run from 4-8 pm Friday and then 11-3 pm and 4-8 pm Saturday and 1-5 pm on Sunday.  More than 350 different beers from 20 different countries will be available for sampling.  Admission to the fest is $30 and includes unlimited one ounce sampling of the beers during the session.  You must also buy admission to the San Diego County Fair.  You can buy tickets in advance and save some money – just go to www.sdfair.com/beer.  You will also find the winner’s list there from the competition.  This is an amazing chance to try a ton of beers you have never had before.  Don’t miss this San Diego version of the Great American Beer Festival!

While I am talking about fests, we have a few left over shirts from the San Diego Real Ale Festival that we are blowing out for just $10 each.  We have men’s Large, XL and 2XL along with a few girls shirts in Large (Bella brand) for $15 and few hats (S/M Flex fit) also for $15.  If you are interested, please email me with what you would like and I will have the shirts delivered to the pub.

Looking Ahead

Thursday July 1st we will tap a cask of Hanger 24 Double IPA.  I had this beer at the Real Ale Festival and it was delicious.  We will be CLOSED Sunday, July 4th for Independence Day.  We will be open until Midnight on Saturday, July 3rd and normal hours on Monday, July 5th (which is our $10 craft/local pitcher night, strong ale pitchers just $14).  The Green Flash-St. Feuillien collaboration beer, Biere de l’Amitie (Beer of Friendship), will be released at O’Brien’s pub in July.  Green Flash brewer Chuck Silva joined us on the Great Belgian Beer Tour and then stayed a few days later to make the beer with owner Mike Hinkley and the St. Feuillien brewers.

Beer writer Peter Rowe has a blog with more beer info than he gets to print in the paper.  Check it out at – http://www.signonsandiego.com/weblogs/brewery-rowe/.  Tyson is now on top of keeping our tap list up to date on our website – which automatically posts to other sites like the San Diego Brewers Guild and Tap Hunter.  Tyson is also building our business Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/San-Diego-CA/OBriens-Pub/56730476319?ref=mf.  Look for updates on new beers, bottles and random kegs that don’t make it into the email.  While on Facebook, you can also check out the San Diego American Outlaws, U.S. Soccer supporters club: http://www.facebook.com/pages/San-Diego-CA/OBriens-Pub/56730476319?ref=mf#!/pages/American-Outlaws-San-Diego-Chapter/292661370983 where you can find a great Lego recreation of the USA v. England game.  And San Diego had the highest Nielen TV ratings in the country for the USA-England match!

I will end the email with a list of the upcoming World Cup matches.  We will see you soon for a great beer – and some great soccer.  Cheers, Tom

Upcoming World Cup Matches – All Games Are Being Taped

Wednesday, 6/16:
On Tape – Honduras v. Chile, Spain v. Switzerland

11:30 am – South Africa v. Uruguay

Thursday, 6/17:
On Tape – Argentina v. South Korea, Greece v. Nigeria

11:30 am – France v. Mexico

Friday, 6/18:     Pub open at 6:30 and serving breakfast
7 am – USA v. Slovenia – ESPN – pub open at 6:30 am – replay at 11:30 am and 6 pm
9:15 am – Germany v. Serbia – on delay from 4:30 am
11:30 am – England v. Algeria

Saturday, 6/19: Open 11 am
On Tape – Netherlands v. Japan, Ghana v. Australia

11:30 am – Cameroon v. Denmark

Sunday, 6/20: Open 11 am
On Tape – Slovakia v. Paraguay, Italy v. New Zealand

11:30 am – Brazil v. Ivory Coast

Monday, 6/21:
On Tape – Portugal v. North Korea, Chile v. Switzerland

11:30 am – Spain v. Honduras

Tuesday, 6/22:
On Tape – Mexico v. Uruguay, France v. South Africa

11:30 am – Nigeria v. South Korea
11:30 am – Greece v. Argentina

Wednesday, 6/23:     Pub open at 6:30 and serving breakfast
7 am – USA v. Algeria – ESPN – pub open at 6:30 am – replay at 11:30 am and 6 pm
7 am – Slovenia v. England
11:30 am – Ghana v. Germany
11:30 am – Australia v. Serbia

Thursday, 6/24:
On Tape – Slovakia v. Italy, Paraguay v. New Zealand

11:30 am – Denmark v. Japan
11:30 am – Cameroon v. Netherlands

Friday, 6/25: May open early if Group G undecided
On Tape – Portugal v. Brazil, North Korea v. Ivory Coast

11:30 am – Switzerland v. Honduras
11:30 am – Chile v. Spain

Saturday, 6/26: Knock out round begins, Pub open at 6:30 am for 7 am games

7 am – 1A v. 2B

11:30 am – 1C v. 2D

Sunday, 6/27: Pub open at 6:30 and serving breakfast

7 am – 1D v. 2C
11:30 am – 1B v. 2A
 
Monday, 6/28: Pub open at 6:30 and serving breakfast
7 am – 1E v. 2F
11:30 am – 1G v. 2H
 
Tuesday, 6/29: Pub open at 6:30 and serving breakfast
7 am – 1F v. 2E
11:30 am – 1H v. 2G
 
Friday, 7/2: Pub open at 6:30 and serving breakfast
Quarterfinals at 7 am and 11:30 am
 
Saturday, 7/3: Pub open at 6:30 and serving breakfast
Quarterfinals at 7 am and 11:30 am
 
Tuesday, 7/6:
Semi- Final 1 at 11:30 am
 
Wednesday, 7/7:
Semi-Final 2 at 11:30 am
 
Saturday, 7/10:
Third Place Match at 11:30 am
 
Sunday, 7/11: We will open early, but time TBD
World Cup Final at 11:30 am

We’ll see you soon for the games.  Cheers, Tom