What’s Happening

Hello Soccer Fans…

There are a lot of great lunch time games coming up in the next two weeks and the much anticipated US Men’s game against Mexico on February 7th at 6 pm – which we will have the sound on for.  Champions League resumes on Febraury 20th and 21st and the UEFA Cup picks on February 14th.  Euro 2008 Qualifying continues on March 24th, but there are a lot of great international friendlies next week including Brazil v. Portugal, England v. Spain and France v. Argentina.

As always, we can tape any game – just let me know.  The digital recorder is set to tape all EPL games and the two most recent La Liga and Serie A games

So here is what is coming up in the next two weeks:

Tues 1/30:

11:30 am LIVE – Liverpool v. West Ham – and at 6 pm – Setanta

11:30 am LIVE – Portsmouth v. Middlesborough – FSC

2 pm – Reading v. Wigan – and at 8 pm – Setanta

Wed 1/31:

11:30 am LIVE – Arsenal v. Tottenham – Carling Cup Semi-Final – and at 6 pm – Setanta

11:30 am LIVE – Chelsea v. Blackburn

1 pm – Copa del Rey LIVE – Barcelona v. Zaragoza – and at 6 pm – GolTV

2 pm – Bolton v. Charlton – FSC

2 pm – Aston Villa v. Newcastle – Setanta

4 pm – Manchester United v. Watford – Setanta

Thurs 2/1:

12 pm – Copa del Rey LIVE – Sevilla v. Betis – and at 6 pm – GolTV

Sat 2/3:

(all games can be shown earlier on tape)

5 pm – Liverpool v. Everton – Setanta

8 pm – Chelsea v. Charlton – Setanta

8 pm – Arsenal v. Middlesborough – FSC

Tape – Fulham v. Newcastle

Sun 2/4:

11:30 am LIVE – Inter v. Roma – GolTV

2 pm – Manchester United v. Tottenham – FSC

4 pm – Barcelona v. Osasuna – GolTV

Tues 2/6:

11:45 am LIVE- Northern Ireland v. Wales – and at 6 pm – Setanta

Noon LIVE- Brazil v. Portugal – and at 8 pm – FSC

4 pm Scottish FA Cup – Celtic v. Livingston

Wed 2/7:

Noon LIVE – England v. Spain – and at 5 pm – FSC

Noon LIVE – France v. Argentina – and at 6 pm – Setanta

2 pm – Poland v. Slovakia – and at 8 pm – Setanta

6 pm – USA v. Mexico – Live with the sound on ESPN2 (I will also tape this)

Thurs 2/8:

6:30 pm – Ireland v. San Marino – EURO 2008 Qualifyer – Setanta

Sat 2/10:

11:30 am – Tottenham v. Sheffield United – FSC

1 pm – Reading v. Aston Villa – Setanta

5 pm – Liverpool v. Newcastle – Setanta

5 pm – Manchester United v. Charlton – FSC

8 pm – Chelsea v. Middlesborough – Setanta

8 pm – Manchester City v. Portsmouth – FSC

Sun 2/11:

Tape – Arsenal v. Wigan

The US Men’s Team also has games on March 25th vs. Ecuador and March 28th vs. Guatemala.

On the beer side, Wednesday we tap Bear Republic Racer X, this Thursday’s cask is AleSmith X and Firday is Alaskan Brewing Night with Smoked Porter, Winter Ale and Amber Ale.  Look for something special to be tapped next Wednesday for the US Men’s game.  Cheers, Tom

Due to the overwhelming response to our Trappist Ale Tasting on Saturday the 3rd (which is sold out) we will be hosting a second tasting on Sunday, February 11th at 5:30 pm with room for up to 19 people.  We will taste every Belgian Trappist ale inlcuding Westvletern 6, 8, and 12, Rochefort 6, 8, and 10, Chimay Red, White and Blue Cap, Achel Blond, Bruin, and Extra, Westmalle Dubble and Tripel and Orval.  15 beers in all with 2-3 ounce samples of each one along with Belgian cheeses and light snacks prepared by Lindsey.  Cost is $60 per person to reserve a spot – please cash only.

Cheers, Tom

Hello Fellow Beer Fans!

It is going to be a great next 10 days at the pub celebrating the 13th Anniversary of O’Brien’s (it is mine and Lindsey’s 4th Anniversary owning it).  In addition to the previously mentioned events from the last email, we now have the Southern California Launch Party for Allagash Brewing from Maine on Wednesday the 17th with owner/brewer Rob Tod.  We are also going to start tapping the anniversary beers a little sooner than expected.  Friday night I’ll tap the Dupont Avec Les Bon Voeux and on Sunday we’ll have Bear Republic Apex IPA for the Charger game.  With all of the good beer next week, it looks like the Craftsman Cabernale will have to wait until the following week.  More on the Anniversary Week later, for now I will catch you up on what is going on for the next few days.

We have a lot of new beers on tap right now including Alpine Duet IPA, New Belgium 2 Below, Alaskan Winter Ale and the new Ava’s Pale Ale from Pizza Port Carlsbad – it was brewed to celebrate owner Gina Marsaglia’s new baby girl Ava.  We also have the Ballast Point Sea Monster Stout back on tap and another keg of the Redstone Black-Raspberry Mead.   There are more new bottles on the list as well.  The great Rochefort 10 is back in stock as is Saison Dupont.    And for fans of the Alaskan Smoked Porter, we now have it in 22 ounce bottles.

Tonight, Thursday the 11th, for  those who get this quickly we have a cask of AleSmith IPA at 5 pm.  We haven’t had one in a while and these casks are always great.  Next month we can look forward to the My Bloody Valentine release from AleSmith.

Friday the 12th we have an Alaskan Pint Glass Night with the Alaskan Winter Ale on tap and the Smoked Porter in the Bottle.  Pint Glasses will be just $2 each.  We’ll also have a five gallon cask of Green Flash West Coast IPA, which is a great beer.  And as previously mentioned, this will mark the soft start of the Anniversary Week kegs with the Dupont Avec Les Bon Voeux (with best wishes) which is a deep golden 9% alcohol saison style beer that is always one of the best seasonals of the year.  However, due to a distributor change with the importer, we didn’t get any of this year’s batch in kegs, so this keg is from last year – and belive me this beer ages well.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday (think monster truck announcing voice there) is the much anticipated Chargers Divisional Playoff game with the New England Patriots.  The game is at 1:30 pm and I expect a good crowd.  We’ll open at noon so that everyone can watch the end of the early game.  To help us all cheer the bolts on I’ll tap the Bear Republic Apex IPA.  This is a great IPA that is 7% but hopped almost like a double IPA.  It took a medal at the last Great American Beer Festival.  Expect the giant Duvel glass to be filled upon victory….

So finally, we are to the Anniversary Week proper.  Here is what is planned –

Monday the 15th is Sierra Nevada Night featuring a keg of bourbon barrel aged Bigfoot Barleywine.  I have had this beer twice and it is amazing.  I am really looking forward to drinking a glass.  We’ll also have Celebration, Harvest and the wet hopped Extra Special Pale Ale on tap.

Tuesday the 16th is Double Bad Boy Night – Alpine Bad Boy on draft and cask!  Both will be on tap at 5 pm.  The keg is full size, but the cask is only 5 gallons, so don’t expect it to last all night.

Wednesday the 17th is our big Allagash Brewing Launch Party with owner/brewer Rob Tod.  Rob will be hanging out at the pub most of the night, I am guessing about 6 – 10 pm.  We should have 4 beers on tap including White Ale, Tripel, Curiuex (which is barrel aged trippel) and the 11th Anniversary Ale, which I have never had and I don’t know what style it is.  And there should be three more in the bottle – Four, a Quadrupel-style beer, Dubbel and the brewery’s Grand Cru.  This is the first time that these beers will be available anywhere in Southern California and it is the only pub promo that Rob is doing while he is in San Diego.  Allagash has an international reputation for brewing excellent Belgian-style ales for the last 11 years.  Only the White Ale will be distributed on draft here, so the other three draft beers are O’Brien’s exclusives (it pays to get drunk with the owner of the brewery in foreign cities).  The draft line up will be confirmed on Monday and I will post it on the website when it is (www.obreinspub.net).  And Lindsey will have Chimay Burgers and Bangers and Mash with Stout Gravy (the bangers are made with Gordon Biersch Marzen).
Oh, and we will have a cask of Alpine Duet IPA at 5 pm for those whose tastes run a bit more hoppy….

Thursday the 18th features the excellent Pizza Port Carlsbad Poor Man’s IPA on cask and draft.  This very drinkable 8% alcohol double IPA is one of my favorite San Diego beers.  Brewer Jeff Bagby takes a lot of pride in his big beers and his attention to detail and brewing skill really shine through on this one.  Both tap at 5 pm.

Friday the 19th is the San Diego release of Russian River Pliny the Younger along with a very special keg of Blind Pig IPA.  I talked with Russian River owner/brewer Vinnie Cilurzo yesterday (it pays to get drunk with him in foreign cities too) and he says that this is the best batch of Younger he has ever made.  We’ll tap it at 5 pm and of course Russian River IPA and Pliny the Elder will be on tap and if room allows, also a keg of Damnation.  And we will have some very special Belgian Cheese Plates to offer.

Saturday the 20th I will give you off from celebrating.  Though you are still welcome to come to the pub of your own accord.  Saturday night is a great night to avoid the crowds and take advantage of our 10% off all bottles special.

Sunday the 21st, if all goes well, we will be able to watch the Chargers play again.  No doubt, I will have something good to tap if they are playing.

I hope that that is enough for everyone.  And I didn’t mention that I have the Cantillon Fou Fonne Apricot Lambic waiting to be tapped once the Lou Pepe Kriek is gone.  Or the Alpine Oak Barrel Aged Nitro Captain Stout.  Perhaps there really is too much good beer.  And there will be Chili Verde and Beer Chili  and many other great specials coming out of the kitchen.

If it is any consolation, I wouldn’t do anything to you that I won’t be doing to myself all week.  I will be there every night (though maybe not all night) to celebrate the bastion of good beer that is O’Brien’s.  I want to thank all of you for your part in allowing us to serve such fantastic beer.  Here’s to the next great year of beer at O’Brien’s!

We’ll see you all soon over a great anniversary beer, Cheers, Tom

Hello Soccer (and beer) Fans and Happy New Year!

All of the major leagues are starting to get back into action.  The English FA is in the middle of Cup season with Carling Cup and FA Cup matches, and we have Scottish FA Cup as well.   Fox Soccer will be replaying the FA Cup matches from this weekend including Liverpool v. Arsenal and Manchester United v. Aston Villa.  We also have several LIVE Copa del Rey games from Spain including Real Madrid and Barcelona with lunch-time kickoffs.  GolTV is even showing the games from the Copa Dubai this week including the final which will replay Friday at 6 pm.

As always, we can tape any game for you to show later.  I have our digital recorder set to tape all new EPL games and to keep the 2 newest Italian and Spanish League matches taped.  Thursday, GolTV is playing the Milan derby between Inter and AC Milan from October, 2006, which is Lindsey’s favorite game of the season so far.  I have put a link on the Friends page of the website to SoccerTV which lists upcoming games for the next 8 days on almost every channel.  And if any of you follow the MLS, ESPN2 is covering the draft on Friday the 12th at 9 am (we won’t be open though).

So here is this week’s complete schedule (all games on Setanta unless noted):

1/8, Monday:

6:00 pm Benfica v. Bayern Munich, Copa Dubai – GolTV 

1/9, Tuesday:

11:30 am LIVE Liverpool v. Arsenal, Carling Cup – also at 5 pm

12:00 pm LIVE Athletico Madrid v. Osasuna, Copa del Rey – GolTV – also at 6 pm

12:00 pm Liverpool v. Aston Villa, Carling Cup – Fox Soccer – also at 8 pm

2:00 pm Lazio v. Marseille, Copa Dubai – GolTV

7:00 pm Dunfermline v. Rangers, Scottish FA Cup

1/10 Wednesday:

11:30 am LIVE Chelsea v. Wycombe, Carling Cup – also at 5:15 pm

12:30 pm LIVE Barcelona v. Alaves, Copa del Rey – GolTV – also at 6 pm

2:00 pm Manchester United v. Aston Villa, Carling Cup – Fox Soccer – also at 8 pm

3:00 pm Aberdeen v. Hibernian, Scottish FA CUP

1/11 Thursday:

12:00 pm LIVE Real Madrid v. Real Betis, Copa del Ray – GolTV – also at 6 pm

On Tape – Inter Milan v. AC Milan from 10-28-06 (I’ll keep this one around for awhile)

1/12 Friday:

9:00 am LIVE MLS Draft on ESPN2 (pub not open)

6:00 pm Copa Dubai Final – Teams TBA (two of the four from above) - GolTV

1/13 Saturday:

11:30 am Manchester City v. Bolton 

12:00 pm Fulham v. West Ham

4:00 pm Liverpool V. Watford (also on tape)

5:45 pm Manchester United v. Aston Villa

8 pm Arsenal v. Blackburn Rovers – Fox Soccer

On Tape – Chelsea v. Wigan – Fox Soccer

1/14 Sunday:

2 pm Tottenham v. Newcastle – Fox Soccer

On Tape – Everton v. Reading

If there are teams/leagues not listed that you would like to see, just let me know.

Carling Cup games resume on Wednesday, January 17th and the Champions League and UEFA Cup get back under way in February.  Setanta and Fox Soccer will be showing all of the matches from the Quarterfinals LIVE.

As for beer, we have a cask of AleSmith IPA on Thursday, January 11th and our 13th Anniversary celebration kicks off next week with a different event each night.  You can check out the regular news section for all of the details.

Look for more soccer news next week.  Cheers, Tom

Happy 2007 Everyone!

At the beginning of the new year I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for making O’Brien’s such a special community of people.  It is much more than just a bar or a place to drink good beer. The pub has a special feeling to it – one of belonging without exclusivity.  It has always been the thing I liked best about O’Brien’s.  On any day, at any time, you know a friendly face awaits whether behind the bar or in front of it.  Lindsey and I greatly appreciate what everyone brings to the pub to make it such a wonderful place.  We thank you very much for contributing to the success of O’Brien’s and for making it such an enjoyable place to spend our time.  I hope that 2007 brings all of us even more cheer and good beer.

As the subject line mentioned, January 2007 represents the 13th Anniversary for O’Brien’s.  Original owner Jim O’Brien founded the bar in 1994 and Lindsey and I bought it from him four years ago in 2003.  I have a bunch of special beers and casks lined up which I detail towards the end of the email.

For now, I will jump into what is going on at the pub this week…

Yesterday we kicked off Cantillon draft month at the pub with Cantillon’s Lou Pepe Kriek.  It is an intensely tart cherry beer.  We are serving it in 8 oz and 12 oz sizes.  After the kriek, I have a keg of the Cantillon Fou Fonne, which is the brewery’s apricot lambic beer.  I’ll keep you posted as to when it will be on tap.

Tonight (Wednesday the 3rd) we will have our two Moonlight Brewing Company beers on special – Death and Taxes Black Ale and Bony Fingers Dark Lager.  Moonlight is in Santa Rosa and is the home of the hopfield that Russian River gets the wet hops for its Hoptime Harvest from.  We recently had Moonlight’s Home Grown Harvest on tap.  Both beers are nearly black and very smooth.  They range in 6-7% alcohol range, so neither is too strong.

Tomorrow, Thursday the 4th we tap a fresh cask of Ballast Point’s Tongue Buckler Double Red.  This is always a hop monster with plenty of malt flavor to back it up.  It taps at 5pm.

Over the weekend we have the wild card round of the NFL playoffs which includes a bye week for the Chargers.  Saturday the 6th has the Chiefs vs. Colts at 1:30 pm and Dallas v. Seattle at 5 pm.  Sunday the 7th we are going to open at noon as usual, but there is a 10 am – Jets vs. Patriots.  At 1:30 Philadelphia will try to knock out Eli Manning and the Giants.  The Chargers will play the Chiefs if they win, or the winner of the Jets-Patriots game if the Colts win.  The game will be at 1:30 pm either Saturday the 13th or Sunday the 14th (Sunday more likely if the Colts win).

Next week we will have a cask of AleSmith IPA on Thursday the 11th at 5 pm.  I’ll also post up info on the Chargers game on the website over the weekend (www.obrienspub.net).  The Soccer info page is now up on the website too.  It is on the News page, just click soccer on the right hand side and the latest email and games listings will come up.

The bottle list continues to change rapidly and as old bottles sell out and new bottles are put on the shelf.  We also have our special release bottle list out at the pub.  These are new beers that I don’t yet have room for on the shelves.

Our Anniversary Week will begin Monday, January 15th.  On that night I plan to tap a five gallon keg of the Sierra Nevada Barrel Aged Bigfoot.  At 12% it makes this big barleywine even bigger.  Tuesday the 16th is a 5 gallon cask of Alpine’s Bad Boy Double IPA and after that is gone, a draft keg.  Wednesday we continue the Alpine theme with a cask of Duet IPA.  If all goes well, we’ll also have a special oak barrel aged version of the Captian Stout.  Thursday is a cask of Pizza Port Carlsbad’s Poor Man’s IPA brewed by Jeff Bagby.  And Friday we have the first keg of the new batch of Russian River’s Pliny the Younger and a very special keg of Blind Pig IPA – both on tap at 5 pm.  I have some other specialty beers to tap throughout the week including Dupont Avec les Bon Voeux and Craftsman Cabernale – made with Cabernet grapes.

One sad note to report – brewmaster Karl Strauss recently passed away.  Though he never lived or brewed beer in San Diego, the life long brewer’s face graced many a pint glass and beer bottle in this town.  During his 50 years working for Pabst he was a tireless promoter for beer education and an early supporter of the craft brewing movement dating back to 1984.  His energy and enthusiasm will be missed in the beer industry.

That is all for now, we will see you soon over a great beer.  Cheers, Tom

Greetings Soccer Fans!

Sorry that the soccer news has been so sparse lately.  It was a busy beer festival time in San Diego that barely left time to watch a few games.  The good news – our new website is up and running and soon I will be added a dedicated soccer page to it for news, games and links.  You can check it at www.obrienspub.net.

As for soccer news, there are plenty of games at the end of the year, but we will be closed for Christmas on the 24th, 25th and 26th.  We will also be closed on the 31st and the 1st for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.  If there are any games on those days that you would like to watch, please let me know and I will tape them for you.

The big news in soccer TV land is that ESPN and ABC will telecast the entire EURO 2008 tournament LIVE.  And it looks like FSC and Setanta are going to show the Quarterfinal and beyond stages of the UEFA Cup tournament.  Both are great additions to an ever growing US soccer line up on live TV. 

So here is what is on at the pub over the next two weeks, starting TODAY, Wednesday, December 20th:

12/20 – LIVE at 11 am – Carling Cup Newcastle United v. Chelsea on Setnata – also at 6:30 pm

12/20 – LIVE at 11:30 am – Inter Milan v. Lazio on FSC – also at 5 pm

12/20 – LIVE at Noon – Real Madrid v. Recreativo on GolTV – also at 6:30 pm Thurs. 12/21

12/20 – 4:30 pm – Rangers v. Celtic old firm derby on Setanta

12/22 – 6 pm – Barcelona v. Athletico Madrid on GolTV

12/23 – Noon – Arsenal v. Blackburn on Setanta

12/23 – 4 pm – Fulham v. West Ham on Setanta

12/23 – 5 pm - Liverpool v. Watford on FSC

12/23 – 6 pm – Manchester United v. Aston Villa on Setanta

12/23 – 8 pm – Chelsea v. Watford on FSC

I will tape on 12/26 – Chelsea v. Reading, Liverpool v. Blackburn and Manchester United v. Wigan

12/27 – Noon – LIVE – Charlton v. Fulham on Setanta – and again at 7 pm

12/27 – Noon – on Tape – Liverpool v. Blackburn

12/28 – 3:30 pm – Celtic v. Dundee United on Setanta

12/30 – 3 pm – Charlton v. Aston Villa on Setanta

12/30 – 5 pm – Manchester United v. Reading on Setanta

12/30 – 8 pm – Liverpool v. Tottenham on Setanta (which I will tape and likely show at noon)

12/30 – 8 pm – Chelsea v. Fulham (maybe McBride can put a few past Chelsea)

Over the New Year’s Holiday, we will tape – Liverpool v. Bolton, Portsmouth v. Tottenham and Reading v. West Ham for showing on the 2nd anytime.

For more info on all of the games available, check out these websites: http://na.setanta.com, http://www.soccertv.com, http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer, http://www.goltv.tv, http://www.uefa.com and http://soccernet.espn.go.com.  Soccertv.com has listings for every channel that shows soccer for the next 8 days.  All of the other TV sites except GolTV have schedules posted two weeks at a time.  We can tape most any game on these channels.

Tonight at the pub (Wed 12/20) we have a cask of Port Brewing’s Santa’s Little Helper Imperial Stout. Tomorrow, Thursday’s cask is Alpine’s Bad Boy double IPA, which is absolutely delicious. 

Have a great holiday season, enjoy some world class soccer and beer and be safe.  Cheers, Tom