What’s Happening

No email this week, but I just wanted to post up about a few new beers on tap.  We got in a keg of the Guera pilsner from the TJ Brewery.  It is a really nice lager beer, a little drier and with a little more cripsness in the finish than the kolsch-styled Alaskan Summer Ale.  Our last keg of Sierra Nevad Celebration is on tap right now.  I tapped fresh kegs of Ballast Point Dorado and Piper Down Scottish Ale and we also have a new keg of the surprisingly popular Lindeman’s Pomme (apple) Lambic (Jami likes it blended with just a bit of Racer 5 IPA).

Tonight’s cask (Thursday, 7/26) will be Green Flash West Coast IPA at 5 pm.  Next week’s cask is Wipeout IPA from Pizza Port Carlsbad.  Coming on tap soon we have El Camino IPA from Pizza Port San Clemente, Alpine’s Bad Boy double IPA and the return of Hoptown IPA after many moons.  Next week I will have all of the details on my birthday week celebrations and beers on tap.  Have a great weekend and we’ll see you soon over a great beer.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Beer Fanatics!

We’ve got a lot of new beer on tap right now at the pub.  A busy weekend that included a two-bus pub crawl from Churchill’s in San Marcos helped clean us out of quite a good bit of beer.  New to the line up is AleSmith Summer YuleSmith, Ballast Point Dorado Double IPA, Deschutes Inversion IPA, Stone Ruinatin IPA, Val Dieu Tripel, Lindeman’s Pomme (apple) lambic and just put on tap yesterday – Alpine nitro Captain Stout.  We’ll be getting a brand new stout from Alpine in just over two weeks – there will be more about that towards the end of the email.

We also have some great beers coming up including Avery Piglet Purgatory and Avery Maharaja Imperial IPA, Ballast Point Piper Down Scottish Ale, Green Flash West Coast IPA, AleSmith Nut Brown, Pizza Port San Clemente El Camino and Doheny Double IPA and Weihenstephan Lager and Korbinian Double Bock from Germany.  There are a few new bottles including AleSmith Decadence, Celis Flemish Ale, AleSmith 2007 Summer YuleSmith, Oud Beersel Kriek, Fuller’s 1845 and Young’s Special London Ale.

Many of you have probably noticed that Michele is back.  She was pregnant and left right after St. Patrick’s Day.  She had a healthy baby boy and is now back at work.  Also, Cecilia has been working at the pub more while she is on summer break from teaching.  She’ll be back at school at the end of August.

Tonight (Thursday the 19th) we will two casks on tap at 5 pm.  The first is Baja Pale Ale from Pizza Port Solana Beach.  Head Brewer Greg Peters has been there for over a year now and is starting to roll out more of his specialty beers.  This was one of his first beers in Solana Beach.  It is an excellent summer Pale Ale with enough hops to have some punch.  Our second cask will be Alpine Ale.  We tapped the 5 gallon cask last night, but it is not finished yet.  It is dry hopped with Amarillo hops and is delicious.

Tomorrow, on Friday the 20th we will have Lindeman’s Pomme (apple) Lambic on special with Lindeman’s glassware for sale.  I will also have some glassware for Val Dieu – we have the Tripel on tap.  And we have bottles of the Celis Flemish Ale back with glassware for sale and I got some of the very different and cool Urthel glasses to go with the Urthel Hop It that we have in the bottle.  So lots of Belgian glassware for sale on Friday night with lots of great Belgian beer to go with it.  Look for the incredible Bacon Stilton burger to be back on the specials board!  If you like our regular Bacon Blue burger, you have to try it. 

Over the weekend you can save 10% off all bottles on both Saturday and Sunday – and that includes any import bottle purchased to-go.  We also have expanded our Sunday hours – we are now open until 6 pm with the kitchen open until 5 pm.  Every Sunday and Monday we feature our beer battered fish and chips and fish tacos.  We have been getting in some fresh albacore lately, so keep your eye on the special board for the albacore chipotle sandwich, it is great.  And every Monday night we offer up $8 pitchers of all local and craft beers, with strong ale pitchers just $12.  The special runs from 4:30 pm to Close each Monday.

Next week we have two special beers for our Christmas in July celebration (literally).  I have saved one keg of Sierra Nevada Celebration and one keg of the barrel aged Celebration to put on tap on Tuesday the 24th.  We’ll have specials on a few winter bottles as well.  The barrel aged Celebration is just a 5 gallon keg so if you want some, come in on Tuesday because I don’t think it will last all that long.  Next week’s cask on the 26th will be Green Flash West Coast IPA, which has been tasting great lately.

In August, my birthday is coming up and that means an entire week of great beers starting August 6th (like that isn’t the case every week, anyway).  I have been saving kegs and I have some new releases for the week.  Two new releases will come from Alpine Beer Company.  The first is Nickel Stout.  Yes, Pat has named a beer for me.  Apparently, after the last 5 gallon cask of his barrel aged Captain Stout I told him he had to add some cherries to it and it would make a great cherry stout.  He had another barrel of the beer aging, added cherries and it seems to have made a great cherry stout.  We will also have our only cask of Alpine’s Bad Boy Double IPA that week.  The Bad Boy should be out next week, but we will hold off on the cask until August 9th.

Also on tap for the birthday week will be Ballast Point’s Sculpin IPA and Sour Wench Ale.  The Sour Wench is a new blackberry beer inspired by a homebrew recipe affectiionately known as “the crack whore”, because of its addictive beery inspired flavors.  I have tasted the new Sour Wench it and it is a great fruit beer.  We’ll also have Alpine Duet IPA, Pizza Port Carlsbad Poor Man’s IPA and a cask of the brewery’s gold medal winning Sticky Stout.  I have a few other surprises in store as well, including some bottle specials.  I’ll have more details as to what will be tapped when next week.  And for the curious, my actual birthday will be Monday the 13th.

That about wraps it up.  The Mammoth Blues and Brews festival is coming up the first weekend of August.  There is still no final word on when the Stone Anniversary party is going to be.  And you can look forward to two weeks of winning beers from the San Diego County fair August 13th through August 24th.  Casks of Pizza Port Wipeout IPA and Swami’s IPA are also on their way.  Take care and we’ll see you soon over a great beer.  Cheers, Tom

Greetings soccer fans!

The USA U-20 team has advanced to the round of 16 at the FIFA Under 20 World Cup in Canada.  The team finished in first place in its group and was the highest scoring team in the group stage with a total of 9 goals – 2 coming in a thrilling 2-1 defeat of Brazil.  The USA now faces Uruguay which finished third in its group.  All things considered the USA has the easiest draw to the semi-finals.  If the team wins tomorrow, they face the winner of the Austria-Gambia game.  Meanwhile, two top teams in the tourney, Mexico and Argentina, will likely face each other in the Quarterfinals.

The Copa America is onto the Semi Finals.  Today, Tuesday the 10th, Uruguay face Brazil at 5:50 pm.  Tomorrow Mexico and Argentina kick off at 5:50 pm.  The 3rd place game will be Saturday with the final on Sunday, both games at 2:05 pm.

I’ll be up at the pub on Wednesday to watch the USA game and the Mexico v. Argentina semi-final.  It should be a great evening of football.

A third international tournament is happening in southeast Asia – the Asian Cup, with first time participants Australia.  The Asian Cup is being shown on Setanta.

So here are the games that will be coming up.  All U-20 games are on ESPNU and all Copa America Games are on Gol TV.

Tuesday, July 10:

5:50 pm – Uruguay v. Brazil – Copa America Semi Final – LIVE

Wednesday, July 11:

4:30 pm – USA v. Uruguay – U-20 Round of 16 – LIVE

5:50 pm – Mexico v. Argentina – Copa America Semi Final – LIVE

8 pm – Spain v. Brazil – U-20 Round of 16

And I will tape these games from the U-20 Round of 16 – Austria v. Gambia (being shown at 10:30 pm) and Japan v. Czech Republic (being shown at 12:30 am)

Thursday, July 12:

1:30 pm – Argentina v. Poland – U-20 Round of 16 – LIVE

4:30 pm – Mexico v. Congo U-20 Round of 16 – LIVE

7 pm – Zambia v. Nigeria – U-20 Round of 16

9 pm – Chile v. Portugal – U-20 Round of 16

Friday, July 13:

2 pm – Iraq v. Australia – Asian Cup (who knows, maybe Australia can defeat Iraq)

Saturday, July 14:

11:15 am – Winner of USA v. Uruguay v. winner of Austria v. Gambia

2:05 pm – Copa America 3rd Place game (semi finals losers)

4:30 pm – Winner of Japan v. Czech Republic  v. winner of Brazil v. Spain

Sunday, July 15:

11:15 am – winner of Zambia v. Nigeria v. winner of Chile v. Portugal

2:05 pm – Copa America Final

4:30 pm – Winner of Mexico v. Convo v. winner of Argentina v. Poland

Monday, July 16:

Thailand v. Australia at either 11 am or 1:45 on Setanta – Asian Cup

Wednesday, July 18 and Thursday, July 19th:

U-20 World Cup Semi Finals – TV times yet to be determind, but at least 2:45 or later on the 18th and at least 4:45 or later on the 19th.  If the USA play, it would be on the 18th and likely be shown LIVE at 2:45, but we’ll see.  We all know how much ESPN hates live soccer.

Sunday, July 22:

9:15 am - 3rd Place Match on ESPNU – LIVE

12:15 am – Under 20 World Cup Final – LIVE on ESPNU or ESPN2 depending on what part of the ESPN website is correct.

That is all for now.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Beer Fans!

I hope that everyone had a good 4th of July holiday.  We spent the day watching movies and enjoy a drink or two at home.  We have some great beers on tap right now at the pub.  I just tapped a keg of the Ballast Point Piper Scottish Ale which is a matly, 5.2% alcohol deep red ale.  We have new kegs of Speedway Stout and Affligem Blond – and we still have some Afflgiem goblets for sale from last Friday.  The Sierra Nevada Schwarz Beer (Black Lager) is back and the we have already blown through 4 kegs of the popular Torpedo.  I also tapped the Hollister White Star Extra Pale Ale on nitrogen from our trip up to Santa Barbara.  And look for the new Lindeman’s Pomme (apple) lambic to be on tap soon.

I also had some new bottles come in.  Last Thursday we got in the new AleSmith Decadence, which is a double version of the brewery’s Evil Dead Red.  And tomorrow I’ll have out the Oud Beersel Kriek.  We haven’t been able to get this one in a while and I really like the beer – tart, but not overly sour.  And the Stone Vertical Epic is selling well, but I expect to have it on the shelf for many more weeks.

For those who just can’t help but wonder what is on tap at the pub, we have a new treat for you.  You can now access the O’Brien’s On Tap page of our website on your cell phone by going to: www.mobile.obrienspub.net.  It will bring up all 20 beers on tap and the upcoming cask.  I have to admit, technophobe that I am, that it is pretty cool.

So here is what is coming up at the pub this week:

Wednesday the 11th we tap a cask of Pizza Port Carlsbad’s Poor Man’s IPA at 5:30 pm.  We haven’t had a cask of this in a while, so this is a nice treat.  On Thursday the 12th we have a cask of Ballast Point’s Tongue Buckler Double Red at 5 pm.  It has been even longer since we have had a cask of this beer.  When it is gone, I have a draft keg that will go on tap soon.

Over the weekend we have a pub crawl coming through from Churchill’s Pub in San Marcos.  If you have never been up to Churchill’s, it is a great spot.  The draft list rotates regularly and Ivan the owner has put together one of Southern California’s best bottled beer lists.  Ivan will be bringing down 80 of his closest friends between 2 and 4 pm on Saturday the 14th.  So if you wonder who all those people are you don’t know, that is where they came from.  To make up for the crowds, there should be Beer Chili to soothe you savage beasts.  Check out the White Bean Chicken Chili (also made with beer) right now.

On Sunday, July 15th we have a very special going away party for our good friend Darius.  Darius has been stationed in Washington, DC for the past two years, but he will now be transferring to an Army base in Germany to be the new head of Pathology there.  We will be hosting a going away party Sunday afternoon into evening from 4 pm to 7:30 pm and keeping the pub open a little later than usual.  I will be opeing up a bunch of special bottles and likely roll out a keg of something special for the occasion (probably AleSmith Summer YuleSmith – our only keg due to a major screw up at Stone Distributing).  So please come out and help say one last farewell before Darius heads to Europe.

Next week, we’ll have a 5 gallon cask (pin) of Alpine Ale on Wednesday the 18th at 5:30 pm.  And our Thrusday cask should be from Pizza Port Solana Beach if all goes well.  Later in the month, look for a night featuring medal winning beers from the San Diego County Fair.

Warning – Soccer news – There are plenty of great games this week as the USA has advanced at the Under 20 World Cup and the Copa America moves into the Semi Finals.  Today (Tuesday the 10th) Brazil plays Uruguay at 5:50 pm.  Tomorrow, July 11th, the USA face Uruguay in the Round of 16 at the Under 20 World Cup and at 5:50 pm Mexico plays Argentina in the other Copa America semi final.  The Copa America Final is Sunday at 2:05 pm.  If the USA wins, they will play at 11:15 am on Saturday (and yes, we will be open).

Last, San Diego has been and will be getting a bunch of good beer press.  The new Beer Advocate magazine has a two page spread on San Diego’s top beer spots.  The next issue of All About Beer magazine will feature O’Brien’s in an article about great pubs of the USA.  Southwest Brewing News will have a cover feature on visiting San Diego beer hot spots in August.  Local magazine 944 will be featuring 4 local watering holes – Liar’s Club, Linkery, Hamilton’s and of course O’Brien’s in its next issue.  And the Union Tribune’s beer column, Brewery Rowe, will now be run every week in a condensed version.

Well, that is it for now.  We’ll see you soon over a great beer.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Soccer Fans

So the Copa America is not going so well for the USA.  But there is another US team playing in a major international tournament – the Under 20 team led by Michael Bradley and Freddy Adu.  The team tied South Korea in the opener of the 24 country tournament.  We play Poland next (who beat Brazil 1-0) and then we face Brazil in our final game.  The six groups go down to a round of 16 and continue in a knock out format until the final on July 22nd.  With so many games, I have decided to only list the USA group games that will be on TV – on ESPNU.  Everything from the round of 16 on will be shown at the pub on ESPNU – which is channel 609.  For a complete list of matches – please visit www.fifa.com.

The Under 17 World Cup kicks off August 18th in Korea and the USA will again be participating. 

When we have knockout round games for the Copa America settled, I will add them to this schedule rather than make a new posting.  Every single Copa America game is on Gol TV.

So here are the upcoming games.  Cheers, Tom

Tuesday, July 3rd:

2 pm – USA v. Poland – ESPNU – U-20 WC

4:45 pm – Brazil v. South Korea – U-20 WC

Closed Wednesday, July 4th

Thursday, July 5:

3:35 pm – Colombia v. USA – Copa America

5:50 pm – Argentina v. Paraguay – Copa America

Friday, July 6:

4:45 pm – Brazil v. USA – ESPNU – U-20 WC

And coming up in the knock out rounds of both tournaments:

Copa America Quarterfinals Saturday and Sunday, July 7th and 8th

Copa America Semi-Finals Tuesday and Wednesday, July 10th and 11th

U-20 World Cup Round of 16 Wednesday and Thursday, July 11th and 12th

Copa America 3rd Place game Saturday, July 14th

U-20 World Cup Quarterfinals Saturday and Sunday, July 14th and 15th

Copa America Final on Sunday, July 15th at 3:05 pm

U-20 World Cup Semi-Finals Wednesday and Thursday, July 18th and 19th

U-20 World Cup Final on July 22nd

O’Brien’s will be closed on Wednesday, July 4th in honor of our nation’s birthday.  I will be sending out an email after the holiday detailing all of the upcoming beer events.  Normal hours on Tuesday the 3rd and Thursday the 5th – and I expect we will likely stay open a little later on the 3rd than usual since most of us will not have to work on Wednesday.

Thursday night we’ll tap a cask of AleSmith YuleSmith.  I also just tapped a keg of Marin IPA.  Also on Thursday, the USA will likely play its last game in the Copa America at 3:30 pm against Columbia.  Friday night we’ll have some more Belgian glassware specials including Affligem and Gouden Carolous glasses.  Lots of good stuff coming up that I will talk about later.

Happy Fourth!  Tom, Lindsey and the O’Brien’s crew.