What’s Happening

Hello Beer Lovers,

I was really going to try and keep this short, but if it gets a little long its only because there are too many good beer events to give mention too.  We have a bunch of new stuff on tap this week.  Smithwick’s Irish Red – brewed by Guinness, and Alpine’s McIllheney’s Irish Red are both on tap along with the Lagunitast Imperial Red.  We also have Lost Abbey Devotion, a 6.2% very hoppy Belgian-style blond ale from our friend Tomme Arthur.  And there is a full 15.5 gallon keg of Redstone Black-Raspberry Nectar Mead on tap.  Other new local beers on tap include AleSmith Lil’Devil and Coronado Idiot IPA.

Tonight, Thursday the 30th, we tap a cask of Pizza Port Solana Beach’s Yiga’s Revenge IPA.  This is the first time we have had this popular IPA on cask.  We’ll tap it at 5 pm, and as with every Thursday, all local beers will be on special for just $3 a pint ($3.50 for strong ales).  The Chargers last pre-season game will be on at 7 pm, though you may not recognize most of the team as the starters and 2nd string will give way to those fighting for a roster spot no later than halftime.

Tomorrow night, Friday the 31st, is Bear Republic Night at O’Brien’s.  It feature two old favorites – Racer 5 IPA and Racer X double IPA.  We will also have two brand new beers – Oso Negro dark lager, which is styled after Negro Modelo, but perhaps a bit darker and lot more flavorful; and Sammy’s Strong Ale, a Belgian-inspired ale named for the brewer’s son.  All four will be on tap on Friday.  And with the Racer 5 and Racer X, you can blend them half and half to make the Racer 7.5!  From the kitchen you can look forward to the Black Pepper Gouda Burger and beer boiled bratwursts.  There is also a little bit left in the AleSmith Decadence cask that I will put on around 6 pm on Friday night.

Over the weekend we are going to be open normal hours on Saturday – Noon to 11 pm and Sunday – Noon to 6 pm.  We will have our regular Saturday afternoon happy hour along with 10% off all bottles, including import bottles to-go, both Saturday and Sunday.  We will be closed on Monday for Labor Day.  So to make up for losing a day of Fish Tacos and Fish and Chips, we’ll be serving them Saturday and Sunday instead.

Looking ahead to September (can you believe that?) we already have some great events lined up.  Thursday the 6th we tap into a cask of Coronado Idiot IPA.  This will be the second time we have had this beer on cask.  The first one was great and went quickly.  Friday the 7th is our annual tribute to Stone Brewing Company to celebrate the brewery’s anniversary.  We’ll have several beers on tap including a keg of Double Bastard, and likely Imperial Stout.  We’ll also have a cask – yet to be announced.

We also still have a few seats left for the Stone Bus on Saturday the 8th.  It is likely that we will end up taking at least 4 people from the waiting list, so even if it is full, sign up for the waiting list and we’ll let you know by Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.  Cost is $25 cash and includes beer and water for the ride up and back.  You will need to buy your own ticket for the first session from Stone.  We’ll leave at 10 am and return around 3 pm.

Further off in the future, we have back to back cask nights with Green Flash Brewing Company on September 12th and 13th.  On Wednesday the 12th we tap a cask of Le Freak Belgian-style IPA at 5 pm.  And then on Thursday we will have a cask of West Coast IPA also at 5 pm.  Assuming we don’t blow the Le Freak Wednesday (highly unlikely) I’ll hook it up again on Thursday night and run the two side by side.

We have set dates for our next Beer and Cheese pairings.  The first one will be Sunday, September 23rd at O’Brien’s at 6 pm.  It will feature Jeff Bagby, head brewer of Pizza Port Carlsbad and Valerie Thomas, the head cheesemaker at Winchester Farms in Temecula.  Winchester Farms specializes in Gouda and we will pair them and a few other domestic artisan cheese with beers from the 3 Pizza Port brewpubs.  Jeff and Valerie will discuss the tasty treats as well.  And again we will be pairing up with George and Mary from Taste Artisan Cheese and Gourmet shop in Hillcrest for the pairings and cheese.  The cost is $40.  I’ll have a sign up sheet available at the pub tonight (Thursday).

We’ll also be doing a pair of our regular Beer and Cheese pairing classes in October with myself and Mary and George Palmer from Taste.  We have not yet set the menus for these classes, but we have dates.  The first will be Wednesday, October 17th at Taste in Hillcrest and the second will be Sunday, October 21st at O’Brien’s.  Both classes will have the same line-up of cheeses, and that line-up will be completely different from our September class with Winchester Farms.  Cost for these classes is $35.  Again, I  will sign up sheets at the pub tonight.

There are a ton of upcoming festivals in San Diego over the next few moths.  First up is the Stone Anniversary Party on September 8th, with two sessions, 11-2 and 2:45-5:45.  Tickets are available at the Stone website.  Next is the San Diego Festival of Beer Downtown, on Friday, September 21st.  Check out www.sdbeerfest.org for more information.  100% of the money raised goes to loacl cancer charities.

In October, Tijuana will host the Tequila Expo on over the weekend of the 13th and 14th.  Viejas is planning a beer and music festival for Saturday, October 20th.  The O’Brien’s Wet Hop Festival will be Friday – Sunday, October 26th, 27th and 28th.  That is also the likely weekend for the Tijauna Interanational Beer Festival, but I have not seen a confirmed date yet.  And then in November, the San Diego Brewers Guild Festival will likely be Saturday, November 3rd.  And way far off, the San Diego Strong Ale Festival will be at Pizza Port Carlsbad on Friday, November 30th and Saturday, December 1st.  Expect a great pre-fest party at the pub on Thursday the 29th.

On a sad note, beer writer Michael Jackson passed away last night in London.  He was a true pioneer, the world’s first beer writer.  He championed good beer and was terribly excited about what was happening in the American Craft Brewing scene, and a great supporter of brewing innovation.  He will be sorely missed in a world where good writing and good taste are all too rare.  So next time you lift a pint, raise a toast to Michael and thank him for spreading the gospel of good beer.

That is all for now.  We’ll see you soon over a great beer, or two.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Beer Fans,

There is a lot to cover this week – as always it seems there is just too much good beer.  But first I am happy to announce that we will be doing a bus up to the Stone Anniversary Party for the first session.  The cost of the bus will be $25 per person (cash only) – it does not include a ticket into the festival, you must buy that from Stone.  We’ll have beer and water on the bus as well.  The bus will leave at 10 am and return around 3 pm.  I’ll have the sign up sheet out tonight at the pub after 5 pm.  I expect it to sell out quickly, so if you want to go, get in before the weekend.  I will not be posting up the info on the website until tomorrow, so everyone on the email list gets a head start.

While we are on the subject of Stone, tomorrow night on Thursday the 23rd we have a cask of Stone IPA dry hopped with Amarillo hops at 5 pm.  Tonight, the 22nd, we have a special 5 gallon cask of Alpine Pure Hoppiness at 5:30 pm.  Friday the 24th is Avery Night with Piglet Purgatory (hoppy session ale), Maharaja Double IPA and 14 Anniversary ale which is described by the brewery as dark, dry hopped and different.  It is also quite good.

And there are lots of great new beers on tap at the pub.  We have tapped a keg of the new Karl Strauss Double IPA – you read that right, Karl Strauss is on tap at O’Brien’s.  The double IPA is very good and stands up to the tough competition for hoppy beers in San Diego.  I wouldn’t put it on tap if it weren’t good.  We also have the Val Dieu Grand Cru from Belgium along with some very nice Val Dieu goblet glasses for sale.  Port Brewing released a new beer, Girabaldi, which is a lighter version of the Sharkbite Red and we have the new Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale which is a strong, hoppy pale ale.  Ballast Point has continued with their incessant need to change the name of their beers – Hot Rail Helles is now Longifn Lager and it is on tap as well.

There are also some new bottles and some old favorites are back.  We finally have a gluten-free beer at the pub – Green’s Quest Tripel.  It is from Belgium and is 8% alcohol and light colored, with a crisp finish.  I have tasted a lot of gluten free beers and this one really tastes like beer.  We have the Thomas Hardy’s barleywine back in two vintages – the new (to us anyway) 2006 vintage and the well aged 2005 vintage.  Lost Abbey’s 10 Commandments, which was formerly the Pizza Port SPF 8 dark saison is available and we still have bottles of the new AleSmith Summer YuleSmith and Stone 07-07-07 Veritcal Epic.  Right now we are also having a special on Koningshoeven Dubbel and Tripel, the trappist beers from Holland, for just $12 each for a 750 ml bottle.

Looking ahead to next week we have a 5 gallon cask of AleSmith Decadence on Wednesday the 29th at 5:30 pm.  And Thursday the 30th we tap a cask of Pizza Port Solana Beach Yiga’s Revenge IPA at 5 pm.  We will be open over the weekend on September 1st and 2nd, but we will close down on Monday the 3rd for Labor Day.  Further off, you can look forward to casks of Green Flash IPA and Le Freak, Coronado Idiot IPA, AleSmith X and more Alpine Pure Hoppiness.  Friday the 7th we will have a Stone Brewing night just before the Anniversary Party.  And later in the month the San Diego Festival of Beer will be on Friday, September 21st.  Visit www.sdbeerfest.org for more info.

For soccer fans, all of the big European leagues will be in action this weekend.  I have posted the game schedule up at the pub and will have it on the website tomorrow.  And we will be showing the Liverpool Champions League qualifying match next week on the 28th at 11 am Live.  If you would like to be on our soccer-specific email, just reply to this email and let me know.

That is as short as I could keep it.  I’ll have more great beer news next week.  We’ll see you soon over a great beer.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Soccer Fans!

It seems that there really wasn’t much of a summer break for soccer with the Gold Cup, Copa America and Under 20 World Cup.  This weekend the English Premier League resumes play with games on Setanta USA and Fox Soccer Channel.  There are also early Carling Cup games next week.  The Bundesliga also kicks off this weekend.  Serie A and La Liga are still two weeks away.  The Under 17 World Cup starts next weekend with the USA in a promising first round draw with Tajikstan, Tunisia and Belgium.  All of those games will be on the ESPN networks.  I can’t find anyone showing any of the UEFA Champions League 3rd Round Qualifying games.  The Group stages will start in September.

The USA men’s team has a friendly scheduled against Sweden on August 22nd, live at 11:30 am on Fox Soccer.  And the team will travel to Mexico to play in Azecta stadium on Sunday, September 9th at 1 pm on ESPN2.  The next USA games will be in October over in Europe.  The USA women’s team will be in China in September for the Women’s World Cup.  It is going to be nice to have something to talk about in the US soccer world besides David Beckham’s ankle.

So here is what is coming up.  Games are on Setanta USA unless noted.

Friday, August 10:

Noon – Replay of the Community Shield on FSC – Chelsea v. Manchester United

Saturday, August 11:

On Tape – Aston Villa v. Liverpool

11:30 am – Derby v. Portsmouth – FSC

11:30 am – Everton v. Wigan

1:15 pm – Sunderland v. Tottenham

2 pm – West Ham v. Manchester City – FSC

3 pm – Bolton v. Newcastle

5:30 pm – FC Dallas v. Columbus – MLS on FSC

6:30 pm – Bayern Munich v. Hansa Rostock – Bundesliga – Gol TV

Sunday, August 12:

On Tape – Manchester United v. Reading

2 pm – Chelsea v. Birmingham

2 pm - Arsenal v. Fulham

Monday, August 13:

11 am – Peterborough v. Southhampton – Carling Cup

Tuesday, August 14:

11:40 am – Tottenham v. Everton

On Tape – Falkirk v. Celtic – SPL

Wednesday, August 15:

11:40 am – Portsmouth v. Manchester United – and at 3:45 pm

Noon – Reading v. Chelsea – FSC

2 pm – Fulham v. Bolton – FSC

2 pm – Blackburn v. Aston Villa – and at 5:30 pm

Thrusday, August 16:

11 am – Rotterham v. Sheffield Wednesday – Carling Cup

Satruday, August 18:

11:30 am – Wigan v. Sunderland – FSC

11:30 am – Birmingham v. West Ham

1:15 pm – Portsmouth v. Bolton

1:30 pm – Reading v. Everton – FSC

3 pm – Blackburn v. Arsenal

4:30 pm – NY Red Bulls v. LA Galaxy – MLS on FSC

8 pm – Newcastle v. Aston Villa

Sunday, August 19:

Noon – Liverpool v. Chelsea – FSC

Monday, August 20:

On Tape – USA U-17 v. Tajikstan U-17 – Under 17 World Cup

Wednesday, August 22:

11:30 am USA v. Sweden – FSC

2 pm – England v. Germany – FSC – (tentatively)

Thursday, August 23:

On Tape – USA U-17 v. Tunisia U-17 – Under 17 World Cup

7 pm – CD Chivas USA v. LA Galaxy – ESPN2

Saturday, August 25:

11:30 am – Juventus v. Livorno – FSC

4:30 pm – Toronto FC v. DC United – MLS on FSC

Sunday, August 26:

On Tape – USA U-17 v. Belgium U-17 – Under 17 World Cup

On Tape – Inter Milan v. Udinese

Sunday, September 9:

1 pm – USA v. Mexico – ESPN2

That does it for now.  I will send out another email in two weeks that will have more EPL, Serie A and the start of La Liga on Gol TV.  I’ll also have the soccer board back up at the pub this weekend with the listing of the major upcoming games.  We can always tape any game to show later, just email me.  And if I don’t have something listed that you want to see, just ask, we might be able to show it.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Beer Fans!

Just a short note today to let you know that the Birthday Week is in full swing and that there are lots of great beers on tap right now.  We still have some of Monday’s Alpine Nickel Stout on tap – it is a barrel aged version of Alpine’s Captain Stout with cherries added to it.  Tuesday night’s beers from Ballast Point are still well represented with Sour Wench and Sculpin IPA on tap – but don’t expect the Sculpin to make it to Friday.  It will be replaced with a keg of Dorado Double IPA.  We also have the Ballast Point Piper Down Scottish Ale on tap.  Last night we tapped a keg of Pizza Port Carlsbad’s Poor Man’s IPA.  It is still on tap and tasting great.  And there is just a little bit left of the Sticky Stout cask that might make its way on tonight.

For Thursday night we tap into Alpine’s Bad Boy Double IPA on cask at 5 pm.  We have two casks so that it will last all night.  Brewer/owner Pat McIllhenney will be on hand to help us drink it down.  Stone Ruination will also be on tap and all of our local beers will be on special.  As handles start to open up tonight I’ll be getting ready for tomorrow’s big San Diego Pale (aka Double IPA) night.  I expect to have at least 7 double IPAs on tap.  We’ll be pouring 5, 10 and 16 ounce glasses of each one.  If there is anything left in the Bad Boy casks, I’ll tap them Friday night.

I’m taking a break from big events over the weekend.  We’ll still be open Noon to 11 pm on Saturday and Noon to 6 pm on Sunday with 10% off all bottles for in house or import bottles to go.  There are also a few Belgian beer glasses left for sale.  We have some Val Dieu, Celis, Ommegang and Ommegang Hennepin glasses along with a few Murphy’s tulip-style pint glasses.  Our new girl’s shirts and tank tops are now on display – a couple of new styles and several new colors.

Over the next two weeks we are going to have a bunhc of medal winning beers from the San Diego County Fair Festival.  I’ll have a list of winners up at the pub and mark the medal winners on the tap list.  Next week’s cask is in limbo as the Swami’s IPA cask I was hoping for failed to get filled.  And I will be figuring out the situation for the Stone Anniversary Bus Trip soon.  The late announcement of the date has just pushed everything back.  I’ll let you know more next week.

That is all for now.  We’ll see you soon over many great beers.  Cheers, Tom

Greetings Good Beer Fans!

There is, as usual, much good beer news to report.  Tonight (Thursday the 2nd) we have a cask of Wipeout IPA from Jeff Bagby at Pizza Port Carlsbad at 5 pm.  We also have the special treat of a keg of Pizza Port San Clemente’s El Camino IPA on tap.  We also have some new bottles on the list including 2007 Summer YuleSmith, Celis Flemish Ale and Ommegang’s Three Philosophers, which is a strong abbey-style ale blended with small amounts of kriek (cherry lambic) – the flavor is quite nice.  And I have finally updated the bottle list on the website (www.obrienspub.net), so that it is current.  There are now more to-go copies of the bottle list at the pub as well.

Tomorrow night, Friday the 3rd, is Ommegang night at the pub.  We’ll have the brewery’s Hennepin Saison on tap (in fact, on tap right now) along with a five gallon keg of the new Ommegeddon.  It is an 8% alcohol dryhopped ale with brettanomyces.  I haven’t tried it yet since this is our only keg.  I hope to get bottles of it in next week once the keg is gone.  We’ll also have some Hennepin and Ommegang glassware for sale – both are goblet style glasses and very nice.  We still have a few Celis and Val Dieu glasses for sale along with some Murphy’s tulip-style pints for just $1.

We have re-stocked our girls merchandise.  We got in some new ribbed tank tops and t-shirts.  There are new O’Brien’s stickers in black or blue, too.

It is hard to believe that it is already August.  And that means that it is time for my birthday week celebrations.  This is one of the most fun events for me to plan since I get to put on a whole week of beers that I love in insane amounts.  I have been hoarding beer for some time now and here is what I have planned for the week:

Monday, August 6th – We start the week with a duo of Alpine Ales – Duet IPA and Nickel Stout.  The stout is a new beer from Pat and crew.  It is a barrel aged version of the Captain Stout with two kinds of cherries added in the barrel.  I suggested adding the cherries to Pat and he graciously named the beer after me.  I haven’t tasted it yet, but Pat swears that it is good enough to make him not want to sell it.  We’ll be getting a 15 gallon keg, so I expect it to be on tap most of the week.  Not so for the Duet, which I fear will no see the end of Wednesday.

Tuesday, August 7th – Beers from Ballast Point and brewer Colby Chandler.  First up, Sculpin IPA.  Like the Duet, I don’t expect this one to last very long.  It has been difficult to sit on this keg for the last two months.  The second offering is a five gallon keg of syrah barrel aged Victory at Sea Imperial Porter.  I am hoping to already have a third Ballast Point beer, the Sour Wench blackberry ale, on tap before Tuesday.  If not, certainly by Tuesday.

Wednesday, August 8th – Two outstanding beers from brewer Jeff Bagby at Pizza Port Carlsbad.  On tap we’ll have a keg of Poor Man’s IPA, one of my favorite San Diego beers.  And a special five gallon cask of Sticky Stout at 5 pm.  The stout won a gold medal at last year’s Great American Beer Festival.  I am really looking forward to this, since I have never had the beer cask conditioned before.

Thursday, August 9th – A very special local cask night for the birthday pub night.  When I first heard that Alpine was making another batch of Bad Boy IPA I told Shawn and Pat that I wanted to serve a cask of it during my birthday week celebrations.  When Pat mentioned that he too would like to drink some of the Bad Boy on cask, however, I told him that it might well be gone by the time he could get to the pub at 7 pm.  So we came up with a brilliant compromise – make it two casks of Bad Boy!  So we will have Bad Boy on cask all night long and you (and I) can drink as much as you want.  If there is any left over, we’ll tap it on Friday night.

Friday, August 10th – Attack of the Hops night.  I plan on filling every handle I can with San Diego Pale Ale (also known elsewhere as Double IPA).  I have kegs of Bear Republic Racer X, Stone Ruination, Ballast Point Dorado, Pizza Port San Clemente Doheny and as a very special treat, we will have the long awaited return of Hoptown DUIPA – on nitrogen no less.  Of course Pliny the Elder and Pure Hoppiness will be on tap along with anything that you guys have polished off during the week.  If all goes well, we will have at least 7 double IPAs on tap.

I hope that that is enough good beer for you.  I plan on drinking my fair share, but that should still leave quite a bit of beer for the rest of you.  Over the weekend you can enjoy the Persied meteor shower.  It will be a new moon on Sunday the 12th making viewing conditions near ideal.  Go anywhere away from city lights and you should be able to get a great view.  Stone has apparently set September 8th as the date for its anniversary party.  We will likely do a bus trip up there again.  I will have details after next week.  Take care and we’ll see you soon over many great beers.  Cheers, Tom