What’s Happening

Greetings Beer Fans!

I know it is a Monday email, but this news just can’t wait!

We are starting off this week with a very special event on Monday, October 1st.  Xavier von Honsebrouck, owner of the Von Honsebrouck and Kasteel breweries in Belgium will be at the pub on Monday from 8 to 10 pm!  We will have four of his beers on tap including Brigand – a hoppy golden strong ale, St Louis Framboise, Kasteel Tripel and the new Kasteel Rouge – a brown ale blended with cherries, sour brown ale and a cherry liquer!  We’ll also have the Kasteel Brown in the bottle.  We should have glassware specials as well.  All of the beers will be on tap all day Monday, so you can stop by any time and try them.  This night is a very rare oppotunity to meet and drink with a Belgian brewery owner in San Diego. 

Also on Monday the 1st, our good friend Bill Snider of Ciao! Travel will be releasing the details of the 2008 Great Belgian Beer Tour.  The list of breweries sounds fantastic.  This year’s trip will include an entire week in Belgium culminating in the 24 Hour Beer Festival in St. Niklas!  I’ll send along more details next week.  These trips are always a blast – Lindsey and I can’t wait to go.

If you can’t make it by on Monday though, don’t worry, there will still be plenty of great beer to drink.  On Thursday the 4th we have a cask of High Tide wet hop IPA from Tomme Arthur at Port Brewing Company.  Friday night, we will feature beers from Jeff Bagby at Pizza Port Carlsbad inlcuding Attenuation Belgian-style golden ale, Sticky Stout and either Hop Suey or Poor Man’s IPA double IPA (not sure which one is going to show up).  We should also be getting the new batch of Alpine Nelson Rye IPA this week – and I still have some kegs from Hollister Brewing Company to get on tap!

Next week we have a cask of Coronado Idiot IPA on Thursday the 11th at 5 pm.  And you can look forward to our Annual Wet Hop Ale Festival on October 26th toi 28th.  We’ll feature lots of great beers made with hops right off the vine.  I expect to have some casks as well as more than 20 draft beers over the 3 days.  Wet Hop beers, inlcuding Sierra Nevada Harvest, will start showing up over the next couple of weeks.  At the very end of the month on the 31st (a Wednesay) we will have our annual Halloween Costume Party (expect some very wicked beer specials).  Also, the new issue of the Celebrator Beer News is in at the pub.  Copies of Southwest Brewing News and Ale Street News should be along shortly.

Also later this month, we have our fall Beer and Cheese tastings with Taste Artisan Cheese and Gourmet shop.  The theme this time around is Old World-New World.  We are pairing European cheeses with all American (mostly local) beers.  The classes will feature 6-8 beers and cheeses and last just over 90 minutes.  The first one will be at Taste in Hillcrest (1243 University Ave next to Wine Steals) at 7 pm on Wednesday, October 17th.  The second class (same beer/cheese line up) will be Sunday, October 21st at O’Brien’s at 6:30 pm.  The tasting is $35 per person (cash only at the pub – you can use a credit card at Taste).  If you want to go, sign up more than a week in advance – these classes always sell out.

I have some bad news to report in the world of local sports and soccer coverage.  The Union-Tribune has cut all of its page 2 sports section features, inlcuding its Wednesday focus on Soccer.  Other days included sections on racing, fitness, tennis, etc…  This was one of the only places that soccer got ANY coverage in the Union-Tribune and that fringe (non Padres or Chargers) items got any coverage.  I have written staff writer Mark Ziegler and he had the following to say about writing in to protest that these sections had been cancelled:

As for emails, yes, I think they would help, particularly coming from folks like you. The two people I’d send them to are Pat Flynn (the senior editor who oversees the sports and business sections) and Chuck Scott (the chief sports editor). Their emails are pat.flynn@uniontrib.com and chuck.scott@uniontrib.com . Pat’s number is (619) 293-2083. Chuck’s number is (619) 293-1804.  Thanks for all the support, Mark

I would encourage everyone to write a short email to the addresses above to help support broad sports coverage in San Diego, even if you are not a Union-Tribune subscriber.

That is all for now.  We’ll see you soon for some great beer!  Cheers, Tom

Hello Football Fans,

Matchday 2 of the Champions League is coming this next week on October 2nd and 3rd.  This weekend there is a full slate of domestic league games, however, many will have to be shown on tape or shown late.  Fox Soccer is busy showing 4 leagues each weekend, which cuts down on its replays.  And Setanta is still knee deep in the Rugby World Cup, making them show several games on lengthy delays – like this Saturday’s Liverpool game, which will be shown for the first time at 6 pm.  Gol TV is back to showing La Liga, thought the timing and matches are still often up in the air until the day of.

Each Champions League Matchday we have two live games at 11:30 am with games continuing in the afternoon and evening, including replays.  Setanta also continues to show UCL matches on Thursday and Friday on delay.

I have some bad news to report in the world of local soccer coverage.  The Union-Tribune has cut all of its page 2 sports section features, inlcuding its Wednesday focus on Soccer.  Other days included sections on racing, fitness, tennis, etc…  This was one of the only places that soccer got ANY coverage in the Union-Tribune.  I have written staff writer Mark Ziegler and he had the following to say about writing in to protest that the Wednesday soccer section had been cancelled:

As for emails, yes, I think they would help, particularly coming from folks like you. The two people I’d send them to are Pat Flynn (the senior editor who oversees the sports and business sections) and Chuck Scott (the chief sports editor). Their emails are pat.flynn@uniontrib.com and chuck.scott@uniontrib.com . Pat’s number is (619) 293-2083. Chuck’s number is (619) 293-1804.  Thanks for all the support, Mark

I would encourage everyone to write a short email to the addresses above to help support soccer coverage in San Diego, even if you are not a Union-Tribune subscriber.

Enough with the soapbox, here are the upcoming games (on Setanta unless noted):

Saturday, Sept. 29:

11:30 am – Roma v. Inter Milan – FSC

6 pm – Wigan v. Liverpool

On Tape – Chelsea v. Fulham, Birmingham v. Manchester United, West Ham v. Arsenal, Manchester City v. Newcastle

Sunday, Sept. 30:

11:30 am – Torino v. Juventus – FSC

1 pm – Getafe v. Real Madrid – Gol TV

On Tape – AC Milan v. Catania, Everton v. Middlesbrough

Monday, Oct. 1:

11 am – Tottenham v. Aston Villa

Tuesday, Oct. 2:

11:30 am – Manchester United v. AS Roma – ESPN2

11:30 am – Steaua v. Arsenal – and at 5:30 pm

2 pm – vfb Stuttgart v. Barcelona – ESPN Classic and Setanta (and again at 7:15)

3:45 pm – Dynamo Kiev v. Sporting Lisbon

8 pm – Chivas (Mex) v. DC United – FSC – Copa Sudamericana

Wednesday, Oct. 3:

11:30 am – Liverpool v. Olympique de Marseille – ESPN2

11:30 am – Valencia v. Chelsea – and at 5:30 pm

2 pm – Lazio v. Real Madrid – ESPN Classic and Setanta (also at 7:15 pm)

3:45 pm – Besiktas v. FC Porto

5 pm – FC Dallas v. New England Revolution – FSC – US Open Cup Final

Thursday, Oct 4:

11:30 am – Galatasary v. FC Sion – UEFA Cup

2 pm – Benfica v. Shaktar

3:45 pm – Lyon v. Rangers (who now have Damarcus Beasley)

Friday, Oct 5:

4 pm – Celtic v. AC Milan

Saturday, Oct 6:

11:30 am – Aston Villa v. West Ham

1:15 pm – Manchester United v. Wigan

3 pm – Newcastle v. Manchester City

Sunday, Oct 7:

Noon – River Plate v. Boca Juniors – FSC

4 pm – Newcastle v. Everton

On Tape – Liverpool v. Tottenham, Arsenal v. Sunderland, Bolton v. Chelsea

Monday, Oct 8:

On tape – Manchester City v. Middlesbrough

Wednesday, Oct 17:

11:30 am – Switzerland v. USA – FSC

The USA game against the Catalonia All-Stars has been cancelled.

EURO 2008 Qualifying resumes on the 13th and 17th of October.  The Champions League picks back up on the 23rd and 24th.  Cheers, Tom

Alpine Pure Hoppiness is back on tap at the pub.  The supply issue is over and it should be smooth sailing from here on out.  We still have the Alpine Captain Stout on tap as well.  This weekend, Alpine Beer Company will be receiving its new 25 barrel fermentors – four of them in all – which will make for a lot more Pure Hoppiness soon.  The Nelson rye-IPA with New Zealand hops will be out next week – probably by Wednesday.

Also new on tap is the Saison Voisin, which is a light amber colored saison that is 6% alcohol; and the Stone 11th Anniversary Ale, which is a dark double IPA; the Craftsman beers are still on tap, but probably won’t last too much longer.

Tonight’s cask is Ballast Point Even Keel Session Ale at 5:30 pm.  Thursday we tap into AleSmith X extra pale ale at 5 pm – and I’ll roll out the Ballast Point cask again.

Next week on Monday we have Xavier von Honsebrouck, owner of Von Honsebrouck brewery in Belgium at the pub at 8 pm.  We’ll have several of his beers on tap with glassware specials.  The beer line up will likely include Brigand, St Louis Framboise and several Kasteel beers, which Xavier also owns.  Lindsey will be making up some Belgian themed ktichen specials as well.  This will be a rare opportunity to meet and talk to a Belgian owner/brewer in the United States – especially here in San Diego.

Next week we’ll also have a cask of Port Brewing High Tide Wet Hop Ale on October 4th and I hope to have beers from Hollister Brewing Company in Santa Barbara on tap for Wednesday the 3rd.

I would like to thank everyone who has voted for O’Brien’s for ”Best Beer Selection” on the Channel 10 A-List.  We are in first place with a comfortable lead.  To vote, you can visit:

http://kgtv.cityvoter.com/Contests/ShowCategory.aspx?contestCategory=1540

I am not sure how long the contest voting goes, but when it started, we weren’t even nominated.  Seems now that they have come to their senses, we are tied for third.  Thanks for your help and support. 

See you soon at the pub.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Beer Lovers!

Time again to update you on all of the great beer happenings at O’Brien’s.  We still have our bocks and double bocks on tap from last Friday’s Octoberfest party.  The San Diego Brewing Co. Consecrator finally made it on late in the evening.  Also on tap is the Spaten Optimator, Weihenstephan Korbinian, Lightning Fulminator and TJ Bufadora.  In addition to the big malty beers, we also have some new big hoppy beers on tap like Coronado Idiot IPA, Green Flash IPA and a special double dry-hopped draft cask of Dorado Double IPA.

This week we are again featuring double cask nights with Alpine Beer Company.  Wednesday the 19th we tap a cask of Alpine Ale at 5:30 pm and Thursday the 20th features the always popular Pure Hoppiness at 5 pm.  Wednesday lunchtime we will have the Champions League matches between Manchester United and Sporting Lisbon along with Sevilla v. Arsenal both live at 11:30 am – Barcelona v. Lyon will follow on delay at 2 pm.  And Setanta sports is continuin its coverage of the Rugby World Cup as well.

Also happening on Thursday the 20th is the Downtown Johnny Brown’s 20th Anniversary party.  Lots of beer, appetizers, bands, a dunk tank and even rumors of a 5 gallon cask of Alpiine Bad Boy IPA.  DTJB’s has really blossomed into one of the best places to get a beer downtown.  I just wish it had been this good when I lived nearby.  The party will last all night.  So if you are near downtown, definitely stop by for a good beer.

Friday the 21st is another night of downtown happenings with the San Diego Festival of Beer from 6-11 pm on the streets near Columbia and B.  This is the 13th edition of this festival and more than 50 breweries are expected to pour.  All of the money raised is donated to local cancer-related charities.  I’ll be down there, but strictly on the consuming side of the beer booths.

For those not headed downtown we will be serving up some beers from Craftsman Brewing Company in Pasadena.  I am expecting to get kegs of Hefeweizen, Octoberfest and Point Five – a half IPA at 3.7% that is delicious.  I hope to have all three on tap and on special all Friday night.  If all goes well, the beers will also be on special for lunch that day.

Over the weekend it is time to tell whether or not the Chargers disgraceful showing in New England was an anomoly or a trend.  The game is at 10 am against the better, but not yet good, Green Bay Packers.  We’ll open up at 10 am with the kitchen ready to go.  In addition to our regular Sunday Fish and Chips and Fish Tacos, we’ll also have some breakfast items on the menu thanks to Humberto and Jose.

Sunday the 23rd is also the night of our first Beer and Cheese tasting with Taste cheese shop.  The class is at 6 pm at the pub and features Jeff Bagby, head brewer at Pizza Port Carlsbad and Valerie Thomas, head cheesemake at Winchester Farms in Temecula.  The class is nearly sold out, so if you are interested, please sign up ASAP at the pub or by calling Taste at 619-683-2306.  We have two more classes scheduled in October – one on the 17th and the other on the 21st.  There is plenty of room for both of those classes.

Next week you can look forward to Titans v. Saints for Monday Night Football.  As always we’ll have $8 pitchers ($12 Strong Ales) all night long.  And next week is yet another double cask week – that will make 3 in a row.  Wednesday the 26th is Ballast Point Even Keel, which is a hoppy session ale that is always great.  And Thursday teh 27th is AleSmith X, the brewery’s extra pale ale, which is a rare treat on cask for us. 

Further off in the future, we have a very special event on Monday, October 1st.  Xavier van Honsebrouck, owner of Brouwerij van Honsebrouck in Beglium will be at the pub from 8-10 pm pouring several of his brewery’s beers including Brigand, St Louis Lambic and a new strong Flanders Red ale that is said to be similar to Rodenbach.  I’ll have more details on this event next week.  But this will be a rare opportunity to meet a Belgian brewer in the US.

Other things you can all look forward to – wet hop beers will start coming in soon, Speakeasy Double Daddy, Moylander Double IPA, Ballast Point India Pale Lager, the return of Sierra Nevada Anniversary (and Harvest coming back soon, too), Pizza Port Carlsbad Sticky Stout and Attenuation and Alpine Captain Stout.

That will do it for now.  Have a great week and we’ll see you soon over a great beer.  Cheers, Tom

Greetings Soccer Fans!

The domestic leagues are back in action after the Euro 2008 break and the UEFA Champions League kicks off the group stage this coming week.  All of the UCL games on ESPN2 will be shown in High Definition and ESPN Classic is again showing UCL games on delay at 2 pm.  Expect to see all four English teams in action each match day with Real Madrid and Barcelona shown nearly as often.  ESPN is also showing all of the games from the Women’s World Cup.  The unbeaten USA team plays Nigeria on the 18th needing only a tie to advance.

The next Euro 2008 Qualifying games will be October 7th and 11th.  Gol TV is continuing to sputter in its coverage of Spain with no Real Madrid on today, but they might show Barcelona at noon on Sunday – maybe.  Setanta USA is knee-deep in its coverage of the Rugby World Cup, which is not cutting into its football coverage, but it is delaying it.

For those with an interest in American Football, we will be open late Sunday night for the Chargers v. Patriots game at 5:15 (likely close time will be around 9 pm).  We will run a special Sunday night happy hour for the game with 50 cents off all draft beers (along with our regular 10% off all bottles).

So here are the games coming up through Friday the 28th with a few additional extras at the end (games on Setanta unless noted):

Sunday, 9/16:

On Tape – Manchester City v. Aston Villa, Juventus v. Udinese, Sevilla v. Recreativo and Murcia v. Athletico Madrid

Maybe Barcelona v. Osasuna at noon

Tuesday, 9/18 – Champions League Match Day 1:

11:30 am – FC Porto v. Liverpool – ESPN2

11:30 am – Chelsea v. Rosenborg

2 pm – Women’s World Cup – USA v. Nigeria – ESPN Classic

7 pm – Real Madrid v. Werder Bremen

8 pm – Women’s World Cup – USA v. Nigeria – ESPN2

Wednesday, 9/19 – Champions League Match Day 1:

11:30 am – Sporting Lisbon v. Manchester United – ESPN2

11:30 am – Arsenal v. Sevilla

2 pm – Barcelona v. Lyon – ESPN Classic

5 pm – Barcelona v. Lyon

7 pm – Fenerbahce v. Inter Milan

Thursday, 9/20:

5 pm – Chicago Fire v. FC Dallas – ESPN2

Saturday, 9/22:

On Tape – Liverpool v. Birmingham City, Arsenal v. Derby and Fulham v. Manchester City

11:30 am – AC Milan v. Parma – FSC

1:30 pm – Middlesbrough v. Sunderland – FSC

6:30 pm – Real Salt Lake v. Colorado Rapids – FSC

Sunday, 9/23:

We will open at 10 am for the Chargers game against Green Bay with the kitchen open at 10 am as well serving up some breakfast items.  That games should be over around 1 pm.

On Tape – Manchester United v. Chelsea, Roma v. Juventus, Newcastle United v. West Ham

1:30 pm – Aston Villa v. Everton – FSC

Thursday, 9/27:

5 pm – LA Galaxy v. Kansas City Wizards – ESPN2

No TV Schedule yet for the weekend of 9/29 and 30.  But there are a few more games listed:

Tuesday, October 2 – UCL Matchday 2:

11:30 am – Manchester United v. Roma – ESPN2

2 pm – vfb Stuttgart v. Barcelona – ESPN Classic

Wednesday, October 3 – UCL Matchday 2:

11:30 am – Liverpool v. Olympique de Marseille – ESPN2

2 pm – Lazio v. Real Madrid – ESPN Classic

Wednesday, October 17:

11:30 am – Switzerland v. USA men – LIVE friendly on FSC

That is it for now.  Coming up at the pub this week we have a cask of Alpine Ale on the 19th at 5:30 pm and Alpine Pure Hoppiness on cask at 5 pm on the 20th.  The San Diego Festival of Beer is downtown this Friday the 21st from 6-11pm.  Have a great week and we’ll see you soon for some Champions League football.  Cheers, Tom

We tapped our double bock Octoberfest party beers on the 14^th with Spaten Optimator, Weihenstephan Korbinian, TJ Bufadora, Lightning Fulminator and San Diego Brewing Consecrator all making it on tap by the end of the evening.  It was a night of big MALTY beers at O’Brien’s for once.  All 5 bock beers are still on tap and will be on special Saturday night the 15th.  We’ll be open until 11 pm.  Also new on tap is the AleSmith Nautical Nut Brown in place of the Lil’ Devil.  The on tap list is now up to date for the weekend.

The Chargers play much hated New England with or without their extra video guy this Sunday the 16th at 5:15 pm and we will be staying open late for the game with the kitchen open through half time.  So come by and watch the game and say hi to Coral.  We will have a special Sunday night happy hour – 50 cents off any beer during the game.  So that means pints of Wipeout for $3 and Pliny is just $3.50!

Next week you can look forward to double cask nights with Alpine – Alpine Ale on Wednesday the 19th at 5:30 pm and Pure Hoppiness on Thursday the 20th at 5 pm.  Friday the 21st is a Craftsman Brewing Night with Point Five (a half IPA at 3.7%), Hefeweizen and Octoberfest.  Hopefully we’ll be seeing more Craftsman beer in the coming months.  The 21st is also the night of the San Diego Festival of Beer Downtown.  And the following week we’ll end the month with a cask of AleSmith X, extra pale ale, on Thursday the 27th.

We’ll be getting some new bottles this week including the Stone 11th Anniversary Ale (already in) and the Pizza Port Signature Ale (coming) which was brewed by the Port gang at the De Preof brewery in Belgium.  We have a Blegian stout – Buffalo Stout, which is very nice.  And we have already ordered a second case of the GLUTEN-FREE Green’s Quest Tripel, which is really good just on its own merits.  There are all sorts of fun kegs coming up including Moylan’s Moylander double IPA, Speakeasy Double Daddy, Alpine Captain Stout, Pizza Port Attenuation Anniversary Ale and Sticky Stout, and more of the very popular Koningshoeven Quadrupel.

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.  Sign up at the pub or at Taste.

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.  You can sign up for either class at the pub or at Taste.

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

Hello Soccer Fans,

Euro 2008 qualifying is upon this week.  There are some really good matches that will be available between the three soccer networks.  The two England matches, however, will only be available on a several day delay on Fox Soccer.  Some of the games are on quite early, but I can tape them.  If you interested in any of the games listed under “Can Tape”, please let me know.  The USA plays at 1 pm on Sunday against a full strength Brazil team.

Next weekend all of the European leagues are back in action and on the 18th and 19th of September the UEFA Champions League starts group stage play.  The TV games have not been announced yet, but I would bet on seeing FC Porto v. Liverpool along with Arsenal v. Sevilla and Sporting v. Manchester United all live over the two days.

So here are the upcoming games, on Setanta unless noted:

Saturday, Sept. 8:

11 am – San Marino v. Czech Republic – FSC

11:30 am – Sweden v. Denmark

11:45 am – Italy v. France – Gol Tv

1 pm – Iceland v. Spain – FSC

1:30 pm – Malta v. Turkey

3:15 pm – Serbia v. Finland

5 pm – Russia v. Macedonia – FSC

7:30 pm – LA Galaxy v. Colorado Rapids – FSC

Can Tape for Monday – Slovakia v. Ireland, Croatia v. Estonia and Portugal v. Poland

Sunday, Sept. 9:

1 pm – USA v. Brazil – ESPN 2

Can Tape – U-17 World Cup Final Spain v. Nigeria

Tuesday, Sept. 11:

8 pm – England v. Israel on delay from 9/8 – FSC

Wednesday, Sept 12:

11:30 am – Albania v. Holland – and at 5 pm – FSC

Nooon – France v. Scotland

1 pm – Spain v. Latvia

2 pm – England v. Israel on delay from 9/8 – FSC

Can Tape – Slovakia v. Wales

Thursday, Sept. 13:

10:45 am – Portugal v. Serbia

12:30 pm – Finland v. Poland

2:15 pm – Czech Republic v. Ireland

Can Tape – Iceland v. Northern Ireland and Turkey v. Hungary, Norway v. Greece and Andorra v. Croatia

Saturday, Sept. 15:

1:30 pm – Portsmouth v. Liverpool

3:15 pm – Everton v. Manchester United

5 pm – Sunderland v. Reading

5:30 pm – Chicago Fire v. New York Red Bull – FSC

9 pm – England v. Russia – on delay from 9/12 – FSC

On Tape – Tottenham v. Arsenal, West Ham v. Middlesbrough, Chelsea v. Blackburn and all of the above games as well

Sunday, Sept. 16:

On Tape – Manchester City v. Aston Villa

Tuesday, Sept. 18 and Wednesday, Sept. 19:

UEFA Champions League Matches LIVE at 11:30 am with more matches on delay at 2 pm – schedule yet to be announced, but figure that most of the English teams will be shown live with AC Milan, Real, Barca, etc..  on delay.

That is it for now.  We’ll see you soon for some great soccer.  Cheers, Tom

Greetings Fellow Beer Lovers!It is time to get you up to date on happenings at the pub.  Tonight (Thursday the 6^th), we celebrate the first of our 11^th anniversaries this weekend.  Coronado Brewing Company turns 11 this weekend and we will toast them with a cask of Idiot IPA – which is now available in 22 oz bottles for a limited time.  The cask taps at 5 pm.  The official CBC anniversary party will be Sunday the 9^th from 12-5 pm at the brewpub.  Tonight is also the kick off of the NFL season with the Saints vs. Colts.Tomorrow, we celebrate this weekend’s other 11^th Anniversary, which of course is for Stone Brewing Company.  We’ll have a cask of Ruination IPA at 5 pm along with kegs of Old Guardian Barleywine, Double Bastard and likely some Smoked Porter.  All of the Stone beers will be on special all night long, all are full kegs, so they will be around all weekend.  We’ll have our great Jerk Chicken at lunch, and if you are lucky we’ll still have it in the evening.And speaking of Stone, we still have a couple of seats left on the Stone bus from the pub up to the first session of the festival.  Cost is $25 and includes beer on the bus, but not a ticket into the festival.  Sign up at the pub to get your spot.  We’ll leave the pub between 9:45 am and 10 am and be back around 3 pm.  If you are coming to ride on the bus this Saturday, please park your car on the street.  We all know that the parking lot gets very crowded.To help celebrate the day on Saturday the 8^th we have two very special kegs lined up for you.  The first is

Russian

River’s Blind Pig IPA which will be on tap all day.  The second is Alpine’s Nickel Stout, which is a barrel aged version of the Captain Stout with Cherries added in the barrel.  The Blind Pig will likely only be around on Saturday and the Nickel Stout is only half full to begin with, so don’t expect these beers to be around very long.

Over the weekend we will be open regular hours both days, Noon to 11 pm on Saturday (maybe longer depending on how drunk everyone is after the Stone fest) and Noon to 6 pm on Sunday.  On Sunday, the Chargers open the season against the Bears.  Hopefully it will be as easy as LT makes it look in that Nike commercial and we run right over them.  The game is at 1:15 pm on Fox.  Next week the game is late against

New England and we will stay open until it is over – probably about 9 pm.  The following week, on the 23^rd it is a morning game and we will have some breakfast specials and open at 10 am.  And Monday Night Football starts on the 10^th – and every Monday night is pitcher night with $8 pitchers and $12 pitchers of strong ales.Next week we have our double Green Flash cask nights with Le Freak Belgian IPA on Wednesday the 12^th at 5:30 pm and West Coast IPA at 5 pm on Thursday the 13^th.  If it tap room clears up nicely, we should have a double bock Octoberfest party on the 14^th with Spaten Optimator, Weihenstephan Korbinian and hopefully the much awaited TJ Bufadora.  I’ll keep you posted.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.  Sign up at the pub or at Taste.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.  You can sign up for either class at the pub or at Taste.That does it for now.  We’ll see you all soon for a great beer and to toast some fine breweries on 11 great years.  Cheers, Tom