What’s Happening

Hello Football Fans!

It has been a little while since I have sent out a listing of games.  All of the European leagues are back in action and the UEFA Cup and the Champions League are set to resume in February.  The big news for next week is that there is a full day of international friendlies that include televised games for England (no Beckham), Brazil and the USA vs. Mexico all on Wednesday, February 6th.  We will have the sound on for the USA v. Mexico game at night and for the England v. Switzerland game at lunch.  As always, we can tape any game on Gol TV, Setanta or Fox Soccer if you let me know a few days in advance (email is fine).

So here are the game listings (on Setanta if not specified):

Friday, Feb. 1:

11:30 am – Hansa Rostock v. Bayern Munich – Gol TV

Satruday, Feb. 2:

On Tape – Liverpool v. Sunderland, Tottenham v. Manchester United, Manchester City v. Arsenal, Portsmouth v. Chelsea

11 am – Almeria v. Real Madrid – Gol TV, also at 7:30 pm

1:30 pm – Wigan v. West Ham – FSC

3 pm – Blackburn v. Everton

4:45 pm – Tottenham v. Manchester United

8 pm – Portsmouth v. Chelsea – FSC

Sunday, Feb. 3:

On Tape – Fulham v. Aston Villa, Newcastle v. Middlesbrough, Ajax v. Feyenoord

11:30 am – Fiorentina v. AC Milan – FSC

Noon – Getafe v. Espanyol – Gol TV

1:30 – Inter Milan v. Empoli – FSC

Tuesday, Feb. 5:

11:30 am – England v. Republic of Ireland U-21 – FSC, also on at 8 pm

Wednesday, Feb. 6:
11:30 am – Croatia v. Netherlands

11:45 am – Italy v. Portugal – Gol TV

Noon – England v. Switzerland – FSC, also at 5 pm

2 pm – Republic of Ireland v. Brazil – FSC, also at 8 pm

3 pm – Greece v. Finland

3:30 pm – Uruguay v. Columbia – Gol TV

4:45 pm – Turkey v. Sweden

6 pm – USA v. Mexico – ESPN2 in HD

8 pm – Czech Republic v. Poland

Saturday, Feb. 9:

On Tape – Aston Villa v. Newcastle, Everton v. Reading, Derby v. Tottenham, West Ham v. Birmingham

11:30 am – Roma v. Reggina – FSC

1:30 pm – Bolton v. Portsmouth – FSC

3 pm – Sunderland v. Wigan

8 pm – Everton v. Reading

Sunday, Feb. 10 :

On Tape – Manchester United v. Manchester City, Chelsea v. Liverpool, AC Milan v. Sienna

11:30 am – Catania v. Inter Milan – FSC

Monday, Feb 11:

11 am – Arsenal v.Blackburn – also at 5:15 pm

Wednesday and Thursday, Feb 13 and 14:

UEFA Cup returns to action with 1st leg games.  2nd leg games will all be played on 2/21.

Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb 19 and 20:

UEFA Champions League returns to action.  I expect all 8 games to be televised – 2 live ones each day at 11:30 and two on delay at 2 pm.

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

Greetings All!

I want to start off by thanking everyone who came out to help celebrate the pub’s 14th anniversary and mine and Lindsey’s 5th anniversary of owning O’Brien’s.  There were a number of great beers and it was great to see so many friendly and familiar faces each night.  In all, I think we tapped more than 40 beers during the week.  The biggest surprise of the week was the new big screen TV.  A group of pub patrons got together and raised the money to buy the new TV for the pub and made sure to have it installed for the Chargers v. Colts game on the 13th.  Lindsey and I want to offer a very heart felt thanks to everyone who helped chip in for the TV.

Back to the beer front, we have Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA on tap again at the pub.  There are also a few double IPAs left from this past weekends festivities including Moylan’s Moylander, Hop 15, Victory Hop Wallop and Green Flash 5th Anniversary Double IPA.  Alaskan Winter Ale and Amber Ale are on tap and the Pizza Port San Clemente Pier Rat Porter on nitro is back as well.  For dark beer fans, we have two great stouts on right now – Widmer Snow Plow Milk Stout, which is a sweeter stout and Ballast Point Sea Monster Stout, which is definitely a bit more roasty in flavor.  We have also restocked the Danish Meads from Dansk.  We have one with caraway and one with ginger and hops (both delicious).  Both are nearly 20% alcohol and have port wine-like flavors.  We also have some of the Honeyrun Fruit Meads back in stock as well as all of our Redstone Meads.

We just got in a bunch of new merchandise for both men and women.  We restocked our cold weather gear including pullover hooded sweatshirts and zip hoodies in both men’s and women’s styles.  Beanies and flex fit hats are back and we have some new floppy hats.  We have lots of new shirts including some new long sleeve thermal-style shirts that look very cool.  Women’s Yoga Pants are back in stock and there are lots of new shirt styles for women.  Everything is on display at the pub above the bar area.

Tonight, Thursday the 24th, we will have 2 Pizza Port casks on Thursday night at 5 pm.  The first one is Commando Scottish Ale from Solana Beach and the second is Ripper Pale Ale from San Clemente.  This is the first time we will have either of these beers at the pub.  The Commando won a bronze medal at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival.  The Ripper is a brand new beer from head brewer Noah Regnery.  Each cask is only 5 gallons, so if you want to try both, don’t wait too long to do so.  From kitchen check out the fruit and cheese plate (featuring the great Papillon Brie).  We also have Cambazola cheese back (a mix of Camambert and Gorgonzola that is very creamy).  You can try the Cambazola Melt or the decadent Cambazola Burger - and yes, we will have the Bacon Stilton burger on the specials menu, too.
 
Friday the 25th is Alaskan Brewing Night with the new Alaskan IPA on tap along with Alaksan Winter Ale and Alaskan Amber Ale.  The Alaskan IPA has been around town in bottles for a few months now, but this will be the first draft keg we have received.  It is a very nice, easy drinking IPA that is not quite as strong as some of our local examples, making it easier to enjoy a few more.  We should also have some Alaskan Pint Glasses for sale.

Over the weekend we have a special bottle treat for Saturday the 26th – Fantome bottle day!  We will have 4 different bottles from the tiny Fantome brewery in Belgium for sale – all on special all day.  In addition to the regular saison, we will have Hiver (Winter), Noel and the new Dalmintienne which I have not even had yet.  The label is in done up in black and white spots like a Dalmation.  We have not had any Fantome beers in a long time.  They are always different and unique.  I have a decent supply of each one, so I don’t expect to run out over the weekend – but then you folks always seem to surprise me with just how much you enjoy drinking beer.  There are also some bottles left from our Anniversary week celebrations including several Italian beers, Older Viscosity and Lost Abbey Angel’s Share barleywine that we will have for sale on Saturday.
 
On Sunday the 27th the pub will be closing early at 4 pm for our Employee Party.  So our Sunday hours on the 27th will be from Noon to 4 pm, with the kitchen open until 3 pm.  Thanks much for understanding.  As an added side benefit, I am going to have a lot of great beers on tap for the employees (they deserve it!) on Sunday night – so Monday the 28th we will have an excellent tap list including La Chouffe Houblon IPA, La Chouffe N’ice Chouffe and Chimay!

Next week will feature a double dose of Ballast Point beers on cask.  Wednesday the 30th we will have a cask of Victory at Sea Imperial Porter at 5 pm and Thursday the 31st we will have Big Eye IPA at 5 pm.  Wednesday will be a little bittersweet though as it will be Jami’s last night at O’Brien’s.  She is moving to LA at the end of the month.  She will be working for a short while and then retiring to the other side of the bar to have a few farewell beers (or maybe a lot of farewell beer).  We will miss her and wish Jami the best up in LA.  On the bright side – you can look forward to Alpine Nelson IPA next week.  We have already hired a new bartender and her name is Ashley.

Time is running out if you would like to sign up for our annual pub trip to Belgium.  There are still a few spaces left and our friend Bill Snider at Ciao! Travel is offering discount specials to O’Brien’s patrons through January 25th.  The main trip is February 25th to March 3rd and includes stays in Gent and Brussels along with many brewery tours and 2 beer festivals – a Lambic and Geuze Festival and the Zythos 24 Hour beer festival.  The Lambic and Geuze festival is only held every other year.  There is also an option for starting in Amsterdam, before going to Belgium.  For complete details visit the Ciao! Travel website at: www.ciaotravel.com.

In beer news around town, the Liar’s Club is having its Grand Opening in Alpine this weekend.  Yes, I wrote Alpine.  The bar in Mission Beach closed down just before Thanksgiving and has been shut down ever since and will not reopen.  The new spot in Alpine is bigger, has more tap handles and a bigger bottle list.  The menu is much the same, with a few new items added.  Owner Louis Mello has put together a great tap list for the weekend.  The bar’s website has not yet been updated, but you can find the beer list at www.beeradvocate.com, which also has the new address and contact info.  The bar is about 25 miles east of O’Brien’s and just a mile past Alpine Beer Company (which is closed Sunday and Monday).  Just please be careful on the drive home (and Pat from Alpine Beer would remind you to always wear your seat belt).

On a non-beer related note, I would like to pass on a referral I originally received form pub regular JB Morch for Carlson Solar.  Lindsey and I recently had the pleasure of doing business with them.  The owner, Scott Carlson, grew up in El Cajon and went to Granite Hills HS.  If you are considering solar power, they are a great company to work with.  You can contact them at 1-877-927-0782 and feel free to ask for Scott.  They didn’t ask me to do this, I just appreciate that I found them through the pub and wanted to pass along the favor.

Thanks again to everyone for a great anniversary week.  Lindsey and I hope that you all have a wonderful 2008 filled with new beginnings.  We’ll see you soon over a great beer.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Beer Fans!

This month O’Brien’s Pub celebrates its 14th Anniversary.  The pub was opened January 1st, 1994 by Jim O’Brien and was already the finest place to drink beer in San Diego when Lindsey and I bought it in January of 2003.  It will be our 5th Anniversary of owning the pub.  We have seen a lot of changes in the last five years – new menu, the addition of the bottle list, weekly cask ales, expanded patio, Belgian ales on tap, and being open seven days a week.  All of us at O’Brien’s are looking forward to a great 2008 and our 15th Anniversary next year (for which beers are already being planned).

Next week we will celebrate the anniversary with an entire week’s worth of special events.  There will be great beer on tap all week and most beers will last longer than the day they are on tap.  So here is the run down of what will be going on with a “pre-party” planned for the Charger game.

Sunday, Jan 13: Open at 10 am for the Chargers v. Colts divisional playoff game.  We’ll have Alpine Duet IPA and Alpine O’Brien’s IPA on tap for the game to help kcik off the Anniversary Celebrations!  The kitchen will be serving up breakfast and we’ll also have mimosas for the game.

Monday, Jan 14: Lindsey will be bringing back Italian Kitchen with a special Italian themed specials menu from 5 to 8 pm.  To pair with this, I have brought in a selection of rare Italian bottled beers including Le Baladin Xyauyu, Le Baladin Super, Birrificio Troll Dau Saison, Birrificio Montegioco Demon Hunter, Birrificio di Como Baluba and Birrificio Italiano Scires fruit beer.  Many of these beers I have not even tried, so I can’t tell you much about them.  Most are very limited – only 6 to 8 bottles of each one.  Also chekc out the new Westmalle Tripel beer cheese.

Tuesday, Jan 15: A night of very special barrel aged beers.  I have been saving for this one for a while.  We will have some amazing beers on tap – Allagash Curiuex (bourbon barrel aged Tripel), Sierra Nevada bourbon barrel aged Stout, Alpine Ichabod sour brown ale, Russian River Toronado 20th Anniversary Ale, Moonlight 60 to Life Toronado Anniversary Ale and we will have two brand new beers to debut – Rodenbach and Lost Abbey Vertias 003 (a blend of barrel aged beers in cluding Angel’s Share and Cuvee de Tomme).  I will also have some very special bottled beers for this night – Lost Abbey Angel’s Share, Firestone 11, Port Brewing Older Viscosity, Rodenbach and Rodenbach Grand Gru.

Wednesday, Jan 16: I imagine that most of the barrel aged beers will still be on tap this night.  But just for good measure we will have some beers from San Diego Brewing Company brewer Dean Rouleau including a cask of the fantastic Hopnotic IPA at 5 pm.  We also will have the last keg of Dean’s Hop Diego Belgian-style IPA on tap.

Thursday, Jan 17: This is Exponential Hoppiness night.  We will have this incredible beer from Alpine on tap and on cask.  The cask will tap at 5 pm and the keg will be on by 6 pm.  So double your pleasure, double your Hoppiness.  Of course the regular Pure Hoppiness will be on tap as well, and room allowing, the O’Brien’s IPA

Friday, Jan 18: Is there any other way to end an O’Brien’s celebration week than a night of big hoppy double IPAs?  We have some new ones like Victory Hop Wallop and Moylan’s Moylander along with lots of old favorites like Bear Republic Racer X, Pizza Port Carlsbad Poor Man’s, Ballast Point Sculpin IPA and of course Pliny and Pure Hoppiness.  I guarantee that Friday night’s line up will not disappoint.

Saturday, Jan 19: We will continue the celebration by tapping any kegs that couldn’t make it on during the week, so look for even more special beers all weekend.  I have a few late arriving Belgian Christmas ales (Nice Chouffe, St. Feullien) that I am going to try and tap over the weekend.

Sunday, Jan 20: I just pray I can watch a Chargers game this day…

So hopefully that is enough good beer to keep you occupied.  If it isn’t, then maybe you should see a doctor (what kind is up to you).

For those who can not wait until next week, don’t worry, there is still plenty of good beer coming this week.  Thursday the 10th we tap our first cask of the year – Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale at 5 pm.  We’ll also have some new bottles out on Thursday including Malhuer 10, Nice Chouffe and the return of Rodenbach Grand Gru.  On Friday the 11th, we will have the Abbey Leffe Bruin (brown) on tap and on special.  It has been a long time since I have had the Leffe beers on tap and I am really looking forward to it.  Over the weekend, I already mentioned Alpine Duet and O’Brien’s IPA for the game along with breakfast at 10 am to cheer on our Chargers.

Our 4th annual pub trip to Belgium is quickly approaching.  Here is an update from our friend Bill Snider, the tour organizer:

For those of you interested in joining your friends from O’Brien’s on The Great Belgian Beer Tour and Ultimate Pub Craw to

Belgium, but have yet to make your reservations, the time is NOW!

 

Tour One is Sold Out; Tour Two has only 09 places available and Tour Three is just 07 spaces from being completely Sold Out!

 

One of the greatest things about GBBT is that it isn’t a “Follow The Red Umbrella” guided tour. In fact, Ciao! Travel’s motto is: ”

Tours that are Hosted, not Herded”.  This means that other than two transfers from airport to your Ghent hotel and from their to the

Brussels hotel, you may choose which events to enjoy and which days you simply wish to explore independently. GBBT is an excellent balance of value, quality accommodations and the freedom to explore as you wish!

 

View the updated itinerary with photos online at: www.ciaotravel.com.  The O’Brien’s patron discount is $200 off the published web prices.  The

OB’s discount expires January 25th, so make your reservations NOW!

 

See ya at

OB’s!

Cheers,

Bill Snider

Ciao! Travel

 

That about wraps up your good beer news for the week.  I will likely send out an Anniversary Week update email next week.  I will try to keep the website tap list updated as much as possible.  You can now also access on iPhones as well as on your mobile phone – just add mobile. or iphone. in front of the obrienspub.net address.  And if you haven’t seen the new issue of Beer Advocate magazine and its Top 25 rankings – O’Brien’s again ranked 8th in the country for beer bars and San Diego took 5 of the top 6 spots for American Breweries – #2 Lost Abbey/Port Brewing, #3 Ballast Point, #4 Stone, #5 Alpine, #6 AleSmith.  So bask in the glory of knowing that you live in the city that is making the world’s greatest beers.  We’ll see you soon for one of them.  Cheers, Tom

It is already day 3 of 2008 and that is hard to believe.  On the beer front at the pub, we have some very new and rare beers on tap right now.  Back is the Alaskan Winter Ale, nitro Hoptown DUIPA and AleSmith IPA.  We still have several of the Green Flash beers on tap inlcuding Le Freak Belgian-style IPA, Hop Head Red (though nearly gone) and Imperial IPA.  And we have two stouts on at the moment that are new – Pizza Port Solana Beach Seaside Stout, which is a Guinness-style stout similar to the Port Truck Stout from Pizza Port Carlsbad and the Cucapa Imperial Stout from Mexico.  This is the first time that the Cucapa Imperial Stout has been availalbe on tap in the USA.  There was only one keg brought over and we got it.  It is about 8.5% and quite tasty.  Not too burnt or roasty but with plenty of stout flavor and nice warming finish.

Friday will be Cucapa Night at the pub with the Imperial Stout and the Chupacabra Pale Ale both on tap and on special.

There will be no cask beer this week due to a botched delivery, but we will have a cask of Ballast Point Calico Amber next Thursday on the 10th. 

Over the weekend, the Chargers host the Titans at 1:30 pm.  We”ll be open from Noon to 6 pm and seving up Fish and Chips and Fish Tacos and feature 10% off all bottles. 

On Monday, January 7^th the O’Brien’s darters are traveling northward to Churchill’s Pub and Grille located in San Marcos. The purpose of the journey is to wrest the coveted “Dogs Bollocks” trophy that has essentially been on loan to Churchill’s for the past several years. The trophy is a masterfully carved wood sculpture of a well-endowed bulldog and represents bragging rites as to the most skillful darting pub. Churchill’s owner Ivan has graciously offered to host this important event, which will begin at 7:30 Monday night (Jan. 7^th).

 

Churchill’s is a very friendly English pub with great food and fantastic beers. For directions or more information on the pub visit their website at <churchillspub.us>. Stop by and support the O’Brien’s dart players on Monday!  If you can’t, be sure to check out Churchills next time you are in north county.

 

Look for an email next week detailing our Anniversary Week beginning the 14th.  A few events I know for sure are an Italian Craft Beer night with lots of rare Italian bottles; Barrel Aged Beer night with Allagash Curieux, Alpine Ichabod, Sierra Nevada Barrel Aged Stout, Russian River and Moonlight Brewing’s beers for the Toronado’s 20th Anniversary and at least one lambic, though I am not sure what; Cask and Draft Alpine Exponential Hoppiness on Thursday the 17th and a big night of very hoppy beers on Friday the 18th including Sculpin, O’Brien’s IPA, Poor Man’s, Dorado, Ruination and more!

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