What’s Happening

This week we host our fundraiser for the family of Dave Levonian with a special cask conditioned version of Ballast Point’s Brother Levonian Saison at 5:30 pm, on Tuesday, June 3rd.  100% of the sales from the cask will be donated to Dave’s daughter’s college fund.  Thursday the 5th we continue the Ballast Point theme with our first ever cask of Piper Down Scottish Ale.  I really like this mild and malty Scottish ale on draft, and I expect it to be great on cask.

Friday the 6th we host an amazing night of draft beer from Brasserie Dupont, the makers of Saison Dupont (one of Dave’s favorite beers – which will be on tap for the Tuesday event).  We wil have the saison, Avec les Bon Voeux, Biere de Miel, Foret organic saison and more all on tap!  This will be a great night of Belgian draft beer – much of which we have never had on tap before!

And finally, for those contemplating going to the VIP session of the San Diego Real Ale Festival on Friday, June 13th, get to www.pizzaport.com and buy your tickets now.  Fewer than 40 VIP tickets remain.  Tickets for the regular festival sessions (Friday 4-11 and Saturday 11-11) will be sold at the door.  This is shaping up to be our biggest cask festival in years.  We already have more than 50 different casks lined up for the two day event.  We have two casks of most of the beers, so the draft list should be pretty much the same both days.  We have a few surprises for each day, so no one will be disappointed.  I will post the list of participating breweries, once everyone has confirmed.  I can tell you that Firestone Walker will be sending its epic Parabola bourbon barrel aged Imperial Oatmeal Stout!

Just confirmed – Real Ale Festival Pre-Party on Thursday, June 12th with Russian River Blind Pig IPA and Pliny the Elder on Tap!  Taste the first brews from Russian River’s new production facility.  This is the beginning of regular Blind Pig and never running out of Pliny again!

That updates you for now.  Cheers, Tom

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend and we will be open normal hours on Saturday (Noon to Midnight) and Sunday (Noon to 6 pm).  However the pub will be CLOSED on Monday, May 26th for the holiday.  To make up for it a little bit, we will be offering 20% off all To Go import bottles Saturday and Sunday and 20% off our entire Special Release bottle list featuring beers from the 12 Hour Belgian Beer Party!  And the kitchen will be serving Fish and Chips and Fish Tacos on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Next week we will tap a cask of Stone Ruination IPA on Thursday the 29th.  This beer is always great on cask.  And we also have a very special event on Friday, May 30th with Alpine Beer Company.  We will be serving 3 different batches of Exponential Hoppiness for a vertical tasting including a full keg of the current release and 5 gallon kegs of the batches from 12/07 and 4/07.  In addition, we are fortunate enough to be the first to serve a non-barrel aged version of Alpine’s Chez Moneiux Kriek Lambic on draft, which brewer Pat McIllhenney has named Chez Monmee.  Instead of barrel aging, Pat added the beer and cherries into a small stainless steel fermentor and let it age.  I haven’t even tasted this yet, so I am excited for it.  We’ll also have bottles of the Chez Monieux along with the O’Brien’s IPA and Pure Hoppiness on tap.

Enjoy the holiday and we’ll see you soon for a great beer.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Fans of Good Beer!
 
We have a very special treat for you this week at the pub.  Thursday night, May 22nd, we will be celebrating the 2nd Anniversary of Port Brewing and Lost Abbey with brewmaster Tomme Arthur and co-owner Vince Marsaglia who will be bringing down his mobile pizza kitchen!  Vince will be making Pizzas for all of us to enjoy.  He and Lindsey are working on some great combinations and anyone who has ever had Vince’s cooking can tell you that it is always top shelf.  I expect the Pizzas to be ready to order around 5:30 or so.  In addition to the great food, we will have a ton of great beer including a cask of the Port Brewing 2nd Anniversary Double IPA which is a big bruiser of a hoppy beer at 5 pm.  Also on tap will be Lost Abbey Lost and Found and Serpent Stout and if all goes well, hopefully a keg of Wipeout IPA.  We will also have a keg of Tomme’s special blend that was made for the 12 Hour Belgian Beer Party!  We will also have a great selection of bottles including Cuvee de Tomme, Angel’s Share Barleywine, Older Viscosity, High Tide IPA and the brand new Inferno.  There is also a rumor that we may have few bottles of Isabella – but I can not confirm or deny that at this time.  So come enjoy some pizza and beer without having to drive up to Solana Beach or Carlsbad!
 
We have some great new bottles that will be on the list no later than Wednesday the 21st including: Fantome Black Ghost, Russian River Supplication (sour brown ale with cherries) and Temptation (golden ale aged in chardonnay barrels with brettanomyces), Achel Blonde, Anderson Valley’s Brother David’s Dubbel (named for Toronado owner Dave Keene),, Allagash Odyssey (a great dark strong ale aged in barrels) and Victor (made with red grapes), and we should have the Malheur 12 back in 750 ml bottles as well.  And I just got in our last case each of the La Chouffe N’ice Chouffe and Affligem Noel, so enjoy these beers while they last.
 
This weekend is Memorial Day weekend and we will be open normal hours on Saturday (Noon to Midnight) and Sunday (Noon to 6 pm).  However the pub will be CLOSED on Monday, May 26th for the holiday.  To make up for it a little bit, we will be offering 20% off all To Go import bottles Saturday and Sunday and 20% off our entire Special Release bottle list featuring beers from the 12 Hour Belgian Beer Party!  And the kitchen will be serving Fish and Chips on Friday and Fish Tacos and Fish and Chips on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Next week we will tap a cask of Stone Ruination IPA on Thursday the 29th.  This beer is always great on cask.  And we also have a very special event on Friday, May 30th with Alpine Beer Company.  We will be serving 3 different batches of Exponential Hoppiness for a vertical tasting including a full keg of the current release and 5 gallon kegs of the batches from 12/07 and 4/07.  In addition, we are fortunate enough to be the first to serve a non-barrel aged version of Alpine’s Chez Moneiux Kriek Lambic on draft, which brewer Pat McIllhenney has named Chez Monmee.  Instead of barrel aging, Pat added the beer and cherries into a small stainless steel fermentor and let it age.  I haven’t even tasted this yet, so I am excited for it.  We’ll also have bottles of the Chez Monieux along with the O’Brien’s IPA and Pure Hoppiness on tap.  Sorry, Pat doesn’t cook pizzas, he puts out fires.
 
Going even further ahead, we are having a fundraiser for the family of Dave Levonian on Tuesday, June 3rd.  Dave was a homebrewer and an active member of the beer enthusiast community.  He passed away earlier this year at the age of 39 leaving behind a wife and young daughter.  We have been pouring the Brother Levonian Saison from Ballast Point on tap – it was brewed from one of Dave’s recipes and Ballast Point is donating the money from the beer to his daughter’s college fund.  On the 3rd we will be tapping a cask of the Brother Levonian at 5:30 pm.  All of the money from the cask will be donated to his daughter’s college fund as well.  In addition, we will have a jar out if anyone wants to make a further contribution in memory of Dave and his passion for good beer.
 
New in the world of good beer in San Diego this week is the Toronado in North Park.  The bar is scheduled to open tomorrow, Wednesday the 21st.  It is not 100% finished yet, but it looks like they will have a great selection of bottles and draft beer.  Check them out on 30th Street between Lincoln and Polk just south of El Cajon Boulevard.
 
I have posted the results from the San Diego County Fair Craft Beer Competition on the website at: www.obrienspub.net.  In all, 13 different area breweries took home 35 of the 75 total medals in 25 categories.  The Best of Show will be announced at the Fair’s Craft Beer Festival on Saturday, June 21st which will feature more than 200 beers from the competition.  The festival will run from Noon to 8 pm and was a blast last year.  This year there will also be a bratwurst cook off and a bluegrass music festival as the festival moves to a much larger location in the Fairgrounds.  I am sure I will see many of you there.
 
Speaking of Festivals, the VIP tickets for the Real Ale Festival are nearly half sold.  The VIP session is from 1 to 4 pm on Friday, June 13th and will feature a half dozen local 5 gallon casks including Lost Abbey Angel’s Share, Green Flash Double Stout and Ballast Point Tongue Buckler.  There will also be a selection of bottled real ales from around the world.  The VIP tickets include entry into the regular festival along with the tasting glass and tasting tickets.  The festival should feature nearly 50 cask conditioned beers from all over the west coast and California.  Tickets for the regular festival hours – 4 to 11 pm on Friday and 11 am to 11 pm on Saturday – will be available at the door for $25 and will include a festival Imperial Pint and 8 taster tickets.  I am also working on a very special event for the Pre-Party this year that I think you will all enjoy – more details in the next email in early June.
 
It is time again for the annual City’s Best voting at City Guide.  While I am not a maniac about winning awards, I do care sometimes about who shouldn’t win awards.  And right now Yard House is winning for Best Beer Selection in San Diego.  I would encourage you to vote for anyone else rather than let the Yard House win.  There is no way a chain pub from LA with a so-so selection of beer and multiple handles of every Macro brew you can think of can represent the best beer in San Diego.  So regardless of who you vote for, please go vote at: http://citysbest.aol.com/san-diego/best-nightlife/beer/.
 
Now, without repeating myself, apply the same thoughts to the June Primary.  Voting is important, even when you have to vote for idiots sometimes.  Nothing says you have to fill out every voting box.  But please go and vote on the issues that matter to you at least.  Especially for our city and its fragile finances, there is a lot at stake.  As a bribe to get you to vote (not a bribe for your vote – at least, not yet) everyone who has an “I voted” sticker will get their first local or craft beer for just $2.50 all day long.  There, I put my money where my mouth is.  You want cheap beer, I want you to vote, its a win win situation.
 
That about does it for now.  We’ll see you soon for some great beer (and maybe a pizza!).  Cheers, Tom

Hello Soccer Fans!

Tomorrow is the Champions League Final from Moscow.  The game will kick off at 11:45 am and coverage will start on ESPN2 at 11 am.  We will have all 5 TVs on the game with the sound on so there will not be a bad seat in the house (or on the patio).  I expect the pub to be full around Noon, but not before kick off.  We will open at 11 am.  There will be a replay at 4 pm and I will tape the game to show later in the night as well, around 6 or 6:30 depending on if there is any extra time in the game.
The USA starts its friendly matches next Wednesday, May 28th with England at Noon.  The second game is against Spain at 2:30 pm on Wednesday, June 4th (the same night Mexico play Argentina at the Q).  Then the US finish up against Argentina in New Jersey at 4:30 pm on Sunday, June 8th.  World Cup Qualifying begins Sunday, June 15th at the Home Depot Center in Carson against Barbados. Tickets are on sale now and the game will be shown live at 2 pm.  The second leg will be Sunday the 22nd, but the time is not set yet.  The US will then resume WCQ in September.

In the meantime, the U-23 team is in France for the Toulon tournament as a warm up for the Olympics.  The games are Wednesday at 8 pm v. Turkey and Friday at 5 pm v. Ivory Coast.  The team also play on Sunday in the morning against Italy before we open.  The Toulon Final will be Thursday the 29th at 11:30 am.

The European Championship is right around the corner and we will be showing nearly every game LIVE.  The tournament starts on June 7th and runs until June 29th.  We will have a game every day from the 7th to the 22nd at 11:30 am.  I will also be taping the 9 am games to show when we open.  Every knock out round game will be at 11:30 am including the Final.  For the complete schedule, check out www.uefa.com.

So here are some of the other upcoming Friendlies and matches:

Wednesday, May 21:

11:30 am – Manchester United v. Chelsea – Champions League Final on ESPN2

4 pm – Manchester United v. Chelsea – Champions League Final – replay on ESPN2

8 pm – USA U-23 v. Turkey U-23 – FSC

Friday, May 23:

5 pm – USA U-23 v. Ivory Coast U-23 – FSC

Saturday, May 24:

Noon – French Cup Final – Lyon v. PSG – Setanta

Tuesday, May 27:

Noon – France v. Ecuador – Setanta

Wednesday, May 28:

Noon – England v. USA – ESPN Classic

5 pm – Serbia v. Russia – Setanta

Thursday, May 29:

11:30 am – Finland v. Turkey – Setanta

11:30 am – Toulon Tournament Final – FSC

Friday, May 30:

12:15 pm – Czech Republic v. Scotland – Setanta

Saturday, May 31:

Noon – France v. Paraguay – Setanta

5 pm – Portugal v. Georgia – Setanta

Wednesday, June 4:

2:30 pm – Spain v. USA – ESPN 2 (shown on delay)

8 pm – Mexico v. Argentina at Qualcomm

Saturday, June 7:

European Championship starts and goes until the June 29th Final

Sunday, June 8:

4:30 pm – USA v. Argentina – ESPN Classic

Sunday, June 15:

2 pm – USA v. Barbados at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA – buy tickets now!

That does it for now.  We’ll see you soon for a great beer and some great football.  Cheers, Tom

Here are the results from the San Diego County Fair Craft Beer Competition.  In all 13 area breweries took home 35 out of 75 total medals.  A very impressive haul.  Many of the award winning beers will be featured at the Fair’s Craft Beer Festival on Saturday, June 21st from Noon to 8 pm.  Cheers, Tom

Greetings Good Beer Fans!
 
There is a lot happening in the world of good beer.  Right now we have some great new beers on tap at the pub including Port Brewing’s 2nd Anniversary double IPA.  It is massively hopped and somewhere in the 10% abv range.  The Port Brewing Wipeout IPA is also on tap right now.  We also have the Ballast Point Brother Levonian Saison named for the late Dave Levonian who was a great homebrewer, an avid beer enthusiast and generally just a really good person.  The brewery is donating all of the money from the beer to his daughter’s college fund.  We will be doing a special fundraiser for Dave’s family on Tuesday, June 3rd when we tap a cask of Brother Levonian.  Yes, cask saison.  Also brand new is the Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA. This is a totally different beer than the Torpedo we had last year.  It is now a 7.5% abv IPA with a great clean finish – very drinkable (speaking of drinkable, I am enjoying a bottle of Sierra Nevada Harvest as I write).  Look for the new Southern Hemisphere Harvest from Sierra on tap soon – made with New Zealand hops that were just harvested!
 
As for events this week we tap a 5 gallon cask (pin) of Pizza Port San Clemente’s Pig Dog Pale Ale at 5:30 pm on Wednesday the 14th.  Thursday’s cask is Alpine Pure Hoppiness in its triumphant return at 5 pm.  When the cask is gone, we should have a draft keg on to back it up.  And as with every Thursday, all of our local beers will be on special.  Look for Bear Republic Racer X on tap on Friday the 16th when we will also feature the popular Racer 7 1/2, which is half Racer 5 and half Racer X.  From the kitchen we have our French Papillon Brie cheese and we are using it in a number of specials including the Papillon Burger and the Papillon Brie Proscuito melt.  The Spicy Steak sandwich will be available this Thursday and Friday and you can also look forward to Clam Chowder.
 
This weekend we have a special treat from Russian River as we release the new batches of Supplication and Temptation in bottles.  I also have a few select bottles from the last batches, which were released nearly two years ago.  We will have these bottles for sale all day Saturday – I have a couple of cases of each one so I expect them to last.  And we will have our regular weekend special of 10% off all bottles for in house or for import bottles to-go.  After closing last week for Mother’s Day on Sunday, we will be back open normal hours – 12 pm to 6 pm this Sunday the 18th.  We will be open next Sunday, May 25th over Memorial Day weekend, but we will be CLOSED on Monday, May 26th for the Memorial Day holiday.  Also happening this weekend is the City Beat Beer Festival in North Park from Noon to 6 pm featuring only local breweries.  For more info visit www.sdcitybeat.com.
 
Next week have a great event on Thursday, May 22nd to celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of Port Brewing and the Lost Abbey and the fact that the brewery won Small Brewing Company of the Year at the World Beer Cup!  We will tap a cask of the 2nd Anniversary double IPA and we will have several other beers on tap including Wipeout IPA, Lost Abbey Serpent Stout and a special Lost Abbey Blend made for the Belgian Beer Party.  We will also have Angel’s Share Bourbon Barrel Barleywine, the Inferno golden ale and Cuvee de Tomme in bottles!  Brewer Tomme Arthur will also be stopping by to share a few pints with us all.  The cask taps at 5 pm and that is when the Cuvee bottles will go on sale.  This will definitely be a night of great beer.
 
Tickets for the VIP session of the San Diego Real Ale Festival are now on sale at www.pizzaport.com.  The festival will feature more than 45 cask conditioned ales on Friday and Saturday, June 13th and 14th at Pizza Port Carlsbad.  The main festival will run from 4 to 11 pm on Friday and 11 am to 11 pm on Saturday.  The VIP session is from 1 to 4 pm on Friday and includes admission into the regular festival.  The VIP session will have special 5 gallon casks – including Lost Abbey Angel’s Share, Green Flash Double Stout, Ballast Point Tongue Buckler and a selection of bottled Real Ales from the US, England and around the world.  VIP ticket sales are limited – nearly one third of the tickets are already sold.  Consider the Coaster train as a way to get to the fest – the Carlsbad station is only a few blocks away and the last trains from Carlsbad run at 9:25 pm on Friday and 7:40 pm on Saturday!
 
For soccer fans, the UEFA Cup Final will be Wednesday June 14th at 11:30 am between Rangers and Zenit St. Petersburg.  There will be a replay at 5 pm.  Next week we have the UEFA Champions League final clash between Manchester United and Chelsea live at 11:30 am with a replay at 4 pm (I will also tape the game to reshow at night).  US Soccer has some great matches coming up including England on Wednesday, May 28th at noon, Spain on Wednesday, June 4th at 2 pm (the same day that Mexico plays Argentina at the Q) and Argentina at 4:30 on Sunday, June 8th.  The US will also play its first World Cup Qualifier for 2010 on Sunday, June 15 vs. Barbados at 2 pm.  The game is at the Home Depot Center in Carson and tickets are available now!  This will be the only WCQ game in southern California, so if you want to see the full strength US team in action, this is your one shot without traveling to Ohio or Alabama.
 
I know that many of you fell in love with the Harviestoun’s Ola Dubh 30 Year Highland Park Reserve when it was on tap. We still have the beer in bottles on our speical release list (along with the 12 Year and 16 Year Old Barrel Versions).  While I don’t know if we will get another keg this year, I do know of one that is on tap right now at Live Wire in University Hieghts.  This is from Sam Chammas the owner:

We tapped a keg of the Harviestoun “Ola Dubh” 30 year Highland Park Scotch Whisky barrel aged ale. As a customer thank you to real ale fans we have it at $7.50 for a 10 oz goblet.  Here’s the address if you want to pass this around: Live Wire 2103 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego Ca 92104.

The pub is not open in the afternoon, I believe they open at 5 pm.  If you are in the neighborhood, check them out.  They have been serving good beer for a long time.

I usually try to keep this just about the beer, but occasionally I do spill over into other arenas.  As I sit here and enjoy my Harvest Ale, I am also enjoying the Alex Skolnick Trio.  It is a Jazz Trio formed by former heavy metal guitarist Alex Skolnick who was the lead guitarist for the band Testament (also recommended if you are into that sort of thing).  He now plays instrumental jazz covers of classic hard rock songs including Dream On, Detriot Rock City, Still Loving You, War Pigs and much more.  I highly recommend it for anyone into jazz guitar or hard rock music.  The website to check out is: www.alexskolnick.com.

That is just about it for now.  I will tease you with some future events – Friday, May 30th we host a vertical tasting of Alpine Exponential Hoppiness and in mid-June we will be re-launching Blind Pig IPA on tap from Russian River.  You can also look forward to bottles of Pliny and Blind Pig before the end of summer!  I should have the results from the San Diego County Fair Craft Beer Competition posted up on the website by Friday as well.  We’ll see you soon for a great beer.  Cheers, Tom

The Ballast Point Brother Levonian is now on tap at the pub.  It is a saison style beer brewed from a recipe by homebrewer Dave Levonian who recently passed away.  Ballast Point is donating the money raised from the beer to Dave’s young daughter’s college fund.  Dave was a great homebrewer and beer enthusiast – he was also a really nice guy.  We will be holding a special fund raiser on Tuesday, June 3rd at the pub with a cask of Brother Levonian Saison, yes cask saison.  Dave would be proud, combining his love of real ale and Belgian beer.

Also new on tap at the pub is the restyled Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA.  It is 7.5% and well balanced with a clean finish.  This is totally different than the Torpedo we have had in the past, and in my opinion, it is even better.  We also have a keg of the huge and massively hopped Port Brewing 2nd Anniversary double IPA.  It is somewhere in the 10% abv range and it is a bruiser.  Drink it carefully.

Tickets for the VIP session of the San Diego Real Ale Festival are now on sale at www.pizzaport.com.  The festival will feature more than 45 cask conditioned ales on Friday and Saturday, June 13th and 14th at Pizza Port Carlsbad.  The main festival will run from 4 to 11 pm on Friday and 11 am to 11 pm on Saturday.  The VIP session is from 1 to 4 pm on Friday and includes admission into the regular festival.  The VIP session will have special 5 gallon casks – including Lost Abbey Angel’s Share, and a selection of bottled Real Ales from the US, England and around the world.  VIP ticket sales are limited – nearly one third of the tickets are already sold.  Consider the Coaster train as a way to get to the fest – the Carlsbad station is only a few blocks away and the last trains from Carlsbad run at 9:25 pm on Friday and 7:40 pm on Saturday!

Wednesday the 14th we tap a five gallon cask (pin) of Pizza Port San Clemente’s Pig Dog Pale Ale at 5:30 pm.  Thursday’s cask is Alpine Pure Hoppiness at 5 pm.  This Saturday (May 17th) we will be releasing Russian River Supplication and Temptation in bottles – and if all goes well, we will have Pliny and Russian River IPA back on tap.

The San Diego County Fair Craft Beer Competition judging was held this weekend and results will be posted up soon – hopefully by Wednesday.  Early rumors are that local beers yet again did very well.  That is it for now.  Look for a new email later in the week.  Cheers, Tom

Hello All,

The pub will be closed this Sunday, May 11th for Mother’s Day.  I hope that you are able to enjoy the day with family.

Wednesday the 7th is Alpine Beer Company night at the pub.  We will have 5 beers on tap, 2 in the bottle and 1 on cask!  The line up on tap is: Pure Hoppiness, O’Brien’s IPA, Duet IPA, Captain Stout – nitro and Exponential Hoppiness.  In the bottle we will have Mandarin Nectar and the new kriek lambic Chez Monieux (one of the best domestic lambics I have ever had).  And the cask will be a well hopped Alpine Ale at 5:30 pm.  All of the draft beers will be on by 5 pm – many are on tap right now! 

Thursday the 8th we have a cask of Firestone’s 100% oak barrel fermented Double Barrel Ale.  This is a rare treat from the brewery to taste the Double Barrel Ale only fermented in the oak barrels.  We’ll tap it at 5 pm and we’ll have all of our local draft beers on special.

Friday the 9th we will have our O’Brien’s Pint glasses on special for just $2 all day and we will have merchandise specials as well.  There will also be a keg of Bear Republic Racer X on tap.

Looking ahead to later in the month, the pub will also be closed on Memorial Day, Monday the26th.  We will be open all weekend on Saturday and Sunday normal hours with Fish and Chips and Fish Tacos both days along with our 10% off all bottles special.  More news later.  Cheers, Tom