What’s Happening

Hello Great Beer Fans!
 
We have some great specials on Alpine beer this week along with some fantastic new bottles and up coming Beer and Cheese tastings in April.  Tonight, Wednesday the 24th we will tap two different 5 gallon casks of Alpine’s tasty Token Imperial Porter – one with vanilla bean and one with Bourbon soaked oak chips.  In addition, we have the Token on tap so you can try three different versions.  We will tap the casks around 5 pm – during halftime of the USA v. El Salvador soccer game which starts just after 4 pm today.  Also on tap you will find the new Bootleggers Knuckle Sandwich double IPA from Fullerton, CA, Avery Dugana double IPA, Ballast Point Abandon Ship smoked lager, 3 great beers from New Belgium – Ranger IPA, La Folie sour brown and the new Dark Heather Saison and there is still just a little bit left of the Aecht Schlenkerla Oak Smoked Marzen from Bamberg.
 
More Alpine…
 
Tomorrow, Thursday the 25th we continue the Alpine cask theme with the delicious Bad Boy double IPA at 5 pm.  We should have a draft keg after the cask blows and if there is any of the Token left from Wednesday, I will re-tap it.  Ballast Point Victory at Sea will return in the bottle on Thursday as well.  Friday the 26th is Alaskan Brewing night with Smoked Porter, IPA and Barleywine all on tap.  Lindsey has promised to make her epic Smoked Porter, bacon and green onion beer cheese and even have enough to sell some to-go.  This beer cheese is one of the best she makes (duh, it has bacon in it) but it only comes out when the Smoked Porter is on tap, so get it while it is here.  If you need a second opinion of how good it is, just ask Tiff.
 
Over the weekend we continue with even more Alpine as we will tap a keg of Exponential Hoppiness at 6 pm Saturday the 27th.  We will also be featuring Scandinavian craft beers all weekend: Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast and Imperial Pilsner, Norrebro La Granja Espresso Stout, Nogne O Pale Ale, Porter and Stone Collaboration Holiday Beer, and Nils Oscar Fest Bier and Barleywine from Sweden.  I may well have other Nordic bottles out.  All of the bottles will be 10% off all weekend for both in house and to go purchases.  Alpine Great Barleywine – a 14.1% Bourbon barrel beast of a beer is available in bottles and we have new Gluten-free beer from St. Peter’s in England.
 
Next Week
 
Next Wednesday, March 3rd the USA plays the Netherlands in Amsterdam at 11:45 am.  We will also re-show the game at 6 pm.  Who knows, maybe you will see me, Shawn, Stephen, Too Tall, Clark or Spanky in the crowd!  Thursday the 4th, look for a cask of Firestone’s Walker’s Reserve Porter at 5 pm and the Firestone Velvet Merkin Oatmeal Stout on tap.  Friday the 5th is our first ever Karl Strauss night at O’Brien’s.  The brewery has been making great strides towards great beer in the last few years.  We will have two great specialty beers on tap – To the 9’s, a double IPA and the new 21st Anniversary Ale made with Zinfandel grape juice.
 
The weekend will see a Russian River and Lost Abbey bottle night on Saturday the 6th.  We will have Supplication, Consecration, Temptation, Salvation and Damnation in 750 ml bottles and some rare 3 liter bottles of Supplication, Consecration and Temptation from Russian River.  On the Lost Abbey front look for 2008 Angel’s Share, 2009 Cuvee de Tomme and Duck Duck Geuze.  If you find yourself in north county over the weekend, stop by Churchill’s in San Marcos for the pub’s grand re-opening party.  The draft tower has been redesigned to add more taps and Ivan has an incredible line-up to celebrate finally being done with the construction.
 
Beer and Cheese Please
 
Our Spring Beer and Cheese pairing classes with Taste Artisan Cheese shop will be Sunday, April 18th at O’Brien’s and Wednesday, April 21st at Taste in Hillcrest.  Both classes will start at 6:30 pm and last a little over 90 minutes.  Class cost is $40 and you can sign up at the pub (cash only please) or at Taste – you can find them on our Friends page on the website – www.obrienspub.net.  We have not yet set the pairings for these classes and we are holding a drawing to invite a lucky attendee and a guest to help us through the grueling work of pairing beer and cheese for the class.  If you sign up for either class before March 15th, you will be entered in the drawing to spend hours eating and sampling with us to determine the final line-up for the class.  It is dirty work, but someone has to do it.
 
Looking Ahead
 
Thursday the 11th we will tap a cask of Green Flash West Coast IPA. Friday the 12th we start Stout week in honor of St. Patrick’s Day on Wednesday the 17th.  We will feature a cask of Alpine Captain Stout among many others on the 17th.  We will also have a special “green” Belgian beer on tap for St. Patrick’s Day.  Full Sail Slip Knot Imperial IPA and Bear Republic Apex IPA will both be on tap soon.  And in non-beer news, one of our favorite Italian restaurants, Antica Trattoria in La Mesa, has re-done its menu and it is fantastic.  If you have never been, it is really worth going to.  It is nice to have such a high quality restaurant away from downtown and the crowds of tourists.
 
That is your good beer news for now.  Check out our new shirts above the bar.  All of the Beer Newspapers are in and available for free at the pub.  Look for the next email after I return from the Great Belgian Beer Tour on March 9th.  Enjoy the great beer while I am gone and I’ll see you when I get back.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Soccer Fans!
 
The USA has two very different upcoming games the next two Wednesdays.  First, this Wednesday afternoon, a nearly all MLS based roster plays El Salvador in Tampa.  It is believed that there are 6-7 roster spots for the World Cup up for grabs and a good number of them could go to these players.  So while it is just a friendly, it could mean the difference between being in South Africa and watching it from home for these guys.  The game kicks off at 4 pm and we will have our American Outlaws viewing party.  At half time, I will tap two five gallon casks of Alpine’s Token Imperial Porter – one with vanilla bean and one with Bourbon soaked oak chips.
 
The next USA game is Wednesday, March 3rd at 11:30 am against the Netherlands in Amsterdam.  This time a nearly full strength US squad will face off with one of the best teams on the planet.  This game could decide the fate of some Euro-based players like Eddie Johnson, Freddy Adu and Damarcus Beasley  This will be the last game before coach Bob Bradley’s 23 man roster for the World Cup is announced.  I will tape and replay the game at 6 pm for those unable to watch at lunch time.
 
Champions League and Europa League are both in the knock out stage.  The Carling Cup final is coming up and the MLS season starts at the end of March.  The USA women will play Mexico at USD on March 28th.  And the USA has two final World Cup warm up games at the end of May against the Czech Republic and Turkey.
 
Still no word yet on the Fox Soccer Plus/Setanta front.  Fox Soccer Plus is supposed to launch March 1st and Direct TV expects to have the channel lined up before that, but nothing is certain yet.  Right now, the schedules for FSC and FSP are up int he air after March 1st, so not a lot of games are listed.  Hopefully Fox Soccer in HD will also be coming on line soon.  The best way to ensure that these channels are available is to request them from your provider – www.cox.net, www.directtv.com, www.timewarnercable.com, www.dishnetwork.com, www.att.com/uverse.  Please visit these sites and request the channels and have any of your friends who enjoy watching soccer on TV do the same.

So here are the upcoming games, with things a little up in the air after the 1st:

Tuesday, 2/23:
11:30 am – Stuttgart v. Barcelona – FSW – return leg on 3/17
11:30 am – Olympiacos v. Bordeaux – also at 8:30 pm – FSC – return leg on 3/17
Noon – Manchester United v. West Ham – also at 3:45 pm and 8 pm - Setanta
2 pm – Stuttgart v. Barcelona – also at 5 pm – FSC
2 pm – Olympiacos v. Bordeaux – also at 5:30 pm - Setanta

Wednesday, 2/24:
On Tape - CSKA Moscow v. Sevilla – return leg on 3/16
11:30 am – Inter Milan v. Chelsea – also at 8:30 pm – FSC – return leg on 3/16
2 pm – CSKA Moscow v. Sevilla – also at 5 pm – FSC
2 pm – Inter Milan v. Chelsea – also at 5:30 pm – Setanta
3:45 pm – CSKA Moscow v. Sevilla – also at 8 pm – Setanta
4 pm – USA v. El Salvador – ESPN Classic – WEAR YOUR USA COLORS!!!
 
Thursday, 2/25:
Noon – Juventus v. Ajax – Gol TV
5 pm – Roma v. Panathinaikos – Gol TV
 
Saturday, 2/27:
On Tape – Hull City v. Aston Villa, Chelsea v. Manchester City, Stoke v. Arsenal, Bolton v. Wolverhampton
11 am – Tenerife v. Real Madrid – Gol TV
Noon – Montpellier v. Rennes – Setanta
3:45 pm – Bolton v. Wolverhampton – Setanta
4 pm – Burnley v. Portsmouth
 
Sunday, 2/28:
On Tape – Liverpool v. Blackburn, Tottenham v. Everton, Sunderland v. Fulham
On Tape – Carling Cup Final – Aston Villa v. Manchester United

Wednesday, 3/3:
11:30 am – Netherlands v. USA – ESPN2 – will tape and reshow at 6 pm – WEAR YOUR USA COLORS!!!
11:45 am – Germany v. Argentina - Gol TV
1:45 pm – Italy v. Cameroon – Gol TV
 
Saturday, 3/6:
On Tape – Manchester City v. Tottenham
 
Sunday, 3/7:
On Tape – Everton v. Hull City, AC Milan v. Roma
 
Monday, 3/8:
Noon – Wigan v. Liverpool – ESPN2
 
Tuesday, 3/9:
11:30 am – Arsenal v. FC Porto 
11:30 am – Fiorentina v. Bayern Munich
 
Wednesday, 3/10:
11:30 am – Real Madrid v. Lyon
11:30 am – Manchester United v. AC Milan
 
Monday, 3/15:
Noon – Liverpool v. Portsmouth – ESPN2
 
Tuesday, 3/16:
11:30 am – CSKA Moscow v. Sevilla
11:30 am – Inter Milan v. Chelsea
 
Wednesday, 3/17: St. Patrick’s Day
11:30 am – Stuttgart v. Barcelona
11:30 am – Olympiacos v. Bordeaux
 
Thursday, 3/25: MLS First Kick
6:30 pm – Philadelphia Union v. Seattle Sounders – ESPN2
 
Saturday, 3/27:
4 pm – Chicago Fire v. NY Red Bulls – ESPN
6 pm – Real Salt Lake v. San Jose Earthquakes – FSC
8 pm – New England Revolution v. La Galaxy – FSC
 
Sunday, 3/28:
2 pm – USA Women v. Mexico Women – USD Torero Stadium! – FSC
 
Tuesday, 3/31:
6 pm – USA Women v. Mexico Women – ESPN2
 
Monday, 5/25:
USA v. Czech Republic, time TBD
 
Friday, 5/29:
11 am – USA v. Turkey – ESPN2

That is your soccer update for now.  Look for another email around the second leg games of the Champions League and before the start of the MLS season.  I’ll also have info on the USA v. Mexico women’s game including our pre-party at the pub.  If you are interested in joining our local chapter of the American Outlaws US Soccer supporters club, please visit www.theamericanoutlaws.com.  We’ll see you soon for some great soccer action.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Big Beer Fans!

We have some fantastic big beers on tap and coming soon for this weekend.  It starts tonight, Thursday the 11th, with a cask of Ballast Point Sea Monster Stout at 5 pm.  This delicious, 10% alcohol Imperial Stout is already too easy to drink and cask conditioning can only make it better.  It is not too often that we have really big stouts through the beer engine so this is a rare treat.  And on tap you can find Deschutes Mirror Mirror, an 11% barrel aged barleywine, the new 2010 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot (which means we are pouring the Big P – 1/2 Pale, 1/2 Bigfoot), Avery Dugana Double IPA and Bear Republic Apex IPA, which is 7.5% abv.  Russian River Pliny the Elder will be back on tap for Thursday night.  And we still have some of the Russian River bottles from the World Tour including several 3 liter bottles of Temptation, Consecration and Supplication.

North Coast Night

This Friday, February 12th, we will feature a North Coast night that will include two of my favorite domestic beers. First, we will have a very limited draft supply of Old Rasputin XII, which is the barrel aged version of this incredible stout.  We do have plenty of the bottles though.  Second, we will have a three year draft vertical tasting of Old Stock Ale.  I think this is one of the finest, and best aging barleywine-style beers in the world.  We will have kegs of 2007, 2009 and 2010 all on tap for you to try side by side.  I have already sneaked a taste of the 2009 and I can tell you that it is wonderful and it makes me very excited to taste the 2007.  We will also have the Acme IPA, La Merle Saison and Brother Thelonius (named for Thelonius Monk) which is a strong, abbey-style ale.

We will be open normal hours over Presiden’ts day weekend – 11:30 am to Midnight on Saturday the 13th, Noon to 6 pm on Sunday the 14th and 11 am to 10:30 pm on Monday the 15th.  In honor of the Toronado Barleywine festival in San Francisco which happens this weekend, we will have specials on all of our draft barleywines Saturday night – Bigfoot, Mirror Mirror and our 3 vintages of Old Stock Ale along with three great barleywines in the bottle – Lost Abbey Angel’s Share, Nils Oscar Barleywine from Sweden and the Alpine Great Barleywine, which is a 14.1% alcohol Bourbon barrel aged beast.  Also on Saturday the 13th at 6:30 pm we will tap our first keg of Russian River Pliny the Younger.  I don’t expect it to last too long, so we will have a keg of Alpine Bad Boy double IPA to tap as soon as it blows.  We should also have the AleSmith My Bloody Valentine

Next Week

Next week we have three great nights of beer in a row.  Wednesday the 17th we have a double treat of smoked beers – Ballast Point Abandon Ship Smoked Lager and the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier made with oak smoked malt instead of the normal beech wood used in this Bamberg beer.  The oak smoked malt is supposed to give it a less intense smokey flavor than the regular version.  This special oak smoked malt is only used once a year, so this is a real treat for smoked beer fans.  And just because we can, there will be a five gallon cask of Ballast Point Victory at Sea tapped at 6 pm on Wednesday night as well.

Thursday the 18th we tap our annual cask of AleSmith’s My Bloody Valentine at 5 pm.  This is a dark red ale with a nice hop/malt balance.  If you like the brewery’s Evil Dead Red, you will love this beer too.  And as we do every Thursday, we will have all of our local beers on special.  Also on the 18th I will be on 91X’s Beer 4 Breakfast drinking some of the Trappist beers from Konigshoeven in the Netherlands.  Starting Friday the 19th and running all weekend we will have the new Ranger IPA from New Belgium Brewing along with La Folie (Flemish sour brown) and the Dark Heather Saison all on tap.

Looking Ahead

We have two USA soccer matches coming up on tv.  The first is Wednesday, February 24th at 4 pm against El Salvador.  This is another pre-World Cup friendly to help determine our final roster.  We will have two different five gallon casks of Alpine’s Token Imperial Porter on tap at half time of the game – around 5 pm.  One is conditioning with a vanilla bean, the other with Bourbon-soaked oak chips.  Both should be delicious.  The next USA soccer match will be Wednesday, March 3rd at 11:45 am against the Netherlands.  I won’t be at the pub, since I will be in Amsterdam at the game.  We will re-show the game at 6 pm as well. 

The UEFA Champions League resumes play on the 16th, 17th, 23rd and 24th of February – all lunch time kick offs.  And USA Women’s team will be in San Diego to play Mexico at USD Torero Stadium on Sunday, March 28th at 2 pm.  Our local chapter of the American Outlaws will be buying a group of tickets – cost $23 each.  Please email me and let me know if you are interested in joining us for the game.  We will of course, have some pre-game festivities at the pub that day.  That weekend is also the first of the MLS season and we will have the Direct Kick soccer package this year.  If you would like to be on our soccer-specific email list, just reply to this email and tell me.

In sticking with the Alpine cask theme from the 24th, we will tap a cask of the superb Alpine Bad Boy double IPA at 5 pm on Thursday the 25th.  I should have a keg of the Bad Boy on tap as well once the cask blows.  Friday the 26th we will host an evening of beers from Alaskan Brewing which will include the Smoked Porter, Barleywine and IPA.  Thursday, March 4th we will have the Alpine O’Brien’s IPA on cask.  The draft kegs should be at the pub soon.  A new batch of Exponential Hoppiness is also expected to hit the taps before the end of February.

Last Call for Europe!

There are just a few spaces left for our annual pub crawl to Amsterdam and Belgium through Ciao! Travel.  However, you only have two more days to sign up!  Grab one of our discout flyers at the pub or find the information at www.ciaotravel.com.  Our good friend Bill Snider, owner of Ciao! Travel, has put together an amazing tour package that includes the Zythos 24 Hour beer festival, two pre-Zythos festivals (including a lambic fest), and stops at countless breweries like La Trappe/Konigshoeven, Malheur, Wesvleteren and St. Bernardus.  And the dollar is making steady gains against the Euro and looks like it will continue to do so as credit worries deepen across Europe.  Join us for this great beer adventure.
 
Our new merchandise is in at the pub.  We have a few new slogans – “I’m not bitter, I just drink San Diego beer” and “Alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life – GB Shaw”.  We have restocked the popular yoga pants and we still have some of our “Don’t Tread on Me” US Soccer shirts.  All of the new beer newspapers are in at the pub – Ale Street News, Celebrator and Brewing News.  You can also now find the Brewing News papers online at www.brewingnews.com and find information on breweries across the country through all of the regional newspapers.
 
That is your good beer news for now.  We’ll see you soon for a great strong ale!  Cheers, Tom

Hello Soccer Fans!

There are some great games coming up in the next few weeks starting tomorrow with some fantastic EPL matches on Wednesday the 10th.  The Champions League knockout stage begins next Tuesday and Wednesday and every game will be shown live.  We get to see David Beckham versus his old team Manchester United, and Jose Mourinho take on Chelsea with Inter Milan.  The USA plays El Salvador on the 24th and then the Netherlands with a full strength European-based squad at lunch time on Wednesday, March 3rd.

There is a lot of change coming on the TV soccer front.  Setanta is pulling out of the US market and has sold its broadcast rights to Fox, which is launching a new channel, Fox Soccer Plus, starting March 1st.  My guess is that Direct TV, which will be losing Setanta, will pick up the new Fox Soccer Plus so that we will have it at the pub.  However, nothing is certain yet.  Fox Soccer is also starting to broadcast in HD, but as of now, the HD channel is not available.  The best way to ensure that these channels are available is to request them from your provider – www.cox.net, www.directtv.com, www.timewarnercable.com, www.dishnetwork.com, www.att.com/uverse.  Please visit these sites and request the channels and have any of your friends who enjoy watching soccer on TV do the same.

Our local chapter of American Outlaws will be hosting viewing parties for both of the upcoming USA games at the pub.  If you would like to join the Outlaws, please visit www.theamericanoutlaws.com.  We will have a short and informal meeting after the USA v. El Salvador game on the 24th.  I will tape the Netherlands v. USA game at lunchtime and re-show it at 6 pm on Wednesday, March 3rd.  Rumor has it that the USA will play two warm up matches on the east coast prior to the World Cup.

Landon Donovan is playing well and starting at Everton, Jozy Altidore scored his first premier league goal for Hull City over the weekend and Carlos Bocanegra is back in the starting line up for Rennes.  It is a great time to be watching American players abroad.  We will be getting the MLS Direct Kick TV package this year so that we will be able to show more than 100 MLS games during the regular and post season.  And the USA Women will be playing right here in San Diego on Sunday, March 28th versus Mexico at USD Torero stadium.  We will likely be buying a group of tickets (in the $22-$30 range) to the game, if you are interested, please email me and let me know.

So here are the upcoming games, with more games TBA after Feb. 21st:

Wednesday, 2/10:
11:30 am – Aston Villa v. Manchester United – also at 5 pm – FSC
11:30 am – Arsenal v. Liverpool – also at 5:30 pm – Setanta
2 pm – Everton v. Chelsea – also at 7:15 pm – Setanta
2 pm – Wolverhampton v. Tottenham – FSC
3:45 pm – West Ham v. Birmingham – Setanta

Friday, 2/12:
11:30 am – AC Milan v. Udinese – FSC

Saturday, 2/13: FA Cup Weekend
On Tape – Chelsea v. Cardiff City, Reading v. West Brom, Manchester City v. Stoke City, Southhampton v. Portsmouth, Derby v. Birmingham, Roma v. Palermo
11:30 am – Sampdoria v. Fiorentine – also at 8 pm – FSC
2 pm – Chelsea v. Cardiff City – Setanta
3:45 pm – Manchester City v. Stoke City – Setanta

Sunday, 2/14:
On Tape – Fulham v. Notts County, Bolton v. Tottenham, Crystal Palace v. Aston Villa
11:30 am – Napoli v. Inter Milan – FSC
2 pm – Juventus v. Genoa – FSC

Tuesday, 2/16:
11:30 am – Lyon v. Real Madrid – also at 8:30 pm – FSC – return leg on 3/10
11:30 am – AC Milan v. Manchester United – FSN – return leg on 3/10
11:40 am -Stoke v. Manchester City – Setanta
2 pm – AC Milan v. Manchester United – also at 5 pm – FSC
2 pm – Lyon v. Real Madrid – also at 5:30 pm – Setanta

Wednesday, 2/17:
11:30 am – FC Porto v. Arsenal – also at 8:30 pm – FSC – return leg on 3/9
11:30 am – Bayern Munich v. Fiorentina – also at 3:45 pm – Setanta – return leg on 3/9
Noon – Wigan v. Bolton – ESPN2
2 pm – Bayern Munich v. Fiorentina – also at 5 pm - FSC
2 pm – Arsenal v. FC Porto – also at 5:30 pm – Setanta

Thursday, 2/18: Europa League
Noon – Athletic Madrid v. Galatasaray – Gol TV
5 pm – Panathinaikos v. Roma – Gol TV

Saturday, 2/20:
On Tape – Everton v. Manchester United, Wolverhampton v. Chelsea, Portsmouth v. Stoke City, Arsenal v. Sunderland
2 pm – West Ham v. Hull City
3:45 pm – Arsenal v. Sunderland – Setanta
4 pm – Wolverhampton v. Chelsea – FSC
8 pm – Portsmouth v. Stoke City – FSC
 
Sunday, 2/21:
On Tape – Manchester City v. Liverpool, Fulham v. Birmingham, Aston Villa v. Burnley, Wigan v. Tottenham
Noon – Rennes v. Lille – Setanta
 
Monday, 2/22:
Noon – Blackburn v. Bolton – ESPN2

Tuesday, 2/23:
11:30 am – Stuttgart v. Barcelona – return leg on 3/17
11:30 am – Olympiacos v. Bordeaux – also at 8:30 pm – FSC – return leg on 3/17

2 pm – Stuttgart v. Barcelona – also at 5 pm – FSC

Wednesday, 2/24:
11:30 am – CSKA Moscow v. Sevilla – return leg on 3/16
11:30 am – Inter Milan v. Chelsea – also at 8:30 pm – FSC – return leg on 3/16

2 pm – CSKA Moscow v. Sevilla – also at 5 pm – FSC
4 pm – USA v. El Salvador – ESPN Classic – WEAR YOUR USA COLORS!!!
 
Saturday, 2/27:
On Tape – Hull City v. Aston Villa, Chelsea v. Manchester City, Stoke v. Arsenal
4 pm – Burnley v. Portsmouth
 
Sunday, 2/28:
On Tape – Liverpool v. Blackburn, Sunderland v. Fulham

Wednesday, 3/3:
11:30 am – Netherlands v. USA – ESPN2 – will tape and reshow at 6 pm – WEAR YOUR USA COLORS!!!
 
Saturday, 3/6:
On Tape – Manchester City v. Tottenham
 
Sunday, 3/7:
On Tape – Everton v. Hull City, AC Milan v. Roma
 
Monday, 3/8:
Noon – Wigan v. Liverpool – ESPN2

Tuesday, 3/9:

11:30 am – Arsenal v. FC Porto 

11:30 am – Fiorentina v. Bayern Munich

Wednesday, 3/10:

11:30 am – Real Madrid v. Lyon

11:30 am – Manchester United v. AC Milan

Monday, 3/15:
Noon – Liverpool v. Portsmouth – ESPN2

Tuesday, 3/16:

11:30 am – CSKA Moscow v. Sevilla

11:30 am – Inter Milan v. Chelsea

Wednesday, 3/17: St. Patrick’s Day

11:30 am – Stuttgart v. Barcelona

11:30 am – Olympiacos v. Bordeaux
 
Thursday, 3/25: MLS First Kick
6:30 pm – Philadelphia Union v. Seattle Sounders – ESPN2
 
Saturday, 3/27:
4 pm – Chicago Fire v. NY Red Bulls – ESPN
6 pm – Real Salt Lake v. San Jose Earthquakes – FSC
8 pm – New England Revolution v. La Galaxy – FSC
 
Sunday, 3/28:
2 pm – USA Women v. Mexico Women – USD Torero Stadium!

That is your soccer news for now.  We will have two different 5 gallon casks of Alpine Token Imperial Porter tapped during halftime (about 5 pm) of the USA v. El Salvador game on Wednesday the 24th.  We’ll see you soon for some great football action.  Cheers, Tom

Hello All!

Just a short web-only update this week.  Tonight, Friday the 5th, we feature beers from Deschutes Brewing Company in Bend, Oregon including Hop Henge double IPA, Abyss Imperial Stout, Mirror Mirror barrel aged barleywine and Inversion IPA.  We also still have some of the great Russian River beers on tap from our World Tour Weekend.

Saturday the 6th we will tap a keg of Avery Dugana double IPA around 6 pm and we will have it on tap for our superbowl party on Sunday the 7th.  Lindsey will have a fresh batch of Gumbo for the game as well.  I also expect to have all of the Deschutes beers still on tap as well.  Every weekend, all bottles are 10% off including import bottles purchased to-go.

Next week you can look forward to a cask of Ballast Point Sea Monster Stout on Thursday the 11th (I will also be on 91X Beer for Breakfast on the 11th pouring some beers from Koningshoeven).  Friday the 12th is North Coast night with mulitple vintages of Old Stock Ale – one of the best American Strong Ales – and Old Rasputin XII on tap along with some other great North Coast beers.  There are rumors of Pliny the Younger on the 13th – I will let you know.  We will be open normal hours on Sunday the 14th and Monday the 15th over President’s Day weekend.

Our new shirts are in.  We have two new slogans – I am not bitter, I just drink San Diego beer and a great G.B. Shaw quote – Alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life.  We also restocked our popular yoga pants and we have a few of our Don’t Tread On Me US Soccer shirts still available.

There is still about one week to book your place on our annual European Pub Crawl to Belgium and Holland.  Check the Ciao! Travel website – www.ciaotravel.com – for the latest info or grab a flyer at the pub.  That is your good beer news for now.  We’ll see you soon for a great beer.  Cheers, Tom