What’s Happening

Hello All,

I have been feeling a little under the weather this week so I am skipping out on a full blown email in favor of a short web supdate.  Thursday, April 29th we will host a birthday party for Pat McIlhenney of Alpine Beer Company.  To celebrate the old fart we’ll have Duet IPA on cask with Pure Hoppiness, Nelson Rye-IPA and Duet all on tap.  We’ll also have bottles of Great Barleywine.  Cask taps at 5 pm.  Russian River Pliny the Elder will be back on tap Thursday night as well.  In the meantime, we have Coronado Idiot IPA on tap.

Friday the 30th we will feature three beers from New English Brewing Company, which is now making its brews at the Mission Brewery Plaza here in San Diego.  We will have Brewers Special Brown, ESB and Trooper’s Tipple English IPA all on tap.  Also this weekend, the Padres host a beer fest as they face the Brewers and the City Beat Festival of Beer will be happening.

Next week we will have some Triple Rock beers for Friday the 7th.  We celebrate the gold medal for Alpine O’Brien’s IPA on Thursday, May 13th with cask and draft versions of this delicious beer.

The pub will be CLOSED, Sunday, May 9th for Mother’s Day.  But we will be open this year for Father’s Day in June.  Look for VIP tickets to the San Diego Real Ale Festival to go on sale the first week of May.

Those are your beer updates for now.  Hopefully I will join you soon for a great beer.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Soccer Fans!

The big games this coming week are in the semi-finals of European competitions.  The UEFA Champions League games will be Lyon v. Bayern on Tuesday and Barca v. Inter on Wednesday.  In the Europa League, both Fulham and Liverpool play at home on Thursday at Noon.  The domestic leagues are winding down and the race for the EPL title is neck and neck.  The Europa League final is Wednesday, May 12th.  The FA Caup Final is Saturday, May 15th.  And the Champions League Final is on Fox Sports (the network’s first ever soccer broadcast) at 11:30 am on Saturday, May 22nd.  We will be opening early on the 22nd and serving food for fans that want to get to the pub early.

Stateside, the MLS is in full gear with the LA Galaxy enjoying an unbeaten start.  Most of the buzz though is on the preparations for the World Cup.  Players will be in camp in mid-May after the 30 man roster is submitted on May 11th, with the final 23 man roster due on June 1st.  Charlie Davies might play for Sochaux before the end of the season, Dempsey is back for Fulham, Bocanegra is back for Rennes and Stuart Holden could be back for Bolton’s final two games of the season.  At the very least, Holden will be back at Bolton next year after the club picked up his option for another year.  Brian Ching and Oguchi Onyewu should be at full fitness by the time camp starts as well.

By the next soccer email I should have a preliminary schedule for the World Cup at the pub.  We will be opening early for all of the USA games and likely many other games as well.  I have purchased a second recorder box so that we can show two taped morning games during the day.  All of the USA matches will replay at lunch and after work.  For the USA v. England match, which is on at 11:30 am on a Saturday, we will be opening early and serving breakfast before the game.  We will have breakfast for both of the 7 am USA games as well.  Next month we will even have some O’Brien’s World Cup coasters at the pub.  If you have groups of people that would like to watch a specific World Cup game live at the pub in the morning, please let me know and we will do our best to accomodate you.  No matter what, we will be replaying all of the games all day long every day during the World Cup.

If you would like to join the San Diego Chapter of the American Outlaws, there is still time to sign up and get your Outlaws shirt and bandana before the World Cup.  Sign up at www.theamericanoutlaws.com.  The national group will atuomatically assign you to the San Diego chapter based on your address, so there is no need to specify a chapter designation.  O’Brien’s will be the Official Headquarters for Team USA in San Diego!

So here are the upcoming games:

Sunday, 4/25:
On Tape – Liverpool v. Burnley, Fulham v. Everton, Chlesea v. Stoke City, Aston Villa v. Birmingaham City, Juventus v. Bari
11:30 am – Roma v. Sampdoria – FSC – also at 3 pm on FSP
1 pm – Aston Villa v. Birmingham City – FSP

Monday, 4/26:

Noon – Crystal Palace v. West Brom – FSP
 
Tuesday, 4/27:
11:30 am – Lyon v. Bayern Munich – FSN
2 pm – Lyon v. Bayern Munich – FSC
5 pm – Lyon v. Bayern Munich – FSC
 
Wednesday, 4/28:
11:30 am – Barcelona v. Inter Milan – FSC

2 pm – Barcelona v. Inter Milan – FSP
5 pm – Pachuca v. Cruz Azul – Concacaf Champions League Final 2nd Leg
9 pm – Barcelona v. Inter Milan – FSC
 
Thursday, 4/29:
Noon – Liverpool v. Atletico Madrid – Gol TV
Noon – Fulham v. Hamburg – Direct TV

1 pm – Barcelona v. Inter Milan – FSP – from Wednesday
5 pm - Fulham v. Hamburg – Gol TV
 
Friday, 4/30:
Noon – Lyon v. Bayern Munich – FSC – From Tuesday

Saturday, 5/1:

On Tape – Manchester City v. Aston Villa, Tottenham v. Bolton, Portsmouth v. Wolverhampton, Birmingham v. Burnley

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

1 pm – Stoke City v. Everton – FSP

4:30 pm – FC Dallas v. New England Revolution – Direct Kick

5:30 pm – Houston Dynamo v. Kansas City Wizards – FSC

5:30 pm – Chivas USA v. Chicago Fire – Direct Kick

6 pm – Toronto FC v. Real Salt Lake – Direct Kick

7 pm – Colorado Rapids v. San Jose Earthquakes – Direct Kick

7:30 pm – Philadelphia Union v. LA Galaxy – Direct Kick

7:30 pm – Columbus Crew v. Seattle Sounders – Direct Kick

Sunday, 5/2:

On Tape – Liverpool v. Chelsea, Sunderland v. Manchester United, Fulham v. West Ham

11:30 am – Lazio v. Inter Milan – FSC – also at 2 pm on FSP

Wednesday, 5/5:

Noon - Manchester City v. Tottenham - ESPN2

Noon – Fulham v. Stoke City – FSP

4 pm – KC Wizards v. DC United - ESPN2

4:30 pm – Chivas USA v. NE Revolution – Direct Kick

6 pm – FC Dallas v. Dynamo – Direct Kick

6:30 pm - LA Galaxy v. CO Rapids – Direct Kick

Saturday, 5/8:

1 pm – Fire v. Toronto FC – Direct Kick

4 pm – Crew v. Revolution – FSC

6 pm – Union v. Real Salt Lake – Direct Kick

6 pm – DC United v. FC Dallas – Direct Kick

7 pm – NY Red Bulls v. Earthquakes – Direct Kick

7:30 pm – Dynamo v. Chivas USA – Direct Kick

Sunday, 5/9:

We will have 4 Premier League games on tape since all 10 of the final games start at 8 am.  We likely won’t know which games will be shown until after Wednesday the 5th.  My guess is that the relegation battles will be over and the networks will concentrate on the title race (Chelsea v. Wigan and Manchester United v. Stoke City) and the battle for the final Champions League qualifying spot and Europa League spots.  So we will likely get two of the following games: Aston Villa v. Blackburn, Burnley v. Tottenham, Hull City v. Liverpool, Everton v. Portsmouth or West Ham v. Manchester City.  I will keep you posted.

Wednesday, 5/12:

11:45 am – Europa League Final from Hamburg – Fulham/Hamburg v. Liverpool/Atletico Madrid

Thursday, 5/13:

6 pm – Dynamo v. Real Salt Lake – ESPN2

Saturday, 5/15:

FA Cup Final – Chelsea v. Portsmouth.  Not sure what channel this will be on yet, or if it will be pay per view.

3 pm – Earthquakes v. Revolution – Direct Kick

4:30 pm – Rapids v. DC – Direct Kick

4:30 pm – Chivas USA v. Crew – Direct Kick

4:30 pm – Sounders v. NYRB – Direct Kick

5:30 pm – Toronto FC v. LA Galaxy – Direct Kick

Thursday, 5/20:

5 pm – Crew v. NYRB – ESPN2

5:30 pm – LA Galaxy v. FC Dallas – Direct Kick
 
Saturday, 5/22:
11 am – UEFA Champions League Final – Fox
3 pm – USA Women v. Germany – ESPN2
 
Tuesday, 5/25:
5 pm – USA v. Czech Republic – ESPN
 
Saturday, 5/29:
11 am – USA v. Turkey – ESPN2
 
Saturday, 6/5:
USA v. Australia – Time TBD
 
Friday, 6/11:
World Cup Finals Begin!!!
 
Saturday, 6/12:
11:30 am – USA v. England – ABC
 
Friday, 6/18:
7 am – USA v. Slovenia – ESPN
 
Wednesday, 6/23:
7 am – USA v. Algeria – ESPN

That is your soccer news for now.  Look for beers from New English Brewing Company on tap for Friday the 30th at the pub.  we’ll see you soon for some great soccer action.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Lucky San Diego Beer Fans!

We are very forntunate to be a part of such a wonderful and vibrant beer scene here in San Diego.  Our local brewers brought home 21 medals from the World Beer Cup this past weekend in Chicago and Ballast Point won three gold medals and was named Small Brewing Company of the Year.  San Diego has had a strangle hold on the Small Brewing Company award, winning it 3 out of the four times it has been given out at the World Beer Cup (Ballast Point in 2010, Tomme Arthur with Lost Abbey in 2008 and yours truly in 2004 with Oggi’s Pizza and Brewing).

The World Beer Cup is an international competition held every other year.  This year, 642 breweries from 44 countries (and 47 different US states) entered 3310 beers, making it the largest commercial beer competion ever.  There were 90 categories and roughly 265 medals given – of which 21 went straight to San Diego county.  Just across the northern border, San Clemente picked up a further two medals, a gold for Pier Rat Porter for Pizza Port San Clement and gold for Black Magic Stout from Oggi’s. 

The San Diego medal haul included 4 for Pizza Port Carlsbad, and 3 each for Alpine and Rock Bottom La Jolla.  The collaborative Alpine O’Brien’s IPA won a gold medal in the American Strong Pale category and the super delicious Duet took a bronze for American IPA.  Ballast Point’s 3 gold medals were for Fathom IPL (India Pale Lager – look for it this summer), Bourbon Barrel Piper Down Scottish Ale and of course Sculpin IPA.  Port Brewing took a silver medal for its Hot Rocks Lager, made with red hot rocks dipped into the beer.  It is on tap right now at the pub.  And we will have bottles of the silver medal Lost Abbey Red Poppy Flanders Red this weekend on Saturday the 17th.  Karl Strauss also won a gold medal for its Red Trolley Ale.  Rounding out the list of award winning breweries was Green Flash, Breakwater, Pizza Port Solana Beach and AleSmith which won medals for Wee Heavy and 2009 Decadence, which is a weizenbock.  The complete winner’s list can be found at www.worldbeercup.org.  Congratulations to all of the medal winners!

On Tap This Week

Tonight, Thursday the 15th we tap into a cask of AleSmith Anvil ESB.  This is a much more traditional cask beer than the American IPAs and Imperial IPAs that we often tap.  Consider it a nice change of pace.  This highly drinkable, well hopped ESB should be just about perfect on cask.  We’ll tap it at 5 pm and all of our local beers will be on special.  Look for a grea dinner special from Chef Paul tonight – a spicy pork chop with a dark beer gravy sauce.  Alpine Pure Hoppiness is back in supply and we just tapped fresh kegs of Deschutes Hop Henge double IPA, Urthel Saisoniere, Sierra Nevada Glissade Golden Bock and both Malheur 10 and 12 are still on tap.  We have blown through nearly 20 Malheur kegs in the first two weeks the two beers have been on tap!

Friday the 16th we will feature beers from the (l)east coast’s best known brewery, Dogfish Head.  On tap we will have the Midas Touch, a 9% brew made with honey to recreate an ancient recipe; Apri-Hop, an IPA made with fresh apricots that works surprisingly well and Burton Baton which is blend of a strong IPA made with two yeasts and aged with barrel staves that is then mixed 50/50 with the brewery’s 90 Minute IPA.  The resulting beer is 10% and hoppy with complex layers of flavor.  We will also have Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron in the bottle along with Red and White, a wit-style beer made with red pinot noir grape juice.  I wil have some nifty Dogfish Head pint glasses for sale for just $1.

Beer and Cheese

There are still a few spots for our Spring Beer and Cheese Tasting this Sunday at the pub at 6:30 pm.  We are doing a Belgian-style beer theme featuring beer from 5 different countries – USA, Belgium, Holland, France and Norway.  In all we have 7 beers and 8 cheeses to taste.  You can sign up at the pub, the cost is $40 (cash only please).  This is the only class we will be doing this Spring, but look for a possible return of the Malheur Beer and Cheese tasting in the summer.

Next Week

Next week is jammed pack with great beer.  We start Monday the 19th with our weekly pitcher night – $10 craft and local pitchers and just $14 for strong/rare ales all night from 4:30 pm until close.  Tuesday the 20th with tap our final keg of Pliny the Younger at 4:20 pm.  I don’t expect it to last long so don’t show up late if you want some.  If you want to avoid the Younger crowd, just show up after 6 pm.  Wednesday the 21st we will tap a 5 gallon cask of the very hoppy Slap and Tickle Pale Ale from Pizza Port Carlsbad at 6 pm.

Thursday the 22nd we celebrate Earth Day by celebrating two of Ballast Point’s award winning beers.  We will tap a cask of Piper Down Scottish Ale aged with oak chips soaked in Ballast Point Bourbon and a draft keg of Sculpin IPA both on tap at 5 pm.  The medal winning version of the Piper Down was aged in a Bourbon barrel, but for right now, this is as close as we can get.  We will have dinner specials on both Wednesday and Thursday next too.  Look for another keg of Sculpin IPA to be tapped at 6 pm on Saturday the 24th.

Friday the 23rd we will have our first draft night with Mikkeller brewery from Denmark.  Scandanavia has a small but thriving craft beer scene that is constantly pushing boundaries.  On tap we will have Santa’s Little Helper – a dark brown Belgian-style strong ale and Single Hop IPA made with one of my favorite hops, Centennial.  We will also have the coffee stout Beer Geek Breakfast in the bottle.  I have never had either of the draft beers, so I am really looking forward to this night.

There will also be plenty of great soccer next week.  The UEFA Champions League and Europa League are both in the semi-final stage.  Tuesday the 20th at 11:45 am Inter Milan will take on holders Barcelona and Wednesday the 21st Bayern Munich hosts Lyon.  The return legs will be the 27th (Lyon v. Bayern) and 28th (Barca v. Inter).  In the Europa League, we will have two live games at noon on Thursday the 22nd – Hamburg v. Fulham and Atletico Madrid v. Liverpool.  Those return legs will both be on the 29th.  All games will be taped for replay later in the day.  For a complete list of all of our upcoming games, sign up for our soccer specific email list by replying to this email.

Looking Ahead

Wednesdy the 28th we have two very special kegs from AleSmith – award winning 2009 Decadence and Bourbon Barrel Aged Speedway Stout.  Both will tap at 6 pm.  Thursday the 29th we will tap a cask of the award-winning Alpine Duet IPA at 5 pm.  Friday the 30th we will have beers from New English Brewing Company which is now making all of its beer right here in San Diego.  Thursday, May 13th we will have party to celebrate the return of the gold-medal Alpine O’Brien’s IPA.  We will have two casks and draft kegs.  I would think it is a safe bet that we will be filling one of the 3 liter goblets to celebrate the gold medal.  There are still a few of our Malheur Draft Launch T-Shirts for sale.  And we will have some new women’s gear by the end of the month.

That is your good beer news for now.  Congratulations again to all of the award winning breweries!  Cheers, Tom

San Diego took home an amazing 21 medals at the World Beer Cup awards yesterday in Chicago, IL.  Ballast Point Brewery was named Small Brewing Company of the Year while winning three gold medals including ones for Sculpin IPA and Fathom IPL.  O’Brien’s IPA from Alpine took a gold medal in the American Strong Pale cateogry and Alpine Duet took a bronze in American IPA.  Pizza Port Carlsbad, Pizza Port Solana Beach, Lost Abbey, Green Flash, Breakwater, Rock Bottom La Jolla, AleSmith and Karl Strauss round out the local winners.  Just across the border in San Clemente, Oggi’s and Pizza Port both won gold medals as well.

For a complete winners list, visit: http://worldbeercup.org/winners.html

Congrats to all of the San Diego brewers!  Cheers, Tom

Hello Footy Fans!
 
One of the most anticipated league match ups of the year is upon us this Saturday, April 10th at 1 pm – Barcelona v. Real Madrid.  Real is in first place only on a +1 goal differential right now, though both teams have run away from the rest of the league.  In Spain, the first tie-breaker for points is head to head, and Barca won the first match last year, so even a tie puts Barca in first place.  It is the unstoppable Messi vs. the unstoppable spending spree of Ronaldo and Kaka.
 
The final four of the UEFA Champions League is set with Inter facing Barcelona and Bayern Munich taking on Lyon.  The matches will happen on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 20, 21, 27 and 28.  All UCL matches will be on live with 11:45 am kick offs.  For those reading this on Thursday the 8th, the UEFA Europa league will be live at 12:05 with both the Liverpool v. Benfica and Wolfsburg v. Fulham matches set to tape for replay later.
 
The MLS is in full swing and we have the MLS Direct Kick package so that we can show nearly every single game.  With only a few weeks left in the European domestic leagues, everything is coming to a head.  The FA Cup is also in the semi-final stage with Chelsea taking on Aston Villa and Tottenham playing surprising Portsmouth.  It will be an exciting last month of league action before we all turn our attention to the national teams.
 
Here are the upcoming games…
 
Thursday, 4/8:
12:05 pm – Liverpool v. Benfica – Direct TV – also on tape
12:05 pm – Wolfsburg v. Fulham – Direct TV – also on tape
12:05 pm – Atletico Madrid v. Valencia – Direct TV – also at 5 pm on Gol TV
12:05 pm – Standard Liege v. Hamburg – Direct TV
 
Friday, 4/9:
Noon – Manchester United v. Bayern Munich – FSC – from Wednesday
 
Saturday, 4/10:
On Tape – Aston Villa v. Chelsea, Hull City v. Burnley, West Ham v. Sunderland, Napoli v. Parma
11:30 am – Fiorentina v. Inter Milan – FSC
1 pm – Real Madrid v. Barcelona – Gol TV
3 pm – Philadelphia Union v. DC United – FSC
3 pm – Crystal Palace v. Queens Park Rangers – FSP
4:30 pm – Toronto FC v. New England Revolution – MLS Direct Kick
5:30 pm – Aston Villa v. Chelsea – FSC – FA Cup Semi-Final
5:30 pm – West Ham v. Sunderland – FSP
5:30 pm – Colorado Rapids v. Kansa City Wizards – MLS Direct Kick
5:30 pm – LA Galaxy v. Houston Dynamo – MLS Direct Kick
5:30 pm – Columbus Crew v. FC Dallas – MLS Direct Kick
5:30 pm – San Jose Earthquakes v. Chicago Fire – MLS Direct Kick
6 pm – Seattle Sounders FC v. Real Salt Lake – MLS Direct Kick
 
Sunday, 4/11:
On Tape – Tottenham v. Portsmouth FA Cup Semi-Final, Lvierpool v. Fulham, Blackburn v. Manchester United, Manchester City v. Birmingham, AC Milan v. Catania
 
Wednesday, 4/14:
11:40 am – Aston Villa v. Everton – FSP – also at 4 pm
Noon – Fulham v. Stoke City – FSC – also at 5 pm
2 pm – Wigan v. Portsmouth – FSP
 
Thursday, 4/15:
4 pm – Philadelphia Union v. Toronto FC – ESPN2
 
Saturday, 4/17:
On Tape – MAnchester City v. Manchester United, Tottenham v. Chelsea, Blackburn v. Everton, Birmingham City v. Hull City
11:30 am – Inter Milan v. Juventus – FSC
Noon – Kansas City Wizards v. Seattle Sounders FC – MLS Direct Kick
1:30 pm – Fulham v. Wolverhampton – FSP
2 pm – Sunderland v. Burnley – FSC
4:30 pm – Chicago Fire v. DC United – MLS Direct Kick
4:30 pm – FC Dallas v. NY Red Bulls – MLS Direct Kick
7 pm – NE Revolution v. SJ Earthquakes – MLS Direct Kick
7:30 pm – LA Galaxy v. Real Salt Lake – FSC – MLS Cup Final re-match
 
Sunday, 4/18:
On Tape – Portsmouth v. Aston Villa, Wigan v. Arsenal, Stoke City v. Bolton, Sampdoria v. Milan
11:30 am – Lazio v. Roma – FSC – Rome Derby – also at 2 pm on FSP
2 pm – Toronto FC v. Colorado Rapids – MLS Direct Kick
4 pm – Wigan v. Arsenal – FSP
 
Monday, 4/19:
11:55 am – Liverpool v. West Ham United – ESPN2
 
Tuesday, 4/20:
11:30 am – Inter Milan v. Barcelona – FSN
5 pm – Inter Milan v. Barcelona – FSC
 
Wednesday, 4/21:
11:30 am – Bayern Munich v. Lyon – FSC
The game will replay throughout the day and we will tape it
5 pm – Concacaf Champions League Final – leg one – teams TBA
 
Thursday, 4/22:
5 pm – Seattle Sounders FC v. FC Dallas – ESPN2
 
Saturday, 4/24:
On Tape – Burnley v. Liverpool, Arsenal v. Manchester City
2 pm – Wolverhampton v. Blackburn  – FSC
4:30 pm – Colorado Rapids v. NE Revolution – MLS Direct Kick
4:30 pm – Real Salt Lake v. Columbus Crew – MLS Direct Kick
5 pm – Arsenal v. Manchester City – FSC
5:30 pm – LA Galaxy v. Kansas City Wizards – MLS Direct Kick
5:30 pm – Houston Dynamo v. Chicago Fire – MLS Direct Kick
7:30 pm – Chivas USA v. San Jose Earthquakes – FSC
 
Sunday, 4/25:
On Tape – Chlesea v. Stoke City
Noon – Manchester United v. Tottenham – FSP
11 am – Seattle Sounders FC v. Toronto FC MLS Direct Kick – patio open at 11 am for the game
 
Tuesday, 4/27:
11:30 am – Lyon v. Bayern Munich – FSN
5 pm – Lyon v. Bayern Munich – FSC
 
Wednesday, 4/28:
11:30 am – Barcelona v. Inter Milan – FSC
The game will replay throughout the day and we will tape it
 
Saturday, 5/22:
11 am – UEFA Champions League Final – Fox
3 pm – USA Women v. Germany – ESPN2
 
Tuesday, 5/25:
5 pm – USA v. Czech Republic – ESPN
 
Saturday, 5/29:
11 am – USA v. Turkey – ESPN2
 
Saturday, 6/5:
USA v. Australia – Time TBD
 
Friday, 6/11:
World Cup Finals Begin!!!
 
Saturday, 6/12:
11:30 am – USA v. England – ABC
 
Friday, 6/18:
7 am – USA v. Slovenia – ESPN
 
Wednesday, 6/23:
7 am – USA v. Algeria – ESPN
 
That is your soccer news for now.  We have the brewer/owners of Urthel coming to the pub from Belgium this Saturday, April 10th from 5-7 pm.  We will have two Urthel draft beers and three more in the bottle.  You can join our local chapter of the American Outlaws by signing up at: www.theamericanoutlaws.com.  See you soon for some great football action.  Cheers, Tom

Hello Beer Fans!

We had one hell of a party last week to kick off the launch of Malheur draft.  And though we have blown through plenty of beer, both the light colored 10 and the dark, rich 12 are both still on tap.  So if you haven’t tried them yet, indulge yourself with a glass, you will not be disappointed.  We also have Alpine Duet IPA, Bigfoot (and the Big P), Ballast Point Bourbon barrel Black Marlin Porter and we just tapped Kern River J.O. IPA (Just Outstanding) and the new Kern River Citra Double IPA.  Both beers will move out fast.  However, the good news is that Kern River has more regular distribution in San Diego so we, and all good beer bars, should be able to get more of the brewery’s beer.  Alpine Pure Hoppiness should be back on by Friday night.

Thursday, April 8th is Sculpin Casks night.  No, that is not a typo, there will be cask(s) plural of Ballast Point Sculpin IPA.  We will tap the first one at 5 pm and the second one when the first is blown.  I don’t expect it to last all night, but the two casks should last until at least 7 pm (no promises though).  We should be getting in some Sculpin draft and the Ballast Point Piper Down Scottish Ale next week.  On Friday the 9th look for Alpine Ale on tap and our very popular Chicken or Roast Beef Tortas from the kitchen.  Coming soon on draft you will find North Coast Old Rasputin, Sierra Nevada Glissade Golden Bock, Deschutes Hop Henge and Alpine Nelson Rye-IPA.

Urthel Visit

Saturday the 10th we have a very special treat as our friends Bas and Hildegard from Urthel will be stopping by the pub.  They will be at the pub from 5-7 pm to share beers and talk about them.  Their Belgian beers are made under the name of De Leyerth Brouwerij at Konigshoeven, in Holland.  Urthel is the brand name and the name for the funny cartoon character that graces the label, which is drawn by Bas.  We will have two Urthel beers on tap – Hop It!, a 9% alcohol Belgian-IPA beer, and Saisoniere which is a 6% alcohol saison-inspired ale with a nice handful of hops.  We will also have three beers in the bottle (all of which will be 10% off all weekend) – Hibernus Quentem Tripel, Samaranth 12 Quadrium (11%) and Vlaemse Bock.  Bas and Hildegard are very friendly folk and we are excited to welcome them back to the pub.  Look for an Urthel beer cheese plate on Saturday night from the kitchen.  I am hoping to have at least one of the Urthel beers on tap for Friday night.

On Sunday the 11th we will be open normal hours from Noon until 6 pm.  You can get 10% off any of our bottles all weekend including import bottles sold to-go.  Sunday and Monday we will have our beer battered fish and chips, fish tacos and chipotle fish sandwich.  Monday night we will feature $10 pitchers of any local/craft beer and $14 pitchers of any rare/strong ale from 4:30 pm until close.  It is great way to spend a Monday night with friends, without spending a lot of money.

On the bottle front, we have all of the Malheur bottles back in stock including Brut, Dark Brut and we still have some of the 2006 Vintage Commemorative Brut, which is a dry-hopped version of the regular Brut.  We currently have 7 different Redstone Meads in stock – Nectar of the Hops (dry-hopped mead), White Pyment (made with white grape juice), Red Pyment (made with Pinot Noir grape juice), Traditional, Vanilla Bean-Cinnamon Stick, Boysenberry and Black-Raspberry.  Look for bottle specials on the St. Peter’s beers from Suffolk, England including Cream Stout, Winter Ale and IPA.

Beer and Cheese Please

There are still about 6 spaces left for our Spring Beer and Cheese pairing on Sunday, April 18th at 6:30 pm at the pub.  We have some great pairings and are using some wonderful beers including Gouden Carolous Classic, Nogne O Saison, Allgash Victor, La Choulette Framboise, Stone 06/06/06 Vertical Epic and more!  In all we will taste 7 beers from 5 countries and 8 different cheeses.  Cost is $40 and you can sign up and pay at the bar (cash only please).

Looking Ahead

Next week is the always dreaded April 15th tax day.  To ease the pain we will be tapping a cask of Alpine Duet IPA on Wednesday the 14th at 6 pm.  And then on Thursday the 15th we will tap a cask of AleSmith ESB at 5 pm.  Tuesday, April 20th we will tap a keg of Russian River Pliny the Younger at 4:20 pm.  At the end of the month, we are planning a Friday night of beers with New English Brewing, which is now making its beer right here in San Diego.

For soccer fans, the UEFA Champions League is in the semi-finals stage.  The match days will be April 20 and 21 with the return legs on April 27 and 28.  The games pit Barcelona v. Inter Milan and Bayern Munich v. Lyon.  The last round of games was very entertaining and the Barca-Inter match is a blockbuster pairing.  We will have all of the games live at 11:45 am each day with taped replays that we can show later in the day.

That is your good beer news for now.  We’ll see you soon for a great Urthel beer!  Cheers, Tom

Hello Beer Lovers!

Just a quick web update for now.  Tonight, Wednesday the 7th we tap kegs of Kern River’s delicious J.O. (Just Outstanding) IPA and Citra Double IPA.  Both beers are fantastic and neither one will likely make it to the end of the week.  The good news though is that Kern River will have more regular distribution in San Diego so we, and all good beer bars, should be able to get more of the brewery’s beer.

Thursday, April 8th is Sculpin Casks night.  No, that is not a typo, there will be cask(s) plural of Ballast Point Sculpin IPA.  We will tap the first one at 5 pm and the second one when the first is blown.  I don’t expect it to last all night, but the two casks should last until at least 7 pm (no promises though).

Saturday the 10th we have a very special treat as our friends Bas and Hildegard from Urthel will be stopping by the pub.  They will be at the pub from 5-7 pm to share beers and talk about them.  Bas and Hildegard are very friendly folk and we are excited to welcome them back to the pub.  We will have draft beer and bottle specials from Urthel all day including Hop It! and Urthel Saison.

Beer and Cheese Please

There are still about 6 spaces left for our Spring Beer and Cheese pairing on Sunday, April 18th at 6:30 pm at the pub.  We will be setting up the final pairings next week, but it looks like we are heading for a Belgian-themed class.  Cost is $40 and you can sign up and pay at the bar (cash only please).  We have some great pairings and are using some wonderful beers including Gouden Carolous Classic, Nogne O Saison, Allgash Victor, La Choulette Framboise and the Stone 06/06/06 Vertical Epic and more!  In all we will taste 7 beers from 5 countries and 8 different cheeses.

Looking Ahead

On tax-day, Thursday, April 15th we will tap a cask of AleSmith ESB at 5 pm.  Tuesday, April 20th we will tap a keg of Russian River Pliny the Younger at 4:20 pm.  And you can mark your calendars now for the San Diego Real Ale Festival on June 4th and 5th at Pizza Port Carlsbad.  Those are your quick updates for now.  Look for a full email before the weekend.  Cheers, Tom