Posted April 28th, 2009 by Chris
Bernie @ Ballast Point
Ballast Point is located 5 minutes from work so I find it hard not attend their weekly, Thursday cask offering. On this day they had the ever popular Sculpin, extra hopped and hand-pumped, what more could you ask for.
Sculpin was full of flavors, mostly citruses like orange and grapefruit, and balanced with a bitterness that kept me begging for more. The aroma was much the same and sent shivers through my spine before each sip. I’m not kidding when I say that this beer gives me chills.
Everything about it is perfect! But what makes enjoying beer perfect is doing it with great friends.
Thanks Bernie and Arnell!
Tags: BallastPoint
Posted April 27th, 2009 by Nate
I am so disappointed.
It’s not that I expect every beer to be perfect. It’s not even that I expect every expensive beer to be perfect. What I do expect is that if you brew, taste, and distribute a beer with a $30 price tag, it should be pretty damn good. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case with Angel’s Share.
My wife was kind enough to pick me up a bottle of this for Easter. She went way out of her way to have a friend buy it for her and deliver it on the down-low so I’d be surprised. It was a touching gesture, to be sure. I decided I’d throw it in my cellar closet to let it age for a year before I tried it.
Read the rest »
Posted April 11th, 2009 by Chris
Just got back from Ballast in Scripps Ranch. Picked up two bottles of Sculpin and two bottles of their new Tongue Buckler Imperial Red. Amber, the server, said this stuff goes quick and should be in stores next week but from experience I know this stuff (Sculpin) is hard to find.
There will be a special cask of Sculpin Thursday, April 16 at their Scripps location. Special, meaning they’ll probably kick it up a bit with some added extra special hops (at least I hope).
22oz Sculpin & Tongue Buckler $7.99/ea
Tags: BallastPoint
Posted March 25th, 2009 by Chris
Before heading to 4th and B for comedy night with Craig Gass, the wife and I decided to stop at a place called The Neighborhood. Located on the corner of 8th and G, Neighborhood offers a 4-page menu with only 1-page dedicated to food and the rest to their extensive lists of beer and wine.
Upon entering The Neighbor hood you are welcomed by a unique atmosphere with parallelogram shaped tables, leather chairs, pictures of Jesus eating a sandwich, a long row of beer taps, bottles of wine on the walls and a mosaic of the San Diego skyline. Read the rest »
Tags: Reviews
Posted March 4th, 2009 by Chris
Stone recently unvieled, on their website, the ability to add their calendars to your google calendar.
Simply visit stonebrew.com/calendar and the available calendars are located near the top. Here you can add all or you can choose between the 5 available calendars (Events at Stone, Growler Fills, Bistro Beer Lineup, Brewery Tours and Special Releases).
Now go sign up for Google Calendar, if you haven’t already, and add Stone so you never miss an event.
*Incase you forget to check your calendar, configure the events to send a reminder via email.
Tags: Stone
Posted January 24th, 2009 by Chris
“Avant-garde means “advance guard” or “vanguard”. The adjective form is used in English, to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics.
Avant-garde represents a pushing of the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm or the status quo, primarily in the cultural realm.” - Wikipedia.com
Beer of the Week: Lost Abbey Brewing - Avant Garde
Serving Type: 22oz. Bottle
Price: $7.99
ABV: 7.0%
Style: Bière de Garde
Avant Garde was suggested to me as a beer that had turned one friend into a craft brew fanatic. He said, “This beer will change your thoughts on everything you know on beer and you will not be dissapointed.” Well, I was dissapointed. Read the rest »
Tags: BeerOfTheWeek, LostAbbey
Posted January 23rd, 2009 by Nate
This week we’re pitting a local favorite against an out-of-town challenger. Blue Frog is a brewpub in Fairfield, north of San Francisco. We’ll see how they’re double IPA fairs against the tried-and-true quality of Ballast Point’s offering after the jump.
Read the rest »
Tags: BallastPoint, HeadToHead, IPA
Posted January 7th, 2009 by Nate
I’m mad at AleSmith. They are evil, conniving people. AleSmith has gone off and created a beer that will most likely ruin me for beer for weeks to come. I will not be able to drink a pint of anything without comparing it to said beer, and thus all others will fall short.
I had the opportunity privelege glorious luck of getting to try the new (unreleased) Decadence at AleSmith’s tasting night at the wine cellar in Escondido. It was about the tenth beer and things were really starting to get interesting when they busted this out. As soon as I tried it I got the chills. I’m not exaggerating.
AleSmith’s newest Decadence (which they offer up every year) is an Imperial Porter. As previously mentioned, I am not a huge Porter fan, or at least I wasn’t before this. Decadence is aged in Bourbon Barrels for nine months. The nose is a strong mix of bourbon and vanilla. It’s definitely complex; you get hit with all sorts of flavors while drinking this, but nothing really gets lost. It is a perfectly balanced beer.
I begged and pleaded with them to sell me a bottle. They politely refused. AleSmith hasn’t said when they’re releasing this, but rest assured that we will be there when they do, and we’ll let you know about it (as soon as we’ve bought ours, that is).
photo credit: brixton
Tags: AleSmith, BuyThisBeer
Posted January 5th, 2009 by Nate
We had a chance to stop by Hamilton’s Tavern on Friday night. They were pumping a cask of Coronado Brewing Co’s Chocolate Porter.
The bar had a good sized crowd, but wasn’t so crowded that is was uncomfortable. As soon as we entered we were greeted by either:
A) A very large dog
B) The van from Dumb & Dumber or
C) A horse dressed like a dog
None of us could figure it out, but this place is laid back for sure.
The beer was excellent, very light for a porter. I could have about a dozen of these. We tried to get in on the shuffle board but our time was short so we’ll have to hit Hamilton’s back. They also have an excellent collection of tap handles screwed in to the ceiling.
Apparently Hamilton’s does a lot of featured beer nights and they have tons of local stuff on tap. Check back for details, we’ll keep them up-to-date in the events section.
photo credit: D.B. Blas
Tags: CoronadoBrewing, HamiltonsTavern, Porter
Posted January 2nd, 2009 by Chris
Beer of the Week!
Beer of the Week: AleSmith Brewing Company - AleSmith X
Serving Type: 22oz. Bottle
Price: $3.99
ABV 5.0%
Style: American Pale Ale (APA)
I recently had the pleasure of attending an AleSmith tasting, at the Holiday Wine Cellar In Escondido, and sampled many of the offerings of AleSmith including AleSmith X. While this was not my favorite brew from AleSmith, I thought it deserved a second chance but this time apart from it’s more dominating counterparts. Read the rest »
Tags: AleSmith, BeerOfTheWeek
