Last weekend was the 10th Annual San Diego Real Ale Festival held at Pizza Port in Carlsbad. In all there were more 60 beers from eight (mostly western) states, and seven countries – all casked and served through a beer engine, with a handful of bottle conditioned real ales as well.
As usual, organizers Tomme Arthur, Tom Nickel and Jeff Bagby put on a great event with a tremendous variety of beers and some great food from Tomme’s Port Brewing partner (and BBQ-meister) Vince Marsaglia. And you really can’t ask for a better venue than Pizza Port in Carlsbad — San Diego, outdoors, early June, and just a couple of blocks from the beach.
Even better, the festival’s crowds were a little lighter than last year meaning that everyone was actually able to get up to the bar and try all the beers they wanted without a huge wait in line.
I’ve included a few photos of the festival for you to enjoy as well as a link to the full photo album if you’d like a slideshow of the event.
Additionally, for those of you who are curious I included a complete list of all the beers that were available at the festival. You”ll find it at the end of this post.
Getting 40-odd beer engines mounted, working and tapping the right casks is no small feat. (You actually can’t see al of the engines in this photo as they wrap around the corner.)
VIPs lined up early for tasting a few extra beers that weren’t available to the general public. That guy in the blue shirt pointing at himself is Ivan, owner of Churchill’s Pub and Grille in San Marcos, California.
From left: Carol, Mojo, a random man in a straw hat, and me — Beer Molly — (in my new blue Dirndl), all having a taster.
Tomme Arthur (right) and his dad. Both of Tomme’s parents turned out for the festival. How cool is that?
Once the crowds started rolling in 10 bartenders were kept busy filling glasses. By the end of the evening they were standing an inch deep in torn taster tickets.
Here’s a shot from inside the food area looking toward the bar and the 40 taps. That smoke is Vince Marsaglia’s barbecue bathing festival-goers in the aroma of bratwurst, pulled pork and bbq’d beef. (Mmmmm…..)
Here’s a quick shot of the Real Ale Festival’s organizers. From left: Tom Nickel, Tomme Arthur, and Jeff Bagby. Interesting note: the expressions on their faces — they look that normally. 😉
And for those of you who wanted to see al the beers that were on tap, here you go:
| Tap | Brewery | Beer | ABV | Style |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AleSmith Brewing Co. | Nautical Nut Brown | 5.2% | Nut Brown |
| 2 | Alpine Brewing Co. | Pure Hoppiness | 8.0% | Double IPA |
| 3 | Andersen Vallev Brewing Co. | Belk’s ESB | 6.7% | ESB |
| 4 | Avery Brewing Co., CO | Piglet Purgatory | 4.3% | Pale Ale |
| 5 | Backstreet Brewery—Vista | Playmaker IPA | 7.1% | IPA |
| 6 | Backstreet Brewery—La Quinta | Taz’s RyePA ‘ | 7.1% | Rye IPA |
| 7 | Backstreet Brewery—Ladera Ranch | Percolator | 5.8% | Coffee Porter |
| 8 | Ballast Point Brewing Co. | Sculpin IPA | 7.0% | IPA |
| 9 | Big Dog Brewing Co., NV | Alpha Dog Double Red | 7.8% | Double Red |
| 10 | BJ’s Brewery-Brea | Barrel Aged Jeremiah Red | 8.0% | Strong Red |
| 11 | BJ’s Brewery-Chandler, AZ | Nit Wit | 4.5% | Belgian Wit |
| 12 | BJ’s Bravery-Oxnard | BJ’s XPA | 5.6% | Extra Pale Ale |
| 13 | Coronado Brewing Co. | Limelite Wit | 5.8% | Belgian Wit |
| 14 | Craftsman Brewing Co. | Point Five | 3.7% | Half IPA |
| 15 | Deschutes Brewing Co., OR | Quail Springs IPA | 6.0% | English IPA |
| 16 | Drake’s Brewing Co. | 1,500 Pale Ale | 5.4% | Pale Ale |
| 17 | Farmhouse Brewing Co. | Go Home Valley IPA | 6.0% | IPA |
| 1S | Pizza Port Carlsbad |
Good Grief Brown Ale |
5.2% |
Brown Ale |
| 19 | Four Peaks Brewing Co., AZ | Hop Knot IPA | 6.0% | IPA |
| 20 | Gordon Biersch | Roggenbier | 5.8% | Rye Ale |
| 21 | Green Flash Brewing Co. | Le Freak | 9.0% | Belgian-style IPA |
| 22 | Hollister Brewing Co. | Hip Hop | 8.6% | Double IPA |
| 23 | Karl Strauss Brewing Co. | Extra Special Bitter | 5.6% | ESB |
| 24 | Left Coast Brewing Co. | Hop Juice | 9.0% | Double IPA |
| 25 | Lightning Brewery | American Amber Ale | 7.5% | Amber |
| 26 | Marin Brewing Co. | Extra Special Bitter | 5.6% | ESB |
| 27 | Oggi’s Pizza—Vista | IPA 101 | 10.5% | Double IPA |
| 28 | Papago Brewing Co., AZ | Hop Father | 8.5% | Double IPA |
| 29 | Pizza Port-Carlsbad | Poor Man’s IPA | 9.2% | Double IPA |
| 30 | Pizza Port-San Clemente | Pier Rat Porter | 7.5% | Porter |
| 31 | Pizza Port—Solana Beach | Stunna Shade Stout | 6.5% | Foreign-style Stout |
| 32 | Port Brewing Co.—San Marcos | Hop 15) | 9.0% | Double IPA |
| 33 | Port Brewing Co.—San Marcos | Wipeout IPA | 7.0% | IPA |
| 31 | Rock Bottom—Gaslamp | Fire and Ice IPA | 6.0% | IPA |
| 35 | Rock Bottom—La Jolla | Espresso Stout | 4.8% | Coffee Stout |
| 36 | Rogue Brewing Co., OR | Brewer | 7.9% | American Strong |
| 37 | San Diego Brewing Co. | Hopnotic IPA | 7.0% | IPA |
| 38 | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. | Brown Ale | 5.6% | Brown |
| 39 | Speakeasy Brewing Co. | Hunts Point Porter | 7.5% | Porter |
| 40 | Stone Brewing Co. | Smoked Porter w/Vanilla Beans | 5.9% | Porter |
| 41 | 21st Amendment Brewing Co. | IPA | 7.0% | IPA |
| Bottled Real Ales | ||||
| 42 | AleSmith Brewing Co. | X | 5.0% | Extra Pale Ale |
| 43 | Allagash Brewing Co., ME | Allagash Dubbel | 10.0% | Dubbel |
| 44 | Brewery Ommegang, NY | Rare Vos | 6.5% | Belgian Amber |
| 45 | Caledonian Brewery, Scotland | Golden Promise Organic Ale | 5.0% | Pale Ale |
| 46 | Firestone Walker Brewing Co. | Walker’s Reserve | 5.9% | Porter |
| 47 | Fuller, Smitth & Turner, England | Fuller’s 1845 | 6.3% | English Strong |
| 48 | Green Flash Brewing Co. | Green Flash Trippel | 8.5% | Tripel |
| 49 | Harviestoun Brewery, Scotland | Old Engine Oil Special Reserve | 8.0% | Old Ale |
| 50 | Kiuchi Brewery, Japan | Hitachino Nest White Ale | 5.0% | Wit |
| 51 | Koningshoeven, Netherlands | Quadrupel | 10.0% | Quadrupel |
| 52 | Lost Abbey Brewing Co. | Avant Garde | 7.0% | Biere de Garde |
| 53 | Meantime Brewery, England | IPA | 7.5% | English IPA |
| 54 | Moorshouse’s Brewery, England | Black Cat | 3.4% | Dark Mild |
| 55 | Moortgat Brewery, Belgium | Duvel | 8.5% | Strong Belgian Golden |
| 56 | Orkney Brewery, Scotland | Skullsplitter | 8.5% | Strong Scotch |
| 57 | Port Brewing Co. | Old Viscositv | 10.0% | Imperial Porter |
| 58 | Russian River Brewing Co. | Damnation | 7.0% | Strong Belgian Golden |
| 59 | Unibroue Brewery, Canada | Unibroue 16 | 10.0% | Strong Belgian Golden |
| 60 | Victory Brewing Co., PA | VI12 | 12.0% | Quadrupel |
| 61 | Young’s Brewery, England | Special London Ale | 6.4% | ESB |
Can’t wait for next year!
