Here’s a few photos from the Belgian Beer Party at Pizza Port Carlsbad yesterday.
Naturally, it was a huge beer list. This list is only one side of the bottle list. There was also a draft list and another list of “special” Belgians.
(Click on the image to see a full-sized, readable list)
This photo is just one corner of the bottle line-up. The full line was at least four times longer.
Here’s just a few of the beers on tap
That’s multi-award-winning home brewer, musician and man for all seasons, Julian Shrago looking cool after half a day of pouring excellent Belgians. (If you haven’t heard of this guy yet, you will soon — pretty much anything he brews is amazing and he’s working on opening his own brewery.)
You know those little plastic taster glasses you get at beer festivals? Yeah, well not here. All attendees got a nice Chimay glass. (Goofy look was optional, but frequently seen by the end of the evening.)
Two of the three party sponsors — Tomme Arthur (left) and Tom Nichol — taking a break seven hours into the party. You can’t see it from this angle, but in addition to his monk’s garb, Tom’s also sporting a nice tonsure. Tom’s a baseball fan, so I’m pretty sure he was channeling the San Diego Padres Friar. (Look for him on the JumboTron at the next Padres’ game.)
Sure, you’ve seen Duvel in those cute little bottles, but this is San Diego, home of Big Beer. Here, even the Belgian stuff comes in big bottles. Oh… and the opened a big bottle, Duvel, Chimay, and more (sometimes as big a 6 liters) every hour on the hour.
Former Stone Brewing meister and now brewing consultant to the stars, Lee Chase, got a new yellow hat for the party. (No word as to whether he also go a chimpanzee named George.)
Forget your regular beer festival food, how about fresh plates of steamed mussels to go along with your beer? (Outstanding, btw!)
Here’s Noah (left), head brewer at Pizza Port San Clemente (Beer Molly thinks he’s cute), Sean and PP Bottle Shop Manager Brad hanging out having a good time back by “the good stuff”.
Yup. Pretty much a Belgian beer lover’s playground.
One of the best surprises of the night was Port Brewing/Lost Abbey’s “12 Hour”, a blend of four barrel-aged beers created by the dopey looking guy on the right. That’s Sebastian “Bo” Winegarner, brewer over at Port Brewing/Lost Abbey, and he’s not as goofy as he looks in the photo. (He also makes really good beer.)
Belgian beer party ticket: $45; Shaggy haircut: $6; Hand knit Charlie Brown sweater to wear to the party: priceless.
To check out the all the photos from the party (and post your own comments), click on the photo below:
Or you can just watch the slideshow from here:
