Well, the original Crystal Palace burned, but this one has been perfectly restored. Having a New Belgium Fat Tire and enjoying the scenery.
Pink Boots came to Port Brewing
Talk about coincidences. Thursday morning I read Al at Hop Talk’s post on Teri Fahrendorf, former Steelhead Head Brewer, now on a 10,000-plus mile journey across the U.S. as the Pink Booted Road Brewer. Friday afternoon Molly and I wandered into Port Brewing to do our usual Friday night shift behind the bar in the […]
Tyranena – Who’s Your Daddy? Barrel Aged Imperial Porter
History of Beer Part 2: 1516 – 1898 AD
So I was wandering around the Internet late last night looking for some inspiration on for a big BBQ we’re having this weekend and I found an obscure little blog called Uptown Flavor with what looks to be a great Cajun Bourbon chicken recipe. Coincidentally, it also had a fresh post titled The History of […]
Brewery Hopping gets noticed
The International Herald Tribune has nice article today on what it refers to as “brewery hopping”, or what we all know as “a Pilgrimage” (i.e., visiting craft breweries and tasting the beer). From the article: Although beer lacks a major destination such as Napa Valley in California, many beer aficionados are taking vacations that are […]
Port Brewing Releasing Hop 15 in Bottles
Word just came down from Moses (aka Tomme Arthur) himself that Port Brewing’s Hop 15 will be released in 22 0z. bottles this Friday, June 15th. If you’re not familiar with the beer, it’s an Imperial IPA that gets its moniker from the fact that it’s hopped 15 times with 15 hops at 15 minute […]
One Year-old wins five medals at beer festival
One year old Port Brewing / Lost Abbey managed to walk away with a record five medals at the First Annual San Diego Craft Brewer’s Festival this weekend, beating out big name breweries such as Boston Beer, Stone Brewing, and New Belgium for the honor. Paso Robles’ Firestone Walker did tie Port Brewing for the […]
San Diego County Fair Craft Brewer’s Festival wrap-up
This past Saturday Molly and I joined hundreds of craft beer lovers at the San Diego County Fair First Annual San Diego Craft Brewer’s Festival. The venue and weather couldn’t have been better – the Paddock area of the Del Mar fairgrounds was transformed into a large circular beer garden and accompanied by sunshine, blue […]
SD Craft Brew Festival – more beer time
Ok enough live blogging. I am going to go do some serious tasting now. This is the Porter with Chocolate from San Diego Brewing. Good! Full wrap-up and more pix from Sage tomorrow!
SD Craft Brew Festival – Tomme wins 5 medals!!!!
Tomme Arthur and Port Brewing/Lost Abbey won five medals — more than everyone else! 2 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze! Firestone-Walker won five too. Pizza Port and Boston Beer each got four. Lots of other winners too. Shipyard’s Export Ale Bitter won the ‘best of show’. Beer Sage will have all the details on […]
SD Craft Brew Festival – Award time
It is award time. The big guy on the left is Tom Nickel of O’Brien’s Pub. The silver tank is the grand prize. It is a real working fermenter. If you win you are supposed to brew beer in it and pass it to the winner next year — better than the Stanley Cup, don’t […]
Sd Craft Brew Festival
Here is a pic of the festival from the upper beer garden area.
My first – Maui Brewing Coco Porter
Still live at the SD festival. My first is a Coconut Porter from Maui Brewing Company. Never had it before and it is really good! Beer Sage is enjoying Maui’s IPA too! Wish we could find their beer here more easily
We are in!
Thank god we finally made it through that line! Now it’s time to do some beer tasting!
Getting ready for the beer garden
I decided to get a henna tattoo before heading into the beer festival. W00t!
1st Craft Brewers Festival at the San Diego County Fair
Today we’re heading off to the San Diego County Fair for two reasons — 1) Our son has an art project in competition today, and 2) it’s the fair’s first ever Craft Brewers Festival (w00t!). So after we’ve been to the art competition, loaded up on funnel cakes, hot dogs, and other deep fried fair […]
10th Annual San Diego Real Ale Festival Round-up
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 […]
Beer Holder Irks Animal Activists
From the “is that a toad in your beer?” file: The Australian city of Townsville (the real one, not the Powerpuff Girls one) has landed itself in a bit of hot water over a “Stubby Holder” (aka: the neoprene beer holder/cooler) encouraging people to visit and play a round of “Cane Toad Golf”. Cane Toads […]
Session #4 – Port Brewing / Lost Abbey
Beer Molly and I walked into the tasting room for the first time a little over a year ago. The first weekend open to the public, it was deserted except for the two gentlemen standing behind its now signature 30 foot long redwood and stainless bar. We wandered up to the bar, introductions were made […]
The Top Beer Bloggers Revealed – Part 2
Last Friday I wrote about a little experiment I did in an attempt to determine the most popular beer blog on the web. Basically I wrote a script that does a little triangulation between ranking systems on a blog aggregator (Technorati), a search engine (Google) and a blog reader (Bloglines), and tosses back the results. […]
Real Ale Festival This Weekend – Carlsbad, Calif.
A quick heads-up for those of you who will be in the San Diego / Southern California region this weekend. June 1 and 2 (that’s this Friday and Saturday) is the 10th Annual Real Ale Festival hosted by Pizza Port in Carlsbad. The festivities start at 4pm on Friday and pretty much run until closing […]
The Top Beer Bloggers Revealed
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most popular beer blogger of them all? Yeah, okay, dorky intro, but it’s an interesting question because all the beer blog readers I know seem to have different lists of blogs they read. What’s more each claims that his (or her) blogroll contains “the most popular and […]
Best of Beer Blogs #1
So much beer, so many beer bloggers, so little time. How does the well-informed beer aficionado keep up with them all? Well, unless you’re willing to ship your excess beer to us (and we will take it), we can’t help you with the first part, but we certainly can help you with the second. Since […]
Why I love the small brewery
Alas, you probably missed it, but Port Brewing / Lost Abbey held it’s first anniversary party back on May 5th. If you’re not familiar with it, Lost Abbey is a spin-off from Pizza Port in North County San Diego. And I’m not talking Joanie Loves Chachi spin-off, but Frasier, where the new show is as […]
5 essentials for a brewpub – San Diego style
Okay, I’m late to the party on this one (I actually had to do some work this week), but I see that Hop Talk started a thread on the 5 Essentials for a good brewpub and a bunch of you have chimed in with your opinions, so I thought I’d add mine to the mix […]
The ultimate guide to buying her a drink
Obviously you are a person of sophistication and taste. You are witty and charming. Rico and suave. You enjoy a well-poured glass of Duvel Golden Ale the same way The Continental enjoys a glass of fine champanya. Yet despite the fact that you literally ooze style and confidence, you simply can’t bring yourself to offer […]
Lost Abbey Issues Ten Commandments Dark Farmhouse Ale
Port / Lost Abbey Brewing Company formally released it’s first anniversary beer — Ten Commandments, a Belgian-style Dark Farmhouse Ale brewed with raisins, fresh rosemary, organic honey, and then bottled with a secondary wild yeast. From head brewer Tomme Arthur’s quote in Lost Abbey’s news release: “I’ve always been inspired by the unpredictability and artistic […]
Confessions of a Bad Homebrewer
I’m going to miss the California Homebrewer’s Festival this year because I’ll be attending Port Brewing/Lost Abbey’s First Anniversary party instead. (And snagging my four bottle allotment of Cuvee de Tomme.) So while those guys are all out at Vail Lake hootin’ and hollerin’, drinking their beers and not paying attention, I have a confession […]
Stolen Cell Phone Rings: “Free beer? Here’s my address…”
Here’s a tip: If you steal a mobile phone, and someone calls you on that mobile phone to tell you you’ve won a crate of beer, don’t give them your address. » Thief betrays himself for free beer (via Reuters)
Beer as motivation to clean the house
The British have all the good commercials. You may have already seen this, but I found it to be rather funny, not to mention a good idea. I’m wondering if I can do this to get my husband to clean the house… and something else. (Forget one pint — I’ll use a whole six pack […]
Bubbly Beer = Better Living
Hey look — A couple brainiacs have come up with a mathematical formula that can accurately predict how the bubbles in the head of that beer in front of you will change over time. W00t! According to the report published today in the journal Nature, Robert MacPherson of Princeton University in New Jersey and David […]
Port’s Josh Miner Moving to Drake’s Brewing
We just learned last night that Port Brewing’s Josh Miner will be taking over as head brewer at Drake’s Brewing Co. in San Leandro, Calif. Josh was head brewer at the Pizza Port in San Clemente, Calif. (where he brewed up many an amazing beer) before moving on to become the assistant brewer at Port […]
Details: Lost Abbey / Port Brewing 1st Anniversary Event & New Releases
The gang at The Lost Abbey (aka Port Brewing Company) is celebrating the brewery’s first anniversary in a couple of weeks with a big first birthday party loading with special tastings and a couple of (very) limited releases of new additions to their already impressive beer lineup. (I swear they’ve got more medals than a […]
Craft Brewing – boomin’ like a .com in 1998
The Brewers Association is reporting that craft brewing is the fastest growing segment of the alcohol industry. With 17.8% growth in 2006, it eclipse’s big beer’s 2.4%, and it’s darn close to double wine’s growth. Check out the chart below. Admittedly craft brewing is a tiny fraction of the overall alcohol market, and even among […]
Mark your calendar – 3rd Anniversary Party at Backstreet Brew April 21
A week from Saturday (April 21st) is the 3rd “Anniversarye†celebration at Backstreet Brewery in Vista, Calif. Brewer Dave Lusk gave me run down of events planned for the day, which includes 11 Backstreet brews on tap (plus the usuals from Stone, et al). Celebration beers include: Anniversarye IPA (excellent and only $2.50 a pint […]
Happy 74th Brew Year’s Day
As many of our fellow brew loving sites are noting, today is “Brew Years Day”. On this day in 1933 it became legal once again to manufacture, transport, sell and consume beer that was no more than 3.2% alcohol. There are a couple of misconceptions about today, however. “Brew Years Day” does not mark the […]
Port Brewing’s Tomme Arthur Thinks About Raisins
When we were kids our lunch bags invariably included one of those little red boxes of Sunmaid raisins. I really didn’t like raisins to begin with, so as you might guess, by the 6th grade I hated raisins. Loathed them. Couldn’t stand them. But being the clever individual I am, and hanging around with a […]
If this isn’t a sign, what is?
Look at the rainbow, and praise him who made it; it is exceedingly beautiful in its brightness. It encircles the sky with its glorious arc; the hands of the Most High have stretched it out. – Ecclesiasticus (ch. XLIII, v. 11-12) Proof that God created rainbows so we could find beer more easily. (click on […]
Weekend Round-up of Beer travels
We’re pretty lucky here in San Diego. Not only do we have perfect weather, the best beaches, mountains, and lots and lots to do, but we’ve also got more great craft breweries and brew pubs than you can shake a stick at. Quite literally, in a 12 mile stretch of highway here in North County […]
Grim times for ReaperAle
I don’t know how widely distributed ReaperAle’s beers are, so it may be that a lot of you have never had the opportunity to try some truly kick-ass ales. (And by “kick-ass” I mean “club you like a baby seal and leave you for dead.”) Unfortunately, if you haven’t been able to sample these tasty […]
A good beer story for you
These stories tend to get around the interweb pretty quickly, so you may have heard about this one. But in case you haven’t, here goes: Last Saturday a bunch of my friends were tossing back a few pints their favorite pub here in San Diego. It was getting late, so everybody agreed it was time […]
Mac’s Blackwatch Cream Porter
Tonight I’m drinking a tasty cream porter. I’ll let you know what I think tomorrow after I finish the six pack. Please drink responsibly. And if you must drink while you’re out, use a designated decoy.
Beer Gear for all!
Fellow beer lovers, I have opened a Mybeerpix.com. Beer Gear shop. When you purchase beer gear from this shop you’re not only going to look great in your new clothing, you’re helping a good cause — Namely me, Beer Molly, and my love of drinking fine craft brews! So, come on over and take a […]
Beer goes upscale in the New York Times
Jason and Todd Alström, founders of beeradvocate.comphoto courtesy of New York Times Guess what? Even the New York Times has figured out that there’s way way more to beer than the fizzy yellow stuff you get in the 24 packs at the gas station (which I pick up occasionally because it’s a cheap and effective […]
Lots of good stuff going on at O’Brien’s Pub in San Diego
Just got my newsletter from Tom Nickel, owner of the most excellent O’Brien’s Pub and a co-founder of some great beer-bashes like the Strong Ale Festival and the 12 Hour Belgian Beer Party. It looks like there’s all kinds of good stuff going on at O’Brien’s over the next week or so. If you’re going […]
Austmarr Baltic Porter
My Beer Buddy had a tough day so we knocked off early and went to one of our favorite watering holes, Lamppost Pizza /Backstreet Brewery in Vista. Sage is having a Playmaker IPA that he likes and drinks here all the time. I am drinking a Austmarr Baltic Porter. I hadn’t heard of this beer […]
Live beer blogging from Backstreet Brewery
Molly and I are blogging to you live from Backstreet Brewery in Vista, Calif. — our neighborhood brew pub (where we are also upstanding members of the Mug Club). Molly’s a happy girl today. Unlike Brewer Dave has a number of fresh beers on tap this week. I’m always up for the house’s Playmaker IPA […]
12 Hour Belgian Beer Party Wrap-up
I’ll be the first one to admit that Belgian beers are not exactly my favorites. I’ve always found them too fruity, too fizzy, and, well… just plain weird tasting. But after attending last weekend’s 12 Hour Belgian Beer Party, I have to say I have a new-found appreciation for the broad variety of styles and […]
Stopped for a pint and to see friends
We’ve been in LA all day and decided to take a break at Pizza Port in San Clemente with a couple of friends who live there (San Clemente, not Pizza Port). Like all of the Pizza Ports, they carry some standards and then a few of their own specialties. Among my favs is the Pier […]
PM Porter — This is good tasting beer
Like most Porters the beer has a wonderful dark color and is served on nitro. I do like the way beer looks when it’s being pored on nitro. It’s not too heavy in carbonation but it was just the right amount. The smell of the beer isn’t a very strong one. The first time I […]
Stopped for lunch at BJ’s Brewhouse
We’ve wandered into BJs Brewhouse in Laguna Hills, Calif. for a bite to eat and to taste a few beers. The one on the left is mine — the PM Porter, the one on the right is Beer Buddy’s. It’s a special right now, Owen’s IPA. More details when I get to a computer — […]
Belgian beer fest at night
Hour number 9 & we’re still going strong
The Beer Menu
The 12 Hour Belgian Beer Party at Pizza Port Carlsbad. CA Ok, here’s the menu — 100 beers in the bottle and on tap. I’m starting with the Unibroue Trois Pistoles, which is a very nice, light and fruity beer. (Plus it’s from Unibroue, which sounds a lot like “Unibrow” — LOL)
Great beer line-up
There must be more than 100 bottles of Belgian Beer in the line up. Plus they’re opening a new Magnum bottle every hour!
Live from the Belgian Beerfest
Today we’re blogging from the Belgian beer festival in Carlsbad, Calif. There’s about 100 different beers to try and only 12 hours in which to do it, so we’ll report as we go.
Friday @ Port Brewing
Fun live from Port Brewing
We’ll be at Port Brewing on Friday
Saturday, March 24th is the Belgian Beer Festival at Pizza Port in Carlsbad, Calif.. (If you’re anywhere near San Diego that day you have to be there.) Anyway, they’re having some sort of dinner the night before, so Port’s Master Brewer Tomme Arthur and the other Port Brewing folk won’t be able to run the […]
Beer Molly is a hottie
For all you Beer aficionados (that’s French for drunken slob) who think that a girl who likes her beer has to look like Rosie O’Donnell, think again. Beer Molly is a hottie. (Even though my camera phone sucks) And I get to drink with her all the time. Hope to see you in the pub […]
Sitting and having Black Butte Porter
Black Butte Porter This is an all around great tasting beer from start to finish. It pours out almost a black in color with a caramel color head. When you first take a drink it has a malt taste with a nice chocolate finish. The hops are just right not too much. It sometimes reminds […]
Change of drink
Having fun after hours at Port. Yikes — that is some good Bourbon! (It’s an Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon from 1993. Smoooooooth.) You may have to call me Bourbon Molly from now on!
Tomme Arthur Port Brewing Master Brewer
That’s Tomme Arthur, master brewer at Port Brewing / Lost Abbey. A great brewer and all around good guy, you can find Tomme at the brewery “masterbrewing” pretty much 7 days a week. On Friday and Saturdays the brewery is opening for tasting. Drop on by, meet Tomme and try a few of his beers. […]
An Afternoon at the Map Room in Chicago
What a blast it was to have a few pints in this pub. The bartenders (Aaron and Megan) were funny and knew their beers. I started off with the porter on special, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter from Great Lakes Brewing. It wasn’t too bad, but I don’t think I would order it again as I felt […]
A glass of Padre Porter
A glass of Padre Porter from Oggi’s — a classic porter-style beer. Nothing fancy, but it tastes great!
Barrel Aged Black Magic Stout
This is a glass of Black Magic Stout alongside Beer Buddy’s glass of Hop 101, both from Oggi’s Pizza & Brew in Vista, California. I had hoped that three months of barrel aging would have added something to the flavor of the beer, but I think it actually took it away. The beer has almost […]
Tonight it’s Oggi’s Pizza & Brew
Tonight we’re at Oggi’s Pizza and Brew in Vista, California to try a few of the beers they brew here. We haven’t been here in quite a while, so I’m looking forward to tasting a few.
Getting ready for the weekend
Starting St Pattys off right
I wish the brewer would make beer I like
Another Rite Red… sigh… I may have to have a martini
Bad beer day for Molly
We’re at Backstreet Brewery in Vista, California today and Beer Molly is not happy about beer selection. No porters or stouts just a plain old red ale. 🙁
I wanted something else but this is all they had
A Rita Red
Want to go home
Another beer in the airport. It’s Goose Island’s Honker’s Ale. It’s an American ale based on English Pub ales. It’s a little too sweet for me, but other people like it.
Another Harp
Tom poured me another Harp. It’s a nice light “day” beer for me.
We only have to wait 4 more hours for our flight
Having a Harp at Reillys Daughter at Midway Airport in Chicago
Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier
Very smoky but good!! This is the original Schlenkerla Smokebeer (aka Rauchbier) from Bamberg, Germany. It’s dark and smoky and I love it! You can get more info on it at SmokeBeer.com. Photo taken March 11 at Chicago’s Map Room. (Outstanding beer selection and great people!)
Tillotson National Drinking Team
Adam & Bonnie (though her friends call her “Bonnie ho” — I don’t know why) at Port Brewing / Lost Abbey enjoying a few with us.
Friday night at Port Brewing / Lost Abbey
That’s Molly enjoying a pint of Amigo Lager from Port Brewing. You can see Vince, one of the brewery’s owners (and all around great guy), there in the upper right corner
nelson rye ipa from alpine beer co.
My new glass makes the growler look tiny, just the way i like it.
a churchlls night-cap.
Full sail prodigal son ipa
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a needed stop at by churchills.
black lightning porter – lightning brewing
#Having a vanilla bean smoked porter @ S
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pure hoppiness from alpine
Another hot-ass day, another i p a.
mystery beer
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Long trail ale i p a from vermont.
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Breakfast is served
