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San Diego Beer Week

Close on the heels of L.A. Beer week comes the San Diego version.

From the press release, “The only official San Diego Brewers Guild sanctioned event, San Diego Beer Week will be held November 4-13, 2011. The ten-day festival celebrating local, craft beer will feature beer dinners, festivals, rare bottle tastings, cheese pairings, brewery tours, classes, and more. SDBW 2011 kicks off with the San Diego Brewers Guild Festival on Saturday November 5, 2011 at Liberty Station and concludes with the “Beer Garden” event at The Lodge at Torrey Pines on Sunday November 13, 2011.”

Events that caught my eye (out of the 178+ on the list) are the British Pub Day party at Sessions Public, the Cellar-bration at the Linkery, and the San Diego Beer Week intro held at Stone.

Just glancing through the list, there are a lot of places in San Diego that I need to visit.

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L.A. Beer Week 2011 Wrap-up


L.A. Beer Week – Year # 3 is now safely in the books. I careened from one part of town to another in search of great beer and here are my impressions.

It is hard to top the Deconstructed event that Firestone-Walker put on with the Home Brew Chef, Sean Paxton. Damn good (and exclusive) beer, excellent food and gracious hosts in a cool Hollywood venue.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Beer Float Showdown as well. For some of the same reasons as I enjoyed Deconstructed. Great beer paired with creative food. I could see that the float makers were both working hard and having fun.

I also enjoyed the three year vertical of Ten Fidy that Boneyard Bistro provided. The array of stouts and big beers they had that night was amazing and I wish I had more nights to have tried out a few more.

The big, big plus of the last two weeks was the sheer volume and variety of events. There were huge pairing dinners and simple meet the brewer nights, there were new beer releases and celebrations of our local brewers. There was something for every beer geek across the area. But within that bounty were some missed chances.

I would love to see a “New to craft beer” event that roved from bar to bar. A welcome mat of an event that would encourage people to try a variety of beers to acclimate palates to the good beer of the world and be able to get questions answered.

I would also like to see more signage with the L.A. Beer Week logo that could catch the eye of the passersby, if you will excuse the rhyme. Maybe an official L.A. Beer Week stop sign to hang in a business window or a sandwich board outside. Having an Untappd badge and the other social media kicking are great but I would like to see outreach to the non “in-the know” folks. And if people see enough of them as they drive around L.A., they might get curious.

Lastly, as much as I liked the plethora of beer, two weeks was a bit much. I know America is the land of outsized ideas but by the end on Sunday, I had heard the lament of “ready for Monday” many times and not just from myself. I am a proponent of the 10 day week. Coming on the heels of the Great American Beer Festival and before the November San Diego Beer week, ten days allow some rest for the wicked. Not that everyone attended an event a day like me but I think that L.A. has enough of a craft beer culture where we can start having mini-festivals throughout the year to augment the many other events that are happening so that beer can gain a momentum that a once a year event cannot generate.

That being said, kudos to all the organizers for taking on the extra workload and less sleep and loads of driving to bring beer to me and to all of the people of L.A. The city is better for your efforts.

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Eco Cans


I saw these “earth friendly” cans in the Uncommon Goods catalog and it got me to thinking if these “cans” could be used to transport your bottled beer to the beach. That is if you really wanted a certain beer that wasn’t canned yet. Read the description and decide for yourself.

“Quench your thirst for sustainable goods and high design with this reusable, earth-friendly can made from corn-starch based polylactic acid. A convenient tab and twist-off cap with double walled construction securely totes and insulates your daily sips. Replace your water bottle or on-the-go coffee mug with this bright idea that’s ideal for everyday use.

BPA-free. Dishwasher and microwave safe. The double wall construction allows for temperatures from -20 to 110 degrees Celcius.”

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Ghoulschip

Allagash has a Belgian twist to the Halloween seasonal with Ghoulschip. Aged in Oak barrels with pumpkin and pumpkin seeds as well as molasses.

Don’t know when or if it will hit the west coast so if you see it, grab it.

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L.A. Beer Week – Day 14 – Union Station


What a beautiful Sunday to have a beer festival. There were three “must” attend events for this two week bonanza called L.A. Beer Week. One was Deconstructed, the second was the Beer Float Showdown and the third was the festival finale.
First on my list was to sample the beers from L.A. newcomer Ohana. They were pouring their new Black IPA by the gritty L.A. name of Black Dahlia. As well as two versions of a Muscat barrel lambic. And as good as the IPA was to this hophead, the lambics were great. One was milder and really showcased the grape tastes with a bit of tart. The punchier version was much more Belgiany and pucker inducing. I liked both equally precisely because they were so different but with common flavors.
The other spot that I honed in on was the Pro-Am area. And I was lucky to get the last of the collaboration of Strand Brewing and the Beer Chicks. It was a combination of hops, nuttiness and caramel that I really enjoyed. I ended up trying close to (15) samples while alternately hiding in the shade and warming up. But there was just too much good stuff being poured. From Beachwood…. to Craftsman…. …to Dogfish Head…. and many more inbetween.

The first two iterations of the festival, I volunteered. But this time around, I played the role of media and got to see the event from a new perspective. There was quite the equal representation. Both genders and all ages in equal amounts. This was definitely not a Beer Geek dominated party. There was also a wide representation of beer with a nice amount of focus on SoCal. I was really impressed by the amount of beer that Craftsman brought too. Angelino Weiss, Ruddy Bloke, Sour Grapes among the many they were pouring.

On the downside, water stations were nowhere to be found and I walked around a few times looking. At a festival with unlimited pours, there needs to be easily accessible water. There was a hiccup getting people inside but that was an unforeseen complication that was not the fault of the organizers.

Overall, it was easy to navigate and get beers. Not many lines and the ones that were there were fast moving. Couple that with the selection and the weather and this event was a winner.

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L.A. Beer Week – Day 13 – Beer Belly


It has been a long Week(s) but the finish line is in sight. But instead of looking past a day, I and beer buddy Richard headed to Koreatown and Beer Belly for a night that featured the beer of El Segundo and the social networking of Untappd.

I got to try the new Picket Fence Wheat IPA. Which is another winner from El Segundo. Rob and Tom from the brewery made the eastside trek to be on hand as well as Untappd to celebrate.

I also had the Double Dry Hopped Nelson which is really tremendous. The Nelson hop balances out the bitterness that really is strong on this one without being overpowering.

Oh and both Richard and I got badges tonight!

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Australian Brewery # 3 – Little Creatures

Our third and final stop on our tour of Australian craft breweries takes us to Little Creatures.

As was the case with the previous two breweries on this itinerary, the details are courtesy of the Crafty Pint. THE place to go for Australian craft beer information.

I am most intrigued by their single batch beers and the choices for them. Single hop beers tend to be the bigger hops. And by bigger, I mean your Centennial or Cascade or Nelson. But they do a East Kent Goldings. Then they do a batch of marzen. Very cool.

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LA Beer Week – Day Twelve – Dionicess


Dionicess is hard to explain but easy to love. You just can’t pin down what will be on hand when you walk in. Beerimasu and Firestone-Walker one time, partnering with Eric Greenspan and the Foundry restaurant another.

This time the pairing of Gev, Randy Clemens, Dave Watrous and Matt Biancaniello has tackled beer cocktails. And an eclectic group of cocktails they were.

How about Lambic Pentameter with strawberries, elderflower liquer, white balsamic and rare distilled lambic? Or let’s get crazy and have a smoked beer with rum, lemon, sage and pumpkin air. Or the Cascading Hophead. with Thrill Seeker IPA from Beachwood, grapefruit, lemon, honey and hop infused gin?

I simply do not know how one goes about pulling those ingredients together into one recipe. It is like musicians knowing just the right notes to make a song, well, sing.


The great thing about an event like this and Deconstructed from last week, is that I was forced to try food that I normally wouldn’t. Figs! I ate a fig. Probably won’t again for a while but it didn’t kill me. My favorite though was the Risotto Lollipop with rice, sage, hazelnuts and parmigiano-reggiano. Delicious.


Oh and the proceeds go to charity, The Real Medicine Foundation.

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LA Beer Week – Day Eleven – Ultimate Flight Night


A night in Alahambra, sipping at the L.A. Beer Week version of Ultimate Flight Night thanks to 38 Degrees…. That photo shows only 1/2 of the plethora of flights you could have ordered last night. I chose to not go that route and tried the Eagle Rock Barrel Aged Equinox, Stone 15th Anniversary with espresso beans and The Bruery’s Birra Basta. My beer buddy Richard stayed on program and got the Beachwood BBQ Brewing Flight. His favorite was the Thrill Seeker IPA.
Jeremy Raub was in the house along with Kern River and Mitch Steele from Stone as well. Oh and FoodGPS Josh, Alex Villa, The Full Pint guys and Dan from L.A. Weekly too… Who gave me the lowdown on the proper toast.

Thanks to Clay Harding and his flight crew for the evening!

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LA Beer Week – Day Ten – Kern River at Blue Palms


Blue Palms hosted Kern River Brewing last night. And for awhile, their Facebook event page just had Class V, Just Outstanding, Golden Trout pale and the new pumpkin beer (which is reviewed by me, today). But I knew that they would probably have the famed Citra DIPA as well. And I was right. 6:30 came and so did our goblet with one of my favorite beers in it. It is just a tropical fruit explosion especially in the aroma. Personally, I wouldn’t call it a Double because it is so light and effervescent with just a touch of bitterness. I have only had this twice now and each time I am pulled in two directions. Savor every last drop slowly or greedily drink in all the goodness.
As mentioned, there were other Kern beers last night. Including the Golden Trout pale ale which was new to me. Utilizing the Galaxy hop, this was a solid pale. It is such a different flavor profile from Citra. To me there is a somewhat metallic harshness to it. But a nice hearty beer.

Thanks to Brian and Matt and everyone else at Blue Palms and Kern River for bringing the good stuff. Blue Palms will be featuring Beachwood beers tonight. Try the Thrill Seeker IPA!