Category Archives: homebrew

San Diego Beer Events, February 18th – February 23

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If you know of anything that isn’t on the events calendar, please email events@sandiegobeerblog.com to get it added.

I got caught up with some other things this week and am putting this post up a day later than usual. Luckily, as far as I can tell, it doesn’t look like a whole lot was going on yesterday.

Friday Feb 18th:

This week’s cask at Hamilton’s Firkin Friday is AleSmith’s My Bloody Valentine. I haven’t had it yet this year but I hear it’s good.

Both Friday and Saturday Stone Brewing Co. is doing growler fills of the recently released 2011 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine and Stone Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine.

Saturday Feb 19th:

Blind Lady Ale House will be tapping the last kegs of their latest beer, Will Powered IPA. This was the beer brewed for the Will Farrel related charity event they had a few weeks ago where they raised a ton of money for Cancer for College.

The Saturday Night Special growler fill at Stone is 2008 Imperial Russian Stout. IRS is one of my favorite beers, and IRS with a few years on it is even better in my opinion. As with all the Saturday Night Specials,  they’re only filling growlers from 8-10pm.

Sunday Feb 20th:

One more Stone growler fill. They’ll be filling a limited amount of growlers with 2007 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine. Another one that’s great with some age on it.

At O’Brien’s Pub they’re doing a tasting with AleSmith. Owner/Brewer Peter Zien will be on hand to lead the tasting of about 10 beers. Barrel Aged Wee Heavy, 2007 Decadence and some vintage of Speedway Stout should make appearances as well as many other AleSmith beers. Some of Zien’s cheeses will also be available for tasting. Cost is $40, check with O’Brien’s for tickets. You’ll want to get them ahead of time.

Monday Feb 21st:

In addition to the $3 pint nights at Toronado and Eleven, this Monday is another Beer U at Stone Brewing Co. This month is Beer U: Abbey Ales and they have quite the tasting list. Be sure to buy tickets in advance as they often sell out.

Tuesday Feb 22nd:

The monthly QUAFF homebrew club meeting happens on the fourth Tuesday of every month. Even if you’re not a homebrewer (yet) check it out, you’ll certainly learn something new.

Wednesday Feb 23rd:

There’s a lot going on Wednesday night and surely more than I’m listing here. Main Tap Tavern is featuring a cask of Green Flash Brewing Co.’s Double Stout. URGE Gastropub will have a handful of Stone Brewing Co. beers on (many “Double Dry Hopped) as well as the delicious Vanilla Bean Smoked Porter. The Pizza Port Carlsbad Bottle Shop will be hosting a “Sweet Beer” tasting. And as with every Wednesday, KNB Wine Cellars has $3 pints.

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San Diego Beer Events, January 20th- January 26th

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If you know of anything that isn’t on our events calendar, please email events@sandiegobeerblog.com to get it added.

Thursday, Jan 20:

Stop into Eleven for a Bear Republic Brewery Racer 5 IPA and keep the glass. The first one, including glass will cost ya $4, after that it’s only $3 refills for the rest of the night.

Friday, Jan 21:

Two parties, one celebrating the old and one celebrating the new are happening tonight. West Coaster is holding their launch party at The South Park Abbey. They’ll have special West Coaster beer glasses, beers from Hess Brewing Co., including a specially brewed West Coaster IPA and some never before seen beers from Coronado Brewing Co. including a Black IPA, a Belgian IPA and more. Yes I do write a monthly column for West Coaster, sure I’m probably a bit biased, but there will be some great beer and this will be a fun time.

Up the road a little ways O’Brien’s Pub is celebrating their 17th Anniversary. They’ll have plenty of great beers from the various Pizza Port locations as well as some special bottles from Lost Abbey. Owner Tom Nickel recently helped brew Nickel Bag at Pizza Port Ocean Beach. This Double IPA was the last beer he brewed before leaving Pizza Port Carlsbad in 2005.

Saturday, Jan 22:

The Lost Abbey is hosting an open house from 12-6pm to show off their new space from their recent expansion. They’ll be doing tours of the new space and just might have something special on tap.

Saturday afternoon the website Awesome Beer Drinkers are teaming up with Best Damn Beer Shop to host an Awesome Beer Tasting. $35 gets you ten three or four ounce pours from their impressive list of beers. The tasting is happening at The Beer Company downtown and they recommend purchasing tickets in advance through their website.

Sunday, Jan 23:

Know of a great beer event happening? Email events@sandiegobeerblog.com

Monday, Jan 24:

If you don’t have tickets to Stone Brewing Co.’s Beer U: Strong Ales it looks like you’re out of luck as they’re sold out according to the website. But fret not, head down to North Park for some $3 beers. As always Toronado is doing their local night, all local beers are $3. This week Eleven is also doing $3 beers but there’s isn’t limited to locals. Any beer on tap, all night long, $3. I’m not sure if this will become a regular thing but I hope so.

Tuesday, Jan 25:

Are you a homebrewer? Thinking about homebrewing? The local homebrew club QUAFF holds their monthly meeting the fourth Tuesday of the month at the All American Grill in Hazard Center. Check out their website for more info.

Wednesday, Jan 26:

Alesmith is releasing their Barrel-Aged Wee Heavy Scotch Ale 2009 and bottle sales start at 2pm. But don’t think you can just waltz down there and pick up a few bottles. Sales will be limited to four per person and will sold based on numbers handed out at 10am. MIHO Gastrotruck will be around starting at 1:30pm serving lunch. From what I’ve heard this beer is worth taking a good portion of your day off work, if past barrel-aged bottle releases at Alesmith are indication this one will go quickly.

A bit later Hamilton’s Tavern and Small Bar will be hosting Rob Todd from Allagash Brewing Co. They’ll have plenty of his beers on tap at each bar. Todd will be at Hamilton’s from about 4-6:15pm and Small Bar from about 6:3o-8:30pm.

Know of anything going on Tuesday or Wednesday? Email events@sandiegobeerblog.com
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San Diego Beer Events 10/21-10/27

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La Jolla Brew House Celebration of ChangeSince most beer events happen on the weekends, we thought we would post weekly beer event roundups on Thursdays. But we’re not just focusing on the weekends, listings will highlight beer events throughout the week. Make sure to see the full calendar below or click over to our Events page to see more beer events.

Got an event coming up you would like to see listed? Email us at events@sandiegobeerblog.com

Thursday, Oct 21:

Great Divide Brewing Co. night at Toronado – Five beers from Great Divide including their limited release Fresh Hop Pale Ale and Oak Aged Yeti (not to be confused with Espresso Oak Aged Yeti)

Friday, Oct 22:

Celebration of Change at La Jolla Brew House – La Jolla Brewhouse has hired a new brewmaster, Travis Smith previously with The Bruery and Russian River Brewing Company and is putting a focus back on beer. They’ll be sampling the new house brews, Sighthound Stout, Fleabite English Pale Ale, Crossbreed Blonde Ale and Pariah IPA.

Firkin Friday with Stone Brewing Co. at Hamilton’s Tavern – They’ll have the new 10-10-10 Vertical Epic on cask as well as Double Dry Hopped 14th Anniversary Ale, Imperial Russian Stout 10th Anniversary Special Blend, Imperial Russian Belgo Stout and Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans on draft.

Saturday, Oct 23:

OktoberHess at Hess Brewing Co. – They’ll have German food and plenty of great beer including their German style Alt Bier, Festivus.

Craft Beer with the Expert – Park2Park Shuttle will pick you up at one of their designated stops and take you to Blind Lady Ale House for a guided beer tasting with Blind Lady co-owner and Automatic Brewing Co. brewer Lee Chase. Pizza will be served and then it’s back on the bus to Home Brews and Gardens for a homebrew demonstration.

Sunday, Oct 24:

The O’Brien’s Pub Wet Hop Festival has been going on all weekend and Tom Nickel of O’Brien’s expects most if not all of the kegged beers to still be on tap when they open Sunday morning. Throughout the weekend they’ll have over 15 different wet hopped beers on tap.

Monday, Oct 25:

Toronado Local Pint Night – Every Monday night is local night at Toronado. All San Diego County beers are just $3.

Tuesday, Oct 26 and Wednesday Oct 27

We couldn’t find any notable beer events, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any happening. If you know of anything going on, email us at events@sandiegobeerblog.com

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SD Park 2 Park’s Beer with the Expert, October 23rd

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The SD Park 2 Park shuttle isn’t running on a regular basis any more, but that seems to have freed them up to organize special events and tours.

Saturday October 23rd they’re teaming up with a couple local businesses to do a beer tasting and homebrew demonstration. For $35 they’ll pick you up at one of their designated stops and take you to Blind Lady Ale House where you’ll be guided through a six beer (5 oz. each) tasting by Blind Lady co-owner and Automatic Brewing Co. brewer Lee Chase. Pizza will be served and then you’ll all hop back on the  bus to head to Homebrews and Gardens for a homebrewing demonstration. All participants will get 15% homebrew supplies during the event.

This event is still a month away, but according to the Park 2 Park blog they have already sold 5 out of the 25 seats (maybe more now). If you’re at all interested in homebrewing this would be a great way to get an overview and discounted supplies, as well as a beer tasting with one of San Diego’s beer elite. Click over to the Park 2 Park site to purchase tickets.

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Doggie Beer Bones

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David Crane of Doggie Beer Treats

The question of what to do with spent grains left over from the brewing process can be a big concern of breweries. Many breweries contract with ranchers who then feed the grains to livestock, but homebrewers face the same dilemna only on a smaller scale. Most homebrewers have far too little grain to be worthwhile to ranchers, but at the same time they don’t want to be wasteful and just throw out their spent grains. I’ve known some homebrewers who have baked crackers, but according to their accounts the crackers never turned out very well. One local homebrewer has found a solution to this problem: turn the spent grains into dog treats, that’s what Doggie Beer Bones is all about.

I ran into David Crane the guy behind Doggie Beer Bones this weekend outside the Grape Street Dog Park where he was set up in the shade with free samples and treats for sale. Doggie Beer Bones are made from grains after the mash, which means the grains haven’t touched any hops (this is important because hops are poisonous to dogs) and obviously have no alcohol either. The ingredients listed are: “malt, barley, oats, peanut butter, flour, egg and water”, basically the standard ingredients in most vegetarian dog treats.

A package of six medium sized treats will set you back $4 and 12 treats cost $7. All the dogs that got free samples seemed to like them, and I bought a pack and my dog hasn’t hesitated to gobble them up.

Check out the Doggie Beer Bones website for more info, or follow them on Twitter @doggiebeerbones to see where and when they’ll be around San Diego.

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