Beer Fridge List Update

After a trip to Total Wine and BevMo, the fridge list had to get updated. After painstakingly going through the beer fridge and adding the new items the list is finally updated in all it's glory! One of the most rewarding things about having an accurate list is the next time I go to a bottle share, I no longer have to worry about bringing a beer I don't have a duplicate of. Enjoy! See the list as it gets updated here.

 

Brewery	Series	Beer Name	Year	ABV	RB Rating	Bottle Count
Adrien Brouwer			2011	8.50%	87	1
Allagash		Curieux	2011	11.00%	98	1
Anchor Brewing Co		Brekle's Brown	2011	6%	81	1
Avery		Dihos Dactylion	2011	10.74%	98	1
Avery		Salvation	2011	9%	95	1
Avery		The Kaiser Imperial Oktoberfest	2011	10%	96	1
Avery		The Maharaja Imperial IPA	2011	10.54%	100	1
Ballast Point		Sea Monster Imperial Stout	2011	10.00%	98	1
Brasserie dOrval		Trappist Ale	2011	6.20%	99	1
Brasserie Dubuisson		Scaldis Belgian Special Ale	2011	12%	95	1
Brasserie Rochefort		Rochefort Trappistes 10	2011	11.30%	100	1
Brasserie Rochefort		Rochefort Trappistes 6	2011	7.50%	98	1
Brasserie Rochefort		Rochefort Trappistes 8	2011	9.20%	100	1
Brew Dog		Tokio	2011	18.20%	98	1
BrewDog		Dogma	2011	7.80%	83	2
BrewDog		Paradox SmokeHead	2011	10%	95	1
BrewDog		Tokyo*	2011	18.20%	98	2
Brouwerij De Ryck		De Ryck Arend Tripel	2011	8%	89	1
Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle		Westmalle Dubbel	2011	7%	99	1
Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle		Westmalle Tripel	2011	9.50%	99	1
Castle Brewery	Classic Release	Samichlaus	2009	14.00%	N/A?	1
Deschutes	Conflux Series	No. 2	2011	7.30%	97	1
Dogfish Head		Burton Baton	2011	10%	99	1
Drakes Brewing Co.		Aroma Coma	2011	6.70%	95	1
Firehouse Grill & Brewert		Hops on Rye	2011	7.50%	97	1
Full Sail	Brewmaster Reserve	Bump in the Night 22	2011	6.50%	72	1
Goose Island		Bourbon County	2009	13%	100	1
Great Divide		17th Anniversary Wood Aged DIPA	2011	10.00%	98	2
Great Divide		Belgian Style Yeti Imperial Stout	2011	9.50%	98	1
Great Divide

2nd Annual OC Brew Ha Ha Recap

Saturday, September 10^th 2011 started out strange. I woke to the rumble of thunder and then loud crashing noises that turned out to be nickel-sized hail beating my patio cover. Rain, hail, thunder?! These things don’t happen in Orange County! Okay, maybe they do but not very often. Determined not to miss my first OC Brew Ha Ha experience, my fiancé Sean and I armed ourselves with sensible jackets made it down to Irvine for the event.

In attendance were over 60 different breweries with all the proceeds to benefit the Fallen Fire Fighters Relief Fund.  This being only the second annual OC Brew Ha Ha, it was still my first time going so needless to say I was anxious to see how the event was managed. There was a line for everyone to obtain their commemorative glass (I do like that it was a full-sized pint glass and not a taster glass) and tabbed wristband for the tasters. I was able to receive a press pass and they gave me three (yes, three) wristbands with my glass.

The event was nicely spread out with lots of seating and food. I immediately ran into Stephen Johnson and John Holzer of New Brew Thursday and then ran off to get my first taster before it got crowded.

I tried some amazing beers, and excitedly I have discovered a new brewery that I must visit because their beer was ridiculously good. I already knew about Iron Fist Brewing Co. but haven’t really had many chances to sample their beer. Velvet Glove (9% ABV, 93 points on ratebeer.com) was so mind-blowing I have already had dreams about it. I must have more.

Other notable beers were Feeding Frenzy (8.5% ABV, 93 points) by Port Brewing Company, which had a nice balance of malty flavors with a strong hop flavor. Taco Asylum’s booth had Matilda (7% ABV, 96 points) by Goose Island which was a nice change of pace. Matilda was light and farmhouse style with a hint of spice. I enjoyed visiting my local brewery tents like Old Orange Brewing Co, Noble Ale Works, The Bruery, Cismontane, Bootlegger’s, and Newport Beach Brew Co. One I didn’t get to try was Butcher’s Brewing which had a super-long line. They have been added to my list of must-try breweries.

Then craziness ensued when I headed over for the festival within a festival known as Beer Geek Island…which was literally on an island in the middle of the lake inside the event. OC Beer Society was hosting the event, which was a bottle share between known beer enthusiasts via Facebook evite. I was lucky enough to hang out with Derek Bougie (head brewer at Newport Beach Brew Co.) and his wife Patty (aka @ocbrewerswife), “Dr.” Bill Sysak of Stone Brewing Co. and New Brew Thursday, John Holzer & Stephen Johnson of New Brew Thursday, Dawn Muehl of Port Brewing Co./Lost Abbey. Needless to say, ridiculousness ensued and lots of rare and amazing beers were had.

Some of the beers I had on Beer Geek Island were incredible. The Cigar City 110K+OT Batch #4 Imperial Red Ale was so good all I wrote was simply…wow. I was also lucky enough to have Bourbon Barrel Aged Santa’s Little Helper by Port Brewing Company thanks to Dawn which was incredible. The bourbon smell and taste was prominent but who said that’s a bad thing?!

Sadly I missed the speeches by the beer experts. I was utterly lost on the details and failed to determine the times for the Cicerone presentations by Dr. Bill, Ed Heethuis of Strab Distributing, Jarred Dooley previously of The Burery now of The Playground, Jon Porter of Tustin Brewing Company, and Jace Milstead of Firestone Walker Brewing. Not a mistake that I plan to make twice! I highly recommend everyone go next year and I hope to see you there!

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Stone Brewing Co.’s 15th Anniversary VIP Section: Worth Every Penny

Stone Brewing Co. celebrated their 15^th Anniversary on August 20^th at Cal State San Marcos and I was fortunate enough to have two VIP section tickets for me and my fiancé, Sean. The weather was hot and sunny, which made for a beautiful afternoon. The event was split into two sections: general admission (sessions A & B), and the VIP.

Being wide-eyed and overly excited, I ran into the general section before I even noticed the VIP arrows in the upstairs meadow. Happily, I was able to pre-order the new book The Craft of Stone Brewing Company: Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance from Warwick’s (a local book store) in the main event which meant I was able to purchase 1 bottle of the following choices: 2010 Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine Aged in Bourbon Barrels, 2010 Stone Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine Aged in Bourbon Barrels or 2010 Stone Old Guardian BELGO Barley Wine Aged in Wine Barrels. We ordered three books so we could get three bottles- one of each. Can you tell I am a fan of Stone?

When we finally found our way out of the madness that was the session A crowd, we found the VIP section to be open and comfortable with no crazy crowds. I am not a crowd person so having the space to roam in between the two booths for rare beer and talk to fellow beer geeks was completely worth the extra ticket prices. I had a great time talking to John Holzer and Stephen Johnson of New Brew Thursday and Patrick Rue, CEO and Founder of The Bruery. “Dr.” Bill is always so fun to hang out with, but I am convinced he is a secret ninja because every time I spotted him he would disappear again way too quickly.

Included were only ten tasters out of a choice of 47 different rare beers… how could I make these types of choices?!

The nice thing about having too many good beers to choose from is you are very unlikely to get a bad beer. At the least, you might give something three stars on Untappd.com, which is still pretty damn great.  Here are some of the highlights from what I tasted:

15^th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA by Stone Brewing Co.: “Hoppy Amazingness black IPA with a chocolate-brown head.” ABV: 10.8, 100 IBU’s. We drove over to Stone Brewing Co. after the Anniversary event and bought a case of this…that should tell you how damn good this is.

12^th Anniversary Bitter Oatmeal Chocolate Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels by Stone Brewing Co.: “Great sting of bourbon with a sweet forgiveness of chocolate creaminess.” ABV: 9.6%

Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin Ale by Ballast Point: “What?! Even the head is spicy!? This beer poured with a huge head and was way too spicy for me. The beer still had really good flavor.” ABV: 7%.

SKA Local Series #12 Merlot Stout by SKA Brewing: “Really smooth stout with flavors of coffee and slight hops.” ABV: 9.6%. This helped a lot with my Sculpin burn.

AleSmith/ Mikkeller/ Stone Belgian Style Triple Ale: “Amazing Triple, fruity and spicy and light. But, of course, Mikkeller seems incapable of making bad beer so I expected as much!” ABV: 8.7%.

Double Bastard (2005) by Stone Brewing Co.:  “Fantasmic! This beer pours amber red with a sweet forefront and a hoppy background. I could sit around and drink this one all day long.” ABV: 11.2%

Stone Brewing Co.’s proceeds go to worthy non-profits such as: The Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos, The Palomar Family YMCA, The Surfrider Foundation, and Fight ALD (Sawyer’s Triple also benefits this charity) . Maybe I just like that I can tell my mom that I am going to a charity event instead of a beer event! It’s really admirable the charity work that Stone Brewing Co. does, and, to me, it just makes the beer taste even better. Cheers to 15 more years of fantastic beer from Stone Brewing Co.!

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