Doc's Tour Of San Diego

[Doc]

Older members will remember my last jaunt to San Diego Topic here.
Basically I went to White Labs, the Liar's Club, had my first taste of Russian River Pliny the Elder etc.

One regret was that I could not get to Stone Brewing because of the distance and time constraints.

Alas I'm back in San Diego now, and here is my journey so far.
I arrived yesterday and as it would happen there was the 2nd Annual San Diego Craft Brewers Festival on.
Ordered my tickets online before leaving Oz, booked the hotel across the road (very nice Hilton), and an xPress Shuttle to make the journey cheap (as the festival was at Del Mar).
Details of the event are here
And attached is the list of breweries that participated.
View attachment 08craftbrew_participants.pdf

Everything went to plan and I got to the fair just after they started pouring.
Here are some shots of the layout of the festival. It was very hot yesterday too. About 40degC.




And here is the list of the beers I tried. I didn't make too many notes, just a quick impression of the beer to jog my memory later.

Rogue dead guy ale
Very malty dark amber ale with lots of late bitterness

Alaskan Amber
Smooth and Malty

Green Flash IPA
Great hoppy IPA like a scaled down Pliny

Firestone Cali Pale Ale
Creamy pale ale. Very sessionable

Lost Abbey Serpent Stout
Quite sweet rich and full. Defiinite alcohol presence.

Dogfish 90
Smooth english strong ale esk

Brurey Saison
Like a triple with lime

Bruery Black Orchard
Like a watered down Schwarz

Alaskan Smoked Porter
Awesome. Hint of bacon. Smooth

Dales Pale Ale
Smooth with hint of fruit English IPA

Alpine Pure Hoppiness
Good, bitter but pedestrian compared to my pliny

Alpine Hop Head Read
Like my Amerucan Brown but with some dry hops

Avery IPA
My palette is blown
Pedestrian and boring

New Belgian Erics Ale [sour]
Sour tart acidic beautiful

Ballast point Big Eye IPA
Another apa
Good but not special
Lacks body on the finish

Rogue Imp Pils
Similar to the HBG Imp Pils
Nice bitter finish

Finally here is the list of the beers that won.



Doc

 

[Doc]

Almost forgot the proof.
The tasting bands.


Right next to the beer festival was also Americas Strongest Man comp.
These dudes were massive. There was even an Aussie in the mix.



Doc

 

[Doc]

So what do you do after spending an entire arvo at a beer festival ?
Plan on more beer of course.

Went back to the hotel, for a quick kip and cleanup then off to Pizza Port (Solana Beach) website here.
Port Brewing was at the forefront of the Hoppy IPA's and Belgian Style beers in the US.
Tomme Arthur has since started up Lost Abbey which is part of the Pizza Port group I believe.

Basically it is a pizza joint that makes awesome pizzas with a brewery in the place. They have a big selection of beer on draft from both their brewery and other fine craft breweries.
Here is a piccy of the place.


The Pizza Port Beers.


The Guest Beers


Here is what I tried.

Shark Bite Red
Good solid red. Nice bitterness

Pliny the Elder
The nose on this beer is awesome
Identical in flavour to mine but only a 10 where mine is a 12
Pretty clear too. Mine maybe a little lighter on colour

Russian River Damnation
German Triple esq
Very delish and super smooth

RR Blind Pig IPA
Dulled down version of Pliny the Elder
Very very very solid APA

New Belgian La Folie
Wow sour but addictive
Very dark amber in colour and very sour
If you don't like grapefruit sourness you won't like this one
Brown colour

And that was me for the night :beerbang:

Doc

 

[Doc]

It is now Sunday arvo, and I've moved from Del Mar up to Escondido.
Yep, I'm heading out the door on my way to Stone Brewing.
Have a great Monday at work AHB'ers

Doc

 

[Ross]

Yep, I'm heading out the door on my way to Stone Brewing.
Have a great Monday at work AHB'ers

Doc

*******!!! Good onya Doc....have a couple for me B)


Cheers Ross

 

[Gulf Brewery]

It is now Sunday arvo, and I've moved from Del Mar up to Escondido.
Yep, I'm heading out the door on my way to Stone Brewing.
Have a great Monday at work AHB'ers

Doc

Remember Doc, they have changed the rules on binge drinking, so you are only now allowed a mouthful of each beer now

Cheers
Pedro

PS You poor bugger .......

 

[joecast]

It is now Sunday arvo, and I've moved from Del Mar up to Escondido.
Yep, I'm heading out the door on my way to Stone Brewing.
Have a great Monday at work AHB'ers

Doc

have a great time doc. hope you checked out the vblogs while the place was being built. its a different experience though walking through the door. i'll be back there in january and i cant wait :beerbang:
joe

 

[reVoxAHB]

hey, too cool doc. great thread. love the photos and blow by blow.. the America's strongest man was a nice touch, too :lol:

have fun doc, and keep the pics/blog a comin'.

inspired,

reVox

 

[Franko]

******* Doc,
just kidding wish I was there with you

Frank

 

[Screwtop]

Dirty rotten lucky mongrel.

Have fun Doc, not that you'll need any encouragement.

Screwy

 

[Phrak]

Rub it in, why don'tchya!

I'm guessing you won't be back in town for this month's club meeting, but any chance you can bring back a couple of the more morish drops for club sampling ;-)

Sneak one of these back in you're luggage as well... for the club, of course ;-)
http://morebeer.com/search/103471

Tim

 

[Trent]

I know I should be one of the last people to say this, but I am very jealous.
Have fun at Stone, and pick yerself up a bottle of Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus while you are over there. You can find it at Stone and BevMo.
Oh, and do't work too hard!
Trent

 

[Doc]

Rub it in, why don'tchya!

I'm guessing you won't be back in town for this month's club meeting, but any chance you can bring back a couple of the more morish drops for club sampling ;-)

Sneak one of these back in you're luggage as well... for the club, of course ;-)
http://morebeer.com/search/103471

Tim

Doh, you are about 2 hours too late for the Morebeer order.
Maybe next year.

Doc

 

[petesbrew]

Next time you need a sherpa to carry your bag, Doc, gimme a call.

 

[Snow]

Son of a bitch Doc that sounds like a great couple of days! Thanks for taking the effort with the tasting notes - very entertaining read.

Cheers - Snow.

 

[Doc]

Back from Stone.
What a great arvo.
Nice sunny weather, great people yadda yadda yedda.

Shall I start the posting with some Stone Barrel Aged Beers fermenting ?



Doc

 

[Doc]

How about what is in my bathroom sink keeping cool for consumption ?



Doc

 

[joecast]

How about what is in my bathroom sink keeping cool for consumption ?

Doc

hope you're sharing that growler doc?? that is certainly more than one session in there.
enjoy!!

 

[Doc]

I stopped by the local 7-11 and picked up a couple of beers.



:beerbang:

Doc

 

[reVoxAHB]

I stopped by the local 7-11 and picked up a couple of beers.

View attachment 19756

:beerbang:

Doc

Nice! And all three for less than a tener, I reckon.

Doc, I'd be interested to see if you pickup a burnt biscuit character in the flat tire. I almost couldn't drink it last time I was in the States.

reVox