Abbey Scribe | July 5, 2011

Our annual party to benefit the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots Foundation!

Update (July 13, 2011): See below for updated schedule of events.

Join us for a day of Christmastime festivities, great food, beer and music to celebrate the release of bourbon barrel-aged Santa’s Little Helper and to collect toys and cash to benefit the Marine Corp’s Toys for Tots foundation. Last year we raised over $10,000 in toys and cash donations — this year we’re trying to beat that!

Events on tap:

Beer releases:

2011 Bourbon Barrel-aged Santa’s Little Helper – 22oz bottles; Release day only: $12 ea . Regularly: $15 ea. ; 4 bottle limit. (Yes, this beer will reach our distribution network in limited quantities.)

Food & Beer:

Food – We’re doing a real Christmas meal! We’ll be serving fresh smoked turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, yams, fresh-baked rolls and dessert

On Tap – All of The Lost Abbey & Port Brewing’s regular 21 tap line-up, plus a few secret specialties (more on those as we approach the event…)

Activities:

A Visit from St. Nick

Santa Claus loves to visit us while he’s on vacation in San Diego! He’ll be dropping by the brewery from 12pm – 5pm so you can get you, your friends’ and family professionally photographed with him in the Barrel Room.

Live Webcast
We’ll be doing a live web broadcast — this time from a platform high above the tasting room floor where our intrepid Anchor, Andy Killion, will cover the festivities. If you’re not able to attend, you’ll be able to watch the broadcast from your computer, tablet or smartphone via our brewcam page here*.
* Download the Ustream Smartphone app for Android and iPhone here.

Live Music
Two bands! The Firkins and The Professors

Toys for Tots toy drive and fundraiser

• Toy Drive — Bring a new, unwrapped toy valued at $15 or more to benefit Toys for Tots

• Giving Tree – Make an additional $15 cash donation to Toys for Tots (above & beyond the unwrapped toy) and you get to select a gift from the Christmas Tree. Gifts will include rare bottles, Port Brewing & Lost Abbey gear and tickets to our legendary Barrel Night during San Diego Beer Week.

The Details:

• When: Saturday, July 16, 2011; 12pm to 7pm.
• Where: The Lost Abbey/Port Brewing, San Marcos, San Diego County, CA
• How Much: Photos with Santa, music, food and entertainment are all FREE when you bring a a new, unwrapped toy valued at $15. No toy? That’s okay. Give a $15 cash donation to Toys for Tots at the door and you’re in! (Beers are all regular price!)

Schedule of Events:
To ensure that we’re not mobbed all at once and that everyone has a chance to get their photos with Santa, enjoy the food, music and get a ticket for the Giving Tree, we’re breaking the day into two equal sessions with exactly the same stuff in both sessions. The schedule is as follows:

You can also download a printable schedule here: Christmas in July 2011 Schedule (PDF)

Category: Beer Releases, Events and Appearances, News and Events, Tasting room | Comments Off
Tags: bourbon barrels, christmas in july, santa, Santa's Little Helper, toys for tots

Abbey Scribe | August 27, 2010

In This Issue

• From the Director’s Chair
• Christmas in July Wrap-up
• New Faces at The Lost Abbey
• Upcoming Events
• New Beer Releases

From the Director’s Scribe’s Chair
What we did on our summer vacation

Editor’s Note: This spot is normally reserved for a few words from our director of brewery operations (DOBO), but Tomme’s off doing important DOBO things, so our Abbey Scribe, Sage, is filling in for him this month.

I am staring at a calendar above my desk that tells me the Great American Beer Festival is exactly three weeks from today. GABF? Already? Where did the summer go?

Oh, that’s right, we’ve been busy. So busy, in fact, that not only did we not get a vacation, we missed the July issue of this newsletter altogether. Let’s see… Cuvee punted to football season, Santa showed in July, our buddy Russ brought strawberries, the Witch came back witty as ever, and we found the Road to Helles to be paved with great beer. Plus, the brewhouse boys became the brewhouse boys and girl, the tasting room got a little more elbow room and we had everyone down for breakfast before Stone Brewing’s anniversary party.

Add that to a release angels and demons in the Abbey tomorrow, a tidal wave of fresh hops in a week or two, Denver mid-month, a return just in time for a beer and boobs and finally, a fine (and long-anticipated) Cuvee de Tomme to finish September.

Yikes. And I thought we were busy.

I’ll tell you what. You catch up on what’s new at Lost Abbey below. Me, I need to go and find a bigger calendar.

Christmas in July Wrap-up

Back on July 24th we held our annual Christmas in July party and fund raiser. If you’re not familiar with our (non)holiday shindig, each year we celebrate the release of barreled Santa’s Little Helper (aged in bourbon barrels for a year) with a Christmas party and fundraiser to benefit Toys for Tots. There’s food, music, photos with Santa and — of course — great beer, so it always ends up being quite the celebration.

This year we raised nearly $10,000 in toy and cash donations for Toys for Tots. Thanks to the generosity of our guests that day, a lot of kids will have have a better Christmas than they might otherwise.

For those of you who weren’t able to attend, we have a huge photo gallery of the day’s festivities. If you did come to the party, we’ve also posted all the Santa photos, so you can pick yours up (just in time for Christmas card season!)

• Christmas in July photo gallery
• Pictures with Santa photo gallery

New Faces at Lost Abbey

Devon Randall

At her age it might be premature to call Devon Randall “the Most Interesting Woman in the World”, but she’s certainly on the right track to earn the title.

A Berkeley grad who’s conquered real estate, climbed mountains, run with Alaskan sled dogs, and sailed a catamaran from South Africa to Trinidad in just a few short years, even Vladimir Putin would have a hard time not being impressed with her achievements.

Devon discovered craft beer while still living in Berkeley and quickly took to homebrewing. Two years later she found herself living in Santa Monica, California, and traveling south in her spare time to San Diego to learn what she could about the beer Mecca. It wasn’t long after, in her typical fashion, Devon decided to make a “dramatic” change, dump her current occupation, and jump into craft brewing with both feet even though she didn’t have a job waiting.

At first she made the 90 mile from LA to San Diego trip daily volunteering at breweries and learning what she could. This eventually led to some part time work at The Lost Abbey where her talent and abilities were quickly realized. She made the move from Santa Monica to San Diego in June and became an official member of our brewhouse team in August.

These days you’ll find Devon doing everything from brewing to bottling, soaking up as much knowledge as she can with an eye towards being a “famous girl brewer” with her own brewpub down the road. Given all she’s already accomplished, we have no doubt she’ll succeed.

If you happen to see Devon in the brewery or at a Lost Abbey event, make sure to say hi and buy her a beer. (Saisons are her favorite.)

Upcoming Events

September 17-19
Great American Beer Festival | Denver, CO
This is the big one. The one where, as the DOBO says, “we bring the noise”. Look for us in the Lost Abbey and Port Brewing booths in the Pacific section of the festival itself as well as our peeps making appearances around town during the week. (follow us @lostabbey on Twitter to find out where we’ll be.)

September 24
Beer for Boobs | Lost Abbey Brewery San Marcos, CA
Help us & our friends at White Labs support support the Susan G. Komen philanthropic trust and The 3 Day event to help find a cure for breast cancer. $10 gets you you a commemorative Beer for Boobs pint glass and two pints of any Lost Abbey or Port Brewing beer on tap.

New Beer Releases

August 28, 12pm — 6pm
Deliverance
Our first release of the embodiment of good versus evil in a barrel-aged blend. Part bourbon barreled The Serpent’s Stout, and part brandy barreled The Angel’s Share, this is our most anticipated release of the summer. (May reach limited distribution)

September 25, 12pm — 6pm
Cuvee de Tomme
A release pushed back repeatedly by cool weather and barrels unwilling to create the beer any faster, the 2010 vintage of Cuvee finally emerges after nearly a year and a half in the barrel. (May reach limited distribution)

October 4
High Tide
Our autumn fresh-hopped IPA, the release of this one actually depends on the timing of the hop harvest. The past two years the harvest & brew dates were in the first week of September. Based on that we anticipate the release by the first week in October. (Will reach full distribution)

~ * ~

Category: Newsletters | Comments Off
Tags: cuvee de tomme, Deliverance, Libri Divini, newsletter, Santa's Little Helper, summer 2010

Abbey Scribe | June 21, 2010

Join us at The Lost Abbey for our second annual Christmas in July celebration and fundraiser to benefit the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots Foundation.
(Click here to get on the Guest List!)

Events on tap:

Beer releases:

• 2010 Santa’s Little Helper (Bourbon Barrel-aged) – 22oz bottles; $12 each; 6 bottle limit

Food & Beer:

• Food – Authentic San Marcos-style BBQ; slow-cooked to perfection
• On Tap – All of The Lost Abbey & Port Brewing’s regular 21 tap line-up, plus a few secret specialties

Activities:

• A Visit from St. Nick – Get your photo with Santa Claus in the Barrel Room
• Live Music — 1st session: Boneyard, 2nd session: The Professors

Toys for Tots drive and fundraiser

• Toy Drive — Bring a new, unwrapped toy values at $15 or more to benefit Toys for Tots

• Get a Gift, give a gift — For every bottle of Gift of the Magi sold ($12 $10) we’ll make a $1 donation to Toys for Tots

• Giving Tree – Make an additional $15 cash donation to Toys for Tots (above & beyond the unwrapped toy) and you get to select a gift from the Christmas Tree. Here’s a partial list:
  • Cable Car
  • Churchill’s Finest Hour
  • Cuvee de Tomme
  • Red Poppy
  • Sinner’s Blend
  • Yellow Bus
  • Tickets to the Lost Abbey Private Barrel Night

  There are only 100 gifts under the tree per session, so make sure to get yours early!

The Details:

• When: Saturday, July 24, 2010; Two sessions: 12pm to 3pm and 4pm to 7pm. Beer and bottle release sales begin at 12pm, food and music at 1pm, santa arrives at 2pm.
• Where: Lost Abbey / Port Brewing Co., San Marcos, San Diego County, CA
• How Much: Photos with Santa, music, food and entertainment are all FREE! We are, however, asking everyone who attends to bring a new, unwrapped toy valued at $15 or more to donate to Toys for Tots. (Beers are all regular price.)

Category: Beer Releases, Events and Appearances | Comments Off
Tags: chistmas in july, fundraiser, Santa's Little Helper, toys for tots