2010 Angel's Share Grand Cru

When we opened our doors back in May of 2006 we knew barrel aged beers and blending of barrels was going to be a big part of our long term strategy. We built a dedicated barrel room for aging our beers and invoked the expression "In Illa Nos Fides" above the threshold for the room.A modest 100 bourbon, brandy and wine barrels were procured as we set out to build one of the largest barrel programs in this country. During the four years, our barrels have been the source of enormous success and experimental failures as well.It's one of the hallmarks of using wood for brewing purposes. There is a certain lack of control within the process. It certainly appeals to us which is why today our barrel program has expanded (with a new warehouse) to over 600 barrels full of beer.Stepping into the corridors of our barrels is a trip down memory lane. The original 8 barrels which I used back in Solana Beach in the late 90's and much of the 2000's to age and bugger up beers are still with us today. They may not make the same epic batches that they used to kick out but Nostalgia is a powerful tool and I love that they are still a part of our makeup. Every so often, we find barrels that have been misplaced literally in a Lost and Found sort of way. Other times, we have barrels that we squirrel away for "what if" type discoveries.This process of stashing barrels started back in November of 2006 when it came time to release our first batch of Brandy Barrel Aged Angel's Share. The original barreling produced 11 oak barrels of beer. When we went to package the beer, I decided that we should keep one of the 11 behind to see what extended aging would do for the evolutionary aspects of the beer. And for the past four years, Brandy Barrel # 184 has been in our warehouse since we originally loaded it in March of 2006! During this time, we would sample small portions of the beer to see what longer contact times with the wood might produce. It's been a fun experiment.Yesterday, we emptied barrel #184 and married it with 5 other barrels of Angel's Share producing batch #1 of Angel's Share Grand Cru. This promises to be one of the best batches of beer we have ever blended here at The Lost Abbey. Besides the original barrel which spent nearly four years in the oak, we also have an original barrel from the 2007 Bourbon Angel's Share (never released in bottle form). To this, we also have added three barrels from our newest 2009 Brandy Angel's Share release. One of these barrels (#292) even featured the addition of Cabernet Franc Grapes last fall adding a very nice layer of sweetness as the grapes did not ferment in the barrel. The 6th and final barrel in the blend is barrel #375 from our impending Bourbon Barrel 2010 Release scheduled for March of this year. It was brought to the blend to give it some fire and ice if you will. The new, raw spirited Bourbon character, produced the fire with the Vanilla and caramel notes bringing the "ice" and smoothness to the blend.This has the potential to go down as one of the smoothest batches of Angel's Share we have bottled. It's an epic blend of about 250-300 gallons of some of our best barrels. Those of you who renewed as Patron Sinners will see this in your first shipment of beer. All told we're expecting between 150-200 cases if this beer to jump into the bottle tomorrow. It will head across the street and into our new hot box. If all goes well, it will go on sale on February 13th along with 2010 Red Poppy batch we're bottling on Monday... see you then?ps- We didn't start numbering the individual barrels until 2008. This may help explain why one of our original 100 barrels is labeled as barrel #184 and the 2007 Bourbon Angel's Share is from barrel #117.

Typical Saturday at The Lost Abbey

It's a Saturday in January which means there's snow on the ground in most of the country, NFL playoffs on the TV and a bunch of people enjoying our tasting room at Port Brewing. In case you haven't visited us in a while you may not know that Saturdays have turned into quite the place to be. Bus load after bus load of beer thirsty zymurgists(well, not all of them) have descended on our building yet again. It's pretty cool. And they all seem to enjoy the changes we made to the tasting room to accommodate more patrons.Across the bar from me, there's a table of 8 discussing the merits of Bourbon Barrel Aged Santa's Little Helper from this past Christmas in July. They're wondering out loud (or loud enough that I can hear them), whether the next batch scheduled for July 24th of this year (announcement forthcoming) will be better. Off the record (and no I haven't tasted it yet) I think it will be. Given how stupid good the current batch of Santa's Little Helper on tap tastes, I can only imagine how naughty but nice that party is going to be.This past week,Sage and I had lunch at Churchill's to discuss the beer calendar and release schedule for the first half of 2010. It's not my job to steal his thunder but I thought I would lay out what is in the works. Check back to the website for the exact schedule and bottle limits in the not so distant future. As many of you already know, next Saturday we're releasing the latest installment of Brandy Angel's Share. This will be the 2009 Vintage as there is another release slated for later this year.The 2009 Vintage marks the transition to our new 375 ml bottle shape that was produced for us, Russian River and North Coast Brewing. It's very cool and I for one am excited as it means for the first time we'll be able to send more of this sized bottled beer out into the market. The first bottling run went very well as 800 cases were produced. Labels arrive on Monday and it heads out to market at the end of this week.In February, we're targeting the 2010 release of Red Poppy Ale. This years batch promises to be as great if not better than the one we released in 2009. As we get more familiar with this beer, we can make subtle changes in the blend allowing the different barrel flavors to shine through. On release day, we're also going to preview a draft keg of Framboise de Amarosa. This is a barrel aged raspberry beer that has been aging in our distribution warehouse since last summer. In July, we had farm fresh raspberries delivered to our brewery and they went directly into all manners of barrels. And because it didn't have enough Raspberry character, we added more fruit to the barrels in November.Since we seem to be focusing on fruit beers, we should mention that sometime in the spring, we plan on releasing a batch of Veritas 005 (In Veritas Vino). I'm sure that some of you are probably in possession of bottles of Veritas 004 and Veritas 006. But what about batch 005 you're wondering. Well, in the spirit of the Veritas series and experimentation, we only produced 6 cases of the original batch of Veritas 005 (featuring native Southern California Grapes as the fruit). That batch was a success so last fall, we sourced some Cabernet Franc grapes from Temecula in hopes of making Veritas 005 a reality on a larger scale. We can't say when it will be ready or when it will be released but we know it will jump into the bottle in the next month or two.Lastly we have a batch of Amazing Grace that has been slumbering away in French Oak barrels for almost a year now. Many of you might have missed the original batch of Amazing Grace as we didn't produce a ton of it in 2007 for the initial release. Seemingly, we have 6-8 oak barrels worth of beer that we'll get ready for sale at some point this spring so stay tuned.A little housekeeping before I go as well. First, Santa heard my cries and decided to bring me a new hood and wire unit for our bottling line. This means that in March, we expect to be ready to increase the output of our Lost Abbey bottles. It's been a long time coming. Currently the guys have to bust ass to make 18 bottles of beer an hour. The new unit will do 50 per minute. And they say I'm a slave driver...They also finished our new cold box over the holiday break and next week I hear my new hot box will even be ready. This is a good thing. We're getting ready to package Serpent's Stout and it will be nice to be able to get that beer up to temp quickly. And given how much Serpent's we made this year, it will be nice to see bottles everywhere. We're also holding back a significant volume for Bourbon Barrel Aging. Look for this to be released later this year.We're opening the doors next Saturday for our first release since July of last year. It will be the first time that some of our patrons see the new tasting room. It also marks the 6th batch of Angel's Share to be released since we opened. Sometimes, the more things change the more they stay the same. Given how much Angel's Share I've been drinking lately, I thought I would share, this one reminds me of batch #1 and for that I am thankful.

Christmas is coming...I asked Santa for a Hood and Wire Unit.

It's Monday of Christmas week. It's finally here! I'm sitting at my desk staring at the box with Sydney's new Princess Scooter in it. I need to put it together. It's pretty much the only thing she asked Santa for this year. As I stare at the box, I am reminded that there are a bunch of kids out there who have asked Santa for presents this year and may not get anything. It's enough to make a grown man cry.Somedays, I am reminded of how blessed we are at Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey. Last night, we held our Chirstmas Party for our employees and their families. It was a chance to reflect on where we have been and to give them hope for the places and direction we wish for in 2010. All told it was a great evening. Vince cooked. We drank and there was even festive music in the background. It was a great way to start this Christmas week.This Christmas week is very exciting for me. First, I am happy as a pig in you know what since it looks like the new cold box I asked Santa to bring me for Christmas will finally be completed. At over 1200 square feet, it will triple the size of our old unit and make things so much easier on the distribution side. I'm thankful(and so is David) that our warehouse will also stop looking like a bomb exploded in there. For the past two months, we have been storing all manner of kegs, barrels, bottles and cold box parts waiting for the new unit to be completed. Now that it's done, we can all breath a sigh of relief.As part of the cold box expansion, we're also going to finish our new Hot Box for Bottle Conditioning. This will give us much better consistency. In terms of our process, this is one area we have been negligent as the weather in San Diego is pretty stable year round. However, we are entering that time of the year when the warehouse stays a bit cooler than ideal and as such, we need this warm room.I'm also thankful that our new custom 375 ml bottles have arrived from China. This new bottle mold(that we're sharing with Russian River and North Coast Brewing Company) is a proprietary shape and will give us better flexibility to ship our small batch beers all over this great country. Look for 2009 Angel's Share Brandy Barrel to hit the shelves as our first release. Last week, we packaged 800 cases of the beer and it's conditioning as we speak. These bottles were run on our New Bottling Line and the process went incredibly well. We also have run cork finished Judgment Day and Gift of the Magi bottles on the line with no issues. It's nice to know that the only piece missing is a wire hood unit that can keep up. Santa can I get one of these for Christmas too?Lastly, many of you were with us for Christmas in July. I know because we have all these amazing pictures of our patrons sitting with St. Nick. They're some of my favorite pictures around the brewery. They also remind me that we're about to make a difference in some young lives this weekend. As many of you recall we donated a ton of presents to the Toys for Tots Foundation back in August. This Christmas (because of your generosity) smiles all over San Diego will break out. And that my friends is the spirit of Christmas. Now, if you'll excuse me. I have some princesses who require my attention.

High on Fridays or is it the drugs?

It's Friday and the Ramones are jamming on the CD player. Me, I'm hunkered down in my office. The tasting bar is packed and Marty is doing a brisk business of selling pork products from his hot dog cart out front. What beer am I drinking as I type this? The clear alcohol free kind known as Holy Water. You see, two days ago, I woke up feeling a bit under the weather and no, I didn't have the botella influenza. Seems that I am the victim of either too much work or perhaps my 3 year old petri dish known as Sydney who just started preschool last week might have infected daddy. Sucks but I am definitely not 100% right now and with Denver next week, I am trying my best to lay low so that I can get well.I am on my third set of Cough Medicine and hoping that by the time I am done swallowing these orange pills, I will feel better. As we just tapped the High Tide at 4 PM today, I would REALLY like to be having one right about now. I also would very much like to be downtown at the San Diego Festival of Beers. Haven't missed one of these in a VERY long time! But such is life. In spite of all my woes, I will say that last night (before I broke down and started pumping my body full of meds) we had our annual tasting for our GABF beers here at the brewery.This is the first year that we have done this outside of the Pizza Port beers but since the three locations are sending a total of 34 beers this year and we're sending 8 from Lost Abbey and 5 from Port Brewing, it was just impossible to do them all in one night. Jeff came out from Carlsbad last night and we ran down the list of beers that we're sending to Denver. Not everything scored highly but that's to be expected. Bottling does weird things to beers.We started with Midnight Sessions and Hot Rocks. Neither really WOWs me at the moment. They were bottled so long ago that I just kind of throw my hands in the air and hope. Not expecting this to be part of our year. Moved sideways and had some Carnevale and Inferno. Both of these are awesome drinking beers. A brett based Saison has never done well in the category we enterered so we'll see. The Inferno may just be the most stylistically perfect beer we sent. It's fluffy and smashingly drinkable which is awesome. And, this Pale Strong Belgian Ale type beer usually does very well in this category. High hopes for this one.We opened some Wipeout, Panzer Pils and Hop 15 next. It's funny because the Wipeout is so incredibly clean. But there seems to be this notion that the hop aroma should be more over the top. It tasted amazing but Aroma is very important. Well built either way and a beer we make and drink a ton of around here. The Panzer really has all the essence of a great Imperial Pils and I hope for Julian's sake it scores well (read medals). This is our Pro Am entry. Basically a homebrewer and professional brewer collaborate on a homebrewer's award winning recipe and brew it for commercial sale. This year we nailed the parameters for Panzer and Julian agrees. The Hop 15 won a bronze medal last year (don't ask me how). None of us scored it well during the tasting. Yet there it was winning Alpha King and a bronze GABF medal. Weird. This years batch has nice flavor and it's no slouch in the hops department. But then again this is one of the hardest categories at the fest to win. So...Post Hoppy beer land, we turned our attention to Sour beer land (it's like Candyland for adults). In Sour Beer land, we didn't see any Oompa Loompahs but we did find some Duck Duck Gooze, Cuvee and In Veritas Vino 005. The Duck Duck has the necessary Acetic character to win and the depth is great. Jeff says maybe too sweet? The Cuvee is the best bottling we have ever done. Sure, there have been better kegs and single barrels but as a matter of course, this is just a nice blend of barrels. Cuvee didn't win last year but this year the beer isn't a shadow of its former self. Nope, it's the paradigm of blending for us.In Veritas Vino is an experimental beer and we think it has awesome character. And that's all I have to say about that... We also opened a bottle of Red Poppy. This was the third year we have made Red Poppy and it's clearly the best batch as well. The oak might be overstated for style but not in my heart. So tasty. The beer will be on the festival floor which won't suck.Lastly, we moved into Black beer territory with some Serpent's Stout and a wee bit of Older Viscosity. I love me some Serpent's but this batch didn't sit well in the bottle and I'm not feeling it. The Older Viscosity has all the depth you would expect of a bourbon beer. The only issue we could ding it for was that the body seems too light. I mean the beer is 11.5% ABV so how light can the body be? Yet, it just doesn't have "that" chewiness thing going on in the beer. Drinks like it's so much lighter. You know the way we want it to be.So that's it for now. One week from tomorrow, we'll be in Denver. One week from right now, the Judging will have officially have ended and the trophy people will be busy working on their part. It would be great to add some more hardware to our collection. This year there are over 3200 beers entered in the competition. That's beyond comprehension. So many beers so little time. And to think, I'm on drugs right now.Who knew?

Friday nights, DUI Checkpoints and .068

When we began the process of acquiring this brewery in San Marcos some 4 years ago, I made a decision to move my family(Maureen was pregnant with Sydney and due in May of 2006) to San Marcos so that I could be closer to the brewery. We found a place that is above Cal State San Marcos University and have lived there since April of 2006. I always thought living near the brewery would be better as I wouldn't have to drive too far to get home(especially after a couple of after work beers).Today, I'm not so sure this place we call home is the best place for us to live. Now mind you, I love the Condo complex we live in. The neighbors are great and Sydney has access to a nice playground and pool area so these are the positives. But, the negatives are starting to gain some serious momentum as last night, I had to drive through a DUI Checkpoint on the way home from work for the 4th time since we moved to San Marcos in April 2006! Clearly, owning a brewery, drinking beers on a Friday night and "breezing home" don't go hand in hand here in San Marcos. At least not, if you live above the University like we do and there is only one way home from the brewery.Yesterday, my day started in Seattle, WA where I had been doing sales work. The alarm clock went off at 6AM enabling me to make my 8 AM Sales Meeting at Click Wholesale (our Washington state kick ass distribution partner). Sydney, Maureen and I then boarded a flight back to San Diego. After getting situated at home, I dropped down the hill around 4:15 to gather the mail, check on the tasting bar,meet with Mike about the past week and this weeks brewing schedule. I was enjoying a pint of SPA (Summer Pale Ale) at 5ish when Mike indicated that we were having issues with the cold box (it was almost 100F here yesterday in San Marcos) and the compressor on the roof.So, I spent the next hour baking on the roof trying open our sky lights and getting the compressor to reset. Having successfully reset the cold box and opened the sky lights, I proceeded back to the tasting bar area to relax and grab some water. Baking in the sun trying to work on the unit in pants and a black shirt drained me pretty good.Once I was able to cool off and relax, I had a Wipeout IPA. It tasted spot on. The next one was equal to the task. It was now about 8 PM and Sage was making the annoucement on his new Bull horn (Thanks Harbor Freight) that it was quitting time and last call. I poured a 1/2 pint of IPA and thought about getting home to my luggage and exhausted road tested family. In passing, I mentioned to Sage that it was about time for the Sheriff's Department to set up another sweep for DUI. It has been a few months since I had seen one last on my way home. I suppose I was channeling my inner Nostradomus at this point. I actually told him I thought it would be next weekend (Labor Day) but I wouldn't be surprised to say the least if there was one going on.I pounded a couple of pints of water and discussed Sage's company being named to the Forbes Top 25 Entrepeneurs list that was just published (congrats on that btw)! At around 9:30 I decided that it was time to head home to get some rest. I hadn't had a beer in over an hour and water had been my friend in that time. I proceeded South on Twin Oaks Blvd heading towards my home when I came over the freeway rise and saw the flashing lights and orange cones of the checkpoint. And the thing about these checkpoints, is there is no way to evade them if you're driving.So I pointed my car towards the "Safety Zone" and steeled my nerves for what clearly was going to be a choice encounter with the law. In line, I was stopped and approached by an officer and asked for my license and registration. He asked where I had been and why I smelled like beer ("Because I own a brewery called Port Brewing that's about a 1/2 a block from your Sheriff's Station was my reply). I was asked to step out of the vehicle and moved to a secondary inspection area.I submitted to a battery of field tests. I explained to the officer that I had been up since 6 AM, hadn't eaten anything since 3 PM and given that I was wearing flip flops at the time, not likely to pass many of these "tests." I also quite confidently felt that I was not over the legal limit and that most of my appearance and field tests results would be plagued by the weariness of the travel I had endured this day. We did the "follow my pen with your eye test." Next we did the raise your right foot and point your toes to the sky while you count to the 30 one thousands. I made it to 10 one thousands before I had to rest my foot. I proceeded to do the next 20 one thousands reaching 30 one thousands without issue. I switched feet and standing on my right foot managed to break off 30 one thousands without issue.The tests kept coming. I "got" to walk the line. As the officer stated the process I was supposed to do, I looked down at my feet and felt feelings of fear overcome me. I was now very deep in a battery of tests (any of which could be used against me in court) and my Mickey's Big Mouth Flip Flops were staring at the officer. I begged indifference to the test in flip flops( seriously how stable can they be) and asked to remove them. The officer agreed and now I was barefoot. "Toes to ankles touching, please take 9 steps on this line and then pivot on one ankle and repeat all the while counting out each step.""One, two, three..." as I proceeded to toe the white line of the Ralph's Grocery parking lot where the test was being administered. I reached 9 pivoted and headed back feeling as if I had done everything right (no one every tells you if you've passed this test or that one). At this point, I am certain that the field tests had me being more polluted than the law allows for. I on the other hand felt confidently that I wasn't drunk. Sure I had beer on my breath and had been drinking but that doesn't mean I had broken the law.I was given the chance to take a "preliminary field alcohol test" with the proviso that if I didn't blow over .08 I would be sent on my merry way. This seemed like the thing to do maintaining that I wasn't innebriated. The officer prepped the breathalyzer and showed me the calibration of 0.00. I was then told to blow for about 8 seconds into the machine until it beeped. It did. I wasn't shown the result. I suppose the result didn't matter as it's probably used for calibration. After about a 30 second rest, I repeated the process and the resulting meter came back at .068.I had officially been given a reprieve and instructed that if I crashed on the way home, I could still be cited for DUI. I thanked the officers for their time and climbed back into my car and headed home. Being in the beer business is frought with peril. Getting behind the wheel with beer on the breath happens almost on daily basis. The difficulty is knowing with certainty where you stand relative to the "sobriety scale." I was put through the paces last night. It was brutal. Sure I had been drinking and the officer was just doing his job. Yet, I felt helpless in that I was completely lucid (albeit wiped out from traveling) and about 3 blocks from my home.Without a doubt, this was one of those wake up calls. Last night was not a heavy night of drinking by any stretch of the imagination. And yet, I found myself being asked to step out of a vehicle in a grocery store parking lot so I could walk the line. Though I never saw the report that the officer was working on, I am left to conclude that these tests are difficult to perform even with a beer and a half in your system. I suppose that's the point, they're not supposed to be easy to pass. That being said, I am left to conclude that I was probably one of a handfull of people who were plucked from their vehicles last night who performed all the tests and were let go. I slept next to Maureen last night and Sydney jumped on my head this morning @ 6:30 AM which is the way Saturday's are supposed to be even if Friday nights, DUI Checkpoints and .068 stand between me and getting home.Tomme's edit: (this is from a press release the day after) It's amazing that with all the effort that was put into this Checkpoint, no one was found arrested for DUI on this evening.SYNOPSIS:On Friday evening 08/28/2009, the San Marcos Sheriff’s Traffic Division, with cooperation from the North County Law EnforcementTraffic Safety Council, conducted a Driving Under the Influence checkpoint at 300 South Twin Oaks Valley Road in the City of SanMarcos. This detail is part of the on-going effort by the California Office of Traffic Safety, the City of San Marcos and the Sheriff’s TrafficDivision to reduce the number of drunken driving traffic collisions and related incidents. The checkpoint was staffed by San Marcosdeputies, Senior Volunteers, Probation Department and members of the North County Law Enforcement Traffic Safety Council.MISSION: The purpose of the operation was to raise awareness, identify and arrest drunk drivers, and allow for a safer drivingenvironment within the City of San Marcos. Enforcement of other California Vehicle Codes relating to seat belt violations along withany other alcohol related or law violations.2003 vehicles passed through the checkpoint. 525 were inspected.There were no drivers found to be intoxicated.7 traffic citations were issued.2 arrests for drug possession8 vehicles were stored due to various license and registration violations.

Christmas in July

Here in San Diego, even when it's supposed to be Christmas time, it rarely truly feels like Christmas.  In December each year, other parts of the country, throw on their best Christmas sweaters and sing about how the "weather outside is frightful."  Us, we head for the beach and roast Marshmallows (not Chestnuts) by a bonfire.  Yet, each year we at Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey do our part to support seasonal beers with the production of not one but two Christmas beers- Santa's Little Helper and Gift of the Magi.Last August when we produced the 2008 Santa's Little Helper Imperial Stout, we put a plan in motion to age a portion of the batch in Bourbon Barrels for a Christmas in July promotion that I wanted to do at the brewery.  Last weekend, we had another kick ass event at the brewery (thanks to all of our volunteers who supported us)!  There were great new beers in bottles and on tap (including the first release of Duck Duck Gooze).  Chef Vince of course whipped up some amazing pizzas and The Professors sounded as tight as they could in a brewery environment.  Santa Claus even paid us a visit.  All told, it was a great event for the patrons of Lost Abbey.But what truly made the event memorable was the overwhelming support that we received for Toys for Tots.  As part of our Christmas in July promotion, we asked attendees to bring one unwrapped toy (valued at $15) in exchange for entrance to the party.   I must say that I was blown away by the generosity of our people and clearly they understand that together we can make a difference.  We raised over $10,000 worth of new toys from this event.  Those who didn't bring toys were asked for a cash donation and $1,500 was sent to the Toys For Tots Foundation as well.It gave me goose bumps on Saturday night to stand next to all the great toys that we collected.  It meant an awful lot to me that we were able to take something (like beer with the associated stigmas) and do great work for kids.I know that beer and children can be very taboo in our society but if you look at what we accomplished this weekend, I know this is not always the case.  Personally, this was an incredibly gratifying and rewarding day.  Many children will need help in order to celebrate Christmas this year.  Knowing that our beer brought so many people together for this cause is an exceptional feeling.So, to everyone who was there on Saturday and gave a little bit to help brighten the Christmas morning of so many children, I say thank you!  Christmas in July has landed here at Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey and will remain on our calendars each year from here on out.

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

Christmas in July Update

We're pleased to announce that we now have a final schedule of events and full tap and bottle list for next week's Christmas in July beer release and fundraiser.The schedule of events is as follows:

• 12:00pm — Tasting room opens. Bottle Sales; tasters & pint sales begin.
• 1:00pm — Santa Arrives; Photos with Santa in the Barrel Room.
• 2:00pm — Food service begins (Chef Vince and his magic pizza trailer).
• 4:00pm — Photos with Santa end; Giving Tree* gift distribution.
• 5:00pm — Santa Leaves. Live music by The Professors.
• 6:30pm — Last Call. Final bottle, taster and pint sales.
• 7:00pm — Doors close.

* In exchange for a $15 cash donation to Toys for Tots, you will be able to select a gift from the Giving Tree. (Must be 21 or over to receive gift.)A printable schedule of events and full list of what will be on tap and in bottle (along with pricing) is available for download here:

» Christmas in July Schedule and Taster / Bottle List (Acrobat PDF)

For more information on the full day's events and beer releases, please click here.

Christmas in July Beer Release & Fundrasier

Sure it's hot outside, but it'll be cooler than ever at Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey's first Christmas in July Celebration and Fundraiser, Saturday, July 25, 2009 from noon to 7pm.Events on tap:Beer releases:

• Santa's Little Helper (Bourbon Barrel-aged) – 22oz bottles; $12 each; 6 bottle limit
• Older Viscosity 2009 – 375ml bottles; $15 each; 12 bottle limit
• Duck Duck Gooze (yes, that Duck Duck Gooze) – 750ml bottles; $30 each; 6 bottle limit
• The Angel's Share (Bourbon Barrel-aged) – 750ml bottles; $30 each; 6 bottle limit

Food & Beer:

• Food Stylings from our own Chef Vince Marsaglia
• Tastings - Duck, Duck Gooze, Older Viscosity & Santa's Little Helper (Bourbon)
• On Tap – All of Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey's regular line-up

Activities:

• A Visit from St. Nick – Get your photo with Santa Claus in the Barrel Room
• Live Music - Special musical guests, 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
• Giving Tree – give a $15 donation to Toys for Tots & you get to select a gift from under the Christmas Tree (Gifts include many rarities from our barrel archives – Isabelle Proximus, Cuvee de Tomme, Veritas `04, and more!

The Details:

• When: Saturday, July 25, 2009; 12pm to 7pm. Beer and bottle release sales begin at 12pm. Santa arrives at 1pm. Food and music begins at 3pm.
• Where: Lost Abbey / Port Brewing Co., San Marcos, San Diego County, CA
• How Much: Food, music and photos with Santa are 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.)

Update - July 17, 2009:A full schedule of events as well as the tap and bottle availability list may be downloaded here:

» Schedule of Events & Taster / Bottle List

Note: There will be no growler fills on this day.

For more information:

• Click here to contact our tasting room and special events coordinator

Moses is a Son of a Bitch

Says me.  This past week, we receieved our labels for Ten Commandments and today, the beer is finally on sale at the brewery.  I say finally because I've come to conclude that Moses is an egotistical son of a bitch who never seems to be able to get in the bottle on time.  We'v been in business for three years now and in that time, we haven't been able to get a batch of Ten Commandments to ferment the way I think it should.  However, with that being said, we actually like the way the beer tastes and remain committed to making this beer with a very fickle(read son of a bitch) strain of yeast.Why would you keep using a yeast that is such a pain in the ass you might ask (FYI, Mike our Head Brewer keeps asking me the same question).  Well, the answer is simple.  I like the flavor of the beer the way it is brewed and until someone can prove to me that just being a son of a bitch is reason enough to ditch a yeast, I'm going to keep using it.  Last year, we brewed 4 batches of the beer and the yeast took over three months to finish what it started.  This year, I think we actually shaved about 6 weeks off of that timeline. You see, I imagined that Ten Commandments would be our Lost Abbey Anniversary Ale each year and that means we should release it each May.  Last year, it was August when Moses finally came off that mountain.  This year, we see him at the end of June doing his thing.  I suppose we may actually get him on schedule for next year at the rate we're going.  Maybe, we should brew the beer in December each year to ensure that he's ready.  Do you think he's shy?  I can't think so.  I mean I know the dude is old but he spoke with God himself so he's got that going for him. Right?  Yeah that's what I  thought to. This years batch of Ten Commandments is now starting to head off into distribution.  As we recently just receieved our first shipments of our new microstar kegs, you can expect to see Ten Commandments show up at better beer establishments near you in draft and bottled beer formats.  And for that, I am thankful.  Even if the dude looks like a hippy and acts like a prima dona son of a bitch from time to time.

Christmas in July

Oh yeah, it's hot, but there's an unbelievable beer release today:

• Older Viscosity 2009
• Angel's Share - Bourbon (750ml)
• Duck Duck Gooze (yes, the much awaited geuze beer)
• Santa's Little Helper - Bourbon Barrel

As it's Christmas in July, we're asking everyone to bring a new, unwrapped toy valued at $15 or more. All proceeds go to Toys for Tots this Christmas.For full details of the days events, please click this link: http://www.lostabbeydev.wpengine.com/christmas-in-july-beer-release-fundrasier/

You've got to be kidding me...

Saturday May 9th has to go down as one of the craziest days we have ever had here at The Lost Abbey.  And mind you, there are some stories that just don't get posted.  This past weekend, we celebrated our 3rd Anniversary of being in business here off Mata Way.  It was a decidedly rip roaring event.  As you know, any great event starts with epic beers.  So, we tapped Bourbon Angel's Share, Brandy Angel's Share, Cuvee de Tomme, Phunky Duck, Cask Conditioned 3rd Anniversary Ale.  We also dug out kegs of Santa's Little Helper, Gift of the Magi and High Tide.Now, it wouldn't be prudent of us to sling so many crazy beers without some starch to sop up those libations.  Luckily, we had the Pizza Port crew here spinning pies from the oven.  Chris and his crew did an exceptional job of building pizza after pizza for three hours straight.  It would appear that in that time, they cranked out over 100 large pizzas and most of the patrons seemed thankful they were doing such a kick ass job.  I know when I got hungry and stole a slice of Peperoni, Pineapple and Garlic pizza there weren't any complaints emminating from my belly.As it has become a tradition, we even managed to squeeze a band on site.  And when I say squeeze, I mean it.   A big thanks to The Professors who riffed their way through the afternoon channeling their innner tidal changes and kept the energy flowing.  They were ridiculous.  Even the accoustics of this "tinny" brewery couldn't keep them from sounding tighter than a beaver's you know what.All told, it was an exceptional day. Much of the credit has to go to the hard working staff of volunteers who made sure that everyone was sufficiently well taken care of.  We had zero inclination(based on past events) that so many people would show up for our party.  We believe that when the dust settled, over 600 patrons came through our doors (our very small doors).  Their patience and demeanor contributed to the overall success of the day as beer waits often reached over 10 minutes. We're working on a plan for next year that will include more space(and beers).  We hope to build on the success of this party and moving forward keep offering more crazy beers and great times.  It's always been a simple mantra.  Good Beer Brings Good Cheer.  After this weekend, we continue to believe this to be the case and can't wait for more of the same.

Cinco de Mayo

It's officially Cinco de Mayo(the one day a year that American's profess a "love" for Tequila).  Me, I love it 365 days a year so no big deal.  You're not likely to see me get wasted today waving my pistola in the air.  Hoewever, I may actually drink more than my fair share of alcohol today because today, Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey turn 3.  Yes, you heard me right.  Today is the third anniversary of our opening.  It was a Saturday 3 years ago in 2006 when we opened the doors to this brewing project and set out to create beers "For Sinners and Saints Alike.In a span of three years, we have accomplished so much.  In 2007 we won Small Brewery of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival and in 2008 we achieved the same accolade at the World Beer Cup thus becoming the first small brewery to hold the titles at the same time.   And, while these competitive victories have been nice, they aren't the be all end all reason we exist.Nope, we exist and have the opportunity to come to "work" everyday to make incredible beers because of the people who support us.  With that in mind, I thought today's post should be about people and not about the tequila I am going to drink later today.  I should start with my partners Gina, Jim and Vince.  It was about this time in 2005 that we got together and started the conversation about building/ acquiring a larger production facility.  When Stone announced that they would be building a new brewery and selling off their old one, it just made sense for us to be here.  Our partnership is now four years strong and this company wouldn't exist without them.Without fail, this project would be doomed were it not for the support of my wife Maureen and our daughter Sydney.  Most readers of this blog know that Sydney came into this world a mere 10 days after we opened our doors three years ago.  In the span of three years, my wife has been tasked with raising our dauighter all the while her husband (me) has been raising another child (this brewery).  Crazy doesn't even begin to describe this time in our lives.  Thankfully neither she nor I feels the need to get liquored up on Tequila waving our Pistolas in the air to celebrate this.I also need to thank the people who run this brewery day in and day out.  To my brewers (including the ones who got us here and the ones who will be taking us places in the coming years) I hope we continue to offer a workplace that is anything but boring and rewards all of us.  To all the volunteers who put their time in over the last three years.  It never ceases to amaze me what is possible.  It was 3 years ago today that I was introduced to the concept of the Safety Nap by Teri and Sage.  Today, there's less napping as the bar is a bustling hub of activity every weekend but they're still here filling glasses reminding each of us that good beer brings good cheer.Rome wasn't built in a day.  We know this much to be true.  We also know that in three years we have exceeded even our wildest expectations for this space.  We've experienced some incredible highs and lows along the way.  The support of our customers and fan base has been overwhelming.  We couldn't do this without you.  So on this Cinco de Mayo and our 3rd Anniversary of opening the doors here at 155 Mata Way, I raise my Pistola to the air in a one gun salute.  Thank you for everything these past three years.  Let's Party!

Viva La Vida Loca

It's 4:11 on Monday the 27th of April.  They just fired up the bottling line about an hour ago and we're now running bottles of Old Viscosity.  WOW!!!  What a feeling it  is to see this sucker run.  We purchased this 16 head filler back in December of 2008 and since then, we have been laboring over the rebuild and installation of the line.  In March, I hired Gordie to come run this thing and it appears that we'll finally be able to do just that very soon.  The whole thing is surreal.  As I look to my left out my office window, I see bunch of guys(wearing safety goggles) filling bottle after bottle of our beer.  It's just a test run and there are some sticking points to work out.  (This is Old Viscosity after all).  Yet, I see a levity in the step of my guys.  They know that this is the end of the crazy bottling runs that they have been tortured by. Yes, they will still be required to bottle beer.  However, this new setup will allow them to package an entire tank in one day AND apply labels at the same time!!! Get the *^#@ out of here.  Really!  Bottles and labels applied in one sequence.  Somebody cue the Jefferson's as we're moving on up here at the Lost Abbey and Port Brewing.  Sure, we aren't home yet and there's plenty of battles to wage with this new beast.  Lord knows old bottling equipment can be quite cantankerous.  But, today isn't about fear.  Nope, today is about the promise of a better tomorrow with each bottle of our beer filled by a machine.  Mind you there's still enough hand crafting going on out there.  We're not that good yet.  But, it's exciting to know that we've graduated and that each bottle from this line should be an improvement over our last setup. To those of you who have hung in with us, we say thank you.  To those of you just finding us, we say welcome.  Today is a great day.Today we bottled beer on a machine.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have a pint of beer with my name on it.

I'm too young to be a grandparent

Those of you who follow life at Port Brewing know that we have two cats that patrol our brewery as part of our commitment to Bio-Dynamic Pest Control. Amarillo and his sister Cascade have been with us for almost 10 months now. In that time, they have assimilated themselves very well to brewery living.   On most weekends, Amarillo will assume his post and hunker down at the end of the bar. In many ways, he's like Norm from Cheers excepting of course that the cat is neither witty nor does he drink. Yet, he anchors that corner of the bar quite well.His sister Cascade has always been a bit more shy when the brewery is open and for the most part prefers to hide outside from the masses. Either way, they have been an integral part of our brewery since they moved in. They literally have put the pest control guy out of business. I for one am happy about their performance.About 4 months ago, we noticed that Amarillo was showing Cassie some serious "Brotherly Love" and became concerned about his affections. As such, we dispatched him to the veterinarian where he was ceremoniously "nutted." Sorry bro. Sometimes these things just have to happen. The operation was a success. Amarillo recovered well and has since gotten incredibly lazy. But then again, you can't blame him...Fast forward to about a month after his surgery when Cascade starts looking less gaunt than her brother and is on the prowl more than she ever used to be. I blamed lethargy and lack of nutter butters in Amarillo. Just sort of figured she was "picking up the slack" for her brother. Turns out, I was wrong. Somewhere on a starry night Cassie had gone out and found love in all the wrong places. She began putting on weight and the countdown began.Last week before I left for Philly Beer Week, we watched as Cascade began prepping the brewery for the imminent arrival of the new additions to Port Brewing (side note, we have been adding tanks and equipment. I wonder if extra kittens running around qualify as a tax write off as well?) On Wednesday, I got a text from Monkey Mike congratulating me on being a Grandpa.Seems that while I was in Philadelphia, our little "Cassie" (Cascade) gave birth to five new Port Brewing Kittens. And in an instant, my world changed. I became a Grandparent overnight. I'm 35 and way too young to be a grandparent. That's what I texted Mike. Too late he said. You're stuck with it. Then he proceeded to tell me that we have 3 new black kittens and two silver ones.At this point in time, none of them have names. Tiernan (Terri and Sage's daughter has first dibs on the kitties). She wants one of the silver ones. We're going to keep the other silver one for the brewery. Sydney will be naming this one. That leaves three black kittens. Gina and Skye have decided they want one. This leaves us with two more kittens to find homes for.Terri has decided that we're going to have a raffle for the last two kittens.  The details will be forthcoming.  The response has been overwhelming.  I know that we'll have zero issues finding these two little bundles of joy a new home.  It'll be weird having a 3rd cat roaming the brewery.  But at the same time, it just didn't seem right taking all 5 kittens out of the mix.So, in the coming weeks, when you visit the brewery, please be mindful that we now have 7 felines living at the brewery.  I'm certain the bio-dynamic pest control division has never been stronger.  At least, we have the rodents shaking in their boots.  And for that, I am thankful for a bunch of new kittens around the brewery.

Pot Holes

It’s Thursday February 26th and I am at home having just put Sydney down for the evening. Maureen is in DC visiting some friends and I have Sydney all to myself for the next three days. It should be interesting. We’re releasing Brandy Angel’s Share this weekend and celebrating Carnevale on Saturday night in a sort of day night double header for Port Brewing. Thank God for Grandparents! Still, church on Sunday is probably going to hurt…I haven’t had a beer all day (chasing an almost three year old around will do that to me). So, I just popped the cork on a 375 ml bottle of Bourbon Angel’s Share. This dates back to our last release in March of 2008. And by pop, I truly mean POP! You see, when we packaged this last batch of Angel’s Share, we went ahead and Krausened the batch with a freshly fermenting batch of Angel’s Share. It was fortuitous to say the least that we had a new batch going at the same time we were packaging the old one. It was also the first time we had primed our bottles this way.In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best way to carbonate the Bourbon Angel’s Share as the Krausening batch fermented out at a lower terminal gravity causing our bottles to carbonate at a more elevated level than perhaps we would like. The bottle I just opened is gassier than the Blue Hairs at Hometown Buffet at 4:30 on a Tuesday. But I’m okay with that (our beer not the blue hairs)!The good news in all of this is that the newest batch of Brandy Angel’s Share is more alcoholic than in years past due to this lower terminal gravity. But it also means that we’re now entering interesting waters. On Saturday, we will release our third batch of Brandy Angel’s Share and later in March we will release our second Bourbon Angel’s share as well. Welcome my friends to the waters of unpredictable barrel aged beer versions from year to year.As a producer, I’ve come to the realization that we’re dealing with a living fire breathing monster when it comes to barrel aged beers. In some ways, they are liquid crapshoots. Go ask a winemaker and see if they don’t nod their head in silent agreement. This is one of the reasons that they specialize in blending. It affords better consistency. But, no matter how hard we work towards a consistent barrel aged beer, there are roadblocks at every turn. Much of this has to do with barrel procurement and duration from spirit dump to barrel refilling. Sometimes, it’s out of our control.As such, I’m beginning to think of myself as a Cal Trans worker who tends to the roads in our glorious state. Sometimes, the roads they work require little assistance. These freshly poured asphalt highways, are our smooth epic batches of beers. Other times, they get called out to massage the road back into shape filling in pot-holes. These seem to be batches that can be saved but need tweaking. This is where a great beer can emerge from a barrel but doesn’t always. And lastly, there are those times when they are called out for long term issues. This would be akin to fixing sinkholes in the ground. These are batches of beer that once showed promise and now may never be restored to their former glory. These are the batches of beer that burn consumers the most.I am reminded of this as I am sitting here half way through my glass of Angel’s Share. I’m enjoying the bottle but not as much as I do the Brandy Barrel version of this beer and in particular the original batch from 2006. What is perhaps most interesting to me is that the business of beer more or less sells beer on fixed pricing structures. This is not always the case in the wine business where vintages are celebrated, lauded and command differentiation of pricing from year to year.I wonder as more and more breweries commit their resources, energy and space to barrel aging if this won’t be the direction the industry moves in. I’m not advocating it, merely pointing out that we have yet to see this even though there is so much variation in the barrel aging of beer. It seems that almost every brewery in America now has a bourbon barrel or four in their breweries. And, there seems to be a fixed pricing structure relative to barrel aged beers that doesn’t celebrate the best of the best. In this way, mediocrity is rewarded. Worked for the wine business. But do we really need 280 buttery chardonnays from California?It’s tough this barrel aged thing, a lot like drinking flabby Chardonay. And I would know. Before summer, we’ll have over 500 oak barrels worth of beer aging at the brewery. Funny thing this barrel aged beer trend. When you talk to wineries, you almost never hear a vintner say “ Yep, we just added our 987th barrel to the facility…” But, in a space race of sorts, we almost HAVE to tell the world how much beer we’re currently aging in oak barrels. We’re guilty of it. Why? Well, it’s sexy for one. But mostly, it’s a point of differentiation. Or at least it used to be.So tomorrow, we’re going to release our third bottling of Brandy Barrel Angel’s Share. It’s different than the first two. It more closely resembles batch one than two. It shows the promise of a better tomorrow. What does that mean to a beer drinker? Not much other than my glass is empty and there’s a ton of bottles going on sale this Saturday. Let’s hope we’ve done our job and the road less traveled isn’t full of potholes.

Happy Valentines Day

It's Saturday. We're in the midst of a very busy holiday weekend. Today is the feast of St. Valentines Day and lovers everywhere are celebrating. Some are going the traditional route of flowers and others may lean towards the sweet side of things. Me, I'm leaning towards Red Poppy. I had a couple of these last night and survived Friday the 13th. And by survived, I mean that in the best possible way.Last night was one of the craziest Friday nights I have been associated with at Port Brewing since we opened our doors nearly three years ago. Walking around the brewery last night, you could just tell it was going to be one of those nights. We were standing room only packed at 5 O'clock which should have been the first clue. There are times at the brewery when we "know" we're going to be busy and we can prepare for the onslought. Last night sort of caught us by surprise.It shouldn't have. Freaks unite and come out of the wood work during full moons, holiday weekends and apparently on Friday the 13ths. Sage just informed me, we have another one of these on tap in March. Can't effing wait. Lost in the drama that was last night was a good story. An acquiantence, who I worked in the print shop at NAU, John Torok, happened to come into the brewery last night. I hadn't seen John since he left Flagstaff in 1995. And then BLAM, just like a thundering Batman Punch, we was seated at our bar.John was there during my formative years when I was first researching beer and exploring craft brewed beers. It stuck with me one day when he proclaimed that I was in the midst of drinking "Champagne and Caviar" expensive beers on a college budget. He didn't know too many students who spent the kind of money that I did on beer while studying. But, that comment has stayed with me all these years. It was great to see him last night and reminisce about printing and beer.I also learned that John has his own business and is pursuing his own passions. About five years ago, he founded a company in Vista, CA. called HATCH that specializes in high end fly fishing reels. Our stories shared some parallels as we have both chosen to engage our lifestyles by turning hobbies into our craft. I'm looking forward to following the company as they are growing at epic rates and have found their niche. I think it's pretty cool that two guys who shared the pressroom at Reprographics on the campus of Norther Arizona University have ended up chasing life on their own terms here in San Diego.Last night was a crazy night. We had freaks, geeks and just plum weird things happen at the brewery. Old friends stopped by as well which made it marginally better. I for one am not looking forward to March 13th but I will do so with bit of trepidation and nervous hope that once a quarter is enough for the strange peeps of the brewery to come out and visit us. The way I look at it, there are 30 breweries in this town. Maybe they'll grace them with their presence thus sparing us next month. Then again, we're The Lost Abbey- For Sinners and Saints Alike. Maybe I should finally install those direct lines to heaven and hell so that when the time comes next month, I can contact the keeper of the lost soul who's wandered into our brewery looking for refuge?And yes, I'm serious about the phone line thing. Either that, or we're gonna need a bigger boat... I wonder what sort of charges we could expect to call long distance to the Underworld? After last night, I've begun saving every penny I can around here. We're going to need it. I swear. Sometimes being in charge isn't as cool as most make it out to be.

Saturday Fermentations and Barrel Matriculations

It's Saturday and the doors at Port Brewing don't open for another hour and a half. It's quiet in the brewery except for Fermenter # 6 which is bubbling along in the blow off bucket. It's a lager fermentation. It sounds a bit different than what I'm used to hearing. I'd say it's peaceful, but I don't feel like waxing poetically this morning.I knew that I was going to blog this morning as my schedule has cleared up a bit and we're finally back to having most of our packaged beer inventory at decent enough levels that I 'get' to write. It's a good feeling for sure. I'm always surprised at how many of you out there read my blogs given how infrequently I write them. It's something I am trying to do more of.Today, I figure I should post a brief update on things around the brewery. In my last post, we welcomed the monkeys to Port Brewing. Mike just completed his third week here at The Lost Abbey and it couldn't have come at a better time. We're in the midst of a serious expansion here. I just got word that the two used 120 bbl Fermenters we bought from Bert Grant's old brewery are on a truck in Portland and should be here tomorrow. Of course, this is Sunday and Sunday's are supposed to be family day. Let's hope that they don't mind waiting until Monday to be unloaded.We purchased these tanks to go along with our new (albeit used) bottling line. The guys spent all day Monday cleaning this hunk of stainless and we're hoping to have it up and running around March 1st. It will be such a huge boost in our production to get this piece of equipment up and running. We have out grown our little bottling 'system' and very much need to get better with this part of our operations.Lately, I have receieved numerous emails and complaints about some of our bottles and the 'lack' of fizz. It's probably one of my least favorite things to do but answering emails and complaints about our beers is something that comes with the territory. I tend to take it harder than I should but at the same time, I cringe when I read about flat beer. It's our job to ensure that they aren't lifeless. The challenge is that I can't taste every bottle and 'guarantee' that they are good to go. That part sucks.As a process, we are committed to bottle conditioning and the flavor gains that come with it. It just sucks when the process doesn't go as well as planned and there is deviation. I for one am hoping that our new packaging line and our new head brewer can help us find stability in this area. We have to get better at this. We're growing and looking to expand markets. As such, we need to be better.As part of our new packaging operations, I met with a label company this week about purchasing a new labeler. We're hoping this will make us much more efficient and cut down on our waste. We discussed some options for the labeler and it would appear at this time that we'll be intsalling some sort of coding system for the bottles as well. In an ideal world, we would have coded our bottles from day one but that just wasn't part of the system we've been running.But, as we're expanding and upgrading our capacity and infrastructure, we most assuredly will look to start coding our bottles so that we know exactly which batch they came from. It is our hope that we will be better able to deal with bottle to bottle variations and refermentations with this information at our disposal. I sincerely believe that we're maturing our operations and this new equipment will make our beers that much better.Speaking of better beers, we are starting to package a ton of barrel aged beers and I thought we should share with you some of the upcoming releases. We'll kick off the 2009 barrel aged releases with Red Poppy at the end of January. We'll chase this into February with the much anticipated release of the Brandy Barrel Aged Angel's Share. I am super excited about this as we'll be packaging almost 45 oak barrels worth of beer. This will allow us to get a measure of beer to all of our distributors AND more importantly, we'll be able to keep enough on hand at the brewery to ensure visitors can purchase Angel's Share in the future.For the February release of The Angel's Share, we'll be packaging the beer in both 375 ml and 750 ml for the first time. The 375 ml format will only be available at the brewery. 750 ml bottles will be available at the brewery and for the retail market. When we're finished packaging this beer, we will turn our attention to Older Viscosity for a March release as well. Most likely, we'll skip an April release so that we can double up on a May release.Look for an announcement about our Anniversary Party in May to include Cuvee de Tomme and Bourbon Angel's to coincide with our stupendous party. If all goes well, we hope to release Duck, Duck Gooze in June and envision an extra special Christmas in July with the release of Barrel Aged Santa's Little Helper. I haven't sampled the Imperial Stout since it went into barrels in September. Today might just be the day to do so.On February 3rd, we're expecting our latest shipment of barrels to head our way. We have ordered 100 more bourbon barrels. If you've been by the brewery lately, you know that we don't have room for these. But, we're just going to have to find the room. We know the demand for these beers is out there and we're going to keep making them. It might even be time to finally start the discussions about a bigger warehouse for our barrels. For those keeping score at home, we now have over 330 barrels of beer. Really fun beer no less!Lastly, Draft Magazine just released their January/February 2009 issue and inside recounted the top 25 beers from 2008. Lost Abbey landed two beers on the list- Isabelle Proximus and The Angel's Share. We were the only brewery to place two beers on the list. It would appear that we're doing something right here in San Marcos! For 2009, we think we have even better beer on the horizon. Those of you who have sampled the newest Red Poppy may agree with us. If not, you'll get a chance to taste for yourself on Saturday January 31st. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go check on some bottle carbonation levels'

Monkey See, Monkey Do

It’s Friday January 9,2009 and we’re celebrating Monkey’s. No, it’s no some weird Chinese New Year thing. Nope it’s stranger than that. On Monday of this week Mike Rodriguez (formerly of Boulevard Brewing Co.) joined the Port Brewing and Lost Abbey family. His wife (monkey #2 or is that Monkey#1 I get so confused) is here as well.What’s not confusing is that Mike and Michelle (henceforth referred to as Monkeys) are going to be a big part of our future endeavors. As I have called San Diego my home since birth, I can’t for a moment know what it must be like to pack up all your possessions and move West. And that’s exactly what they did. Monkey Mike heard about a job opening here at Port Brewing and decided this was the sort of place he’d like to swing from the vine for years to come. So, he convinced the better looking monkey that she would enjoy the bananas out west.Today marks the end of Mike’s first week at Port Brewing. I’m sure moving a monkey family only seems easy on paper. We’re having a come meet the monkeys party out in the brewery right now. Mostly it’s because a whole bunch of bananas showed up this week. Seems a lot of people were sad to see the Monkey’s leave Kansas City. Good People those Monkeys. I’m looking forward to hoisting a beer with them.It’s about time we started acting more professional around.So we hired a monkey.Looks like we’ll need to change the sign over the barrel room to say:“Please refrain from feeding the monkeys.”Mike and Michelle,Welcome to the neighborhood

My Charlie Brown Halloween

When I was a much younger little brewer in training, the fall holiday season inevitably meant waiting for the Charlie Brown specials to come on tv. Mind you, this is/was before the VCR and now DVD player became a common household item. Today’s kids have no idea what this is like. Each Sunday, Sydney and I get up in the morning and watch all sorts of recorded shows on our Tivo. Mickey Mouse Club House. Check got that. Backyardigans. Check them too.But it wasn’t always this easy. When we were growing up, you actually had to look in the TV guide to see when the “specials” and holiday shows were scheduled to be on TV. God forbid you were doing something that night because once they were gone, it was wait until the next month. It started each fall with It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. To this day, it remains a classic.I was reminded of this on Halloween this year as Sydney and I set out to go door to door and Trick or Treat. Sydney was dressed all in black and went as a Kitty Cat for her 3rd Halloween. This year, she was old enough to carry her own candy basket, ring doorbells and say “Trick or Treat.” She also learned that being young has its merits. Typically this meant an extra piece of candy.But back to Charlie Brown for a moment if you will. As Sydney and I were going door to door in our Condo complex and raking in the candy, I had a poor old Charlie Brown moment. We approached a door and rang the doorbell. This was just as Halloween is scripted. While she was receiving her candy, a group of sensible Collegiate Aged young men were partying on a neighboring balcony. They motioned that we should knock on their door. So we obliged. When the door opened, there was the obligatory exchange of Trick or Treats and Candy earned for such rapport.There was also a “Hey man, you look like you could use a beer?” (I guess I really looked thirsty)! And, while this may come as a surpise but in my infinite wisdom, I had allowed myself to leave the safety and confines of my house, on a Friday night mind you, without a beer. These dudes sensed my pain. And so one of them procured a can of America’s (er Belgium’s) finest Lager Beer. And so it was that I began to feel like Charlie Brown. Sydney and I backed away from the Condo, looked into her bag at the new candy bars and that’s when it hit me.I had become Charlie Brown. My duaghter was getting all the kick ass treats and I got the proverbial rock- a can of tepid Budweiser. ARGH!!! So I did what any sensible Blockhead would do and I opened the can of warm American (er Blegian) Lager mouthing the words “we know of no other beer in the world…” No kidding!We marched on to the next houses and at each stop, I found myself, like Charles Brown, hoping for better. “Oh please oh please, let this one have Sierra Nevada.” And then there was nothing. Well except for that Rock I received at the last house. We advanced on the next row of Condos. “Oh please, oh please, let there be a can of Maui Coconut Porter.” And when the door slammed, I watched as Sydney marveled at her new found bounty all the while I was left muttering about this stupid rock.By the time we reached the last set of Condos, I was convinced that the beer Gods would shine on me again. I mean they had to right? Just like Linus in the Pumpkin Patch, the beer Gods would rise up and offer me something, anything better than the rock I was currently toting around our community. If Sydney had known what her Daddy was going through, she might have screamed at me like Sally did at Linus that night.But it wasn’t meant to be. We ended our jaunt through the neighborhood with nary another beer in sight. I returned home with a daughter beaming from ear to ear obviously ecstatic to have learned the true meaning of Halloween. Apparently Halloween is the one night every year where everyone gives you candy and daddy stares into a can of Budweiser and mumbles “Good Grief, all I got was a stupid rock.”

Concrete= Progress

They’re pouring concrete in what used to be our conference room today. For those of you who have visited the Abbey in the last few months, you might have noticed, we’re running out of places to put all of our beers. As such, it was decided that we didn’t “need” the conference room so much as we “needed” a place to put more beer. So, three weeks ago we started demolishing our once cool meeting room and our signature logo pint glass was lost forever. (sorry Sean!)Today, at 8:30, they backed up the dumptruck and opened the gate as wet concrete flowed through our front door. It was quite the site to see from my office window as loads went by. All in the name of progress I tell you. These days at The Lost Abbey, bottled beer accounts for about 80% of our sales. As such, we can’t afford to shut down the bottling line during the brewing or keg cleaning process. This means that in two weeks time, we’ll be able to accomplish all three tasks simulaneously on any given day. This will mean an increase in our efficiencies and ultimately lead to a greater output of beer. Which as we all know is VERY important.It’s important as we just came off our busiest two month period in the history of the company. We expect this trend to continue as we begin to brew larger batches of beer and reach out to new territories. Last month we launched in Colorado and it’s looking pretty certain we’ll have beer in Illinois (Chicago to start) by mid November if all goes well. The last month has been stressful beyond belief but that’s what happens when you’re multi-tasking all the time.Next week, we’re going to turn the screws back up on the brewing side of things. My guys will love the fact that they get to brew again. Lately it seems we have been on a packaging binge. Now that most of the beer is out of the way, we can go back to brewing and bottling bigger batches of beer. With the new packaging area finished, I may even get to start looking at a real bottling line. I have my eye on one. Just don’t tell Jim about it!That’s about it for now. For those of you in our far reaching territories, we would like you to know that we are currently in conversations with Microstar about a keg contract. If we get this sorted out, we would be able to finally ship draft beer outside of our region. This would be a major bonus. Keep your fingers crossed. I know what I’ve asked Santa to bring me this year. Would a new keg contract and bottling line be sweet? Little Boys can dream don’t you know?