"I've come to The Lost Abbey seeking Deliverance...

As we're not a "real" abbey, we don't have large stone walls surrounding our monastery. We most certainly do not have a front gate being guarded over by a man of the cloth either.But like most abbeys, we open our doors on a regular basis for those in need.Some have smallish needs (like a cold glass of Lost and Found). Others have much larger needs (like cases of Red Poppy).Yet, one constant remains. Our doors are opened to Sinners and Saints alike on the simple premise that all come to The Lost Abbey seeking something.Ultimately, this means we're all in the same boat together. It matters not whether you are a certified Saint or a problematic Sinner, the end is most assuredly going to arrive at some point. And on that day, we'll huddle together wondering what is left for us as we leave this place.Most likely we'll be lined up together seeking some measure of Deliverance. If we're lucky, we'll all catch the train headed towards heavens' front gate. Others will not be so lucky. I suppose, it will be an epic struggle as the Angel's of Mercy clash mightily with the Demons of Hell.Just thinking about a Battle Royale for all these souls gets me thirsty.So today, we're bottling Deliverance, and let me tell you, it's one HEAVY beer.What is Deliverance and how does one bottle it? Well, it's a blend of Bourbon Barrel Aged Serpent's Stout and Brandy Barrel Aged Angel's Share. You see in Bourbon Barrel Aged Serpent's Stout we have captured the essence of one very evil beer (the Devil's brew if you will). Blacker than the strongest plague and hotter than Hades itself, there's fire in this beer- a veritable cauldron of Bourbon infused beer. Left to its own devices, this would be one sinister liquid.Yet, we have tempered this odious darkness with heaven sent Saintly created Angel's Share. And together, these two beers will work in harmony to deliver us on that day.Sean Dominguez worked overtime on the painting for this label. It is perhaps one of the darkest and most disturbing things he has painted for us. So demented in fact his wife Paige expelled it from their home the moment it was completed.Thankfully, it joins Judgment Day, Inferno and Witch's Wit in exploring the darker side of life's struggles and The Lost Abbey role in finding Deliverance for souls -- banished or otherwise.A couple of weeks from now, we'll be having another release at the Lost Abbey and I fully expect it to be an glorious day. More souls than ever before will find their way through the Abbey's open doors.And it will come to no one's surprise as Saint and Sinners alike approach the alter and utter the phrase - "I've come seeking Deliverance."For that, I am thankful we have found a way to put Deliverance in a bottle.

Party Central

This past weekend we celebrated our 4th Anniversary of doing business as Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey. It was a great party and a welcome change of pace from last year when we turned 3 and celebrated all day with 700 or so of our closest friends. This past weekend, we changed things up a bit and went with ticketed split sessions allowing us to control the ebb and flow that was impossible to do last year. In doing things this way, we created a much more intimate setting as we only had 350 people at each of our sessions which is WAY more manageable.Of course it was not all roses. We had some long waits for the Pizza that were serving. And others complained Vince was supposed to be cooking. Hopefully these minor issues didn't keep most from enjoying themselves.I'd also like to take a moment to thank Rich from Dr. Pepper and Amy from Republic of Tea for sponsoring our designated driver hydration needs. Both of them kicked down ample non alcoholic products for the day. The Volunteer pool for this party also went above the board helping us direct traffic, move stuff and generally lay out the facilities. It was awesome to work with such a group of people. When we were finished on Saturday, I couldn't help but think how lucky we were to have them assisting us.Many of the attendees on Saturday walked out of here with a special 4th Anniversary t-shirt commemorating our previously detailed woes. You'll know they were at the party when you see a beer enthusiast walking by with a giant blue and white A on the back of their tshirts. Our employees got a kick out of their new work shirts as well. The whole health department saga came to end last week on Thursday with the published article in the North County Times.On Wednesday, I was interviewed by a miss Morgan Cook about the tasting room incident. On Thursday I took Sydney to school. On the way to school, we stopped to play a game "Let's find daddy's picture in the newspaper today." It didn't take her long as daddy's mean mug ( I couldn't smile for the camera man) was on the front page of the paper (above the fold no less). She smiled and I giggled about how funny I looked. She kept saying "Daddy where's Duck Duck Gooze?" (Which by the way is her favorite artwork we have).So we're back to work this week at the brewery with normal business operations. Four batches of Hop 15, two Judgment Day, three Mongos and a batch of Red Barn all will hit the tanks this week. We're also sampling Older Viscosity for blending next week. I have a pretty light schedule for the rest of the week. But this weekend, it's back to party mode. You see, we're celebrating Syd the kids 4th birthday this weekend on Saturday. I know Maureen never forgets it but sometimes I do. We launched a family and a brewery 10 days apart 4 years ago. So I get to celebrate two of the best things in the world each May. This Saturday, there won't be much beer in the park. However, there will be Margaritas back at the house when it's over. They will taste so very good.You know what else is going to taste good? I think those new batches of Witch's Wit and that Helles in our fermenter will taste pretty damn good this summer. There, I said it. We're making a lager for easy drinking Saturdays at the brewery. And the Wit, well people have been waiting far too long for it to come back around. Things are always in a state of movement out here in San Marcos- thankfully so.

Upon Further Review...

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An early Monday morning

Woke up this morning at 5:20 to the sound of Sydney rolling around in her bed. As her room shares a common wall with Mommy and Daddy's room, I'm often awakened by the sound of her rolling into the wall. Apparently, she was on the high seas in her dreams because she kept slamming into the wall (or she wanted to keep daddy up)?Either way, I left the house at 5:30 and headed for the pool this morning. Due to all the events of last week (and the one staring at me in the face this week), I really needed to swim. It had been a week since I had made some turns and while it felt good, I also couldn't get in a rhythm since no swimming last week meant bad diet and all.That being said, I am now sitting in my office and it's very quiet. I wanted to take a minute to thank all of the well wishers out there. The outpouring of support has been overwhelming. I can't reply to each and everyone of the comments so for now, let's just get this group reply taken care of.For what it's worth, I don't believe this is a conspiracy of sorts planted by the big brewers or another bar owner. What it truly appears to be is a one time incident. Namely, I believe that someone (who may never have visited a working brewery before) went on a pub crawl with some friends and then filed a complaint. Maybe it was a birthday party? I don't know. What I do know is that we're seeing tons of people each weekend jump off party buses and limos who roll into our establishment. Many of these people have never heard or experience Lost Abbey and Port Brewing before. So it makes sense that they have a set of expectations.If it looks like a bar and you can get a pint, then it must be a bar right? I guess that depends on who you ask.The ABC (California Alcohol Beverage Control) people were here on Friday and did an inspection noting that we are 100% in compliance with the license we were issued four years ago. This license grants us the rights to offer and sell samples of our beers and pints if we are so inclined. When we applied for this license, there was no restrictions placed on us. At that time, we were not required to gain permission from the Health Department to serve samples or pints of our beer made on the premises as this is a manufacturing facility. Clearly, this is the same basis that every other Microbrewery in town has been operating under. The Health Department and ABC rarely have cross over jurisdiction but what's shaping up with these cease and desist sampling visits is clearly an example of this.I spoke to the guys from Mother Earth Brew Co. in Vista this weekend as well as Mark over at Oceanside Aleworks. Seems they are both concerned about the potential costs associated with a shut down and lack of tasting room revenues. Since this went down last week, I have maintained this is exactly the sort of thing that hurts the smaller brewers the most.Of course, we don't necessarily want to make a bunch of changes around here either but if they lay down the law, there's very little we can do. Lots of people try to stand up to Health Departments, and more often than not, they fail. You see, Public Health is a scary thing. Fear of the unknown is a powerful tool in the fight against preventable illnesses.So today, I am starting my week on the right foot. I got my swim on this morning. This is good. Because I am certain that all of the stress of last week and most assuredly this one is going to suck.We're now shaping the plans for our 4th Anniversary Party this coming Saturday. These plans have been in motion for several weeks now. Only today, they now include working with our landlord to hold the festivities in the (non bonded) warehouse next to us rather than the brewhouse and tasting room.Ivan at Churchill's has offered up his catering license and will be purchasing all of the beer for the event. A huge thank you to him for this! This will allow us to offer samples of our great beers and the party to go on. Yes, it won't be taking place inside our brewery, but the its right next door and will still be open for tours, pictures, bottle purchases and merchandise. I plan on blogging about party updates as frequently as I can this week.It's a busy week for sure. Today, we are installing some new flooring in the offices and entry way to the brewery. We also have a 10 AM visit from Lorenzo Dabove (Kuaska) and his Italian contingent of beer drinkers.Tomorrow we are going to package Inferno on our revamped packaging line. It will be the first time we fire up the new hood and wire unit as well. Hopefully, we can get some video of it up online for you to see. I'm excited. I'm nervous. But most of all, I'm thankful it's Monday and we can start trying to sort all this crap out.When I get off work today, I will be enjoying a pint of our Kick Ass Lost Abbey Beer. And for that, I am thankful that as an owner of this company, they can't stop me from drinking my own beer.

One day later

It's Saturday morning and it's been one day since I posted about the Health Department ordering us and other local brewers to cease tasting room operations. Unfortunately, I am in Ojai, CA for the Southern California Homebrew Festival and missed the giant outpouring of support at the brewery last night. So a big fat THANK YOU to all of the patrons who showed up to purchase bottles of our beer from the brewery last night.On the drive up to Ojai, my phone continually buzzed with updates and best wishes from our fans. It was amazing. I don't think we have ever seen so many responses to a single blog post. It just goes to show you that people are as passionate about our beers are we are. AMAZING!I suppose for me, the most troubling part of this week has been the manner in which it occurred. The Health Department(to my knowledge) has never inspected a tasting room facility at a brewery in San Diego that didn't have a restaurant attached to it. As such, there are currently zero regulations in writing that define exactly what is required of us to run a tasting bar.Yet, when we were handed the Cease and Desist for lacking a proper permit, no one could show us what was needed to be in compliance. And in a Post Ex Facto manner, we were not required by the City of San Marcos nor the State of California Alcohol Control Board to acquire a Health Permit for tastings. Yet, now we have an agency coming back telling us that we have been illegally operating our business the last 4 years without a permit. This is what grinds at my gears.If we "have to" comply with a new set of regulations and they can show me what will be enforced then fine. But I find it incredibly ridiculous that we've never been inspected, never been talked to yet they have the ability to walk in and pull the plug on our non life threatening operations! That's why I am miffed and that's why this week I will be working overtime to get things figured out.I'm off to finish up my notes for my presentation today on Collaborative Beers to the Homebrewers. It's ironic since the Health Department may have just given us a reason to release a new one with our San Diego shutdown brothers in barley...

I'd like to thank some people

You know, running a brewery is hard work. Of course it's made easier by beers at noon when friends stop by for no good reason. Other times at best it's a jumbled mess of legal, legislative and enforcement woes. This was one such week beset by head spinning agencies and local code enforcements.On Tuesday, we were surprised inspected by the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health. The two inspectors were sent out to visit our facilities (and other breweries in San Diego) as a patron had lodged a complaint about local tasting rooms. So I'd like to take a moment to thank that one person who felt it was important to lodge a complaint about brewery tasting rooms all over San Diego. Apparently they were concerned that we didn't have a GIANT BLUE "A" on our cold boxes!Thank you from the bottom of my heart.You see, my fellow brewers and brewery owners are now having our hands forced (in the name of public safety) to go through the plan check and approval phase so that all of us can earn Health Permits for our tasting rooms.What's even better and the reason we're all so thankful for your efforts today is that Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey has been issued a cease and desist for the sampling of beer in our tasting room. Because, as we all know, beer is a public nuisance laced with nasty things that can kill you!I personally want to extend my gratitude to that consumer who felt this industry needed more regulatory agencies knocking on our doors. (The Health Department has never been interested in us before this call) Muchas Gracias Amigo (or Amiga) wherever you might be. There are breweries all over the City of San Diego who are now going to have to spend thousands of dollars on repairs that at best are "marginally justified."And while I'm at it, a shout out to my bookkeeper Alicia Kelly who will be working extra hours to ensure the payments and checks we need to facilitate this spending spree are cut and signed.I suppose the plumbers, electricians and restaurant supply companies would like to take a moment to thank that one person who lodged the complaint. I'm sure the plumber won't mind firing up the concrete saw as he makes a number of cuts in our floor so that we can install new floor drains. The electricians will have fun working to move junction boxes and installing more electrical outlets enabling us to relocate our new computer terminals because someone at a desk thinks they're too close to the dishwasher. The restaurant supply company will gladly order all of the necessary stainless steel sinks and drain boards we need to be compliant. My flooring guy is looking at a nice fat check for the installation of washable tile flooring since the concrete we're currently using isn't up to code. I doubt any of them will complain as each will be getting paid for their assistance.Yet, I am thankful that I know that I know them because without them, we'd be running around like chickens without heads.And as long as we're thanking people, I would like to thank the two ladies from the County Office who were incredibly nice as they asked me to sign away my rights to sampling our patrons on a beverage that cannot make them ill. Most assuredly, they could feel my pain. As we have been sampling our faithful for 4 years, it was hard to convey the sense of dismay and shock of being told we have no recourse in this matter.On the plus side, they did agree with me that retail sales of bottled beer and growlers should not be affected by this directive (see below). I know that we'll become great friends as we're now scheduled to see each other at least twice a year. I'm looking forward to hearing all about their children and how little Johnny played at second base last week during his little league game!Having heard from all sorts of local government employees this week, I am sure they would love to personally extend their gratitude to that person who just created more work for them even though every other Friday they are being furloughed. They all seemed "genuinely" concerned that someone would get sick from drinking beer at a tasting room as they rolled their eyes at us. Did you know that Wineries and Brandy producers who operate tasting rooms in California are exempt from inspections? I didn't either until Tuesday. I'm seriously considering going Jesus on the world and turning water (and grapes) into wine enabling us to get an exemption as well.Lastly, my employees would like to thank that person who lobbed that phone call. Normally I don't have a reason to swear and yell at anyone around here. I'm pretty even keel. But this week, all bets were off. I think I yelled at a guy for actually doing a great job. I wouldn't know because since Tuesday, I've been thanking everyone under the sun for everything and nothing at all. I figured if I thanked enough people, I might find the person who I really needed to. As it's Friday and I'm still not sure I have thanked that person who acted in the interest of public health, I thought I would take a few more minutes to do so.To the person who lobbed the complaint to the County Department of Environmental Health, I'd like to take one last moment to Thank You on behalf of all the brewers and brewery owners in San Diego County.Thank You for adding more work to our already busy schedules.Thank You for adding more stress to our already stressed out lives.Thank You for adding another agency we must pay fees and submit to inspections for.Thank You for adding taking dollars out of our bank account so governments have things to inspect.Thank You for giving me another reason to drink my World Class Kick Ass Handcrafted American Beer because even though I'm staring at a pile of paperwork I didn't need, I'll be doing it with one of our non life threatening beers in hand!

Back from Chicago has anyone seen my liver

It's Monday and I just returned from a week long visit to the Windy City. Stu asked me this morning how my "vacation" went. I suppose that's what it looks like when the boss is gone for another week.In Chicago I did two promotions, attended the Craft Brewer's Conference and the World Beer Cup Awards Gala Dinner.And today, I am ass dragging because of it.All told it was a great week and there is much to be optimistic about in Craft Beer land. The 2009 production numbers show 7.3 growth for our industry and 10% growth for total sales. All of this in a very down economic climate. Craft Beer remains at an all time high, which is fantastic!The conference was incredibly well attended at it appears that there is a tremendous amount of interest in Craft Brewing at this point. I was amazed by the number of people in the start up phase of their business. Clearly, we are going to see many new entrants into the category. It's exciting and it also means that there will be more pressure to be amazing and imaginative with our beers. I look forward to continuing to be part of an amazing group of producers.At the awards ceremony on Saturday evening, San Diego confirmed its status as a World Class Destination for beer. All told, 20 Medals were earned and extra special congratulations to our friends at Ballast Point for earning the Title of Small Brewing Company of the Year.While we may have let the award slip through our fingers, clearly it is best when they stay in town with friends. For our efforts, Hot Rocks Lager earned a Silver Medal in the Out of Category and Red Poppy won a Silver Medal for Flanders Style Ales.I was extremely pleased by both awards. The Hot Rocks is something we're very proud of. First, it's a collaborative recipe and that always makes things more fun since two breweries get to celebrate. Secondly, I don't think there are too many breweries using the "Stein" Beer production method for brewing as we did on this beer. So, it's great for us that a flavor driven (or is that process driven?) beer won an award.And it was a lager to boot.In fact, the Ballast Point IPL that won the gold medal in the category is a lager as well (India Pale Lager instead of Ale).Red Poppy won another silver medal (repeating the same award from 2008). It pleases me that our barrel aged beers continue to find success and favor at both the competitive as well as consumption levels. We're releasing two more of them at the brewery this weekend and I am very excited with the way these two turned out. Framboise de Amorosa is a Raspberry bomb and the Veritas beers continue to inspire me. But let's get back to the World Beer Cup stuff.The Pizza Port guys did their part in taking home 6 medals including many for dark beer (Porters and Stouts). Alpine Beer Company held San Diego roots strong in the Pale Ale and IPA Categories as well. Karl Strauss even hit the board for their Red Trolley Ale.As I watched in amazement Saturday night, local producer after local producer kept winning. It was a great example of the depth of artistry in this town. Congratulations to all of the brewers and members of the San Diego Brewer's Guild who did this town proud on Saturday night. It sure felt good.Now let's get out there, dust off the livers and get back to drinking...

I got beer! I got beer! I got busted...

This line comes to us from that Cinematic blockbuster of a movie that was Revenge of the Nerds II. In an opening scene a few of the young college Nerds head to Florida for Spring Break. One of the youngest members of the group purchases beer with a fake ID only to be busted as he's heading out the door. For some reason, I can't seem to shake that scene from the movie.It could be because my friend Brendan Hartranft (who owns three great beer bars in Philadelphia) was raided by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PCLB) last week. Apparently, the "Fuzz" was working on an "anonymous" tip that his bars Memphis Tap Room, Local 44 and Resurrection were stocked with illegal beers.What made them illegal? That's a good question.Apparently, many of the beers that were deemed illegal were unregistered in the state of Pennsylvania. Essentially, we're talking about a paper pushing incident. It must have been some sight to see as all three locations were simultaneously "raided" at the same time by officers packing heat.I got word of this bust on Friday when we landed in Oakland for the Wine Warehouse meeting. Apparently, our beers were part of the contraband seized (it sounds way cooler than it is). It seems that we have neglected to register a couple of our brands and have been "breaking the law..."So today, I am in registration mode.It also means that I get to cut a check for $75 per brand of beer for which we're missing registration.God, I love a good registration day. NOT!Hopefully, things for Brendan and Leigh (His wife and business partner) will settle down. It sucks that this happened. They say any press is good press but in this case, I'm inclined to believe that being raided by the PLCB isn't what most of us would want.Here's a link that has many of the bloggers from Pennsylvania discussing what went down. Check out their webpages for detailed accounts.As for me, I have to go register our beers. I don't feel the need to be busted anymore for breaking the law.

Northern California or Bust

When I was a younger brewer in training, my family spent our summer's vacationing just South of Big Sur California each summer. It was usually August when we would load up my grandparents 5th wheel trailer and head out for a week of beach camping. We also spent time visiting Monterrey and San Francisco. I have very fond memories of each trip to Northern California.As a brewer, I've lost track of how many times I have pointed my vehicle north on Interstate 5 or the 101 with the Bay Area (or beyond) as my final destination. It would seem that you cannot be a true lover of beer without making the pilgrimage to the birth place of Craft Brewing in this country. And, while I never found myself needing to hitch hike to get there, it was always a journey.And so it is, that we're about to celebrate our 4th Anniversary of brewing in San Marcos at Port Brewing (May of 2010), as we embark on another journey.This Friday March 5th, Matt and I will head to Richmond, CA., home of Wine Warehouse North where we will introduce our beers to a sales force numbering about 90 people. This is very big news for us here at Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey.We have patiently waited (some would say too long) to find a distributor for our beers in Northern California.I for one, am very excited by this new partnership as it will allow us to focus on expanding our production and territorial reach. It's no secret, we have been growing at a steady and manageable level since we opened our doors. Last year, we added no new territories as we sought to grow our brands with our new Microstar Keg Contract.That was last year.This is a "Go" year. I have been telling anyone who would listen to me for the past 6 months that this would be a "Go" year for us. I knew we would be focusing our energies on growing Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey closer to home. They call this sort of thing "Protecting your own Backyard." Me, I call it simple math. California supports one of the largest economic opportunities for us and one that frankly we have neglected for too long.I know this because yesterday, a truck backed up to our loading dock and pulled away 20 pallets of beer heavier. This may not seem like much beer for some brewers out there, but it's a massive departure from our first few months when the Stone trucks would pickup 1-2 pallets worth of beer from us a week. Certainly, we don't expect that each shipment will be 20 pallets large (although we can always dream). Yet, there was an air of accomplishment yesterday.After work, we sat around and shared some beers. We remarked at the day that was Monday March 1, 2010. It's not often a truckload of beer leaves our warehouse (as in exactly never before yesterday). Who knows, it may be another 4 years before this happens again (doubtful but possible). It was a great day on so many fronts.So Northern California, here we come! It's been a long time in the making and hopefully, we'll live up to all the hype. 2010 promises to be a "Go" year.And you know what? "Go" rhymes with "Grow", which sounds pretty good to me.

Living life at 222

It's Friday and I finally have my desk cleared of all the clutter that piled up in my absence. On Wednesday evening, I returned from another week on the road into Boston and Philadelphia. I must be insane. First of all, I keep booking flights to the east coast during February when everyone is pining to be in San Diego. Secondly, my liver has decided that week long trips are getting to be too much especially when it involves drinking at the Extreme Beer Fest and spending time in Philly with Curt Decker and Tom Peters.It was a great trip as I got to ship out a bunch of our new and forthcoming releases. For Boston, we tapped the only East Coast keg of Angel's Share Grand Cru, along with Red Poppy 2010, Framboise de Amarosa and other great beers. We have been working on these beers and tasting their progress for many months now and felt they would be well received. And they most certainly were. The Grand Cru is something that I think is expressive now but has the attributes to be amazing many many years from now.Down in Philly, we had another Lost Abbey beer dinner at Monk's Cafe. Very few places in this country know how to cook and pair food with beer better than Tom Peters so it's never a let down when we go there. There were 54 tickets to the beer dinner offered this year and it took them 10 minutes to sell it out. Thank you to the kind souls in The City of Brotherly Lover who waited in the frigid conditions in January to secure tickets. We hope we made it worth your while.The dinner started out with Red Poppy being served alongside Pate with a cherry sauce. The second course was Tartare of Salmon and Caviar paired with Carnevale 2009. The third course was the start of what is known as the "Monk's Double Meat Course(s)." It was Quail stuffed with Sausage and Wild Rice. Tom paired this with Framboise de Amarosa and it was delightful. I think everyone knows I am a meat and potatoes kind of guy which is why the fourth course of Oso Buco and Potato Ravioli was high on my list. It did not disappoint and it was paired with Ten Commandments and Lost And Found. The Ten Commandments with its' Honey, Rosemary and Caramelized Raisins really owned the dish- Sublime.I told the crowd that I was most looking forward to the fifth course as it was a cheese and beer pairing. I found it amusing that I would be most drawn to the cheese and beer pairing as it meant that Monk's actually didn't cook anything for the dish. Yet, it was the beers that I wanted to showcase. Tom offered up Angel's Share Grand Cru paired with an English Stilton that was beyond silly. We also had Veritas 007 (wiith Cabernet Franc Grapes) on the menu. This was paired with a Swiss Sheep's Milk cheese. I would have had more then one plate of each had dessert not been put in front of me. The final pairing of the evening was Cuvee de TomMe with a Molten Lava Cherry Cake. Sweet mother of Nomutu Nectar. I was spent when this thing was over. Monk's had officially risen to the challenge yet again and woven one of the most mystical tapestries of gastronomy for our beers that I have ever been a part of.I think I gained about 8 lbs on this trip. Considering the amount of ridiculous food and beer that was always being put in front of me, it's hard not to do so. I'm living life at 222 these days. It's more than I like to carry around but sometimes you just can't say no. This was but one week of my shrinking life. Albeit a very good one.

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.

It's ALIVE!!!

San Diego Beer Week has shifted from first to second gear and it appears to be developing momentum on its way to third gear as we begin the week. The 10 day week kicked off on Friday with the 6th Annual San Diego Brewer's Guild event at the World Beat Center in Balboa Park. Gordie, Tim and Nate manned the taps as we poured Sinners 2009, Brother Levonian Saison and Devotion for the masses. Sounds like I missed a great event. However, I didn't miss out on a fantastic set of desserts at The Neighborhood in downtown San Diego (Thanks Lisa Penwell from Stone for setting this up)!When I arrived around 6:30 in the downtown area, I drove in circles looking for parking. (Thank God the Padres weren't playing too!) Once inside the restuarant, I orderd a Lost and Found and set out to decide on a dinner plan. Lisa joined me for dinner. I went for the Street tacos with Devotion and she had the Mushroom burger(they're known for their hamburgers). The Neighborhood was featuring four Lost Abbey beers that evening Devotion, Lost and Found, Red Barn and Ten Commandments alongside some desserts served Tapas style. I was a bit skeptical of our beers and dessert but the pairings were quite special. Hopefully some of you got a chance to partake in this menu. It was very cool.On Saturday we hosted a ton of people at the brewery. First, during regular business hours we saw 6 pub crawls and lots of "happy" people come visit our establishment. Then we closed the doors and cleaned up for our Night of the Barrel Party. Typically, this is the best event we host at the brewery each year. Although, you'd be hard pressed to convince me that having Christmas in July with Santa onsite isn't equally as fun.For the night of the barrels, we pulled out 10 different beers (or fractions there of) for the evening. On tap we saw Brandy Angel's 2008, Older Viscosity 2009, Sinners 2009, Cable Car 2009, Veritas 006-Sangre DC, Red Poppy 2010, Soured Avant Garde, Amazing Grace 2010, Port Barrel Aged Serpent's Stout (served with spice cake) and the last beer of the night an experimental barrel of Angel's Share which we added Cab Franc grapes to.As always, the party couldn't have been a raging success without the assistance of our volunteers lead by Terri and Sage. Matt Dolman even worked security in a tuxedo (dapper stunt double that Matt). Vince knocked socks off, bowled people over and otherwise threw down the gaunlet for Junkyard Chefs everywhere. He's seriously the MacGyver of cooking. I think a spatula, some charcoal and a fatted cloven animal is all Vince needs in order to feed the masses. It's no miracle at Cana when he cooks but then again, I've seen the light and eaten of the pork belly to be convinced what he does with food on a loading dock isn't mortal. A big shoutout to Vince for all the amazing food. This Night of the Barrels is impossible without that attention to detail.Sunday morning, I fell out of bed and headed down to KUSI for a 9:40 AM morning news spot with Christian Graves of J Six who will be hosting The Lost Abbey art show on Thursday night. We pimped a couple of beers and paintings (Carnevale and Judgment Day) and things went well the rest of the day as the Chargers played a great game. I headed back down to San Diego for the event at Phil's BBQ Event Center where tons of people turned out to see what we had to offer. I poured beers for two hours straight before running out. Carnevale went first, then Judgment Day followed by Avant Garde and Inferno. Met a ton of new Lost Abbey drinkers last night and all told it was a great event(their very first SD Beer Week event= Thanks Phil and Chad!)Tonight I'm off to the Tomme Arthur Experience at Stone. I've never had a Tomme Arthur Experience so this should be interesting. 20 beers all brewed here since we opened our doors three and a half short years ago! Could be a long night and longer morning if we try to run the gamut. Haven't needed to drink 20 beers in one night in a very long time (This one time at band camp...) Lastly, I talked with Michael at Trattoria Acqua today and they still have some seats left for our dinner tomorrow night. It promises to be an epic evening of food and beer. And now that the time change is upon us, we'll have a great view of the evening coastal lights as well. Hope to see you out there this week. San Diego Beer Week is ALIVE!!!And that's all I have to say about that.

San Diego Beer Week is coming...

I've been in the beer business in San Diego since 1996. During this time, our city has gone from relative beer obscurity to bonafide beer destination status. Last month the editors and publishers of Men's Journal even went so far as to name San Diego the # 1 beer related city in the country (without apologies to Portland, OR). Two years ago, Philadelphia, PA (another great beer city) launched Philly Beer Week and with it a host imitations. There's now beer weeks in cities all across this country including Detroit and Saint Louis.Well, San Diego is about to join the imitation is the sincerest form of flattery party as next Friday November 6th San Diego Beer Week (technically 9 great days of beer drinking and celebrating) begins. As of right now, there are over 160 events scheduled during the week we're doing our part to support the 9 day party. In case you haven't been paying attention to our Lost Abbey Calendar of events, here's what we'll be doing to celebrate the week.Friday November 6th you can catch us at The Neighborhood in Downtown San Diego featuring a tapas style menu with 4 Lost Abbey paired beers. On Saturday the 7th of November we're hosting our favorite event of the year our annual Barrel Aged Beer Party at The Lost Abbey. At this time, tickets are completely sold out (sorry about the tease). But. we're sure some of you already purchased tickets and are counting down the days like us. Veritas 006 will be released that evening and word on the street is the beer will taste an awful lot like the Sangre DC that we poured at the Stone Anniversary party in August.Sunday finds us dividing and conquering. I'll be heading to Phil's BBQ in the Sports Arena area for an event with Jim Crute and the gang from Lightning Brewery. I LOVE Phil's BBQ and am excited as many of my childhood friends may even make an appearance. We may even have a Brian Arthur sighting as well. Monkey and Monkey Rodriguez will be venturing across the great blue bridge that spans our bay and heading for the historic Hotel Del Coronado for an event featuring beers from Coronado Brewing, Ballast Point as well as Lost Abbey. Look for Cuvee de Tomme, Inferno and Carnevale to all be on display in Coronado.On Monday, I have agreed to something called the Tomme Arthur Experience at Stone. I guess this means that I'll be there telling you about 20 of the best beers you can't buy on a regular basis. We've got a cask of Bourbon Santa's Little Helper (held from this summer's Christmas in July release) as well as some other great things. Veritas 006 will be on draft in a redux of the Anniversary Party. We anticipate 8 draft beers (4 Port and 4 Abbey) along with the cask and some 12 other bottled beers. I'm excited. Hopefully I'll be able to live up the hype of having a whole night dedicated to my "experience?"Tuesday finds me checking into a hospital for Detox and hydration therapy. I'll check out for lunch and hopefully grab a pint or two with Vinnie and Rob Tod who are doing an event at Stone. I'll point the car for the coast and drop down into La Jolla for dinner at Trattoria Acqua. Can you say weight gain this week? Man I'm going to need some new pants. 5 courses of amazing food and Lost Abbey beers are on the agenda. Trattoria Acqua now features a bunch of our beer on their menu and Michael and Victoria McGeath have been gracious enough to keep us in stock.Wednesday we're going back to double dipping for the night. To start the night off, we'll be stuffing our bellies at The Ritual Tavern on 30th Street. It promises to be an amazing meal and I know that we're serving Mussels with Duck Duck Gooze, there's also Gift of the Magi 2008, Red Barn and Inferno on the menu. We'll spill out of The Ritual Tavern and head across the street to Toronado for a late night cap from 10-12. Ian and I haven't worked out the details but he called me from a Cable Car the other day to say hi.Thursday promises to bring one of the best events for us this week. We've partnered up with Christian Graves of J Six fame (Downtown) and we're going to launch the inaugural Lost Abbey Art Show. This will run from 7-9 PM and feature 15 original pieces of art that we commisioned Sean Dominguez to produce for our Lost Abbey Labels. We recently got all 15 pieces back from the framers and they look amazing! Our photographer John Schulz will also be on hand displaying some of the print ads he's created for us since we opened our doors.Christian's Culinary team will be working the room with passed appetizers. Our brewery staff will be on hand to sample all 15 beers that match the original art pieces. We've never seen an event like this done before and are incredibly jazzed about it to say the least. $20 to sample the beers, view the art and you'll even get to keep The Lost Abbey stemware glass from the evening. If there was one event to put on the list for this week for me, it would be this one.Friday and Saturday, I'm taking a break. I'll need it for sure. We'll end the week in a bang celebrating with two last events. In the early afternoon, you'll find us out at the Chef and Beer event taking place at Qualcomm's Headquarters in La Jolla. I'll drop down from there across to Kearny Mesa where Tom Nickel and I will direct about 40 people through one of the last events of San Diego Beer Week. A chance to taste some of the most incredibly rare and sought after beers we have produced in our 3 plus years of business is what's slated. I love the O'Brien's events like this especially when Chef Vince gets involved...Sunday night officially ends San Diego Beer Week. It's going to kick my ass. That's for sure. Monday will find me back at the brewery bright and early as we begin demolotion of our cold box in preparation for a new tasting bar area. Stay tuned for more details about this in my next blog. Be sure to view the calendar on our website which lists websites and more details for each event. Some of these are bound to sell out so don't delay!

When things go wrong

This past week was one of those weeks at the brewery. On Monday, we shipped out several pallets of beer for Massachussets. These pallets included beer for Distribution as well as some extra cases of beer for the two beer dinners we are partcipating in. Unfortunately, because I was out of the country the previous week, there were some cases of beers that fell through the cracks.Given that we had an additional week's worth of time before the events, it wouldn't be too big of a deal. On Tuesday, I boxed up 3 cases of Duck Duck Gooze and 3 cases of Cuvee de Dumbass. We packaged them in the proper beer shippers and sent them via fed ex to our Atlantic Importing (our distributor) in Framingham. They were scheduled to arrive on Friday which would allow Atlantic time to deliver them on Monday for the Tuesday dinner in Worchester. At least that's what we thought. You see, MA. is one of those states where it is illegal to ship beer into and Fed Ex (in Boston) halted the delivery of our packages to Atlantic.Gina got the phone call on Friday morning stating that our packages were not going to be delivered AND that we were going to have to pay for the shipping of the bottles back to us! ARGH this blows. Fed Ex would not allow us to reroute the boxes to a legal state nor would they allow our distributor to pick them up. So now, we are minus 2 on our beer dinner beers and in need of fixing this problem.Whew whew, this coming Monday, I am boarding a flight from Carlsbad to Boston and when I get to the airport, I will be toting an additional 4 cases of beer with me as well as my luggage for the trip. This means that when I land in Boston, I will have 5 items to handle instead of 1. It also means that I will now need to rent a car and drag all the beer with me from Boston to Worchester, MA. in order to have the right beers at the beer dinner. This is going to be a royal pain in my ass. It sucks for sure and it's not exactly the best way to travel. I'm also counting on the fact that United Airlines will allow me to ship 4 cases of beer in the belly of their planes(I'm calling to confirm this). But they'll also want to charge me for the right to place said beers in their planes. This is course means that on top of the Fed Ex costs (both ways), the rental car needs and the airline fees, this is turning into a very expensive proposition.Still, when I get to the beer dinner on Tuesday night, it will be worth it. Why? Well for starters, because Alec the Chef has been prepping for this dinner for over a month and he specifically asked for these beers. We could find other stunt beers to step in for our missing comrades but that isn't how chefs want to work. They don't want to agonize over the details only to have things fall apart at the last minute. So, on Tuesday morning when I land at Logan Airport, I will be in search of 2 cases of Cuvee de Dumbass and 2 cases of Duck Duck Gooze. As long as these make it, I won't mind if my luggage ends up in Tahiti. The beer is the most important thing. It always has been. Let's hope the guys handling the luggage don't get thirsty...

Wrapping up

It's been two weeks since I left for Denver and the Great American Beer Festival. And what a two weeks it's been. When I blogged last, I discussed some of our beers and the competition itself. Here's a recap of what happened. On Wednesday the 30th of September, Port Brewing won $5000 in the Lallemand Nottingham Dry Yeast contest. First place was $30,000 and while we didn't win that, we were awarded 1st place in the American Ale category for SPA (Summer Pale Ale). We will be using this money to purchase an ink jet coding system for our bottling line. We expect this to be operational before the end of the year (Hoorray BEER!) This is something we feel very strongly will help us with quality control issues. It's long overdue that's for sure.Thursday night, the festival opened and a long line of people ensued at our booth hoping to get a taste of our beers. Duck Duck Gooze proved to be a popular choice and by Friday night, we were out of the 15 Gallons that we sent! On Friday afternoon, we made the annual pilgrimage to Falling Rock Tap House for the Alpha King contest. Port Brewing and Hop 15 narrowly was defeated and finished 2nd out of about 70 beers. It's been a long time since anyone has won back to back awards and while we were pleased with our second place finish, missing by one point sure wasn't any fun. We'll try again next year.Saturday brought the awards ceremony and it was a very long but exciting day. We had high hopes for our Veritas 005 and Cuvee de Tomme. We felt one of these two beers would need to medal if we were going to make a run at the brewery of the year awards. They didn't and as such, we came up one point short of the mark. However, we were thrilled when Carnevale and Duck Duck Gooze struck gold in back to back categories. These are two beers that we are extremely proud of here at the brewery and knew had excellent chances to succeed. With the World Beer Cup coming up in April, we'll hope for more earnings on their coat tails.The coolest part of the awards ceremony was watching our brothers from Pizza Port bring down the house. Once we got firmly anchored in Ale land, the awards just kept rolling in. Seemed like every other category was being won by a Pizza Port beer. All told, Pizza Port earned 6 Gold Medals and if you throw in the two that we won as a sister company, an astounding 8 Gold Medals were earned. With 78 Gold Medals being earned, this means that over 10% of the Gold Medals called went to Pizza Port or Port Brewing Company. And given that this was the largest commercial beer competition in the world, it makes it that more impressive.Still, the most impressive part of the weekend was the performance by my good friend Jeff Bagby who managed to rake at this competition. His brewing talents (and those of his team) are likely to never be matched. They entered 15 beers. 7 of them earned medals including 4 Gold Medals! Pizza Port Carlsbad also was named Large Brewpub Brewery of the Year. Since 2006, a San Diego based brewery has earned a Brewery of the Year award 3 of the last 4 years at the Great American Beer Festival. This truly reinforces the overall quality of the beer being produced in this city.Post GABF, I headed to England to do some brewing in Faversham. Stay tuned for adventures in Kentish Brewing and Wooden leg devices.

The Nerves Have It

It's 9 AM on Saturday morning and I am sitting in the dead quiet of my hotel room. The cooling fan for the room is humming along and outside my window, the sun is piercing a crystal blue sky and downtown Denver is barely coming to life.Normally, I'd still be asleep trying to rest up for a very long day but last night, I climbed into bed much earlier than usual and as such, I am awake this morning much before I want to be. It sort of sucks, but I'm enjoying the solitude of my quiet room.At about 11 AM this morning, the day will officially kick into gear. We'll all descend from our hotel, stop at Chipotle on our way to the fest before arriving for the most important GABF session of the week. You see, Saturday is all about the awards show and steeling the nerves in your stomach.Each year, the awards ceremony takes place on Saturday afternoon. And each year at the GABF, you'll find me nervously pacing and contemplating utter failure relative to the competition. Last year, we won a single bronze medal for our Hop 15. Most breweries are happy to win a medal of any color at this fest. We're not any brewery. Never have been and don't want to become one.This year, we've brought 13 beers to the party. Not all of them are world class beers. Some of them however just scream "look at me" and hopefully that will be enough to get us on a roll. The Judges (including myself) saw just over 3300 beers come through the competition this week. It's an enormous increase in the # of beers for the festival. It's doubtful that all the new beers this year are world class. Remember, I tasted a bunch of them during judging. However, there will most assuredly be some great new beers and lucky recipients of GABF fame.It's Saturday morning. The nerves have kicked in and we're about 4 and a 1/2 hours from the first medal coming up on the screen. I'm going to organize my room and prep for leaving tomorrow to kill some time. In two hours, I will have my ceremonial good luck Chicken Burrito with Black Beans and Rice. So far, Chipotle hasn't let me down in terms of Saturday morning rituals. Let's see how it treats us this year. See you on the floor, nerves and all.

Cooks Confab Wrap Up

Last night I had the great pleasure of attending the Cook's Confab Beer event at Stingaree Restaurant and Bar in Downtown San Diego. The Cook's Confab is a collection of local chefs (who happen to be incredibly talented) and work for some of the best restaurants in San Diego. They hold quarterly themed events and make outrageous food. The event last night featured each chef teaming up with a local brewer(y) to pair courses and beers. The beers were amazing. The food was exceptional and the ambiance of a rooftop in downtown San Diego at night in August couldn't be beat.Lost Abbey was represented last night and we were flanked on either side by Brian Stinnott of 1500 Oceanaire and Andrew Spurgin of Water's Fine Catering. Brian chose to pair a Duck Sausage with our Cuvee de Tomme while Andrew spent 4 days working on his Pork Belly to match the strength of the Cuvee. Both of these plates were home runs and it was a privilege to work with these guys.Other participants last night included Stone, AleSmith, Ballast Point, Green Flash and Lightning Brewery. There were over 250 people in attendance and most seemed incredibly pleased by what they tasted. I was overwhelmed by the support of the cooking community and was pleased to meet some very influential owners and bar managers.We at the Lost Abbey would very much like to make inroads on wine lists and finer dining establishments. Events like this go a long ways to showcase our beers to a wide range of consumers and potential markets. I spoke briefly with many of the chefs and asked them to consider an event with local beer to be added to the calendar once a year. It's the sort of thing that we as brewers need to support and lend a helping hand to.Last night was a permagrin night. There was so much to be thankful for. Considering the event took place about 4 blocks from where I got my start as a craft brewer, it was great to be back home. To me, last night was a seminal moment- a turn the page sort of place in time. We got the best chefs in San Diego to circle the wagons and fire up the grills. It was an all time night for our beers for sure.Thanks to the Cook's Confab and all the people at Stingaree who put on a great show last night. Too bad the Padres lost. Downtown would have been that much more electric.

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