The Conduit
Stories from the Abbey
News and Events
Post SD BEER Week thoughts and Cold Box news
It's Tuesday and San Diego Beer Week ended officially at 12:01 AM yesterday morning. I finished up at about 10:20 pm when my car entered the garage of my house and I was officially home with no more events to work. It was so very nice waking up on Monday morning after an epic tasting at O'Brien's knowing I didn't have any beer events to head off to that night. Some suggested I take Monday off and relax. Maybe catch up on a little needed shut eye they suggested. It sounded like a great plan. Trouble is, I have a 3.5 year old who doesn't understand R and R and we had work to do at the brewery.You see, they just completed tearing down the cold box and we're about to set the new one up for the tasting room. It looks so bad out there in the brewery right now. We're bottling beer at the moment as well so things are quite chaotic here at the brewery. Tomorrow, we'll get a chance to start rebuilding the bar and for the first time we'll actually have lighting out there at night for the tasting room (I'm smiling from ear to ear right now). We're also expanding the tap selection and with our new microstar contract, we'll have tons of beers throughout the year. Look for expanded Abbey offerings as well as real kegs of beer to go. There's even talk of a vintage beer list( aka Tomme's cellar stash ) that will launch before the end of the year. We even have ordered a commercial dish washer for our glassware so the girls won't need me to clean your glasses anymore.All told, we're very excited to be working so hard after San Diego Beer Week. I mean, we could be sitting back and waiting for Thanksgiving to arrive. But, I'd rather toast my family (or is that get toasted with family?) on Thanksgiving to our continued success and my lack of sleep. Look forward to a new great tasting bar hitting a Lost Abbey near you soon.
Recapping San Diego Beer Week
It's Friday and the tasting room is officially open. I'm hiding in my office as I need some time to decompress.San Diego Beer Week is now entering the final weekend and my liver went on strike this morning. I'm zoning out here in my office trying to recall if I've ever had a week with so much going on relative to beer. It's been impressive and depressing at the same time. Impressive in that I have managed to drink my weight in beer (no easy feat mind you) and depressing because well this monumental week is winding to a close.Last night we had our first ever Lost Abbey art show at J Six in downtown San Diego. Christian Graves and all the staff of J Six were amazing. We displayed some 15 pieces of art and even had Sean Dominguez (the artist) on hand to talk about the paintings and labels. It's something that I have personally wanted for our patrons since we started commissioning Sean to do these great pieces. We brought down 14 Lost Abbey beers for the event including Duck Duck Gooze so to match the art. All told about 150 consumers and media turned out for the event. The food was out of this world good and Vince is still talking about it today.Wednesday night we pulled double duty and hit the Toronado after a great beer dinner at the Ritual Tavern. Luca, Stacy and Michael put together an awesome menu and we poured Duck Duck Gooze, Inferno, Gift of the Magi and Red Barn. Late night found us at the Toronado for more beers and washoes. Cable Car 2008 and 2009 were on tap. The 2008 keg blew in 7 minutes! I don't get down to San Diego enough to visit the 30th street bars so it was most excellent to have the chance on Wednesday to do so.Today, I'm pretty worked over. Last Friday, I started my week of San Diego beer with an event at The Neighborhood. It seems like a month ago. I'm heading home tonight to put my feet up and relax with Sydney. Maureen is going out for Mom's night out with the girls. She earned it. Daddy's been on a guys week out and it's not an equitable trade. But you gotta start somewhere right?
Barrel Party Night, Nov. 2009
Photos from our Barrel party held during San Diego Beer Week.[nggallery id=5]
Lost Abbey Art Show JSix
Photos from the Lost Abbey art show at JSix during San Diego Beer Week.[nggallery id=7]
Boos n' Brews Night 2009
Photos from our annual Boos n' Brews night. October 30, 2009.[nggallery id=4]
Sister Mother Mary Came to me...
It's a well known fact that I love Brettanomyces and Brett based beers. To me, they are some of the most interesting beers in my world and offer all sorts of flavors and opportunities for expresssion. And, while I love these "funky" beers, they cause me to have some wild (some would say bizarre) dreams. The funny thing about these dreams is that they are incredibly vivid and I know they are coming when I find myself drinking these beers in copious quantities.Two weeks ago, I was in Boston, MA for the Beer Advocate Night of the Funk. This is a specialty beer tasting that features about 50 beers all brewed with some manner of Wild Yeast. Mostly, it means that there are beers of every sort of ilk and imagination on the festival floor containing Brettanomyces and other creepy crawlers. Heading into a room full of beers like sends my imagination into a sensory overload that's hard to put into words.It's an awesome night of drinking and one that I truly look forward to. Problem is, I know going into each Night of the Funk sessions that I am going to "experience" some incredibly vivid dreams that night. I mean we're talking like acid trip crazy stuff. On Friday, I spent the evening consuming all manners of Sweaty Bretty Beers and found myself not really too concerned about the "dreamy" world I knew I was soon going to enter.I drank some incredible Ithaca Brute and reveled in the imagination of the Allagash, Ommegang and Cambridge Brewing Company Beers. It was a great night of sampling and I found the world of Funky Beers expressive as ever. We capped off the night by heading to Deep Ellum after the Festival concluded where Max served us up a couple of rounds of Hop 15. I retired around 1 AM that morning and fell into a deep deep sleep.Sometime around 3:50 AM, I awoke to a smattering of noise and infomercials on the TV. I grabbed a glass of water and charged back to sleep. And that's when Sister Mother Mary came to me. I wish I could remember all of the deatils but many of them are not that important. What is important is that I found myself in the lobby of the Nunnery seated in a chair(sharing a glass of Wine) with Sister Mary somebody or another. Apparently, I had been called to assist the Sisters in their mission to bring aide to the poor working class citizens of a village in Mexico.Over a bottle of Wine and some serious conversations, Sister Mother Mary and I plotted a course of action for the brewery and our charitable contributions to the poor and needy. At first, we would offer assistance in the form of man hours as I volunteered my employees time in Mexico to assist the villagers in building houses and shelters.Then, as we grew as a company (and became profitable) our olive branch of assistance would include more monetary assistance and aide.When I awoke on Saturday, I opened my eyes and half expected to find a glass of wine or a note from Sister Mother Mary next to me on the nightstand. It was a very vivid dream and one that certainly had my attention. And while I didn't find an empty wine bottle under the bed, I did however see the program from the Night of the Funk next to me on the dresser next to the bed. Apparently, I had fallen asleep reviewing the list of beers from Friday Night.Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE Brett based beers, they are so amazing. If even Sister Mother Mary comes to me in my sleep. But if I have another one of these nights in the not so distant future and Sister Mother Mary returns with a bottle of wine, I might just have to swear off the Bretta for a little while. Dig?
Saints and Sinners party, Oct. 2009
Photos from our Patron Saints and Sinners party on October 10, 2009[nggallery id=8]
Cask Ales, Wooden Legs and Gout
The Sunday morning after the Great American Beer Festival usually involves a long trip from the hotel to the airport in an altered state of being. Mostly the effects of drinking for 5 days in a row rear their ugly head and then there's the lack of sleep part too. It can make for an ugly ride. This year certainly was no different in that I got very little sleep on Saturday night and we drank quite heavily. Normally this wouldn't be too bad except that instead of flying back to San Diego to start the detox program, I hopped on a flight headed to Chicago where I met up with Maureen before jetting across to London to do some brewing.Over the summer, I was contacted by Ian Jefferey's of Naked Brands in the UK and asked if I would like to participate in the JD Wetherspoon's Cask Ale Festival. The Wetherspoon's group owns over 700 pubs in the UK and twice a year offers a promotion in their pubs whereby they tap 50 different cask ales and their patrons vote on their favorites. As part of the fest, the Wetherspoon Group works with 4 UK breweries to produce a recipe from a visiting brewer. Typically this includes an Asian brewer, another from Down Under and a continental brewmaster. Each year, there is also an American Brewer. In the past, they have hosted the guys from Stone, Matt from Firestone and our good friend Tonya Cornett from Bend Brewing visited twice this year as well.The trip to England found me brewing at Sheperd Neame Brewery- The oldest brewery in the UK founded in 1698. Maureen and I landed in London at 6 AM on Monday morning. Ian met us and we checked into a hotel near the airport to get a spot of rest before heading down to Faversham where I was to brew. The drive to Faversham was uneventful and we checked into the Sun Inn which is located above a pub (how freaking cool is that?) Ian joined Maureen and I for a pint before we walked over to the brewery to meet up with David and Stewart.That night after Maureen retired upstairs, David (the head brewer) and myself hunkered down and tipped more than a few pints of Master Brew before David thought it wise to procure some Champagne as well. I think I did my part as pint after pint went down. I think he met his match. A few days later, I heard from another brewer that I must have a wooden leg and in no way shape or form was he going to drink with me! It's not a wooden leg but a West Coast liver. Tuesday had me visiting the brewery and we also went out to the hop fields nearby to see some Kentish Hops. Sheperd Neame is also now responsible for a plot of land that has over 120 varieties of hops on it. Some are experimental and not even used for brewing!Wednesday, we actually got around to making a batch of beer. I selected a recipe from my Solana Beach days known as Grumpy's Pale Ale. It's an Extra Pale Ale recipe featuring no crystal malt and uses a boatload of Phoenix and Amarillo Hops. Stewart had never used Amarillo hops before so this was an interesting recipe for sure. The beer was earmarked to be 5.0% ABV with a crisp and dry finish. I was given the opportunity to send our proprietary yeast over and was excited about this beer.At 6:10 AM, we mashed in the first of 300 bbls worth of wort. It was amazing to watch them fill the solid oak mash tuns with the grist. It took about 10 minutes for each vessel. We also mash hopped this batch of beer with Bramling Cross hops which was a first for them as well. Stewart really enjoyed this part of the process as he picked the hops himself! The beers went through their system with very little difficulty and 300 bbls was produced with nary a headache. The next day, I went back to visit Stewart and asked if it would be possible to taste the beer. We were scheduled to return to London that afternoon so in theory it would be the only opportunity to taste the beer we brewed.Stewart was amazed at the flavors of the beer. The hops really started to shine even though the wort was still so sweet. He had this look on his face that screamed "Amarillo hops are my new favorite thing in the whole wide world!" The beer fermented completely the way I had hoped and on Monday, I got the lab results for the beer showing just over 5.0% ABV and 39 IBU's which is a bit higher than targeted but I'm certainly not going to complain about that. There seems to be a real buzz coming from Sheperd Neame about this batch. I'm excited about that as well.On Thursday, we checked into London and made our way to Cross Key's which is a Wetherspoon Pub for a photo shoot and meet and greet with the other brewers. It was a nice relaxing afternoon with a wide array of Cask Ales sampled. Friday came and this was Maureen and my only really day to ourselves away from Brewing. So we did what any parents would do, we went Christmas shopping for Sydney.We were on a mission to find a store called Early Learning Center as Maureen had a catalog with some great toys in it. So we jumped the underground and headed out to Picadilly. We finally found what we were looking for in Hammersmith. It took numerous stops but it all worked out for us. The one bummer was that we had to purchase a duffle bag enabling us to bring home our haul for Sydney. Once we got all the toy shopping done, we then played tourists for a bit and did the 10 Downing Street part of London.Post touristy stuff, we jumped off the underground in the theater district and found a pub that was serving Timothy Taylor's Landlord Bitter. I'd been jonesing for a pint of this since we got to London and I was happy to find it in a great pub. We slumbered well from all the walking that day before heading to the airport on Saturday to fly home. It was a great trip back to the states. The only pisser of the trip back was that my gout flared up. It's my birthday today. I have gout. Makes me feel old. Oh well. The UK was great. The brewing went well and I made some cool new friends. I even managed to start the Christmas shopping for Sydney in October. Who knew?
Lost Abbey is "Beer Country"
CNN.com/travel has a story today on how craft beer, like wine, is now a travel destination. Lost Abbey is one of the breweries featured. From the article:
...while "all of California could be considered the state from which the innovators of craft beer came, San Diego specifically grabbed the golden ring from the merry go round and ran with it," said Matt Simpson, a craft beer consultant.So when you're talking San Diego-style beer, for most beer geeks you're talking about The Lost Abbey. "The most notable guy right now is Tomme Arthur at Lost Abbey. He was one of the early adventurous brewers in Southern California," beer tasting expert Mosher said.Known for Belgian-style beers and a "flavor first" philosophy, beer expert Beaumont said "they're doing some really innovative, interesting stuff in terms of barrel aging and unusual fermentations, beyond basic brewers yeast."
You can read the rest of the article here:» Raise a glass to 'beer country' (via CNN.com)
Christmas in July Party 2009
Photos from our first annual Christmas in July (July 25, 2009) fundraiser for Toys for Tots[nggallery id=9]And photos with Santa[nggallery id=10]
This past week
It's Saturday morning July 4th, 2009. Happy Birthday America! Yesterday was July 3rd which happens to be my wife Maureen's birthday. It appears that we get 48 hours of parties each year because of these two days. Not too shabby! Yesterday the gang at Stone Brewing Company hosted local radio station 94.9 FM in the brewery gardens. The party started at 6 AM with the early morning DJ's and featured .94 cent beer samples all day. I was asked to come out to the gardens to spend some time on the air. My slot was 11 AM with Hilary (the mid day DJ). Hilary also happens to be a friend of Maureen's so we loaded the Arthur's up and headed for Stone Brewing. When we arrived, it was damn near impossible to find a parking space. The restaurant was packed and at one point they made an announcement that the restaurant was out of sample glasses as all 750 of them were full of beer. The party was great and I am thankful that 94.9 and Stone got together to give us a chance to talk about San Diego beers on the air. Mike even got in on the act. As chief marketing guy (and head brewer), he asked everyone to show up for our Christmas in July promotion in January. DOOH!!! Oh well, at least he makes great beer!Speaking of Christmas in July, it's true Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus. Three weeks from now, we are launching what we hope will be another great day of festivities at the brewery. On July 25th, 2009 we will be celebrating the arrival of our Bourbon Barrel Aged Santa's Little Helper Imperial Stout. We also will be releasing our 2009 bottling of Older Viscosity plus a new little diddie called simply Duck Duck Gooze. All told, it will be an awesome beery day.We'll open the doors at noon. There will be food and Santa is scheduled to arrive at 1PM. In exchange for an unwrapped toy (suggested donation no less than $15) you will get access to food, a great band and an opportunity to have pictures taken with Santa. We know that the local economy is in the toilet right now but we still think all kids should get to celebrate Christmas with toys. We will have two Marines on hand from Toys For Tots to accept our donation as the day draws to a close. Lastly, there will be a giving tree on site as well. As our gift to you, we will have a tree loaded with envelopes. For a $15 cash donation, you will be able to pull an envelope from the tree. Naughty or Nice, Sinner or Saint, we won't be judging. We promise the tree will be loaded with rarities and things that haven't been for sale in quite some time. I am very excited for Christmas in July and can barely contain my enthusiasm for what promises to be an amazing day of beer, food and festivities.Lastly, this past week is the title of the blog for today. Why? Well, we had one of those weeks here at the brewery. Thursday was about the worst day ever here and I really want to take the time to thank all the guys who chipped in a put a little bit of extra time in for us. We packaged Older Viscosity on Thursday. During the run, one of our tanks (Judgment Day) developed a leak at the gasket sealing the door to the tank. As we had over 120 bbls of beer in the tank, there was little we could do. This was mostly due to the fact that we had no empty tanks to move the beer to!!! Yes, it was truly an oh shit moment. We were able to devise a strategy for dealing with the door but it required an enormous amount of effort and I even jumped on the bottling line to assist the guys in the production of 400 cases of Older Viscosity on Thursday. That was the bad news for the week.The good news is that we shipped our first sets of Microstar kegs out this week to the East Coast. Those of you in the Boston area should start seeing some of our beer next week at your favorite watering holes. Look for Wipeout IPA, HOP 15, Devotion and Ten Commandments. Coming in August you'll also start to see Panzer Pils in bars and on the shelves. This years batch is off the charts and gets the Schrago seal of approval. That's all for now. I need to get my office cleaned up as I leave for Chicago on Monday for a couple of days of promotional work. The kind of work my liver quivers over.Happy 4th of July. Remember our troops as you celebrate today. We all know somebody who's out there keeping us safe
Third Anniversary Celebration
Photos from our third anniversary party, May 2009.[nggallery id=12]
Port Brewing & The Lost Abbey Turning Three
Famed brewery to celebrate its anniversary May 9th with food, music and three new beer releases
San Marcos, Calif. -- Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey will celebrate its third anniversary on Saturday May 9, 2009 by throwing a party the way only Port / Lost Abbey can.Items on tap for the daylong festivities include specialty kegs from the Lost Abbey barrel archives, bottled beer releases, food by Port/Lost Abbey's in-house chef, and live music from special guests, The Professors.
Beer-only sales begin at noon; food, music and entertainment will begin at 3pm.New Beer ReleasesBottled Beers scheduled for release:
- Port (3rd) Anniversary (Pale Strong Ale)
Cuvee de Tomme(Release delayed)The Angel's Share (Bourbon)(Release delayed)- Update: Special Bottle Releases: Older Viscosity 2008 (375ml bottles / $15) and 2009 Brother Levonian Saison (750ml bottles / $8.99)
The Port Brewing Regulars:
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The Lost Abbey Regulars:
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The Special Taps:
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Brews, Food and EntertainmentAs part of the day's events, in what is now an anniversary tradition, brewmaster Tomme Arthur, will delve into the storied Lost Abbey barrel archives and give guests an opportunity to sample rare brews from past years. Port Brewing Chef-in-Residence, Vince Marsaglia, and his 20 foot mobile outdoor kitchen and barbeque will be on hand to steam, bake, broil, BBQ and fry their way through a stunning assortment of five-star foods.
Additionally, local music sensations, The Professors, will be on-hand to perform their brand of "sophisticated surf music" live in the brewhouse.The DetailsThe Port Brewing Third Anniversary Celebration is Saturday, May 9, 2009. Beer release-only sales begin at noon. Party, food, music, etc. begins at 3pm. Food and music are free. For $15 guest receive a Port Brewing logo pint glass and 8 beer tasting tickets. Additional tickets may be purchased at the event. Ticket sales are at-the-door only. There are no pre-sale tickets. The Port Brewing facility is located at 155 Mata Way, Suite 104, San Marcos, CA 92069.About Port Brewing / Lost AbbeyFounded in 2006, Port Brewing Company produces a broad line of award-winning American beers as well as the groundbreaking Lost Abbey family of Belgian-inspired ales. Under the direction of co-founder and world-renowned brewer, Tomme Arthur, Port / Lost Abbey has become recognized for complex, flavor-driven beers, often aged and blended after 18 months or longer in oak brandy, bourbon, and wine barrels. In additional to numerous medals, Port Brewing / The Lost Abbey and Tomme Arthur were the 2007 Great American Beer Festival Small Brewery and Small Brewer of the Year, and the 2008 World Beer Cup World Champion Small Brewery and Small Brewer. Port Brewing is located at 155 Mata Way, Suite 104, San Marcos, CA 92069, USA. Telephone (760) 889-9318, web: www.lostabbeydev.wpengine.com.» Media Information
Tomme Arthur to Introduce Clothing Line
Renowned beer maker will introduce fashion line beginning with "Brew doo" headgearThree time GABF Brewer of the Year, and 2008 World Beer Cup Champion Small Brewer, Tomme Arthur, will be bringing his flavor-driven fashion sense to the craft beer drinking community with the launch of a new clothing line. Dubbed "Brew-House of Arthur", the collection will feature around 20 items ranging from casual t-shirts and shorts to high-fashion flip-flops and accessories.Among the first items to be available will be Arthur's signature headwear, the "Brew-Doo" doo rag, which resembles a ratty white bar towel.
"It's an incredible fashion statement," said Mike "Dulce" Rodriguez, style editor for Beer Wear Daily."It looks great whether you're just driving down the road in a Honda station wagon, or entertaining the homies while tipping back a few grenades of malt liquor. I'll be shocked if this isn't the beer fashion statement of 2009."Another release will be the "Seven-Day Sock", cotton footwear designed to be worn for a week straight. "They're wonderful!" exclaimed a Brew-House of Arthur spokesman. "After a couple of days they practically stand up by themselves so they're really easy to put on."The clothing line-up will also include clean white shirts in short and long sleeve styles, as well as close-toed shoes, brown pants, and a black t-shirt for dressier occasions.Arthur is also rumored to be working with longtime Port Brewing partner, Vince Marsaglia on a clothing line inspired by Marsaglia's unique fashion sense. The collection will most likely be flip-flops, a pair of khaki cargo shorts, and a surplus Hop 15 t-shirt.Brew-House of Arthur anticipates the fashions hitting beer wear specialty stores in time for the craft brewing holidays.
The taste of Cold
Today is session # 25 and it's off to Lager Land for today. I don't visit lager land too often. I'm not a hater but at the same time, I'm rarely get excited about lager. For those of you who visit The Lost Abbey, you may witness on occassion my affinity for a certain "stinging" Lager of sorts. You see, I drink Mickey's Malt Liquor from time to time. It pretty much leaves people scratching their heads. Me, I don't care. I drink Mickey's for one simple reason, it's the only beer I can drink AND shut my brain off at the same time.Now, this doesn't mean that I turn into a babbling fountain of idiocy. Nope, turning my brain off means that when I am drinking Mickey's, I am not analyzing the beer for how well it was made or how coarse the bitterness lingers. That's what brewers do. We drink beer and deconstruct the production of every single thing we pass through our lips. It's what we are trained to do. As such, I have this completely ridiculous inability to drink things without dismissing (or championing) them. It sucks sometimes.So, you'll often find me nursing a Mickey's Malt Liquor on Fridays and Saturdays during our tasting room hours. I prefer the Grenades over the 40 ounce bottle. I'm a big boy but my arms get tired of holding the 40 ounce bottles. Besides, the grenades stay colder and go down smoother. You know in a taste of cold sort of way. An extra added bonus of the Grenades is that they have puzzles under the caps(called Rebus). I suppose that is one way to deal with adult ADD. Perhaps your wondering how this all came to be. It's not like I haven't been "out" of the Mickey's Closet for some time now. I suppose it goes back to that fateful April 1st in 1998. Tom Nickell had the bright idea to replace all the handles on the Pizza Port Solana Beach Bar with Mickey's taps for the day. (Looking back, I can only imagine how much glory the sales rep felt that day!) We also ordered two 1/2 bbls of Mickey's Malt Liquor for the bar. Scooter was tasked with writing up the sign for the promo. $1 pints and $6 pitchers was the pitch. Scooter(his real name) broke out a giant black marker and wrote on the Mickey's Banner (graciously supplied by the distributor). It said in all its' glory"GET DRUNK AND FIGHT LIKE THE IRISH." And no, I wish I was making this up. The first keg lasted 2 hours and at one point I think every patron in the building had a Mickey's Pint or Pitcher in front of them. All at once, everyone was transported back to their youth and describing awful malt liquor experiences. That April 1st was my first foray into Mickey's Malt Liquor land and certainly not my last. You see, over the years, Mickey's Malt Liquor has been an unwaivering wing man of sorts for me. Mostly, you'll find me drinking Mickey's when nothing else strikes my fancy. That's my brains way of saying shut it down.So today is Lager Day in the blogosphere. I'm glad to be able to finally profess my love for one of the most decorated Malt Liquours of all time! Sure, it's not often you find a brewer who professes admiration for beers that don't make them think. But that's exactly what Mickey's does for me. I think every brewer needs to be able to steal sips from a bottle without putting any thought whatsoever as to how the beer was made. Thank you Mickey's from the bottom of my heart. Now if you'll excuse me please, I have a curb to go kick...
Photos from Lost Abbey Carnevale
Last Saturday was our annual Carnevale masquerade party. Chef Vince cooked up a storm, the band rocked the house, and the Angel's Share and Older Viscosity on tap (along with all our regular beers) kept the evening on a good tilt. A great time was had by all.Thanks to all those that attended, and to those that couldn't, we hope to see you next year. In the meantime, here's a photo slideshow of the evening's events:Carnevae photos
Carnevale Masquerade 2009
Photos from the Carnevale di Lost Abbey Masquerade Party, February 28, 2009[nggallery id=14]