Hello Fellow Beer Fans!
It is going to be a great next 10 days at the pub celebrating the 13th Anniversary of O’Brien’s (it is mine and Lindsey’s 4th Anniversary owning it). In addition to the previously mentioned events from the last email, we now have the Southern California Launch Party for Allagash Brewing from Maine on Wednesday the 17th with owner/brewer Rob Tod. We are also going to start tapping the anniversary beers a little sooner than expected. Friday night I’ll tap the Dupont Avec Les Bon Voeux and on Sunday we’ll have Bear Republic Apex IPA for the Charger game. With all of the good beer next week, it looks like the Craftsman Cabernale will have to wait until the following week. More on the Anniversary Week later, for now I will catch you up on what is going on for the next few days.
We have a lot of new beers on tap right now including Alpine Duet IPA, New Belgium 2 Below, Alaskan Winter Ale and the new Ava’s Pale Ale from Pizza Port Carlsbad – it was brewed to celebrate owner Gina Marsaglia’s new baby girl Ava. We also have the Ballast Point Sea Monster Stout back on tap and another keg of the Redstone Black-Raspberry Mead.  There are more new bottles on the list as well. The great Rochefort 10 is back in stock as is Saison Dupont.   And for fans of the Alaskan Smoked Porter, we now have it in 22 ounce bottles.
Tonight, Thursday the 11th, for those who get this quickly we have a cask of AleSmith IPA at 5 pm. We haven’t had one in a while and these casks are always great. Next month we can look forward to the My Bloody Valentine release from AleSmith.
Friday the 12th we have an Alaskan Pint Glass Night with the Alaskan Winter Ale on tap and the Smoked Porter in the Bottle. Pint Glasses will be just $2 each. We’ll also have a five gallon cask of Green Flash West Coast IPA, which is a great beer. And as previously mentioned, this will mark the soft start of the Anniversary Week kegs with the Dupont Avec Les Bon Voeux (with best wishes) which is a deep golden 9% alcohol saison style beer that is always one of the best seasonals of the year. However, due to a distributor change with the importer, we didn’t get any of this year’s batch in kegs, so this keg is from last year – and belive me this beer ages well.
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday (think monster truck announcing voice there) is the much anticipated Chargers Divisional Playoff game with the New England Patriots. The game is at 1:30 pm and I expect a good crowd. We’ll open at noon so that everyone can watch the end of the early game. To help us all cheer the bolts on I’ll tap the Bear Republic Apex IPA. This is a great IPA that is 7% but hopped almost like a double IPA. It took a medal at the last Great American Beer Festival. Expect the giant Duvel glass to be filled upon victory….
So finally, we are to the Anniversary Week proper. Here is what is planned -
Monday the 15th is Sierra Nevada Night featuring a keg of bourbon barrel aged Bigfoot Barleywine. I have had this beer twice and it is amazing. I am really looking forward to drinking a glass. We’ll also have Celebration, Harvest and the wet hopped Extra Special Pale Ale on tap.
Tuesday the 16th is Double Bad Boy Night – Alpine Bad Boy on draft and cask! Both will be on tap at 5 pm. The keg is full size, but the cask is only 5 gallons, so don’t expect it to last all night.
Wednesday the 17th is our big Allagash Brewing Launch Party with owner/brewer Rob Tod. Rob will be hanging out at the pub most of the night, I am guessing about 6 – 10 pm. We should have 4 beers on tap including White Ale, Tripel, Curiuex (which is barrel aged trippel) and the 11th Anniversary Ale, which I have never had and I don’t know what style it is. And there should be three more in the bottle – Four, a Quadrupel-style beer, Dubbel and the brewery’s Grand Cru. This is the first time that these beers will be available anywhere in Southern California and it is the only pub promo that Rob is doing while he is in San Diego. Allagash has an international reputation for brewing excellent Belgian-style ales for the last 11 years. Only the White Ale will be distributed on draft here, so the other three draft beers are O’Brien’s exclusives (it pays to get drunk with the owner of the brewery in foreign cities). The draft line up will be confirmed on Monday and I will post it on the website when it is (www.obreinspub.net). And Lindsey will have Chimay Burgers and Bangers and Mash with Stout Gravy (the bangers are made with Gordon Biersch Marzen).
Oh, and we will have a cask of Alpine Duet IPA at 5 pm for those whose tastes run a bit more hoppy….
Thursday the 18th features the excellent Pizza Port Carlsbad Poor Man’s IPA on cask and draft. This very drinkable 8% alcohol double IPA is one of my favorite San Diego beers. Brewer Jeff Bagby takes a lot of pride in his big beers and his attention to detail and brewing skill really shine through on this one. Both tap at 5 pm.
Friday the 19th is the San Diego release of Russian River Pliny the Younger along with a very special keg of Blind Pig IPA. I talked with Russian River owner/brewer Vinnie Cilurzo yesterday (it pays to get drunk with him in foreign cities too) and he says that this is the best batch of Younger he has ever made. We’ll tap it at 5 pm and of course Russian River IPA and Pliny the Elder will be on tap and if room allows, also a keg of Damnation. And we will have some very special Belgian Cheese Plates to offer.
Saturday the 20th I will give you off from celebrating. Though you are still welcome to come to the pub of your own accord. Saturday night is a great night to avoid the crowds and take advantage of our 10% off all bottles special.
Sunday the 21st, if all goes well, we will be able to watch the Chargers play again. No doubt, I will have something good to tap if they are playing.
I hope that that is enough for everyone. And I didn’t mention that I have the Cantillon Fou Fonne Apricot Lambic waiting to be tapped once the Lou Pepe Kriek is gone. Or the Alpine Oak Barrel Aged Nitro Captain Stout. Perhaps there really is too much good beer. And there will be Chili Verde and Beer Chili and many other great specials coming out of the kitchen.
If it is any consolation, I wouldn’t do anything to you that I won’t be doing to myself all week. I will be there every night (though maybe not all night) to celebrate the bastion of good beer that is O’Brien’s. I want to thank all of you for your part in allowing us to serve such fantastic beer. Here’s to the next great year of beer at O’Brien’s!
We’ll see you all soon over a great anniversary beer, Cheers, Tom