Oh DDB… 
On paper this seems without grace, a Red Bull BMX backflip you pull out just because you can. Oddly, the majesty of the pistachio and chocolate waft comes across like a dollop of spumoni ice cream. I can’t reconcile the ideation of this beer with how good it is, and that Kierkegaardian conflict leaves me only to rely upon faith.
via: dontdrinkbeer
Great write-up on The Bruery from a former employee, turned scoop-shop-entrepreneur.
Stepping back into the brewhouse today, years after my departure from Southern California and the business, is a bit disorienting. Where once there was a company of five or six individuals that occupied a single unit in the park is now a business that has absorbed nearly the entire complex (twelve units) and employs over sixty dedicated beer-lovers. In addition, there’s a satellite office in Anaheim, a few miles down the road, and a barrel house that is home to some three thousand used and new oak barrels in which hundreds of batches of beer comfortably rest; some for a few months and others for years or even decades.
(The Bruery brewed and barreled an Old Ale to commemorate the birth of Patrick and Rachel’s daughter four years ago, with the intention of tapping it on her 21st birthday. Talk about the coolest kid on the block.)
via Life & Thyme.
So I happened upon a fresh bottle of Pure Hoppiness yesterday at the store and my wife happened upon a fresh bottle of Pliny today so… time for a side-by-side tasting, methinks!
I did the tasting solo, although my wife offered input by tasting a thimbleful of each beer. She correctly identified them from the glass, by the way, such a babe.
Pliny the Elder is a little on the grassy, fresh cut flower side. Plenty of citrus and hop oil character with a light, crispy malt backdrop. Pliny finishes clean and brisk, with a tingling mouthfeel that smacks of orange chiffon.
Pure Hoppiness kicks things off with a little more heat, a bit boozier and more on the honey-sweet floral side than the grassy side. PH then segues rapidly into an herbal garden of hop sweetness and resinous tones. The mouthfeel is equally satisfying in the tingling sensation. Both of these beers are carbonated just right.
In the end, if I had to pick just one to drink for the rest of my life (a sad fate, indeed) I think I would stick with Pliny. However, they’re both world-class beers and I feel guilty that I am drinking them both at the same time. I know that there are starving children out there. Forgive me.
If my statistics from Untappd are to be believed, I tasted no less than 606 unique beers in 2014. This annihilates my number from last year, which was a paltry 207 unique brews. I began using Untappd midway through 2014 because it was utilitarian and allows me to catalogue my alcoholic explorations with a greater degree of detail and efficiency. I also joined Beer Advocate and began to do some trading and also some tourism, visiting breweries in New York City, Tampa, and Orange County. Midway through the year I began a biweekly beer night with a number of friends in San Diego. Now it has essentially has become a glorious bottle share that happens twice a month. On the horizon? Hopefully hosting a beer podcast. I just need to buckle down and DO IT.
Since listing them all here would be a fool’s errand, resulting in a very long post, I will simply break down some of my favorite brews from the most popular categories I imbibed.
India Pale Ales (IPAs) – tasted 76 unique
Imperial India Pale Ales (IIPAs, DIPAs, TIPAs) – tasted 71 unique
Imperial Stouts / Double Stouts / Russian Imperial Stouts – tasted 44 unique
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stouts (subset)
American Strong Ales – tasted 25 unique
American Pale Ales (APAs) – tasted 25 unique
So, what do you think I should set as a goal for 2015? Is it cool to have a goal of tasting a butt-load of beers? Should I stick to hunting down everything on the Top 250 from Beer Advocate? Yes to all? OK. See what’s on deck in my beer cellar.
As this list coalesces from the sum of my temporal experiences in 2014, I realize that the amount of preparation involved is actually more than ever before… rendering the process a little less involved than past years. And so it feels half-hearted. But it’s not.
I live within striking distance of the second largest metropolitan area by population in the United States, and I have missed a number of things.
I missed seeing The Notwist in San Francisco in June – when I was actually in the city. My phone died, I had no means of transportation and it was dark. I should have gone anyway.
I missed seeing Whiplash, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Birdman, The Book of Life, Calvary, Force Majeure, Wild, The Imitation Game, Godzilla, Selma, and Inherent Vice, despite the fact that they all played nearby.
I missed going to Peasant in New York City and trying Frank’s Steak, based upon a recipe born in the middle ages after a battle where there were hundreds of dead horses on the ground. Never let a good horse go to waste…
I missed visiting the Guggenheim and the Met, my car broke down en route to a Padres home game that I subsequently missed, I also missed going on Drinkabout in North Park, swimming with the seals in La Jolla Cove, and going to a vertical tasting of every vintage of 3 Floyds Dark Lord.
Those are things I missed. Sometimes, dwelling on missed opportunities can obscure all of the caught opportunities and adventures the year had in store. This is my review of 2014, and I shall break it into some bite-sized, pop-culture-centric pieces for rapid consumption.
2014 ~ month by month
January – our good friend Cat and her daughter Kyla visit us in San Diego, CA for some fun in the sun, on the beach, eating sushi and unwinding. While driving around La Jolla, we get hungry and stop at the nearest Mexican place we could find – and thus, discover Oscar’s Mexican Seafood. THE BEST FISH TACOS EVER.
February – The Stone Brewing Co. “Calm Before the Storm” event allows me the chance to try nearly every single, retired Vertical Epic brew in their archive. Bree and I go to Urge Gastropub for a special Valentine’s Day dinner date and had some house-made truffles that were literally amazeballs. Tania and Bree make home made sushi after we did some shopping at an Asian supermarket down in San Diego.
March – I join the Bruery’s Preservation Society in order to get my hands on some fancy beers and expand my brew-consciousness. Anthony comes back to visit and ponder whether or not to move again to the great state of California and I take him to Churchill’s Renaissance to drink expensive beer. Tania, Bree, myself and John decide to hike to the top of Mount Woodson, home of the famous “Tater Chip Rock.” My second cousin Kaarin also comes to visit and we take her to Oscar’s for the BEST FISH TACOS EVER… and she agreed.
April – I travel to Richmond, VA for business.
May –
June – I travel to San Jose, CA for business. We move into a house – huge upgrade from being in an apartment. Bree is thrilled to spend our anniversary in a new location for once.
July – We attend my cousin Caleb’s wedding in Sylvania, OH, also we attend the San Diego Comic Con, also I return to Ohio (Columbus, this time) to be a groomsman in Sam Shepard’s wedding. I visit a lot of people in July. It is glorious and very expensive. Benji and Megumi put me up in their charming new home near the German Village in Columbus.
August –
September – I travel to New York City for business, arriving in the Big Apple on my birthday.
October –
November – I travel to Toronto, ON for business and then take a flight from the great, white north down to Tampa, FL for another cousin’s wedding. Bree comes from San Diego, separately.
December – For the holidays, Bree and I travel to East Texas to visit her family. We arrive on Christmas Eve and return to San Diego, which had just received a rare dusting of SNOW(!), on New Year’s Eve. Bree’s family all got sick while we visited, and so I finally succumb to it on the day we return. We ring in the new year huddled under blankets, drinking soup and ginger tea.
2014 ~ The Year In:
Food
Music
There’s no craft beer scene quite like the San Diego brewing community. According to Times of San Diego, as of August 2014 there are 90 craft breweries local to the Southern California metropolis and experts predict this number will reach the triple digits by the end of the calendar year.
via Wirtz Craft Beer and West Coaster SD.
Every autumn, Stone Brewing hosts a little festival devoted to the thickest, strongest, and gnarliest dark beers on the planet. They call this event, Pour It Black. On October 19, 2014, I attended for the very first time.
Thus begins my “live” blog of the intense, oily, dark, and downright delicious.
1. Amager/Mikkeller/Hr. Frederikson Væsel Brunch Barrel Aged – 10.7%
A barrel aged version of this collaboration between two Danish breweries (although Mikkeller technically isn’t a brewery) – A complex, espresso-centric brew
2. The Bruery/Beachwood BBQ Mrs Stoutfire – 9.5%
Thinner mouthfeel and heavier on the wood smoke flavor than Smoking Wood (what my wife affectionately refers to as the, “hotdog beer”) in my opinion
3. Avery Tweak – 16%
Like drinking cake and ice cream mixed with incredible, robust coffee beans. This beer used to be known alternatively as Mephaddict or Coffeestopheles.
4. Belching Beaver Horchata Imperial Milk Stout – 5.4%
Sweet and spiced, like a pleasant chai tea. A very enjoyable milk stout.
5. Firestone Walker Winter Wookey – 10%
Blended Black IPA and Barleywine yields a robust, sweet, caramelized flavor that’s unobtrusive and pleasant.
6. Stone Imperial Russian Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels – 11.5%
An immutable benchmark in the world of barrel-aged beers. Stone’s IRS is already something special, but they do a heckuva job aging it to boot.
7. Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels – 9.6%
This was perhaps the most special of the brews I was able to try (2001 IRS was gone by the time I got to the bar, alas). Stone’s 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout was and remains a fan favorite. Trying a variation of it aged in bourbon barrels was just an unexpected extra.
8. Stone Mikhail’s Odd (2013 Espresso Imperial Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels) -13.9%
My first time trying this one, which was released as a special 500ml bottle earlier in the year. The 2013 “Odd Year” release of Espresso Imperial Russian Stout is pitch-perfect. I cannot heap enough adulation upon the barrel aged version.
9. Midnight Sun Moscow Rye Russian Imperial Stout – 11%
A deceptively-strong oatmeal stout. Thin mouthfeel and roasted, burnt sugar flavors aplenty.
10. Bear Republic Cognac Barrel aged Old Baba Yaga – 11.5%
Aroma of cognac. Flavors redolent of cognac and peaty peat smoke. Overall not bad, just very full-frontal with the cognac.
11. Deschutes Black Butte XXV – 11%
Aroma like wholesome bran cereal, flavor like a potpourri dish of dried stone fruits. Tremendously gratifying.
12. Avery Mephistopheles Stout – 15.43%
The penultimate beer! Only slightly-less booze-tastic than the Tweak. Every bit a towering Imp Stout.
13. Great Divide Belgian Yeti – 9.5%
Yeti is a great beer. Making a Belgian version of it = good. Not as awesome as Espresso Oak Aged, but solid through and through.
I still had two tasters left to go… however, time ran out and they closed down all of the stations 😦
GABF Medal Results vs. Number of Beers Entered – A Closer Look
This is what numbers/stats geeks do….lay out the facts that the numbers present, but let people come to their own conclusions.
Interesting analysis.
I never bothered to publish this – then again, I have not written anything for quite some time.
For what it’s worth, here are the lovely dining establishments I enjoyed visiting in 2013 ~
Consider this Joel’s substitute for Yelp.
Sea & Smoke in Del Mar, CA – Niman Ranch Burger, Warm Spinach Salad
Under The High Wheel, Edmonton, Alberta – House Burger
Rudy’s Taco Shop in Carlsbad, CA – California Burrito with Guacamole
The Crown and Anchor in Monterey, CA – Cheeseburger
Señor Pancho’s in San Marcos – California Burrito with Guacamole
Lallapalooza in Monterey, CA – Blue Cheese Steak Bites
First Food and Bar @ The Palazzo in Las Vegas – CLOSED – Mini Wedge Salads
Golden Road Brewery Pub in Los Angeles, CA – GRB Burger
Urge Gastropub in Rancho Bernardo, San Diego, CA – Garbage Burger
Sublime Ale House in San Marcos, CA – Jalapeño Popper, BYO Mac & Cheese
Tin Leaf Kitchen in Carlsbad, CA – Grilled Loch Duart Salmon
Pizza Port in Carlsbad, CA – BBQ Chicken Pizza
Marina Kitchen in San Diego, CA – Tuna Nicoise Salad
Hubcap in North Park, San Diego – CLOSED – Herbed Boursin Burger
The Linkery in North Park, San Diego – CLOSED – Beer Battered Cheese Curds, Fish Tacos
Tommy V’s Urban Kitchen & Bar in Carlsbad – Hanger Steak Salad
Slater’s 50/50 @ Liberty Station in San Diego, CA – Peanut Butter & Jealousy Burger
Slater’s 50/50 in Pasadena, CA – Nacho Supreme Burger
The Waffle in Hollywood, CA – Red Velvet Waffle
Peace Pies in Leucadia, Encinitas, CA – Bliss Burger (Vegan)
My list of the top ten spots I would love to visit in 2014:
What a year.
I have tried more disparate varieties of beer this year than in any other year of my life on this planet. Perhaps I will outdo myself one day as a member of the Mars One crew, but until then, this year will have to stand as the greatest annum of potations in my tender, young lifetime.
Firstly, let’s have a fun, little, statistical rundown of the beers my liver processed this past year.
In all, I tasted 207 different brews in 2013. That’s an average of a little more than 1 new beer every other day.
My most-tried style, and also the most-popular style in San Diego was India Pale Ales ~ 51 kinds
My second-most tried style was all manner of Stouts ~ 45 kinds
My third-most tried style was various types of Belgians ~ 19 kinds
Not a single beer was below 4% and 64 of them were above 10%, including one that was 15% (!) ~ the highest percent ABV beer I have ever had.
In no particular order, these were my absolute favorite beers of 2013:
There are plenty more beers listed further down the page, I have emboldened the names of all of my other favorites.
So, here is the detailed breakdown, kind-of sorted by style and in the order I tried them, as the year progressed:
AMBERS – 7
AMERICAN STRONG ALES – 8
BARLEY WINES – 3
BELGIANS – 19
BLONDES – 2
HARD CIDER (not technically Beer, I know…) – 1
HEFEWEIZENS – 2
INDIA PALE ALES – 51
OLD ALES – 3
PALE ALES – 14
PILSNER – 3
PORTERS – 11
SAISONS / FARMHOUSE ALES – 3
SCOTCH ALES – 1
SPECIALITY ALES / ETC – 17
STOUTS – 45
SOURS – 4
WITBIER – 4
It was indeed, THE YEER OF BEER.
Craft Beer Community
Beer should be enjoyed with friends. If no friends are available, grab some strangers.
Drinking beer, so you don't have to.
Joel Manahan 