O’Brien’s Pub – Belgians, Bad Boy and Real Ale Fest!

Lots of good beer news to bring you today.  We start with a cask of Alpine Duet IPA tonight, Thursday, at 5 pm.  The Duet is also on tap right now at the pub.  Tomorrow, the 8th, we will be getting Alpine Pure Hoppiness back on tap after a brief absence.

Word from the brewery is that production is back on track and that Pure Hoppiness should be back around for a while.  So breath easy and be sure to enjoy it while it is here.

Friday the 8th we have a new Belgian-style beer from Sierra Nevada, Ovila Dubbel along with a very limited supply of glassware for sale.  The beer is part of new series of Belgian-style ales that are being brewed in collaboration with a local Northern California Monastery, the Abbey of New Clairvaux.  The Trappist monks at New Clairvaux also operate a winery.  The dubbel is the first in the series, with a Saison and Quad to follow.  Part of the proceeds of the beer are donated to the Abbey as they seek to restore the 12th century Ovila chapel from Spain that was dismantled and shipped to the United States by newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst.

For more information on this very cool project, visit www.ovila.com.  We will be making a donation to the Abbey of New Clairvaux each time we tap an Ovila beer.  If you are interested in supporting the project, you can visit the Abbey’s website at www.newclairvaux.org.  In addition to the Ovila Dubbel, look for fresh kegs of Malheur 10 and 12 on tap.

Saturday the 9th we will have a keg of Alpine Bad Boy on tap for your double IPA drinking pleasure.  Bad Boy is one of my favorite beers, but it is dangerous at 9.2% alcohol.  Also on the 9th at 4:30 pm we will host a viewing party for the LA Galaxy v. DC United soccer match.  US striker Charlie Davies who was nearly killed in 2009 in a serious car accident is back playing professional soccer for DC United.  USA captain Landon Donovan plays for the LA Galaxy.  It will be the first time that the two players are on the same field since 2009, even though they will be on opposing teams.

Looking Ahead
Next week we will gear up for the San Diego Real Ale Festival with back to back cask nights.  Wednesday the 13th we will tap a cask of AleSmith IPA at 6 pm.  Also on Wednesday, look for great Mexican food specials from Cesar in the kitchen.  He has been doing some great Tortas, tacos and other treats every Wednesday night.  Then on Thursday the 14th we will tap a cask of Ballast Point’s massive Tongue Buckler Imperial Red.  It will be two great nights of cask ale.

Thursday the 14th we will have a pre-party for the Real Ale Fest with our friends from Coronado Brewing that will extend through the weekend.  We will have four specialty beers on tap – Black OPs black IPA, Idiot IPA, Czech Pils and Hoppy Daze Belgo-IPA.  All of the beers are in full size kegs, so stop by anytime over the weekend and enjoy a great Coronado beer.

Peering a bit further into the future, you can celebrate Tax Day on the 18th with our great pitcher special – just $10 for craft and local beers from 4:30 pm to close with strong/rare ales just $14 per pitcher.  On the 19th we welcome back beers from importer Eurobrew including some Marstons Ale from England on tap.  On the 20th we are going to tap that elusive triple IPA from Russian River known as the Younger.  Thursday the 21st we will have a cask of the delicious Union Jack IPA from Firestone Walker.

Friday the 22nd Shamu returns as we tap into the Alaskan Summer Ale with a night of great specialty beers from the north – Imperial Black IPA, Winter Ale and Smoked Porter.  The 22nd is Good Friday (and also Earth day) and we will be featuring our Chipotle Fish Torta at lunch along with Clam Chowder.  The pub will be CLOSED on Sunday, April 24th for Easter.  Visit www.sandiegobrewersguild.org to find a great place to drink.  At the end of the month, we are planning a massive Maui Brewing pint night with owner/brewer Garrett Marrero which should include 8 beers including a very special keg for his mom’s birthday.

Real Ale Fest
The San Diego Real Ale Festival will be Friday, April 15th and Saturday, April 16th at Pizza Port Carlsbad.  The festival will feature all cask conditioned beers from breweries like Bear Republic, Avery, AleSmith, Drake’s, Triple Rock, Hollister, Green Flash, Ballast Point, Alpine, Stone and many more!  Every beer will be served through a beer engine.  More than 50 beers are expected to be poured over the two days.  The festival will run from 4 pm to 11 pm on Friday and from 11 am to 11 pm on Saturday.  Cost is $30 which includes a festival Imperial Pint tasting glass and 8 taster tickets each good for a 4 ounce pour.  Additional taster tickets will be just $1 each.  There will be a special discounted rate starting at 7 pm on Saturday the 16th of just $20!

There will also be a VIP session on Friday the 15th from 1 pm to 4 pm in the afternoon.  The session features limited ticket sales, food snacks provided by Pizza Port owner Vince Marsaglia and a great line up of VIP casks from Alpine (Odin’s Raven!), Green Flash, Ballast Point, AleSmith, Firestone, Lost Abbey and Pizza Port.  Tickets for the VIP session are only available on line through Ticket Derby.  The cost is $40 and the session is 50% sold out at this point.  The link for tickets is: http://www.ticketderby.com/event/san-diego-real-ale-festival-vi-id-4883.  The VIP ticket includes admission into the Friday night session.  You can also RSVP for the Real Ale Fest on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=135619219843309.

We have a long time pub customer, Corey Atteridge, who purchased 4 tickets to the VIP session, but now due to a family commitment, he can not go.  If you are planning on going to the VIP session and can help Corey out, please contact him at [email protected].  He will sell the tickets as a group or individually.

Alpine Tasting
Next month we will be hosting a hoppy beer and food pairing with Alpine Beer Company on Sunday, May 1st at 6:30 pm.  We will be featuring 6-7 different hoppy beers from Alpine paired up with several courses of food.  Our tentative beer line up includes Alpine Ale, Hoppy Birthday, Duet IPA, Nelson Rye-IPA, Pure Hoppiness, Bad Boy and hopefully Ugly black IPA.  The Alpine crew will be there to help celebrate – Tyson and Pat’s birthdays are on the 29th of April.  We are working on the food pairings and when the menu is set I will post more info in a future email.  Cost will be $45 (cash only please) and seating is limited.  There is a sign up sheet behind the bar at the pub and I expect this tasting to sell out.  The week after the tasting, May 2nd to 6th will be Alpine week as we tap what is left in the kegs from all of the beers.

That is your good beer news for now.  We’ll see you soon for a great beer.  Cheers, Tom

Tom Nickel
O’Brien’s Pub
20 Taps – Tons of Hops
Official U.S. Soccer Bar
4646 Convoy Street
www.obrienspub.net