O'Briens Pub – Winter Beer Weekend Extravaganza!!!
Hello Good Beer Fans!
It is that most wonderful time of the year when all of the breweries begin to roll out their winter releases. And though we may not get much of winter around here, it doesn’t mean that we enjoy these great beers any less.
We will have six different Belgian Christmas beers on tap this Friday, November 14th. And in addition to these great beers, we will also have a very special draft keg of the new Alpine Boris oak barrel aged Imperial Stout. I have had the pleasure of trying it, and Boris is a great beer. Reminds me a little of Bell’s Expedition Stout from Kalamazoo, Michigan. But first, let me update you on what is happening before Friday.
New Bottles, etc… Tonight, Wednesday the 12th we will have a little preview party of our Beligan Holiday Ales with St. Bernardus Christmas and Affligem Noel on tap at 5 pm. We also have some new bottles out for sale including Scaldis Noel, N’ice Chouffe 2007, St. Feuillien Cuvee de Noel, Scaldis Presitge and Saison Dupont. We also have the new Dupont Avril Table Beer. It is thoroughly delicious and only 3.5% alcohol. Probably the best sub-4% alcohol beer on the planet. Delirium Noel and Gouden Carolous Noel are also available in bottles right now. Speedway Stout from AleSmith is currently out of stock from the brewery, but we will have it back soon. Try the Riptide Stout from brew Dog in Scotland.
And the infamous and wonderful Danish meads from Dansk will be back in stock on Thursday the 13th including Klapojster (with caraway seeds), GI Dansk (with hops and ginger) and a new one that I have not tried called Old Danish. It is supposed to be a braggot, which is made from half malt, half honey so it is a beer/mead hybrid. Also on Thursday we will release the 6 liter bottles of St. Bernardus Abt 12. Yes, you read that correctly – SIX liters. For those unable to imagine just how big that is, it is 1.6 gallons! The bottles come a beautiful wood box and are very limited.
On tap we still have the Horizon Hefeweizen and Homecoming Porter from the new brewery Airdale. Pizza Port Carlsbad‘s award winning Port Truck Stout is on our nitro (Guinness-style) tap. If you like Guinness, this is your new favorite beer. Sierra Nevada Celebration is incredibly hoppy this year – it is always one of my favorite winter beers. AleSmith’s Nautical Nut Brown is back after a long hiatus. Drake’s IPA is on tap and Port Brewing’s fresh hop High Tide IPA continues to flow.
Thursday the 13th we will tap a rare cask from Lagunitas. They sent us down a cask of the wet hop IPA that was sooo good at the wet hop festival. We will tap it at 5 pm and do not expect it to last through the night. As always, all local beers will be on special Thursday night including strong ales like Alpine Pure Hoppiness.
Winter Beer Weekend Friday the 14th is the beginning of our Winter Beer Weekend Extravaganza. We will have six Belgian Christmas beers on tap along with the aforementioned Alpine Boris. The line up will include Affligem Noel, St. Bernardus Noel, Delrium Noel, Gouden Carolous Noel, St. Feuiliien Cuvee de Noel and one of my all time favorites – Dupont Avec les bon Voeux (it translates to “with best wishes”). This will be one of the best line ups of Belgian beers we tap all year. I have already tasted the St. Bernardus on tap and I can tell you that it is fantastic. We have multiple kegs of many of the beers, so I expect them to last through Sunday. I also have some other winter beers lurking in the wings including Stone Double Bastard, Sam Adams Chocolate Bock, the surprisingly good Pyramid Snow Cap and Anchor Christmas. Look for Chimay Cheeseburgers, our great Jerk Chicken and the sublime Spicy Steak Sandwich on special from the kitchen. If you can’t make it by on Friday, be sure to drop in on Saturday to drink some of these great beers.
Sunday the 16th, the we can’t seem to blow anyone out even if we should Chargers play at Pittsburgh at 1:15 pm. Perhaps they won’t play down to their opponents and offer up a good solid game. We all know they can, they just don’t seem to believe it. The pub will be open from Noon to 6 pm and we will have Fish and Chips, Fish Tacos and our great Chipotle Fish Sandwich all on special. You can find our fish specials on the menu every Sunday and Monday. And we will have our weekend special of 10% off all bottles in effect as well.
This weekend is also the Green Flash Anniversary Party on Saturday the 15 from 12-4 pm. Tickets are available online at the brewery’s website and if you need a ride, check out Brewery Tours of San Diego – they are even picking people up from O’Brien’s at 11:30 am.
Next Week Our cask for Thursday the 20th will be Lightning’s Black Lightning Porter. This beer was the clear standout at the Lightning Anniversary party and I can’t wait to try it again at the pub. Friday the 21st I have a night of local specialty beers lined up. I have three great local beers to tap – Ballast Point Barrel Aged Piper Down Scottish Ale, Coronado Coffee Stout and Karl Strauss Double IPA. I may well add to this line up by next friday – I will post up on the website when I know for sure.
Sunday the 23rd we will be staying open late for the Chargers vs. Colts game which has a 5:15 pm kickoff. We will stay open until the end of the game and the kitchen will be open until half-time.
Pub Crawl to Europe
We are pleased to announce that The 2009 O’Briens Great Belgian Beer Tour brochures are now available at the pub and also at the Ciao! Travel website: www.ciaotravel.com. Our guide, friend and pub patron Bill Snider from Ciao! Travel has created an amazing 5th edition of O’Briens 2009 Great Belgian Beer Tour & Ultimate Pub Crawl.
Choose from 4 different terrific GBBTs: 5 nights in Belgium at $1499, 2 nights in London and 5 nights in Belgium at $1849, 5 nights in Belgium and 2 in Paris at $1849 or 2 nights London, 5 nights Belgium and 2 nights in Paris at $2249. The Great Belgian Beer Tours depart from March 01st to 9th or 11th, depending on which package you choose.
The GBBT include visits to St Bernardus, Westvleteren, Rodenbach, Cantillon breweries (with options to visit up to 12 breweries), 3 castles, The 24 hours of Beer Festival, Master Chocolatiers, London pub crawls, Paris Absinthe cafes, French Champagne houses and more. Bill has also worked in a few castles, great pubs and other bits of culture to help keep us from drinking every waking hour.
The buzz from the 2008 GBBT was that it was great value, great fun and exceeded all expectations!
Collect your 2009 GBBT brochure at OBriens and save $200 per person, per tour from the Ciao! Travel web page prices!
If you love Belgian beer are curious about it or just wish to explore Europe, be sure to check out The Great Belgian Beer Tour
Looking Ahead
We will be closed Thursday and Friday, November 27th and 28th for the Thanksgiving holiday so that we and our employees may spend it with family. We will be open normal hours Saturday and Sunday, the 29th and 30th – Noon to Midnight on Saturday and Noon to 6 pm on Sunday (Chargers play at 1:05 pm that day). We will be open late on Wednesday the 26th until Midnight. We will be tapping a cask of Alpine Pure Hoppiness on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 25th and 26th since there will be on Thursday cask. The UEFA Champions League will also pick back up on the 25th and 26th with live games at 11:30 am.
The 12th San Diego Strong Ale Festival at Pizza Port Carlsbad is coming up on December 5th and 6th. The festival will feature 75 beers all over 8% to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition on December 5th, 1933. VIP tickets are on sale at Pizza Port’s website – www.pizzaport.com. They are at least half sold out, so if you want to go to the VIP session from 1-4 pm on Friday the 5th, buy your tickets soon. There will be at least 20 extra beers on tap just for the VIP session from all over the country. And of course, we will have our annual Strong Ale Fest Pre-Party at the pub on Thursday the 4th. I already have some great beers lined up and more are on the way.
That is your good beer news for now. We’ll see you soon for a great winter beer.
Cheers, Tom Nickel
O’Brien’s Pub 20 Taps – Tons of Hops 4646 Convoy Street www.obrienspub.net
