O’Brien’s Pub – Evil Dead Red, Halloween And Beer Week
If you stop by the pub tonight, Thursday the 27th, we’ll tap our annual cask of AleSmith Evil Dead Red at 5 pm. This is a great deep, rich red ale that we only get once a year and we only get one cask and one keg, so enjoy it while you can. We’ll tap the draft keg on Monday for Halloween.
Look for the jockey box to again make an appearance as we tap 4 draft offerings from Redstone Mead. David Myers joined us on Monday night for a great evening, but we didn’t kill all of the kegs. So we’ll have Nectar of Hops (dry hopped), Sunshine Nectar (made with Apricot) and Black Raspberry Nectar along with the blend Meadusa that David made with Coney Island brewing – it blends Traditional Redstone Mead with Coney Island Albino Python White Lager. There will also be some great Redstone glassware for sale – just $8 for a pour of mead and you get to keep the glass. Tyson will also be tapping Avery Kaiser Imperial Octoberfest on Friday night.
Saturday night, the 29th, Tyson and Michele will be hosting a Halloween costume party starting at 5 pm. Tyson will have some great beer specials and we’ll have 10% off all bottles and our Saturday festival-style tasting will return. Get 10 taster pours for just $15 and then get $1 off a full pint of something you just tried. We’ll be open regular hours on Sunday the 30th, from noon to 6 pm.
On Halloween night, Monday, October 31st we all get a special treat – Chargers v. Chiefs Monday Night Football at 5:30 pm. We’ll have a costume party and we’ll have our great $10 pitcher special in effect from 4:30 pm until close. We’ll also have our draft keg of AleSmith Evil Dead Red on tap. On Thursday, November 3rd, look for a cask of Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA at 5 pm.
San Diego Beer Week
San Diego Beer Week starts next week and we have an amazing set of events for you to enjoy. We are planning something every single night. I have some updates on beers that will be here and some of the food pairings that we will be doing. There is a sign up sheet for our Sunday, Nov. 6th beer dinner feature brewer Colby Chandler from Ballast Point sharing some of his favorite San Diego beers. Our Lost Abbey tasting is already sold out. Here is our schedule of events:
Fri 11/4: Alpine Night with Bad Boy, Exponential Hoppiness and Barrel Aged Token. We are expecting 12 beers on tap for the night. In addition to Bad Boy, Expo and Barrel Aged Token, look for Pure Hoppiness, Duet, Nelson, Hoppy Birthday, Alpine Ale, Mandarin Nectar, Captain Stout, Irish Red and New Millennium Pale Ale. Lindsey will be making some special beer cheese flavors for the evening. This is a great way to kick off you Beer Week drinking binge.
Sat 11/5: Belgian Day with rare bottles and drafts including new beers from Chouffe and Ommegang. Rodenbach Vintage and Malheur on tap.
Sun 11/6: Colby Chandler Beer Dinner. Ballast Point Brewer Colby will guide us through his favorite SD beers including Dorado, Barrel Aged Navigator, Roasted Serrano Yellowtail, the Smoking Indian (a special blend of Stone beers) and Pure Hoppiness. Cost is $50 (cash only please) and the sign up sheet is out now at the pub. Colby is also a big foodie, so expect some great food pairings for this one. Join us for the Chargers game before the tasting as the team takes on Green Bay.
Mon 11/7: Dogfish Head Dirty Dozen. This is going to be good. At least a dozen DFH beers between draft and bottle. We’ll have Chicory Stout, Burton Baton, Red and White, Hell Hound, Theobroma, Sahtea, Pangaea, Old School, My Antonia, Bitches Brew, 60 Minute, 90 Minute IPA and 120 Minute IPA along with Palo Santo Marron bottles. That is a bakers dozen of draft beers plus at least one bottle. This is going to be the biggest DFH night yet at the pub. We’ll get things rolling at 5 pm. The 120 Minute IPA will tap at 6:30 pm and we will be serving only 5 ounce glasses – it is around 18% after all. Look for Fish Tacos and Pork Belly Tacos from the kitchen.
Tues 11/8: Bear Republic Night with Cafe Racer 15, Apex, Grandma’s Homegrown, Racer 5 and Cuvee de Bubba. This will be only the second time we have had the Cafe Racer 15 on tap, and the first we will have ever served Cuvee de Bubba. Brewery Ambassador Dan will be down to share some beers with us and give us the latest scoop on all things Bear Republic. To pair with these great hoppy beers, we’ll be serving up curry night from the kitchen.
Wed 11/9: Kern River Night – we will have some JO IPA, Class V Stout and Anniversary IPA on tap, Class V stout on cask with cocoa nibs and vanilla bean and maybe even some Class X Stout. Wednesday will be Bailey BBQ night in the pub kitchen as we haul down some smoked pulled pork from Julian. Look for Pork Nachos, Pork Tacos and the Bailey BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich on torta bread. In addition, we’ll have Bailey BBQ’s award winning apple-pear crumb pies for dessert. You will not want to miss this.
Thur 11/10: Cask Festival with 5 cask ales including Coronado Blue Bridge Coffee Stout, Alpine Hoppy Birthday, Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin and Victory at Sea and Green Flash 9th Anniversary IPA. we’ll tap the Blue Bridge and Hoppy Birthday at 5 pm along with the Habanero Sculpin. Look for the Victory at Sea and GF 9th Anniversary to be tapped at 8 pm. Thursday is Chili Pot Pie night. Lindsey’s amazing beer chili filling a pot pie crust. Yes, it is as good as it sounds. Did I Mention Chargers v. Raiders Thursday Night Football at 5:20 pm?
Fri 11/11: Tyson’s Barrel Aged Beer Night. You just know it is going to be good. His plan is tap as many different types of barreled beer as possible – rye, whiskey, scotch, cabernet, pinot noir, chardonnay, bourbon, brandy and rum. It should be as many different barrels as Corbin can count with his pants up and his shoes on – which is 9. It will be an amazing collection of great barrel aged beers, some sours, and some incredible flavors. Look for a nice hearty, beer stew from the kitchen to go with these big beers.
Sat 11/12: Night of a Million Zillion Speedways. 9 last year, maybe more this year. Kopi Luwak Speedway cask is the rumor from AleSmith. We’ll have a special dessert plate featuring cheese, fruit and chocolate. I am still waiting on a final list from the brewery, but brewer Bill Batten tells me that they are trying some new things for this year, so I am very excited.
Sun 11/13: Lost Abbey Rare Beer Tasting with Tomme Arthur. This event is already sold out. Consider checking out the Beer Garden at Torrey Pines Lodge.
Lots of San Diego hotels are running specials if you book through the Beer Week website at www.sdbw.org. I do have a favor to ask if you are coming to San Diego from out of town and you are staying in a hotel. If you could ask one of the bartenders for a survey sheet, the San Diego Brewers Guild would greatly appreciate it. It is a quick 9 question survey that will ask where you came from, where you stayed, how long you stayed, etc… very basic stuff. The Visitors Bureau would like to know about the people coming in from out of town. The information is only for gathering statistics and you will never be contacted by anyone or your name used in any way. Even if you live in the county, but you are staying in a hotel, you can fill out the survey. Thanks much for your help.
In addition to our great events, there are hundreds of happenings all over the county. Check out www.sdbw.org to find an event near you. The Brewers Guild Festival has teamed up with FM 94.9 this year and will feature great live music. It will happen at Liberty Station from 1 to 5 pm with a VIP session from 11 am to 1 pm. Tyson will be there serving up food during the VIP session.
Also happening during Beer Week is the Beer Garden at the Torrey Pines Lodge. This is a collaboration festival between the San Diego Brewers Guild and Chef Celebration of San Diego. It teams chefs and breweries together to create unique food and beer pairings. This is one of the closing events of SDBW and will happen on Sunday the 13th from Noon to 3 pm. You can buy tickets for both events at the sdbw.org website.
Tickets for the VIP session of the San Diego Strong Ale Festival are on sale now at Ticket Derby. The session is already about 25% sold, so don’t wait until December 1st to get your tickets. The fest will be December 2nd and 3rd at Pizza Port Carlsbad. The VIP session is from 1 to 4 pm on the 2nd. We’re working on a blend of barrel aged beers from each of the Pizza Port locations for the 15th Anniversary Strong Ale beer – should be awesome.
Looking Ahead
The Thursday after Beer Week, the 17th, we’ll tap a cask of AleSmith YuleSmith at 5 pm. This great once a year strong red ale is always very tasty on cask. On Friday and Saturday, the 18th and the 19th, we’ll be hosting our Best of Beer Week nights featuring a bunch of the kegs we couldn’t finish off from the previous two weeks. Given what we had left over last year, these will be two incredible nights at the pub, without all of the Beer Week crowds. On Sunday the 20th, The Charger face Da Bears at 1:15 pm from Soldier Field. I am sure that the weather will be just lovely.
There is still some room left on our newest pub trip to Belgium – The Great Belgian Christmas Beer Tour – visiting London, Bruges, Antwerp and the Essen Christmas Beer Festival featuring more than 150 different Christmas Beers. For more information visit Ciao! Travel’s website at www.ciaotravel.com, or talk with pub regular Bill Snider nearly any night at the pub – just ask a bartender for an introduction.
We are going to have a special live music show up at the Bailey BBQ in Julian on Saturday, November 19th with Behind the Wagon. The band will feature at least one song with our very own bartender Jeni. If you have been looking for an excuse to come out and visit, this is a great one. The band plays from 8 pm to Midnight and we’ll have all 16 draft beers flowing. The kitchen will be open until 8 pm, so show up early enough to try the BBQ. If you want a place to stay, try the Julian Lodge right in town. They are pet friendly, offer a discount if you mention Baileys BBQ and have an even better discount if you have AAA. If you want to get on our Julian email list for all of the latest news up there, just reply to this email with the word Julian in the subject or body. You can also follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/baileybbq.
That is your good beer news for now. We’ll see you during an always crazy San Diego Beer Week. Cheers, Tom
Tom Nickel
O’Brien’s Pub
20 Taps – Tons of Hops
Official U.S. Soccer Bar
4646 Convoy Street
www.obrienspub.net
