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Something From Nothing?

As you all know by now, we opened Port Brewing with two sets of beers including a whole new package and label called The Lost Abbey. It’s something that we have wanted to do for many years now. Each new beer that we release comes with the challenges of scaling up old recipe favorites AND the ceation of labels and artwork.

In my duties as Steward of the Lost Abbey Vision, I am responisble for getting the message about each beer out. Essentially, I work from start to finish on the recipe through the fermentation to the bottling and labeling to ensure each matches my thought process for the beer.

These days, it isn’t enought to just make a great beer and sit back as it sells. There is so much marketing and strategy that goes into these beers as well. Lately, I have been paying a lot of attention to wineries and their brands when I am out shopping. Mostly I am watching their labels and positioning to see what is out there. AND for the most part, I am very amused.

It appears that wineries can just pop out of thin air in the something from nothing principle. Mostly, it start out with someone having a vision. Typically a name is developed(this is really why I started this thread) because winery names are so damn interesting to me.

You need to be romantic. So you start with a natural element- perhaps something like fog. Perhaps your vineyard gets a ton of shade? Or maybe your soil is rocky and terraced. So you start playing around with these terms. And you need to sell the story of the winery.

Let’s go back to the Fog. Perhaps there is a coastal fog that creeps in every summer afternoon during harvest. Surely this is what makes the Pinot so soft and supple? Inevitably, you’re going to tell people about this unique microclimate. So your winery needs to be built around this. Maybe your brand will be coastal fog(too generic). It’s possible there is a valley connected with the property. Let’s go with the argument that coastal sage grows in this valley. The next working title becomes Sage Fog Winery conjuring up images of a sweet smelling Fog?(Too Esoteric). Perhaps you were out drinking wine on a Sunday when you saw this parcel of land?

You parked the car…walked out into the fields with your sweetheart. A picnic broke out. In the midst of amazing wine and cheese(because they pair so well) you were both suddenly enveloped in this afternoon fog sweeping through the valley? It was then that you decided it best to buy this parcel of land and start up your own winery. But what to call it? How about Sunday Fog? Nah that’s too Romantic. How about Sunday Sage? Coastal Sage, or better yet Sunday Valley?

Bingo! Sunday Valley. I mean who doesn’t love Sunday and valleys are amazing places full of discovery right? And so it is that Sunday Valley Winery is launched and a whole set of wines from grapes not grown anywhere near Sunday Valley(a very real place in most peoples minds I might add) is created. Sales of Sunday Valley Pinot Noir ensue and the story of a coastal sage fog creeping through the valley are now fully embedded in the minds of wine drinkers everywhere looking for an escape from this world.

People notice and across the valley another winery opens. There’s a little rise in this parcel of land with an oak tree standing like a sentinel on watch. And the new winery opens with a name like Shady Oak or Oak Springs because wineries always have two word names. I think it would most likely be Oak Springs beause the nice people across the way at the Sunday Valley winery have the Fog thing going for them as well. So, they’ve cornered the market on Summer Fog but what about Spring Rains?

Oak Springs then sets out to tell the story of April Showers bringing May flowers and the importance of early rain to a great harvest. And then the story of the mighty old oak standing watch over the Oak Springs Winery takes over. Suddenly, land is getting scarce in this area what with all that great Fog rolling in.

So the guy at the outskirts of the valley suddenly is stuck with one of the oldest and previously least desirable parcels. It’s full of rock and the land was previously terraced for some sort of fruit trees that will become important later when the story is created.

So Johnny come lately with rocky soil is tasked with creating his brand and winery name. He begins mulling his options and starts out knowing he must incorporate those damn rocks somehow. So immediately he starts with Rocky Terraces(too generic). He gets more in touch with his feminine side and thinks about those fruit trees. He closes his eyes and is surrounded by Peach trees. Stoned Fruit winery he thinks to himself. That’s a little too esoteric as well(not to mention Dazed and Confused in a cloud of smoke sort of way. Then he opens his eyes, looks out over the parcel and realizes that he has the best view of the valley and Peachy Orchard Bella Vista winery is born. Sure he’ll have to overcome a four word winery name but most people will just drop the Bella Vista part. He won’t of course because he will need the vista sales pitch to open the most spectacular wine garden patio in the area.

His story will be about the old fruit orchards and their importance to the commerce of the valley. Of course he will incorporate a fruity wine into the mix(not even knowing how possible this will be given his steely terrior). Life will be good at Peachy Orchard Bella Vista as people will fill the valley to tour the area famous for its Sagey Coastal Fog which thickens on Sundays but only after the rain soaked Spring Oaks have dried out and thoughts turn to ripening stone fruits and Rocky Terraced Peachy Orchards. Too bad most of the grapes will come from the Central Coast area of California because the land surrounding the Sunday Valley, Oak Springs and Peachy Orhards Bella Vista wineries only gets a blossoming coastal sage infused fog on Sundays.

The funny thing is, we all know and were taught on the 7th Day God rested. So how do they do it? The mystery remains. So if you will please excuse me, I have some tannin units to go measure.

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Extra! Extra! Read All About It!!!!

I have been chasing this blog for the past 6 weeks now trying like hell to get it written. In the 11 short months that our beers have beers have been flowing out of this establishment, we have garnered some pretty darn cool press and we wanted to share these things with you.

Some of you may have seen the Men’s Journal Magazine from October 2006. In this issue, they reviewed a ton of beers and developed a list of the top 25 American Beers. The Lost Abbey Avant Garde landed on the list at number 23. This was a great list of beers to be on and it included many of our friends in the business. We even shared the list of 25 beers with our San Diego friends down at AleSmith Brewing Co.

More recently, The Lost Abbey beers have graced the cover of Saveuer magazine. This is an amazing food and gourmand magazine which highlights all things great and artisinal from cheese to curries. Each year the magazine creates a list of the Top 100 best things to look out for. The Lost Abbey landed on the list at #42. Just being on the list was an honor but our bottles even graced the cover of the magazine with 11 other of the Top 100. If you visit the brewery in the future, this will most certainly be framed and mounted on our walls.

No sooner had the Saveuer magazine hit the newstands when our newest copy of Draft Magazine landed in our mailbox. This is a very new publication about the lifestyle of beer. The issue featured an article by Don Russell considering the Top 10 Breweries to pay attention to in 2007.

Much to our surprise, The Lost Abbey landed at the top of the list. Being named # 1 on the list came as a complete shock. Starting a new brewery is hard enough. Launching another brand to go with it is nuts. To have that brand land in two magazines “Best of” lists is crazy and puts an enormous amount of stress on us to make the best beers possible.

Is it worth it? Sure thing. Do we love the attention? Who wouldn’t? I also wanted to point out that I was bummed when we weren’t named to the Playboy list of beers. I’d like that tax write off. Um…a one years subcription to a “gentlemans magazine?” Yes sir they cover beer you know.

Yet, even without Playboy and their nice “articles” or lack there of in terms of articles of clothing, it sure is nice to be held in such a high regard. Do these lists make our beers taste any better? Certainly not. What they do make for is nice promotional opportunities to get our beers and messages in front of new consumers. As producers of unique beers, this is all we can hope for.

I also wanted to pimp our wares and share with you some of our competitive successes from the past 6 months. In November, the Innagural Barrel Aged Beer Festival was held in Hayward, California at the Bistro. The Bistro has been hosting IPA and Double IPA festivals for many years now. When I was brewing in Solana Beach, we were fortunate enough to win each of these festivals. Swamis IPA and HOP 15 each were named Best of the Fest during a previous life.

Back in November, we sent four different beers to the barrel aged beer festival. When the results were tallied, The Angel’s Share finished second in its category. Older Viscosity finished first in the Bourbon Barrel category and went on to compete against 5 other beers in the Best of Show round where it garnered the BOS award.

Fast forward to this last weekend in San Francisco at the epic annual Toronado Barleywine Festival. We again sent a keg of The Angel’s Share and out of a field of almost 60 beers, we finished 2nd. Congrats to the boys(and girls) at Alaskan Brewing Company who bested one of the best beers I have ever made.

In less than a year, we have cranked up this great brewing facility and continued the great spirited brewing that our friends and customers have come to expect from Pizza Port and Port Brewing. It feels good to know that our high expectations of ourselves and our beers continue even though we aren’t brewing within a stone’s throw of the ocean anymore.

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One Bourbon, One Scotch and Too many Beers?

We just returned from a week long trip to the East Coast and as such, there were more beers than I could shake a stick at. So tonight, my musings are coming at you care of Clynelish 14 year old Scotch. Last week, I tried to start a blog on a Friday night at the brewery but alas, my wit was no match for the Knob Creek Bourbon that was tempting me from my office. And so it is, that I am sitting here now writing about beer with a Scotch in hand. Life is cruel. I know.

You ever have one of those weeks? You know the kind where no matter how hard you try, you end up leaving four hours of work on the table each day knowing full well that the weekend won’t offer a respite? Life has kind of been this way for me since the start of the new year. Those of you who have visited our brewery may have noticed that we have ramped up production big time and are now seemingly bottling beer no less than twice a week. This is fantastic as it allows for more beer to head out the door. However, this is not so good as bottling days usually require about 11 hours of my time each day that we bottle.

Typically, I arrive at the brewery around 7 AM (depends on how well Syd Vicious slept the night before). My day then starts with calculations for the bottling. The first step required is to test the beer we are bottling for the CO2 content in solution. This is an indicator of how much CO2 is in the beer relative to the target volumes we are looking to get in the finished beer. On our Port Brewing beers like Old Viscosity and Wipeout IPA, we are shooting for 2.8 volumes of CO2.

Our starting point on these beers is typically 2.0 volumes of CO2 and therefore we need to gain .8 volumes of CO2 per bottle. We take this starting number and crunch the numbers in the computer along with the total volume of beer to be bottled. With this information in hand, we then work on a “priming solution” which is Dextrose mixed in hot water to dissolve the sugar. This mixture is then racked into a keg.

The sugar needs to be blended into the beer along with fresh yeast which will consume these sugars thereby finishing our secondary fermentation in the bottle and giving us the necessary CO2 levels that we need in each bottle. In order to mix the sugars, yeast and beer, we must first create a recirculation loop with a pump in order to homogenize the mixture of the three. This has to be done before we can start bottling so more often than not, I am the first one to arrive to get this part of the day rolling.
Around 8:30- 9:00 the reinforcements arrive. At this time, Josh , Vince myself and Bo begin the arduous task of bottling. It isn’t all that much fun standing in one place for at least 7 hours watching the bottler go up and down or the capper doing the same. On the days when we bottle our 22 oz bottles we only need three people to bottle- although four means we can go faster. At best when we do this style bottle, we can rip off 50 cases an hour. However, when we bottle the 750 ml bottles with cork finish, it takes at least 4 people and the best we can do is 40 cases per hour.

What does all this mean? Lately, we have been brewing larger batches of beer. Many of these larger batches will enable us to get “ahead” as these beer age well and can handle being produced in larger quantities. We are currently up to speed on all of our bottled beers that we have been making. This will allow us to get the new beers online that we have been chasing for the past 6 months. This week, we will be bottling Judgment Day our Belgian style QUAD. We also will be working on a new batch of Hop 15 for bottling.
Both of these are incredibly exciting for me as we have been talking about them for almost one year now. I am sure that our friends and patrons feel the same way as well. However, I think that I am most excited about the batch of beer that is rolling away in Fermenter # 5. This is our anniversary beer which will be called 10 Commandments. It is a recreation of our SPF 8 recipe from Solana Beach that features caramelized raisins, honey and fresh Rosemary. If you have spent any amount of time listening to me speak over the years, you would have realized this to be one of my favorite beers and perhaps the one that I feel ages the best.

As such, we are going to make this our annual release. It will be timed to coincide with our anniversary party and the beer will be made once a year to celebrate another year gone. It appears that this party will take place each May. We have had numerous inquiries about the party (and it’s only February)! The hardest part to imagine is that we have been in this space for over 9 months now. That is some seriously fast flying time. As I said earlier, we have many more great things in store this year and this is merely but one of them.

But I suppose I should get back to the meat of this post. If you have been anxiously awaiting my post with every breath, you can breathe now. The thing about bottling is that it is all encompassing and it requires undivided attention. This means that while I used to have some spare time to blog during the brewing days, I no longer have this luxury when we are bottling. A four man crew equals Tomme bottling beer as well. So, it’s not that I have been lazy or neglecting my writing. On the contrary, I have been bummed that I haven’t been able to write. I think this will hopefully be the last 5 week hiatus that I have to embark on without being able to blog.

Until next time then.

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Tom, Thomas and Tomme

July 10, 2004

It’s a scorching July day and we’ve gathered at O’Briens American Pub in Clairemont Mesa (San Diego) for what promises to be an epic tasting. My good friend Tom Nickel (proprietar of said pub) and Dr. Bill Sysak have scoured the earth and collected one bottle of each vintage Thomas Hardy’s Strong Ale that has been produced up until now. This also includes the most recent 2003 Vintage that was moved to the O’Hanlon Brewery.

Joining me at this tasting are Jeff Bagby, Peter Zien of Alesmith, Steve Steinbergs and our good friend Eric “Grumpy” Rose. The 6 of us settle down as Tom and Bill scurry to get things ready. We grab a warm up beer (something with hops damnit!)

A little bit after two o’clock we start this tasting. Not knowing what to expect, we dive right in. Now, I can’t recall some of the details of the tasting. For example, I don’t remember if we tasted them in order of their respective ages or not. My hazy memory says we didn’t as we felt piling layers of caramel malt on newer caramel malt wouldn’t help. So, I believe we jumped around vintages even though my notes go in acsending order based on age.

We learned quite a bit about Thomas Hardy’s from the tasting. First, it became apparent to us that there is more than one way to brew Thomas Hardy’s. It seems that many of the vintages have been darker examples with pronounced caramel notes. This is classic Hardy’s for most enthusiasts. We also found that numerous bottles had a leaner quality and almost seemed to emphasize a hoppy finish.

In honor of the Blogging Day, I am going to post my notes from the entire tasting. It was a smashing good day with some bottles of beer that I am likely to never taste again. I am thankful that I was even able to find my notes from this. Without further ado, here are my notes from that Saturday afternoon with Tom, Thomas and Tomme.

1968- Was the first year that they bottled Hardy’s. There were three separate bottlings and the series begins with the A Bottle.

1968 A (The Pint Bottle)- A cork finished bottle with noticeable signs of evaporation. Perhaps they trapped a few thirsty angel’s in the bottle when it was packaged? The beer reveals a large Soy Sauce nose with Cidery, Vinegar and Lactic qualities all duking it out in a battle Royale. It finishes smokier than a bar in Chicago with flacid carbonation at best. Color wise, this one leans towards the dark to medium dark spectrum.

1968 “B” Bottling- Upon inspection, this one holds little promise. An incredible (ridiculous) amount of beer is missing. The cork crumbles upon insertion of the cork screw. Not a good sign! The beer embraces this cork situation to the max and I’m soon wondering if can send back a beer I haven’t even paid for? For some reason, this vintage has a Tobasco(tm) like flavors. It’s beyond bizarre. How do you do that in beer? Without a doubt not as good as the “A” bottle.

1968 “C” Bottling Capped Bottle- Now this is classic Hardy’s! We’re greeted by Vinegar, Oxidation and winey notes that wreak of musty cellars in wine country. It’s quite dry and light bodied. Tawny and Orangey in a way that the other two 68’s aren’t. The beer finishes with a clarity of purpose that exhudes world class and demands that we hand the tag of red headed step child to its lesser brother- bottling “B.” The 1968 Hardy’s Capped bottle was an all timer for me this afternoon.

1968 Hardy’s is the Holy Grail for some enthusiast and most definitely the “C” packaging was worth the effort. The other two….I’ll pass in the future.

1974 “D” Bottling- The pours reveal a turbid beer which is flatter than my sister in high school. It sports a fake bake off cocoa orange color like those tans strutted all over South Beach. The first sip is HOT! My eyes are burning. It’s a thicker sample and it shows large notes of Autolysis. The finish is tart and spicey which is far too Kung Pow Chicken for me.

1975 “E” Bottling- Smells Great! Huge Malt aromas. This is seemingly one of the reasons this beer has become so desirable with age on it. The finish is inspired with dark cocoa and chocolate candied raisins doing the backstroke in a sea of booze. For a 29 year old bottle of beer, it has held up very well.

1977 “F” Bottling- Uh Oh…From the first pour, it’s apparent that this one has issues. Yeasty, sour and tart like a candy I used to like. This turned out to be one of my least favorite beers. It was just too far removed from what I imagined the brewers were aiming for (Wider left than Scott Norwood?) It finished with some off sour chocolate flavors that had me running for the 1/2 finished pint of Pure Hoppiness I had in front of me.

1978 “G” Bottling- BUTTER BOMB. In the Arthur, Bagby and Rose world of bad brewing, there are delightul, delicious and divine descriptors applied to beers with varying levels of Diacytel. This one set the bar one notch higher and probably landed in some new stratosphere known hence forth as Delectable. What an AWFUL beer. Thanks Bill and Tom! We needed that one… NOT

1979 “H” This bottle caught a cab and headed toward Tijuana around 1982. There is a tartness present that enhances the citric notes in the beer. At this point, it is the lightest colored version we have had and is completely uninteresting to me. Even with the tart flavors, it reminds all of us like failed homebrew.

1979 “J” A second bottling. Chocolately and FLAT as hell. The dusty cocoa baking powder notes are back. It is medium bodied and incredibly sweet without being “Oh my GOD sweet!” It’s passable given that it’s 25 years old but isn’t on my list of need to finds.

1980 “K” Bottling- Huge Rummy notes. There are also some curious sour cherry notes jumping in. At this point we have identified three types of Hardy’s. The first is the Paradigm thick dark bomb. We also have a leaner version that has lighter crystal malt flavors and seems more well attenuated. The last version seems to pick up this sour cherry note and isn’t as malt driven due to the lactic qualities. The “K” bottling was one of the most interesting and least “Hardy’s like” that we tasted.

1981 “???” Bottling Initial impression reveals SOY SAUCE. Although, this is restrained Soy with a caramel backer. It is moderatley turbid like the incoming tide. Here is another orangey sample good integration of flavors. A nicer beer than many of the others we have sampled.

1982 “L” Bottling- Great Carbonation for a corked bottle. We’ve gone back to sour Hardy land. It shows Sour Pucker kids like acidity and some strawberries as well. It is thinner in the body most likely due to the acetic fermentation. I actually LOVE the flavors of this beer and it commands my attention in a yearning for a whole bottle sort of way this afternoon.

1983 “???” Michael Jackson Bottle from the Brickskeller in DC. Thanks DAVE! It’s flat but this seemingly doesn’t detract from it. It was aged in wood and there is a ton of interest created from this finishing of the beer. A drier finish (tannis) really sets this one apart from its bretheren. I am thankful I didn’t have to part with my bottle for this tasting.

1984 “M” Bottling- Darker orange with huge carbonation relative to the others. An amazing amount of lacing pervades our glasses. There seems to be a “Brett” presence at work here. It makes me lust for more but not in “a I have sinned sort of way.” The flavors all showcase the Brett and reminds me of our Cuvee with Oak, Brett and Cherries at work.

1985 “???” Bottling- It’s still but this doesn’t seem to matter. An exquisite beer that is smokey, sweet, smooth, Fucking Brilliant! I really am lusting in “a I NEED TO SIN” sort of way. At this moment, it is the so perfect. STOOPID (sometimes you get beers that demand you write less and drink more= This bottle being Exhibit A).

1986 “N” Bottling- Darkish and flat. There is a nice Dark Chocolate and Big Caramel Malt balance at work here. A Classic bottle of Hardy’s according to expectations of this brand.

1987 “150th Anniversary Ale”- Yeasty with the essence of Fontina cheese in the nose. Lots of oak going on here and some sour notes. It’s interesting as the sourness does not manifest in a lactic way. It’s full bodied and quite winey. The yeast flavors overwhelm and I am left wondering if they carried too much to the barrels? We’ve gone back to Orangey lighter colored land.

1987 “P” Bottling- Bright colors with more Brown than Red tints. Cuidado! Don’t light a match! This thing is hotter than paint thinner on fire. Seriously though, no problems in the beer. Not sweet, not tart, not cloying. The finish is held up by a drier finish. A nice beer indeed. Matches be damned!

1988 “Q” Bottling- Darker Color and flattish sample. Initial impression is that of thick chocolate covered cocoa beans. It’s boozy. There is no singular definining character other than the chocolate. There is no denying the English Barleywine pedigree with Rummy notes in the finish.

1989 “???” Bottling- The Darkest Sample possible. WOW! Boozy. I used to have nose hairs. The chocolate malts are duking it out with the ethanol and there is no doubt ethanol owns this fight. The aroma also reveals some “Chex Mix” like properties of Salt, Soy and Worchestire sauce. Oh yeah, I enjoyed it in spite of all this.

1990 “R” Bottling- Twany Orange and perhaps the lightest sample of the day. Very light bodied with high CO2 content and diminshed cloying notes. Does not taste 14 years old. Seemingly belies its age with brightness and levity if that is possible for Barleywine.

1991 “S” Bottling- FLAT! Soy Bomb with low carbonation and some toffee flavor. It’s typical Hardy’s but less than interesting without the CO2. There is a tobacco flavor that reminds me of my uncles smoking cherry leaf on Thanksgivings after dinner.

1992 “T” Bottling- Pale orange with bracing CO2 content. It’s back to sweet and hoppy with a long warming finish. Tons of orange qualities that seemingly are harmoniously playing well with the malts and alcohols.

1993 “25th Anniversary” Smells Decadent! Damn fine aromas. Ripe fruit, toasted pecans and malt malt and more malt. Smoking Smooth and without a doubt the best sample we have opened.

1993 “U” Bottling- Pedestrian? See above!

1994- Big Brown Sugar. Another Dark flat sample although it is quite smooth, fruity and leans towards some nice Vanilla flavors. We’re back on the wagon with booze drawing us in and letting up only enough for some more sour cherries to flirt with our inhibitions.

1995- Dark, Flat and smooth cocoa notes. Unispiring yet classic Hardy’s in the bottle

1996- WAY different than the others! Very noticeable upon first pour. Lighter in the flavor and body. It’s an odd color that reminds us of the water inside a jockey box after last call.

1997- Hoppy (is that possible?) How is this even a Hardy’s? Where’s the crystal Malt? Strange but good.

1998- Spicey Hop Aroma (they must have hired some hop heads). A very vibrant sample. It drinks great right now and is seemingly way more American than British. Not terribly thick and overwhelmingly spicey.

1999- Brown sugar with lively carbonation. Huge sweetness and all the goodness that we’ve come to expect in Thomas Hardy’s. A nice libation but one that absolutely has room to improve in the future.

2003-Buttery with citric hop qualities in the front and finish of the beer. It’s way leaner than you would expect. It’s warm without making me look like a tourist after 6 hours on our beaches. Quite pedestrian comparitively speaking. Most likely would not have considered this as “English Barleywine.”

As the 2003 was the first attempt after moving the brand for O’Hanlon, we expected some issues. Also, after doing this tasting, we were all left wondering, just which recipe did they get?