The Bad News
As many of you may be aware, our cork-stoppered bottles come to us from a supplier in France. Unfortunately, because of the vagaries of inter-continental ocean transport, our shipment is currently sailing the high seas somewhere between Le Havre and Los Angeles leaving us with a lot of beer sitting in barrels waiting for glass. As a result, our planned releases of Older Viscosity on April 4th and Bourbon Angel’s Share later this month will not occur.
The Good News
Our third anniversary is right around the corner and our annual birthday bash will be held Saturday, May 9th. To make this party an extra special one, in addition to the usual food, music and frivolity, we’ll also be doing an über release. In all, there will be four beers made available that day:
Older Viscosity
The Angel’s Share (Bourbon)
Port Brewing 3rd Anniversary IPA
The Ten Commandments
Full details of the anniversary party, release sizes and availability direct from the brewery and via our distribution channels will be made available later this month.
* Patron Sinners – This notice applies to the general public only. Please check your email for updates on your Angel’s Share distribution.
Those of you who follow life at Port Brewing know that we have two cats that patrol our brewery as part of our commitment to Bio-Dynamic Pest Control. Amarillo and his sister Cascade have been with us for almost 10 months now. In that time, they have assimilated themselves very well to brewery living. On most weekends, Amarillo will assume his post and hunker down at the end of the bar. In many ways, he’s like Norm from Cheers excepting of course that the cat is neither witty nor does he drink. Yet, he anchors that corner of the bar quite well.
Cascade with her five kittensHis sister Cascade has always been a bit more shy when the brewery is open and for the most part prefers to hide outside from the masses. Either way, they have been an integral part of our brewery since they moved in. They literally have put the pest control guy out of business. I for one am happy about their performance.
About 4 months ago, we noticed that Amarillo was showing Cassie some serious “Brotherly Love” and became concerned about his affections. As such, we dispatched him to the veterinarian where he was ceremoniously “nutted.” Sorry bro. Sometimes these things just have to happen. The operation was a success. Amarillo recovered well and has since gotten incredibly lazy. But then again, you can’t blame him…
Fast forward to about a month after his surgery when Cascade starts looking less gaunt than her brother and is on the prowl more than she ever used to be. I blamed lethargy and lack of nutter butters in Amarillo. Just sort of figured she was “picking up the slack” for her brother. Turns out, I was wrong. Somewhere on a starry night Cassie had gone out and found love in all the wrong places. She began putting on weight and the countdown began.
Last week before I left for Philly Beer Week, we watched as Cascade began prepping the brewery for the imminent arrival of the new additions to Port Brewing (side note, we have been adding tanks and equipment. I wonder if extra kittens running around qualify as a tax write off as well?) On Wednesday, I got a text from Monkey Mike congratulating me on being a Grandpa.
Seems that while I was in Philadelphia, our little “Cassie” (Cascade) gave birth to five new Port Brewing Kittens. And in an instant, my world changed. I became a Grandparent overnight. I’m 35 and way too young to be a grandparent. That’s what I texted Mike. Too late he said. You’re stuck with it. Then he proceeded to tell me that we have 3 new black kittens and two silver ones.
At this point in time, none of them have names. Tiernan (Terri and Sage’s daughter has first dibs on the kitties). She wants one of the silver ones. We’re going to keep the other silver one for the brewery. Sydney will be naming this one. That leaves three black kittens. Gina and Skye have decided they want one. This leaves us with two more kittens to find homes for.
Terri has decided that we’re going to have a raffle for the last two kittens. The details will be forthcoming. The response has been overwhelming. I know that we’ll have zero issues finding these two little bundles of joy a new home. It’ll be weird having a 3rd cat roaming the brewery. But at the same time, it just didn’t seem right taking all 5 kittens out of the mix.
So, in the coming weeks, when you visit the brewery, please be mindful that we now have 7 felines living at the brewery. I’m certain the bio-dynamic pest control division has never been stronger. At least, we have the rodents shaking in their boots. And for that, I am thankful for a bunch of new kittens around the brewery.
Today is session # 25 and it’s off to Lager Land for today. I don’t visit lager land too often. I’m not a hater but at the same time, I’m rarely get excited about lager. For those of you who visit The Lost Abbey, you may witness on occassion my affinity for a certain “stinging” Lager of sorts. You see, I drink Mickey’s Malt Liquor from time to time. It pretty much leaves people scratching their heads. Me, I don’t care. I drink Mickey’s for one simple reason, it’s the only beer I can drink AND shut my brain off at the same time.
Now, this doesn’t mean that I turn into a babbling fountain of idiocy. Nope, turning my brain off means that when I am drinking Mickey’s, I am not analyzing the beer for how well it was made or how coarse the bitterness lingers. That’s what brewers do. We drink beer and deconstruct the production of every single thing we pass through our lips. It’s what we are trained to do. As such, I have this completely ridiculous inability to drink things without dismissing (or championing) them. It sucks sometimes.
So, you’ll often find me nursing a Mickey’s Malt Liquor on Fridays and Saturdays during our tasting room hours. I prefer the Grenades over the 40 ounce bottle. I’m a big boy but my arms get tired of holding the 40 ounce bottles. Besides, the grenades stay colder and go down smoother. You know in a taste of cold sort of way. An extra added bonus of the Grenades is that they have puzzles under the caps(called Rebus). I suppose that is one way to deal with adult ADD.
Perhaps your wondering how this all came to be. It’s not like I haven’t been “out” of the Mickey’s Closet for some time now. I suppose it goes back to that fateful April 1st in 1998. Tom Nickell had the bright idea to replace all the handles on the Pizza Port Solana Beach Bar with Mickey’s taps for the day. (Looking back, I can only imagine how much glory the sales rep felt that day!) We also ordered two 1/2 bbls of Mickey’s Malt Liquor for the bar. Scooter was tasked with writing up the sign for the promo. $1 pints and $6 pitchers was the pitch. Scooter(his real name) broke out a giant black marker and wrote on the Mickey’s Banner (graciously supplied by the distributor). It said in all its’ glory
“GET DRUNK AND FIGHT LIKE THE IRISH.” And no, I wish I was making this up. The first keg lasted 2 hours and at one point I think every patron in the building had a Mickey’s Pint or Pitcher in front of them. All at once, everyone was transported back to their youth and describing awful malt liquor experiences. That April 1st was my first foray into Mickey’s Malt Liquor land and certainly not my last. You see, over the years, Mickey’s Malt Liquor has been an unwaivering wing man of sorts for me. Mostly, you’ll find me drinking Mickey’s when nothing else strikes my fancy. That’s my brains way of saying shut it down.
So today is Lager Day in the blogosphere. I’m glad to be able to finally profess my love for one of the most decorated Malt Liquours of all time! Sure, it’s not often you find a brewer who professes admiration for beers that don’t make them think. But that’s exactly what Mickey’s does for me. I think every brewer needs to be able to steal sips from a bottle without putting any thought whatsoever as to how the beer was made. Thank you Mickey’s from the bottom of my heart. Now if you’ll excuse me please, I have a curb to go kick…
Last Saturday was our annual Carnevale masquerade party. Chef Vince cooked up a storm, the band rocked the house, and the Angel’s Share and Older Viscosity on tap (along with all our regular beers) kept the evening on a good tilt. A great time was had by all.
Thanks to all those that attended, and to those that couldn’t, we hope to see you next year. In the meantime, here’s a photo slideshow of the evening’s events:
