Camp out, enjoy nature and great food & beer pairings at the Camp Confab at Suzie’s Farm in Imperial Beach. The local farm-to-table chefs of Cooks Confab have put together a fun little overnighter where you’ll get to pitch your tent, do a little camping and enjoy food fresh from the farm cooked by some of San Diego’s best chefs. Tomme will be there with some Lost Abbey brews to talk craft beer and help host the Harvest Dinner Celebration that night.
For more information on all the activities and tickets to Camp Confab, click here.
The gang from the beer show Brewdies dropped by a couple of weeks ago to talk with Tomme about beer and what makes Lost Abbey unique among craft breweries. Along the way they wandered into a discussion (and a taste or two) of Yellow Bus. The results made for an excellent episode (and the revelation that there’s only a handful of bottles left in the world). Check it out:
And make sure to visit the Brewdies website for more good stuff.
From the Director’s Scribe’s Chair What we did on our summer vacation
Editor’s Note: This spot is normally reserved for a few words from our director of brewery operations (DOBO), but Tomme’s off doing important DOBO things, so our Abbey Scribe, Sage, is filling in for him this month.
I am staring at a calendar above my desk that tells me the Great American Beer Festival is exactly three weeks from today. GABF? Already? Where did the summer go?
Oh, that’s right, we’ve been busy. So busy, in fact, that not only did we not get a vacation, we missed the July issue of this newsletter altogether. Let’s see… Cuvee punted to football season, Santa showed in July, our buddy Russ brought strawberries, the Witch came back witty as ever, and we found the Road to Helles to be paved with great beer. Plus, the brewhouse boys became the brewhouse boys and girl, the tasting room got a little more elbow room and we had everyone down for breakfast before Stone Brewing’s anniversary party.
Add that to a release angels and demons in the Abbey tomorrow, a tidal wave of fresh hops in a week or two, Denver mid-month, a return just in time for a beer and boobs and finally, a fine (and long-anticipated) Cuvee de Tomme to finish September.
Yikes. And I thought we were busy.
I’ll tell you what. You catch up on what’s new at Lost Abbey below. Me, I need to go and find a bigger calendar.
Christmas in July Wrap-up
Christmas in July 2010Back on July 24th we held our annual Christmas in July party and fund raiser. If you’re not familiar with our (non)holiday shindig, each year we celebrate the release of barreled Santa’s Little Helper (aged in bourbon barrels for a year) with a Christmas party and fundraiser to benefit Toys for Tots. There’s food, music, photos with Santa and — of course — great beer, so it always ends up being quite the celebration.
This year we raised nearly $10,000 in toy and cash donations for Toys for Tots. Thanks to the generosity of our guests that day, a lot of kids will have have a better Christmas than they might otherwise.
For those of you who weren’t able to attend, we have a huge photo gallery of the day’s festivities. If you did come to the party, we’ve also posted all the Santa photos, so you can pick yours up (just in time for Christmas card season!)
At her age it might be premature to call Devon Randall “the Most Interesting Woman in the World”, but she’s certainly on the right track to earn the title.
A Berkeley grad who’s conquered real estate, climbed mountains, run with Alaskan sled dogs, and sailed a catamaran from South Africa to Trinidad in just a few short years, even Vladimir Putin would have a hard time not being impressed with her achievements.
Devon discovered craft beer while still living in Berkeley and quickly took to homebrewing. Two years later she found herself living in Santa Monica, California, and traveling south in her spare time to San Diego to learn what she could about the beer Mecca. It wasn’t long after, in her typical fashion, Devon decided to make a “dramatic” change, dump her current occupation, and jump into craft brewing with both feet even though she didn’t have a job waiting.
At first she made the 90 mile from LA to San Diego trip daily volunteering at breweries and learning what she could. This eventually led to some part time work at The Lost Abbey where her talent and abilities were quickly realized. She made the move from Santa Monica to San Diego in June and became an official member of our brewhouse team in August.
These days you’ll find Devon doing everything from brewing to bottling, soaking up as much knowledge as she can with an eye towards being a “famous girl brewer” with her own brewpub down the road. Given all she’s already accomplished, we have no doubt she’ll succeed.
If you happen to see Devon in the brewery or at a Lost Abbey event, make sure to say hi and buy her a beer. (Saisons are her favorite.)
Upcoming Events
September 17-19 Great American Beer Festival | Denver, CO
This is the big one. The one where, as the DOBO says, “we bring the noise”. Look for us in the Lost Abbey and Port Brewing booths in the Pacific section of the festival itself as well as our peeps making appearances around town during the week. (follow us @lostabbey on Twitter to find out where we’ll be.)
September 24 Beer for Boobs | Lost Abbey Brewery San Marcos, CA
Help us & our friends at White Labs support support the Susan G. Komen philanthropic trust and The 3 Day event to help find a cure for breast cancer. $10 gets you you a commemorative Beer for Boobs pint glass and two pints of any Lost Abbey or Port Brewing beer on tap.
New Beer Releases
August 28, 12pm — 6pm Deliverance
Our first release of the embodiment of good versus evil in a barrel-aged blend. Part bourbon barreled The Serpent’s Stout, and part brandy barreled The Angel’s Share, this is our most anticipated release of the summer. (May reach limited distribution)
September 25, 12pm — 6pm Cuvee de Tomme
A release pushed back repeatedly by cool weather and barrels unwilling to create the beer any faster, the 2010 vintage of Cuvee finally emerges after nearly a year and a half in the barrel. (May reach limited distribution)
October 4 High Tide
Our autumn fresh-hopped IPA, the release of this one actually depends on the timing of the hop harvest. The past two years the harvest & brew dates were in the first week of September. Based on that we anticipate the release by the first week in October. (Will reach full distribution)
Want to go to Lost Abbey’s Brunch and Stone Brewing’s 14th Anniversary? Don’t feel like worrying about driving or fighting for parking? Here’s how get there from here — and vice versa — sans automobile.
So you’re going to the Stone Brewing 14th Anniversary celebration at Cal State San Marcos on Saturday August 21st, and you’d like to drop by Lost Abbey to enjoy the brunch and perhaps a pensive word or two over a beer in the Abbey before you head off to attend your Session. Problem is, you really don’t want to hassle with the hassles of driving and beer festivaling between the two locations.
Good news. You don’t have to.
The Lost Abbey is actually very close to the party’s location at Cal state San Marcos (a mere 4,800 ft as the crow flies), and there’s a number of options including the train, bike trails and walking paths that are just about as quick as driving your car between places. Here’s how to get there from here (or vice versa) without climbing in a car:
The Train
One of the best kept secrets around here is the Sprinter — a light rail system that runs between Oceanside on the coast, and Escondido inland. You can hop on the train at San Marcos city center (Lost Abbey’s station) and off it again 3 minutes later at Cal State San Marcos (for the festival). The Sprinter is also bike friendly, so if you’d rather pedal than hoof it, you can.
Lost Abbey is a few minute(s) walk from the San Marcos City Center station, as is the Cal State San Marcos station from the festival. With a bike it’s less than half that time.
Trains run once an hour and the fare is $2 each way, or you can buy a $5 round trip pass that will take you from Oceanside to Escondido and back again (very convenient if you’d rather leave your car at the transit station or if you’re going all train via the Coaster, MetroLink or Amtrak).
Tip: Take the Inland Rail Trail (it’s on the map) to/from Sprinter and Lost Abbey. The trail avoids the street lights and a steep hill, so you’ll travel all that much quicker.
If you’re into the whole human-powered thing, it’s still pretty easy to go between Lost Abbey and the Party just using your feet or a bike. (The distance is actually shorter than driving because you can cut through the parking lots and use the sidewalks and bike paths to avoid car routes.) If you’re driving and then hoofing/pedaling, make sure to park your car at Cal State San Marcos early and roll down the hill to Lost Abbey. You can have breakfast and burn a few carbs going back to the Stone event. When your Session is over your car will be waiting nearby.
Tip: Cut through the Old Spaghetti Factory / LA Fitness parking lot between Twin Oaks & Rancheros (it’s on the map). Cars have to drive around it, but you’ll cut 1/2 a mile off your trip each way.
The Lost Abbey / Port Brewing will be hosting it’s annual Beer for Boobs fundraising event in support of the Susan G. Komen philanthropic trust and The 3 Day event to help find a cure for breast cancer.
Beer for Boobs 2010
Details:
$10 gets you you a commemorative Beer for Boobs pint glass and two pints of any Lost Abbey or Port Brewing beer on tap.
Beer for Boobs is the brainchild of our friends at White Labs who will be walking the 60 miles of The 3 Day walk for a cure in November. All proceeds from the evening will go to benefit the Susan G. Komen philanthropic trust.
Who should attend:
Anyone who has breasts, knows someone who has breasts, or supports breasts in any way shape or form.
This will be the release day for our newest barrel release — Deliverance a blend of bourbon barrel-aged Serpent’s Stout and brandy barrel-aged Angel’s Share.
Release details:
Format: 375ml cork-stoppered bottle Price: $15 each Limit: 6 bottles per person
Meet the folks of Lost Abbey / Port Brewing at the Bottle Room’s 2nd Annual Summer Beer Dinner, a five-course meal featuring food & beer pairings. Cost is $55 per person. More information & a full menu available on the Bottle Room’s Facebook Page.
2nd Annual Summer Beer Dinner
The Bottle Room
6741 Greenleaf Ave.
Whittier, CA, 90601
Tel: (562) 696-8000
(map)
Serious Eats’ Maggie Hoffman is back this week with a review of “‘mostly” sour American fruit beers. We’re pleased to see three of our beers — Amorosa, Cuvee de Tomme and Red Poppy — among those earning a very respectable 4 plus out of 5 stars.
Serious Eats reviews American fruit sour beers[Photo credit: Maggie Hoffman]
From the story:
Ask a beer fanatic what they’re into these days, and chances are they’ll wax poetic about sour beers.
Inspired by the puckery beers of Belgium, American brewers are playing with yeasts and bacteria and fruit like never before.
While we’re not really all that interested in who can make the sourest beer imaginable, we’re thrilled at all the great, creative options coming out of American breweries. Some of these delectable examples are juicy, zippy, and full of real fruit flavor; others are funky and horsey, quite challenging for the beginner–and sometimes thrilling to the nerdiest among us…
As you can see from the photo, the story also includes reviews of New Glarus, Captain Lawrence, Russian River, and several other breweries’ fruit brews. A great read.
Ever since we found out that Santa is a big fan of The Lost Abbey (and that he has a vacation condo here in San Diego), we’ve been able to persuade him to turn out in the red suit to take photos with the folks attending our Christmas in July fundraiser and celebration. Of course, Santa demands the best, so we also convince famed-photographer Jon Schulz to step away from the supermodels, rock stars and professional athletes for a day and help us out.
Take a gander below at the photos this year’s visit from St Nick. (Sure, a few of the people haven’t sat with Santa in a while — for some, a long while — but the results are always entertaining.)
Oh, and if your picture appears here, feel free to download it and use it.
Camp out, enjoy nature and great food & beer pairings at the Camp Confab at Suzie’s Farm in Imperial Beach. The local farm-to-table chefs of Cooks Confab have put together a fun little overnighter where you’ll get to pitch your tent, do a little camping and enjoy food fresh from the farm cooked by some of San Diego’s best chefs. Tomme will be there with some Lost Abbey brews to talk craft beer and help host the Harvest Dinner Celebration that night.
I am staring at a calendar above my desk that tells me the Great American Beer Festival is exactly three weeks from today. GABF? Already? Where did the summer go?
At her age it might be premature to call Devon Randall “the Most Interesting Woman in the World”, but she’s certainly on the right track to earn the title.
