We celebrated Christmas in July this past Saturday (July 24) with the release of barrel-aged Santa’s Little Helper and a fundraiser to benefit the Marine Corp’s Toys for Tots foundation.
The weather was perfect, the bands were great, the food was outstanding and everyone who attended was fantastic! We raised an estimated $7,500 in toys and cash donations — so many toys, in fact, that our Marine Corp representative, Sgt. Onsey, had a heck of a time to getting all the toys into the truck back to Camp Pendleton.
Everyone who attended can be happy in knowing that they’ve helped to make a kid’s Christmas a special one this year. Thanks to all who participated and made this the event it was!
Here is the photo gallery from Christmas in July 2010 (Photos with Santa will be available soon):
Join The Lost Abbey / Port Brewing crew for our annual pre-Stone Brewing Anniversary brunch on August 21nd, 2010 from 8:30 am to 11:00 am.
We’ll be boiling, frying, griddling and baking up a hearty breakfast that includes eggs, bread, potatoes at plenty of tasty things made from pork — all of which you can wash down with our big tap list of award-winning beers.
As always, the food is free and the beer (a very reasonable) regular price. Our doors open at 8:30am to give you plenty of time to carbo-load before heading up the hill to the Stone party.
Cuvee de Tomme is looking both Rico and Suave in today’s Esquire Magazine blog Eat Like a Man. Cuvee de Tomme at Esquire.com
From the article:
Does your lady drink more Chardonnay than IPA? Try converting her – gently – with these crossover brews: They’re smooth Belgian-style ales with hardly any bitterness but a ton of luscious flavor. Oak barrels (and the microorganisms living within their wooden walls) mellow out the beer and make it taste like nothing you’ve ever tried before.
Have a Pint with Santa and help support Toys for Tots
In order to keep things comfortable in the brewery at our 2010 Christmas in July celebration and fundraiser we’re limiting each session to a maximum of 300 people. As a result, we’re asking folks who are planning on attending to RSVP by adding themselves to our guest list.
Getting on the guest list is easy. Just complete the form below, choosing your session and how many people will be in your party. Once you’ve completed the form your name will be added to the guest list for the session you selected.
(NOTE: Yes, it will still be possible to get into the event if you’re not on the guest list, so long as there’s fewer than 300 people registered for that session. However if we reach capacity, priority will be given to those on the list. As such, it’s in your best interest to do so.)
Back on July 9, 2010 we had a send-off party for one of our beloved bartenders, Stephanine (aka: “Jeff”), who was getting married the following week and, admirably, had remained true to her Catholic beliefs. We invited people to the brewery to take their photo with her, and if they chose, make a small contribution to her honeymoon fund. The results were very entertaining. Check it out.
Serious Eats‘ Maggie Hoffman ran an interesting interview with Tomme Arthur today. If you’d like some insight into The Tomme’s style and personal philosophy, it’s a definite “must-read”. Tomme Arthur in Serious Eats
From the article:
Where do you get your brewing inspiration? Inspiration is a crazy thing. Obviously the bulk of it comes from exploring new flavors. It might be a bottle of beer a friend made. It could be an experience in a Belgian cafe. Other times, I might draw my inspiration from conversations with other brewers or even chefs. Ultimately what it comes down to is that my attention gets focused on creating (or recreating) certain flavors in our beers. How we get there is partly due to inspiration and how well I use my imagination.
The ten minute video takes the viewer to a number of craft beer hotspots in Philly, and the host, shooting style and music (as well as the show’s guests) make it one of the best beer-themed videos we’ve seen.
This past Wednesday, I attended the San Marcos Economic Development Committee meeting at City Hall here in San Marcos. During this luncheon, there was an award ceremony and, wouldn’t you know it, we won an EDE.
Since many of you readers out there may not know what an EDE is, I thought I would share with you that it stands for Economic Development Excellence award. All told, there were 8 EDE’s given out and Port Brewing earned the award for Product Excellence in Manufacturing. These awards are given to San Marcos based companies who display excellence in their business practices and promote the city at the same time.
Standing on stage (in front of all sorts of San Marcos City Council Members and Planners), it was an honor to receive this business based award.
You see, since we opened our doors some 4 years ago, Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey has won numerous awards at local, regional and even international beer competitions. All of these awards focus on specific beers competing against other beers. And we love to see our beers do very well. Yet being a very young company means we don’t typically get nominated nor win awards for our civic contributions. Still, the great people on the EDC committee thought we were worth recognizing.
I guess having a World Class brewery in San Marcos does makes great sense and I for one am glad we earned this recognition. Hats off to all of our employees who made this possible.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find some glass cleaner. Someone got their fingerprints on our new shiny trophy…
4th Anniversary Celebration Wrap-up
Our 4th anniversary celebration last month was our largest yet and was doubly exciting, as it almost didn’t happen.
This year we divided the party into two sessions and converted our barrelhouse loading area into an outdoor dining area. Combined with our new, larger tasting room we were able to comfortably accommodate all our guests.
Beyond the great music and the great beer (naturally), the other highlights of the day were the tours of the new barrelhouse led by Tomme himself. (1,000 oak barrels full of beer stacked, racked and awaiting the angels’ blessing is something to behold.)
The barrelhouse only has room for 20 or so people at a time, so the plan was for Tomme to guide a tour every 30 minutes or so. But once folks got inside, people naturally began asking questions, taking photos, etc., and each tour ended up being closer to an hour long. As a result, we only did half the number of tours planned, but we’re pretty sure those lucky enough to go enjoyed the time twice as much.
We’ve posted a photo album from the Anniversary party on the website.
Upcoming events Christmas in July Celebration & Fundraiser
Christmas in July
This July 24th, celebrate the release of the 2010 Bourbon-barrel-aged Santa’s Little Helper and help us collect toys for the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots Foundation. There will be food, music, photos with Santa, and, of course, great Lost Abbey / Port Brewing beers on hand.
There’s no admission, all we ask is that you bring a new, unwrapped toy worth $15 or more for Toys for Tots. Last year we collected nearly $10,000 in toys and cash donations for the Foundation, and this year we’re hoping to beat that and help a lot of kids who otherwise might not get a Christmas.
With our increased capacity and expanding distribution, our beers are showing up in places more than ever. You can help your fellow Lost Abbey / Port Brewing beer lovers by adding the location where you found our beers to the map on our website.
Restaurant, pub, retailer — it doesn’t matter. We want to know!
Join us at The Lost Abbey for our second annual Christmas in July celebration and fundraiser to benefit the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots Foundation.
(Click here to get on the Guest List!)
Food – Authentic San Marcos-style BBQ; slow-cooked to perfection
On Tap – All of The Lost Abbey & Port Brewing’s regular 21 tap line-up, plus a few secret specialties
Activities:
A Visit from St. Nick – Get your photo with Santa Claus in the Barrel Room
Live Music — 1st session: Boneyard, 2nd session: The Professors
Toys for Tots drive and fundraiser
Toy Drive — Bring a new, unwrapped toy values at $15 or more to benefit Toys for Tots
Get a Gift, give a gift — For every bottle of Gift of the Magi sold ($12 $10) we’ll make a $1 donation to Toys for Tots
Giving Tree – Make an additional $15 cash donation to Toys for Tots (above & beyond the unwrapped toy) and you get to select a gift from the Christmas Tree. Here’s a partial list:
Cable Car
Churchill’s Finest Hour
Cuvee de Tomme
Red Poppy
Sinner’s Blend
Yellow Bus
Tickets to the Lost Abbey Private Barrel Night
There are only 100 gifts under the tree per session, so make sure to get yours early!
The Details:
When: Saturday, July 24, 2010; Two sessions: 12pm to 3pm and 4pm to 7pm. Beer and bottle release sales begin at 12pm, food and music at 1pm, santa arrives at 2pm.
Where: Lost Abbey / Port Brewing Co., San Marcos, San Diego County, CA
How Much: Photos with Santa, music, food and entertainment are all FREE! We are, however, asking everyone who attends to bring a new, unwrapped toy valued at $15 or more to donate to Toys for Tots. (Beers are all regular price.)
Celebrate Dad all weekend long with these specials from Lost Abbey & Port Brewing
Father's Day at Lost Abbey
New Beer
Road to Helles
A classic straw-gold German lager like only Lost Abbey can brew it.
A traditional beer garden favorite, just take a growler of Road to Helles, add Dad, a couple of lawn chairs and a lot of meat searing on the grill and you have all the ingredients for a perfect Father’s Day. (Draft only)
Pints: $4 Growler Fills: $12 (New growler $4)
Gifts for Dad that he’ll actually like
West Coast-style
22oz. Bottle of Port Brewing Beer (Wipeout, Shark Attack, Hot Rocks, Midnight Sessions) and two Port Brewing logo pint glasses – $9.00
Belgian-style
750ml bottle of Lost Abbey beer (year-round release only) and two Lost Abbey stemware glasses – $20.00
T-shirts
All men’s T-shirts 10% off
(Tasting room purchases only. Specials not valid in online store.)
Take Dad to Lost Abbey on Father’s Day
Take Dad to the Lost Abbey tasting room, pull up a barrel and have a few world class craft beers from the source. All day Father’s Day (June 20) vintage beers will all be 20% off, we’ll be doing brewery and barrel room tours and holding hourly events.
