Yeah, it’s August, but what the heck — it takes a little time to put these things together. Below is a quick video re-cap of the event deftly captured by our in-house director Ryan and hosted by Andy “MetromixSD” Killion.
Thanks to all the others who helped put the video together: editor Ryan Girkins, audio mixer Kyle Thompson, and musicians, the Dolbies. And, of course, all of you who attended and helped make it a great event and fundraiser for the Toys for Tots foundation.
Problem is, you really don’t want to deal with the hassles of driving 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 — the 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 Anniversary 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.
Join The Lost Abbey / Port Brewing crew for our annual pre-Stone Brewing Anniversary brunch on August 20, 2011 from 8:30 am to 11:00 am.
Breakfast! Beer! Lost Abbey!
As always, we’ll be frying, griddling, baking and boiling a hearty, 5 star breakfast that should be the start of every great craft beer celebration. The menu includes eggs, potatoes, pancakes and plenty of tasty pork-based meats — all perfect for pairing with our epic tap list of award-winning beers. Best of all, breakfast is free and the beer (a very reasonable) regular price.
Doors open at 8:30am to give you plenty of time to carbo-load before heading up the hill to the Stone party.
This year’s Christmas in July was once again a great success! Because of your generosity, we collected over 800 toys and nearly $5,000 in cash donations, so a lot of kids who might have gone without this holiday season are going to have a merry Christmas after all.
Below are the photos with Santa. If you’re pictured and would like to download the photo, simply click your photo thumbnail to enlarge the image, then right click and select “save as” to download the photo. (Please note that these photos are quite large so downloading may take a moment.)
Thanks again to everyone who attended and made the event what it was. Merry Christmas to all!
Christmas in July at The Lost Abbey!
Join us for a day of Christmastime festivities, great food, beer and music to celebrate the release of bourbon barrel-aged Santa’s Little Helper and to collect toys and cash to benefit the Marine Corp’s Toys for Tots foundation. Last year we raised over $10,000 in toys and cash donations — this year we’re trying to beat that!
Events on tap:
Beer releases:
2011 Bourbon Barrel-aged Santa’s Little Helper – 22oz bottles; Release day only: $12 ea . Regularly: $15 ea. ; 4 bottle limit. (Yes, this beer will reach our distribution network in limited quantities.)
Food & Beer:
Food – We’re doing a real Christmas meal! We’ll be serving fresh smoked turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, yams, fresh-baked rolls and dessert
On Tap – All of The Lost Abbey & Port Brewing’s regular 21 tap line-up, plus a few secret specialties (more on those as we approach the event…)
Activities:
A Visit from St. Nick Santa - yes this guy, The REAL Santa, will be on-hand for photos
Santa Claus loves to visit us while he’s on vacation in San Diego! He’ll be dropping by the brewery from 12pm – 5pm so you can get you, your friends’ and family professionally photographed with him in the Barrel Room. Live Webcast
We’ll be doing a live web broadcast — this time from a platform high above the tasting room floor where our intrepid Anchor, Andy Killion, will cover the festivities. If you’re not able to attend, you’ll be able to watch the broadcast from your computer, tablet or smartphone via our brewcam page here*.
* Download the Ustream Smartphone app for Android and iPhone here.
Toy Drive — Bring a new, unwrapped toy valued at $15 or more to benefit 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. Gifts will include rare bottles, Port Brewing & Lost Abbey gear and tickets to our legendary Barrel Night during San Diego Beer Week.
How Much: Photos with Santa, music, food and entertainment are all FREE when you bring a a new, unwrapped toy valued at $15. No toy? That’s okay. Give a $15 cash donation to Toys for Tots at the door and you’re in! (Beers are all regular price!)
Schedule of Events: To ensure that we’re not mobbed all at once and that everyone has a chance to get their photos with Santa, enjoy the food, music and get a ticket for the Giving Tree, we’re breaking the day into two equal sessions with exactly the same stuff in both sessions. The schedule is as follows:
Session 1
(12:00pm – 3:30pm)
12:00 – Doors open; Block 1 of Giving Tree Tickets available. (2 ticket max per person)
12:30 – Santa Arrives for photos
1:00 – Live Music: The Firkins; Food is served!
2:00 – Live Music: The Professors
3:00 – Giving Tree Drawing #1
3:30 – Session 1 ends
Session 2
(3:30pm – 7:00pm)
4:00 – Session 2 starts; Block 2 of Giving Tree Tickets available. (2 ticket max per person)
As you may have heard via the social media channels, we did okay at the 2011 San Diego International Beer Festival last week.
Okay, we’re being modest. We did really well, pulling down six ribbons in all — 3 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze — which was more than any other brewery.
Our winners were:
GOLD
Red Poppy (Sour Ale)
Shark Attack (Imperial Red Ale)
Veritas 008 (Specialty Beer)
SILVER
Hot Rocks (American Style Brown Ale)
BRONZE
Amazing Grace (Sour Ale)
Inferno (Belgian Style Pale Strong Ale)
Our cousins over at the Pizza Ports didn’t do too shabby either, grabbing seven ribbons — 4 for Carlsbad, 2 for Ocean Beach and 1 for Solana Beach — as well as Best of Show for Poor Man’s IPA, making this the third consecutive year a Pizza Port has owned Best of Show.
The SD Beer Festival is kind of a big deal for us, not just because of its size (150 breweries, 350+ beers), but because it’s judged by our fellows in the San Diego brewing community — none of whom are exactly slouches when it comes to great beer. When your peers here in the world capitol of craft beer heap awards on you, you know you must be doing something right. (One day we’ll find out what that is.)
All of the 2011 winners have been posted on the San Diego County Fair website in PDF format. You’ll find them here:
In the world of craft beer there’s a very close relationship between homebrewers and professionals. Most of the guys (and girls) in the business started brewing small batches of beer in their garage, and many continue to homebrew even after they’ve turned pro or retired from professional brewing altogether. As a result, brewers — paid or not — share a special affinity for the craft of beermaking that the rest of us as consumers and aficionados may not fully understand.
Today the National Homebrewers Conference opens here in San Diego and thousands of homebrewers from all over North America have descended on the county to meet, talk, trade tips and see for themselves why San Diego is the current craft beer capitol of the world (hint: a lot of it has to do with homebrewers). In honor of the conference and the homebrewers that make it what it is, our brewmaster/DOBO/COO Tomme Arthur chose to brew a beer with special significance just for conference attendees — La Cruda Porter.
La Cruda Porter
La Cruda, or Makanudo Porter as it was known back in 1996, was one of the first beers Tomme ever brewed as a professional. At the time Tomme was assistant to Troy Hojel, head brewer at Cervezerias La Cruda (roughly: “the hangover brewery”), a new brewpub in downtown San Diego. La Cruda’s brewhouse wasn’t quite up and running early enough, so Troy and Tomme approached another brewer, Skip Virgilio, the former brewer at Pacific Beach Brew House, about brewing a beer at Skip’s new brewery, AleSmith. Skip consented and the three proceeded to brew a robust porter recipe by Troy that they named Makanudo Porter (yes, Makanudo with a “k”).
It was the worst selling beer in La Cruda’s brief 12 month lifespan, but it also won a gold medal at the 1996 Great American Beer Festival — only the third medal to be won by a San Diego beer† in the GABF’s 13 year history. (Oh, how times have changed…) Troy left professional brewing after La Cruda as did Skip a few years later. Tomme, of course, landed at Pizza Port Solana Beach to begin that brewpub family’s dynasty (one that continues today), and in 2006 spun off to found Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey and do it all over again.
In honor of the relationship between homebrewers and professionals, Tomme, once the homebrewer but now the professional, invited Troy and Skip, both former professionals and now homebrewers, to The Lost Abbey to brew “La Cruda” Porter for the first time in 15 years. Each NHC attendee will receive a bottle.
This Friday we’ll be posting a video of the story behind La Cruda Porter and the people who made it. In the meantime, if you’re a homebrewer and you’d like to give the beer a whirl, you will find the recipe scaled down to five gallons below. And if you’re not a homebrewer, you can still try the beer just by dropping by our tasting room where it’s on draft and available in 22 ounce bottles (there’s only just 70 cases though, so if you want some in bottles, shop early).
† Here’s some “6 degrees of Tomme Arthur” for you: The first medal won by a San Diego beer was in 1994 — A bronze for a barley wine called Old Boneyards brewed at Pizza Port. Vince Marsaglia was one of the brewers. The same year A Pacific Beach Brew House won a gold for Belgian Strong Ale brewed by none other than Skip Virgilio.
With a little under 24 hours before the Moment of Truth, we though it’d be a good time to update everyone on all the other changes going into place for the summer starting today (May 27, 2011). Here you go:
Extended Summer Hours
Starting Memorial Day weekend and running through Labor Day weekend, we’re extending our tasting room hours so that more people have a chance to drop by. Our extended weekend hours for summer are as follows:
Friday: 3pm to 9pm
Saturday: 12pm to 7pm
Sunday: 12pm to 6pm
The tasting room will still be closed Mondays and Tuesdays, and open from 1pm to 5pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays for bottle sales & growler fills only. (Don’t complain. The brewhouse crew needs the room so they can make all that liquid magic we love so much.)
Open Memorial Day
In addition to the longer hours starting this weekend, the Tasting Room will also be open on Memorial Day — Monday, May 30 — from 12pm to 4pm so you can roll in for a few tasters and pick up some bottles and/or a growler fill for your holiday barbeque.
Oh — and speaking of Memorial Day weekend, we’d be remiss not to mention that this Sunday, May 29th, is Terri the tasting room manager’s birthday. Make sure to tell her happy birthday if you stop by!
Barrel Room tasting bar now open
If you haven’t dropped by in the past couple of weeks then you probably don’t know that we recently opened a new tasting bar in our Barrel Room. Tucked in among the barrels awaiting the Angel’s to give their blessing, there’s 20 taps (just like the main bar) loaded with Port Brewing & Lost Abbey goodness. If the main bar looks a little crowded or you’d just like to enjoy a taster or two in a really cool atmosphere, make sure to check it out!
Special Beers on Tap
Back in Mak Porter — This weekend we’ll also have a couple of special beers on tap perfect to kick off summer. The first is “Back in Mak”, a robust porter that you may already know as Makanudo or La Cruda Porter. It’s a beer that dates back to Tomme’s first gig as a professional brewer way back in 1996 (and the first beer for which he earned a GABF gold medal). Tomme, his old boss Troy Hojel and Skip Virgilio (a founder of Alesmith) all met to brew the beer together for the first time in 15 years. Most of the beer is being bottled as La Cruda Porter, which will go to attendees of the NHC next month (read: no distribution). But we’ve got a few kegs we decided to put on tap as “Back in Mak” so you’ll have a chance to taste it even if you’re not attending the conference.
Dawn Patrol — Dawn Patrol Dark is an English Mild Ale that we actually brew as the base beer for Red Poppy. We don’t distribute this beer, but it’s a wonderful, low ABV beer perfect for an afternoon session, so we decided to put on one of the remaining kegs (the rest has already gone into the barrels), giving you an opportunity to taste Red Poppy before it’s, well, Red Poppy. (Red Poppy is also on tap, so try them side-by-side and check out how the beer is transformed in the barrels.)
If you’re into the barrel-aged specialty stuff, we’ll also have Brandy Angel’s Share, Older Viscosity, Ad Lib and Red Poppy on tap for as long as it lasts!
BYO Growlers
Unfortunately, we had a mix up with the glass company and we are completely out of growlers until June 6th. If you’re looking for a growler fill, please make sure to bring your own growler. (And remember we can only fill growlers labeled Lost Abbey or Port Brewing. We’re not allowed to fill any other brewery’s growler by law, so double-check your bottle and make sure it has our name on it before coming in.)
Veritas 009 Release
Finally, this weekend is the release of our much-anticipated Veritas 009. There is only 100 cases total of this and we’re limiting it to 4 bottles per person. We will be opening at 10am for Veritas bottle sales (the full tasting room will still open at noon) and we expect this one to sell out in a couple of hours, so if you’d like to pick up bottles, we recommend that you arrive sooner rather than later. All the details on Veritas 009 can be found here: Veritas 009 Release Announcement.
Or maybe it isn’t. Based on your personal beliefs, May 21, 2011 could be a) your ticket to heaven, b) the beginning of the end, or c) just the third Saturday in May.
Judgment Day is Upon Us
Regardless of what happens, however, we’re hard-pressed to come up with a better way to enjoy the day than with our gold medal winning Judgment Day Belgian quad-style ale.
So all day May 21 we’ll be celebrating Judgment Day with tasting room specials, drawings and events. Here’s just a few of the things on tap for the End of Days:
Judgment Day Specials: Pints – $4, Growler Fills – $12, Bottles (375ml and 75ml) – 20% off
Prize Drawings: We’ll be holding drawings throughout the day for The Lost Abbey clothing, headwear and our cool new Lost Abbey flags
Costume competition: Come dressed ready for the Apocalypse (horseman, avenging angel, demon, sinner, saint — it’s up to you) and be eligible to win stuff suitable for sinners and saints alike!
Judgment Day Art: We’ll have the original Four Horsemen painting that is our Judgment Day label on display. Come check it out in all it’s doomsday glory.
The fun starts at 12pm and carries on until 6pm (by then we’ll probably know if the world is coming to an end or not). Admission is free and open to both Sinners and Saints alike. See you there!
Songs playing at the brewery during the event:
Highway to Hell – ACDC
Still Alive – Portal
I Just Died in Your Arms – Cutting Crew
Dead Man’s Party – Oingo Boingo
Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
Mad World – Tears for Fears
Save Tonight – Eagle Eye Cherry
Judgment Day – Van Halen
Semi-Charmed Life – Third Eye Blind
The Final Countdown – Europe
Waiting on the World to Change – John Mayer
We Will Become Silhouettes – Postal Service
Stayin’ Alive – Bee Gees
It’s the End of the World as We Know It – REM
The Call of the Ktulu – Metallica
The Four Horsemen – Metallica
Apocalypse Please – Muse
Everybody Wants to Rule the World – Tears for Fears
Four Winds – Bright Eyes
Fire and Rain – James Taylor
When the World Ends – Dave Matthews Band
Should I Stay of Should I Go – The Clash
God’s Gonna Cut You Down – Johnny Cash
Ring of Fire – Johnny Cash
Don’t Fear the Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult
End of the Road – Boyz II Men
Time is Running Out – Muse
I Think We’re Alone Now – Tiffany
Black Hole Sun – Soundgarden
How Am I Supposed to Live Without You – Michael Bolton
Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye – Steam
Dead – They Might be Giants
Last Dance – Donna Summer
Mona Lisa – Nat King Cole
The Winning Side – Oingo Boingo
Robots – Flight of the Conchords
I Don’t Want to Wait – Paula Cole
Nowhere to Run – Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
Thoughts of Dying Atheist – Muse
O Death – O Brother Where Art Thou
Let the River Run – Carly Simon
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) – Green Day
Bye Bye Bye – N’Sync
Dancing in Heaven – Robert Plant
I Will Follow You Into the Dark – Death Cab for Cutie
Attending our Sold Out 5th Anniversary Celebration? Not attending but interested in lurking outside and seeing what’s going on? Well, we’ve ordered up some great weather (partly sunny, mid-60’s) and put together an amazing list of everything in store for the day:
All Day Events
official hashtag
#port5th
(tweet it!)
Live Webcast
We’ll be broadcasting live all day! Andy Killion (aka @Metromixsd !) will be covering the entire event live with interviews, chats and fun. If you’re attending, you’re invited to step into the broadcast booth and say hello to everyone. If you’re watching from your computer, tablet or phone, you’re invited to chat with Andy and his guests via our Ustream broadcast channel!
Barrel House Tours
Explore the mysteries of the Lost Abbey barrel archives with Barrel Master & Lead Brewer, Ryan Fields. Ryan will be leading two tours per session. Each tour takes approximately 30 minutes and is limited to 35 people. (Register early to ensure your slot. This fills up quickly!)
Session One Tours: 12pm | 2pm – Session Two Tours: 5pm | 7pm
You must sign up to go on the tour! Registration will be at the entrance to the barrel house.
Live Music
This year we’re pleased to host not one, but two live bands in the brewhouse for your listening pleasure. Session One will be host to the vintage-tinged garage, folk, rock and roll sounds of Kiera and the Lesbians. Session Two will be our favorite lounge lizards, The Professors, and their special brand of surf-styled rock and roll. Music starts at noon.
Food, food, food
Chefs Jason Danderand and Steve Owen will be steaming, smoking, BBQing and frying their way through a whole raft of San Diego-style street foods. Street food not your thing? The magic pizza trailer will also be on hand to cooking up pies fresh and hot! Water and soft drinks will also available courtesy of Dr Pepper.
Food and drinks will be in the outdoor pavilion next to the barrel house.
What’s On Tap
What’s a brewery birthday party without plenty of beer? The brewers have dug deep into the archives to fully stock both bars (the main bar as well as our new barrel room bar) with a huge array of Port Brewing & Lost Abbey beers. All of the following will be on tap at the main bar as well as in the barrel room:
The regulars (1 taster ticket)
Port Brewing
Anniversary – Hoppy, Strong Pale Ale
Hot Rocks – Stein Lager
Mongo – Double IPA
Old Viscosity – Dark Strong Ale
Panzer Pils – Imperial Pilsner
Santa’s Little Helper – Imperial Stout
Shark Attack – Double Red Ale
Wipeout – West Coast IPA
The Lost Abbey
Avant Garde – Biere de Garde
Devotion – Belgian Blond
Judgment Day – Belgian Quad with Raisins
Red Barn – Saison
Saison Blanc – Light Saison with Green Raisins & Pepper
Serpent’s Stout – Belgian Sweet Stout
Ten Commandments – Belgian Strong Ale
The Specialties (3 taster tickets)
Ad Lib (2011) – Special Limited Release Blend made with Rye Barrel Serpent’s Stout, Bourbon Midnight Expression and Bourbon Judgment Day. Only 50 five gallon kegs of this are going into distribution, so this may be your one and only chance to try a legendary Lost Abbey one-off blends!
2011 Bourbon Barrel-aged Santa’s Little Helper – 22oz bottles; Release day only: $12 ea . Regularly: $15 ea. ; 4 bottle limit. (Yes, this beer will reach our distribution network in limited quantities.)
