More details here: http://www.lostabbey.com/appearance-craft-beer-cooks-confab/
See Tomme this weekend at Stingaree Restaurant
Christmas in July Party 2009
Photos from our first annual Christmas in July (July 25, 2009) fundraiser for Toys for Tots
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And photos with Santa
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This past week
It’s Saturday morning July 4th, 2009. Happy Birthday America! Yesterday was July 3rd which happens to be my wife Maureen’s birthday. It appears that we get 48 hours of parties each year because of these two days. Not too shabby! Yesterday the gang at Stone Brewing Company hosted local radio station 94.9 FM in the brewery gardens. The party started at 6 AM with the early morning DJ’s and featured .94 cent beer samples all day. I was asked to come out to the gardens to spend some time on the air. My slot was 11 AM with Hilary (the mid day DJ). Hilary also happens to be a friend of Maureen’s so we loaded the Arthur’s up and headed for Stone Brewing. When we arrived, it was damn near impossible to find a parking space. The restaurant was packed and at one point they made an announcement that the restaurant was out of sample glasses as all 750 of them were full of beer. The party was great and I am thankful that 94.9 and Stone got together to give us a chance to talk about San Diego beers on the air. Mike even got in on the act. As chief marketing guy (and head brewer), he asked everyone to show up for our Christmas in July promotion in January. DOOH!!! Oh well, at least he makes great beer!
Speaking of Christmas in July, it’s true Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus. Three weeks from now, we are launching what we hope will be another great day of festivities at the brewery. On July 25th, 2009 we will be celebrating the arrival of our Bourbon Barrel Aged Santa’s Little Helper Imperial Stout. We also will be releasing our 2009 bottling of Older Viscosity plus a new little diddie called simply Duck Duck Gooze. All told, it will be an awesome beery day.
We’ll open the doors at noon. There will be food and Santa is scheduled to arrive at 1PM. In exchange for an unwrapped toy (suggested donation no less than $15) you will get access to food, a great band and an opportunity to have pictures taken with Santa. We know that the local economy is in the toilet right now but we still think all kids should get to celebrate Christmas with toys. We will have two Marines on hand from Toys For Tots to accept our donation as the day draws to a close. Lastly, there will be a giving tree on site as well. As our gift to you, we will have a tree loaded with envelopes. For a $15 cash donation, you will be able to pull an envelope from the tree. Naughty or Nice, Sinner or Saint, we won’t be judging. We promise the tree will be loaded with rarities and things that haven’t been for sale in quite some time. I am very excited for Christmas in July and can barely contain my enthusiasm for what promises to be an amazing day of beer, food and festivities.
Lastly, this past week is the title of the blog for today. Why? Well, we had one of those weeks here at the brewery. Thursday was about the worst day ever here and I really want to take the time to thank all the guys who chipped in a put a little bit of extra time in for us. We packaged Older Viscosity on Thursday. During the run, one of our tanks (Judgment Day) developed a leak at the gasket sealing the door to the tank. As we had over 120 bbls of beer in the tank, there was little we could do. This was mostly due to the fact that we had no empty tanks to move the beer to!!! Yes, it was truly an oh shit moment. We were able to devise a strategy for dealing with the door but it required an enormous amount of effort and I even jumped on the bottling line to assist the guys in the production of 400 cases of Older Viscosity on Thursday. That was the bad news for the week.
The good news is that we shipped our first sets of Microstar kegs out this week to the East Coast. Those of you in the Boston area should start seeing some of our beer next week at your favorite watering holes. Look for Wipeout IPA, HOP 15, Devotion and Ten Commandments. Coming in August you’ll also start to see Panzer Pils in bars and on the shelves. This years batch is off the charts and gets the Schrago seal of approval. That’s all for now. I need to get my office cleaned up as I leave for Chicago on Monday for a couple of days of promotional work. The kind of work my liver quivers over.
Happy 4th of July. Remember our troops as you celebrate today. We all know somebody who’s out there keeping us safe
Third Anniversary Celebration
Photos from our third anniversary party, May 2009.
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Hot Rocks Brew Day 2009
Brewing Hot Rocks Stein Beer style
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Port Brewing & The Lost Abbey Turning Three
Famed brewery to celebrate its anniversary May 9th with food, music and three new beer releases
San Marcos, Calif. — Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey will celebrate its third anniversary on Saturday May 9, 2009 by throwing a party the way only Port / Lost Abbey can.
Items on tap for the daylong festivities include specialty kegs from the Lost Abbey barrel archives, bottled beer releases, food by Port/Lost Abbey’s in-house chef, and live music from special guests, The Professors.
Beer-only sales begin at noon; food, music and entertainment will begin at 3pm.
New Beer Releases
Bottled Beers scheduled for release:
- Port (3rd) Anniversary (Pale Strong Ale)
Cuvee de Tomme(Release delayed)The Angel’s Share (Bourbon)(Release delayed)- Update: Special Bottle Releases: Older Viscosity 2008 (375ml bottles / $15) and 2009 Brother Levonian Saison (750ml bottles / $8.99)
The Port Brewing Regulars:
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The Port Brewing Seasonals:
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The Lost Abbey Regulars:
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The Lost Abbey Seasonals:
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The Special Taps:
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Brews, Food and Entertainment
As part of the day’s events, in what is now an anniversary tradition, brewmaster Tomme Arthur, will delve into the storied Lost Abbey barrel archives and give guests an opportunity to sample rare brews from past years. Port Brewing Chef-in-Residence, Vince Marsaglia, and his 20 foot mobile outdoor kitchen and barbeque will be on hand to steam, bake, broil, BBQ and fry their way through a stunning assortment of five-star foods.
Additionally, local music sensations, The Professors, will be on-hand to perform their brand of “sophisticated surf music” live in the brewhouse.
The Details
The Port Brewing Third Anniversary Celebration is Saturday, May 9, 2009. Beer release-only sales begin at noon. Party, food, music, etc. begins at 3pm. Food and music are free. For $15 guest receive a Port Brewing logo pint glass and 8 beer tasting tickets. Additional tickets may be purchased at the event. Ticket sales are at-the-door only. There are no pre-sale tickets. The Port Brewing facility is located at 155 Mata Way, Suite 104, San Marcos, CA 92069.
About Port Brewing / Lost Abbey
Founded in 2006, Port Brewing Company produces a broad line of award-winning American beers as well as the groundbreaking Lost Abbey family of Belgian-inspired ales. Under the direction of co-founder and world-renowned brewer, Tomme Arthur, Port / Lost Abbey has become recognized for complex, flavor-driven beers, often aged and blended after 18 months or longer in oak brandy, bourbon, and wine barrels. In additional to numerous medals, Port Brewing / The Lost Abbey and Tomme Arthur were the 2007 Great American Beer Festival Small Brewery and Small Brewer of the Year, and the 2008 World Beer Cup World Champion Small Brewery and Small Brewer. Port Brewing is located at 155 Mata Way, Suite 104, San Marcos, CA 92069, USA. Telephone (760) 889-9318, web: www.lostabbey.com.
Tomme Arthur to Introduce Clothing Line
Renowned beer maker will introduce fashion line beginning with “Brew doo” headgear
Three time GABF Brewer of the Year, and 2008 World Beer Cup Champion Small Brewer, Tomme Arthur, will be bringing his flavor-driven fashion sense to the craft beer drinking community with the launch of a new clothing line. Dubbed “Brew-House of Arthur”, the collection will feature around 20 items ranging from casual t-shirts and shorts to high-fashion flip-flops and accessories.
Among the first items to be available will be Arthur’s signature headwear, the “Brew-Doo” doo rag, which resembles a ratty white bar towel.
“It’s an incredible fashion statement,” said Mike “Dulce” Rodriguez, style editor for Beer Wear Daily.
“It looks great whether you’re just driving down the road in a Honda station wagon, or entertaining the homies while tipping back a few grenades of malt liquor. I’ll be shocked if this isn’t the beer fashion statement of 2009.”
Another release will be the “Seven-Day Sock”, cotton footwear designed to be worn for a week straight. “They’re wonderful!” exclaimed a Brew-House of Arthur spokesman. “After a couple of days they practically stand up by themselves so they’re really easy to put on.”
The clothing line-up will also include clean white shirts in short and long sleeve styles, as well as close-toed shoes, brown pants, and a black t-shirt for dressier occasions.
Arthur is also rumored to be working with longtime Port Brewing partner, Vince Marsaglia on a clothing line inspired by Marsaglia’s unique fashion sense. The collection will most likely be flip-flops, a pair of khaki cargo shorts, and a surplus Hop 15 t-shirt.
Brew-House of Arthur anticipates the fashions hitting beer wear specialty stores in time for the craft brewing holidays.
The taste of Cold
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…
Photos from Lost Abbey Carnevale
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:
Carnevale Masquerade 2009
Photos from the Carnevale di Lost Abbey Masquerade Party, February 28, 2009
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