Extra! Extra! Read All About It!!!!
I have been chasing this blog for the past 6 weeks now trying like hell to get it written. In the 11 short months that our beers have beers have been flowing out of this establishment, we have garnered some pretty darn cool press and we wanted to share these things with you.
Some of you may have seen the Men’s Journal Magazine from October 2006. In this issue, they reviewed a ton of beers and developed a list of the top 25 American Beers. The Lost Abbey Avant Garde landed on the list at number 23. This was a great list of beers to be on and it included many of our friends in the business. We even shared the list of 25 beers with our San Diego friends down at AleSmith Brewing Co.
More recently, The Lost Abbey beers have graced the cover of Saveuer magazine. This is an amazing food and gourmand magazine which highlights all things great and artisinal from cheese to curries. Each year the magazine creates a list of the Top 100 best things to look out for. The Lost Abbey landed on the list at #42. Just being on the list was an honor but our bottles even graced the cover of the magazine with 11 other of the Top 100. If you visit the brewery in the future, this will most certainly be framed and mounted on our walls.
No sooner had the Saveuer magazine hit the newstands when our newest copy of Draft Magazine landed in our mailbox. This is a very new publication about the lifestyle of beer. The issue featured an article by Don Russell considering the Top 10 Breweries to pay attention to in 2007.
Much to our surprise, The Lost Abbey landed at the top of the list. Being named # 1 on the list came as a complete shock. Starting a new brewery is hard enough. Launching another brand to go with it is nuts. To have that brand land in two magazines “Best of” lists is crazy and puts an enormous amount of stress on us to make the best beers possible.
Is it worth it? Sure thing. Do we love the attention? Who wouldn’t? I also wanted to point out that I was bummed when we weren’t named to the Playboy list of beers. I’d like that tax write off. Um…a one years subcription to a “gentlemans magazine?” Yes sir they cover beer you know.
Yet, even without Playboy and their nice “articles” or lack there of in terms of articles of clothing, it sure is nice to be held in such a high regard. Do these lists make our beers taste any better? Certainly not. What they do make for is nice promotional opportunities to get our beers and messages in front of new consumers. As producers of unique beers, this is all we can hope for.
I also wanted to pimp our wares and share with you some of our competitive successes from the past 6 months. In November, the Innagural Barrel Aged Beer Festival was held in Hayward, California at the Bistro. The Bistro has been hosting IPA and Double IPA festivals for many years now. When I was brewing in Solana Beach, we were fortunate enough to win each of these festivals. Swamis IPA and HOP 15 each were named Best of the Fest during a previous life.
Back in November, we sent four different beers to the barrel aged beer festival. When the results were tallied, The Angel’s Share finished second in its category. Older Viscosity finished first in the Bourbon Barrel category and went on to compete against 5 other beers in the Best of Show round where it garnered the BOS award.
Fast forward to this last weekend in San Francisco at the epic annual Toronado Barleywine Festival. We again sent a keg of The Angel’s Share and out of a field of almost 60 beers, we finished 2nd. Congrats to the boys(and girls) at Alaskan Brewing Company who bested one of the best beers I have ever made.
In less than a year, we have cranked up this great brewing facility and continued the great spirited brewing that our friends and customers have come to expect from Pizza Port and Port Brewing. It feels good to know that our high expectations of ourselves and our beers continue even though we aren’t brewing within a stone’s throw of the ocean anymore.