Late summer is nothing but hoppy days here at the brewery. Here’s a quick heads up on the various IPA-related activities we’ve got going on leading into the Labor Day weekend:
Hop 15 Returns
Hop 15 Returns this week
Yes, it’s true Hop 15 is returning to market! The Port Brewing Hop Bomber fleet returned to the skies this week loaded with fresh bottles and kegs of Hop 15 destined for every corner of our distribution network.
Depending on your proximity to our central hop-to-air base here in San Marcos Hop 15 supplies should begin turning up on shelves and taps in your area any time in the next couple of weeks. Get it while you can though. The re-supply fleet isn’t scheduled to return until March of 2013!
Fallbrook Estate Fresh Hop Pale Ale
Fallbrook Estate Pale Ale – In the Tasting Room August 31
If you checked in a couple of weeks ago, you probably noticed that we just harvested the hops for our local fresh-hopped IPA, Fallbrook Estates (you might have even harvested with us). This year was different than previous years in that we had a large enough yield to use the local goods in the entire brew process rather than just in dry-hopping. We used 80lbs of local Nugget and Chinook in the boil and an additional 120lbs in the hopback, so it should be an awesome brew. In total we produced 30 barrels, so this one will be on draft only in the brewery. There won’t be any bottles, but word is you will be able to get your growler filled with the homegrown.
Look for Fallbrook to hit the taps in the Tasting Room Labor Day weekend.
Predicting a High Tide
A wave of Fresh Hops
Word from the hop supplier is that the harvest should be coming in very soon, which means we’re gearing up to brew our amazing fresh hop IPA, High Tide, here really soon. Assuming that the hop guys are correct, we expect to see a semi-trailer full of fresh-picked hops sometime early September, which means we’ll be brewing High Tide around the clock for four days to ensure the hops are at their freshest when they go into the brew. If you’ve never experienced the hop-infused organized chaos that is a High Tide brew cycle, this will be your chance to witness it. Drop by the Tasting Room, that weekend and check it out.
Oh, and if you can’t make it to the Tasting Room, no worries. The beer will hit our full distribution network in the latter half of September, so you’ll still be able to experience the fresh-hopped goodness that is High Tide.
Out of just about 500 votes, nearly 90% of you wanted Hop 15 back. What’s more, most of you aren’t going to stand for this “oh it’s out there, but you can’t get it because it’s so limited.” No, you want it back in a big way – bottles and draft from coast to coast.
So that’s what you’re going to get. Hop Bombs Away
We just got word from Production Head Honcho Gwen that the brewers will be clearing the decks at the end of this month and the first part of March to brew not one, but four – count `em, 4 – big, fat batches of Hop 15. (Some of the brewers aren’t so excited about having to make 60 trips up the brew platform — 15 hopping sessions per batch — but they could probably use the exercise anyway.)
With a run that big that means there’ll be enough to fill taps and shelves in all of our distribution regions north, south east and west!
Look for the Port Brewing fleet of hop bombers to be filling the skies over your neck of the woods in mid-to-late March.
Hard to believe it’s already August, but here it is. Around the Abbey we’ve been so busy that we almost didn’t notice summer is just about at an end. Since spring we’ve been brewing so much that we’ve passed our total production for 2010 and are in the midst of yet another expansion to meet demand.
As part of that expansion we recently moved fermenters 7 and 8 (aka: “Heaven” and “Hell” since that’s what had to be moved to get them into the brewhouse) into our production area next door in anticipation of the arrival of a couple more big fermenters in the next few weeks. Tomme’s also made mention of acquiring a couple of new grain silos which will prevent us from running our current one dry each week (it’s hard to make beer when you have no malt).
Moving "Heaven" for more beer
All this new equipment will allow us to keep ramping up production and eliminate some of the off and on shortages we’ve been experiencing. And while there’s no expansion of our distribution territories planned just yet, who knows — 2012 could present some new opportunities for us.
Things have been busy over in the tasting room as well. Even though we’re a tiny operation compared to many of our San Diego craft brewing compatriots, we’re on track to see almost 60,000 (yes, 60,000!) visitors this year. To handle all the new folks we’ve already added an additional 20 taps –for a total of 44 handles — and we’ve got some exciting new remodels in the works for the fall. Look for an announcement with details some time after Labor Day.
All told, it’s pretty good stuff and we owe it all to you, the Faithful. Thank you. You keep drinking and we’ll keep brewing.
New Faces: Meet Ryan Tillotson
Ryan Tillotson, the man behind the lensRecently you may have noticed one the addition of some new multimedia components — photo galleries, video shorts and live broadcasts — the Lost Abbey website and our social media pages. (And if you haven’t noticed, why not?) All this is the work of our new Multimedia Supervisor, Ryan Tillotson, who recently joined us after graduating from film school up in the Los Angeles area.
A gifted guy behind the camera, Ryan is tasked both with documenting life here at the Abbey, and providing you with an informative (and hopefully interesting) look inside the operations of a small American craft brewery.
Beyond providing daily snapshots from around the brewhouse, Ryan has also produced the first two of our “making of” videos (Hot Rocks, La Cruda and Ten Commandments), and our time-lapse silo video. He’s also the man who directed our live broadcasts from the Anniversary Party and Christmas in July. Over the next couple of months you can look forward to plenty more from him.
Ryan’s in the brewhouse most weekdays and a few weekends as well. You’ll also catch him at events around town and some big national ones such as the GABF. If you happen to bump into him anywhere, make sure to say hello. Who knows, he could make you Internet famous…
Stone Brewing’s 15th Anniversary party is just a week away, and as usual we’ll be serving breakfast at the brewery for everyone who wants to carbo-load before heading up to the first session a “stone’s” throw away at Cal State San Marcos.
Beer for Breakfast, August 20, 2011
Our dynamic-duo of chefs, Jason Danderand and Steve Owen will be manning the Magic kitchen and griddling, grilling, frying, smoking and steaming their way through a monster buffet of rib-sticking breakfast foods. As always, the food and fun are free, the beers are regular price.
Each summer we host an intern who spends several weeks with the brew crew learning how to make beer the Port/Lost Abbey way. (We’re not really sure if this hurts or helps in the real world, but whatever.) Our first intern five years ago was named Larry, and even since then we’ve always referred to the summer intern as “The New Larry”.
This year’s Larry (number 5) is Travis Herman who hails from the East Bay area up in Northern California. Travis recently left a career in bio-research and for the past five weeks has been working long hours learning the craft of brewing from the ground up. (Biggest lesson: “brewing is a lot of hard work.”)
Travis’ internship ends today and he, along with his dog, Hudson, who came down here with him, is driving back to Northern California this weekend to rejoin his wife, who is six months pregnant. A quiet, friendly guy with a wry sense of humor and a quick brain, we’re all going to miss him around here and wish him the best of luck in starting his career as a brewer.
If you’re ever in the Bay Area and happen to run into Travis, feel free to call him “Larry”. He’s only one of five to have earned the title, so you know he’ll appreciate it.
End of Summer Sale
Shirts all 25% off through Labor Day
With summer winding down we need to clear some room to make way for new stuff expected this autumn. As a result we’ve put all of our Port and Lost Abbey tanks, T’s and shirts on sale in our online shop. Now through Labor Day (September 5, 2011) you’ll find all these oh-so-cool wearables marked 25% off. Stock is limited to what’s on hand (read “no backorders”). so if you want the best selection you should shop sooner rather than later.
Serious Eats’ Maggie Hoffman is dedicating the next few weeks to writing about West Coast IPAs, beginning this week with California. Russian River’s Pliny the Elder topped her list, but we were rather pleased to find both of our bottled IPAs, Wipeout and Hop 15 among the few notables pulled from a field of 30 beers from up and down the state.
Serious Eats' California IPA Roundup (Photo: Maggie Hoffman)
From the article:
At their best, California IPAs clean and crisp–totally refreshing. (At their worst, they get a wee bit metallic.) Some have malt profiles that lean toward a traditional English style. Moving into the double- and imperial- range, the maltiness and earthiness of these beers get heavier. For the most part, California IPAs aren’t fruit bombs–the hops tend to be more toward the bittering end.
