Born a Capricorn in the lovely state of Oregon, Ben Barnett’s biggest claim to fame was when he was on the show “The Bachelorette” (Monday’s on ABC). Ben only lasted through one “Group Date” after regaling everyone with the middle names of every Jedi in the Star Wars Universe. After that “Obi-Wan” discovered his love for craft beer… and Strawberry Rhubarb pie. Not sure how those are connected, but now he’s here with The Lost Abbey Family.
1. What’s your favorite Luna Bar Flavor? Never actually tasted one, my manliness instantly turns them into Cliff Bars once I take a bite
2. You’re stranded in the desert, you’re out of water and losing your mind… what song is played inside your head?
I’m probably making my own songs up, all genres
3. When the new Madden comes out in August, which position is the created player “Ben Barnett” going to play?
Tailback and Strong Safety, the rookie out of University of Oregon is versatile and will wear the #47
4. Who’s your favorite Vice-President?
Bill Clinton clearly had the best vices… (WORD-PLAY!!)
5. How long does it take you to solve a Rubix Cube?
(Answer still pending… )
6. Apple or Android?
R2 would have looked ridiculous as an apple, gotta go with Droid
7. Ryan (or Rylan to his friends) says he’s the fastest guy in the brewery… would you agree to a public race to see who is faster?
Yes, but not for free…
Matt Webster: Lead Brewer for Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey
Matt came to Port Brewing Co. a year and a half ago from North Coast Brewing where he brewed for two years. Before that he graduated from Metropolitan College of Denver where he majored in Business Management. College is where he found his love of good beer and where he learned to homebrew in his garage. Before college he spent four years in the Marine Corps Infantry. To further get to know Matt, we asked him some random questions we found on the internet:
1. What’s your Spirit Animal? My Spirit Animal would be a Wolf
2. Favorite Movie Quote? “I wish it were winter, we could make it into ice blocks and skate on it! And then melt it in the springtime and drink it!” (Beerfest)
3. Favorite Preparation of Pork? Pork Belly
4. During the Zombie Apocalypse, where would be your dream spot to set up camp? The Lost Abbey Brewery, because of the water filtration capabilities, grain storage and easy roof-top access. Or the Playboy Mansion, because they would have good security and I could (comment removed by management)
5. Picture this: It’s been a long day, you’ve been in heels for 8 hours straight, you just want to go home and take a bath… which cd are you playing in the background? I’m playing Dido in the tub, with a glass of vino and some scented candles lit
6. Fries or Onion Rings? Seasoned Fries of course!
7. Let’s say your beard is akin to Samson’s hair (your source of power), who would be your celebrity Delilah? It’s common knowledge that my power IS in my beard, and my celebrity Delilah would be Jessica Rabbit.
Cuvee de Tomme 2011
The long wait is over! Cuvee de Tomme 2011 is scheduled for release in the brewery on Saturday December 17, 2011.
While larger than the 2010 release, the total run for this year’s CdT is still extremely limited, so bottles will be a brewery-only release while draft will be available in limited quantity here in Southern California.
Kevin Hopkins, Hospitality Manager
If you’ve had the opportunity to visit The Lost Abbey Tasting Room in the past couple of months, you’ve probably noticed a new (old) face behind the bar. Kevin Hopkins
Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Kevin Hopkins, manager of our new Hospitality department.
As the HM, Kevin’s responsible for overseeing pretty much all of our customer-facing operations including customer service, the tasting room, tours, parties, and special events — both in the brewery and around San Diego (whew).
Those of you who have been members of The Faithful for some time will probably recognize Kevin from his frequent volunteer work at our special events (competence doesn’t go unpunished around here, so we brought him on board and put him in charge), but he’s actually been a craft beer connoisseur long before Lost Abbey — a couple of decades, in fact — first in the U.K. and Europe and later right here in San Diego.
When he’s not serving beer and propounding the superiority of upper Yakima over lower Yakima hops or the many virtues of a good stout, you’ll find Kevin looking up — literally.
Kevin’s a long-time flying buff who doesn’t just love the sound of a plane thundering overhead, he loved it so much, he spent years managing airshows full of them. No too coincidentally, he’s also an accomplished pilot who takes to the air as often as he can. (Good thing too. We need someone to captain The Lost Abbey Airship Gabriel.)
You can catch Kevin in the tasting room most weekdays and the occasional weekend. For all his latest tasting room and local updates, you can also follow him on twitter at @LostAbbeyKevin. On other days, just look overhead. If you see a plane pulling barrel rolls, that’s probably him.
First Ever: Commercial Conclave
Send us a concept for a commercial; win and you get it filmed! Got an Idea for an Ad?
You know the scenario. You’re sitting there with your friends, enjoying a perfect glass of craft beer, and suddenly you’ve got a great idea for a commercial. (If this has never happened to you, you are drinking the wrong kind of beer.)
Well now here’s you’re chance to capitalize on your creativity!
The whole month of December we’ll be accepting submissions for Port Brewing / The Lost Abbey 60 second commercial concepts. From all the submissions we’ll select one concept (via a very serious Conclave process) to be filmed as an actual advertisement for our brewery. The winner will receive an all expenses-paid two-day trip to San Diego, V.I.P. status at Port Brewing / The Lost Abbey and go on set to film the commercial with our acclaimed in-house director, Ryan Tillotson!
Full details, rules, limits, legalese and fine print will be available on The Lost Abbey website starting December 1, 2011.
We are skipping the usual message from the DOBO this month as Tomme, world traveler that he is, is out and about being Tomme Arthur. Having just returned from Europe (Scotland, Belgium and Denmark, specifically), this week he’s up in Chico, CA at Sierra Nevada doing a collaboration brew with a few of the other members of the “Brett Pack” (Adam from Avery Brewing, Sam from Dogfish Head, and Rob from Allagash).
Next week he’ll be back home for our 5th Anniversary celebration (more on that below), and then he’ll be heading out to do a coast-to-coast beer week tour. If you’d like to say hi to Tomme, you’ll be able to find him at the following:
May 19 to 26 – Seattle Beer Week
June 3 to 4 – Savor, Washington DC
June 5 to 8 – Philly Beer Week
We don’t have a full list of his appearance schedule just yet, so stay tuned via our Twitter and Facebook feeds. Or better yet, subscribe to our calendar and you’ll get all the updates delivered right to your computer / phone / tablet / etc.
New Faces: Meet Gwen Conley
Gwen Conley
One of the more exciting things to happen here at The Abbey is the arrival of our new Quality Assurance Director, Gwen Conley. For those not familiar with her name, Gwen comes to us from the famous Flying Dog Brewery in Maryland where she headed their QA department for years.
Gwen actually got into the beer business back in the 90’s through what she calls “dumb luck” — more or less wandering into it when she went to work as a microbiologist for Coors in Golden, Colorado. After leaving Coors she went to work for the Ball Corporation (the container people) where she went through their sensory training program and became an expert on how colors, aromas, and flavors work together to create full-fledged sensory experiences. That ended up getting her part time work doing food and drink pairings and eventually earned her the moniker “Sensory Goddess.”
She eventually parlayed her unique background into her gig at Flying Dog where she not only managed their QA efforts, but also conducted educational programs in beer and food pairings. As for her reasons for jumping to the left coast and joining us here at Port / Lost Abbey, Gwen said “It was the opportunity to do the sort of experimentation that goes on here. Working with so many barrels and different beers was hard to pass up.” (She also admitted that living in San Diego isn’t so bad either.)
As QA director Gwen has jumped in and taken over oversight of our brewing and production processes, finally putting all that really cool equipment in our shiny new lab to work. She’s also held a number of sensory sessions for the staff, and we’re trying to convince her to do a few classes for the general public as well (keep your fingers crossed).
Asked what she’d be doing if she wasn’t helping make great beer, Gwen revealed an interesting aspiration. “I think I’d run a snorkel bar somewhere in the Caribbean or Central America,” shed said. Guests would snorkel half the day, then at 3pm the snorkeling stops and the drinking starts.”
A snorkel bar? Sounds like a pretty good plan to us.
Our fifth birthday party is Saturday, May 14, 2011 — just a little more than a week and a half away — and we’re inviting all our friends, fans and members of the faithful to drop by and say hello!
As with last year, so everyone has plenty of room and can enjoy the food, music and (of course) beer, we’re dividing the party into two sessions — an early one from 11am to 3pm and a later one from 4pm to 8pm.
Items on tap for our daylong festivities include specialty kegs from the barrel archives, bottled beer releases, special barrelhouse tours, amazing street food from our in-house chefs, and live music from our two special guests — Kiera and the Lesbians and The Professors.
The $15 ticket includes a commemorative glass, 8 beer tasting tickets, food and live music. Tickets are very limited, however, so if you’d like to attend, you should buy them sooner rather than later.
Speaking of our Anniversary Party, we also have two beer releases from the Port Brewing side of the house coinciding with the party. On May 14 we will issue the following beers:
Anniversary Ale – Our annual hoppy strong pale ale. Older Viscosity – Old Viscosity aged in Bourbon oak barrels for a year.
No need to worry if you can’t attend the anniversary party. Both of these beers will reach our full distribution network. Look for them on shelves and your favorite pubs and eateries in mid-to-late May.
Upcoming Events
Mark your calendars (or subscribe to ours) — the following events are coming up!
May 16 to 22 – American Craft Beer Week The annual nationwide ode to American craft brews. We’ll be kicking it off a couple of days early with our anniversary party, but you can expect some fun in the tasting room May 20 – 22 as well.
June 16 to 18 – National Homebrewer’s Conference The NHC is here in San Diego this year and we’ll be rolling out the red carpet all week long for our homebrewer friends. Tomme & Co. have already brewed a special beer for the conference, and we’ll be extending tasting room hours to accommodate all the folks who will be in town earlier in the week. Details will be posted on our calendar and website as we get closer to the dates.
July 16 – Christmas in July Our annual celebration and fundraiser for Toys for Tots will be a little earlier than last year (so people can go to ComicCon and our party). As with previous years we’ll be releasing Santa’s Little Helper aged in Bourbon oak barrels, Santa will be on hand for photos, and there will be live music and food. Oh, and it’s all FREE (except for the beer) if you just bring a new, unwrapped toy worth $15 or more! Last year we raised close to $10,000 in cash and toys for the Marine Corp’s Toys for Tots foundation and this year we’d like to do even better, so make plans to attend.
Amarillo is Back!
Amarillo holding court in the tasting room
For those of you who follow our Twitter and/or Facebook feeds, you’re probably aware that one of our brewcats, Amarillo, disappeared a couple of weeks back, much to our dismay (the tasting room just isn’t the same without him holding court on the bar or the barrel tables).
We are please to report that last Saturday night he suddenly re-appeared. Skinny, disheveled and exhausted, he ate two cans of cat food and a whole bowl of dry food in a matter of minutes, and spent the entire next day “talking” to anyone and everyone who came into the tasting room (usually his sister, Cascade is the talkative one).
We’re not entirely certain what happened (nobody here speaks cat), but we’re pretty sure he had a quite an adventure. All we can say is everyone — Amarillo included — is happy that he’s back.
Thanks to all those who put out the call that he was missing (he even made it on a local TV news broadcast), sent kind words, and brought him treats and gifts since his return. You guys are the best!
By the time you read this, Mike and I will be somewhere in Europe. We are embarking on a long beer infused journey. I am very excited about the places and people we are off to see.
We’ll start the tour proper when we land in Aberdeen, Scotland. We’ll meet up with Jeff Bagby (Pizza Port), James and Martin from Brewdog, spending two nights dodging the Loch Ness Monster and warming our bellies with the finest Speyside and Highland Malts available. Should this leave us cold, we’ll Sink a few Bismarks attempting to warm our bellies.
We have a visit scheduled with their cask supplier. It is my hope to find types of barrels and wood expressions currently lacking in our barrel program enabling us a wider range of flavor possibilities. We’ve also scheduled a pint night in Aberdeen at the Brewdog pub. We shipped over some Mongo, Wipeout and others. I think the peeps will be quite pissed when we’re done with them.
Friday we hope a plane from Scotland over to Brussels. Mike and I will set out to taste a ton of Lambic and sour beers hoping to remind our taste buds that not all beer should be hoppy. Saturday will find us stalking the halls of Cantillon. I am excited to see what the new expansion looks like. We’ll throw back some beers with Jean at Moeder Lambic if all goes well.
Sunday is hope the train day. St. Niklaas here we come for Zythos (the 24 hour Belgian Beer Festival). This will be a great chance to see what’s new since I was there last. Monday could very well be the high point of the week (beer wise). Henrik(who handles our beer in Europe) has set up a plan enabling us to go blend a batch of Lambic with Armand from Drie Fonteinen that will sold in the European market. This will afford Mike and myself a real look into the blending process that we have never seen. It promises to be exceptional.
Tuesday morning has us jaunting off to Denmark (my first trip to Hamlet’s home). We’re going to be hosted by NOMA which in 2010 was named Best Restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine. Now, I’ve done a ton of AMAZING dinners but none of them come close to the prestige of this restaurant. I feel blessed we get to do this and honored to be represent American Craft Beer in such a special way. Look for pictures of this on my twitter side of things.
Thursday we fly back to the states. Mike will return home. I on the other hand will be detouring through Boston to spend some time with the Alstrom brothers attending the Extreme Beer Fest on March 12. It’s going to be a crazy trip. One that promises to be filled with some serious beer and fuzzy mornings.
It’s the longest trip away from home and the brewery in a long time. So I hope things are okay in my absence. I suppose that’s why I hired all these new people in the last 2 years?
Carnevale Masquerade 2001 Recap
This year’s Carnevale Masquerade celebrating the annual release of Carnevale Ale was bigger and better than ever. Despite rain, hail and near-freezing weather almost 300 folks showed up in their finest masquerade accoutrement to celebrate with live music, great food and (naturally) fantastic Lost Abbey & Port beers.
And speaking of the food, in the spirit of the real Venetian tradition that inspired our Carnevale, Chefs Vince and Jason took it up a notch this year by smoking two whole pigs stuffed with whole chickens stuffed with sausage, potatoes and onion. Accompanied by the crab salad, slaws, vegetables and fresh bread pudding, we can say without hesitation that all the evening’s guests were in “hog heaven”.
If you’re interested, we’ve posted a photo album from the evening’s fun. You’ll find it on our website here:
And if you’re looking for our GABF award-winning Carnevale ale, draft kegs are heading into our distribution network right now, and bottles should be available within the next few weeks.
Beer Release: Framboise de Amorosa
March 19, 2011
Framboise de Amorosa, our lusty, barrel-aged raspberry sour makes her second appearance in the Lost Abbey tasting room on Saturday, March 19.
For those who aren’t familiar with Amorosa, she begins as Lost and Found poured into red wine barrels and tarted up three times over a period of 12 months. The result is a fruity, round, luscious beer that is sweet and a touch sour perfectly softened by smooth oak characteristics — a real delight from first sip to last.
As with last year, the 2011 Framboise de Amorosa is a very limited release so bottles will only be available for purchase in the Lost Abbey tasting room. (Draft versions of the beer will reach limited distribution.) Bottles are 375ml size and $15 each with a six bottle maximum per person.
We do expect Amorosa to sell out quickly, so if you would bottles, you should probably arrive at the tasting room earlier rather than later. All the details on the release are on the website here:
Mark your calendars! Our 5th Anniversary celebration has been set for May 14, 2011!
Once again we’ll be breaking the party into two four-hour sessions (11am-3pm and 4pm-8pm) and providing food, music and, of course, great Port / Lost Abbey beers. We will also celebrate the day with two beer releases — Our spring seasonal IPA, Port Brewing Anniversary Ale, and a new (still secret) Lost Abbey Anniversary release.
The 5th anniversary being the traditional “wood” anniversary you can also expect DOBO Tomme Arthur to delve into his barrel archives and pull out some truly amazing stuff to tap.
Tickets will be $15 per session. Guests will receive a commemorative tasting glass, food and 8 beer tasting tickets. Additional tasting tickets will be $1 each. Look for tickets to go on sale on the Lost Abbey website in early April.
Speaking of calendars — if you use Outlook, iCal, or Google calendar, or you’ve got an Android, iPhone, iPad or Blackberry, you can add the Lost Abbey events calendar to your own and get updates on all our releases, appearances and events automatically. The process only takes a minute and you’ll be connected to everything that’s up at Port / Lost Abbey!
The second annual San Diego Beer Week kicks off a 10 day tour de force today with just about every brewery, brewpub, gastropub, bar and bottle shop pulling out all the stops to showcase America’s new craft beer capitol. In all there’ll be more than 200 beer-related events all around the county between today and Sunday the 14th. Naturally, we’ll be out and about next week, talking, eating and, of course, pouring lots of great Lost Abbey and Port Brewing beers.
Here’s a round-up of what’s up and what’s new at Lost Abbey:
Extended Tasting Room Hours
In honor of San Diego Beer Week, we’ll be extending our tasting room hours to be open seven days a week through November 14, giving everyone ample opportunity to drop by and say hello! The SDBW Tasting Room hours are:
Sun: 12pm – 5pm
Mon – Wed: 1pm – 6pm
Thur: 1pm – 4:30pm
Fri: 1pm – 9pm
Sat: 12pm – 6pm
(Note: Saturday, November 13 we will close promptly at 6pm to prepare for our annual barrel party)
We’re doing a number of events around town all week long, so you can still experience our beers without making the trek up to the brewery. If you get a chance, pop into one and say hi to the DOBO (aka “Tomme”) and other members of the Lost Abbey Clergy.
Lost Abbey SDBW Events
Nov 6 – San Diego Brewer’s Guild Festival
Nov 8 – Phil’s BBQ
Nov 9 – Churchill’s Pub and Grille
Nov 9 – Encinitas Ale House
Nov 10 – Counterpoint
Nov 10 – Neighborhood
Nov 11 – Stone World Bistro
Nov 11 – JSix Restaurant
Nov 13 – 4th Annual Barrel Tasting Party (sold out)
Those who’ve been into the Tasting Room during the week in the past couple of months might have noticed a new face around the brewery. Actually, he’s an old, familiar face to this building.
Ken Kline, Superhero
Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Ken Kline our new (returning) Plant Manager.
No, Ken didn’t used to work here and now he’s back, he’s returning to the brewhouse. Back before Port Brewing / Lost Abbey, our brewhouse was Stone Brewing’s, and Ken was their plant manager. In 2006 when Stone moved to it’s new facility Ken went with it and we’ve pretty much been faking it ever since (read: swearing/praying and lots of duct tape). Gratefully we were recently able to persuade Ken to return to his old brewhouse and re-assume command over all the stuff around here that makes the beer, packs it up and gets it on the loading dock.
Over the next few months Ken will be overhauling our brewhouse (read: swearing/praying and removing duct tape) and overseeing our expansion which includes a shiny new boiler, new tanks, and moving and reconfiguring the bottling line in the new building. For us, all of this means no more flooded floors and bottling line gymnastics. For you it means more Port & Lost Abbey beers!
If you ever happen to drop by the tasting room and see Ken (usually fixing stuff), make sure to say hi. (Don’t, hug him and cry, repeating “thank you, thank you, thank you” though. Turns out after the forth or fifth time it makes him uncomfortable.)
New Beer Releases
Here’s what’s new and upcoming in new beer releases:
From the Director’s Scribe’s Chair What we did on our summer vacation
Editor’s Note: This spot is normally reserved for a few words from our director of brewery operations (DOBO), but Tomme’s off doing important DOBO things, so our Abbey Scribe, Sage, is filling in for him this month.
I am staring at a calendar above my desk that tells me the Great American Beer Festival is exactly three weeks from today. GABF? Already? Where did the summer go?
Oh, that’s right, we’ve been busy. So busy, in fact, that not only did we not get a vacation, we missed the July issue of this newsletter altogether. Let’s see… Cuvee punted to football season, Santa showed in July, our buddy Russ brought strawberries, the Witch came back witty as ever, and we found the Road to Helles to be paved with great beer. Plus, the brewhouse boys became the brewhouse boys and girl, the tasting room got a little more elbow room and we had everyone down for breakfast before Stone Brewing’s anniversary party.
Add that to a release angels and demons in the Abbey tomorrow, a tidal wave of fresh hops in a week or two, Denver mid-month, a return just in time for a beer and boobs and finally, a fine (and long-anticipated) Cuvee de Tomme to finish September.
Yikes. And I thought we were busy.
I’ll tell you what. You catch up on what’s new at Lost Abbey below. Me, I need to go and find a bigger calendar.
Christmas in July Wrap-up
Christmas in July 2010Back on July 24th we held our annual Christmas in July party and fund raiser. If you’re not familiar with our (non)holiday shindig, each year we celebrate the release of barreled Santa’s Little Helper (aged in bourbon barrels for a year) with a Christmas party and fundraiser to benefit Toys for Tots. There’s food, music, photos with Santa and — of course — great beer, so it always ends up being quite the celebration.
This year we raised nearly $10,000 in toy and cash donations for Toys for Tots. Thanks to the generosity of our guests that day, a lot of kids will have have a better Christmas than they might otherwise.
For those of you who weren’t able to attend, we have a huge photo gallery of the day’s festivities. If you did come to the party, we’ve also posted all the Santa photos, so you can pick yours up (just in time for Christmas card season!)
At her age it might be premature to call Devon Randall “the Most Interesting Woman in the World”, but she’s certainly on the right track to earn the title.
A Berkeley grad who’s conquered real estate, climbed mountains, run with Alaskan sled dogs, and sailed a catamaran from South Africa to Trinidad in just a few short years, even Vladimir Putin would have a hard time not being impressed with her achievements.
Devon discovered craft beer while still living in Berkeley and quickly took to homebrewing. Two years later she found herself living in Santa Monica, California, and traveling south in her spare time to San Diego to learn what she could about the beer Mecca. It wasn’t long after, in her typical fashion, Devon decided to make a “dramatic” change, dump her current occupation, and jump into craft brewing with both feet even though she didn’t have a job waiting.
At first she made the 90 mile from LA to San Diego trip daily volunteering at breweries and learning what she could. This eventually led to some part time work at The Lost Abbey where her talent and abilities were quickly realized. She made the move from Santa Monica to San Diego in June and became an official member of our brewhouse team in August.
These days you’ll find Devon doing everything from brewing to bottling, soaking up as much knowledge as she can with an eye towards being a “famous girl brewer” with her own brewpub down the road. Given all she’s already accomplished, we have no doubt she’ll succeed.
If you happen to see Devon in the brewery or at a Lost Abbey event, make sure to say hi and buy her a beer. (Saisons are her favorite.)
Upcoming Events
September 17-19 Great American Beer Festival | Denver, CO
This is the big one. The one where, as the DOBO says, “we bring the noise”. Look for us in the Lost Abbey and Port Brewing booths in the Pacific section of the festival itself as well as our peeps making appearances around town during the week. (follow us @lostabbey on Twitter to find out where we’ll be.)
September 24 Beer for Boobs | Lost Abbey Brewery San Marcos, CA
Help us & our friends at White Labs support support the Susan G. Komen philanthropic trust and The 3 Day event to help find a cure for breast cancer. $10 gets you you a commemorative Beer for Boobs pint glass and two pints of any Lost Abbey or Port Brewing beer on tap.
New Beer Releases
August 28, 12pm — 6pm Deliverance
Our first release of the embodiment of good versus evil in a barrel-aged blend. Part bourbon barreled The Serpent’s Stout, and part brandy barreled The Angel’s Share, this is our most anticipated release of the summer. (May reach limited distribution)
September 25, 12pm — 6pm Cuvee de Tomme
A release pushed back repeatedly by cool weather and barrels unwilling to create the beer any faster, the 2010 vintage of Cuvee finally emerges after nearly a year and a half in the barrel. (May reach limited distribution)
October 4 High Tide
Our autumn fresh-hopped IPA, the release of this one actually depends on the timing of the hop harvest. The past two years the harvest & brew dates were in the first week of September. Based on that we anticipate the release by the first week in October. (Will reach full distribution)
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!
It’s May here in San Diego which means the rains are leaving us and our new equipment is being installed.
Out my office window in the packaging area, our new hood and wire unit has arrived and is now functional. Gone are the days of 16 bottles per minute (by hand). Say hello to 40 bottles per minute as our new hood unit spins away. It’s freakishly fast! The guys aren’t going to know what to do with themselves. I’m very excited about it.
I also just ordered a new refrigeration system for the roof so that our tanks and cold liquor systems will be more efficient. And with this efficiency comes more brewing (Hooray beer)!
All of these changes mean that we’re going to be able to better produce, package and ultimately distribute our beers. For that, I am glad that Spring is ending and Summer is on the horizon. Which reminds me, it’s time to get a batch of SPA going…
4th Anniversary Party
By the time this email reaches you it will probably be a mere 24 hours and counting before our big 4th anniversary party. Last year’s party was kind of a breakthrough year for us (we were expecting 200 people and got over 700), so this year we’re much better prepared.
In order to accommodate everyone, we’ve divided the party into two sessions — an early one that runs from 11am to 3pm and a later one that runs from 4pm to 8pm. We’ve also limited attendance to 300 people to ensure that everyone is comfortable and has access to all the great beer and food.
Beyond that, we’re also spreading our wings a little and showing off our barrelhouse this year, something most patrons in our tasting room never get to see. (The 150-odd barrels in the barrel room are nothing compared to the nearly 1,000 in the barrelhouse.) What’s more, Tomme himself will be leading the tours explaining the philosophy, ideas and methods behind the barrel-aged wonders that have made The Lost Abbey famous.
As always, there will also lots of great Port/Lost Abbey beer, delicious food and great live music, meaning that everyone is guaranteed to have a great time.
If you’re attending (or planning to attend), here’s what you can expect:
Barreled Beers
The Angel’s Share (bourbon)
Framboise de Amorosa
Red Poppy
Serpent’s Stout (bourbon)
On Tap / Bottles
Avant Garde, Carnevale, Devotion, Gift of the Magi, Inferno, Judgment Day, Lost & Found, Ten Commandments
Dawn Patrol, Mongo Double IPA, Panzer Pils, Old Viscosity, Santa’s Little Helper, Shark Attack, Wipeout IPA
Anniversary Verticals
2nd Anniversary, 3rd Anniversary and 4th Anniversary
Barrel & Bottle Tasting
Angel’s Share barrel & bottle tastings (ever wanted to try beer straight from the barrel and compare it with the bottle version? This is your chance.)
Plus:
Fresh and fantastic pizza courtesy of Chef Vince’s Magic Pizza trailer (literally a restaurant on wheels)
Live music in the Barrel Room courtesy of The Professors
Guided tours of The Lost Abbey Barrelhouse led by Tomme Arthur
Cool commemorative Lost Abbey 4th Anniversary Beer Wear
As mentioned above, we are strictly limiting attendance to 300 people per session and both sessions are nearly sold out, so if you want to attend, get your tickets now! Tickets are just $15 and include food, a commemorative glass and 8 tasting tickets (additional tickets are available for $1 each). Designated driver tickets are also available for $5 (includes food, sodas and water).
If you’ve attended any of our beer pairings, dinners or appearances lately you’ve probably noticed a guy in a Lost Abbey hat hanging out with Tomme. No it’s not some weird beer stalker; rather it’s our new Brand Manager, Matt Wells.
Matt joined us full time here at our San Marcos World Headquarters at the beginning of the year to head up our expanding national distribution operations and the various new demands that go with it (like attending beer events and promoting our brands across the country).
Born and raised near Phoenix, AZ, Matt’s not entirely new to Port Brewing & The Lost Abbey. Back in 2008 he was actually our second “Larry” (the name we give to all our brewing interns) and, until moving out here a few months ago after graduating from Arizona State University, represented our beers throughout Arizona.
These days when he’s not in the office making sure that our kegs and bottles reach a thirsty public, you’ll find him out and about at events across the country helping spread the good word of Lost Abbey and making sure that our beloved Director of Brewery Operation gets to his next event in one piece.
On the rare occasions Matt’s not out pimping the brand, you’ll find him trundling around town and turning heads in the 1,600 cubic centimeters of caged fury we all know as his classic 1977 Honda CVCC. (Sorry ladies, he’s single but in a committed relationship.)
So the next time you happen to be at one of our many Port Brewing/Lost Abbey events nationwide and you see a guy lurking behind Tomme, if he’s wearing a red or black Lost Abbey cap, please don’t call the police.
Rather step up and say “hi Matt, I read about you in the Lost Abbey newsletter. Love the car.” He’ll like that. And who knows, maybe he’ll give you some cool Lost Abbey schwag. (Probably not, but it certainly can’t hurt.)
Great news! Our Director of Brewery Operations passed his Internet exam (Q1: Who invented the Interwebs? A: Al Gore; Q2:What are the Interwebs made of? A: Tubes), so he now has his own Twitter account!
While you should all keep following us @lostabbey, you can now also follow Tomme at @TheTomme and get all the latest musings from Him (aka: one of the most marginally competent brewers of all time)!
New Releases
Here’s what’s new and upcoming from Port Brewing / The LostAbbey
Greetings from Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey. Our beloved Director of Brewery Operations is taking this issue off from his column as he’s on the East Coast this week doing several special appearances (or, as we call it: “Being Tomme Arthur”).
Not to worry, however, as we’ve still got a lot of news for you. Read on.
Expansion Updates
First off, our tasting room expansion is nearly complete. As you’ve probably read in previous newsletters, via the website, Facebook, etc., back in late November we began a major expansion of our tasting room and warehouse / barrel room / cold storage.
We’re please to report that the expansion — save a few minor details — is complete. With the construction of the new warehouse and barrel room across the lot from the brewhouse and tasting room, we’ve not only been able to bump our barrel library to 800-plus barrels, but also nearly double the size of our tasting bar to 42 feet, add 14 more taps for fresh beers, and create a vintage bottle list for visitors who would like to sample some our rarer delights. Combine that with our swanky lighting, new bottle cabinetry and hip bistro-style barrel tables, and you’ve got a tasting room experience quite unlike anything else.
Along with our with our new tasting room, we’re also pleased to announce our new tasting room and special events manager, Terri Osterfeld.
Those of you familiar with Port Brewing / The Lost Abbey know that Terri (aka: “Beer Molly”) has been a staple behind the bar on weekends since late 2006.
But with our fancy new digs and the ever-expanding crowds, we started needing her here a lot more than just weekends. So as of January 1 Terri became a full-time employee in charge of the tasting room, merchandise, special events, and online sales. Now she’s here Wednesdays through Sundays, serving beers, filling orders, coordinating tours and basically keeping the public side of our operation running smoothly.
If you ever have a chance to drop by the brewery or purchase anything from our online store, Terri’s the girl who handles it for you, so make sure to say hi. She can be reached at terri@lostabbey.com or through our website at: http://www.portbrewing.com/visit-us/contact-the-tasting-room/
Extended Tasting Room Hours
Oh, and speaking of Terri, now that she’s on board fulltime, we have newly extended tasting room days and hours. They are as follows:
Wednesday: 1pm to 5pm – Growler Fills & Bottles Sales only
Thursday: 12pm to 5pm – Growler Fills & Bottles Sales only
Friday: 2pm to 8pm – Full Tasting Room (Tasters, Pints, Growlers & Bottles)
Saturday: 12pm to 5pm – Full Tasting Room (Tasters, Pints, Growlers & Bottles)
Sunday: 12pm to 4pm – Full Tasting Room (Tasters, Pints, Growlers & Bottles)
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: Closed
You can all the info on our tasting room (beers on tap, vintage bottles, special events, etc.) by visitng our website at: http://www.lostabbey.com/tasting-room/
Barrels for Sale
As you’re probably aware, we have quite an extensive collection of barrels in which we age beers. What you might not know, however, is that many of those barrels — especially our spirit barrels (bourbon, brandy, sherry) — we only use once.
Oh, they still impart lots of flavor and character, but the style of beer combined with the volume we’re producing really dictates that we used fresh distilled spirit barrels.
As a result, we have a regular supply of whole (empty) barrels that we’re willing to part with for very little. Not only do these barrels have great flavor, but there color and character are something to behold too. So if you’re a homebrewer, a gardener (yes, they make great planters), a craftsman, or any one of hundreds of other people who has use for gently-used spirit barrels, these are just $25 each (whole 33gal barrel) when you pick up it up.
Saturday, February 27th is our 3rd Carnevale di Lost Abbey Masquerade party. An annual bash held in honor of the release of our 2009 GABF Gold Medal-winning Carnevale Ale, we’ll be serving up food by our house chef Vince, live music by the Professors, and a huge tap and bottle list of great Port Brewing and Lost Abbey beers.
The masquerade is from 7pm to 11pm and food and music are free for everyone who shows up in costume and mask. It’s $10 for those without a costume (we will, however, provide you with a mask). Beers are all regular price.
I am staring at a calendar above my desk that tells me the Great American Beer Festival is exactly three weeks from today. GABF? Already? Where did the summer go?
At her age it might be premature to call Devon Randall “the Most Interesting Woman in the World”, but she’s certainly on the right track to earn the title.
