San Diego Beer Tour Saturday and AleSmith's English Nut Brown

I'm titillated for the beer cornucopia we're about to experience just north of San Diego. David and I have been planning a San Diego trip since the first several weeks of this blog and we have been foiled twice, the second time we were on the launch pad but had to scuttle the mission at the last moment when David was offered an all expenses paid trip to Oktoberfest 3 days before the weekend. My parents wanting to visit me in California made this weekend's trip possible, and I'm very happy they've become willing and enthusiastic supporters of beer. Or maybe the truth is they're terrific lushes and make my drinking escapades look like a scene from Sister Act 2. We shall see...

Just kidding, they're lovely and responsible

And drink we did. David and I counted our tallies and we actually sampled 40 different beers. Now, we didn't drink 40 different beers, but between the different samplers we and my parents drank, we drunk and/or sipped 40 various brews.

Here's the actual beer/drunk talley for the weekend: Samplers - 4 from Ballast Point, AleSmith 6, Hess 3, Irotn Fist 4, Stone 5, Lost Abbey 5. 27 tastings each 4 oz  = 108 oz, or 9 beers. But most of the beers were between 6 and 10%, so double that roughly and we drank 18 'coors light' worth of beer after two days of sampling. Plus we had 4 beers at Pizza Port, 1 Karl Strauss and 1 at Stone and we split a growler Sunday night. Also, two shots of Fernet and several whiskeys Saturday night. Party.

I'm surprised my body hasn't revolted against me. Accordingly, if you see Nicholas Cage, let him know I need the exact same shot he injected into his heart at the end of THE ROCK and I plan to stab this into my liver, post haste.

The craft brewing scene in San Diego is a Mecca. This trip's purpose is to not just see where the magic is made, but it's also a pilgrimage to experience a beer soaked culture. People in San Diego love their craft brew and I can't wait to dive into a tank brimming with fervor for barley and hop.

Momma Davis exhibits a book that ****

Because we tasted so many beers (and took so many pics), my tasting notes are going to be brief. Our first stop was Ballast Point.

Ballast began well over a decade ago and they an air conditioned building to show for it. The other breweries around LA are much new and don't have proper tasting rooms. It was nice but kinda odd to visit a brewery that actually felt like a bar.

Because we've tasted their first five beers, David and I sampled the bottom 4 beers on the chart above.

The beer names and decor are aquatic themed. This is either a tail or a mythological serpent

Nitro Sextant Oatmeal Stout - oatmeal helps create a more subtle stout that isn't very complex but is balanced.

She seems like she'd have a nice personality

Even Keel - is about as even as a drunk sailor walking the poopdeck during a raging Nor'easter. It's simply hops with some body thrown in as an after thought. I would...keelhaul this one. Zing

Dorado Double IPA - the first DIPA I've tasted that has more malt than hops. Here, hops are simply an afterthought and the result is a malt which tastes like bubble gum or hard cider. David says it's a case of shooting for the moon on alcohol content and coming up short. It's a cautionary tale - a lot of homebrewers who want to make a dank, alcoholic beer because they're interested in getting drunk. To them I say stick to the hard alcohol or Four Loko for getting pissed. 

Sculpin IPA - I've tasted before; it's award winning and fantastic with tasty herbal hops. When I see this on tap, I get excited about it.

We walked in just after it opened at 11am and the crowd was minimal. In half an hour 4 Beer Tour vans had dumped their thirsty cargo into the tasting room and it was packed, at least 40 people in a really small space, the size of my living room. At one point, David saw the two women tending the bar go back to the brewer in the back and basically freak out. He saw the number of people and freaked out. Apparently this wasn't your normal Saturday. Right before 12pm we decided to get the hell outta Dodge and beat the groups to our next destination, AleSmith.

AleSmith was one of two breweries we absolutely had to hit. David's mom two years ago sent him 8 bottles of the stuff for Christmas. They make some incredible stuff - rich and dank beer.

They have more on tap than I knew they produced and super stoked!

It begins:

Lil Devil - made with coriander and is 5.8% alcohol. The smell and taste reflect a very light and refreshing beer. The spices are tasty but I'm under the suspicion they might overhwlem me if I were drinking a full pint.

Nautical Nut Brown - not a huge brown ale fan, but this is not overwhelming and crisp. It's decent, and that's praise coming from my keystrokes.

Wee Heavy Scotch Ale - 10% alcohol, which I believe is strong for this style. I love this malt base and I'm becoming a big advocate of the style, however, the alcohol here is prevalent and overwhelms the brew's other characteristics. I like it a lot, but would appreciate a mellower alcohol profile.

Old Numbskull - 11% barleywine and I love the name. Sweet caramel malt and hoppy bitterness, it's tasty but not delicious. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing how this is after it ages.

English Nut Brown - *Our beer of the day* We chose this out of all the other because it's a seasonal brew, and it must be pretty new because it's not on BeerAdvocate. It's smooth and the English yeast leaves a very indelible mark, especially compared to the Nautical Nut. Because I enjoyed the Nautical Nut more than this, I bestow an ARMAGEDDON rating on the English Nut Brown .

Check out the Obama Tap they have. I also had a taster of Speedway Stout but because it's one of the most phenomenal beers I've ever tasted and I got really excited about it, there is no picture. Maybe I drank it too fast. If you like Stouts and have never tried this, it's an absolute must. Plus it's 12% alcohol, so you know, party time.

Sears catalog models on their day off

David has a Horny Devil bottle from two years ago left and he bought a newer vintage so we could to a side-by-side comparison. We're also bringing home a bottle of Speedway Stout, YESSS.

Next up is a brewer I know nothing about, but why shouldn't we try something completely new? Plus it's super close by to AleSmith. Hess Brewing, welcome to Beereveryday.com.

I'm not sure how long Mike Hess has been brewing professionally, but he recently upgraded from a 20 gallon to a 50 gallon brewery equipment. He's a small brewer trying to do big things.

This is the first time I've actually seen the nut and bolts of a brewing operation. And it looks like they swept everything under the couch just before the brew tasting guests arrived.  I feel like this is just how it is when you first start a company.

3 very unique beers to try.

Grazias Vienna Cream Ale - inspired by the classic Vienna Lagers brought to Mexica from Austria in the 1800's but with a Hess Brewing twist. I'm very unfamiliar with this style. It's well made and unique but the style makes for an odd malt.  

Intrepidus IPA - not a great nose and has a very piney and mixed malt. An intermediate beer that I would drink if someone had at a party. Mom pointed out that it smells different than tastes. David responds by noting, that's the trick in brewing - you can't confuse the two. Smell and taste are too intrinsically tied. Maybe he used the wrong hop combination in the boil and dry hopping.

Ex Umbris Rye Imperial Stout -  9.8% alcohol. He said it was 15%-20% rye. There is a lot of chocolate mal t in here. This is a great beer and my favorite of the three amigos. Ex Umbris = Steve Martin.

Love, love the style of the growlers. The woman far left is giving the funniest face. 

Our last stop was Port Brewing's brew pub, Pizza Port in Solana Beach. They have a bunch of locations and are spoken well of. I'm really needing some pizza by this point.

Pizza Port - I'm stoked to dig into this Shrimp and Clam pizza. My parents get a pint of California Honey and David and I try the Shark Bite, a red ale. We do love our red ales. 

While we wait for our pizzas, David decides to spend the time telling my parents about the time earlier this week that I made three trips to the freezer to get bowls filled with three different types of ice cream. Luckily, this isn't my parents first rodeo with their fat kid son and they are amused rather than appalled. 

The Shark bite is a solid tasting Irish Red with a great caramel flavor. Great stuff. The atmosphere in the Pizza Port is pretty odd - half the customers are families and meat head drinking parties, the other half or cyclists in spandex with pitchers full of beer and pizza. Randomly funny.

For Dessert, the Booya Staz IPA- bitter with piney hops piney, a very good ipa.

We took a break for a nap (I watched History Channel, which had an awesome episode about Pirates. I practically received an honorary degree from the University of Phoenix after watching that) and then headed to La Jolla for dinner at George's Ocean Terrace. Amazing views complimented the food, as we dined on halibut ceviche and mahi mahi over pan fried gnocchi. Amazeballs.

 

This was an amazing day, if you couldn't tell from the happy pictures and plethora of beer that we drank. Tomorrow looks like it could even be better. A huge thank you for my parents for making this happen!

For glancing through the article, here's a bonus picture from a license plate found in parking lot of our hotel. How could I resist?

I'm super mature

Karl Strauss Amber Lager begins our San Diego Brewery Trip

Since there is a beer fueled festivus ahead of us, we figure Fernet Branca is an approriate shot for the road. David's love affair with this "like black licorice-flavored Listerine" knows no bounds.(Fernet)

We're heading down to stay at a beautiful hotel where everything smells like pine, The Lodge at Torrey Pines.

Seriously, they burn pine logs in the lobby fireplace, their shampoo and soap smells o' pine and their busboys are Ents, those Tree Men from Lord Of The Rings.

I wonder what they pay them...

 The lodge is pretty damn beautiful.

Apparently if you play golf, this place is amazing. It hosted the U.S. Open a couple years ago.

Fortunately I don't play golf, so I'm won't be tempted or distracted by her sweet greens. We're here to visit as many breweries as possible. I'm aiming for 8, but may hit one less than that. But my parents are here and they're ready dive into this beer bath that awaits us in brewery country. The posts are going to be long and filled with pics, so I'll save my words and fingers for other posts. Our beer of the day was at the Lodge Bar and is from a San Diego based brewery that we won't be visiting, Karl Strauss.

The Amber Lager is a mix of styles. Usually Ambers aren't lagers, they're brewed as ales. The result is a crisp lager finish with a fairly smooth light caramel and nut malt. If you like Ambers, a sixer of this would be easy to drink thanks to the lager yeast. ARMAGEDDON rating.

With Goose Island Pepe Nero and Blue Bell Vanilla Ice Cream, it's an oreo kind of night

I've been looking forward to watching this Office episode, where Dwight takes over as acting manager of the Scranton Branch. Chaos is sure to ensue. I'm also hot on trying the Pepe Nero, not only because it's from famed Chicago brewery Goose Island but because it has a great label and a name I don't understand. Apparently I'm a sucker for exotic, vague beer titles.

Also joining the party is a half-gallon of Blue Bell Ice Cream, a Texas made creation which my mom sent for my birthday in a Styrofoam box filled with dry ice. It's by far the best ice cream I've had in my life and I miss it dearly. It's the shit. Let's see if this beer is.

Oreo, get it?

This beer is real dark, like looking in Satan's Butthole dark. Pepe Nero is a Belgian-style ale and it has that sweet Belgian smell. The body is a mix of Belgian characteristics and dark porter roast. The roast is not chocolate or nut, but actual roast - like a mild coffee.

The surprise ingredient, written in letter so small on the bottle I didn't catch it, is peppercorn. You're reading this and you might be thinking, Walker, you write like someone who's brain been on drugs for the past 10 years, aka, you write like eggs over easy on one of those PSA commercials --> Why didn't you talk about peppercorn when you're talking about the other flavors above? Well, I might respond, because they don't taste like Peppercorns, you ignorant slut. The peppercorns add a very distinct but unsual taste, something along the lines of jerky or leather. It's hard to put my tongue on it (that's what she said).


This beer is well made, crisp, but it's not really tickling my belly. It's not very complex, even with the peppercorn. The bottle looks great though. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Pinkus Mueller Organic Hefeweisse is no sweet elixer

I bought this after trying the Pilsner at The Other Room Pinkus Mueller Organic Pilsner. The laugh behind that story is that we bought the Pilsner for $14 at the bar. I’ve seen it similarly priced at other bars. I was at Whole Foods recently and found the pilsner for a considerably different price:

$3.50. That’s nearly a 5x markup. Amazeballs. And I thought Highway Robbery ended with the death of Robin Hood.

Is that Freddie Mercury in the background?

 Unlike the these Margarita flavored candies my mom sent for my birthday, the hefeweizen is quite drinkable but forgettable. There are many other hefeweizen’s I would pick over this. THE ISLAND rating.

Aktien-braurei Anno 25 Hefe Weisse can't top tonight's story

After discovering Dogfish Head’s 90 min IPA last week at Mom’s Bar, I joined Matt and Nick G there to play pool and drink beers, ones that I couldn’t count as tonight’s beer. I’m going to perceive this week as a continuation of my birthday and pretend that 4 beers plus my beer of the day is defines a health conscious and socially acceptable evening.

The highlight of the night, however, was meeting a special lady. Not that kind of special lady. Nick G figured out this lady sitting next to us at the bar was connected in way to me. Through a couple of carefully phrased questions, we realized that she had dated this guy, let's call him Jeff (not his real name). This really surprised me because Jeff had dated a former boss, who was gay, for the last 5 years (up until my old boss died this summer, sadly). Throughout this process, I'm incredibly excited - like, wave my hands in the air while I talk excited - because she doesn't know what I know, which is the above information. She only knew Jeff as being straight. Things could get really juicy here in a minute. However, I do know that 'Jeff' was also in the company during some times of my boss' relationship with him (personal assistants deal with this crap all the time and know too much). Where does she fit into the time-line?

So I let her know that Jeff was gay, or at the very least bi. How do I know this? 5 years ago acquaintances of my boss saw him do things in a shower during a pool party, that would preclude him from being defined as straight (to drop some mild sauce on it). You should've seen her face! I just slapped a'ho with some knowledge. So, when did you date him? I saw the wheels turn as she figured out the dates and did the math, and it was priceless. 5 years ago. She even broke up with him because he was buying her flowers using my boss' credit card and being picked up using his limo. HAHAHA. God that must suck. This realization, even from events years ago, must be really awkward for a woman. She was probably sleeping with him whilst he was doing things with men that weren't even allowed in the Old Testament.

She was pretty shell shocked at that point. And I have to say, that moment was priceless. I didn't laugh out loud because I didn't want her to feel any more weird about that truth, but inside I was rolling. Afterward, she proceeded to play really terrible pool, so good work me for getting inside her head. But seriously, best night ever.  Nick G, excellent work. People don't describe me as being a dick, but I did tell someone the truth when maybe they didn't need or care to hear it. To that I say, eh, tough shit. That was hilariously worth it.

The beer has a body that is lighter than typical hefeweizens but does include the banana and clove flavors from a German yeast. It tastes immature though and isn't well rounded. THE ISLAND rating.

Uinta Tilted Smile Imperial Pilsner isn't as desirable as Joan Holloway

Well, today is my officially my 28th Birthday. The party started Friday with the All-Denim extravaganza, continued Saturday with Beach day Sloshball and followed through with lobster and a partial mash homebrew. I've been celebrating this day three times over before the sun debuted on May 9th 2011. Cookies for lunch and chips and dip for dinner is all I need for birthday celebration. I'll be out all this week and I'll be tasting 7 or 8 breweries this weekend with my parents and David.

Some people would argue that you have to do something for your birthday, or that you shouldn't be alone on your special day. To them, I say that thinking is for the birds. I've been surrounded by great friends enjoying memorable experiences for 72 hours. I think I'll be okay if I take a night off, open up one of my favorite beers as an appetizer before the beer of the day, demolish some guacamole and watch my best show on TV, Man Men.

Next to all the special whiskey we keep in the hard to reach cupboard above the microwave, I keep a bottle of North Coast Pranqster and Drake's Denogginizer Imperial IPA for a special occasion. Tonight is perfect for the Drake's, which has an incredibly rich caramel and Munich malt. It's inspiring enough that I have decided here and now to design my next homebrew to hopefully create a malt of this caliber and richness. It's amazing. 

But the beer of the day hales from Utah and is a strange bedfellow. Almost as strong  as the 9.75% Denogginizer, the wacky Tilted Smile is an Imperial Pilsner. This is our second imperial pilsner, a very odd style but one that some American brewers apparently like to play with.

I immediately taste that it's too malty. On the flip side, David says that it's not hoppy enough. He's right. An imperial malt bill needs an imperial amount of hops to balance it out. Unfortunately, Uinta didn't adjust accordingly for their increase in alcohol. Maybe they kept the same IBU number as they had with their regular pilsner. Either way, it doesn't work. I'm not impressed, ARMAGEDDON rating.

I'm going to climb onto my soapbox for a second here to spout about Imperial Pilsners as a style. To me, increasing alcohol content serves two purposes. Obviously, one is you create a potent beer. In order to make a higher content brew, you have to increase the amount of malt. This allows for a greater complexity of malt to be used - or so I think. As a style, however, Pilsner are brew to be clean and crisp. They are not known for their complexity. I really don't see the need for them. Maybe they're fun to toy with, but I don't understand why you make them.

Moinette Blonde helps me kill lobsters and brew my first partial mash home brew

It's the day before my berfday and I got lots going on. I'm gonna kill a lobster using a butcher's knife (I can't believe this is the humane way) and then I'm going to make my first partial-mash home brew. I've been eying this day for a while because brewing partial mash is a completely new process compared to extract brewing and it requires some science and solid execution. Good thing I'm going sharpen my execution skills with these pound and a half crustaceans first!

Sara names her lobbie William, David's is Garth and mine is Newton. We read on a website after we bought and named them, that whatever you do don't name them! Because then you get attached. Well, I suppose I've had friends for shorter time periods but I've never put a knife through their brain. Time to knock that off my bucket list.

David likes to get really close to his subjects before execution. It makes doing business personal.

Newton is gonna be delicious

Because I knew this would hilarious, I took video of each of us wielding the killing stroke. David is the pioneer, Sara is hilarious, and mine is 'efficient' (I suppose). I'm very proud of these videos, not just because I went hand-held Paul Greengrass style, but really because David and Sara are energetic participants in them. It was weird to end a lobster like this, but it is much more humane than throwing them in a boiling pot and letting them die a slow, agonizing death.

*Please know the videos are slightly graphic - we are killing animals. If you have a problem watching Shark Week or 'When Hungry, Hungry Hippos Attack' on the Nat Geo channel, this is not for you. Otherwise, I think you'll be entertained. I was a little squeamish at first, but it turned out to be (too much) fun and is one of those experiences I can cross off my life list.

Do note, that when they are moving afterwords, they're dead but their nerves are still going. It's creepy and crazy. The same thing happens when you kill a snake. The videos are short, between 1 minute and 1:30. Below is what happens when brain meets knife.

 David

 Sara

 Walker

This was quickly becoming an incredibly fun day. After slicing and dicing them, David and Sara stuffed the lobsters with crab whilst I prepared my brewing equipment.

The champagne below (I will post a video tomorrow with more detail) was a gift from my dad for my 21st birthday. It's a pretty nice bottle so at the time I planned to have it on a 'Special Occasion.' And I could never decide when that occasion was, so it's been on my desk, under my bed and in my wine cooler for the past 7 years. It's not like champagne ages, would it still bubble?

To my delight, the bubbly and food was amazing. The champers was surprisingly complex. Champagne with crab stuffed lobsters, wow, a pretty high-class meal. Thanks to Sara and David, who made my last day as a 27 year-old an awesome day.

So instead of celebrating the birthday weekend by paintballing today, I decided to grill seafood and make my first partial mash beer. Homebrewing with extract is how I made my previous 4 beers, but by learning partial mash, I gain an understanding of All-Grain brewing (the third and final tier of homebrewing) and hopefully create more complex beers. It's more complex though and I had to outfit two 5 gallon coolers with special equipment.

I won't describe the process in depth here because it's detailed online, but it simply involves 'cooking' the grains (I have 5.5 lbs) in 152 degrees for an hour (mashing the grains), and then sparging the grains (washing them with 180 degree water) again, to create the wort. The hard part is getting the right water temperature and then maintaining it and figuring out how much water to use. Overall, it took me 4.5 hours to mash the grains and cook the wort. Usually it takes me 2, 2.5 hours.  

I'll post the recipe below, but first let me review the beer of the day. I'm making a Belgian Blonde so I picked one of the few Belgian Blondes I saw in Beverage Warehouse today and it was fantastic. It has a strong yeast smell and great color. The pop when I uncorked it was stronger than my champagne pop, and it has great carbonation and sexy Belgian lace. There is a smooth and balanced pilsner malt base and has a subtle spicy flavor that adds a delicious twist. Moinette blonde is a flat out fantastic for the style. BAD BOYS rating.

Here's the two-tier system in action

Untitled Belgian Blonde
Here is a link to the recipe that is reprinted below: Summer Belgian Blonde. I built this recipe from scratch.

Malt Extract:     Pale 3 lbs
                        Dry Pilsner Extract 1lb

Sugar:              Light Belgian Candy Sugar 1 lb

Grain Bill:          Belgian Pilsner 3 lb 4oz

                        Vieanna Malt 1 lb

                        Caramel Crystal Malt 10L 12 oz

                        Cara-Puls 8 oz               

Hop Schedule:  Hallertau (3.0%) 1.5 oz at 60 mins
                       Hallertau (3.0%) 1oz at 30 mins
                       Cascade (4.0%) 1oz at 15 mins
                      
Yeast:            Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes (made a yeast starter Friday night at 3:30am after partying, HA).
                 
IBU is  22.5 (style is typically between 15 and 30)

Potential Alcohol 6.7%
SRM (color) is 5

The gravity was a little lower than I expected coming out of the Mash-Tun, so I added a cup of dry pilsner extract to the boil. The OG reading at the boil's end malfunctioned and said my beer is 10%+ which is not possible. Overall, I hit the temperatures I wanted but had trouble maintaining the 150 degree plus temp while Mashing. The process kept me busy but wasn't as stressful as I thought. It was fun though, I'm already looking forward to creating another recipe!

 Here are 5.5 lbs of grains being mashed.