SBWF Live Report II:nd week: The Beers…

1. Nogne IPA (d)
2. Lake Placid Ubu Ale, NY (b)
3. Sigtuna Black October (d)
4. Bruton Lilith (b)
5. Rogue Brutal Bitter (d)
6. Teerenpeli Hippaheikki Bitter (d)
7. Lakefront IPA, WI (b) (NEW from Galatea)
8. Flyging Dog Gonzo Special Hops Imperial Stout (handpump\cask)
9. Rogue Brutal Bitter (d)
10. Kaggen Stormakts Porter 2006 (b)
11. Kaggen Stormakts Porter 2007 (d)
12. Dugges 1/2 Idjit (d) (Todays winner)

SBWF Live Report: The Beers…

1. Gotland Bryggeri Sitting Bull Dog IPA

2. Butte Creek Brewing Organic IPA

3. Butte Creek Brewing Organic Pale Ale

4. Nils Oscar God Ale (NEW)

5. Brouwerij De Molen Bloed Zweet & Trancen

6. Sigtuna Brygghus IPA

7. Sigtuna Brygghus Red Ale (a hops bomb) (My No. 1)

8. Rogue Shakespear Stout

9. Butte Creek Organic Porter.

10. Lost Abbey Serpent Stout

11. Butte Creek Organic Pale Ale

12. BrewDog Bashah (cask conditioned) (Amazing beer done together with Stone)

13. Lagunitas A Little Sumpin' Extra! Ale

SBWF Live Report 2009

Hi, seems I have been located in a very warm place (under the spotlights) at Stockholm Beer and Whiskey Festival and the OT VIP corner.

Tricky to report any big details, anyway the top things right now include;

1. The Brewdog booth where they served the beer brewed together with Stone. Yes, it was great. Also fun to see one of the brewers visiting the festival. Always fun when SBWF gets the proper attention it deserves.

2. The new initiative from Gotlands Bryggeriet (owned by Spendrups) where they are playing around with IPAs and Pale Ales. Also fun to see that they have understood the importance of dogs together with breweries, i.e. beer labels including names like Wisby Sleepy Bulldog Pale Ale.

3. The Kaggen 2005-2008 collection of taps at Bishop Arms.

4. The Butte Creek organic brewery booth. Really fun to see that a American brewery have come all the way to Sweden to show their beers.

5. The beer provided by OT, as always amazing.

6. A new brewer and new beers from Sigtuna Brewhouse. The new Red Ale with late added hops were simply amazing and a good restart for this brewery. Until now the beers have been traditional and well balanced, but in my taste very boring, but now it seems we can see more imitative that is at least once or twice are outside the borders. Good luck, now we hopefully we can look forward for a couple of great IPA or DIPAs.

MY_BEER_DIARY #6: 2009-09-10@Oliver Twist

1. Rudgate Jorvik Blonde (c)
2. Rudgate Battle Axe (c)
3. Port Brewing WipeOut I.P.A (b)

Did not the chance to sample any of the Ruby Mild (this years best beer award at Great British Beer Festival) but OT had instead 2 other beers from the Rudgate brewery. This was quite a busy day at OT when visited last Thursday. Seems a lot of people have come down to enjoy one of the last summer evenings, you sort of forget that September can be quite nice in Stockholm. Hope it can last at least a couple of more days.

 

( c = cask\handpump, d = draught, b = bottle, cn = can)

Some exiting beers and breweries coming to Systembolaget

15 September:
Southern Tier Hoppe 8,0% 65 cl
Southern Tier UnEarthly 11,0% 65 cl

2 November:
Haandbryggeriet Norwegian Wood 6,5% 50 cl
Haandbryggeriet Ardenne Blond 7,5% 50 cl
Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel 10,9% 50 cl

16 November:
Nøgne Ø Underlig Jul 6,5% 50 cl
Ayinger Winter-Bock 6,7% 50 cl
Mikkeller Fra____ Till____
Three Floyd & Mikkeller Oatgoop 10,4% 65 cl
Haandbryggeriet Haandbakk 7,0% 50 cl
Haandbryggeriet Dark Force 9,0% 50 cl
Lost Abbey Judgment Day 10,5% 75 cl
Lost Abbey Inferno 8,5% 75 cl
Port Brewing Old Viscosity 10,0% 65 cl

MY_BEER_DIARY #5: 2009-09-05@Monks Cafe

The latest beer report, now coming from Monks Cafe (@Wallingatan), surprise surprise. It actually worked out very well this time as every beer asked for actually existed. So this time it is possible to say Cheers and a big thank you very much for all the beer experience today.

1. SKA Brewing Buster Nut Brown Ale (b)
2. Big Sky Scape Goat Pale Ale (b)
3. Great Lakes Brewing Commodore Perry IPA (b)
4. SKA Decadent Imperial IPA (b)
5. Port Brewing Old Viscosity Ale (b)

Best beer?, well I can not help myself to simply say that Port Brewing rules in this compilation.

 

( c = cask\handpump, d = draught, b = bottle, cn = can)

MY_BEER_DIARY #4: 2009-08-29@OT

1. Triple FFF Rat & Warthog (c)
2. Smuttynose IPA (d)
3. Great Divide Fresh Hops Pale Ale (b)

+

@Akkurat

1. Skebo Bruksöl (c)

79 US-breweries & 453 different beers at Monks

I guess the news about Monks bar in Stockholm to be serving 453 different beers from 79 US-breweries from Sept 1th is some kind of record (must be, at least in a bar).

The complete list is specified below and from the list its surely some interesting breweries that I have been thinking about trying, including Big Sky Brewing and SKA brewing.

The news is at least that they will have bottles from all these breweries from Sept 1th connected to their biggest US beer festival and guest beer list ever (the initial goal was 500 beer). Do not know if this includes both locations in Stockholm, but I guess that would be the case.

 

1. Abita Brewing Company
2. Allagash Brewing Company
3. Anchor Brewing Company
4. Anderson Valley Brewing Company
5. Anheuser-Busch InBev
6. Arcadia Brewing Company
7. Avery Brewing Company
8. Barley Island Brewing
9. Bear Republic Brewing Company
10. Bells Brewery
11. Big Sky Brewing Company
12. Black Mountain Brewing Co.
13. Boston Beer Company
14. Boulder Beer Company
15. Breckenridge Brewery
16. Brooklyn Brewery
17. Brownings Brewery
18. Buffalo Bills Brewery
19. Capital Brewery
20. City Brewery (Melanie Brewing Co)
21. Coors Brewing Company (MillerCoors)
22. Dark Horse Brewing Company
23. Dogfish Head Brewery
24. Eugene City Brewery & Rogue Ales
25. Flying Dog Brewery
26. Founders Brewing Company
27. Goose Island Beer Company
28. Gordon Biersch Brewing Company
29. Great Divide Brewing Company
30. Great Lakes Brewing Company
31. Half Acre Brewery
32. Harpoon Brewery
33. High Falls Brewing Company
34. Hoppin Frog
35. Iron City Brewing
36. Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
37. Lagunitas Brewing Company
38. Lakefront Brewery
39. Left Hand Brewing Co.
40. Leinenkugel Brewing Company
41. Lion Brewery, Inc.
42. Lost Coast Brewery & Cafe
43. Magic Hat Brewing Company
44. Matt Brewing Company
45. Mendocino Brewing Company
46. Metropolitan Brewing
47. Miller Brewing Company (MillerCoors)
48. Minhas Craft Brewery
49. Moylans Brewery & Restaurant
50. New Belgium Brewing Company
51. New Holland Brewing Company
52. North Coast Brewing Company
53. O'Fallon Brewery
54. Olde Saratoga Brewing (Mendocino Brewing Co.)
55. Ommegang Brewery (Moortgat)
56. Otter Creek Brewing
57. Pipeworks Brewing Co.
58. Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
59. Pyramid Breweries Inc.
60. Redhook Brewery
61. Rogue Ales
62. Sand Creek Brewing Co.
63. Sea Dog Brewing
64. Shipyard Brewing Company
65. Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
66. SKA Brewing
67. Southampton Publick House
68. Southern Star Brewing Co.
69. Southern Tier Brewing Company
70. Spoetzl Brewery (Gambrinus Company)
71. Sprecher Brewing Company
72. Stevens Point Brewery
73. Stone Brewing Co.
74. Sudwerk Privatbrauerei Hubsch
75. Summit Station Restaurant & Brewery
76. Three Floyds Brewing Company
77. Two Brothers Brewing Company
78. Tyranena Brewing
79. Victory Brewing Company

So I guess its time to give Monks a new visit in a close future. Hopefully the list above actually means that the beers are available in real life. Simply if you are a bit frank I really hope that this do NOT mean that 453 beers means just a couple of bottles per beer, that has been the case before.

Because if that would be the case again you can really question what the purpose is, except to be able to impress the public with nice numbers. To be serious (and this time it truly looks amazing) if this is a hit it need to mean that you have the chance to get what you want and when asked for during a visit. I understand that beers from the US are limited and will be out of stock during the coming weeks, but seriously if a beer is only available with 2-3 bottles it does not matter if the list is impressive, it is still just a nice facade and nothing visit or recommend.

Enough with complaints- I will give it a chance and recommend others to come, and I hope all the luck to Monks that this is a true success that will make all US-craft beers in Stockholm happy and satisfied.

I at least already have a short list building up that I want to test.’

If interested here is the complete list of beer from each brewery; Monks US Guest Beers.

Its Tuesday with World Wide Stout

Thanks Sam and Dogfish Head to be able to lighten up a boring and normal workday Tuesday. What can be better then simply deciding that you deserve a beer from the “cellar” and decides that what about World Wide Stout 06? When is it a better then a day you just feel for it?, you simply can never find the perfect day or occasion anyway.

I really enjoyed the Bruery’s Black Tuesday and is trying to figure out how to get myself a bottle over to Sweden when it comes out in October, but really the WWS is still the champion!, and I will survive as long the bottles do not end (still have 6 bottles left).

It simply reminds me that it is really not so long until its time for the BA Extreme Beer Fest in Boston again so that you can get a chance to drink some World Wide Stout on pitcher, the trip just needs to be planned.

Now I need to give the beer my full attention again as it deserves.

Cheers Sam.

A record in serving beers from Stone Brewery

Life is really unfair sometimes when see that Stone seems to try to break some kind of record during the 13th Anniversary party.

Its a great treat for us here in Stockholm when ONE bottle of Stone is available in a good beer bar near you, and its a real beer party when you get the chance to have a Arrogant B. or Ruination on draught. But when you see the following list of beers from Stone over at the 13th anniversary party you almost start to cry of envy.

“Stone Brewing Co standard”

1. Stone Smoked Porter

2. Arrogant Bastard Ale

3. OAKED Arrogant Bastard Ale

4. Stone Cali-Belgique IPA

5. Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans

6. Stone 13th Anniversary Ale

“Stone “Collaborations” Booth”

7. AleSmith/Mikkeller/Stone Belgian Style Triple Ale
8. BrewDog/Cambridge/Stone Juxtaposition Black Pilsner
9. Ken Schmidt/Maui/Stone Kona Coee, Macadamia, Coconut

10. Porter Stone 13th Anniversary Ale

“Stone Handpump Station”

11. Stone IPA with Simcoe and Amarillo hops
12. Stone IPA with Centennial hops
13. Stone Cali-Belgique IPA with French Oak
14. Stone Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers
15. Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Beans
16. Arrogant Bastard Ale with American Oak
17. 13th Anv.Ale with Columbus hops
18. 13th Anv.Ale with Amarillo hops
19. 13th Anv.Ale with Simcoe hops

 

19 in total! Is that a record or?

Anyway I hope everyone joining this party have a great time, cheers to all you bastards. Myself can only wonder what a Stone IPA with Simcoe and Amarillo hops would be, I guess great, sigh.

MY_BEER_DIARY #3: 2009-08-21@OT

“Oliver Twist (OT)”:

1.	Triple FFF Alton's Pride (c)
2.	Sly Fox Phoenix Pale Ale (can)
3.	Two Brothers The Bitter End Pale Ale (b)
4.	Long Trail Double Bag (b)
5.	Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA (b)

 

Great to see that Long Trail brewery has founds its way over to Sweden and OT. We found this a very nice brewery in Vermont during our trip to New England last year. They do not do monster or master piece beers, instead its traditional styled beers with very good balance and variety. More in the English tradition compared to the more alpha hoppy variants many US brewers tend to stick with.

Also it was nice to see that OT has finally convinced the brewers that also the Pale Ale styled beers travel well, at least if you drink them early. Before the beer bottle batches from the US have almost 100% been stronger beers in ABV and high in the hoppinies, with styles like DIPA, Imperial Stouts or Barley Wines. So you sort of miss the more softer and balanced Pale Ales that you enjoy so much during the beer trips to the US. Finally it was nice to see several examples, including the Two Brothers and Sly Fox examples, instead of the monster beers we have had before from those breweries.

Then of course I could not help myself and ended the night with one of the better beers in the world, i.e. the Double Simcoe IPA from Weyerbacher, Simply amazing.

New US Craft beers available @ OT

A direct report from OT simply says that OT now has a new batch of craft beers on bottle.

Here is the latest offering. No report yet on the beers as I am still drinking my Triple FFF Alton's Pride on cask (a good start), but it is fun to see the old friend Long Trail brewery from last years New England beer trip.

Cheers to all at a Friday night.

MY_BEER_DIARY #2: 2009-08-19@OT

“Oliver Twist (OT)”:

1. Stone Ruination IPA (d)

2. Stone Ruination IPA (d)

3. He'Brew Rejewvenator 2009 (d)

Not much to report except that the Ruination was amazing, not as fresh and crisp as in Escondido, but still nothing to complain about, simply a masterpiece of perfection in a DIPA.

Finally a session beer...

Sorry for being a bit slow, but finally I found a short and describing information what a Session beer is. When listening to US-brewers or reading different blogs you often see the term session beer, and often in connection to "this is not a session beer but..." or "this is a great session beer compared to...".

And now and then you wonder (as a Swede not having full control of english) what the hell is a Session beer, except that it is a "normal" beer compared to the hops monsters many of us like.

But now in the latest BA I saw it, and finally I know what it is, so now I am also with you. Anyway the short and simple description was;

"Low ABV & highly drinkable"

Do anyone argy with that?

Cheers

Mattias, drinking a amazing Stone Ruination on draught at OT, which in short is not a Session beer.

News: A new batch of US-beers at OT

Oliver Twist will have a new batch of US-beers ready on Tuesday August 18th. No information about what it will be, but the focus this time will be mostly on new bottles and not any new kegs.

Except that I have heard some buzz about Stone Ruination on draught, it can even be on already. You lucky bastards that are at OT will have a treat. Myself can just think about the fact that it was not so many weeks ago I was sitting at Stone Bistro & Res. drinking a really fresh Ruination.

MY_BEER_DIARY #1: 2009-08-15@OT

A traditional beer visit on a Saturday to OT (Oliver Twist) seems a good start starting my beer diary, i.e. simply a geeky beer list what I drink. No ratings as that is not my cup of tea and so many other are better at it.

“Oliver Twist (OT)”:

1. Dark Star Best Bitter (c)
2. Dark Star Sunburst (c)
3. He´Brew Rejewvenator 2009 (d)
4. Dark Star Best Bittier (c)
5. Laughing Dog, Devil Dog (d)

c = cask \ handpump, d = draught

Twitter...

Now I am also at twitter.

http://twitter.com/mwillefors

Cheers...

BEER SAMPLING@HOME: “Mikkeller Simcoe Single Hop IPA”

One of my current favorites when you feel for a clean crisp hoppy flavor without too much fuzz and hops blending. As Simcoe is one of my number one hops styles when it comes to a good hop blend it is a delight to be able to drink it as clean as possible.

This is of course not a beer for people that only drink a so called balanced beer. But this should not be the idea when you drink this kind of beer. Instead it should be seen as clean beer for really understanding what this particular hops does for a beer. Great that Mikkeller can provide it for you to bring home.

Simcoe Single Hop IPA is defined as a American IPA, which is quite true. It is currently brewed all year round in Belgium at Brewed at the De Proef Brouwerij.

It pours with creation of a extremely fluffy white head, it actually took me several minutes to pour it as every try almost went over the glass due to all the head created.

The smell is really hoppy with bunch of pineapple and tangerine touches.

Also the taste is really citrus and great after taste of the crisp Simcoe hops.

It is not a masterpiece and everyday type of beer or your typical IPA due to the single hop of Simcoe. But if you want to learn what Simcoe does for a beer it is great way of doing it. And of course if you do not bother about balance and being a hop head like myself it just all the hops you want.

If you do not know it the beer is one of a whole series of beers coming from Mikkeller with single hops, currently they have this one, but also Warrior and Cascade single hops are available.

Seems “Black Tuesday” is being buzzed…

As we were all taken by this beer during our visit to “the Bruery” brewery a couple of weeks back it feels great that this beer is getting a lot of attention. So we were not so wrong when we marked this as a new comer to look after, both as a beer and a brewery.

Based on the current information over at BA it is now the highest buzzed beer in America, i.e. a high climber in number & A-ratings (22 ratings since July 18, so it is growing fast).

Just hope I can get hold of a bottle when it is released later this fall (October), or at least that we could see a bottle coming over to a good beer bar close by.

BEER SAMPLING@HOME: “Mission Brewery IPA”

Bought during the latest trip to south California at Beverages 4 Less in Santee in north of San Diego.

The Mission Brewery was not visited (do not think it is neither possible) when visiting San Diego. But it was on the list for new small exiting breweries to test. These guys are quite new in the brewery industry as they started out sometime during 2007. But after only 4 months in business they won 3 different prices at that years GABF (Great American Beer Fest), so I guess they are doing something right.  

They got a bronze medal for this IPA (category American IPA) so it seems to be a good beer for me, simply as I like the style at least.

So how about the beer?

• It is a American IPA  in style with 6.80% ABV coming with a 66 in IBU.
• Starts out with a quite good head during the pour, but dies out quite quick after the first sips.
• It uses high alpha hops with cascade and centennial as the backbone and with that It smells nice with a good combination of both the hops and the quite sweet malt.
• It has a clear taste of the hops, but it is more a small and short nice kick in the finish instead of filling up completely. In that sense it is a very balanced IPA compared to how it could have been with that high IBU and the use of the hops choice.

Simply a good American IPA and quite a good start for the brewery. Can be interesting to see if I can find more from them in the future.

But as the number of great IPAs in the San Diego area I guess it will not be on any personal top list.

A solid IPA but not as my two new favorites from the trip;

1. Sculpin India Pale Ale from Ballast Point Brewing Company.
2. Duet IPA from Alpine Beer Company

Yes, really a cool label and a even cooler beer

As already mentioned by Steve over at the blog “Summer Of Beer” this new treat from the Lost Abbey really has a cool beer label and with a very suitable cool beer name; “Duck-Duck-Gooze”. Its genius to play with a beer name in connection with Lost Abbeys earlier sour “Ducks” with a Gooze (referring to a true Gueze) in the sense of simply blending young and older beers.

Not a true gueze as we are not talking about blending lambics, but its still Lost Abbey and Tomme Arthur playing around with following the same Belgian brewery principles of blending beers to create a new bread of beers, simply exiting and something new in the US craft beer heaven.

(2 ducks blended with a gooze, and with this label = a great word play (blending beers or also a famous children's game) and a new Lost Abbey masterpiece))

For some further background the beer actually started out about 6 years ago when Tomme were thinking about the art of Belgian Gueze (blending new and older lambics) and maybe trying that out through the Lost Abbey brewery.

The beer were finally created through the beer cellar project at Lost Abbey and comprise of; a “mellow yellow” (simply a lager and the youngest, said to be a “Port Brewery Amigo Lager” that Tomme keeps aged in barrels and used for replacing beer that evaporates from his other barrels), a “Phunky Duck” (the middle beer, limited & brewed once) and finally a 3 year old “Avant Garde” (a Bière de Garde + soured)  + probably something more from cellar. They also used different type of barrels, all originally holding red wines.

As personally being a big traditional lambic and gueze fan it was quite fun to realize that sampling this beer you after a while came to the conclusion that it was really close to a Cantillon variant of the type. That was also probably why it was such a hit for us at the Christmas in July event, simply as Cantillon is one of my favorite breweries.

When drinking gueze I really enjoy a acetic touch of it, the more sour and crisp the beer is, the more I enjoy it (probably why Cantillon comes before the more mellow tastes of Hanssens and Boon variants) as a lambic beer.

It will be exiting to see what happens with my own bottle (could only get one single home) after some more maturing and if this is the first attempt of many more to come I think we have existing times to look forward. I just hope that you do not need to always get to San Marcos to get hold of future bottles and that at least a couple of bottles could pop up at a good beer bar closer by (please help us out Akkurat or OT).

Vacation and a Double Bastard on the terrace

It just feels great that the vacation is still going on, and what about celebrating that with some beer drinking from the personal “cellar”.

 

Some “serious” blogging together with opening up the last Stone Double Bastard Ale edt. 2007 was a great idea.

As it seems the summer weather has decided to stay in Stockholm it was time to hit the terrace (you never know when you get the next opportunity) and spend time with a arrogant bastard.

Sow how about the beer?, it was excellent and had survived the cellaring since 07 (expiration date was set to march 2010) with pride. It had of course lost it pure freshness (that you can not get anyway here due to transport over the ocean) but instead matured well with a very sweet start, but then a strong warm and bitter after-taste. It is getting a bit “bready” but is still very alive and as it should be; arrogant, simply a great bear to share with a close friend (especially when you think about the 10% ABV).

Now when all the bottles have been emptied I really hope we can see some more of them at “systembolaget” in a near future, please.

Cheers!

BrewDog & Stone brew together…

Seems Greg and company have been visiting BrewDog in Scotland which ended up with the birth of a new beer.

If you think about good combinations this must be a perfect match, BrewDog with their Scottish version of high alpha hoppy US IPAs, and Stone which is kind of the original Californian hoppy beer company (they have been a big influence for BrewDog when they started out).

The beers is called “bashah” and is a “black Belgian double ipa” (what ever that is now).

You can read more about the collaboration over at the Stone blog; link. I also recently linked to their blog which seems great if you want to know about what happens over at Stone, like that they have just tapped the latest vertical epic which will be out in the US on 09/09/09, lets see when it comes to Sweden.

Great to be “home” again…

Regardless of all the great beers, breweries and bars available during our trip to California it is always nice to know that you still have a beer heaven back home (OT) that you can return to.

Available US craft beers on draught this Saturday evening was two old friends in the form of;

1. Moylan's Moylander Double IPA.

2. Southern Tier Hoppe (Imperial Extra Pale Ale)

Seems I will survive with beer treats also in the future and have my beer experiences back “home” for a while.

Right now I think we have made enough beer traveling for a while, and then it feels great that I actually live in one of the best beer cities in the world, feel really lucky.

Cheers + nice to be “home” again.

Three US Craft Breweries that should be brought to Sweden

During the trip to California this summer a couple of breweries brought extra attention to us all. Off the many beers and breweries sampled I would like to see the following breweries making it over the ocean and land in some of the better beer bars in Stockholm (like for example “Oliver Twist”, hint hint). Maybe they have been here already, but regardless I definitely think they should come here more regularly.

1. The Bruery

Location: Placentia, California

Beers: Black Tuesday, White Oak Sap, Papier, Saison Rue, Sour in The Rye etc.

People: Patrick Rue - CEO / Founder, Michael Rue – President

Description: A newcomer (just celebrated their first year) to the quite limited brewery scene in the LA area. As the number of breweries around LA was very thin it was really a treat to find this brewery tucked away close to the border of anaheim. Patrick Rue (the founder) has Belgian relations in the family, and it seems that this has also affected his brewery influences. Most of the beers have some touch of Belgium beers and flavors all blended with different type of oak techniques (bourbon, brandy, white oak etc). The more standard beers like; Orcha White, Saison Rue, Trade Winds Triple are all good, but nothing extraordinary. But then when it comes to the more advanced and experimental beers it is a completely other story. We initially thought that the beers were ok but nothing really to talk about, then when we went for the special flight they had available we were completely knocked down bye all the flavors and aroma. I can simply say that the “Black Tuesday, a strong imperial stout (19.50% ABV!!) stored on bourbon barrels, the “White Oak” and Papier (Bourbon Barrel) were all one of the better beers I have ever tasted. Simply a amazing trio of beers that we just wanted to take with us. Unfortunately we were a bit too early and the beers are not yet available on bottle (info at the brewery told us late fall or similar).

As the brewery as many other craft breweries are being distributed by “Stone” and their distribution company I can see that it must be possibilities to get their beers in the next available container. The owner (Mr.. Rue) of the brewery is always keen on getting the beers out (even got their card to be able to set up the needed contacts), so therefore I hope we can see a “Black Tuesday”" on the other side of the Atlantic in a soon future, I will anyway be on the buying list.

2. Alpine Beer Company

Location: Alpine, California

Beers:  Duet IPA, Pure Hoppiness, Exponential Hoppiness, Nelson Rye etc.

People: Pat Mcilhenney (owner & brewer)

Description: Alpine brewery is located in the small city of Alpine outside San Diego. The brewery was started by a home brewer (Pat) as many other brewers. They actually started 1999 by sub-contracting with AleSmith Brewery in San Diego and the “McIlhenney’s Irish Red” beer. In 2002, they opened their own brewery in Alpine. They have also very recently set up the plan to build a small brewpub and a larger taste room. But when we visited they were still in the original location were everything is in the same building, including as small taste room (actually just a small bar table just in front of the brewery) were you could sample all the beers available.

I was really surprised by the overall quality of all the beers available. They have a large number of really tasty IPA, but also the lighter beers like the Irish Red and the Alpine Ale (an APA) were all really well balanced.Then of course the two high alpha IPAs in the form of “Pure Hopiness” and “Exponential Hoppiness” were two really classic west coast IPA. I think that we maybe have seen this brewery sometime in Sweden, but regardless I would like to some of these bottles could come over, at least the 2 high alpha IPAs would travel safely and will be a big hit on the shelves at “OT” or “Akkurat”.

3. Island Brewing Company (IBC)

Location: Carpinteria, California

Beers: Jubilee Ale, Nut Brown Ale, Big Island IPA, Paradise Pale Ale etc.

People: Paul Wright (Founder) (the nice gentleman below on the left side)

Description: Located in the city of Carpinteria and have been in operation since July  2000. It was started by Paul Wright, a former submarine captain, that as many other also started out as homebrewer (received a homebrew kit for Christmas in 91) and made quite quickly a brewery name in area. After working for breweries like Marin Brewing company he then started his own business in 2000.

This is a very small family run brewery that is brewing a amazing line of hoppy and tasty brews. I especially like the Jubilee Ale, but also the Island Pale Ale. Same thing as with Alpine that I think I have seen this brewery in Stockholm (like at the Stockholm Beer Festival) once, but it is still such a great brewery that some more bottles could be consumed over here.

Top 15 Beers during SCXBT09 (Including location)

So how about the beers and some ranking. Here is my personal favorites during the trip between San Francisco and San Diego (including the serving location);

1. (18.) Russian River Blind Pig (Toronado, San Fran)
2. (113.) Deschutes Black Butte XXI (Beachwood BBQ, Seal beach)
3. (249.) Stone IPA (Stone, 3rd visit)
4. (203.) 30th Street Pale Ale (Green Flash Brewery)
5. (205.) West Coast IPA (Green Flash Brewery)
6. (151). Duck duck gooze (Lost Abbey)
7. (247.) Russian River Temptation Blond Ale (Stone, 3rd visit)
8. (179.) Duet (Alpine Brewery)
9. (95.) Black Tuesday (The Bruery, Placentia)
10. (237.) Ballast Point Even Keel American Pale Ale (BLAH, SD)
11. (22.) Moonlight Bombay By Boat IPA (cask) (Magnolia, San Fran)
12. (264.) Sculpin IPA (Ballast Point Brewery)
13. (42.) Bear Republic Lindys Mild (The Bistro, Hayward)
14. (60.) Double Jacks (Firestone Walker, Taproom)
15. (21.) Marin Brew IPA (On Cask) (Toronado, San Fran)

Cheers…

Some more images from the latest beer trip…

Some more images from our beer trip to California. I will now try to figure out were all these images where taken.

Could be important in the future when you need to remind yourself.

 

Cheers.

Top 5 bars during the trip to South California

We came across probably 20 or so beer establishments that could be described as a brewpub, pub or bar serving good craft beer, but you always very quickly get a extra feel for some of them, i.e. a place that feels like “home” and something you would like to return to.

For me a good beer place in the form of a pub (normally what we call it in Europe) or bar (usual naming in the US) should include the following elements and feelings;

1. A large number of beers available on draught (+ extra points if at least 1-2 is available on hand pump). Large do not mean a mega tap location, instead it should be a connection between the type and number of beers, i.e. different offerings of beers and not just 100 taps of lagers\ale of the same type. So 10-25 is a good level.

2. Focus on the bar area, with the bar as the central location. Extra points if the bar is almost as long as the place or as wide if the bar is at the end.

3. Staff that knows what they are selling and also actually like the beer (and have sampled them). Places that have not tested the quality of the beers should not either be on the list, meaning tested the actual day it is served.

4. Rotating taps with beers, so that you can get something new when you get there next time, but still you want a consistent list of beers always available.

5. Better to be a established dive bar that has grown to be a bar and not package from the beginning. Do not need to be dirty, but the rough dive feeling is always better. Dirty does not mean in connection with beers, that still needs to handled with care and knowledge. An other way of explaining is that the focus should be on the beer and not how the place looks! (Toronado in San Francisco is probably the best example to show what I mean, looks like crap, but the beer is amazing).

6. Opens early, simply as I like the feeling to drink early in the day when everything is cozy and not too many people. It is really a pain when you discoverer that a place opens at 5pm or 6pm and you are just passing the place during a vacation trip.

7. Good music which is played on the level suitable for the time of the day\evening. It is always great with some good tunes together with a great beer.

8. A centrally located beer board\table showing today's offerings, really hate place where you need to ask what they have. Also this list must be updated directly after any changes.

9. Beers presented should be available. A place with hundreds of beers that is not available when asked for them is quite useless, but quite often it happens.

10. And finally it should have the un-described feeling of “home”, a place where you easily can spend 1,2 or 5 hours without any need to leave, simply your second “home”.

 

Based on these criteria the following establishments were up there, lets see if my overall list of bars will need a update, but anyway they are all recommended.

 

Top 5 bars during SCXBT09

1. “Toronado”, San Francisco

C: Still my number one bar in the US together with Barcade in NY. Great dive bar with a constant change in craft beers. Staff is friendly (but you need to handle them with care plus a good tip) and very knowledgeable in what they serve. Love to hang here early in the afternoon.

2. “Toronado SD”, San Diego, North Park

 

C: Quite interesting how the people behind this new bar have been able to transform the same atmosphere from the original. Really impressive that a bar that in May 09 celebrated their first year actually creates a similar atmosphere. Same feeling as in San Fran, just a bit more cleaner. Same line of beer and quality, only difference is the origin of the breweries, i.e. more focus on the San Diego area. Also not to miss is the massive bottle offerings with great prices (at least for a Swede). This place is what made me already thinking about when you can find the time to return to SD.

3. “Hamiltons Tavern”, San Diego, North Park

C: Cool bar with a rock feeling and with the correct atmosphere. But this place really needed some people to start to live up. The line of beer is the correct mixture of breweries around south California plus some guests, not too many, instead focus on quality and mixture; from session beers to triple IPA and imp stouts.

4, “Beachwood BBQ”, Seal Beach, OC

C: Strange that I did not have this place on the list from start (maybe it was the name), instead we were recommended to go here after our visit to the Bruery. Came in quite late so the place was packed, but regardless you could feel that this was a genuine beer bar with a reasonable number of good choices. Did not eat anything, but I guess that had also been a hit with all the different BQ offerings. Also nice to see that all the current beers are shown on their website (hop cam). As it was quite difficult to find any good beer bars in the OC-area (except Goat Hill tavern that we also like a lot) this place was a great discovery. Just a pity that it was closed on Mondays so that we could not get the chance to try it out during day time the day after.

5. “Zeitgeist”, San Francisco

C: What can you say?, cool and some more cool. Great selection of beers, a large beer garden (did not sit there due to the heat) and staff that seemed to collect tattoos. Wish we could have stayed a bit longer but it was the first place of the day. Regardless it went directly to my list and next time it seems to be a good starting point before going to Toronado quite close by.

SCXBT 09 Beer List V (The rest)

Never made the complete list back during the trip, but regardles I like to finish what we started out, so here is the list from 141 to 267.

2009-07-21

“Pizza Port, Santa Clarita”

141. Sharkbite Red

142. El Camino IPA

143. Clemente Cream Ale

144. The Ripper (english pale)

145. Infamous Imperial Stout

“Lost Abbey \ Port Brewery”

146. Wipeout IPA

147. Shark Attack

148. Lost Abbey 10 comdenments (farm)

149. Lost & Found

150. Serpant Stout

151. Duck duck gueze (got it before the offical release at 0725)

152. Old Viscony

153. Quadruppel

“Churchills Pub & Grille”

154. Green Flash West Coast IPA

“Stone Brewery”

155. Stone Pale Ale

156. Drakes Its Fity

2009-07-22

“Pizza Port, Carlsbad”

157. Palapa Ale

158. Great American Brown

“Breakwater Brewing Company”

159. Simcoe Pale

160. North Jetty IPA

161. Vladimir Stout

162. Point Break Porter

“Stone Brewery” (2nd visit)

163. Stone IPA

164. Pliny The Elder

165. The Bruery Cuvee Jeune

166. Craftsman Oyster Stout (cask)

167. Dechutes St. Lucy Belgian Artisan Ale

168. AleSmith Old Numbskull

169. Ballast Point Sour Wench Blackberry Ale

170. Alvinne Kerasus (belgian, not a US-beer!)

171. Stone 13th Anv.

172. Stone Ruination Ale

173. Stone Smoked Porter

174. Stone Pale Ale

2009-07-23 Alpine to San Diego

“Alpine Brewery”

175. McIlhennys Irish Red

176. Alpine Ale

177. Captain Stout

178. Pure Hoppiness (west coast double IPA)

179. Duet

180. Exponential Hoppiness

181. Mandarin Nectar

182. Nelson Rye IPA

183. Willy Wheat Ale

184. Mix of Captain Stout + Willy Vanilla (like flouter)

“Quinns Moring”, at the hotel

185. Stone Pale Ale

“The Local”, downtown San Diego

186. Green Flash West Coast IPA

“Hamilton Tavern”

187. Firestone Walker Pale Ale 31

188. CBC Islander IPA (Coronado)

189. Karl Strauss Rye IPA

190. Stone Cali-Belgique Belgian IPA

191. Avery Karma (saison?)

192. The Port Nightrider Stout

193. Drakes Imperial Stout

194. Dogfish Festine Peach

195. Bear Republic Red Rocket

196. Green Flash Imperial IPA

197. Oskar Blues Tenfiddich (on draft)

198. Port Great American Brown Ale

“Skolds and Nicks hotel room”

199. North Coast Rasputtin 12

200. North Coast 20th Anniversary Ale

2009-07-24 San Diego

“Bevarages 4 less”, Beer shop

201. AleSmith …?. oaked

“Green Flash Brewery”

202. Summer Saison

203. 30th Steet Pale Ale

204. Hop Head Red

205. West Coast IPA

206. Double Stout

207. Imperial IPA

208. Trippel

209. Le Freak

210. Barleywine

“Oceanside Ales Works”

211. Pier View Pale

212. Pink Boots Pacific Port

“Toronado”, San Diego

213. Port Brewing, Solona Beach, Swamis IPA

214. Port Brewing, San Clemente, The Ripper Pale Ale

215. Russian River Pliny The Elder

216. AleSmith Summer YuleSmith (handpump)

217. He´Brew Rejewenator 2009

218. Sierra Nevada Brown Saison

219. Russian River Blind Pig IPA

220. Russian River Damnation

221. J.W. Lees 98 (bottle)

222. North Coast Rasputtin Imperial Stout (nitro)

2009-07-25

“Lost Abbey, Christmas in July event”

223. Lost & Found

224. Duck Duck Queze

225. Port Hop 15

226. Wipeout

227. Angels Share Bourbon

228. Angels Share Brandy

229. Santas Little Helper 09

230. Duck Duck Queze (my own pint)

“AleSmith Brewery”

231. X (xtra pale ale)

232. Anvit ESB

233. Horny Devil

234. Speedway Stout

235. Grand Cru

“O´Brien´s”, San Diego

236. Alpine Pure Hopeniness

“Blind Lady Ale House”, Normal Heights

“Flight from ballast point” (6 samples)

237. Even Keel American Pale Ale

238. Piper Down Scottish Ale

239. Black Marlin Porter

240. Big Eye India Pale Ale

241. Dorado Double IPA

242. Navigator Doppelbock

243. AleSmith  Nauticalnut

244. Alpine Captain Stout

245. Russian River Pliny the Elder

2009-07-26, San Diego Brewery Tour

“Stone Brewery”, (3rd visit)

246. Pale Ale

247. Russian River Temptation Blond Ale (gift from Dr. Bil)

248. Smoked Porter

249. Stone IPA

250. Arrogant Bastard

251. Ruination

252. Levitation

253. Full Sail Old Board Head Barleywine

254. Shakespear Stout

“San Diego Brewing Company”

254. San Diego Grantville Gold

255. Padre Pale Ale

256. Old Town Nut Brown

257. Hopnotic

258. Chocolate Porter

259. Smoke Jumper Brown

“Ballast Point Brewery”

260. Wahoo Wheat

261. Yellowtail Pale Ale

262. Brother Levonian Saison

263. Rye Ale

264. Sculpie IPA

265. Dorado Double IPA

266. Big Eye Ginger Special (handpump)

“At the hotel”

267. Bear Republic Races 5 (ended with the first beer I started out the trip with”

    Cheers /Mattias…

The result of the SCXBT09 (locations)

Technorati-taggar: SCXBT09,San Francisco,Los Angeles,OC,San Diego,Craft,Beer,Lost Abbey,Toronado,Breweries,Brewery

We came home safe from San Diego, even after Delta airlines made all the effort that we should fail. Seems all the goals was met, except as always that you wanted to stay more at the places you liked the most.

Here is the result of the trip including all locations setup nice and tidy at google.

Here is a link to all locations including all images.

SCXBT09: Collected locations

SCXBT09: San Diego Brewery Tour (with bus)

Had a wonderful day with you guys, including our new friends from New Jersey.

And also a big big thank you and goodbye to Dr. Bill at Stone. The bottle of Russian River Temptation you shared with us was amazing.

SCXBT09: The santa at Lost Abbey

Spent the day queing for some beers at Lost Abbey at met the Santa.

Seems like Santa is enjoying the kegs at Lost Abbey\Port!. Christmas in July, it can not be any where elese than San Diego.

SCXBT09: An other team picture…

From the Oceanside Brewing company. Its a Friday evening beer at brewery, what a nice treat.

Greetings from Hamilton….

We are in San Diego and having a great time.

Cheers…

/Mattias…

SCXBT 09 Beer List IV

(myself inside the bar at “Goat Hill Tavern”)

 

The list continues down to San Diego.

“2009-07-20 Pasadena and south”

“Lucky Baldwin”

116. Craftsman IPA

117. Craftsman Holiday Amber

“Heroes Bar & Grill”, Fullerton

118. Firehouse Pale Ale

119. Alaskan Amber

120. Big Sky Brewing Moose Drool Brown Ale

121. Stone Ruination

“Newport Beach Brewing Company”

122. A.A.I.P.A

123. Back Bay Bitter

“Goat Hill Tavern”, Newport Beach

124. Stone Pale Ale

125. Steelhead Pale Ale

126. Firerock Pale Ale

127. Deschutes Mirrorpond Pale Ale

128. Port Brewing Wipeout IPA

129. Stone Levitation Ale

130. Stone Oakes Bastard Ale

131. Longhammer IPA

132. Bear Republic Racer 5

133. Anderson Valley Summer Ale

134. Stone Ruination Ale

135. Rogue Hazelnut & Brown

136. Anderson Valley IPA

137. Stone Arrogant Bastard

138. Widmer Drifter Pale Ale

139. Bigfoot

140. Anderson Valley Boon Amber Ale

Continued…

SCXBT 09: Greetings….

Collected team pictures from our beer trip to south california.

“Newport Beach Brewing Company”

“Lost Abbey\Port Brewing visit” (Picture taken by Mike the head brewer.

Cheers

Mattias

SCXBT 09 Beer List III

After our tour at FireStone the beer list have continued and hopefully reported as correct as possible.

2009-07-17 Santa Barbara & South:

- Visit to Telegraph Brewery, no sampler but bought 2 bottles from this tiny brewery, nice people and a great brewery.

“The Brewhouse”, Santa Barbara

61. Nirvana Pale

62. Anapamu Amber Ale

63. West Beach IPA

64. Montecito St. Wheat

65.  Buster Brown Ale

66. Smoked Porter

“Island Brewing Company#

67. Island Pale Ale

68. Unfiltered Pale Ale

69. Starry Night Stout

70. Jubilee Ale

“Anacapa Brewing Company, Ventura”:

71. New Belgium Summer Wheat

72. Stone IPA

“The 3rd Stop, West Hollywood, LA”

73. Stone Arrogant Bastard

74. Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale

75. Deschutes Mirror Pond Ale

76. Flying Dog Doggie Style Pale Ale

77. Flying Dog Gonzo

78. Allagash White

79. Lost Coast Nut Brown Ale

2009-07-18 Santa Monica:

“Fathers Office”

80 Craftsman's Hefeweissen

81. Drakes 1500 Pale Ale

82 OB Old Chub

83. Russian River Perdition

84. Russian River Damnation

85. Russian River Pliny The Elder

“Daily Pint” (A great place!)

86. Moylans Dragoons Stout

87. Stone Sublimity (cask)

88. Deans Brothers Brewing (IPA 7) Pale Ale (cask)

“The Bruery” !!!!! Great place, Jorgen should get this brewery to Sweden.

89. Orcha White

90. Black Orchad

91. Saison Rue

92. Trade Winds Triple

93. White Oak

94. Papier

95. Black Tuesday

2009-07-19 Santa Clarita:

“Wolfcreek Brewing”

96. Hot rod India Pale Ale

97. Howlin Hefeweissen

98. Valencia Honey Wheat

99. Green Flash West Coast IPA

100. Timber Wolf Bourbon Oaked Red

101. Alaskan Summer Ale

“Oggis, Santa Clarita”¨

102. Black Magic Stout

103. Torry Pines IPA

104. Sunset Amber

105. Paradise Pale

“Belmont Brewing Company, Long Beach”

106. Pale Ale

107. North Coast Scrimshaw

108. Marathon

109. Hop head read

110. Stout Crude

“Beachwood BBQ, Seal beach”:

110. Alesmith IPA

111. Russian River Blind Pig

112. Craftsmans Oyster Stout (cask)

113. Deschutes Black Butte XXI (insane)

114. Russian River Blind Pig

115. OB Dales Pale Ale

……

SCXBT 09 Beer List II

 

The beer draught list of SCXBT09 continues with the following result:

2009-07-15 Day trip to Oakland & Hayward, CA:

Ben & Nicks, Oakland

38. Bear Republic Red Rocker Ale

39. Steelhead Extra Pale

40. Stone Arrogant  Bastard

Catos Ale House, Oakland:

41. North Coast Red Seal Ale

The Bistro, Hayward:

42. Bear Republic Lundys Mild (yes, finally a decent US version of Mild)

43. Maui Brewing Co. Big Swell IPA (can)

Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, half moon bay:

44. Pillar Point Pale Ale (cask)

45. Princeton-by-sea-IPA

Seabright Brewery, Santa Cruz:

46. Pelican Pale

47. Blur IPA

48. Sacrilicious Red Ale

49. Oatmeal Stout

2009-07-16 From Santa Cruz & Buellton:

Lucia Lodge & Res.

50. Anchor Steam (bottle)

Firestone Walker Brewery:

51. Pale 31

52. DBA

53. Union Jack

54. Robust Porter

55. Honey Blond

56. Red Nectar

Spikes, San Luis Obispo:

57. Green Flash Imperial IPA

Taproom at Firestone Walker Brewing Co:

58. Hamp Ale (brown ale)

59. IPA (Union jack)

60. Double Jacks

To be continued…