Brews in the News Continued from Page 4


Lager (Indigenous Beer category); this spring seasonal is brewed with an addition of glow- ing hot granite after the initial boil, causing a secondary “super boil.” Check out the behind- the-scenes video: www.lostabbey.com/making- of-hot-rocks-lager/. Santee brewing company Manzanita used a similar process for their 2011 National Homebrewers Conference Pro-Am beer and filmed it with time lapse photography; search “Brewing at Manzanita Brewing Company” on YouTube to view the clip. Rock Bottom San Diego, located in the Gaslamp Quarter down- town edged out a Colorado-based Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurant to earn a silver medal for its Rock Bottom Brown Ale (English-Style Brown Ale). Rock Bottom La Jolla’s Moonlight Porter (Robust Porter category) medaled for the second year in a row as brewmaster/San Diego Brew- ers Guild President Marty Mendiola improved on last year’s silver by taking gold this year. Make sure to get your admission to the 2012 GABF (October 11th - 13th) early as tickets to the 2011 festival sold out in a record seven days.


Ballast Point’s specialty brewer Colby Chan- dler spiced things up for Small Bar’s special small plate pairing event on October 20th. Lime/ ginger/Szechuan peppercorn-spiced Wahoo Wheat, habanero-spiced Piper Down Scottish Ale, and cocoa nib/chipotle-spiced Black Marlin


View from Toronado’s first ever Trappist Beer Dinner held on October 9th


included beef carpaccio with caper aioli, pork belly served with saffron risotto asparagus, and more. All the photos are on our Facebook page, facebook.com/westcoastersd. The Lodge at Torrey Pines featured Karl Strauss Brew- ing Co. with five paired courses for its monthly craft beer dinner series, while the Stone Brew- ing World Bistro & Gardens held another in- stallment of the aptly-named FRESH! Dinner, which features ingredients procured the same day from local sources along with a beer poured directory from one of the fermenter tanks. Coro- nado Brewing Company and neighbors Saiko Sushi also held a six-course beer dinner featur- ing unique varieties of sushi.


El Cajon Brewing Company opened its doors for a soft opening late October. On tap were four house beers: McFadden’s Stout, El Cajones IPA, Shady Lane Pale Ale, ECBC Belgian Ale. The remaining 36 taps were still being filled, howev- er the opening draft list had plenty of great beer. We’re going to give them a month or so to work through their shakedown period, then we’ll give it our official 2 cents. ECBC is located at 10 N. Magnolia Ave. in El Cajon.


Colby Chandler of Ballast Point brings a bit of spice to his beer


Porter accompanied the Szechuan shrimp, Ja- maican jerk lamb lollipop, and Mexican mocha cheesecake, respectively. This event was unique as it illustrated two growing trends: beers in- fused with peppers and small plates, low-priced beer dinners.


Oktoberfest fever hit San Diego in full force over four days in mid-October. On the 13th Bal- last Point Rocktoberfest debuted alongside the brewery’s other European-style lagers in Scripps Ranch before making another appearance at Downtown Johnny Brown’s Oktoberfest party the next day. On Saturday the 15th Hess Brewing Festivüs Düsseldorf Altbier was released with a tasting room party, Blind Lady Ale House’s two-day BLAHktoberfest began with traditional 1L steins, and local event hosters BeerNerdz held an Oktoberfest-themed blind tasting at The Beer Co. in downtown San Diego. So, which beer won in the BeerNerdz fan vote? Spaten Ok- toberfest, the original Oktoberfest beer.


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Multi-course beer dinners held their own in October. North Park beer bar Toronado hosted their first beer dinner both admirably and ambi- tiously, showcasing beers from all seven of the beer-producing Trappist monasteries (Bières de Chimay, Brasserie d’Orval, Brasserie de Rochefort, Brouwerij der Trappisten van West- malle, Brouwerij Westvleteren, Brouwerij der Sint-Benedictusabdij de Achelse Kluis [Achel], and Brouwerij de Koningshoeven [La Trappe]) alongside pairings from Chef Nate Soroko that


The highly anticipated Tiger!Tiger! opened its doors for an “ultra soft” opening on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. The opening draft beer selection was admirable, and we’re positive it will remain so. The self-described tavern is still developing much of its personality, however we love what we see so far. Our tip: enjoy a beer and a sand- wich on the smoke-free patio on El Cajon Blvd. while watching the world go by. Check it out at 3025 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego, CA 92104 - hours are Tuesday-Sunday, 5p.m.-midnight.


Tiger!Tiger! held its soft opening late October


The World Beer Cup, “the most prestigious beer competition in the world,” will be held dur- ing the Craft Brewers Conference May 2-5, 2012 here in San Diego. Registration for beers is open until December 6th or capacity is reached. While neither event is open to the public, both serve as a lightning rod for the best of the best in the industry. You can expect to see industry greats at all the local hotspots, and we’re keep- ing watch for any special brewery events.


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