Since eating and drinking are so closely related to cooking, I figured this would be the place for this. If not, please move it to a better place.
Alright, this weekend was the best two days for beer I've ever had in my entire life! My fiance and I went to San Diego for my birthday, and it was awesome! Yesterday, we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park (where the serve Stone Pale Ale) and spent most of the day there. Afterwards, we went to Holiday Wine Cellar in Esconditio. Picked up some real good stuff there that I can't find in the Inland Empire, details to follow. After a short stint at our hotel, we headed off into San Diego and went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for dinner. With little to choose from in beer, I got a Pinot Grigio with my lobster bisque and a Cabernet with my Ribeye. After dinner, we went back to the hotel, she got a cocktail and I got the worst beer of the weekend, a pint of flat Pyramid Hefeweizen.
In terms of beer, today started off much better than yesterday finished. My fiance surprised me with a Stone Ruination IPA t-shirt for me and an Imperial Russian Stout shirt for her to wear to Stone later that day. Around 10AM went to a very large BevMo location in San Diego and picked up more good stuff. Missed out on the 1.5L bottles of Chimay Blue, but found everything else I was hoping for. We then headed off to Stone Brewery, much earlier than originally expected. We arrived at about noon, and the first tour wasn't until 2PM, so I got a glass of Stone XI Anniversary and we sat down for bunch. We split the BBQ Duck Tacos and the Buffalo Burger along with a side of Arrogant Bastard onion rings. I got a pint of Oaked Arrogant Bastard, as well as a real beer float with vanilla ice cream and Stone Smoked Porter. We both dug into the real beer float, and after we were done we walked through the garden outside the bistro.
We browsed the gift shop while we waited for the Brewery tour to depart. Picked up some Arrogant Bastard hot sauces and a Smoked Porter BBQ sauce! Yum! The tour guide showed up and got everyone together and into the brewery. Very cool place, very clean, and very nice looking. They talked about what is in their beer (no adjuncts of course), how beer is made, showed off all the cool equipment, and showed us all the packaging equipment. At the end, we got to drool over all the vast stores of beer in the cooler just before we got to try some Stone brews. We had Stone Pale Ale, Smoked Porter, IPA, and Arrogant Bastard Ale, in that order, from the growler filling bar inside the gift shop. Good stuff if you can find it in the bottle, but even better on tap!
After that, it was time for our real reservation at the Bistro. We hadn't planned on eating their twice in one day, but I'm glad we did! We started with the braised beef hand rolls (yes, like sushi!) and a bowl of Ruination IPA garlic and cheese soup. The soup was VERY bitter as I was warned, but very good anyway. The hand rolls were incredible, I only wish there were more! Having had my fill of strong, hoppy beers for the day, I got a set of four tasters: Paulaner Pils, Avery White Rascal, and a Hard Apple Cider and another Pils that I can't recall the makers of. Great brews, especially the Paulaner Pils. For dinner, we had their HUGE steak for two with the cous cous, green beans with mushrooms, and Indian style okra. Not quite Ruth's Chris caliber steak, but an incredible meal at half the price! The dinner was capped off with another float, root beer this time.
After that, we hit the road for home. After we got back, I unloaded my beer haul and took this pic:
From Left to Right:
Brewery Bosteels Pauwel Kwak Belgian Strong Pale Ale
Cobra Krait Prestige Champagne Lager
Lost Abbey Judgment Day Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Sprecher Abbey Tripel
Pyramid Imperial Hefewizen (x2)
Avery Maharajah Imperial IPA (x2)
Port Brewing Hop 15 (x2)
St. Bernardus Belgian Tripel
Victory V-12 Belgian Quadrupel
St. Bernardus Abt 12 (60th Anniversary Limited)
Brewery Bosteels DeuS Brut Des Flandres 2002 Champagne Lager
I have come home a bit fatter, lighter in the wallet, and with the biggest grin on my face EVER! A good weekend for beer to say the least!
EDIT: Got more pics uploaded from the trip:
Arin and Me:
Enjoying a glass of Oaked Arrogant Bastard in the Garden:
My beautiful babe in a Stone Imperial Russian Stout shirt:
The start of our tour and tour guide:
Fermenting tanks:
Bottling line:
Lots of beer ready to ship:
The cold case, including someintersting looking casks:
