Beer Blog- Adam Parker
April 12, 2010- World Beer Cup 2010
San Diego Beer Winner's List
Category: Other Strong Beer, 44 entries
Silver: Green Flash Stout, Green Flash Brewery Co.
Category: Traditionally Brewed Beer, 47 entries
Gold: Fathom IPL, Ballast Point Brewing Co.
Silver: Got Rocks Lager, Port Brewing Co.
Category: Wood and Barrel Aged Beer, 32 entries
Gold: Bourbon Barrel Aged Piper Down, Ballast Point Brewing Co.
Category: Baltic Style Porter, 28 entries
Bronze: Token, Alpine Beer Co.
Category:Belgian Style Flanders/Oud Bruin or Oud Red Ale, 20 entries
Silver: Red Poppy, The Lost Abbey
Category: Belgian Style Pale Strong Ale, 33 entries
Silver: Revelations, Pizza Port Carlsbad
Category: Scotch Ale, 38 entries
Gold: Alesmith Wee Heavy, Alesmith Brewing Co.
Bronze: Reed's We Heave, Pizza Port Carlsbad
Category: South German Style Weizenbock, 27 entries
Bronze: Alesmith Decadence 2009, Alesmith Brewing Co.
Category: Irish Style Red Ale, 26 entries
Gold: Red Trolley Ale, Karl Strauss Brewing Co.
Bronze: Ragto Red, Rock Bottom Brewery
Category: Classic Irish Style Dry Stout, 22 entries
Silver: Port Truck Stout, Pizza Prt Carlsbad
Category: American Style Strong Pale Ale, 59 entries
Gold: O'Briens IPA, Alpine Beer Co.
Category: American Style India Pale Ale, 104 entries
Bronze: Duet, Alpine Beer Co.
Category: Imperial Red Ale, 32 Entries
Bronze: Shark Attack, Pizza Port Solana Beach
Category: American-Style Stout, 37 entries
Gold: Black Magic stout, Oggi's Pizza and Brewing Co.
Silver: Sticky Stout, Pizza Port Carlsbad
Category:International Pale Ale, 28 entries
Gold: Sculpin IPA, Ballast Point Brewing Co.
Brewers Association World Beer Cup 2010 Champion Brewery Small Brewing Company
Ballast Point Brewing Company, San Diego CA
Funny Category
American Style Specialty Lager
Gold: Boulevard Pilsner, Boulevard Co.
Silver: Mickey's Malt Liquor, Miller Brewing Co.
Bronze: Colt 45, Pabst Brewing Co.
March 2, 2010- Beer of the Month
Karl Strauss 21st Anniversary Ale
Now that Karl Strauss is 21, their palate has matured like a fine wine. So they created something unique with old vine Zinfandel grape juice added during fermentation to give this brew a subtle vinous quality. Belgian yeast imparts hints of dried fruit in the nose, while a big dose of Vienna and Caramel malts yields a dry warming finish. Aged a month on American oak to take the edge off, this is one to share with friends.
Stats
Alcohol by Volume: 10.2%
Color: 24 SRM
Bitterness: 28 IBU
February 26, 2010- A lil bit about Parker
My name's Adam, and I love beer. I didn't always- I used to think it was the drink of the hobo. Oddly enough I got my start in wine, which is actually a common tale amongst many of my beer contemporaries. Having an older brother with good tastes exposed me to good meat and drink at an early age (Drinking wine out of a plastic kids cup in the server station at the Olive Garden didn't hurt either). This love took me to a job as a wine specialist at Beverages & More and also as a waiter and bartender at the fine Italian joint, Il Fornaio. I actually became in charge of wine training while there, and my love and curiosity of wine only continued to grow.
As my passion of fine and rare wines grew, I also found myself drinking lots of good beer. I mean, LOTS of really freakin' good beer. Like many, I was exposed to gateway craft brands like Samuel Adams and New Belgium. Yet after a time they became as mundane to me as Turning Leaf would be to Robert Parker. I craved toasted malts. I relished in the hop. I traded in the 32oz malt liquor for the 22oz imperial stout.
I still cherish wine above many things, and while I could still tell you up and down about rare Italian Barbaresco's and rattle off all 14 grapes in Chateauneuf du Pape (I'd probably only get to 9 of them, tell true), I have come to a profound realization: I love beer. It is a beverage of infinite possibilities, restrained only by the imagination and the will of the brewer. It's versatility with food pairings is unmatched by any beverage. It can be made anywhere in the world where there is thirst for good drink.
And above all things that I love about beer, it is this: There is one common thread between the homeless person on the street corner, the hard-hitting blue collar working man, and the richest executives on wall street; at the end of a hard day's labor, nothing is so coveted or so savored as that first sip of beer.
Quote:
"Milk is for babies- when you grow up you have to drink beer."
-Arnold Schwarzenegger