So, firstly, I intended to take a moment every day at CBC to put together a blog post and give some updates on what’s going on in San Diego…what events, crazy tappings and all the beer geekery going on throughout the city. What I soon realized… NO TIME

From the moment you wake up to the moment you put your head down it’s all beer. Whether you’re talking, presenting, listening, BSing, drinking… everything is beer, as no surprise. The craziest part as a first time attendee to the CBC are all of the famous beer faces walking around. Look to your left “Oh hey it’s Sam Calgione and oh check it out it’s Garrett Oliver and Greg Koch”… one after another these guys just pop up everywhere. It takes very little time to realize that they are just normal people, at a conference, handling their business; a far cry from all of the pandemonium portrayed on beer blogs and tv shows. I still believe it’d make a great bingo game for years to come, “Beer Geek Celebrity Bingo”.

Aside from the meetings with brewers, seminars and all the business talk (stuff there is probably little interest in) there was some crazy stuff going on. Let me preface by saying there was a lot of work being done and it wasn’t all about the following events but, that being said, there were some seriously ridiculous beer events all week . We only saw a small handful of all of the ones scattered around the area . Some highlights:

Day 1: Craft Beer Spot Hopping, starting at Pizza Port in Ocean Beach, then on to Lost Abbey, Green Flash and then Saison Du BUFFet at Stone…. Needless to say, a long day filled with amazing beers. The sheer amount of great beer at all locations is mind blowing. The fact that each Pizza Port brews it’s own stuff and all win awards for a handful is impressive. Not only are their beers top notch but their draft lists are filled with some of the most sought after, unique, craft beers you can find. Lost Abbey… beer geek heaven. Their tasting room is smack dab in their brewery. While you’re sipping a beer you have to watch out for forklifts passing by. All styles of beer,  sours, hoppy, Barrel Aging room, the smell of the mash and hops in the air… need I say more? Stone and Green Flash, were just as impressive both massive! Just about every brewery we visited was brewing around the clock which just speaks to how much these guys are trying to crank out enough beer for the fanatics around the country.

Day 2: A visit to Coronado Brewing, Clem’s bottle shop (a side trip not related to work) Reception at the San Diego Zoo and Dogfish Head Release party/event for Positive Contact with live performance from Dan the Automator.  A quick breakdown: Coronado Brewing, what an awesome location. It’s truly a testament to their passion for beer that they can crank out what they do with the limited space they have. Keep an eye out for their new packaging which we got a sneak peak at. Reception at the Zoo, All the Southern California brewers out sampling their product, my pallet is still recovering from the onslaught of alpha acids. And of course the Dogfish Head event was a BLAST. Great food paired up with a handful of different Dogfish Head Beers like Noble Rot, Black and Blue, 120-Minute IPA, Shelter Pale Ale… the list goes on. But Dan the Automator tore it up for over an hour blasting out some great music. There was some really, really horrible dancing going on (to say the least).

Day 3: Meeting after meeting and then a dinner in the heart of San Diego in the Gas Lamp District with our friends over at Bitburger.  I have to say thanks for their generosity as it was quite the decadent meal paired up with some Bitburger and Kostrizer. Then we went back to the hotel. You might be saying to yourself “bummer” or “lame” or “How could you?”. Well you’d be wrong. Through the week they had been piecing together two keg coolers in a courtyard area of the hotel. These are like no temporary keg coolers you’ve ever seen. Over 160 local craft beers on tap and all available to try. They were so closely positioned next to one another that they have to use a numerical system to identify the beers. All generic tap handles with a number. Corresponding tap indexes, listing their numbers were floating around. Aside from the sheer ridiculousness of how good many of these beers were (some not so much), I was truly impressed with how pleasant everyone was waiting for their beers. Even in the crowded areas in front of the taps, people were waiting patiently, talking in line to strangers, saying “excuse me” as they passed by and all in all acting way more polite than you’d normally see at a beer event of this magnitude. What I am trying to get at is that, the craft beer community is a great group of people. Whether people were visiting from Maine or from down the street, everyone was getting along great and enjoying all of the awesome beers. Cheers to all those folks!

Day 4: Homeward Bound

So without writing a novel, I figured the best way to explain the constant barrage of new people, beers, events etc. is to let my Iphone do the talking (not Siri). Check out the youtube clip to the right to see the raw footage and random shots that give you a glimpse into what that week was like. It may not be pretty but it’s truly a first timer, first person perspective of CBC. I can assure you that one thing was captured perfectly the constant dizziness of how much stuff is going on that week. SO...until next year (hopefully)!

If you have any questions about this event, feel free to post a comment below and we will be happy to answer.