Here's something you might be interested in.
The Del Mar Fair (that's right...I said it...this native doesn't have to get on the San Diego County Fair bus) features a number of competitions where blue ribbons and their lesser hued cousins are pinned to the chests of worthy recipients. Of them all, of course, my favorite is the brewing competition that accompanies the San Diego International Beer Festival, a fermentable free-for-all featuring 350-plus beers from 150 breweries located all over the world.
For the past five years, the SDIBF has provided a good and affordable ($32 for unlimited tasting over four hours) opportunity to sample a wide array of brews, from hopped up Cali IPAs and Belgian tripels to German dopplebocks and English-style bitters on to ales and lagers from lesser represented countries like big up-and-comer New Zealand.
Even with numerous literally world class contendors vying for top dog in nearly 50 style categories, SD suds rose to the top in nearly half of them, capturing azure in 11 of them. The following is the total list of ribbon-worthy brews.
American Style Amber/Red Ale 1. Green Flash Hop Head Red 3. Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale
Bold Stout 1. Pizza Port Ocean Beach A.B.L.E. American Stout
British Style Strong Ale 1. AleSmith Decadence 2010 English Old Ale
English Style Brown Ale 1. Pizza Port Ocean Beach Skidmark Brown Ale 2. Rock Bottom San Diego Brown Ale 3. Pizza Port Carlsbad Good Grief Brown
Golden or Blonde Beer: 1. TailGate Beer Blacktop Blonde
Imperial India Pale Ale 1. Pizza Port Carlsbad Poor Man’s IPA
Imperial Red Ale 1. Port Brewing Shark Attack
Irish Style Red Ale 1. Karl Strauss Red Trolley Ale
Sour Ale 1. The Lost Abbey Red Poppy 3. The Lost Abbey Amazing Grace
Specialty Beer 1. The Lost Abbey Veritas 008
Unique Ingredient Beer 1. Stone/Dogfish Head/Victory Saison du BUFF 3. Ballast Point Victory at Sea (3rd Place)
American Style Brown Ale 2. Port Brewing Hot Rocks Lager
American Style India Pale Ale 2. Pizza Port Carlsbad Welcome Back Wipeout 3. Alpine Beer Duet
Barley Wine 2. AleSmith Old Numbskull
European Lager 2. Pizza Port Carlsbad Murphy’s Lawger
French & Belgian Style Ale 2. Green Flash Summer Saison
German Style Ale 2. Mission Blonde
German Style Weiss 2. Pizza Port Solana Beach Hot Spots Hefeweizen
Porter 2. Rock Bottom La Jolla Moonlight Porter
Rye Beer 2. Alpine Beer Nelson IPA
Belgian Style Pale Strong Ale 3. The Lost Abbey Inferno Ale
English Style Pale Ale 3. Ballast Point Yellowtail Pale Ale
Scottish Style Ale 3. Oggi’s Pizza & Brewing McGarvey’s Scottish Ale
The Del Mar Fair (that's right...I said it...this native doesn't have to get on the San Diego County Fair bus) features a number of competitions where blue ribbons and their lesser hued cousins are pinned to the chests of worthy recipients. Of them all, of course, my favorite is the brewing competition that accompanies the San Diego International Beer Festival, a fermentable free-for-all featuring 350-plus beers from 150 breweries located all over the world.
For the past five years, the SDIBF has provided a good and affordable ($32 for unlimited tasting over four hours) opportunity to sample a wide array of brews, from hopped up Cali IPAs and Belgian tripels to German dopplebocks and English-style bitters on to ales and lagers from lesser represented countries like big up-and-comer New Zealand.
Even with numerous literally world class contendors vying for top dog in nearly 50 style categories, SD suds rose to the top in nearly half of them, capturing azure in 11 of them. The following is the total list of ribbon-worthy brews.
American Style Amber/Red Ale 1. Green Flash Hop Head Red 3. Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale
Bold Stout 1. Pizza Port Ocean Beach A.B.L.E. American Stout
British Style Strong Ale 1. AleSmith Decadence 2010 English Old Ale
English Style Brown Ale 1. Pizza Port Ocean Beach Skidmark Brown Ale 2. Rock Bottom San Diego Brown Ale 3. Pizza Port Carlsbad Good Grief Brown
Golden or Blonde Beer: 1. TailGate Beer Blacktop Blonde
Imperial India Pale Ale 1. Pizza Port Carlsbad Poor Man’s IPA
Imperial Red Ale 1. Port Brewing Shark Attack
Irish Style Red Ale 1. Karl Strauss Red Trolley Ale
Sour Ale 1. The Lost Abbey Red Poppy 3. The Lost Abbey Amazing Grace
Specialty Beer 1. The Lost Abbey Veritas 008
Unique Ingredient Beer 1. Stone/Dogfish Head/Victory Saison du BUFF 3. Ballast Point Victory at Sea (3rd Place)
American Style Brown Ale 2. Port Brewing Hot Rocks Lager
American Style India Pale Ale 2. Pizza Port Carlsbad Welcome Back Wipeout 3. Alpine Beer Duet
Barley Wine 2. AleSmith Old Numbskull
European Lager 2. Pizza Port Carlsbad Murphy’s Lawger
French & Belgian Style Ale 2. Green Flash Summer Saison
German Style Ale 2. Mission Blonde
German Style Weiss 2. Pizza Port Solana Beach Hot Spots Hefeweizen
Porter 2. Rock Bottom La Jolla Moonlight Porter
Rye Beer 2. Alpine Beer Nelson IPA
Belgian Style Pale Strong Ale 3. The Lost Abbey Inferno Ale
English Style Pale Ale 3. Ballast Point Yellowtail Pale Ale
Scottish Style Ale 3. Oggi’s Pizza & Brewing McGarvey’s Scottish Ale