Hoptober Has Arrived... San Diego Beer Events

(It's been awhile since we've heard from my beer bloggers, but Charles made this nice little calendar of beer events for you. Personally, I would've gone with OctoBEER, but we know how those Southern California hopheads can be. I know there are a lot of Octoberfest events in San Diego that don't fall into the craft beer world, but they can be pretty fun, too, so I've added those with italics, lest you think Charles would be anywhere near yellow fizzy beer. Thanks to Charles for the post! If we missed any beer-centric events, feel free to let us know!)

Ah, October. It’s that time of the year again where the pumpkin flavored beers start hitting the shelves, where you can come home from a long day of work and pop open that pumpkin beer, where you can bundle up on the couch to catch up on your DVR’d episodes of the Walking Dead and Dexter. Sounds nice and cozy, right? Well, it would be if there wasn’t triple digit weather in October. Pumpkin beer is almost a bad choice in this heat. Well, I’m not going to let it stop me, and you shouldn’t too!

With San Diego Beer Week just about a month away, there are plenty of events leading up to it throughout October that are sure to keep you thirsty for more craft beer! Here’s a list of what might be some of the best events going down this month!

Oct. 6th - 3rd Annual OktoberFest at Hamilton’s/Monkey Paw/Eleven/Small Bar

Oct. 6th - Taste of North Park - 53 Tastes within 1 Day in North Park

Oct. 6-8 - La Mesa Oktoberfest

Oct, 6-8 - German-American Societies of San Diego Oktoberfest
Oct. 7th - Stone’s Pour It Black Festival featuring over 100 Dark Brews from around the Planet

Oct. 14th - Belgian Beer Dinner at O’Brien’s Pub

Oct. 15th - The First 70 Free Movie Screening at Green Flash Brewing

Oct. 19-21st - Wet Hop Festival at O’Brien’s Pub

Oct. 19-21st - 6th Anniversary Party for Hamilton’s Tavern - TBA

Oct. 20th - OktoberHess brought to you by Hess Brewing Company

Oct. 20th - Rocktoberfest at Birch North Park Theatre Parking Lot Music&Beer!

Oct. 31st - Second Annual Halloween Party hosted by Hess Brewing Company

All of October - Alpine Brewing Releases their One True Seasonal Beer “Ichabod 2012”

Ok, I know the last one really isn’t an event, but it’s one of my favorite breweries down here and if you haven’t been to their brewpub, you are missing out. That’s all I got for now but if there are any other honorable mentions, post it in the comments section and we’ll make sure to update the masses!

Cheers,
Charles Eck

Oktoberfest 2009

I'm jumping all over the place, but I've got tons of pictures that I want to post and they're lacking any organization, so that's the way it goes sometimes. I've been spending a lot of time with family lately, the new baby accounts for that but perhaps also a bit of fall nesting. So it was Sunday when my parents called and said we were going to Oktoberfest at the German American Society in El Cajon.

Always the best Oktoberfest for it's authenticity, we arrived early enough to get a whole table, enjoy some tasty German beers, some giant bavarian pretzels, and just enjoy the festive vibe. Nadia was there, at 6 days I'm pretty sure she was the youngest in attendance. I loved the lady who saw me drinking a beer and asking if I was nursing. Ha. The obvious benefit of being an aunt. It was also great running into some friends...Blaine and Jill have a daughter named Josephine (with leiderhosen) just a little younger than Johanna, so they enjoyed the oom-pah-pah music on the dancefloor together.



Family time ended (at least my family left), but Jake came to hang out, as did Kristian and Kerrie and friends, so we ended up staying at Oktoberfest for some time.







After Oktoberfest, Jake told me about a party for Craig's birthday, so we ended up at Crown Point celebrating and enjoying a desolate beach to ourselves as everyone busted out guitars and bongos for some singalong action. Good times for sure. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.

Overdue Recap: Tioli's, Toronado, Radio Room, Oktoberfest 10.4-5.08

After the James/Anthology/Bar Pink/U-31/After Party marathon night, I was pretty useless on Saturday, but after lazing around all day, I was looking forward to a chill night. Click 'keep on reading' for my adventures at Crazy Burger, Toronado, The Radio Room, and Oktoberfest.



Kris was out of town for my birthday, so she and Petro offered to take me to dinner. I am almost embarrassed to say I'd never been to Tioli's Crazy Burger, but I live across the street from Burger Lounge and Ponce's has a pretty damn good burger, too, so when I need my fix, I don't go far. Man, had I been missing out. I mean, I definitely have several favorites around town...Rocky's for the "you can have whatever you want as long as it's a hamburger or cheeseburger" attitude, Burger Lounge for the false sense of healthy eating (with their grass-fed beef), greasy spots like Canada Steakburger, or even the Carl's six-dollar burger when you're hoping for a post meal heart attack. But Crazy Burger easily made it to my top 5. I like the counter ordering, the selection of burgers (and exotic meats). I went with the Dansk because I'm a fan of all bleu cheese. It was delicious.

After our food and washing it all down with our beers, we decided to hit Toronado. We bumped into a couple guys from Apes of Wrath and chilled out drinking the beer off their great list. I've heard complaints that the place is too bright, but it's supposed to be a drinking hall, not a nightclub hotspot and I think they have it right. I am a fan of Russian River, so I stuck with their selections, though I think by the end of the night I had each style twice.



Alex and Francine joined us later and it made for a very fun evening. Alex made a point to only order beers served in distinct glasses, avoiding anything in a standard pint.



As it approached 11, maybe even close to midnight, Petro and Kris called it a night and dropped me off at the Radio Room, where I intended to see the return of Lualta who only recently started playing again. The singer, Michael, is a good friend of mine from junior high and high school and it was his birthday, so apparently they played first and I missed them, but I was able to see The Roman Spring.





It was a long night, so that's where mine ended. Got dropped off and called it a night.

Come Sunday morning, my mom called to see if I wanted to go to Oktoberfest in El Cajon. If someone offers to drive you to Oktoberfest, you do not say no. I really have nothing to say about Oktoberfest. You pretty much sit around, drink beer, meet fellow beer drinkers, sing along to beer drinking songs, eat ox and soft pretzels. Jake came out to meet us so he and I did a shot of Jaeger to compliment the beer, and I pretty much spent the afternoon fawning over my niece. It was pretty awesome.

More Things To Do This Weekend: Oktoberfest!!

Since it is officially October (or Rocktober as I keep reading EVERYWHERE), I thought I'd post some info about beer drinkers' second favorite time of year, next to St. Patrick's Day. And it lasts longer. So maybe it the favorite favorite? I don't know, but it's a good time.

So, this weekend is the La Mesa Village Oktoberfest celebration. I haven't been in a few years, mostly because the last time I attempted to make myself one of the 200,000 attendees, I was nearly impaled by a drunk person carrying a weathervane. Why people buy weathervanes in San Diego, I will never know, but for some reason they are a hot item at the La Mesa Oktoberfest.

Anyway, La Mesa Oktoberfest takes place this weekend, October 3-5:

Friday 11am-10pm
Saturday 11am-10pm
Sunday Noon-6pm

For more information, CLICK HERE. Do yourself a favor and take the trolley. Take the Orange Line and exit at the La Mesa Blvd. stop.

The other big Oktoberfest celebration, and the one I prefer, is at the German American Club in El Cajon. Why do I prefer it? Well, for one, there aren't 200,000 people there. There is no street fair though there are usually a handful of people selling crafts. This is a pure beer garden with a German band, German food, and German people of all ages mostly just hanging out, socializing, dancing, and drinking good beer. I'm not German, but when you're there, everyone is German.

The event takes place at the German Club at 1017 S. Mollison Ave. El Cajon, CA 92020.
And it's so awesome because it lasts 2 fabulous weekends.

Friday- October 3 & October 6: 3-10pm
Saturday- October 4 & October 7: Noon-10pm
Sunday- October 5 & October 7: Noon-9pm

For more information, CLICK HERE. There is a nominal fee, usually $3-$5 for entry. Obviously the beer drinking is 21+, but this is an all ages event.

Here's my post with pictures from last year.

German American Societies Oktoberfest

Sunday I was still feeling a bit off, but my family picked me up and we headed to the German American Societies Oktoberfest in El Cajon. Though maybe there is some debate about "the best" Oktoberfest in San Diego, to me there is no question. As long as I can remember, my family would load up and head to La Mesa to get caught in the crowd and get trampled by people carrying weathervanes (seriously, people, why the hell do you need a 5 foot tall metal weathervane with a chicken on top in San Diego?) I even think the first time I ever caught a buzz was in La Mesa, but that was back in the days when the beer was sold by the pitcher (that you got to keep) and my parents' softball teammates would pour me a beer when my parents weren't looking. And then there's the chicken dance...of course. But really, the crowds, the traffic...I just haven't had any desire to go there once we made the decision to start doing El Cajon. There, all you've got is a beer garden. And this year, we didn't even drink any beer, but the atmosphere of goofy San Diegans in chicken hats and liederhosen was still all the fun it always is.

I don't know what this song was called, but the introduction was that "this one day will be even bigger than YMCA". While that may not be true, it kills the chicken dance.

That guy in the chicken hat is the mayor of El Cajon. Imagine Jer in one of those!

And of course, this baby has been everywhere and would actually only cry when the music stopped. We stayed a couple hours but took in the good times, good music, and I got to dance with my niece. Wait...is she flipping me off?

After the fest, I chilled around home for a bit to finish up my column before heading out to the Casbah for what ended up being an amazing night. I'll get to that in a minute.