The alarm clock went off way too early for a Saturday morning. Saturday morning? Isn’t it not supposed to do that on the weekend?

As much as I usually savor Saturday morning snoozing, I flipped the switch off and jumped out of bed, alert and excited for the day ahead of me. This was no ordinary Saturday.

The girl and I hopped in the car and drove to Culver City. We were meeting up with about 35 other craft beer fanatics at the Culver City Homebrew Supply Shop, home to the (in?)famous Pacific Gravity homebrew club. A chartered bus was waiting to take us down to Carlsbad, where the 11th Annual Pizza Port Real Ale Festival was set to commence.

This being my first road trip with PG, I wasn’t savvy to proper bus protocol. Is it poor form to drink beers when you’re on the way to a beer fest? I didn’t want to pull some huge rookie move and blow my taste buds before we even got through the gates.

When we hit the 405, a bottle of Reissdorf Kölsch was cracked, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. To draw an analogy to my 2nd favorite Microsoft Windows card game, Hearts had been broken. Coolers opened up and backpacks were unzipped, as bombers and 750s were uncapped and uncorked, and passed around the bus.

And this wasn’t just regular stuff from the store. People had brought their delicious homebrews, their recent trades from the East Coast, new releases that are hard to find, and their special reserves that have been squirreled away in closets for years. Highlights included an Affligem Noel from 2004, Avery 15, Penn Brewer’s Reserve St. Nikolaus Bock Bier, and Pizza Port Moon Lit Sessions Lager, which is made from the second runnings of the mash from Lost Abbey Serpent’s Stout.

It’s strange to have that delicious stouty taste in your lager, but overall, it’s very drinkable. Kind of a Serpent’s Stout Lite (I hope Tomme doesn’t read this, I doubt he’d want the word “Lite” in the same sentence with any of his beers).

The bus finally exited the freeway and we made our way down Carlsbad Village Drive. The event had just started, and there was a 20 minute line that extended down the street, way past the alley. Soon enough, though, we were in the gates, we grabbed our commemorative pint glasses and taster tickets, and we were off.

The lineup was stunning.

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