Holiday Hours!

Holiday Hours:
Friday 12/24 Christmas Eve: 10am-1pm
Saturday 12/25: CLOSED for Christmas
Sunday 12/26: 11am-9pm
Friday 12/31 New Years Eve: 2pm-9pm
Saturday 1/1: CLOSED for New Year's Day
Sunday 1/2: 11am-9pm

Hope you have a GREAT Holiday Season!

Holiday Craft Fair this Saturday!

We're hosting our third annual Holiday Craft Fair at the brewery Saturday, December 11th from 1-5 pm. Jewerly, ornaments, paintings, photography, knitted, sewn pieces, baked goods, and..... BEER! Buy hand-crafted for the holidays! Stop by and shop on your way to or from the Carpinteria Holiday Spirit Parade.

Out Fri. 10/29: Cask Conditioned Pumpkin Ale!!!

A quick note from the cellar, we will be rolling out a cask of Pumpkin Ale for the Halloween weekend! Cask conditioned pumpkin ale is a combination of light unfiltered ale spiked with a dose of real pumpkin and spices, it weighs in at 5% ABV and 20 IBUs. Every autumn this beer is a tasting room favorite, and since supplies are limited, we expect to sell out rather quick. So, swing by the brewery Friday and sample a glass with us! Cheers -IBC

OUT TODAY: BOURBON BARREL AGED BIG ISLAND!

Today we are proud to announce the release of our newest beer, the Bourbon Barrel Aged Big Island. As many of you know, Big Island is our spring seasonal, a big, hopped up Imperial Pale Ale, 10 % ABV 101 IBU. We have been carefully aging this year's batch in a 55 gal bourbon barrel for over six months, creating a myriad of flavors from vanilla and coconut oak influences, to, of course, Bourbon whiskey flavors too! This beer is an extremely limited release, and also just won a gold medal (Barrel Aged Strong Beer Category) at the 2010 GABF! So swing in to the brewery and grab a bottle, or two, today! Cheers -IBC

THIS WEEKEND 10/1-10/3: AVOCADO FEST & CASK ALE!

Big news here at the brewery, this weekend is the annual Carpinteria Avocado Festival! As tradition, we will be pouring copious amounts of our fall seasonal Avocado Honey Ale. Brewed with 60 pounds of local Avocado honey, this beer is deep gold with a low bitterness, and mild honey aftertaste. Always a crowd pleaser, Avocado Honey Ale weighs in at 5.2% ABV and 19 IBU. In addition, we will be releasing a cask of our Fresh Hop Harvest Ale, dry hopped with local "wet" hops. Harvest Ale is an Irish Red style ale featuring a balance between malt and hops. It is a deep copper-ruby ale with 5.6% ABV and 29 IBU. So swing by the festival, grab some world famous guacamole of avocado ice cream and join us for a pint. Cheers! -IBC

GABF UPDATE: IBC WINS GOLD!!!!

This just in from the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO, BOURBON BARREL AGED BIG ISLAND WINS GOLD!!! That's right, our barrel aged Imperial IPA received top honors in the barrel aged strong beer category, a highly competitive and sought-after category. We are planning a small run of bottles, probably to be released sometime in mid to late October! Till then...CHEERS!

8/6/10 FIRST FRIDAY CASK: OAK AGED BIG ISLAND!

For this months First Friday celebration we will be rolling out the last cask of this year's BIG ISLAND IMPERIAL PALE ALE! This special cask has been lovingly aged on American Oak for the last six months, lending a complex depth of flavor not usually found in most beer. This mighty beverage (weighing in at near 10% ABV and over 100 IBUs) is always a crowd pleaser, so come sample a glass Friday, we expect it to go fast! Cheers -IBC

First Friday Cask: (Oaked) Christmas In July!!!

We here at the brewery are excited about this month's First Friday Cask Ale: Oak Aged Holiday Helper! You heard right, we are pulling out the last of our 2009 vintage Holiday Ale which has been meticulously aged on French Oak chips for over 7 months! As well as being cask conditioned (unfiltered and full of live yeast, lightly carbonated), Holiday Helper is a dark black ale featuring large amounts of caramel and chocolate malt which are balanced with the complex flavors associated with oak-aging. Weighing in at 9.2% ABV and 70+ IBU Holiday Helper is a real treat in the summer, swing on by and try some as it is sure to sell out quick! Cheers -IBC

First Friday Cask Ale: Triple Dry Hopped IPA 6/4/10!

Down here at the brewery we are excited about the upcoming Carpinteria First Friday celebration and the release of our next cask conditioned ale, a triple dry hopped IPA! This cask ale is unfiltered, features a naturally light carbonation, and in the British tradition, is served at ambient/cellar temperature. The flavor profile features a big Cascade and Columbus hop bitterness and flavor, along with the citrus inspired aroma of additional Cascade hops. Furthermore, the hoppy goodness is balanced by a complex malt bill featuring heirloom Maris Otter barley. Cask IPA clocks in at 61 IBUs and 6.3% ABV. Sounds like a tasty brew... see you Friday for a first taste!

Coming Friday 5/7/10: Cask Conditioned BIG ISLAND!

This month's First Friday Celebration is just around the corner, and we are planning on rolling out a reserve cask of our celebrated Imperial Ale THE BIG ISLAND! Big Island, our annual spring seasonal, has been delicately aged in our cask for the last three months, allowing the malty and hoppy flavors to blend and balance. In addition, this unfiltered and naturally carbonated ale weighs in with 9.4% ABV and a scale topping 101 IBUs of bitterness, complimented nicely by a huge and malty grain backbone. Big Island will be served in 12oz glasses for $6, $4 for our Island Nation members, and is expected to sell out quickly, as we only have an extremely limited quantity. Hope to see you on First Friday (or sooner)! Cheers! -IBC

OUT NOW: Amber Ale & return of the Porter

We have just re-released two beers on tap here at the brewery! One of our favorites, the Robust Porter is back on the nitrogen tap. Rich, dark, and backed up by a foamy, nitrogen-induced head this beer was a wintertime winner. We brewed another batch and hope to keep this darker ale on tap now year round! 6.0% ABV and 40 IBUs too! Amber Ale is a "sticke" Alt style beer, brewed and lagered in the German tradition. A little lighter in color and slightly hoppier than last year's Amber, but still a guaranteed winner. 6.0% ABV and 39 IBUs. Come in and grab a growler of both of these today, and look for screen-printed, limited release bottles of Porter to follow! CHEERS -IBC

Coming Friday 3/5: CASK VANILLA BEAN STOUT!

We are again rolling out a cask from the cellar for Carpinteria's first Friday celebration! This month's offering is our delicious Vanilla Bean Stout! The backbone of this ale is our esteemed winter beer, Starry Night Stout, a rich and roasty foreign style stout weighing in at 7% ABV and 50 IBUs. When fermentation is nearly complete, we rack the ale into a cask and add a whole vanilla bean. After a lengthy maturation process, the jet-black ale takes on the subtle flavors and nuances of the vanilla bean for a unique and delicious treat of a beer! In addition, we will be hosting a chocolate and beer pairing that night, featuring the chocolates of Chocolats du CaliBressan (one made with our original Starry Night Stout). We can't think of a better way to kick-off the weekend than with a combination of chocolate and vanilla stout! Hope to see you here. Cheers! -IBC

Out Valentine's Weekend: Passion Fruit Weiss!!!

Need a little passion in your life this Valentine's weekend? Why not swing by the tasting room and try our latest creation- Passion Fruit Weiss! When local farmer Peter Nichols told us he had some extra fruit-grade passion fruit lying around we decided to try adding them to a beer. We started by brewing our award winning Bavarian-style Hefeweizen, Island Weiss, known for its fruity, spicy and yeast oriented flavor. Next, we processed the fruit to just shy of 1 gallon of juice, pulp and seeds. After separating the juice into 2 five gallon fermenters, we added a vigorously fermenting batch of Weiss and let nature take its course! The beer finished out very dry, thanks to all that extra fermentable sugar in the fruit, but still packs a pronounced passion fruit aroma and flavor! In addition, the tangy citrus-like character of the fruit balances nicely with the earthy Weiss. We only have ten gallons of this unique brew, but we are planning on having it on tap through the weekend. Swing by and try a glass for yourself! Cheers -IBC

Become a fan of Island Brewing Company

We have started a facebook page for Island Brewing Company and are updating with all the latest news: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Island-Brewing-Company/401320460081. Become a fan and you will be among the first to know about special events and new beers.
Cheers!

ON TAP NOW: Big Island & Little Island.

Along with everything else going on at the brewery we have also just released our first spring seasonals the Big Island (IIPA/Barleywine) and Little Island (Small/Pub Ale). Big Island is a huge hop bomb and malty monster, bordering the line between a Double IPA and American Barleywine. It weighs in at 9.6% ABV and tops the charts at 101 IBU. In contrast, the Little Island is an easy drinking session beer made with the second runnings from the Big Island mash. Little Island is a amber/copper color and quite hoppy for a small beer, however the Irish yeast strain used keeps a little residual sweetness in the finish. Little Island clocks in at 3.8% ABV and around 30 IBUs. Bottles for the Big Island will be coming out soon, and both beers are available on tap, so come try them today!

Bourbon Barrell Jubilee Bottles!

We are proud to announce the release our newest offering here at the brewery: Bourbon Barrel-aged Jubilee! This ale is an extremely limited release, only 275 bottles, each hand signed and individually numbered by brewmaster Paul Wright! In addition, this beer was brewed to our original award winning Jubilee recipe and then aged in a freshly emptied Bourbon barrel from the Heaven Hills Distillery. The barrels were filled on June 30, 2009, and over the past six months have picked up some amazing flavor from the oak. Vanilla, coconut, molasses all combine with the malty (7.2%ABV) goodness of Jubilee to create one unforgettable and special ale. We are only selling these bottles at the tasting room for a price of $15 + tax and CRV. They are moving fast, so swing in and grab a bottle (or two, they make great gifts!) today!

First Friday Cask IPA

For this month's first Friday we will be rolling out another cask of real ale! This months little creation is a triple dry-hopped Island Pale Ale (IPA). In addition to the double dry-hopping process our regular IPA goes through this cask ale was dosed again with a generous amount of aromatic Cascade hops, imparting a citrusy aroma. Along with the aroma hop addition, a pronounced bitterness and a balanced malty backbone round out the flavor profile of this beer. Also, since this is a true "real ale" it is served unfiltered, naturally carbonated, served at ambient temperature and the flavor is sublime. Swing in Friday, as these casks tend to sell out in a single night. Cheers -IBC