Avery Fourteen

Avery brewing is a very nice little brewer from the big Colorado. I have tasted and enjoyed many of their brews in the past. From the big bottle Collaboration ale, to the small but powerful Mephistopheles, they are all unique beers. This particular beer is a celebration of their 14th anniversary. The last few years they have been putting out anniversary beers, the 12th was a Saison, the 13th was Weizen Dopplebock. The style this time around? They leave it up to the drinker to decide.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at a potent 9.46% alcohol and 60 IBU's, a note on the label says that its dry hopped. Pours a rich dark brown with a cappuccino colored head. Molasses, raisins, hops in the nose. The mouth has notes of coffee and chocolate covered raisins and finally a note of figs up front with bitter hops showing up near the end. It keeps the beer smooth with a thick mouthfeel. A very rich beer, you can feel the hops, but they aren't overpowering the malty sweetness up front helps balance it out. The over all alcohol while not noted in the taste is definitely felt as you drink it. A very nice beer. One that I would grade a B+. Now as for the style, while it definitely doesn't fit any one style the nearest I could come to is an ultra hoppy Scottish Ale (maybe an ISA - Imperial Scotch Ale?). To each its own. The folks over at BA call it a strong Dark Belgian Ale. To each their own I guess.

Quick Hits: Beer around the Web

Its a lazy Saturday morning, and I have been searching out some interesting articles on that which we love, Beer!

The Capital Times from Madison Wisconsin has a great write up on Lucy Saunders new book, "Grilling with Beer". From the read it sounds like a great book, that focus's on the facts that Beer pairs so much better with foods than wine. One more book that tries to beat back the falsehood of food and wine pairings. From someone that loves food and beer, its irritating to me that when I go to a good restaurant (as I am planning on doing tonight to celebrate my fiance's birthday) I have very little to choose from when it comes to beer. Enough with the aside, back to the book. Sounds like a really good addition to any one's cookbook collection. For another review, head over to the trusted Brookston Bulletin where Jay did another review.

From Virginia comes yet another story of the government and neo-prohibitionists rearing their ugly heads. A fine dining establishment in Alexandria called Rustico has a new beer related item on its menu. A restaurant for beer lovers this place has nearly 300 beers on tap or in the bottle. The chef's new experiment is Beer Popsicle. Evidently this is a BIG NO-NO as the Virginia ABC says the chef’s summer treat may break regulations requiring that “beer be served in its original container or served to the customer immediately once it’s poured.” This from a state that already has overly controlling alcohol laws I guess this shouldn't be surprising, just sad.

Last but not least a nice write up from Stan over at Appellation Beer in regards to Denver's own Great Divide Brewery and their new beer: Samurai. A good beer made with rice of all things. See adjuncts aren't all bad, you just have to use good ingredients.

North Coast Old Stock 2007

I am a big fan of North Coast Brewing from California. From their Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, to Brother Thelonious, that Belgian style beer that also supports great music. When I went to my local Central Market last week and saw their new Old Stock ale, I decided to pick it up. This is an Old ale that they brew every year, and its meant to be laid down and aged. I decided to go ahead and try one before laying any down to get a baseline for later comparison.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 11.7 and pours a cloudy reddish brown with a thin taupe colored head. The head quickly dissipates into a thin tight line that sticks around throughout. The nose is of sweet malt syrup, raisins, figs, espresso and chocolate. The mouth has notes of caramel, chocolate, espresso and raisins. A bit too much alcohol on the back end kind of kills the over all taste of the beer, and not surprisingly this beer needs some more time to mellow the alcohol flavors and let other's start to meld and shine through. Right now I'd have to give it a B-. We'll have to wait and see how it develops.

Shiner 98: Bavarian Amber

Shiner....that beer from the very small Texas town, made at the Spoetzl Brewery. They will turn 100 yrs old in 1909. To celebrate that momentous achievement they have over the course of the last few years brewed some special beers. These beers are count up from Shiner 96, brewed a two years ago, to Shiner 97, and now the release of Shiner 98. Their first beer was a very pleasing marzen beer, the second was a very good Black Lager that I reviewed last year. As stated in the title this beer is a Bavarian Amber, a style similar if not the same as an Amber Lager.
The Beer: The beer pours a bright orange color with a thin, weak looking white head. The head started relatively week, and ended that way as well, quickly disappearing. The nose was of both pale and caramel malts, some slight toastiness, little to know floral scents. The mouth was smooth, effervescent, a bit of a caramel sweetness. A very mild beer, maybe too mild as there wasn't any pop. No vibrancy that I associate with a good lager. Just there, it sat in your mouth. After the first two special brews by Shiner, this was definitely a disappointment. A grade of C for this one only because there was nothing overly offensive about the brew. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Happy Birthday Saint Arnolds

This past weekend the folks over at Saint Arnold's celebrated their thirteenth anniversary. It was an absolutely great time, full of great BBQ from local Goode Company (love that jalapeno bread), and of course great beer. After an hour or so of sipping on their fine Elissa IPA, and Lawnmower, I heard rumblings that they had opened up something special. Sneaking towards the front of the brewery I saw a small silver keg that the guys behind the bar were pouring half pints. When I finally made my way to the bar, I eagerly passed my pint glass to the tender, asking what this special elixir was. His reply made me giddy, it was their special Imperial Stout (a heftier version of their Winter Stout) aged in oak whiskey barrels. I had heard that they had made this, but since its only served at the brewery during special occasions had missed opportunities to taste it. It was a pretty amazing beer, full of espresso, cocoa, chocolate covered raisins, thick mouthfeel, with hints of vanilla and oak. A great beer. After having partaken in the beer, I ask Brock (owner of Saint Arnold's) if he minded taking me and a buddy around back to check out the Saint Arnold's Rolls (see pic above). Although I don't believe Brock's story how how they did the paint job (scrunched it up and tied rubber bands around it) it was nice to see the car. I also was able to get a semi small scoop from Brock. The next Divine Reserve will be an Imperial Stout (hopefully of the same recipe used in the Whiskey aged version). All in all it was a great night. So here's to 13 more great years of Saint Arnold's Beers.

Nice stein Brock!

Dogfish Head: Immort Ale

Every couple of months Dogfish releases a special four pack of beers. Not surprisingly these are usually very special, very unique beers. Their Punkin Ale and Midas Touch are just two such examples. Others include Burton Baton, Aprihop, and Immort Ale. Talk about unique! The beer is brewed with peat smoked barley, juniper berries, vanilla and maple syrup. Its also aged in oak. The four pack has a really nice piece of artwork on it, that is replicated on the bottle label. (see the picture to the right, courtesy of the Dogfish Website). Check out the Dogfish website for more info on the beer.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 11% and pours a dark brown with a thin taupe head into a snifter glass. The nose is of vanilla, maybe a bit of maple, some smokey earthy notes. The mouth is raisiny, oaky, earth, and something that I could only compare to chestnuts, and some espresso bitterness. A little too much alcohol warmth at the end for my tastes. Not a lot of hop bitterness for 40IBU's, it was disguised by the other complexity. That's the thing, its a very complex beer, maybe a bit too complex. I'd grade it a B-. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

The Session #5

Fresh off a very fun Session #4 focusing on local beers, comes the announcement of the next session. The monthly virtual beer tasting is being hosted by the guys over at Hop Talk. The theme this month? Another session that doesn't focus on a particular style, but focuses on Atmosphere. From their sight:

Beer is about more than flavor, IBUs, and the debate over what is a craft beer and what isn’t. It’s about Life. It’s the proverbial icing on the cake.

So, we want to know about the “Atmosphere” in which you enjoy beer. Where is your favorite place to have a beer? When? With whom? Most importantly:

Why?

Because while life isn’t all about beer, beer is all about life.

I think this is a great idea. I have said before that the place that you have your beer, and the people you are with, are sometimes more important to your beer drinking experience than the actual beer. So, the deadline this time around is Friday 6 July.

The Session Round Up

Snekse over at Gastronomic Fight Club has posted the round up for the lastest session. It was a great idea this month, focusing on Local Brew's instead of a specific style of beer. As a supporter of all things local I was very happy to be able to give some pub to the great Saint Arnold's, and their great Cask ale. Go over and check out the Round up. Snekse did something pretty interesting in dividing up the posts into geographical areas. Next month's announcement will be made shPublish Postortly I'm sure, and I'm eager to participate.

The Session: Local Brew

Its the first Friday of the Month, and you beer lovers know what that means...its Session Time. The time for a virtual tasting, where beer bloggers the world over gather around a common theme for a beer tasting. The host this month is Gastronomic Fight Club, the theme is Local Beer, within 150 miles. Well, from the moment of the announcement, there was no question I was going to go with Houston's own Saint Arnold's Brewery. The only question that remained was which beer to taste. I thought briefly about going with the current seasonal, their very tasty Summer Pislner, but I settled on going really local. Getting a local beer that I could only get from a local pub, not a store.
The Beer: The beer in question is Saint Arnold's Elissa Cask ale, served at my favorite beer joint, The Gingerman's (recently mentioned in the latest edition of DRAFT Magazine). I am a fan of St. Arnold's regular Elissa IPA so I was excited to try the cask version. It pours a nice light hazy amber topped with a creamy thick off-white head. Nose of grapefruit, citrus, herbaceous notes. The mouthfeel is thick, creamy with grapefruit, herb's, spices, and some slightly sweet malty notes to give it a bit of balance. The beer was thick leaving a beer-stache as I drank. It was smooth, served the appropriate temperature of just below room temp. Incredibly good beer, this is what I imagine good Cask Ale tasting like. The ending bitterness wasn't over the top, just subtly flowing over the tongue. A very good beer that I'd give a strong B+.
Now head over to Gastronomic Fight Club for the round up.

New Belgium: Mothership Wit

Not a bad way to celebrate my 200th post than by talking about a beer from one of my favorite breweries. While New Belgium can get a bad rap for their flagship beer Fat Tire, no one can deny that they do make some outstanding beers such as their Abbey and 1554. Also they are at the forefront of being a responsible company, using sustaining practices and the first brewery to go all wind....100% of their power comes from wind energy. They have now added Organic Brewery to their list of Green Achievements. Their newest beer is an organic Belgian Wit Beer.
The Beer: In traditional Belgian Wit fashion this beer is brewed with orange peel and coriander, and weighs in at a session worthy 4.8% alcohol. The beer pours a pale hazy straw color capped with a half inch frothy stark white head. The head does a decent job of sticking around through most of the beer. The nose is of oranges, bananas, coriander, cloves, and yeasty dough. The mouth is of sour lemons, sourdough bread, and oranges. Very zesty, very refreshing, great tasty summer beer. I'd grade it a strong B. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say.

Quick Hits: Beer in the News

Here's a smattering of some pretty good articles on Beer, some in pretty mainstream places....

The first is a travel article on MSNBC. Getting great British Microbrews, may not be as easy as walking into any pub since may in England are still 'tied' houses, or something pretty close to it, but it doesn't seem that its that hard to find great craft real ale either.

Another great article by Barry Shlacter from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on why Texans should drink Texas....its more than Lonestar Beer now.

Lastly is an absolutely awesome article in the New York times on German Beer. The author focuses on three very uniquely German styles, but the draw for me was the focus on Cologne. The article brought back a lot of memories about a city that I really miss.

Sad News for Texas Beer Lovers

I have blogged a lot about it in the past (check out the Saint Arnolds page) but it appears that Texas House Bill 1926 that would allow Texas Microbrewers to actually sell their own products is dead on arrival. Brock Wagner has stated in an interview for the Austin Chronicle that the bill was opposed by a Mr. Mike McKinney of Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas. And of course once he opposed the bill it was dead, because we all know that the politicians will cower before the big money of distributors due to their incredible lack of spine they possess. Also reported by the Austin Chronicle is that Mr. McKinney has given thousands of dollars to Chair, Kino Flores D-Palmview. I know it shouldn't surprise me, but it still appalls me, that such a reasonable request is shot down without even a hearing because of the corruptness of our political system. Brock has stated that he is looking forward to trying to get the bill passed in 2009. In the meantime maybe we can start working on getting Flores out of office and hoping that the next chairperson is not in the deep pockets of the Beer Distributors.

There's a Beer in my Wine.....

...Magazine. Imagine my suprise this month, when flipping through my copy of Food and Wine Magazine I found an article on beer. Titled The Keg Vs the Cork it focuses on Chef Sang Yoon of The Father's Office in Sonoma California. Its quite a good article taken from the point of the great beer finds in this top end wine country. Chef Yoon has 36 taps in his restaurant and even has a couple in his home! To me its a very well written article accept for the prerequisite wine snobbery dig at beer lovers. This comes when talking about the fact that the sign that hangs outside of Lagunitas Brewing has been stolen four times in the past:

Typicall wine afficianados do not rip winery signs out of the ground and transport them back to their homes (or dorm rooms).

While this dig is unnecessary and cheap it shouldn't take away from an otherwise very beer friendly article. The author and Chef take a beer tour through Sonoma going to Lagunitas, Russian River, Beer Republic, and Anderson Valley. All amazing breweries. The Chef is allowed to make some really great points about how food friendly beer is. Some of my favorite quotes revolve around Chef Yoon telling his Sommelier friends to put down the Riesling and pick up on of the great beers from Sonoma. As with many people Chef Yoon grew up hating beer, because his only reference was cheap industrial swill. However while working for Joel Robochon in Paris he came upon the great Delirium Tremens and fell in love with beer. By the time he came back to the states the Craft Beer movement was getting in full swing and he found out great beer and food parings. These pairings is where the article really shines through for me. Taking some pretty complex food dishes, such as Rack Of Lamb with Arugula pest and paring it with a Belgian Dark Ale, to Sichuan Peppercorn shrimp paired with a White Ale like Allagash, he is able to show to a much wider, much more apprehensive audience the diversity of beer. Of course Chef Yoon does lose some points when he disses Texas BBQ Brisket, but that may be a small price to pay for good Beer coverage in a Wine Magazine.

Is Now the Best Time to be a Beer Drinker?

I've been thinking of writing on this topic for a couple of weeks now. I think the past few books I've read put it in the back of my mind. From Ambitious Brew, to Beer and Food and even Fermenting Revolution, all of them, in some manner speak on Beer Culture, and it got me thinking about comparing today's Culture to yesteryear's. There are those that would argue that the peak of Beer Culture has passed, come and gone sometime in the late 1800's where everyone went down to their local pub or saloon to grab a pint of local brew. However, as is the purpose of this post, I disagree. I think NOW is the best time to be a lover of beer and to participate in beer culture. Maybe its because having grown up in Texas the local beers were Lone Star and Shiner (nothing against the Spoetzl Brewery) but the fact that most Americans are within 10 miles of a brewery (thanks to Fermenting Revolution for the stat) has to mean something. Today's beer drinkers have more GOOD choices than ever. From great local brewers (like Houston's Saint Arnold's) to Craft Brewers that ship nationally like Sam Adams, Dogfish Head and others the consumer has a plethora of amazing beer choices.
There are those that would argue that although the aforementioned is true there has been a loss of unique beer styles like Scottish Hawthorne Beer. While I will admit that point I would counter that we have seen an increase in new beer styles. The Brewer's Association recognizes well over a hundred different styles of beer, some which didn't even exist 20 years ago. Original beers such as Double IPA, and Double Red Ale are uniquely American and uniquely now. While our culture does not prioritize the use of older methods using traditional Belgian brewing techniques and wild yeasts, American Brewers are coming back strong utilizing these techniques. Brewers such as Allagash or Ommegang make some of the best Belgian style beers in the WORLD. Brewers at Dogfish Head are using fruit and herbs to create unique and complex beers that are closer to some wines in flavor profiles than traditional malt beverages. More and more beers are coming out that are oak aged, some from old bourbon barrels, others from used wine barrels. There has never been a time before that we have had a chance to taste so many amazing beers and to have so many amazing Beer experiences.
I don't believe that anyone can deny that the average person has less of an excuse now to drink bad beer. With so many choices, even at the local grocery store there is no reason to drink swill. This is one of the good things that has come with being able to easily ship things across country, everyone has the chance to taste great beer.
In the argument over Beer Culture and when it was at its peak, there is one thing I will concede. We are lacking in local Pub Culture, a place where one can go and (to quote an old TV Show) everyone knows your name and pours your favorite beer. Outside of a few places such as New York, Boston, even San Francisco good neighborhood pubs are a thing of the past. I hope that that trend turns around.

Left Hand Imperial Oak Aged Stout

In the Texas heat there's not much better than nice pint of Kolsch or a good crisp clean pilsner. That being said there are times that I need something different, something a bit heavier. The other day I found such a beer and grabbed it in ernest. Left Hand is one of my favorite Colorado Brewerys along with Avery. They have a tendency to make some really good simple beers, and they also make some amazingly complex beers, usually bottled in their Big Bottle Series.
The Beer: This beer of course is a Big Beer, with a nice champagne like cork closure. The beer was bottled in 2007, with 25% aged in Oak Barrels. The beer weighs in at 10.4% alcohol so you know its a sipping beer. The beer pours a jet black coffee color, capped with a still thick toffee head. The nose is full of raisins, espresso, roasted and chocolate malts with an underlying vanilla oakiness.. The mouth is thick like syrup, raisiny, notes of bitter chocolate, burnt coffee. Quite an amazingly thick mouthfeel, as I was drinking it, I thought of reaching for a straw. But this thickness was not a bad thing, instead it made it seem like liquid chocolate cake. An awesome creaminess lasted throughout the whole experience. Just small notes of alcohol at the end that left a slight twinge of astringency was the only weakness to this beer. Great Beer, B+. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say.

The Session #4 Announced!

From the bitter defeat of the last Session, the Day of Mild, comes the announcement of The Session #4 from the Gastronimic Fight Club. For the uninitiated, The Session is held usually the first Friday of the month and is a Virtual Beer Tasting, each with a theme, hosted by a different blogger. This month's theme is a departure from the first 3 sessions in that it is not a style. The theme this month is you must taste a beer from your local brewery. By local the beer must be brewed within 15o miles of where you live. Here are the rest of the rules:

• You can select any beer or even a sampler if you want.
• If you select a single beer, let us know why you choose this beer (e.g. favorite,seasonal,limited edition, best seller).
• Preferably you'll shy away from beers with wide distribution outside your immediate area.

I am PUMPED about this month. For one I am a HUGE supporter of local breweries so this is right up my aisle. Secondly it will let me give some good pub to my favorite local brewer, Saint Arnold's. Now all I have to decide is which brew to taste (although I think I have a pretty good idea). So come back on June 1st for the results.

Its Session Time: A day of Mild's

Today normally would be day that I would have normally looked forward to. The first Friday of the month means its the day of The Session, the monthly virtual beer tasting. The host is Jay over at Brookston Beer Bulletin and the theme is the British Mild, a dark, malty, somewhat low in alcohol beer. Unfortunately for two very different reasons, I wasn't able to participate in this months tasting. Normally I would love searching for something like Mild for a couple of reasons, one I have never had the style and I love tasting new things, two, its a sesson beer, something that you can have one two, or three of in one sitting and not fall on the floor. However this time around I searched high and low, from Central Market, to Spec's with no success in finding a Mild, or really even something that I felt was comparable. The other issue is that I got hit by a bad case of allergies, and couldn't have tasted a Mild even if I could have found one.
All that being said, head over to the website and check out the roundup.

Book Review: Pint Sized Ireland

The title of this book by Australian Evan McHugh doesn't initially sound like much a beer book, but its the subtitle where the joy lies 'In Search of the Perfect Guiness.' While there are many craft beer lovers that turn their nose up at this dark bitter liquid, it has opened many novice beer drinkers to the fact that there is something else to drink than yellow colored water so it deserves a better place than most give it.
This book as stated on the jacket is part travel guide, part beer lovers diary. I couldn't agree more. Evan and his future wife travel around Ireland in search of the Perfect Guiness, from Dublin and the Guiness brewery to Westport on the West coast of Ireland and on up to Belfast the capital of Northern Ireland. The book is full of raucous tales and rather hilarious stories of his time in pubs with locals and other fellow travellers from Italy, Germany and other places that they met along the way. It is a great book, and I'd love to take it along to me if I ever get to go to Ireland, trying to match pace, visiting some of the pubs mentioned. If I could compare it to one book I have read it would be Travels with Barley by Ken Wells. The focus here is not drinking any beer, or Guiness specifically, but more about being in a Pub with friends (spoiler alert: that's a hint to where the Perfect Guiness really is). I think its something we miss here in the states where a Pub Culture is all but nonexistant, alas thats a post for another day. In the mean time this wouldn't be a bad book to read.

Dogfish Head Red and White

Time for another Dogfish Head. Rick Lyke spoke briefly about this beer in a seminar he gave at the World Beer Festival. Generically speaking this beer is a Belgium wit beer, but as with most from Dogfish head its much more than that.
The Style: Witbier or wit beer is a Belgian wheat beer, usually very pale, and hazy with lots of yeast. Commonly it is brewed with coriander and/or orange peel. The color is a golden with a rocky white head. Citrus aromas with light spiciness usually shine through. Witbier's are traditionally unfiltered and brewed with pale malts and raw wheat. The most popular witbier is Hoegarden, although another famous brand was made by Peirre Celis who all but introduced this style of beer in the States with his namesake brewery in Austin Texas, that unfortunately was taken over by SABMiller.
The Beer: This beer is so amazingly complex its unbelievable. First off the beer has some traditional notes of being a witbier being brewed with orange peel and coriander. However that's about as traditional as this beer gets. Its then blended with Pinot Noir concentrate, and aged in oak. 11% of that oak being Pinot Noir Barrels, the other 89% being aged on oak staves. The beer weighs in at 10% alcohol and pours a bright cherry color capped with a white slightly pinked tinged frothy head. Over time the head dissipates but leaves behind streams of thick lacing all over the glass. The nose is has notes of coriander, but is full of oranges, grapefruit, and hoppiness. The mouth has oranges, grapefruits, some oaky toastiness shows up as well. The beer starts out quite refreshing and zesty as a witbier should before leaving a mellow complex toasty aftertaste. As the beer warmed notes of wine-yness began showing up on the aftertaste. To me this was a great example of what Dogfish can do, not to much alcohol and an amazingly complex hybrid of traditional and old. For me a solid B+ beer. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Support Your Local brewery

There is a new grassroots organization focusing on Beer laws called Support Your Local Brewery (SYLB). SYLB is organized and run by the BA (Brewer's Association). It is not just for brewers, but for home brewers, beer enthusiasts, distributors and other trade professionals. Their goal is to protect the legislative and regulatory interests of small, traditional and independent craft breweries. Since this is something near and dear to my heart as my favorite local brewery Saint Arnold's is fighting with the Texas State Legislature I wanted to give them some pub. Check their website out and remember to support your local brewery because they will support you.

Beer Quick Hits

Its been a while since I've had the chance to sit down and talk news around the beer world so I thought I'd use a Saturday morning to through some newsy updates out there.
First off a couple of Saint Arnold's updates:
- BJ's Restaurant and Brewery has announced that it has moved into Florida. Like the deal that BJ's made in Texas, Saint Arnolds will be contracted to brew all the beer for BJ's in Florida. Just another great way for Saint Arnold's to expand capital, and hopefully expand their operations.
- Its Baseball Season and Saint Arnold's has announced their first ever Bus Trip to the Astros Game. Everyone will meet at the brewery for some pre-game refreshment, pile into a bus and go to the Astros Game. This is a great idea, and I'm so happy that Saint Arnold's has started this. Great idea, and I can't wait to go!
- A couple of stories here, and here about how good Beer is for the economy! No surprise here, as microbrewer's as I have talked about in the past, are more likely to give back to their communities and as shown at New Belgium have incredibly low turnover.
- A sad note here, in that A-B wins again, this time over in the old country, Hungary specifically where they have earned the right to market their beer as Budweiser, causing the original Budvar to be marketed under a different name.
- Beer and Math? Hey its how I got through University. An article from the BBC detailing how a math formula has helped to solve the question of how to make that head last longer.

Dogfish Head Burton Baton

DogI had seen this beer at both my local Spec's and Central market a while ago, but then it dropped off the face of the earth before I could grab a four pack. So I was extremely excited to see it back on the shelf this past weekend.
The Beer: The beer is a blend of an oak aged English Strong Ale and Dogfish's 90 minute IPA, and weighs in at around 10% alcohol. Using a chalice shaped glass, the beer poured a bright amber, orangish color capped by a quarter inch foamy cream head, the soon dissipated leaving behind thick streams of lacing. The nose was full of hop bitterness, citrus peel, oak, vanilla, and surprisingly what I could only compare to as sour cherries. Not that it was bad, just surprising to me. The mouthfeel was thick, with good but somewhat mellow carbonation. Grapefruit and some alcohol burn were prevalent at the beginning with just hints of cherry and oak, but as the beer warmed in the glass the grapefruit flavors subsided and the cherry and oak flavors came forward expressing themselves in tastes similar to a cherry vanilla coke with out the overbearing sweetness. An extremely complex ale, and maybe I am a sucker for oak aging, but I really enjoyed this one. Here's what the folks at BA had to say, and it seems as if most agree with me.

Book Review: Beer & Food An American History

A few weeks ago I went on a bit of a book shopping splurge and bought a few pieces on beer. Hopefully over the course of the next month or so I'll finish them all and write up a couple of reviews. The first book that came was the newest by Bob Skilnik titled Beer & Food: An American History. Before getting into the book, a little about the author. Mr. Skilnik has written a pretty well reviewed book in the past, Beer: A history of Brewing in Chicago. Chicago being near and dear to his heart as that is his residence and where he earned a degree in brewing technology from the Siebel Institute. So he has some pretty good credentials, and as I am fan of beer and food pairing, I was eager to crack open the book.
The basic premise of the book is looking at how beer and food have evolved over American History, both in pairings, but more specifically as an ingredient. I think that the author does a good job of meeting the premise, in an authoritative and entertaining manner. The author does covers much more range than Maureen Ogle's book, starting back in the Colonial days. He starts out showing how the women that brewed the beer used it in their dishes, and stews, sometimes using them as preservatives, due to the use of hops. But more prevantly the author shows how people had to make do using other non traditional ingredients for beer in the new frontier than their British Homes were used to. This manner of showing the state of beer, then food, then giving a smattering of beer infused ingredients continues throughout the book, up until Prohibition, where instead of using beer, ingredient pamphlets were created by struggling brewers emphasizing the use of their Malt extracts. Fascinating if not entirely appetizing approach. The book ends with the craft beer movement and recipes from a good selection of craft brewers using their own beers in various unique ways.
Overall I think this is a good introductory book to beer and food. Some of the recipes were redundant, (sometimes that may have been the authors point) I mean how many stews or Welsh Rarebit recipes does one need? The real treat here were some of the current recipes utilizing today's craft beer's as they seemed to be very thought out.
My recommendation is, if you are interested in beer and food as ingredients, this is a good start, if you are more interested in Beer and food in pairings, seek out Garrett Oliver's much more thorough effort.

Allagash Musette

I am always on the lookout for new and unusual beers. Not necessarily extreme beers, but beers that are made in an usual way, beers that show craftsmen ship. The other day in Spec's I found it in this beer from Allagash. Now, I have had an Allagash beer before and been impressed, so when I saw this one I knew or at least hoped I'd be in for a treat.
The Beer: The beer comes in a big bottle with a wire cage closure, its aged in oak barrels, and according to the label was bottled on December 2006! This is one of 518 cases bottled and finally the beer weighs in at 10% abv. The beer pours a cloudy dark amber, capped by a thick white foamy head. The nose is full of sweet malts, raisins, figs, and a hint of burnt wood. The mouth has smoky, oaky, slightly vanillin notes, and caramel. The oak brings out flavors like a good oak aged wine, this beer is dry in that vein too. Very smooth. As the beer warmed more vanillin notes started to pop out creating a beer of incredible depth. Very nice. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say.
A couple of other notes, according to Allagash this is a Scottish ale. The oak hides some of this, but I do see it. For more info check out their page dedicated to this great beer.

The Session #3 Announcement

Yes the announcement has been made. We have had a blast with the first two Sessions, that I am pleased to announced Jay over at the Brookston Beer Blog has announced the latest installment.
For those new to The Session, belly up to the bar, its easy. On the first Friday of every month, beer bloggers around the world gather for a virtual tasting, directed toward a specific theme that is supplied by that month's host. Well we know the host is Jay, the theme? Well its Mild Beer. Some out there may be saying 'Huh' I know, but its a pretty popular beer over across the pond in London, so popular in fact that CAMRA has named May The month of the Mild. So what is mild? It is usually a darker beer, slightly sweet, with toasty malts, a bit of hops, but relatively low alcohol, weighing in at around 4.5 to 5% sometimes lower. For more information, check out this sight. It will be challenge for me to find a good Mild to taste, since there aren't many American Craft Brewers making them, and I don't know if I get any of the ones imported. But hey challenges are part of the fun. Plus I am exceedingly happy that Jay chose this as I think it will open a lot of people up to a style they have not tried before. As many beers as I have tried, I have never had a mild, so this one will be new to me, and that's always exciting. So join in, and come back on May 4th for the results.

The Session #2

Wow.....the first session was a great success, this time it might be even better.

Head over to A Good Beer Blog and check out the plethora of Dubbels.

The Session #2: Dubbels

The day is finally upon us, The Session #2 has arrived. The first session was a blast as the theme was "Not your Father's Stout". For those new to the discussion The Session is a virtual Beer Tasting held the first Friday of the month. All the beer bloggers, the world over, do tasting, write up and the host posts every one's tasting in a round up a couple of days later. This month the host is Alan over at A Good Beer Blog, the theme is Dubbels. My foray into this months discussion is Ommegang's Abbey Ale.
The Style: The Dubbel style has its roots in Trappist brewing, although many American Craft brewers are making Abbey ale, which for the most part are Dubbels. These beers are of moderate strength around 8%, but always less that the more robust Trippels. These beers are dark, malty, spicy, with low hops.
The Brewery: Ommegang is based in Cooperstown, New York, was founded in 1997 and is renown for creating some of the best Belgian Ales in the States. Simply put they are Belgian ales. They use traditional Belgian style malts, spices, and brewing methods to create a small collection of reportedly amazing Belgian Beers. Among other things they also promote the greatness that is Beer with Food, something I am passionate about.
The Beer: I searched a long time before selecting a Dubbel that I wanted to taste. At first I was going to go for a Belgian Beer, but most of those I have been lucky to taste, either here, or when I was in Brussels last year. So I decided to search for something new, something I had never tasted. Lucky me then that Ommegang brewery has just started distribution to my fair city! I had heard nothing but raves about this brewery so when I saw their Ommegang Ale on the shelf of my local Spec's I knew this was THE BEER!
The beer came in a large bottle with the words 'Bottle Conditioned' printed on the front of the colorful label. The beer weighed in at a nice 8.5% and poured a deep amber with just small streaks of red flashing through when held up to the light. There was a nice thick, dense quarter inche taupe head capping this amber nectar. The nose was fruity, musty, raisins. The mouth showed good carbonation, smooth, with notes of coffee, dark chewy raisins, concentrated dark grape flavors, leaving a crisp long finish. A bit of espresso bitterness showed itself right at the finish. As the beer warmed the dark fruit flavors showed up even more prevalently, expressing itself in what I would call a thick beer. I really enjoyed this beer and am glad that Ommegang has made its way down here. Can't wait to try their other beers. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.
Now go over to A Good Beer blog and check out the other Dubbel Posts.

MOJO Risin Double IPA

Beyond going to a couple of Brew Pubs this past weekend while in Colorado, I was also able to pick up a beer that I have been trying get my hands on. Unfortunately Boulder Beer Co, doesn't distribute to Texas, or at least not down to Houston so my only other previous experience was during this past years Great American Beer Festival. So, when I went into a local Denver Beer store and saw this beer, it called to me, a big bottle, big beer, double IPA! Sounds good to me!
The Brewery: Boulder Beer Co, was Colorado's first microbrewery which is pretty telling in a state that has quite a few. The brewery was started in 1979 by a couple of professors from the local university CU. There first beers were a Extra Pale Ale, Porter, and a Stout, but I dare say now they are more famous for their MOJO IPA and their Hazed and Confused (a fresh hop infused IPA).
The Beer: This particular beer is part of the 'Look Glass' Series, of which the aforementioned Hazed and Confused is the flagship and comes in a big bottle. The beer weighs in at a potent 10% alcohol. It pours a deep copper color with a nice quarter inch frothy head. Floral hop bitterness with some citrus peel in the nose. The mouth is full with nice carbonation. Its like biting into a grapefruit, skin and all, but the nicest thing is that it ends with a bit of malt sweetness that helps balance the beer and not making the beer unbearable, which it comes close to, but never goes over the edge. I couldn't drink more than one of these massive beers, but its quite nice for being an extreme hoppy beer. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

My weekend

I know its been a few days since my last post, but I do have a good excuse. This past weekend I headed up to the land of beer and mountains, Denver Colorado. My fiance and I were doing a little wedding planning, but since Denver and the area surrounding Denver are infested with Microbreweries I was VERY happy. Amongst the planning we were able to stop by two craft breweries, Estes Park Brewery, and Oskar Blues and have a sample of their fine brews.
Estes Park Brewery is of course located in Estes Park across the lake from the Stanely hotel (the creepy hotel in the Shining). The brewery is a Brew pub serving ok food, and pretty good beer. When we got there we headed to the tasting bar for a few short glasses of beer (since these were small pours I won't be grading the head):
Estes Park Porter: Dark, ruby colored, coffee notes, creamy, smooth with a light bitterness at the end, very nice.
Estes Park Renegade: This is their IPA, oranges, bitter, fruity, balance the bitterness with some malt, good carbonation. Pretty good.
Estes Barleywine: Very nice at 13%, raisins, Roasted sweet malts, chewy, dark fruit. Could use some aging, but already very good.
Estes Tripel: Weighs in at 8.8%, fruity, golden in color, white grapes, like a Riesling, honey suckle, melons, Extremely smooth, no alcohol flavor.
Estes Park Oatmeal Stout: Flavors of roasted malts and chocolate, a tad bit of oaty flavor. Some esspresso notes, with only a bit of mild bitterness. An ok attempt.

Oskar Blues of course is that small brewery that has become famous for serving their beers in cans, something not many craft brewers do. The brewery is a small venture in a Lyons Colorado. They serve food, but we didn't get any, instead we sat down on a Sunday afternoon and ordered a sampler tray of 6 beers:
MoneyShot Cream Ale: Light, lemony, cloudy, crisp, and tart. An ok beer, but I don't have much experience with a Cream ale.
Gordon Strong Beer: Big hops here, no malts, orange peel notes, a little much, but not to bad.
Dale Pale Ale: The flagship beer. Poured cloudy, nice smooth hops, well balanced, refreshing, Very nice.
Bitching Creek ESB: A guest beer from Jackson Hole, that they were pouring. Bitter, some chocolate notes, smooth cocoa-y, very nice.
Old Chub: Another one of their popular beers a Scottish Ale. Dark brown, sweet dark raisins, dark cherry notes, smooth a little bitter, but very nice.

Avery Mephistopheles

Avery is known for making some pretty extreme beers, and they usually make a series of them. From their Dictator series to their Demons of Ales they make uniquely great beers some that I have tasted before. Mephistopheles is part of the Demons of Ales beer, along with The Beast, and Samael (which I tasted previously). This particular beer is an Imperial Stout.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at a stout (no pun intended) 16.03% and pours an inky jet black capped by the darkest brown foamy thick head that I have seen. The nose is of raisins, rum, hops, coffee and just a bit of astringent alcohol. The mouthfeel is thick and chewy, good carbonation, toasty and oaky, coffee, chocolate, raisins, with a bit of that rummy taste showing up as the beer warmed. Not much of that espresso bitterness that I was hoping for though, but on the upside not an overt amount of alcohol taste either. If I could compare it to one thing it would be a dense double dark chocolate coffee cake. Pretty nice beer, here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Collaboration Not Litigation Ale

I first heard about this unique beer while reading a review of it over at Hedonist Beer Jive. By unique I mean that this ale is not one beer, but actually two different beers blended together. This of course is where the name comes in. There are two craft breweries with a Salvation Beer. One is from Avery and is a Belgian Golden Ale, the other is from Russian River Brewing and is a Strong Dark Belgian beer. The litigation portion of the story goes that instead of filing a law suit over who is the true Salvation beer the two beer makers joined up and created a unique blended beer. Brewed and bottled at Avery, the Russian River Brewer flew out to Colorado, brewed his beer there just as he does out in California.
The Beer: The beer comes in a big bottle format and weighs in at a nice 8.99% alcohol. It pours a cloudy brown hazelnut color with a thin taupe colored head. Raisins and spicy fruit on the nose, yeast breadynessPublish. A creamy thick mouthfeel, bananas and bread on the tongue. Low carbonation causes the beer to sit and coat the tongue. Very smooth, with very little alcohol flavor showing up. Very rich, very nice. Jay over at HBJ gave the beer a 8.5 out of 10, I'd say that's about right, here's what the folks at BA had to say.

North Coast Old Rasputin - Imperial Russian Stout

Ever since the recent Session on Stouts, I have been thinking about trying some more since its one of my favorite styles of beer. Last week I was reading Rick's post on Tuesday tastings featuring stouts and got even more of an urge to try some more stouts. So it was with great happiness that I picked up this four pack of stout from North Coast Brewery one of my personal favorites.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 9% (thats the Imperial) pours a deep dark brown with a thick cappuccino color head. The nose has that same cappuccino creamy bitterness, with some coco, and roasted malts. The mouthfeel is thick, sweet and bitter. A wonderful beer with just a hint of the high alcohol at the end. I really like this one, here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Saint Arnold's Lawnmower Ale

I am on a quest of late to find a good session beer. A beer that one can drink a couple in a sitting and not feel completely wasted. Its hard to do that sometimes with craft beer as everyone seems to be moving towards Extreme. Extreme Hops, Extreme flavors and extreme alcohol. A week or so ago I picked up a six pack of the incredible Victory Pils. This week its a six pack of the local Saint Arnold's Lawnmower Ale.
The Beer: The beer is Kolsch Style, so that obviously got me excited as I feel a bit of an expert on the style since my recent trip to the land of all things Kolsch. Having gone to a few of the wonerful Saturday tours at Saint Arnolds I have quite a few of their tasting glasses which are basically Kolsch style glasses, so thats what I poured this beer into. This version weighs in at 4.9% slightly higher than the typical Kolsch which is usually closer to the 4.5 mark. The beer poured a pale golden straw color capped by a typical thick white head. Plenty of tiny champagne bubbles rising to the top. So far so good with Kolsch Comparisons. Sweet malt and floural hops on the nsoe. The mouth was full and bubbly, more sweet malts being the predominant flavor with a nice crips hop bite from the Hallertauer variety used. If I could compare it to anything I had in Cologne it would be Pfaffen. A bit sweeter than the typical Kolsch but still a very fine example. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Beer that's Served Too cold

Americans in general are now learning that they have been serving their wine at the wrong temperature, their red's to warm, the whites too cold. I keep hoping that we are moving towards that trend in serving beer, as for the most part we serve beer way too cold. It may be one thing to serve tasteless swill at ice cold temperatures, freezing your taste buds so you don't realize what you're drinking, but its quite another to do that with a fine craft brew. Just when I think its safe to go back in the water comes news of a new restaurant in the Dallas/Fort Worth are 29 Degrees. Their stchick is that they serve all beer at an ice cold 29 degrees (that's Fahrenheit folks). Now I as much as anyone can appreciate the need for an ice cold brew every now and then, but below freezing! This is so far beyond ridiculous and the way the proprietiers (owners of the Bennigan's chain) are touting this as what the people want is ridiculous. I don't think anyone, regardless of the beer they drink wants their tongues frozen. At the very least they would like to taste their food (hmm maybe the owners ARE trying to hide something).
Whats really interesting in this article are the quotes from Beer manufactures and at what temp they think their beers should be poured at. Even the boys from A-B get in it stating that serving their beer below 36 degrees leads to a "slow pour and little head, less cloudy and little flavor" (no comments please). Jim Koch of Boston Beer company seemed perplexed that anyone would want to serve his ubiquitous Sam Adams Lager at the temperature, but hey that's the plan. The fact that the owners are unapologetic and love touting that their beer is served the coldest in the area further shows their ignorance of what beer and beer drinking really is. It is not about freezing one's taste bud's even in the heat of a Texas Summer, but sitting down, with friends, enjoying good food, and good beer (it would be nice to actually TASTE the beer wouldn't it?)

North Coast Brother Thelonious

In perusing the shelves of my local Central market I sometimes look beyond the sixpack's of quality craft beer and seek out a beer in the Big bottle format, one that can be shared amongst friends and ejoyed. The other day I found just the bottle, one that I had heard about for a while, but had never had the opportunity to try, North Coast Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale. Ahh the reasons why I wanted to try it are numerous: I have really liked the North Coast Beers I have tried in the past (especially their Imperial Russian Stout), its named after a famous jazz musician (Thelonious Monk) and $2.00 of every case goes to the namesakes Institute of Jazz. All very cool, very enticing to me.
The Beer: The Beer weighs in at 9.4%, pouring a nice cloudy amber. Smells of sweet malt, slightly toasted toffe, and hops. The mouth is not that full, but tastes of those same slightly roasted toffee notes, a bit of fruit and a bit of hop bitterness at the end. An ok beer, but something was missing to bring it over the top. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve #4

Success! After having failed three times in the past I finally scored a six pack of Saint Arnold's elusive Divine Reserve. #1 I never tasted, #'s 2 and 3 I was able to taste only at a local bar, it wasn't until this time that I finally got my own to try at home. #1 was a Barleywine, #2 was a Quadrupel, #3 was a Double IPA, and #4 is a Wee Heavy Scottish Ale. I don't have much experience with Wee Heavy's so I don't have a wide frame of reference when tasting this beer, so I won't be comparing it to other's of the same style, only to if its a good beer.
The Style: Wee Heavy is a reference to its strength. Scottish Ales are the Scottish version of a Pale Ale. A Wee Heavy is a Strong Pale ale which will have a stronger alcohol content. Wee Heavy's traditional are sweeter beers, heavy on the malt, with a full body.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 9.6%. Pours black as coal, with streaks of red flowing through, and capped by a quarter inch coffee colored head. The nose is full of sweet roasted malts, raisins and roasted coffee beans. The mouth is more of the same, Very Full flavored, with raisins, espresso, roasted malts. If I could equated it to something it would be those candies you get at the movies, Raisenets (chocolate covered raisins) drizzled in espresso. The nice thing about the beer, is I really didn't taste the alcohol. A heavy beer, and nicely sweet, this would make a great desert beer. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say.

The Session: #2

I like to think we all had a blast participating in the first ever Session, an online virtual Beer Tasting. The theme then was "Not your Father's stout." So it has been with eager anticipation that I have waited for the announcement for April's Session Theme (thanks to Alan for the slightly updated version of the Session Logo). Well Alan from A Good Beer Blog has made his announcement, Dubbels. An interesting choice, but a good one for the season. So I'll be going out hunting for a Dubbel that I'd like to taste. Due Date: April 6th.

New Belgium Springboard Ale

I am a pretty big fan of New Belgium. Outside of their Fat Tire, which has become a little less of a beer than it once was, I find their beers wonderful. So when I saw their new spring beer on shelf at my local Central Market I picked it up.
The Beer: The ingredients include wormwood (yes that mystical ingredient used in the elixir absynthe), Goji Berries, and Schisandra. Pretty exotic to say the least, and it piqued my interest. The beer weighs in at a robust 6.2%. The beer poured a cloudy golden color reminiscent of the Belgian Golden ales. Capped by a puffy white head. The nose was full of tartness, and fruit. The mouth was full, with low carbonation so it coated the tongue. White berry flavors showed up first with little bits of hops at the end. There is some sweetness but it is not from malt. There is another flavor that I just couldn't put my finger on what it was. This is a nice refreshing beer, somewhat complex, but missing anything that would make it great. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say.

The Session: Roundup #1

Well it was a fun time, and Appellation Beer has posted the roundup of the first virtual Monthly Beer Tasting. Lot's of really great stouts were tasted, so go check it out.

Weekend Quick Hits

As we all have recovered from Friday's frantic postings for the first ever Friday Session (Go over to Appellation Beer and checkout the 23 comments made, official round up to be posted shortly) I thought today would be as good a day as any to catch up on some beer news.

The Perfect Beer Glass? Well that's what Sam Adams CEO Jim Koch thinks he has found. At least for the ubiquitous Sam Adams Lager. After much experimenting with glasses and beer he has found what he says is the perfect glass for his Amber Lager. I can't say that I am surprised that Mr. Koch has found a glass that is perfect for his beer. As a lover of Riedel wine glasses, and knowing the amount of work they have gone through to create a wine glass for every varietal, I can't say I'm surprised. Having been to Belgium and seeing every beer being a different glass, I can't say I am surprised. Not that I think that every beer from every line up needs to be in a different glass, but I think people need to respect the fact that not every beer fits the same glass. You don't put a stout in a Pilsner glass, and I sure wouldn't put a Pilsner in a Belgium style goblet.

A great loss for the beer world. The Indiana Jones of the Beer world dies February 10 at his home in Dummerston, Vt. Alan Eames, the man that was a self described beer anthropologist did great things for promoting the history of beer. From expounding on topics as wide ranging as the first beer ad from Mesopotania, to the fact that up until a few centuries ago beer was the ultimate in feminine drink, always deriving from Goddesses, never God's. Not surprising since it was the females that like baking bread, brewed the local beer. He died at the young age of 59 due to respiratory failure. A sad loss indeed.

Friday's Session: Not your Father's Stout

Its finally that time, the inaugural, Beer Blogging Friday, or as some are starting to call it the Session (with its own logo!). The theme of this first event hosted by Appellation Beer is: Not your Father's stout, or anything but Guinness, Murphy's, etc. I love stouts, so I struggled with what I wanted to do a tasting on. After much searching I went back to a beer that I first drank when I was first being introduced into great beers. Back before I had seen what an Imperial IPA or Imperial Stout even were. To a beer that is easy to find in most every decent liquor store, but is still incredibly good. For this first of what I hope to be many sessions, I popped the top off of Young's Double Chocolate Stout.

The Style: This is a dark beer made with roasted malts. The first use of the word stout when it comes to beer was in the late 1600's. However it didn't have anything to do with a dark beer necessarily but covered anything that was a strong beer (similar to how we use Imperial today). However over time it became mainly associated with a stronger version of Porter, as in a Stout Porter. Then sometime in the late 1800's Porter was dropped from the name and it just became Stout.

The Brewery: The Brewery was founded in 1831 by Charles Young with the purchase of the Ram's Brewery in Wandsworth England. (as an aside the Famous Ram's Brewery closed last year). Now all of Young's beers are brewed at the Eagle Brewery in Bedford. Young's is a pretty popular English beer's with a wide variety available in the states. From Young's ESB to the popular Old Nick Barleywine they are usually quite good quite approachable beers.

The Beer: Yes its what we have waited for, the BEER. The beer weighs in at a nice 5.2%, for this is a beer that can be enjoyed throughout the night and won't knock you on your butt. As expected the beer pours a deep rich almost opaque chocolate brown, capped by a thick dark brown foamy head. The beer is made not only with the traditional roasted malts, but with real chocolate as well, which I found a nice touch. The nose was full of bitter sweet chocolate and espresso. The mouth is the same, rich and thick tasting for all the world like dark chocolate covered espresso beans, wonderful. As the beer warms, some of the bitterness fades leaving a silky smooth chocolatey aftertaste. The head slowly dissipates leaving a nice thin taupe line across the top of the beer. Still such a wonderful beer.

Tune back later this week to a link to the round up

House Bill 1926

House Bill 1926 is the bill that will allow Texas microbreweries to sell a limited amount of beer directly to the public, was filed in the Texas House of Representatives Monday by Rep. Jessica Farrar. This is the bill that I have written about in the past that Brock Wagner, owner of Saint Arnold's has been working valiantly to get sponsored. It is a great thing that Brock has found a sponsor, so Kudo's to Representative Farrar. For those of you that understand how Texas Legislature works, the bill has now gone to the Licensing & Administrative Procedures committee, where it will be voted on to go forward.

While Brock has worked hard to get this bill sponsored, I think the hard part is now coming. The bill needs to get passed. But this is where we can help! No matter where we live in Texas we have a Representative in the State Legislature, its time we make them work for us. I urge everyone to write a letter to their Representative (Brock is asking everyone to state the following items, rewording of course as we please):

-Reference HB 1926.
-You are a supporter of Texas microbreweries.
-It would enhance your visit to Texas microbreweries if you could purchase a pint or six pack, just like you can when you visit microbreweries in other states.
-It will make you even more likely to purchase the beers of Texas microbreweries when you are at stores and restaurants.
-It will make Texas microbreweries stronger.
-Such a change in the law would make it more likely for more microbreweries to open in Texas.

You can email or write a letter.
Here are the Members of the Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committe:

Kino Flores, Chairman (district: the Valley, Hidalgo)http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist36/flores.htm
Charlie Geren, Vice Chair (district: NW Ft. Worth)
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist36/flores.htm
Carl Isett, Budget & Oversight Chair (district: most of Lubbock)
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist84/isett.htm
Tony Goolsby (district: a swath of Dallas)http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist102/goolsby.htm
Mike "Tuffy" Hamilton (district: Orange, Vidor, east Texas)http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist19/hamilton.htm
Delwin Jones (district: areas surrounding Lubbock)http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist83/jones.htm
Borris Miles (district: Houston south inner loop and just south of 610)http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist146/miles.htm
"Chente" Quintanilla (district: east of El Paso)http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist75/quintanilla.htm
Senfronia Thompson (district: NW Houston)
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist141/thompson.htm

NOW GO AND WRITE! Time for us, those that love Saint Arnold's Beer, and all craft Beer from Texas to make a difference.