Traquair House Ale

A week or so ago, I was having a bad day and my fiance, surprised me by stopping by Spec's and picking up a special beer. It just so happened it was one that I had wanted to try for a while and for one reason or another had failed to pick up. When I saw it, I was ecstatic and couldn't wait to open it up for a taste. Before we get to that, a little history on the brewery.
The Brewery: At 900 years old, Traquair is the oldest inhabited house in Scotland. Back in 1107 it was originally a hunting lodge for the kings and queens of Scotland. The Traquair brewery itself was founded in 1965 within what was the house domestic brewery. Domestic brewing had ceased around 1800 until Peter Maxwell Stuart began brewing again in 1965 until his death in 1990. Now managing is his daughter Catherine Maxwell Stuart. Currently the brewery produces around 600 to 700 barrels annually, but has plans to increase production by about 20%. They make a few different types of beers: The house ale (a Scottish Ale), Jacobite (an ale spiced with coriander), Bear ale (a lighter ale at 5%), and The Laird's Liquor (a dark ale).
The Beer: This Scottish ale weighs in at 7.2% abv and pours a deep amber brown capped with a thin taupe head. On the nose there is some mild hops up front with malty sweetness, raisins and figs showing up in force on the back end. Those being most predominate on the nose. The mouthfeel is thick rich and complex. Plenty of roasted malts, bitter espresso, raisins, and surprisingly a mild bit of sour taste just at the end. Not in a bad way either. A very nice beer, one that I would give an A-. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say.

Christmas in July

As mentioned earlier this week, Saint Arnolds has released their Christmas Ale in the Summer bringing a little Christmas Cheer in the middle of the Texas heat. I tried it last Christmas, and it was pretty good, but missing something from previous years. I was eager to grab a six pack to see how Summer has affected the taste and enjoyment of the ale.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at around 7.0% abv. It pours a nice bright golden amber, capped by a thin whispy head. The nose is full of sweet caramel malts, raisins, figs, and a hint of citrus. The mouth is thick and gummy, plenty of caramel notes, maybe even honey. Just a tad of hop bitterness showing up as the beer warms. Very nice, and much better than the bottle of beer I had during Christmas. I'd give it a B+.

News from Saint Arnold

On this very rainy Sunday morning I thought that I'd give a brief update on Houston's own Saint Arnold's Brewery. The following news bits are from Saint Arnold's news letter.

They have released their Christmas Ale in July! A few months back they took on a vote on how many people would like to see their Christmas beer available for a limited time in July. Enough people responded with a resounding YES that they brewed it, bottled it, and its now out for consumption. Stay tuned to some tasting notes and see how it compares to last year.

The official announcement has been made regarding the next Divine Reserve. As mentioned last month it will be an Imperial Stout and it will be released at the end of August.

Finally Saint Arnold's sales are up 27% for the first half of 2007. Congratulations go out to Brock and rest of the brew crew!

The Session #6 Announcement

Fresh off a wonderful Session number five a week ago, comes the announcement of The Session #6. For the uninitiated, The Session is a monthly tasting, held on the first Friday of the month. Each one is hosted by a different Beer blogger who picks the them of the month. Then on that first Friday, everyone posts a tasting around that theme. A great idea if I ever heard one. This month the host is Greg Clow of Beer, Beats and Bites. The theme this month? Well with all the wonderful fruit that Greg gets from the local farmers market he thought that Fruit Beer would be wonderful choice. Its OK, all you Lambic Haters out there, your choices are not that limited. Here are the guidelines according to Greg:

be a beer brewed/augmented with fruit (or fruit juice or extract), there are no other rules or guidelines. Anything is fair game, from a tart and funky Kriek or Framboise, to a sugar-laden "lambic", to a Blueberry Wheat or Raspberry Ale from your local brewpub.

This should be a fun one, and another Session that will probably open a few beer lovers taste buds to something new and different. Due date for this session? August 3rd. So if your interested in joining write up your post and email it to Greg on August 3rd.

My Denver Weekend

Another Holiday weekend, another trip to Denver for wedding planning fun. Lucky for me, my future wife doesn't mind when I slip away to check out the great beer scene in Denver. Last Friday, I went out with my future Brother In-Law and headed to a couple of breweries located in historic LODO. First off was Breckenridge Brewery. While we get many of their beers down in Texas, there were some interesting choices available that I hadn't tried. The first was a refreshing if simple beer called SummerBright Ale, a wheat ale with flavors of citrus. The second, and by far much better was the small batch Thunderhead Stout, a thick stout with copious amounts of coffee and chocolate flavors. A very nice beer that I had in their half pint glasses. From there we headed down the street to the Great Divide Brewery where I grabbed a chalice of Hades Ale. An amazingly complex and tasty Belgian Strong Golden ale. This was definitely a winner, the only disappointment coming when I realized that for whatever reason this is one of the few beers from Great Divide I haven't seen here in Houston.
That was Friday, but the real treat for me was the day before when I headed down to Falling Rock Tap House. Falling Rock is one of the top tap houses in America, and has an incredible selection of draft and cask beer. The bar holds a special place for me, as one of the owner's, Chris, is from Houston having gotten his start at the great Mucky Duck before heading to Denver. Those familiar with the Beer scene in Houston probably remember when he came to the Duck last Summer for a special Beer Tasting Saturday. Well good new people, I had the chance to meet and talk with Chris, and he is working with the Duck to set up a time next year for another Beer Tasting. It was a great time to visit the taphouse since it's there 10th anniversary, some local brewers have made some special brews and supplied them to Falling Rock. I was lucky enough to try out New Belgiums Special Edition La Folie, in a half pint chalice shaped glass. A couldy brown ale, full of sour cherries, hops, citrus, it weighs in at 6% alcohol and is blended from 10 different fermentation tanks that had been aged in wood. Quite an amazing beer, and while I am not a huge fan of Belgian Flanders Red Ale this was quite nice.

The Session #5

I know its been a couple of days since the Session #5 wrapped up, but I have only now been able to get back to my computer to post about the wrap up due to being busy in Denver last week (more on that trip later). As with the previous four this Session was a rousing success. It seems like everyone had a great time and Hop Talk received entries from all over the beer loving globe. With that said, head over there and check out the round up.
Stay tuned for the Announcement to Session #6 sometime later this week.

The Session #5

Can't believe its been a month already...this time around The Session is hosted by Hop Talk, the theme is atmosphere. The questions they want answered is: Where is your favorite place to have a beer? When? With whom? Most importantly Why? I have tried to do this when taking about one of my favorite places to have a beer. If you have read this blog then you know I am talking about the great Gingerman's. Gingerman's is a small beer pub chain, with locations in Austin, Dallas, New York and the Original Houston. Its a wonderful place with bartenders that know their beer and a pretty eclectic clientele. College students from the nearby Rice U, to some British Expats, to people like myself that just enjoy good beer and hanging out with friends. What makes this place great beyond the amazing beer selection is the building itself. A great front porch with plenty of sitting, leads up a couple of steps to a relatively dark interior. All wood beams its dominated by a few distinct features. One of course is a short bar in front of a wall that is absolutely packed with tap handles. The others are a good jukebox, and two glass cases that are filled with wonderful examples of Belgium glasses. Walking through the dark interior past the bar (not without stopping for a pint of Elissa cask ale of course) leads you to what makes me love this place. The closest thing I have come to in Houston to a beer garden. A courtyard with a lot of good seating and a HUGE oak tree that lends plenty of shading to the entire place. Its such a wonderful place to sip a good beer with friends. Many a Saturday will find my Fiance and I sitting across from each other talking and drinking good beer out in the courtyard. Now that's a great time. Saturday or Friday nights its the perfect place to hang out with friends listening to the Juke box, drinking good beer and enjoying good company, and I guess that answers the why question. Because what is better than that? One last thing that makes me love Gingerman's...half pints...because sometimes that's all you need.
The Beer: This wouldn't be a beer tasting post without a little talk of beer now would it? Of course I went down with some friends sat back in the courtyard and tried Sierra Nevada's new Anniversary IPA named Torpedo. Available in draft only I was happy to get to try this one out. From one of the forefathers of the craft beer movement and American style Pale ale's I knew it would be a treat. The beer poured a dark amber with a thick dense taupe colored head, that stayed around until the last drop. The nose was floral, citrus, specifically grapefruit. A slight astringency on the tongue, bitter throughout, but not over the top. Copious amounts of grapefruit with a little bit of maltiness in the back giving a mild lemony taste to my taste buds. Its hoppy alright but not in that over the top way many IPA's have. To me it was just right. A beer I would be more than happy to give an A-. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say.
The Folks at Hoptalk will be posting their Session Roundup in the next couple of days, so stay tuned......

Quick Hits: Monday's Beer Edition

Just some random posts around the world wide web.....

The world of Wine gets Elvis and Marilyn Monroe wines....beer gets Larry the Cable Guy. Nebraska Microbrewery SchillingBridge Winery & MicroBrewery located near Omaha where The Cable Guys is from will be putting out some beers in his honor. Named Git-R-Done beer it will be a light beer with "More flavor and Body than popular corporate beers."

Metal Prices and the Beer industry. A really good article on MSNBC covering the impact that stolen kegs are having on the beer industry. As reported people are taking the keg's and selling them to scrap metal shops for good sums of money. While deposits can be as little as $15.00-20.00, kegs can be sold for scraps for as much as $55.00. According to the article this has an unbalanced affect on the Craft industry. While over all keg sales are only about 12% of all beer sold, however keg sales can be up to as much as 40% of their business.

And finally, reminder that this Friday is The Session #5.

North Coast Blue Star Wheat

Call this one inspired by Jay. That's Jay of Hedonist Beer Jive. Last week he started his Great Summer Wheat Off where he tasted a very nice one from Goose Island. So well inspired I decided to get on the action and have my own taste of a good ole American Wheat Beer.
The Beer: North Coasts version weighs in at a very light and crisph 4.5% alcohol (now thats a good summer session beer). Its not a seasonal but one of their year round offerings. The beer pours a hazy cloudy straw color with a nice foaming white head. Citrus notes abound here, a bit of yeast, low on the banana scent. The mouth is effervescent, lemony, a bit of yeast, zesty and ultimately refreshing which is what I want out of a good American Wheat beer. Not complex but very nice nonethe less. I'd give it a good strong B. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say.

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.