Quick Hits - American Craft Beer Week edition

Happy American Craft Beer week everyone!  Starting today and running through next Sunday is the annual American Craft Beer week.  A time to honor great American beer, where bars and breweries around town are hosting special events, and tapping special beers all week long.  However, before I get to that, I do want to mention some pretty cool news.  Houston Beer guide, published my review of Clear Lake's newest craft beer grolwer spot Beers Looking At You.  Feel free to go over and checkout the article and leave a comment if you so wish.

Over on the right hand side of this blog is a calendar list of up coming events, including this weeks activities for ACBW.  If anyone sees something that I haven't listed please let me know and I'll add it to the list.  I do want to highlight a couple of cool things going on this week:

• Galveston Island Brewing will be having a bunch of different tappings, or special pricing on beers throughout this week.
• Thursday the great Nobi Pub will be hosting an Odell Brewery tap take over.  Expect some special beers to be available as well.
• Friday Nobi will be hosting another brewery, this type new to Texas New Holland Brewery.  This will be a good chance to try some beers that are new to the area.
• Also Friday, J. Henry's will be tapping a cask of Karbach's 3 Legged Lab with lactose.
• Saturday Dickinson's own Texas Beer Refinery will be celebrating their second anniversary.  Go out and celebrate their second birthday with some amazing beers, music and food.
• Finally, on Sunday, Nobi will be hosting another tap take over, this time for one of the original American craft breweries, Sierra Nevada.

Again, if anyone knows of ACBW events going on around the area please let me know and I'll post it on this google calendar.

Hay Merchant is HERE!

It seems like forever ago that I posted about an upcoming beer bar from the folks at Anvil to be dubbed Hay Merchant. It was going to be everything a beer nerd wanted in a craft beer bar and it was going to be open in the October/November time frame. Well negotiating the city's maze of regulations to get a new bar open took longer than they anticipated, but last week, the day finally came and Kevin Floyd's has Hay Merchant opened its doors. Did it live up to its hype? In a word yes, I've had the opportunity to visit Hay Merchant three times in the past week and I can say that it is the real deal. When you walk into the rather spacious bar your eyes are drawn to the far wall, covered in taps, and chalkboard panels with the day's beer listings (they've been changing incredibly fast this first week). It boggles the mind to see so much great beer in one place, but first you have to decide if you want to sit up at the bar, or one of the large booths in the center of the room, or one of the scattered tables. If you sit anywhere but the bar the first thing the waiter will do is hand you a menu and a bottle of water. Now this isn't any bottle of water, the water comes in a 40 oz bottle of macro swill (was originally Bud Light, but folks from a local distributor asked them to stop using those, but they did give them bottles of Cobra to use). Once you take a look at the well put together one sheet, two-sided menu your mouth starts to water seeing the list of food prepared by Chef Antoine Ware (formerly of Catalan). Flip it over and check out the beers. I love the way the beer list is organized: Sociable and Refreshing, Hop-a-licious, Sweet and Sticky, and on and on it goes, around the page, with the center holding the list of 5 beers on cask.

Before I talk about the beer, I must say a few words about the outstanding food. The food is one of the things that really sets Hay Merchant apart from other beer bars in the city. Yes the food here is "bar food" but its more than that. One of the highlights and honestly one of the best bar snacks I've ever had is the Sweet and Spicy Crispy Pig Ears. This things are otherworldly in their exquisiteness. Maybe in respect to the old English bar food of pickled pig's feet's, Hay Merchant offers this interpretation, but oh, what an interpretation. And just like its predecessor it makes you thirsty. I've had quite a few items on the menu and nothing I've had is bad. This isn't a light menu mind you, but its also not over the top. The serving portions are reasonable and well priced, but if your going to get one thing on the menu, get the gumbo. I've been making gumbo for 15 some odd years and I'm jealous as hell at what Chef Ware has done. I must learn how he does it. Other highlights to me include the Blood Sausage Queso Fundido and the sweet peppery hot chicken wings.

OK, this is a beer blog so let's talk about the beer. Here's what you need to know, there are 80ish taps on the wall, 3 nitro taps and 5 casks. Hay Merchant's cooler has two temperature zones, one for Ales and casks the other for lagers. Therefore allowing each beer to be served at optimal temperature. Each tap line has its own pressure and gas regulator, again allowing the beer to be served the best way it can, exactly like it is in the keg. Additionally, each line is thoroughly cleaned between each keg, which again allows the customer to get the best beer possible. It is these attention to details that puts Hay Merchant above many beer bars around the country. Speaking of attention to detail there is another example of this located at the bottom of the beer menu. There in a box the customer will find each of the serving vessels that Hay Merchant uses: snifter, pilsner, American Pint, tulip, Imperial Pint, 1/2 pint, as well as how many ounces each of these vessels holds. Why is this important? Well each beer on the menu lists its abv, vessel and price, which allows you the customer to really see what kind of bang for the buck you are getting with each beer. This way you can compare a $5 Karbach Weisse Versa served in a Pilsner glass, to a Victory Golden monkey that weighs in at 9.5% and is served in a tulip. I really really love the transparency and insight this gives the customer. My overall thoughts regarding the beer list is one of wonder, its an incredibly well thought out list. Yes of course there are some big time heavy hitters here, and some truly unique beers, but there are also many sessionable beers available, and it is this balance that makes the list special.

Speaking of how special this list is, I want to focus on a specific part of the beer list that Hay Merchant has, specifically Kevin's Cask Selections. While it is pretty common in Houston to walk into a good craft beer bar and see something on cask it is almost unheard of to see 2 or 3 on cask, let alone 5. In fact, it is this one thing that puts Hay Merchant in a whole other category. See there are maybe a handful of bars in the country that consistently have 5 or more beers on cask. Why is this? Well cask ale is much more fickle than your typical keg beer. Unlike keg beer, gas is not introduced in the pouring of cask beer, instead it is hand pumped from the cask into your glass. Cask conditioned beer is not filtered or pasteurized which is why it is essential to let a cask rest before tapping it and pouring it. If you tapped a cask as soon as it arrived in the bar, it would be cloudy, hazy, and maybe if it had been dry hopped (or any thing else) you would get bits of hops in the beer which could cause off flavors. There is a whole art to cellarmanship and entire books written on the subject. Needless to say, its more than just opening a tap. Besides the cask itself and any appropriate tubing for the beer to be pulled through, you need a good beer engine, or hand pump (again Hay Merchant has five). The beer engine is a piston style pump that pulls beer up from a cellar (or the cold storage behind the bar) and into your glass. Notice I've not talked about gas. In typical draft beer, CO2 gas is used to propel the beer from the keg into your glass. In Cask ale the beer engine is used. However this does not mean that cask ale is flat. If you get a flat cask beer, SEND IT BACK! Yes it is less carbonated, but not flat (sorry I can't stress that enough). This lower carbonation makes cask beer more subtle and allows flavors to develop differently than in normal keg beer. Many folks prefer cask ales, and in fact in England cask ale is called "Real Ale". Now while I won't go so far to say that draft beer is not real beer and all beer must be served on cask, there is a special quality to cask beer that can't be denied. It is all these things that make it amazing to see 5 casks on line at Hay Merchant, and more than that, folks are drinking them. Cask ale isn't for everyone, and many are turned off by the less than expected carbonation which is why I thought Kevin and his team was crazy for having that many on at one time. But I've been proven wrong so far. In the fist few days Hay Merchant was open they went through 150 gallons of cask ale, which is simply an amazing number. Now many of these are special casks, like Saint Arnold Brown Ale on Chardonnay with cherries, or (512) Cream Stout with Coffee beans, so there is little wonder that they are moving fast. As much as I love those types of beers, I yearn to see something more traditional, like Real Ale's ESB or Rye Pale Ale, or Live Oak Liberation on cask. Something a little more sessionable. I'm hoping that Kevin keeps one cask line for those type of beers and the other 4 for the special ones that he's been tapping. That would make me truly happy.

Its to early to call Hay Merchant the greatest beer bar in the country, but I have no doubt that if they continue doing what they are doing, they will get there. What Hay Merchant does is help make Houston a Craft Beer City. Yes there are other great beer bars in this town like the Flying Saucers, or Petrol, and they all have their place, and they all have helped make Houston a great place to get great beer. What Hay Merchant has done differently is in combining amazing food, with an amazing beer list, cask program, growler program and employee education. These are the things that great craft beer bars are about and I can't wait to see Hay Merchant continue to grow into what it will be, something that all beer lovers should rejoice in.

Hay Merchant

Two days ago a short cryptic tweet by the Houston Press caused Houston craft beer lovers to jump up in joy. The folks behind Anvil Bar and Refuge will be opening a craft beer bar. Shortly thereafter the Press released a short article, more of a tease really. Finally yesterday, the Houston Chronicle's Allison Cook released a full article with much more information: This fall a new craft beer bar will be opening in the old Chances spot down the street from Anvil. The bar will focus on craft beer along with food. It will be managed by Kevin Floyd, while Bobby Heugel will stay managing Anvil. However, none of these articles gave me or other craft beer folks some of the technical information that we would like to know. With that in mind I spoke with Kevin and asked if he would be willing to sit down and discuss his plan for his new venture. Kevin was more than agreeable, so yesterday evening we sat down for a couple of hours to talk about his new bar: Hay Merchant.

First, to answer two questions that I saw asked repeatedly on twitter: 1) Anvil is not going away and it will continue with its small draft craft beer program along with a nitro tap and cask engine. 2) Yes Hay Merchant will have a growler program since they only have a beer and wine license and not a liquor license. If you know the old Chances bar you'll realize that Hay Merchant will be much bigger than Anvil. Anvil is around 2100 sq ft, and the space for Hay Merchant is around 9500 sq ft. This allows many more taps on the wall and a full kitchen instead of the shoebox that Anvil has. Kevin is planning somewhere around 60-80 taps on the wall. The number of taps will depend not only on cooler space, but the amount of people that can fit inside, and how quickly beer can move. Kevin wants to ensure that beer doesn't sit for long periods of time. With that in mind, there is a potential that Hay Merchant starts out with 60 or so taps, and then after a period of time expands their offerings.

I mentioned cooler space earlier, so let's talk about the cold box at Hay Merchant. There will be 3 different and separate cold boxes. The first cooler box will be the cellar held at around 55 degrees F. In this cellar there will be kegs and bottles that Kevin would like to age. There will be no tap lines, just aging. Having a cellar will allow Kevin to host beer vertical events after a few years. The other cold box will be held at 55 deg F and will serve warmer beer like strong ales and casks. Finally, the last cold box will be the true cold box held at 35 degrees and will house, lagers, pilsners, blond ales, wheat beers, etc. Kevin's plan is to have a 60/40 split of ales to lagers. He is going to keep his keg lines as short as possible, straight taps, and short draws to reduce any chance of contamination or stale beer. As with Anvil, tap lines will be cleaned by hand at least between each time a keg is swapped out and sometimes more frequently depending on how quickly kegs are rotated. Each keg will have individual gas regulators as well.

Hay Merchant will be rotating taps in a similar fashion to Anvil. As an example, let's use the number of 80 taps that was mentioned before. Out of those, 30 will be static tap lines. Lots of local brews along with national craft beer. The other 50 would be rotating special ales, seasonals, etc. Of the taps on the wall, there will be 2-3 that are on nitro with the potential to add more if more craft nitro beer becomes available. Now that we've talked about all the taps, let's talk about Cask Ale. I've already mentioned that Cask ale will be kept at a separate warmer temperature, which will make Hay Merchant the only place to do that, and use a hand pump (versus gravity tapping and placing the cask on the bar). Kevin plans on having 3 to 5 casks on engine at any one time. 3 of these will be Texas beer main stays like Saint Arnold's Elissa and Real Ale Rio Blanco. The other 2 will be rotating specials using Kevin's own firkins that he sends out to brewers to fill.

Kevin along with one of his business partners is creating an employee handbook to help educate Hay Merchant employees. The goal is for each employee to know as much as possible about beer, serving conditions, and food pairings. Each beer will have a one sheet created giving details on the beer as well as proper serving vessels and temperature that each employee will need to memorize. Hay Merchant will have different glassware all kept at room temperature. Kevin plans on having at least British and American Pint glasses, Tulips, Pilsner, Snifter, and half pints. Before being filled with beer, each beer will be placed onto a glass washer. The water from the glass washer will be run through the different cold boxes so that the water cleaning the glass will be at the same temperature as the beer filling it.

We've gotten the more technical things out of the way, but a bar can't be successful without good ambiance and so I asked Kevin about that. As he stated to Allison Cook, Hay Merchant is not a gastropub, its a bar that will have good quality, well priced food. Its not a sports bar, but yes there will be TVs. Kevin wants the TVs available but not intrusive, so it will be interesting to see how he does this. Yes, there will be servers going to tables so you won't be served only at the bar like you are Anvil.

Hay Merchant will be open from 3pm to 2 am 7 days a week with extended weekend hours for lunch.

It's clear from talking to Kevin that he is extremely passionate about craft beer. I asked him about his philosophy on serving craft beer and this was his reply: "It is my job to be a steward and a representative of the brewers intentions of their beer when serving it....craft beer is not a business model. You have to believe in it and design your draft system around it, you have to do things correctly" I also asked him what he was most excited about this new adventure: "I love beer, and hope this new bar will give me a platform to positively influencing the beer market and distributor decisions." I asked what he meant by that statement and he said that by doing a larger volume than he does at Anvil and by working closely with distributors (and even other craft beer bars in the area) maybe he can get them to carry beers they otherwise wouldn't. He wants to use Hay Merchant to show distributors that there is a market for certain beers that they haven't been carrying for one reason or another. A noble cause in my opinion.

Hay Merchant will definitely be welcome addition to the craft beer bar scene in Houston. Its managed by someone with a lot of passion who is committed to great beer. Along with Petrol Station, Flying Saucer and Gingerman, Hay Merchant can hopefully make Houston a place to go for craft beer. I'll definitely be following the progress of Hay Merchant over the course of the next few months and as I find out more information I'll be posting it here. I want to thank Kevin Floyd for his time yesterday. I know the man is busy, not only is he planning a new bar, but he's also planning a wedding.

Anvil's Gravity Beer 2010

There were a lot of events I was looking forward to at the beginning of Houston Beer Week, and the Gravity Beer Event at Anvil last night was at the top of the list. The dream of Kevin Floyd, Co-Owner of Anvil the idea was to have a bunch of beer's that were either completely unavailable to Texas, or one off's of local beer's that would be special and unique. None of these beers would be available on draft, instead all served in cask and either poured via gravity or Cask Engine. When we arrived at Anvil there were two types of keg's set up. The first the traditional English Firkin (a 9 imperial Gallon keg) filled with unique Texas Craft beers or a German Anstich (5.28 US Gallons) filled Franconian Lager's that until last night were unavailable in Texas. Anvil handed out a nice "Consumption Guide" with info on all the beer's listed and a little bit of info on each beer, some of which I'll use below. I'll also include tasting notes on the beer's I was able to try:
Texas Firkin's
(512) Dry Hopped Two: This was (512) second anniversary beer and an imperial IPA. This was served via a Gravity Cask. I've had this beer before on draft and really enjoyed it. Last night it was great on cask, hoppy, spicy, almost creamy texture, it slaps you across the face with hops. Good carbonation (don't let anyone tell you cask beer should be flat!) some malty sweetness and mild alcohol notes. Great beer.
Jester King Dark Mild: The first cask that new Austin Area brewery Jester King has made. A traditional English Dark mild that weighs in at 3% and was dry hopped with East Kent Goldings. This beer was served on Anvil's cask Engine and one of the beer's I was most looking forward too. It poured a rich dark chestnut brown with a creamy head. Very malty, very easy drinking, but extremely flavorable. Some mild earthy hoppy notes adds to the beer without taking away from the showcase of malt flavors. A great cask ale that should be on regular rotations around town, hopefully it will be in the future.
Independence Convict Hill Stout aged with Anvil Bourbon Cherries: This was the second beer I was really looking forward to. Independence's Imperial Oatmeal Stout with Anvil's house made Bourbon cherries. This was tapped after Jester King's Mild was gone, and it took a loooonggg time, at least it was a long time for those of us eagerly waiting it, crowding around the bar, hoping that every time Kevin went to the ice box he would come out with an empty keg signaling that it was time of this beer. Well when it finally arrived none of us was left disappointed. It was served on Anvil's Cask Engine and came out black with just a hint of ruby streaks, and a thick creamy head. The nose was of roasted malts, chocolate, and maybe just a bit of bourbon. The mouth was medium bodied, lots of roasted malts, a small amount of bourbon up front and just a faint hint of cherries on the finish. Some notes of alcohol which is to be expected for a brew weighing in at just over 9%. I was surprised by how easy it drank. A really solid great beer and a wonderful collaboration between bar and brewer.
Southern Star Cocoa and Madagascar Vanilla Aged Smoked Porter: A very special version of Southern Star's Pro Am beer. Whole vanilla beans and Coco nibs were added into this cask.
The German Beers served in Anstich
Brauerie Bayer: A landbier
Ahornberger: A schwartzbier. This beer poured a rich dark black with an almost bright white head. Lots of dark roasted malts, some sweetness up front before it finishes dry. A creaminess to this lager, very good.
Braueri Beck (Trabelsdorf): Lager
Monschsambach: Unfiltered Lager
Guenther Braeu: Lager

Rightfully so Anvil has a reputation around not only Houston but the country as a top notch Cocktail bar, but last night it was definitely all about the beer. This morning via Twitter, Kevin reported that the Independence Cask was gone in 75 minutes. That's pretty good for such a high octane brew. Speaking of twitter, there were rumors going around this morning that Anvil had broken its single night sales record. I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that. A beer night setting sales records at Anvil so I needed it confirmed, so I sent a message to Kevin who replied back with a hearty YES! That's pretty amazing and is one more example of how successful Houston Beer Week has been.

Brew Dog night at Petrol Station

Last night Houston Beer mecca Petrol Station hosted Scottish brewer's Brew Dog. This was not just them coming to Petrol and talking beer. Oh yes they did that, but they also were pouring beers, including two very unique ones: Tactical Nuclear Penguin, and Sink the Bismarck the first weighing in at 36%, the other weighing in at 41%. I've not been kind to these beers because I think they are unnecessary gimmicks, from a brewery that for the most part has a relatively uneven line up of beers. However in fairness to the beer and the brewery I felt that I should make my way up to Petrol Station and try some of these brews. First, about the event. It was really great, there were tons of folks there, many fellow Houston Bloggers, Steve from All good beer, Chris, from Blog of an aspiring foodie, and Cathy host of the amazing and wonderful Beer Camp. Getting through the small crowded space at Petrol was a challenge but I started off with two of the beers that Petrol was pouring from Brew Dog, Hardcore IPA, a really good citrusy, piney IPA, and Paradox on cask, a thick syrupy stout aged in scotch barrels.
Around 8pm it was time for the main event folks started crowding around a table at the front of the bar, suddenly a man in a penguin outfit (sorry for the crappy picture, camera phone and it was dark) stood up on a table and we knew it was time. In a thick Scottish accent head brewer James Watt spoke about the two beers we were about to taste, us? We eagerly reached forward for the first pour of Sink the Bismark, a 41% IPA. Each of us was given very small pours, no more than a few sips each: here are my brief notes: Light amber color, notes of citrus and pine, alcohol burn, the mouthfeel is full bodied, on the tongue there is intense citrusy and piney notes, it tastes like beer, then the liquid makes it to the back of the tongue and down the throat and it BURNS, almost making me cough. Its intense yes, and I sure couldn't drink much of this, but it still tastes like beer, as Steve from All Good Beer said to me, you know where they are going and its a good place, it just needs some time.
After getting that beer down it was time for Tactical Nuclear Penguin a 36% barrel aged beer: This one was much darker, brown, malty notes, sweet caramel, vanilla and oak all on the nose again with some alcohol notes. The mouthfeel is syrupy, malty, but very alcoholic, and very disjointed, it seems to have lost its way, and frankly its not all that good, it has lost its beeryness for lack of a better word.
Surprisingly I rather enjoyed the 41% beer. I still feel that these are complete gimmick beers, and that Brew Dog would be better served creating a solid line up of wonderful beers than spending the time and effort it takes to create these alcoholic monsters. I do respect them for what they have done here, taking beer, amping it up to where they have and still keeping some beer qualities is quite simply amazing.

First Look: Block 7 Wine Co.

This past weekend was White Linen Nights in the Heights. It's a fun night of walking around the Heights area in Houston visiting antiques, restaurants, bars, etc. There's also periodic kiosk's serving Saint Arnold's beer! Its a great night and fun to go with a group of friends. Which is what my wife and I did, but before heading to the event we stopped at the new wine shop/restaurant Block 7 Wine Co off of Shepherd right before you get to Washington Avenue. The place is broken up in to two almost separate places. When you walk in the front door of the restaurant on your left is a glass wall where the wine shop is. My wife and I, arriving a little early headed over there to check out the selection. The wines spread from Germany, to Spain, to California, to yes even Texas. All are chosen for their quality and price, and each wine is tasted by each employee. They currently have around 250 wines, but expect at some point in the future to up it to 500. They sell not only wine, but have a solid selection of craft brews. Unlike a lot of wine places in Houston that do retail and service, there is no corkage fee. So if you have a $25.00 bottle of wine and you want to have it in the restaurant its $25.00, which is pretty nice. A great wine selection, good prices and the additional fact of being able to also buy beer makes this part a winner
Once our friends arrived we headed over to the restaurant. The menu is eclectic with French Bistro type food paired with California food, with Italian food. Somehow this all works. My wife had the amazing Block 7 Burger that was perfectly cooked slightly red in the middle. Juicy and messy. I chose the Sloppy Guiseppe, basically a sloppy joe with Venison. This was absolutely wonderful, the shredded venison popped in the mouth and was rich and flavorful, was juicy and well seasoned. Our friend had the Croque Monsier which was also fabulous. To drink my wife and friend got a glass of white wine, and were helped out in their selection by the very knowledgeable staff. I had a beer of course. Its a pretty large selection, I'd peg it at around 30+ choices, everything from Korbinian Dopplebock (my choice) to Dale's Pale Ale to Chimay to Dogfish Head 90 minute ale. All in all a great selection. The other thing that surprised me was that in talking with our waitress she seemed knowledgeable about beer as well as wine. In most of these places they treat beer as second class, and don't seem to train their staff in beer nearly as much as wine. For the most part it doesn't seem that this is the case of Block 7. Notice I do say 'for the most part', which brings us to my one big complaint. All beer, no matter what you purchased seemed to be served in Shaker pints, which as a beer lover is just about the worst glass you can serve certain beers in. They do nothing to enhance your enjoyment of the beverage or helping to capture the smells and flavor of your favorite ale. Higher gravity beers need to be served in snifters or tulips not shaker pints, if you must, keep those for pale ales, lagers, wit's, basic stouts and porters.

In summary, I think Block 7 is an welcomed addition to the crowded wine retail shops in Houston. It's got enough difference between other places to stand out and probably has some of the best food that I've tasted. Its more complex than pizza and paninni's. I'm excited to go back and check out the rabbit loin flat bread, more beer, and some of the more interesting wine choices. As this was my first look at the place I'll probably be posting on this place again over the next couple of months and let you know if my first impression changes.

Review: Anvil Bar and Refuge

If you've been reading my blog or following my twitter feed, you've probably heard me talk about Anvil Bar and Refuge. Its the new 'it' place it seems, down on Westheimer. A place that has become known for making amazing cocktails mostly pre-prohibition style, all fresh ingredients, with things like homemade bitters and syrups. These cocktails take time to make, so don't expect to order and quickly get your drink. There are no dispensing guns behind the bar, everything is hand made and shaken by the bartenders. This takes time, but don't fret, you'll learn something while waiting.
In addition to cocktails they also have a passion for great beer, an in fact I wrote not to long ago about their new draft beer list. A lot of folks have been reviewing it lately and saying great things, but I wanted to wait. Why you ask? Well when they first opened, while they had a great beer list most of it was on bottles. Then as mentioned above they got their new draft beer system in, so I gave them some time to get in the grove before putting together an "official" review. Well that time is today. Yesterday Anvil hosted a Hopfest, celeberating all