The Session # 19: Deutches Bier

Its hard to believe but yes its the first Friday of the month, and that means its Session Time. The theme this month is German Beer, but not just the beer, the culture as well should be discussed for this theme. The host are the folks over at lootcorp 3.0.
For this session I'm going to do something a little different, and something I've never done before. First things first the beer culture. I don't think that any country has the beer culture that Germany has, its very unique from those in Belgium or England, or even here in the US. To me its a family thing that makes it special.
Anyone that has read this blog for any length of time knows that I spent a few months living in Cologne Germany last year and got to experience this first hand. Living in Cologne I got to see the two faces of German Beer Culture. The first is that they love their beer, the second part of that is that they love THEIR beer, and sometimes this comes at the cost of experiencing other styles. I'll give you an example. Every bar/restaurant in Cologne served a specific Kolsch, usually from only one company, and maybe, maybe a pilsner. No other styles were really represented beyond the occasional Weizen offering. Having said that, they really loved their Kolsch, and could sit around a table drinking it for hours and extolling its virtues. Some of my favorite memories of my time there was of sitting in a Kolsch pub, drinking Kolsch, talking with my friends and the Kolsch waiter who would come by periodically to slam a new 0.2L glass on the table scratching out another mark on my coaster until finally having had a enough I placed my coaster atop my glass stumbling around the corner to my apartment. These were great times, times where I felt that we not only appreciated the fine beer but the better company. To make my point about German Beer culture being a family thing, let's look at another example. Taking really any Sunday you can see why they hold especially fond memories for me. These were the days when every thing was closed except for the pub's and restaurants. It was on these cold Sunday afternoon's that me and some friends would head to the pub for some Kolsch and maybe some goulash to warm ourselves up. We'd see lots of families here eating lunch dinner, or maybe just a snack of bread and cheese, sitting their all day with kolsch's in one hand and talking and just being together.
Seeing this family enjoyment is when I realized what may be biggest issue with American Beer culture. We see the pub independent from a family experience and I don't think that's the right way to look at things. Pub's can be a great place to relax the Sunday away with good food and a good atmosphere. I'll tell you one thing I'd much rather be doing that on Sunday then succumbing to our more commercialistic nature and shopping til I dropped.

Now for the thing I've never done before. I'm not going to post on a new beer. I'll point you all to the list of Kolsch's I've had and highlight one that I think is the best Kolsch in the states. The following is my entry from Saint Arnold's Lawnmower:
he 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 wonderful Saturday tours at Saint Arnolds I have quite a few of their tasting glasses which are basically Kolsch style glasses, so that's 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 floral 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.

I still say that this one is by far the best Kolsch I've had in the States.
Head on over to lootcorp and see what other folks are writing about.

Brew News Around Texas

A few short notes on what's going on with Texas Brewery's.
- First and foremost Rahr and Son's of Ft. Worth is releasing their Octoberfest brew this Friday at an arts event at the brewery. They's also be selling 1 Liter and Half Liter Steins to enjoy the brew in.

- Second from our local Houston Brewery Saint Arnold's is sponsoring a party at the Orange Show. from Saint Arnold's most recent newsletter:

The Orange Show, a Houston institution, is a labyrinthine space with lots of nooks and crannies to explore and many celebrations of oranges. And being able to do this exploration with a tasty beverage in your hand will only enhance the experience! There will be excellent refreshments (free!), music (free!), and a taco truck (cheap!) in case you get hungry.

The purpose of the event is a fundraiser for the Orange Show, an organization that in addition to maintaining the Orange Show Monument also supports a variety of folk art, including the Art Car Parade.

We want to show this organization a lot of support so please get your tickets now! Here are the full details:

Event: Orange Show Foamraiser
Date: Saturday, September 6
Time: 7 PM to 10 PM
Where: At the Orange Show
Address: 2402 Munger St.
Admission: $20 in advance, $25 at the door ($10 for kids 14 & under, available for purchase at the door) For tickets in advance: https://tix.cnptix.com/tix/SilverStream/Pages/pgIndex.html?siteID=1734
The Music:
Sideshow Tramps: http://www.myspace.com/sideshowtramps
The Grass Skirts: http://www.myspace.com/grassskirts

So go check out this Houston institution, go enjoy local music, local beer, and celebrate a local institution.

Avery Ale to the Chief

The Democratic National Convention ended last week and this week we're already in the middle of the Republican one, so yes dear friends we're neck deep in political season. As you all know the DNC was held in Denver, home (or near) many a craft brewery. Many of these folks made special beers for the event, but Avery Brewing went a step further and made one to celebrate the political season as a whole. They also made enough to bottle and distribute around the country. But unlike the Maharaja its not an Imperial IPA, but a Presidential IPA (PIPA?).
The Beer: This one weighs at 8.75%, much lower than their DIPA. It pours a cloudy amber with a thick white head and plenty of lacing. Hops, grapefruity and earthy, on the nose, with not as much malty smell as the Maharaja. The mouth is thick and creamy, with hops up front and spiciness and again not as much malty character. This is much more of a straightforward hop bomb. One of the more interesting characteristics was the spiciness of these beer, it was pretty intense white pepper notes among other things that I couldn't place. It added a different flavor profile than what I'm used to, it was rather pleasant though. There's also some citrusy bitterness, that along with the hoppy resin really saturates ones mouth. Even with all this intense character it went well with our dinner of hatch chili turkey burgers on ciabatta bread with fried potatoes. It was a good match with the PIPA really standing up to the spice and even helping reduce the intensity of the spice on the tongue. All in all this is a fine beer, while not as good in my opinion as the Maharaja, its pretty close. This one gets an A- from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Avery The Maharaja

After my recent binging on German style beers, I've gone back to something that is definitely American in nature, BIG and Powerful Imperial IPA's. This one in particular is part of Avery Brewing's Dictator series (of which the Kaiser is also a part of).
The Beer: This one weighs in at a powerful 102 IBU's and 10.2 % abv. It pours an orangish amber with a thick white head that sticks around, sliding down the glass leaving a thick resin of lacing. The nose is unsurprisingly massive hops. I could smell the grapefruit as soon as I started pouring the bottle into the glass. There's also some candied apricots and mild notes of malt. The mouth is more of the same. Lots of hops, grapefruit, and some piney qualities as well. The mouthfeel is thick and creamy a little bit resiny. What makes this beer great though is its malt. This is a incredibly well balanced DIPA. With nice malt backbone that keeps this beer from being overly astringent. My wife who dislikes most of the DIPA's that I love really enjoyed this one due to its maltiness. Avery has made a very drinkable DIPA. Well rounded with not a lot of alcohol burn, just enough for you to know its there. A great DIPA, this one gets a strong A from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

New Bar Coming To Houston

And the folks behind this bar isn't just anyone but its the bar team from Beaver's. Bobby Huegal and Kevin Floyd are leaving Beaver's and will be opening up their own place on Westheimer. The name will be Anvil and the concept is pretty simple: Great wine, Great Cocktails (of course) and a great beer list. Of course its this last bit that has me interested. On Drink Dogma, Bobby gives a few details:

Our beer list will include the best microbrews in the country, and we will offer alternative taps at all times that will change every week.

This gets me a bit excited....What type of beers will they have that will set them apart from Gingerman and the Saucer? Will they have Casks? Will they work with the local brewery's and offer special one of a kind beers? I don't know the answer to any of these questions yet, but I can't wait to find out. Anvil is hoping to open in Mid-November. I'll update their progress as I can.

Boulevard Bob's 47

Just recently I had my first Octoberfest of the year and I'm seeing more and more of them and other Fall seasonals on the shelves. What's excited me this year is that with all the new breweries that have come in to Texas this past year I'm getting to try versions that I've never had before and this is one of the first. Bob's 47 is Boulevard's fall seasonal Munich Style Lager.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 5.5 % and pours a nice amber with a thick taupe head. The nose is malty and spice with a caramel sugary sweetness. The mouth has a rich flavor up front with maltiness, caramel, and honey with just a bit of toastyness and bready rye notes. For all the flavor that's up front it weakens at the finish leaving me wanting something a little more, little more robust. A good beer, not a great one. This one gets a B- from me.

Another Blog in the family

Just a quick post and a little bit of in family advertising. My amazing wife, the one that has not only endured, but encouraged my love of craft beer has her own blog. This one not on beer, but our other love, eating local, growing local. This will be a blog about how we are attempting to grow some of our own vegetables out here in the Houston Suburbs as well as working with local folks, getting food from CSA's, cooking and eating the food. Seeing what we can do to not only support our local brewers, but to support our local growers. So if your of the mindset, go check it out.

Beer News

A couple of good Beer related articles in the main stream news today.

- First is this article from the New York Times on lower alcohol beers. As I've stated numerous times, one can not live on extreme beer alone. I love session, or lower alcohol beers, and they are absolutely perfect for the hot Texas summer. Great article with some really good insight. Low alcohol definitely doesn't mean low flavor.

- Secondly an article from MSNBC on canned beers. Now if you've been reading this blog you know I love the method of packaging beer. It eliminates any chance of light getting to the beer, plus let's face it...its cool. Unfortunately there are quite a few beers I wish they had mentioned, not the least of which is the home grown Southern Start Pine Belt Pale ale.

Southern Star Follow Up

After my post yesterday about Southern Star's newest brew, I wanted to find out the answer on how they plan on packaging the beer. I sent an email to the brewer David who was kind enough to reply today:

The Rauchbier will be only available on draft. I will post the list of locations on the website as they become available. It is going under the moniker "Southern Star Rachbier".

Ahhh sad that it won't be called 'Pork Soda' but I'm pretty sure that's do to legal issues. Can't have someone mistake a beer for soda......Now I can't wait to find where this beer is going to be on tap.

New Southern Star Brew

Its Monday, and I've got some pretty exciting news. According to their website Conroe's own Southern Star Brewery is getting ready to start brewing their fall beer. A Rauchbier! While certainly not for everyone a Rauchbier is a smoked beer, or a beer made with smoked malts. This beer that they call Pork Soda (because it tastes like ham in a glass!) is made with 100% Wyermann Malt from Hamburg Germany, the home of Rauchbier. Why am I so excited about this? For a couple of reasons. One, I think its a very under utilized style of beer that very few microbreweries in the country attempt to make. Second, this is Texas the home of BBQ and smoked brisket. What goes better with smoked brisket than smoked beer? Nothing I tell you. Third, Southern Star will be the first microbrewery in Texas to brew this style of beer (although a brewpub Covey has brewed a solid version). This is the type of stuff I was really hoping that Southern Star would do. Step out from the typical beers and make something unique, and more important something that could be unique for Texas. No word on whether this will be tap only or bottled (or canned).

The Amethyst Initiative

No its not some top secret cloak and dagger mission. Instead its a group of 100 college presidents that are concerned about the abundance of underage binge drinking that occurs when a student gets to University. Their goal simply is to start a debate on whether legal drinking age should be lowered from age 21 to 18. I've stated my opinion before and it hasn't changed. I think we should seriously consider lowering the age of drinking. I truly believe that it will help decrease the binge drinking in this country that occurs when a kid leaves their parents home and for the first time is introduced to alcohol. However the goal here is to start a debate to get people to open up to new ideas. So with that I'll give you some information so that you the reader can make up your own mind.
- A good post by Rick Lyke which also lists the colleges involved.
- Choose Responsibly, and organization that's purpose is to start the debate we are having now.
- Amethyst Initiative.

Avery Kaiser 2008

Yes I know its Mid-August and the last thing it feels like here in Houston is Fall, but that doesn't stop brewers from getting an early start and releasing their Octoberfest beers. This fall style beer is one of my favorites, and this Imperial version from Avery brewing has been a solid one in the past. I've tried their previous versions and posted them here and here.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 10.03% which is higher than the previous two years. The beer pours a reddish orange color with a thick white head. The nose is rich and malty with notes of caramel. The mouth is very malty up front with a bit of alcohol burn mellowing into a nice rich sweetness, notes of caramel and earthy hop notes finish it off. For a big beer this is rather drinkable, mellowing out the richness of last years. Even with a bit of alcohol burn this one gets rated higher by me, give it a B+.

Steamworks Colorado Kolsch

Leading up to this month's Session and its theme of German Beer, I'm trying to drink more German styles, instead of my overly hoppy beers that I love so much. Nothing wrong with drinking German styles as there are a lot of very solid ones being made by American Craft Brewers. One of my favorite styles of beer, but one that is rarely made over here is Kolsch. Anytime I make it to Spec's or Central Market I'm on the lookout for a beer that calls itself Kolsch to see how it pairs up to those from Cologne. You can imagine then how happy I was to see a Colorado Kolsch from Durango, Co brewery Steamworks on the shelf.
The Beer: This one weighs in at a 4.5% abv and pouring into a traditional Kolsch glass is a straw yellow colored beer with a nice white head. The nose is yeasty, low on malts and hops. Even in the mouth the yeast and bready character seem to be the focal point over the hops and malt. There isn't a malty sweetness but you do get some pale malt characteristics in the flavor profile. But over all this beer misses some body to it. There is some flavor but its light, nothing substantial to this brew. Good but nothing spectacular and it gets a C+ from me. The folks at BA are a little kinder than I am.

Quick Hits: Texas Brewery Edition

Just a couple of quick notes on this Thursday evening.
The first two from Saint Arnold's.

- Houston Press's Robb Walsh had a sit down interview with Saint Arnold's Brock Wagner. Main topic revolving around SA's new downtown digs.
- In Saint Arnold's latest newsletter they mention their fund raiser for the Houston's Orange Show. The Orange show is a Houston institution and needs as much help as possible. They also run the amazing Houston Art Car Parade the largest of its kind in the nation. These are the type of things that makes Houston a great (if under appreciated) city.

- Lastly news from Ft. Worth's Rahr and Sons brewery. They've got a shiny new website. A marked improvement over their old one. Go check it out and see what their doing to reduce their carbon foot print.

This Won't be the last time this happens

It was announced this week that A-B will start working towards reducing its workforce by 10 to 15 % by the end of this year. While this may not all be a direct cause of the recent InBev buyout I'm sure that didn't help matters.
As stated don't put all the blame on InBev for this maneuver as A-B was already working to reduce costs, but as I stated in my earlier posts let's not kid ourselves either. As I've said many times, the biggest loss in this InBev situation isnot A-B, it'sthe workers that are going to lose their job's, and in today's economy thats a shame. I'm sure that InBev will be instituting their own cost cutting manuevers, but let's hope its not too extreme.

Quick Note on a new Texas Brewery

I haven't posted anything on them for a quite a while, but Austin's newest brewery (512) is open for business and they are brewing a Pale Ale, Wit and an IPA. So far all the beers are available only on tap and only in the Austin area. The brewery is owned and operated by Kevin Brand who has a wealth of home brewing experience and like so many wanted to open his own brewery. Well it looks like he's done a good job so far. I sent him an email a bit ago inquiring as to whether or not they would make it to Houston. He responded that he is extremely busy just filling orders for the taps that he has in Austin but hopefully if they grow like he wants in the next few months (or years, hopefully not!!!) they'll make their way outside of Austin.

I know I've written about it before, but as nice as it is to have so many breweries coming into Texas its 10 times better seeing the number of new breweries that are starting up in our great state.

Boulevard Zon

After many recent posts on Green Flash I'm going back to another brewery thats new to the Texas scene, Boulevard Brewing. This one is their seasonal wit beer (Zon is Flemish for sun).
The Beer: Weighs in at 4.45% and pours a cloudy hazy straw color with a decent sized stark white head. The nose is citrusy and vibrant, bready, oranges, and grapefruit. The mouth was all of these things with a bit of the corriander spice coming through. Crisp and clean, a great hot Texas summer time beer. I'm a huge fan of wit beers for summer, not only for their drinkability but for their ability to pair with summer foods, whether grilled chicken, or a salad of summer greens with a light vinaigrette, a wit can hang with them all. Boulevard's version is right up there with one of the better wit's I've had. This one gets a strong B from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

Green Flash Barleywine

This post marks a bittersweet moment for me. Over the past week I've been plowing through Green Flash beers, left and right. This post will be the last of them for now as its the final beer from the San Diego brewery that I've been able to find at my local Spec's down in Clear Lake. Maybe there is more up in downtown, or maybe, just maybe Green Flash will be sending more of their beers to the Lone Star State. I can say that I'm happy to end it on a high note as barleywines are one of my favorite styles.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 10% and pours a cloudy brown with a thick white head. Sweet caramel malts on the nose with the slightest hints of citrusy malts. This nose is awesome, I could bury my face in this snifter glass all night. The mouth feel is thick, with notes of toffee, caramel, and a good smack of hoppy bitterness. Creamy, sooth, this a great sipping beer, and while it seems out of place for the Texas heat was quite tasty. Its got notes of cherry and whiskey that correlate to a tad bit of alcohol burn, but in a beer like this I don't mind it. I really enjoyed this one, and it gets a strong A- from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Flying Dog Tire Bite Golden Ale

What better way to celebrate this months Session Theme of German Beer than partaking in a German style beverage. I've had almost everything Flying Dog has to offer, and posted on most of them. This one is a beer I've had before but its the first time I've had the opportunity to do a write up of my thoughts. The Tire Bite is Flying Dog's version of a Kolsch Beer, a beer that I am rather fond of. For this beer instead of using a chalice or pint glass I used the traditional Kolsch style glass.
The Beer: Weighs in at 5.0% just right for a Kolsch and pours a golden straw color with a rather thin stark white head. Lots of tiny bubbles evident, like a fine champagne. The nose is yeasty and bready. There is a lot of carbonation in the mouth, a good yeasty taste with a bit of hoppy bitterness. A solid if not spectacular example of the Kolsch Style. I still say Saint Arnold's Lawnmower is the best American example I've had. This one still gets a B- from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

The Export of American Beer

After a long time of Americans importing other countries beer whether it be German Lagers or British Stouts and Porters it seems tides are turning. The countries that love good beer are now looking to America for inspiration. While this has happened in the past this year's Great British Beer Festival will feature more American Beers than ever before. A total of 17 American Craft Beers will be represented at the Festival which starts this week. While the article doesn't state which breweries will be among the 17 this its exciting to see other countries appreciating our craft beer movement.

A Quick Note on Saint Arnold's

With Tropical Storm Edouard coming ashore today I've got the day off work. No worries the storm's not that bad, but hey who's going to argue with a free day off? Not me! Today is as good a day as any to peruse the Internet for interesting beer related notes so I may be posting a few more times today. This first one is just a quick note on Saint Arnold Brewery and their new building they've purchased in downtown. They have got a bunch of pictures up along with a description of what the new place is going to look like. More bathrooms and A/C....heck that's good enough for me, everything else is just lagniappe.

The Session # 19 Announcement

Literally just posted on why I didn't participate in the Session # 18 and now we get the announcement for The Session 19. The host for this months virtual beer tasting session is Lootcorp a brewing blog. The theme this month is Deutches Beer, or German Beer. Here are the rules straight from the blog:

I want you all to focus on the wonderful contributions our German neighbors have made to the beer world. You can write about a particular German style you really enjoy, a facet of German beer culture which tickles your fancy, or any other way in which Germany and beer have become intertwined in your life. Bonus points for Bavarian-themed posts.

As someone who lived there for a short time and loves German Beers and the culture of beer over there I am extremely excited for this one. I'm already forming an idea of what I want to post so it should be a good one this month and one that I am definitely going to set some time aside to participate in. Due date is September 5th.

The Session #18 Roundup and my Participation

Well The Session 18 has passed my by and I didn't get a chance to participate. The Theme for the event this month was Anniversary Beers and frankly I haven't been drinking to many of those, instead delving into the new breweries that have been making their way to Texas. For instance I had a new one from Green Flash on Friday instead of popping open a special anniversary beer. So far I've had their Trippel and their Imperial IPA, both very good beers, Friday I bought the first six pack of beer, their Hop Head Red.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 45 IBU's and 6.0% abv, is dry hopped with Amarillo hops. It pours a reddish brown with a THICK taupe colored head. Hops floral and spicy on the nose with hints of sweet malts. The mouth is much maltier than anticipated and it was a nice surprise. I'd guess Viennese and maybe some crystal malts used in the fermentation both adding a nice flavor profile. Notes of caramel and then hops on the finish. Smooth and easy drinking. Very tasty, this one gets a strong B+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

Now that my non-anniversary beer post is up, head over to the Barley Blog for the Session 18 roundup.

Beaver's Revisited

I've been to Beaver's Restaurant many times since my first visit and I've never left disappointed. The food is always top notch, the beer selection is great, and of course the cocktails are amazing. Their mixologist Bobby Heugel even has his own blog on cocktails, the well put together Drink Dogma. My wife and I went over to Beaver's on Wednesday for their Green Evening. The gist of the idea is that on Wednesday they'll offer an appetizer, a beer, and a cocktail that are all "green" and proceeds go to Green causes. Ahh a good excuse to drink! Not that I need one. The main purpose of this post though is to tell about an amazing beer related experience. Bobby is a pretty insane mixologist when it comes to developing ingredients for his cocktails, and he has a new one (well new to me) that blew my socks off: Stout Liqueur. He took Guinness, Victory Storm King and a porter whose name escapes me this morning, and created a liqueur with them. A little sip was all we were given and it was amazing, the flavors of the beer were still there, extremely concentrated notes of stout and roasted malts, mixed with the liquor. It was incredible to think that this nectar started out as three different and distinct beers. It was something that I never would have thought of and an industrious use of putting beer into cocktails.

Monday Afternoon Quick Hits

A few notes around the world of beer this beautiful Monday afternoon.

- The Today show talks craft beer. Specifically good summer beers, with a nice focus on one of my favorites, Kolsch.

- In my recent interview with Brock Wagner of Saint Arnold's we talked about him getting involved in the community. Well they will be participating in the upcoming White Linen Nights in the Heights. A unique outdoor event in the Houston Heights "Championing art, culture, and community." Saint Arnold's will be providing some much needed refreshments. Needless to say I'll be attending.

- Lastly, don't forget that this Friday is The Session # 18.

Green Flash Trippel

Just a few days ago I had my first Green Flash and I'm already a big fan. Such a fan in fact that I have eagerly picked up another one of their beers to try out. Another one of their big bottled beers, this time going from an American staple to a Belgian one.
The Beer: Pouring this one into a Duvel glass it weighs in at 8.5% (a little low compared to other trippel's) and looks a golden orange color capped with a thick frothy dense bright white head. The nose is fruity, hoppy, apricots, and white grapes along with other citrusy notes. The mouth is full of effervescence, like pop rocks going off in your mouth. There are notes of honey, lemoncello, caramel, candied sugar and white fruits. This one is NICE! Very crisp. The only negative is there is a bit of astringency and alcohol burn at the finish. A great trippel. This one gets a strong B+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Green Flash Imperial IPA

You know I gotta say it, I love my wife. I come home the other day from a long day at work and I find a note on the door saying there's a surprise in the fridge. I head on over to the kitchen and open the door to find a wonderful bottle of Green Flash IIPA. How awesome is that??? Green Flash Brewery is one more brewery that has made its way into Texas to distribute their beers. I've heard a lot about this San Diego Brewery but never had the chance to try their beers, until now! I've said it once I'll say it again, it seems like there is a new brewery coming into Texas every month and I don't think there has ever been a better time to be a lover of craft beer in the Lonestar state than right now.
The Beer: Pouring this one into a snifter. It weighs in at 9% and 101 IBU's and pours a golden honey color with a half inch frothy white head. The nose unsurprisingly is all hops....make that HOPS. Citrus, pine, and lemon custard. The mouth is hoppy but it doesn't pop you over the head, instead it slowly penetrates your taste buds, slowly and sip by sip leaving them saturated with hoppy goodness. Its got a great mouth feel, full of citrus, apricots along with some earthy notes. Surprisingly this DIPA is drinkable, I mean you couldn't have multiple in one sitting, but this one doesn't hit you over the head, the affect is there, it's just slower in creeping up on you. Great great beer, this one gets an B+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Full Sail LTD 02

The week starts with a special offering from Full Sail Brewing out of Hood River, Oregon. They're known for making pretty solid beers and I'm a HUGE fan of their Session beer which is exactly what its name says it is. Lately they've started to release a limited series of beers Each beer a special one time only recipe (sound familiar?). Now these aren't necessarily extreme beers, just good solid ones. The O2 LTD is a limited edition lager made with Saaz hops, Viennese malts. wheat malts and caramel malts.
The Beer: This one weighs in at a slightly high 6.4% and pours a nice clear copper color with a thick off white head. The nose is roasty Viennese malts. Rich and caramel-y on the nose with slight coppery notes. On the mouth its rich, tasty, malty, slightly sweet of caramel. Light notes of honey and molasses. A good solid beer almost like a bock. Smooth and crisp. The only turn off here is that its a little sweet for me. Regardless this one gets a solid B from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

International Brewer's Day

July 18th, today has been decreed to be International Brewer's day. An unofficial (and hopefully some day soon official) holiday to celebrate those great and wonderful artists that create the drink we love and are so passionate about. International Brewers Day (henceforth IBD) is the brain child of Jay Brookston. This day is used to celebrate brewer's and the idea is for beer bloggers like me and many others to participate by profiling, interviewing, talking about, etc brewers. July 18th was chosen as the date because its the feast day for Saint Arnold of Metz, the patron saint of brewers. If you want more information head over to the IBD's website.
When I first heard about this, I got really excited because I thought it would be a great excuse to get to know a local brewer a little better and to write about the beer he creates and that I enjoy so much, it also didn't help the date for this was July 18th.
It should be obvious by now that I'm profiling Saint Arnold Brewing Company and specifically its owner Brock Wagner. With it being the local brewery in Houston (for a while the only one in the area) I've written a lot about Saint Arnolds in the past couple of years on the blog. For good reason, they are a great brewery and more important good folks.
Let me start by giving folks a little background on how I became introduced to their beer. I went to school in Louisiana where I drank mostly Shiner and Abita,both good solid beers. When I moved to Houston I was trying to find a good local beer, and one day my then girlfriend (now wife) took me to the Saturday tour at Saint Arnold's. I was instantly hooked. The atmosphere at these tastings is amazing. Everyone standing in line for the free beer, then sitting down communal style on these long long benches, talking not only with your own group but everyone around you sharing experiences, and of course food, food that you've brought from home, from the grocery store, or pizza place etc. It's one big family atmosphere. I thought to myself then that this was a pretty cool deal. Well needless to say I've been back numerous times even in the heat of the summer (no AC!!!!).
Another neat thing about the tour is looking at the wall by the long bar and seeing all these letters of thanks from different organizations that Saint Arnold's has helped in some way. They really care about the community there as do many small craft brewers which is one more reason why these folks mean so much to us. Needless to say I think Saint Arnold's is a top notch company so I really wanted to be able to sit down and do an interview with Brock. I'm happy to say that while I didn't have the time to sit down with Brock he was gracious enough to answer numerous questions via email....so with out further ado.
A little introduction to Brock first. He went to college at Rice University here in Houston and got into home brewing during his stay. Once he graduated he stayed in Houston and worked as a financial analyst doing corporate finance and mergers & acquisitions, primarily in the oil service industry. At some point his work was getting in the way of his homebrewing and as he says "one of them had to go." Lucky for us kept brewing beer. So time for some questions:
You chose the name Saint Arnold's to celebrate the patron Saint of Brewing correct?
Yes

What got you into Homebrewing in the first place?
The RA in my college at Rice (who also plays trumpet in the Houston Symphony) introduced me to homebrewing. I'd go over to DeFalco's (then next door to the GingerMan) and get my supplies and brew in the dorm.

Whats the most unexpected thing you have noticed being a brewer?
The way women throw themselves at you. That was a joke. The lack of control we have over the selling process. We control brewing the beer, but once it leaves the brewery, it is a challenge to control the process from then on. We work hard trying to do so.

Whats the hardest thing?
Getting people to be aware of us. As a craft brewer, we don't have the money to advertise and our customers don't really seek out beers that way. The result is the only way to make people aware of us is word-of-mouth. This takes years, which is why the first 10 years are such a challenge for most small brewers.

Whats the funnest thing about being a brewer?
Making beer. Really! At the end of the day, drinking exactly the beer that you want, and you made it to boot, is really satisfying. Now for funniest:
Beer is every-man's drink. There are no affectations surrounding it (or at least there shouldn't be.) As a result, people feel a strong connection to our brewery and that we are part of their lives. This leads people to tell you very funny and sometimes personal stories about Saint Arnold drinking experiences. Some of them fall under the "too much information" category!

One of the really great things about Saint Arnold's is its community involvement. I love going to the brewery and checking out the wall with all of the letters of thanks from the folks that you've helped. From working with the Elissa Project to Buffalo Bayou, you do a lot for the city, why go to all the effort? Do you have a favorite causes? Do you have plans to support any other big causes?
I believe strongly in the community, and in order for the community to be strong, people and businesses need to be involved. We probably do more than we should, but it makes us feel good, so why not? Usually our process is that we look to get involved in things that we like, and then we try to come up with a business rationale. If we succeed (even if it's a stretch), we do it. We plan on doing more things with the Orange Show, partially to support that organization, but more than anything, to make sure that the Art Car Parade is financially healthy. That is a Houston institution that is quite expensive to put on and, surprisingly, doesn't get much support from the City.

So how have those Saturday sessions evolved, from way back in 1994 to now?
They started with 10 to 25 people for the first couple of years. It took about six years to get up to 50 people, then they started exploding. We had over 600 people here last Saturday, and it was hotter than Hades!

I love your every day beers, but your Divine Series is otherwordly, how did the decision to make more extreme beers come about? I know some are made by homebrewers, but what about others?
We just wanted to have fun and brew some beers that we really wanted to make but wasn't sure how large the audience would be for them. Pretty much all of the recipes for our beers are mine, but with the Divine Reserves, the guys here compete to come up with a recipe that we decide to brew up. We don't publicize whose recipe it is, but everybody here knows. For example, when Divine Reserve No. 4 won a gold medal at the World Beer Cup this year, Vince was as giddy as a school girl. Every year one of the Divine Reserve recipes comes from the winner of the Big Batch Brew Bash. That homebrew does get a lot of publicity for winning the competition and having this beer brewed. Also, we enter that beer in the Pro-Am category at the Great American Beer Festival.
You've recently bought new property closer to downtown. Why that property? Was it the location? Size? Price? Or a combination of all three?
It was all three. I wanted to locate the brewery close to town, preferred an older building that had some character, and we were able to afford (sort of) this location.
Besides the obvious expansion to capabilities what other things will having this new place bring?Air-conditioned space for the tours! And more bathrooms. I know it's goofy, but actually owning a place gives a certain feeling of permanence and a greater connection to the city as well.

Any plans to go outside of Texas? Why or why not?
Not at the moment, but I don't rule it out as a possibility. Traditionally beer has been local. It is best when it is fresh. It is expensive to ship something as heavy as beer. I think we would all be best served if we first and foremost focused on our local communities.

Do you have a favorite Saint Arnold's Brew? if so what is it?

No, I don't have a favorite Saint Arnold beer overall, but any given evening, I certainly will be in the mood for one specific of our beers. With this heat, I have been consuming a lot of Summer Pils, but earlier in the summer it was Elissa. I will often finish the evening with an Amber Ale. And I always long for some Christmas Ale, although not usually when it's in the 90's outside, but I did enjoy having some off of our Christmas in July run. OK, so you see my issue.

If you aren't drinking Saint Arnold's what do you reach for?

There isn't one beer I look for other than Saint Arnold's. If I am someplace that doesn't serve Saint Arnold, I will get whatever the most interesting, flavorful beer there is, but it could be many different beers.

There you have it folks. Thanks so much to Brock for taking the time to answer a few questions. And for everyone else out there, have you hugged your brewmaster today? Happy International Brewer's Day everyone.

Boulevard Brewing Lunar Ale

OK, enough with the InBev deal, time to talk craft beer! Boulevard brewing Co is one of the newest craft beer makers to make its way to Texas (following hot on the heals of Oskar Blues, and leading the way for many many others). They are based out of Kansas City and were founded in 1989. I've heard a lot about them, so I was pretty excited to see their wares at my local Spec's. The packaging is unique as well. The bottles don't come in a traditional 6 pack container, instead come in a full box. A little bit of a waste of cardboard if you ask me, but I'm interested in whats in the box (or more specifically whats in the bottle inside the box). Lunar Ale is their brown ale offering, but its a pretty unique one in my mind. Its bottle conditioned and made with a lot of wheat malt, both unusual offerings for a brown ale.
The Beer: Now that we've been introduced lets get to know each other a little better. This one weighs in at 4.5% making it a perfect session beer. It pours a very hazy hazelnut brown color capped with a good thick taupe head. The hazy comes from the wheat used and it being bottle conditioned. The nose is fruity, bananas, pruney, some malts and little bit of floral notes. The mouth is wonderful. There's a nice thick mouthfeel, with a tart sourness on the tongue followed by malty, fruity, and yeasty notes. This is such a complex "basic" beer. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I feel that I could have multiple of these in one sitting and each beer would reveal itself in a different way. This one gets a very strong A from me. Seems like a lot of folks at BA don't agree with me.

InBev and A-B

Well it happened. It of course (unless you've been asleep under a rock) is the buyout of Anheuser-Busch by Belgian Super industrial brewing company InBev. The beer blogosphere and main stream media have written numerous stories in the last few days. I wanted to wait a couple of days, see folks reactions before posting my own thoughts. I've had a good time reading peoples comments to other stories and the response is pretty wide ranging. From "this is an outrage how can something so American be bought out" (whats more American than capitalism?) to "Great now maybe someone will make Bud taste good" (they won't, InBev hasn't done great things with Becks and Stella now have they?) and of course everything in between. Now here are my thoughts.
Is it in outrage that a Foreign country can buy an "American icon?" Well first of all let's discuss Bud as an American Icon. What many don't realize or are too lazy to look up is the fact that while A-B may have been run by the Busch family, they weren't necessarily owned by them. They were owned by shareholders, and they weren't all from the good ole U.S. of A, but instead represented people and companies from all over the world, so let's stop the nonsense of complaining about a foreign company buying out Bud. Bud was already owned by companies and people from foreign countries so whats the difference? The Busch family not running things? This is a loss? Now is Bud an American Icon? I guess you could lump them in the same category as McDonalds and Coke, but Icon's? Buying out small breweries, suing small breweries until they can't afford to run their businesses, buying out other breweries from around the world (sound familiar InBev?) and taking them over? That's not how I define an Icon.
As for the comments about InBev making Bud better, again this is nonsense. InBev isn't going to mess with the recipe of Budweiser, the same folks that brewed it yesterday will brew it tomorrow and the next day. Those aren't the employees that have to worry about their jobs. Unfortunately I'm sure that InBev will be consolidating things and that's the saddest part of this buyout.
Lastly, what does this mean for what we care about, Craft Beer? Well there are two thoughts, what I think will happen and what I hope happens. When the possible merger was first discussed I posted my original thoughts on the issue here. Let me expand a bit on my initial thesis. I still think this could be bad for craft brewers. The larger the company the more tentacles they have into distributorships, the more leverage they have. If they tell distributors to only carry their products, and they have a large inventory of said products then the distributor may be enticed to work exclusively with them. This limits the choice for the consumer. Along with the InBev/A-B merger you have MolsonCoors and SABMiller merging their North American Distributors. This means in North America you have two brewing companies controlling (for the most part) beer and its distribution. How does this help the consumer? I don't think it does and that frankly is a shame.
Now I don't want to end on a downer, so let's talk about what I HOPE will happen. Reading the comments to stories, I've seen a lot of folks talk about "well I won't drink Bud anymore, I want an American Beer". Let's forget for the moment that Bud will still be made in America and focus on what that comment can mean. It means people want to drink American. Hopefully that can mean local. For instance here in Texas, maybe people go from Bud to Shiner, and from Shiner to Saint Arnolds or Real Ale, or Southern Star as their taste buds are opened to better beer. Could this happen? Why not? Even if a small percentage of Bud drinkers turn away and switch to craft beer, it could be a HUGE swing in over all sales. Its a unique opportunity for small craft brewers, to tout the localness of their products. As for me, I haven't had a Bud in years and years, I'll keep drinking my craft beer and promoting it, and talking about it as much as I possibly can.
Thanks to Jay for this last little tidbit. Maybe craft brewing is already on the upswing.....with Bud now being owned by a foreign company who is the largest brewer (a company that actually brews beer not contracts it) in the country? Boston Beer Co maker of Sam Adams.

Newsy News Bits on Saint Arnold's

A quick post today just to share some fun information that Saint Arnold's put into their newsletter.

- First things first, Saint Arnold's is doing it again, Christmas in July. One of my favorite times of the year. They are releasing a limited amount of their Christmas beer this week in bottles and a few places will have it on tap. In its third year this is really starting to be a fun little tradition.

- Secondly and more impressively Saint Arnold's reports that their sales were up 30% for the first half of 2008. That's awesome and one more reason why they can go buy the new place and expand a little. Congratulations to Brock and the gang.

Two beers from a Business trip

My wife's business trip at that! My wife got back from a conference on the west coast recently and brought back two beers for me..what a great woman! Although from a well known brewer and one that I'm familiar with, I hadn't had either of this. The beers are Rogue's Brutal Bitter and Eugene City Brewing Triple Jump Pale Ale (also from Rogue Brewing)....hmm pale ale's! Needless to say it didn't take me very long to open these two bomber's up for a drink.
Brutal Bitter: Rogue describes this as an Imperial Bitter with 59 IBU's. The beer pours a cloudy orange capped with a thing off white head. Grapefruit and pine with a bit of earthiness is on the nose. There's also this lemon meringue scent that's really nice and then some toasty pale malts finish it off. The mouth is very bitter hops, its definitely in your face, but not quite to the point of being over the top. Its actually somewhat balanced, effervescent, citrusy, crisp and smooth. Very nice. This one gets a B from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.
Eugene City Brewing Triple Jump Pale Ale: As weird as it sounds I couldn't find much info on this beer. Both BA and Rogue list Eugene City's Tracktown IPA but not this one. Anyway this ones a fine one. Pours a hazy orange with a thick white heads. Hops grapefruit, a lot of citrus peel. The mouth is strongly hops, more than the previous, but doesn't get astringent which happens so often with these over hopped beers. This one is NICE. Great lacing, smooth, grapefruit, zest, creamy. I really liked this one. This on gets a B+ from me.

The Session # 18 Announcement

Fresh off our round up of the 17th Session, we get an announcement of the 18th. The host this month is the Barleyblog, the theme is Anniversary Beer. Here are the details:

Use this as an excuse to celebrate. Open a limited release anniversary beer from your favorite brewer. Enjoy that special beer you normally only open on your wedding anniversary or birthday. Either way, tell us about it. Why is it a beer you may only drink once a year? Why is that brewery’s annual release the one you selected?

Sounds fun, I might have one or two special beers laying around that I could break open. Due date? August 1 will be when every ones posts their take on this theme and shortly thereafter The Barleyblog will post a round up.

The Session Roundup

I thought this month's session was relatively inspired. With a great theme, and going back to a more beer-centric one is a plus in my book. Rob posted his round up a few days ago, and at least 28 (maybe more by now) joined in the fun. So head over to Pfiff and check out the round up. Check back in the next few days for the announcement of the next session.

The Session # 17: Drinking Anti-Seasonally

Its the 4th of July, so Happy Independence Day everyone. Its also the first Friday of the month which means its Session Time. This month the event is hosted by Rob Denunzio over at Pfiff! The theme this month is the Anti Seasonal. We all drink easy going session beers in the summer but every once in a while we have our guilty pleasures, big alcoholic hoppy, malty bombs, that frankly don't go well with the heat of the summer (especially if you live down here in Texas). As I've written about these past few weeks, there's not much better than a nice flavorful, easy drinking beer in this heat, but man (or woman of course) can not live by these beers alone. Nay I say, we must seek out this big flavorful robust beers, even if they don't make sense, our taste buds cry out for them. So it was with that mindset that I went to my recent Spec's seeking out something that's not a session beer, something with a little more PUNCH! What did I find? Well Rogue Russian Imperial Stout, definetely not seasonal, and definetely not some easy going session beer.
The Beer: This is Rogue's XS series so it shows up in a black ceramic bottle with a flip top closure. The beer pours a jet black with a tan colored head. the head reminded me of the crema in an esspresso. Malts are all over the nose, chocolate, burnt and roasty with just a bit of alcohol on the nose. The mouth is strong and bitter, very dry with a bit of dark bitter chocolate flavors. Very little fruit flavor left in the malt as this one is bitter, not from hops but from the burnt malts. Its a good RIS, not too strong of an alcohol flavor. With its dryness it would pair wonderfully with Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla icecream so heck maybe this is a summer beer! The only complaint I have with the beer is its maybe a little too bitter from the malts....so this one gets a B- from me. Here's what the folks over at BA had to say.

Stay tuned Rob over at Pfiff will be posting a round up soon.

Texas Beer and Brew Pubs

Just a quick note today, but a good note nonetheless. Lee Nichols of the Austin Chronicle has an article out today on the Texas brewery scene. While noting that it has a long way to go to reach the epic standards set by Oregon, California, Colorado (and many others) acknowledges that the scene is growing and growing every day. The article does a really good job of touching on all the current breweries in Texas, their flagship beers and then the beers you ought to try. It touches on the brew pub scene in Texas (which outside of Austin is really lacking) before giving information on the breweries and brewpub's that are in work. As I've said before its an exciting time to be a Texas beer lover because the situation is only looking better.
Bonus plug for this article is a quote from your truly. Go check it out.

Two Beers from Flying Dog

I'm a huge fan of Flying Dog beers. When they were in Downtown Denver I went to the tour and tasting on multiple occasions, but just because they've moved across country to Maryland doesn't mean I like their beers any less. Walking through my local Spec's I came across Flying Dog's Sample Pack containing 5 different beers: Amber, Wheat, Pale Ale, Kolsch, and Porter. Well not quite...due to the archaic beer labeling laws in Texas we don't get the Porter, instead Flying Dog put their seasonal beer: Woody Creek White a Belgium Wheat Beer. I'm ok with that change (although I do need to try their Porter, heck and their new Triple). So in the process of trying good session beers I figured it would be fun to try two different wheat beers, one the Woody Creek, the other Flying Dog's In Heat Wheat a German style Hefeweizen.
The Beer: Woody Creek White: The beer weighs in at 4.8% abv, pouring a beautiful hazy cloudy gold capped with a thick white head. The nose is spicy, some banana notes, orange zest, spices, coriander. Great thick mouthfeel, really strong notes of citrus; oranges, lemon pie. Very thirst quenching and a great beer on a hot Texas day. This on gets a B+ from me.
The Beer: In-Heat Wheat: This one weighs in at 4.7% pours a good cloudy orange with a good dense head, a little thinner than I like, but its very dense. The nose is full of banana's and cloves. This is what I love in a good German Hefe. This is what is missing in most American Wheat beers so I'm extremely glad to see it here. As stated the nose is good, but not great, I'd like to see the banana and cloves to be a little stronger. Great mouthfeel, thick, good bananas, some citrus notes, just a bit of sourness. All in all a very solid wheat beer, this one gets a B from me.
More from Flying Dog to come as I make my way through their pack.

Siner 99: Helles Lager

Yes its been out a while, but I haven't had a good chance to post on this particular beer. But what better chance then now when I'm trying to highlight good solid session beers. This particular beer has been released celebrating Shiner's 99th Birthday. They've released a few others, two that I've posted on in the past. Unfortunately these have been pretty hit or miss, however one was such a hit that its turned into a regular offering in the form of Shiner Black. Now on to this beer, Shiner 99 a Helles Lager.
The Beer: This one pours a dark straw colored with a decently sized white head, that dissipates relatively quickly. Some hop notes in the nose along with some pale malts. The hops are the nice mild hallertau and that's evident on the nose. Not the big grapefruit you get from American hops and that's appropriate for this style. The mouth has some nice bitterness up front with a mild malty sweetness on the finish along with a mild spicy character. Good depth of mouthfeel, there's no thinness here, which was my complaint with Shiner 98. A mild beer with a good depth of flavor, smooth but with a good amount of carbonation. A very good solid offering from little Shiner, Texas. This one gets a solid B from me. Here's what the folks at BA have to say.

Book Review: Grape VS. Grain

Recently there seems to be a big push to write articles, books, etc comparing Beer and Wine. Specifically promoting how beer is wine's equal. Heck, a few months back, Dogfish Head's own Sam Calagione released such a book with sommelier Marnie Old titled He Said Beer, She Said Wine. This book specifically talking about food pairings. A good book, however a new one has been released recently that goes beyond food pairings and really dives into the differences between wine and beer and what makes beer wines equal (if not superior in many cases). The author of the book is Charles Bamforth who is the Chair of the Dept of Food Science and Technology and Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting and Brewing Sciences at U of Cal-Davis. I know that's a mouthful, but the point is, the guy knows beer and specifically brewing science. This book is not just beer vs. wine, but its purpose is to try and debunk myths of wine's superiority. His thesis I believe is the following quote of the book:

I [the author] seek to compare these two beverages on the basis of their history, technology, scientific and artistic appreciation, and impact on the body. To that extent, and reflecting on my professional speciality the theme of this book is primarily on of demonstrating how beer is a product of an excellence and sophistication to match wine, and I seek to do this my championing beer while being entirely fair to the other noble beverages.

A pretty noble thesis, and one that for the most part I feel he succeeded. The initial chapters discuss the components of wine and beer and then how each are created. This is really where the author hits his stride eloquently expressing how much more complex brewing is over wine making. The middle part of the book covers beer and wine quality and the various types. Nothing earth shattering here, covering things that most beer lovers will know (at least in regards to their favorite beverage). The last chapters of the book cover the health benefits of beer and the author ends on a high note here. Putting many studies all in one place he really does show that while there is nothing definitive on the health benefits of beer (nor truth be told is their of wine) beer is just as healthy as wine and does not deserve the derision it has received from various health nuts.
In conclusion, while many of the subjects within this book are covered in other places, the benefit of this book is capturing everything in one place while at the same time giving one something to fight back against your friendly oenophiles who tout the greatness and superiority of wine. This book gives one ample ammunition to fight back. There are periods of highly technical jargon that can bog down the reader, but over all its a fun and entertaining read. You will definitely learn something, if no more than how good and complex that glass of beer really is.

Local Breweries in the news

Houston is blessed with two breweries in the area. One is the oldest craft brewery in Texas and located in Houston, the other one is one of the newest breweries and is located North of Houston in Conroe. Both have been highlighted in local news outlets.
- First is this article in the Houston Chronicle on Saint Arnold's. Nothing really new other than after the big move next year Saint Arnold's will start holding tours during the week instead of just Saturday's.
- Secondly a feature from our local channel ABC 13 on the guys from Southern Star Brewing Company. Its nice to see a good feature on TV highlighting local craft beer.

Abita Strawberry Lager

Abita has always held a special place for me because along with Texas's own Shiner it introduced me to beers other than those from Bud, Miller, Coors. I went to university in Louisiana and was introduced to the greatness of dark beer with Turbodog, and fruity wheat beers with Purple Haze so I'm pretty familiar with Abita's regular lineup. However, last time I was in New Olreans, I was really surprised by the depth of their other beers Abita has released that never make it to the Houston area. Rumors have been that this is going to change and we are going to see more and more of Abita's other brews. Well it seems the rumors are true and I've seen their seasonal Abita Red (and Irish Red) and this one their Strawberry Lager.
The Beer: This one is a lager made with fresh local strawberry's (hint to TX Craft brewers: great idea to make a beer with fresh local fruit). The beer pours a very pale straw color with a pretty decent quarter inch bright white head. The nose is full of strawberry's along with lesser notes of hay, and lightly toasted bread. The mouth is full of carbonation, and an abundance of strawberry's with lesser notes of pale malts. There is no strawberry color, but the flavor is really there and brings a bit of tartness to the mouthfeel. Its a good beer. I'm not the biggest fan of fruit beers so unsurprisingly I'd liked to have seen some more lager-ish notes within the beer. Its a good crisp clean summer/spring beer. A decent session beer, because while not a potent beer, not sure how many of these I could drink in one sitting just due to the strawberry flavor and subsequent tartness. This one gets a B- from me. Here's what the folks over at BA think.

Session Beers

No this post is not about beers that I have talked about for the monthly Session. Instead I wanted to post on those beers that don't get a whole lot of love in the Beer Blogging universe. Those beers that are not high alcohol, high hops, high malt, heck high everything. These are not bombs of flavor, but relatively balanced flavors. Clean and crisp. Beers that you can have one, two, or even three in one sitting. These beers may not create conversation, but they don't get in the way of it either. They also happen to be beers that are perfect for a hot summer day in Houston. These are the pilsners, ambers, browns, etc that don't get the high rankings on Beer Advocate or other beer websites. I've come realize that while I drink these beers fairly often I have done a poor job of touting them and posting on them. That stops now. Over the course of the next few weeks I'm going to try and write up on as many of these tasty session beers as I can.
The first one just so happens to be local: Saint Arnold's Amber. While their Divine Reserve series is greatness, they also make some pretty solid every day brews.
The Beer: This is the definition of a session beer weighing in at 4.4%. It pours an orange amber color with a decent sized frothy white head. Notes of caramel, some floral hop notes (from the cascade hops used) and notes of copper. The mouth has bitter hops up front, smooth caramel notes at the finish. Great grilling beer and as with any session beer, great drinkability. My complaints would be that the beer is just slightly on the sweet side and I would have liked just a bit more effervescence. Other than that this is a fine beer and gets a solid B from me. Surprisingly the folks over at BA agree and give it pretty good marks

The Session #17 Announcement

Fresh off the round up from the Session 16 we get the announcement for this month's exciting event. For the uninitiated the Session is a monthly virtual beer testing, each hosted by a different blogger, and each with a different theme. On the first Friday of the month, after posting on that month's theme we send our posts to the host where they do a round up of all the tastings. Its a great time to learn about beers that I may never have had the opportunity to try.
With that, on to the anouncement. The host this month is Rob over at Pfiff a blog "about about tasting, brewing, history, culture, and general fermented grain goodness." Sounds like my kind of blog! The theme this month is Going against the Grain (or as I like to call it, the anti-season beer session). In his words:

Think of this as the unorthodox cousin of such topics as "beer and food" and "beer and music". Beer and weather, perhaps? More like beer despite the weather, I guess. Cracking open a Guinness on the beach, finishing a day of yardwork with a Speedway Stout, or whatever else you do that raises an eyebrow (again, beer-related, please), do us all a favor and take a few moments to share your non-conformist tale

Sounds fun, this is definitely one session that I'll be able to join in on rather enthusiastically. Due date is the first Friday of the July - the 4th. So go post and send them to Rob and he'll post his round up a few days later.

Some Big Saint Arnold's News

Fresh off their release of the fantastic Divine Reserve 6 Saint Arnold's put out a press release today concerning the future of their operations. From the Houston Business Journal it looks like Saint Arnold's will begin work on their new brewery starting next week. The new location is a 3 story facility built in 1914 located at 2000 Lyons Avenue. Saint Arnold's will have the capability to increase their output some 400%. While their current brewery has an output of 22,500 barrels the new place will have initial capabilities of 40,000 barrels with the possibility to expand to 120,000. HOLY CRAP, that's a lot of Divine Reserve. Another neat fact is that the new brewery will feature a new brewhouse purchased from a now defunct brewery in an old German Monastery. How cool is that.
I think this will be HUGE, not only for Saint Arnold's but for the city of Houston as this new brewery is much closer to downtown. If all goes as planned the opening of the new brewery will coincide with Saint Arnold's 15th Anniversary next June.
Personally I see only an upside here, as long as Saint Arnold's continues the steady expansion and doesn't try to move to fast, they should be able to keep up with demand while continuing to brew excellent and high quality beers. Great Job Brock and Co.

Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve 6

Well its been a LONG time coming, but the time has arrived. Saint Arnold's released their 6th Divine Reserve today and it just so happened that my local Spec's had some. I was able to quickly run by and grab a couple of six packs right after work (the beer guy there already reported they had gone through 6 cases in 90 minutes). This one is going to go FAST. As for the beer itself? I'll let Saint Arnold's founder Brock Wagner describe it:

This is a big, malty, hoppy barleywine. Yet all of the intense flavors meld together to create a well-balanced big beer. The nose has a strong resiny hop note. The taste starts with a combination of the malty sweetness and spicy hops with both flavors magnified by the high alcohol level. The spiciness carries through the middle and finishes with a satisfyingly dry bitter. It was brewed with 2 row pale, Caramunich and Special B malts with brown sugar added in the kettle and hopped with 225 lbs of Columbus hops including 44 lbs that were dry hopped. We used our Saint Arnold yeast strain which gives a rich, creamy mouthfeel to the brew. It is unfiltered and will clarify with aging.

225 lbs of hops? In this day and age of hop shortage? That's crazy talk. Well needless to say I couldn't wait very long to taste this one, so as soon as I got home today I had to try it.
The Beer: Poured the beer into a nice snifter glass, it weighs in at 10% and pours a cloudy brown amber with a nice taupe colored head. The nose is all hops here, full of citrus and piney notes with just a hint of caramel. The mouth unsurprisingly is more of the same; HOPPY, major grapefruit notes along with strong piney resin notes. However as hoppy as this bomb of a beer is its well balanced with a nice caramel malty sweetness, and vanilla notes. This one is extremely complex, but unexpectedly smooth and balanced. While a big powerful beer there is not a noticeable alcohol flavor. With the beer being unfiltered I think it gives it an almost chewy quality, which creates a nice textural experience. This ones a keeper, and while not as good as the amazing DR5, this one is damn good. It gets an A- from me. It seems like the folks over at BA agree.

The Session 16 Roundup: Beer Festivals

Dang that sure did sneak up on me. I completely forgot that last Friday was the first one of the month, meaning its Session time. I had forgotten because I've been in Florida this past week or so due to a wedding. A quick aside and no offense to anyone from Florida, but I was extremely disappointed in the beer scene there. I was in Orlando and its surrounding areas, but I couldn't find any place to get great beer. I stuck with Yueling (which isn't bad at all) but that's about as good as I could find. Anyways back to the Session. This month's theme was Beer Festivals and the hose was the Geistbear Brewing Blog. So head over there for his post on the round up.

Saint Arnold's Divine Reserver #6

YES! The announcement has been made. I just received the latest newsletter from Saint Arnold's and it contains the release date and style of their latest Divine Reserve. The style is a Hoppy American Barleywine. A little bit surprising to me since we are in the midst of a hop shortage. I do wonder if this will have an effect on the price. While DR's are normally higher than the average six pack, my money is on the fact that this one is even more expensive than others. The release date is the 12th and 13th of June. This one will go fast I'm sure. I can't wait.