Tomorrow starts a week of celebrating beer in Houston. As I've written before this is something that I've been waiting for a long time for and am extremely excited about. There is at least one event every day starting tomorrow and culminating in the awesome Monsters of Beer next Sunday, however many days have multiple events. Check out the official Houston Beer Week website, or look on the right hand said of this page to see the Beer Events Calendar for whats happening each day.
From dinners, to education events, to tastings there is something for everyone. There are some amazing dinners at places like Catalan, Beavers, and Rockwell Tavern, nightly tastings at Gingerman Pub. There are events for everyone, from activities prices from around $11.00 to dinners up to $100.00. Besides the daily events listed on the Beer Events Calendar there is also events going on all week long: Liberty Station will be having Happy Hour prices on draft beer all week along, and Whole Foods Markets will be having specials on beer throughout the week.
Now that you know what's happening, the question remains, what are you going to do? Beer lovers, this is the event you've been waiting for, now its up to you to support it as much as you can. What am I going to do? Definitely doing the Monsters of Beer event, but I'll also be at the Catalan Beer dinner, with pairings from Kevin Floyd of Anvil Bar and Refuge. I'll also be at the Gravity Cask Event at Anvil on Friday. I'm going to try to hit up one of the tastings at Gingerman and Petrol Station. Next week will be busy for me, so if you see me around, come by and say hi.
I'll be posting my thoughts of the individual events throughout the week, then a round up next Sunday on how I think HBW went.
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Lagunitas Lil Sumpin Wild
I'm a huge fan of Lagunitas Brewery out of California, because they make great beer at a great price. Very few other brewer's release the beers Lagunitas does at 3 to 5 dollars a bomber. It's becuase of this price point that I go and pick up a lot of their beers, especialy when I see one that I think will interest me. Something that interested me on this one was the word wild on the label. Thinking I was getting their popular Lil Sumpin IPA with wild yeast I picked it up to check it out. Luckily I read the label before taking it home so I wasn't too dissapointed. Regardless of what the name implies this is not a wild ale, instead it is an IPA fermented with the Belgian brewery Westmalle's yeast (not sure what's wild about that but oh well). Still this sounded interesting enough for me to check it out.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 8.85% and pours a pale golden honey color with a thick white head that slowly dissipates over time to a thin white cap of foam. Nose is hoppy, citrusy, spicey, peppery, malty. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, very hoppy up front with lots of citrus and grapefruit peel. Finish is spicey, estery, lots of that typical Belgian yeast. Fruity, slightly effervescent. The lingering effect and impression though is of the hops, they are definetely the highlight. A good solid Belgian IPA attempt by Lagunits, just need to change the name so folks aren't confused or dissapointed. This one gets a B+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 8.85% and pours a pale golden honey color with a thick white head that slowly dissipates over time to a thin white cap of foam. Nose is hoppy, citrusy, spicey, peppery, malty. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, very hoppy up front with lots of citrus and grapefruit peel. Finish is spicey, estery, lots of that typical Belgian yeast. Fruity, slightly effervescent. The lingering effect and impression though is of the hops, they are definetely the highlight. A good solid Belgian IPA attempt by Lagunits, just need to change the name so folks aren't confused or dissapointed. This one gets a B+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Houston Beer Week Press Release
I've talked about it many times but I have recieved the press release for the first ever Houston Beer Week. The Press release details all the events currently planned. While the press release is below, please note that there will continue to be additions so remember to check out houstonbeerweek.com, and I will also be updating the Events calendar on the right hand side of the page as much as I can.
One last note before getting to the press release. I've learned that Anvil Bar and Refuge will be hosting "A taste of Houston Beer Week" on Thursday October 8th by tapping some very special beers. I have an idea of what will be tapped and it will be awesome, and as soon as I get confirmation of that I'll post additional details on here. Without further ado the press release:
Local bars, chefs and breweries collaborate to create an amazing week of Events, Dinners and Tappings to be held all over the City of Houston in celebration of the Craft Beer Movement.
Co-Chairs Cathy Clark and Kevin Floyd “Monsters of Beer Charity” Grand Finale Event to benefit local charities
Houston TX -- Beer Lovers, start your engines, purchase your tickets, and get ready for the first Houston Beer Week. Organized by a network of local beer-savvy operators, beer aficionados and craft breweries, HBF features a week-long calendar of spectacular beer events and general beer magic that will take place at bars, restaurants and retail establishments all over the city and into the suburbs. The week will conclude with the Monsters of Beer Charity Festival on Sunday, October 17, 2010, organized by Co-Chairs Cathy Clark, founder of the popular Houston Beer Camp and the Live it Big charity, and Kevin Floyd, co-owner of Anvil Bar & Refuge. Proceeds from Sunday’s event will benefit local charities.
Events, Beer Dinners and Hard-to-Find Beers
Every event will be its own adventure. Costs will vary by event. Expect to taste cask-conditioned newcomers, hard-to-score beers, and learn from the best beer nerds in the city at a featured beer dinner each night of the week. While a complete calendar for each day of the week can be found at www.houstonbeerweek.com [updates are ongoing], below is a selection of noteworthy events, including the beer dinners to be featured each night:
Sunday, Oct.10
Kick-off party at The Usual Pub, beginning 4pm; plus A Home brewer’s Tutorial with DeFalco’s Home Wine and Beer Supplies and Southern Star Brewery, also at The Usual.
The Usual Pub, 5519 Allen St.
Monday, Oct. 11
Featured Beer Dinner:
Chef Jonathan Jones of Beaver’s Ice House & Ben Fullelove of Petrol Station
Details: 6pm beer & cocktail reception followed by a 5-course dinner paired with beers hand-selected by Ben. $70 per person.
To reserve, call Beaver’s, 713-864-2328; a credit card is required to confirm your reservation.
Beaver’s Ice House, 2310 Decatur St.
Connoisseur tasting at The Ginger Man Pub with Artisanal Imports
Join Chris Campana of Artisanal Imports of Austin for a tour through his incredible portfolio of international brews including Urthel (Belgium), Malheur (Belgium), Sunner (Germany), Triple Karmeliet (Belgium), Koningshoeven (Belgium) and Tilburg (Netherlands).
Details: $11.25/p; the event starts at 7:30pm.
The Ginger Man, 5607 Morningside Dr.
Tuesday, Oct. 12
Featured Beer Dinner:
Chef Elizabeth Brooks of Canopy and Brock Wagner of St. Arnold Brewery
Details: 5-courses, $65 per person at 7pm
This dinner is limited to 20 people; to reserve, please call 713-528-6848.
Canopy, 3939 Montrose Ave.
Moylan’s Tasting at Petrol Station
Sample the entire line of Moylan’s Brewery (at least those available in Texas).
Movies & a Beer at Alamo Drafthouse
Matinee prices for movies (excluding special events), $3 craft beer pints, and Growler specials. Available at both locations, 1000 West Oaks Mall and 531 South Mason Rd in Katy
Wed, Oct. 13
Featured Beer Dinner:
Chef Chris Shepherd of Catalan & Kevin Floyd of Anvil Bar & Refuge
Details: Hors d’oeuvres at 7pm, followed by a 6-course dinner paired with beers hand selected by Kevin. $100 per person; to reserve, call Catalan 713-426-4260; a credit card is required to confirm your reservation.
Catalan Food & Wine is located at 5555 Washington Ave.,
Stone Brewing at the Flying Saucer
Come visit with Jason Armstrong of Stone Brewing and enjoy specials on pints of 4-5 Stone selections.
Flying Saucer, 705 Main St.
Thursday, Oct. 14
Featured Beer Dinner:
Chef Patrick McCray of Divino and Pike Brewing
Details: Reception at 7pm followed by 4-courses paired with Pike beers
$65/pp + 18% gratuity. Seating is limited to 20.
Reservations can be made by calling 713-807-1123 or via email divinohouston@att.net; a credit card is required to confirm your reservation.
Divino, 1830 W. Alabama St.
Connoisseur tasting at The Ginger Man Pub with Nadine Jones of Brooklyn Brewery.
Nadine will discuss the array of award-winning beers from Brooklyn Brewery, plus there will be a cooking demonstration with beer and instructional lecture regarding designing your meals around your beer of choice.
Details: $11.25 per person; event begins at 7:30pm
The Ginger Man, 5607 Morningside Dr.
Southern Star Tasting at Rockwell Tavern
Plus a dinner special of BURIED HATCHET FISH & CHIPS, showcasing a classic way to cook delicious and creative meals with craft beer.
Details: tasting from @ 6pm – 8pm
Rockwell Tavern, 12640 Telge Rd., Cypress
Friday, Oct. 15
Featured Beer Dinner:
Chef Carlos Rodriguez of Vic & Anthony’s and Brew Dog Brewery
Details: Drinks at 7pm followed by a 7-course dinner paired with beers from this maverick Scottish brewery.
$85 + tax/gratuity. To reserve, please call Stacie Chambers at 713-228-1111; a credit card is required to hold your reservation.
Vic & Anthony’s, 1510 Texas St.
Gravity Cask 2010 at Anvil Bar & Refuge
Featuring beers custom-made for Anvil Bar & Refuge -- you will not find these beers any place else. With rare and unique casks from local and continental European breweries, including Southern Star Smoked Porter flavored with cocoa nibs and vanilla and a Cask-conditioned Independence Oatmeal Stout infused with Anvil’s bourbon cherries.
Anvil Bar & Refuge, 1424 Westheimer
Dixie Cup Homebrew Competition: Strange Brew
The Dixie Cup is one of the nation’s oldest home brewing competitions and is noted for its great mix of irreverent fun as well as its seriousness about beer. or more information, contact Scott Weitzenhoffer by email at dixiecup@foamrangers.com or call DeFalco’s at 713-668-9440.
Saturday, October 16
Brenner’s Beer Festival
Brenner’s Steakhouse on the Bayou will host its first beer festival featuring more than 50 beers from local and regional craft breweries. Many breweries will showcase their fall seasonal selections. Live entertainment will be provided by Ezra Charles & The Works. Jason Armstrong of Stone Brewing will also be in attendance. .
Details: From 2pm to 6pm; only 400 tickets are available.
Tickets are $45/per person in advance or $55/at the door. Tickets are on sale online at www.brennerssteakhouse.com.
Brenner’s, 1 Birdsall Place
Connoisseur tasting at The Ginger Man Pub with Prescott Carter of Duvel-Moortgat Brewery.
Prescott will discuss the renowned family of beers including Ommegang (New York), Duvel (Belgium), Maredsous (Belgium), and the Chouffe Brewery (Belgium).
Details: $11.25 per person and the event begins at 3pm
The Ginger Man, 5607 Morningside Dr.
The Monster of Beer Charity Festival, Sunday, October 17
Houston Beer Week will conclude Sunday, October 17, 2010 with the Monsters of Beer Charity Festival hosted by Live It BIG, Inc, a non-profit who helps provide seed money for local charities in Houston. Proceeds from this event will go to support Live It BIG’s 2010 focal charity Friday Harbour, which provides housing assistance to cancer patients receiving treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center and Texas Children’s Hospital and their families.
The event will take place adjacent to 13 Celsius on Anita St. Twelve Texas breweries, including 2010 Great American Beer Festival winners Saint Arnold and Real Ale will be in attendance. The festival will focus on Texas craft breweries and the growing Texas craft beer movement. Several breweries will be bringing special cask and firkin beers as well.
There will be live music by Mason Lankford & The Folk Family Revival along with other bands yet to be announced; food can be purchased at Hubcap Burger’s food truck, Melange Crêperie, and from the 13 Celsius menu. A silent auction of aged beers, beer tours, beer paraphernalia, and all things good in beer will raise additional monies for charity.
To learn more, visit www.monsterofbeer.com or follow on Twitter @monstersofbeer.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
The Death knell for Brewpubs?
Houston has been the recipient of some great beer news lately. Whether it's been amazing beer dinners, or the announcement of Houston Beer Week, good things are happening in this city with respect to beer. However, it still very sad when a beer related business goes under, more so when that business is the last brew pub in town. On Monday, Ronnie Crocker of the Chronicle reported that Rice Village's Two Row's will be closing effective October 2nd due to lease issues with the building owner Weingarten Realties. Whether you liked Two Row's beer or not (I didn't) its a sad day when the 4th largest city in the country no longer has a brewpub (I don't count the numerous BJ's around town since all of their beer is contract brewed by Saint Arnold's). Not too long ago I ranted about the fact that there were too few places in this city that truly cared about beer and food. Well over the course of the last year places like BRC Gastropub and Queen Vic's have opened that serve good solid food with a great list of craft beer. Old stand buys like Hobbit Cafe have expanded their beer list (Sunday I was able to get a 512 Double IPA on Draft there). Petrol Station, with their amazing beer list, hosts Eggs and Keggs brunch events where they pair brunch food with beer. Higher end places like Vic and Anthony's have hosted two beer dinners (Dogfish Head and Stone) with plans to host more. As mentioned earlier, huge beer events are occurring in this area: 1st annual Cask Festival hosted by Anvil, Petrol Station, and Flying Saucer, Flying Saucer's Anniversary Party, Galveston's Brewmasers Festival, and of course the upcoming and highly anticipated Houston Beer Week. This event that features beer education, beer tastings, and multiple beer dinners around town proves as much as any others that Houston is becoming a beer town. Some will say its the same folks at each event, and for things like Flying Saucer's Anniversary Party or the Cask Festival, they might be correct, but I've been to the beer dinners, and the people attending aren't all a part of what many would consider the regular beer folk. In fact, Houston Chronicle's Restaurant Critic Allison Cook recently attended the Vic and Anthony Stone Beer dinner and raved about it.
Back to Houston Beer week for a second. The beer dinners will include places like Beavers, Catalan, Canopy, Divino, Vic and Anthony, and Brenner's. I must emphasize how amazing that list of restaruants is and how wide ranging the food being served will actually be. What does this tell us? It is evident that Houston is primed for a place that makes both great beer and great food. Houston has evolved to the point where they won't put up with mediocre beer being served in a brew pub, and the same goes for food. It doesn't have to be complex upscale food; it just has to be good. Brew pub's have come and gone through this city since the early 1990's, but for the first time since 1993, Houston is without a brewpub. Even with all the great beer events occurring in this city, it's still sad to think of a town this size without a brew pub. The question is: will a chef, a brewer, a restaurateur, or someone else step up and fill that void?
Back to Houston Beer week for a second. The beer dinners will include places like Beavers, Catalan, Canopy, Divino, Vic and Anthony, and Brenner's. I must emphasize how amazing that list of restaruants is and how wide ranging the food being served will actually be. What does this tell us? It is evident that Houston is primed for a place that makes both great beer and great food. Houston has evolved to the point where they won't put up with mediocre beer being served in a brew pub, and the same goes for food. It doesn't have to be complex upscale food; it just has to be good. Brew pub's have come and gone through this city since the early 1990's, but for the first time since 1993, Houston is without a brewpub. Even with all the great beer events occurring in this city, it's still sad to think of a town this size without a brew pub. The question is: will a chef, a brewer, a restaurateur, or someone else step up and fill that void?
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Dogfish Head Theobroma
In these years of posting my thoughts on beer I've said it many times, and it bears saying again: I'm a huge fan of Dogfish Head Ales out of Deleware. Not only do they make great hoppy beers, they also make great unusual styles, sometimes historic, and owner Sam Caglione is a great ambassador for craft beer. The latest beer new to the Houston market is a historic ale, an ale based on a historic recipe. If you are familiar with DFH think a beer like Midas Touch as being a historic ale. This recipe is based on an ancient Aztec alcoholic chocolate drink called Food of the God's (which is what Theobroma loosely translates too). You already know its not going to be your traditional beer and a peak at the recipe list confirms it: Aztec cocoa powder and cocoa nibs, honey, chilies, and annatto (fragrant tree seeds). Well we know some background for this one, let's see how it tastes.
The Beer: It weighs in at 9% and pours a pale golden orange with a thin white head. Just from the color you know its not a typical chocolate ale. The nose is a complex, an assault of different scents. Honey, coco powder, flowers, melon, spice. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, not a lot of carbonation. Like the nose there is a whole lot going on here, almost too much to keep up with. Flavors of honey, coco, honey suckle, green peppers, notes of boozy alcohol. Chocolatey without being sweet which is interesting. There are strange notes that I can only compare to tasting like tea. The individual flavors are incredibly interesting, and together its complex, but it just doesn't all meld well together. I respect what DFH did here, but this is not my favorite offering from them. It's just too discombobulated for me. This one gets a C+ from me. The folks at BA like it more than I do.
The Beer: It weighs in at 9% and pours a pale golden orange with a thin white head. Just from the color you know its not a typical chocolate ale. The nose is a complex, an assault of different scents. Honey, coco powder, flowers, melon, spice. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, not a lot of carbonation. Like the nose there is a whole lot going on here, almost too much to keep up with. Flavors of honey, coco, honey suckle, green peppers, notes of boozy alcohol. Chocolatey without being sweet which is interesting. There are strange notes that I can only compare to tasting like tea. The individual flavors are incredibly interesting, and together its complex, but it just doesn't all meld well together. I respect what DFH did here, but this is not my favorite offering from them. It's just too discombobulated for me. This one gets a C+ from me. The folks at BA like it more than I do.
Friday, September 03, 2010
Abita SOS
There are many reasons to love craft beer. The complex flavors, the unusual styles, the "localness" of the beer, etc. Another reason is that for the most part, local breweries, care about their hometown. Few breweries show that love and passion of their community like Abita Brewing out of Louisiana. When Katrina happened and wrecked New Orleans Abita released Restoration Ale with a certain amount of the profits going to help rebuild New Orleans. With the recent oil disaster in the Gulf, Abita has once again brewed a beer to help: Save Our Shores. For every 750 ml bottle sold Abita will donate $0.75 to the rescue and restoration of the environment. Not that we needed one, but Abita has provided one more reason to drink beer. SOS is an unusual beer in and of itself its a Weizen Pils dry hopped with Sterling and German Perle hops.
The Beer: This brew weighs in at 7.0% and pours a golden honey color with a good sized frothy white head. The nose is herbal hops, spices, some banana flavor, toasted grains. The mouthfeel has a creaminess to it, sweet malts, grassy, spicey, earthy....almost herbal. It drinks pretty smooth, slightly sweet from the pale toasted malts. Some banana wheat flavors are there, subtle but there with just a bit of bitterness to the brew to create a very nice balance. Its a solid brew that gets a B from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.
The Beer: This brew weighs in at 7.0% and pours a golden honey color with a good sized frothy white head. The nose is herbal hops, spices, some banana flavor, toasted grains. The mouthfeel has a creaminess to it, sweet malts, grassy, spicey, earthy....almost herbal. It drinks pretty smooth, slightly sweet from the pale toasted malts. Some banana wheat flavors are there, subtle but there with just a bit of bitterness to the brew to create a very nice balance. Its a solid brew that gets a B from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Jack and Ken's Barleywine
Today's post bring's us the 3rd installment of Sierra Nevada's amazing 30th Anniversary Beers. For those keeping score at home, so far, we've had the Fritz and Ken Stout, and the Charlie, Fred, and Ken Helles. Each of the anniversary brew's are collaborations between Sierra Nevada owner Ken Grossman and a pioneer in the craft beer industry. The newest beer is not brewed with just anyone, but with someone many call the father of Microbrewery Jack McAuliffe. Mr McAuliffe founded a tiny little brewery in California called New Albion Brewery in 1977. The brewery operated until 1982. Mr. McAuliffe wasn't brewing any extreme beers by today's standards, instead it was full flavored beers, mostly English style ales. Back then that was extreme, it was such a change from the American Adjunct lagers that were pretty much the only thing available. Unfortunately the demand on Mr. McAuliffe was too much, the money wasn't coming in and New Albion was closed. Neat fact: The brewery equipment made it's way to Mendocino Brewery. Since the closure of New Albion, Mr. McAuliffe has stayed out of the public eye, however he did help Mr. Grossman in the brewing of this beer, a Black Barleywine.
The Beer: This Black Barleywine weighs in at a hefty 10.2% and pours a very dark brown with a thick taupe colored head. Hoppy on the nose, citrus peel, grapefruit, roasted malts, sweetness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied. Massive hop flavor, a grapefruit-y punch if you will. It follows with a tartness, milk chocolate, then slams you back to earth with tongue saturating hoppiness. There is a sweetness in this beer, caramel-y, almost notes of creme brulee, some fruity notes, but yes it is the hops that leave the lasting impression on this beer. This is a great beer, so far my favorite of the three. This one gets a strong A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.
The Beer: This Black Barleywine weighs in at a hefty 10.2% and pours a very dark brown with a thick taupe colored head. Hoppy on the nose, citrus peel, grapefruit, roasted malts, sweetness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied. Massive hop flavor, a grapefruit-y punch if you will. It follows with a tartness, milk chocolate, then slams you back to earth with tongue saturating hoppiness. There is a sweetness in this beer, caramel-y, almost notes of creme brulee, some fruity notes, but yes it is the hops that leave the lasting impression on this beer. This is a great beer, so far my favorite of the three. This one gets a strong A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.
Friday, August 20, 2010
The Land of Beer Festivals
Texas has been called many things, and is a great state showcasing many of the things that makes it wonderful. On any given weekend you can find a festival for most everything. One thing that Texas has not been known for has been Beer Festivals. In fact Beer fests have been notably absent from this state of beer lovers. Well that fact seems to have changed over the course of the last few months and continues through to the end of the year.
The first notable beer fest to gain steam was June's Great Austin Beer Festival. While it seemed that the organizers were still getting their feet under them, from all reports it was an amazing success. Bringing together Beer, Brewers and beer enthusiasts not only from Texas but from around the country.
The next Beer festival that was announced is scheduled to occur over Labor Day weekend, Sept 2-6, the Brewmasters International Beer Festival at Moody Gardens down in Galveston. Admittedly I have been pretty cautious about this one as they didn't release the names of any attendees, however that has changed with this article from the Chronicle's Ronnie Crocker. Now that's a pretty sporty list of beers to get the opportunity to taste all in one place.
But wait that's not all! This week there has been two awesome announcements for beer lovers.
The Texas Craft Brewer's Guild has announced their first event will be Austin Beer Week to be held October 24-30. There is not a lot of information out there yet, but from their website:
The last announcement though is the one that has me the most excited. Early this morning a twitter popped up: @HoustonBeerWeek: Houston, Beer Week has landed. www.houstonbeerweek.com. Say what!!! The week of October 11-17 will be Houston Beer Week The week will consist of beer dinners, beer education (something that I am excited about), tastings, and many other things. The week long extraveganza will conclude Sunday with a MONSTERS OF BEER charity beer event. A side note that Houston Beer week and Monsters of Beer has been organized in part by Cathy Clark, the same Cathy Clark that has done an outstanding job with Beer Camp. Back to Monsters of Beer, the event is on Sunday the 17th and will feature Texas Beer, Texas Food, Texas Music! The beer will be brought in by breweries from around the state including Jester King, (512), Saint Arnold's, Real Ale, Live Oak, and more including a couple that may not even be open yet.
4 beer huge beer events/festivals in a few short months? Is Texas becoming the land of beer festivals? I don't know about that, but Texas is definitely stepping up its game and as these events successfully conclude will continue to drive Texas in the right direction of increasingly supporting craft beer and all that means. I'm not telling you all to go to everyone of these (I won't be able to) but support as many as you can. Volunteer, attend, promote, etc to help make these a success. The first year out of the gate for many of these festivals may not be smooth, there will be mistakes made, but that just means they can be better the next year, and if they get the support they need will continuously approve. Think about it, in 2009 would you have though there would be 4 huge days long beer festivals in Texas in 2010?
The first notable beer fest to gain steam was June's Great Austin Beer Festival. While it seemed that the organizers were still getting their feet under them, from all reports it was an amazing success. Bringing together Beer, Brewers and beer enthusiasts not only from Texas but from around the country.
The next Beer festival that was announced is scheduled to occur over Labor Day weekend, Sept 2-6, the Brewmasters International Beer Festival at Moody Gardens down in Galveston. Admittedly I have been pretty cautious about this one as they didn't release the names of any attendees, however that has changed with this article from the Chronicle's Ronnie Crocker. Now that's a pretty sporty list of beers to get the opportunity to taste all in one place.
But wait that's not all! This week there has been two awesome announcements for beer lovers.
The Texas Craft Brewer's Guild has announced their first event will be Austin Beer Week to be held October 24-30. There is not a lot of information out there yet, but from their website:
This week-long celebration, brought to you
by the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, serves as
a showcase for Texas craft brewers as well as
area restaurants, pubs and other businesses
with ties to the craft beer community.
The last announcement though is the one that has me the most excited. Early this morning a twitter popped up: @HoustonBeerWeek: Houston, Beer Week has landed. www.houstonbeerweek.com. Say what!!! The week of October 11-17 will be Houston Beer Week The week will consist of beer dinners, beer education (something that I am excited about), tastings, and many other things. The week long extraveganza will conclude Sunday with a MONSTERS OF BEER charity beer event. A side note that Houston Beer week and Monsters of Beer has been organized in part by Cathy Clark, the same Cathy Clark that has done an outstanding job with Beer Camp. Back to Monsters of Beer, the event is on Sunday the 17th and will feature Texas Beer, Texas Food, Texas Music! The beer will be brought in by breweries from around the state including Jester King, (512), Saint Arnold's, Real Ale, Live Oak, and more including a couple that may not even be open yet.
4 beer huge beer events/festivals in a few short months? Is Texas becoming the land of beer festivals? I don't know about that, but Texas is definitely stepping up its game and as these events successfully conclude will continue to drive Texas in the right direction of increasingly supporting craft beer and all that means. I'm not telling you all to go to everyone of these (I won't be able to) but support as many as you can. Volunteer, attend, promote, etc to help make these a success. The first year out of the gate for many of these festivals may not be smooth, there will be mistakes made, but that just means they can be better the next year, and if they get the support they need will continuously approve. Think about it, in 2009 would you have though there would be 4 huge days long beer festivals in Texas in 2010?
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Quick Hits
It seems lately, no matter how hard I try I feel like I've been neglecting my beer blog. For one reason or another it's gotten harder to write posts. I've been wanting to do something more than just post another beer review (although I do love doing those and have a bit of a back log to get to), but I'm preoccupied with other things or am lacking the motivation to post my thoughts. Hopefully this stops now and I'll get back into the swing of updating this blog more than once a week. With that out of the way, there is news to fit to print (or type into a computer) so here it is:
- Another new brewery? Yup, except this one isn't in Austin, its not even in Houston, its waaaay out past Beaumont. Republic of Texas Brewery will be based out in the southwest corner of Newton Country. The brewery is owned by award winning home brewer John McKissack and his wife Tammy. They also host a couple of Beer podcasts, so they know their beer. They are also going about starting up a brewery in a unique way, trying to do it with out incurring any debt, which obviously means taking it very slow. Nothing wrong with that, if it helps them be self sustaining. Additionally they are trying to do things the right way with respect to the Environment:
Finally, these folks are going to be making big beer, both literally and figuratively. They seem to enjoy higher gravity beers, but they are also going to be bottling in 750 mL's. They seem to be an interesting new brewery definetley one to keep your eye on.
- Another good piece of news is that Vic and Anthony's has announced their second beer dinner featuring Stone Brewing. Head over to the blog All Good Beer for a link to the menu. The first one they did featured Dogfish head and not only was the food and beer pairing amazing by all accounts, they broke out some special beers as well. At 75.00 the price is a steal considering what a normal 6 course dinner would cost you at V&A. The dinner is on August 27th but get your tickets fast becuase it will sell out quickly. I've got mine (thanks to the Houston Chowhounds recent Charity Auction).
- Last news, first reported by Ronnie Crocker over at Beer TX, Saint Arnold will be brewing Divine Reserve 10 next week. DR 10 will be an English Style Barley wine based on a the Big Batch Brew Bash winning recipe. The release date will be later this year. The best news is that there will be a lot more Divine Reserve available this time around, twice as much to be exact. Good news all around.
- Another new brewery? Yup, except this one isn't in Austin, its not even in Houston, its waaaay out past Beaumont. Republic of Texas Brewery will be based out in the southwest corner of Newton Country. The brewery is owned by award winning home brewer John McKissack and his wife Tammy. They also host a couple of Beer podcasts, so they know their beer. They are also going about starting up a brewery in a unique way, trying to do it with out incurring any debt, which obviously means taking it very slow. Nothing wrong with that, if it helps them be self sustaining. Additionally they are trying to do things the right way with respect to the Environment:
including plans to build green houses full of plants that will help scrub the CO2 coming from their fermenters before entering the environment. “Plants take in CO2 during the day and produce oxygen, so in theory it should be possible keep the CO2 from entering the atmosphere, or at lease significantly reduce it,”
Finally, these folks are going to be making big beer, both literally and figuratively. They seem to enjoy higher gravity beers, but they are also going to be bottling in 750 mL's. They seem to be an interesting new brewery definetley one to keep your eye on.
- Another good piece of news is that Vic and Anthony's has announced their second beer dinner featuring Stone Brewing. Head over to the blog All Good Beer for a link to the menu. The first one they did featured Dogfish head and not only was the food and beer pairing amazing by all accounts, they broke out some special beers as well. At 75.00 the price is a steal considering what a normal 6 course dinner would cost you at V&A. The dinner is on August 27th but get your tickets fast becuase it will sell out quickly. I've got mine (thanks to the Houston Chowhounds recent Charity Auction).
- Last news, first reported by Ronnie Crocker over at Beer TX, Saint Arnold will be brewing Divine Reserve 10 next week. DR 10 will be an English Style Barley wine based on a the Big Batch Brew Bash winning recipe. The release date will be later this year. The best news is that there will be a lot more Divine Reserve available this time around, twice as much to be exact. Good news all around.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Dogfish Head Squall IPA
If you look over the right hand side of this blog and check out the categories you'll see one for Dogfish Head. They one of the few non Texas breweries that have their own category, and that's becuase for the most part I am a huge fan of their beers. Yes they have their misses, but I think they have a pretty amazing line up of beers, and love them or hate them many are thought provoking at least. One of the more highly anticipated releases from DFH of late has been their Squall IPA, a beer that we finally got in the Houston market a few months ago. Squall is basicallyh DFH's 90 minute IPA, bottle conditioned and dry hopped with Palisade, Amarillo, Simcoe, Cascade, CTZ, and Willamette hops, plus it weighs in at a robust 9.0% abv. I love 90 minute IPA and think its one of the best DIPA's around so I was excited to try this version bottled in a 750 ml bottle.
The Beer: Squall pours a golden orange color with a thick bubbly head. The nose is hopppy, grapefruity, citrusy, some yeasty notes as well. The mouthfeel is bubbly, effervescent, full bodied. Waves of grapefruity hops hit the palate. Bitterness slams the taste buds up front, then some slightly toasted malts, a little bit of sweetness shows up. However over and over its hops that take the main stage here. Grapefruit, all of it, rind, pith, nectar, fruit, all of it show up here. Some astringency is apparent, a note of yeasty bready warmth. Delecious, one of the best IPA's or DIPA's I've ever had. Finishing it kind of made me sad, becuase all the stores around here are sold out of it so I won't get any until next year. But this one is definetely worth seeking out. This one gets an A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.
The Beer: Squall pours a golden orange color with a thick bubbly head. The nose is hopppy, grapefruity, citrusy, some yeasty notes as well. The mouthfeel is bubbly, effervescent, full bodied. Waves of grapefruity hops hit the palate. Bitterness slams the taste buds up front, then some slightly toasted malts, a little bit of sweetness shows up. However over and over its hops that take the main stage here. Grapefruit, all of it, rind, pith, nectar, fruit, all of it show up here. Some astringency is apparent, a note of yeasty bready warmth. Delecious, one of the best IPA's or DIPA's I've ever had. Finishing it kind of made me sad, becuase all the stores around here are sold out of it so I won't get any until next year. But this one is definetely worth seeking out. This one gets an A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Mikkeller Chipotle Porter
It's always nice to see local breweries do special things for their customers. Whether its making a special beer for an anniversary or special cask ales to tap at local bars it shows that they appreciate their loyal local fan base. However it's quite a different thing for a brewery that's not only not local, but one from a different country to make a special beer for a local community. However that's just what Mikkeller Brewer has done, creating a chipotle Porter that's just for Texas. Now how cool is that? The original name for the beer was going to be Texas Ranger, however for whatever reason (TABC guidelines??) the name was left off, but we have still been blessed with one amazing beer. Mikkeller wanted to brew a beer that represented Texas so they brought together smokiness and spiciness to create this brew.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 6.6% and pours a deep syrupy black with a thick head of frothy milk chocolate colored foam. The first scents of the nose is coco powder, chocolate, roasted malts, coffee. Then another whiff brings smokiness and raw green jalapeno's. The first sip is thick, chewy, viscous. Up front this beer is a great wonderful strongly intense porter. Full of roasty flavors. Then it finishes with smoke and spicy green chilies. Then as you continue to drink the smokiness gets stronger and more intense. The spiciness builds in the back of the throat. Not too intense, nothing over the top, but it balances well with the chocolate notes of the porter base. Reminding me of the chipotle chocolate bars I've had in the past. Lots of green flavors from the beer as well. This is such an usual beer and to me better than most other chipotle beers I have had. This one gets an A- from me. The folks at BA that have had it love it as well.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 6.6% and pours a deep syrupy black with a thick head of frothy milk chocolate colored foam. The first scents of the nose is coco powder, chocolate, roasted malts, coffee. Then another whiff brings smokiness and raw green jalapeno's. The first sip is thick, chewy, viscous. Up front this beer is a great wonderful strongly intense porter. Full of roasty flavors. Then it finishes with smoke and spicy green chilies. Then as you continue to drink the smokiness gets stronger and more intense. The spiciness builds in the back of the throat. Not too intense, nothing over the top, but it balances well with the chocolate notes of the porter base. Reminding me of the chipotle chocolate bars I've had in the past. Lots of green flavors from the beer as well. This is such an usual beer and to me better than most other chipotle beers I have had. This one gets an A- from me. The folks at BA that have had it love it as well.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
German Beers
Man can not live by hoppy monster's, imperial stouts, or other high alcohol beers alone. Of course I love them, but there are times and places for more sessionable beers. I normally don't seek them out for one reason or another but a week or so ago I was paid a visit by some friends from Germany who came carrying gifts for me. Gifts of beer! These were good every day German beers, nothing extreme just extremely tasty! A wheat beer and a keller beer were included in my gift package!
Mönchshof Kellerbräu: Brewed by the Kulmbacher brewery, this is an unfiltered lager that weighs in at 5.4%. It pours a cloudy light brown with a thick dense head of foam. The nose is full of noble hop aroma fruity estersy, pale toasted malts. THe mouthfeel is full, much fuller than I expected. Caramel malts, noble hops, flavors of minerals, earth and floral notes as well. Toasted malts, delicious and easy drinking. Clean and crisp, this one gets a B from me.
Kapuziner Weisbier: Another beer brewed by Kulmbacher this one is of course a Hefeweizen that weighs in at 5.4%. THe beer pours a hazy straw yellow capped with a tone of frothy white foam. The nose is full of bannana, cloves, and citrus. This time around the mouthfeel is a little lighter than I expected. Flavors of bannana, spices, cloves, citrus including strong notes of lemon. Somewhat light, very refreshing, crisp. Smooth and very tasty. The lemony notes make this really refreshing. Drinking this beer makes me think of sitting in a German biergarden on a beautiful Summer day. An above average wheat beer that gets a B+ from me.
Mönchshof Kellerbräu: Brewed by the Kulmbacher brewery, this is an unfiltered lager that weighs in at 5.4%. It pours a cloudy light brown with a thick dense head of foam. The nose is full of noble hop aroma fruity estersy, pale toasted malts. THe mouthfeel is full, much fuller than I expected. Caramel malts, noble hops, flavors of minerals, earth and floral notes as well. Toasted malts, delicious and easy drinking. Clean and crisp, this one gets a B from me.
Kapuziner Weisbier: Another beer brewed by Kulmbacher this one is of course a Hefeweizen that weighs in at 5.4%. THe beer pours a hazy straw yellow capped with a tone of frothy white foam. The nose is full of bannana, cloves, and citrus. This time around the mouthfeel is a little lighter than I expected. Flavors of bannana, spices, cloves, citrus including strong notes of lemon. Somewhat light, very refreshing, crisp. Smooth and very tasty. The lemony notes make this really refreshing. Drinking this beer makes me think of sitting in a German biergarden on a beautiful Summer day. An above average wheat beer that gets a B+ from me.
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Charlie, Fred, and Ken's Helles
The second edition of Sierra Nevada's 30th Anniversary beers has been released. For more information on the first release as well as info on the upcoming releases check my previous post. This version is a Imperial Helles Bock brewed by Sierra Nevada owner Ken Grossman as well as two pioneers in craft brew: AHA Founder Charlie Papazian, and home brew icon and author Fred Eckhart. The three men came together to brew an Imperial Helles Bock.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 8.9% and pours a golden orange color with a thick head of slightly off white foam. Fruity esters, honey, roasted malts, peaches, and savory spices. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, a little more than slightly sweet on the palate. Honey, fruits, with a mild bitter hop finish. Peaches, sweet malts, caramel, maybe even a bit of butterscotch (which could be an off flavor of Diacetyl, not sure, its not unpleasant at all just pointing it out). A very easy drinking, but maybe too easy drinking. There's not a lot of complex flavors here, and its a little too sweet for my tastes, there isn't another flavor to counteract it. Its good, but its not great, the Frits and Ken Stout was much better in my opinion. This one gets a B- to me. The folks at BA like it a little more than I do, but agree that its not as good as the first.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 8.9% and pours a golden orange color with a thick head of slightly off white foam. Fruity esters, honey, roasted malts, peaches, and savory spices. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, a little more than slightly sweet on the palate. Honey, fruits, with a mild bitter hop finish. Peaches, sweet malts, caramel, maybe even a bit of butterscotch (which could be an off flavor of Diacetyl, not sure, its not unpleasant at all just pointing it out). A very easy drinking, but maybe too easy drinking. There's not a lot of complex flavors here, and its a little too sweet for my tastes, there isn't another flavor to counteract it. Its good, but its not great, the Frits and Ken Stout was much better in my opinion. This one gets a B- to me. The folks at BA like it a little more than I do, but agree that its not as good as the first.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Tuesday Quick Hits
The first Tuesday of the month, and the first day of the week for many after a wonderful 3 day weekend. Today also brings us some interesting news from the world of beer today, some of it local:
- In some of the coolest news to come out of Saint Arnold in quite some time, they have announced (as reported by Ronnie Crocker) that they will be doing a series of special yeast relases. Releasing beers that we are familiar with like Lawnmower, Elissa, Brown, etc but brewed with different yeasts. Check out Ronnie's post and article for more information, but here is the line up:
• Weedwacker: A variation of Saint Arnold's best-selling Fancy Lawnmower. All other ingredients remain the same, but the new beer will be fermented with a Bavarian hefeweizen yeast. Available Aug. 16.
• Altared Amber: The flagship beer will be made with Belgian Trappist yeast. Available mid-November.
• Bitter Belgian: Elissa IPA, also with Belgian Trappist yeast. Available mid-February.
• Brown Bitte: Brown Ale, with Alt yeast. Available mid-May.
- July 18th is Belgian Beer Week, and many local bars will be hosting special events. Flying Saucer has announced they'll be doing something (no details yet) while Gingerman has already been a little more forthcoming with their plans for an event on the 21st of July:
- Also Gingerman has announced a Belgian Beer and Food tasting on July 31:
Saturday, July 31st at 1:30pm
Enjoy some of the best beers Belgium has to offer paired with food items that complement the flavor of these brews.
Admission $2
Well that's all the beer news fit to print. If anyone knows of other events let me know and I'll add them to the calendar.
- In some of the coolest news to come out of Saint Arnold in quite some time, they have announced (as reported by Ronnie Crocker) that they will be doing a series of special yeast relases. Releasing beers that we are familiar with like Lawnmower, Elissa, Brown, etc but brewed with different yeasts. Check out Ronnie's post and article for more information, but here is the line up:
• Weedwacker: A variation of Saint Arnold's best-selling Fancy Lawnmower. All other ingredients remain the same, but the new beer will be fermented with a Bavarian hefeweizen yeast. Available Aug. 16.
• Altared Amber: The flagship beer will be made with Belgian Trappist yeast. Available mid-November.
• Bitter Belgian: Elissa IPA, also with Belgian Trappist yeast. Available mid-February.
• Brown Bitte: Brown Ale, with Alt yeast. Available mid-May.
- July 18th is Belgian Beer Week, and many local bars will be hosting special events. Flying Saucer has announced they'll be doing something (no details yet) while Gingerman has already been a little more forthcoming with their plans for an event on the 21st of July:
Come out and join us to celebrate the country that brews some of the finest beers in the world, Belgium! There will be a special glass giveaway in addition to the regular Wednesday glass. We will also be serving select draught and bottled winter ales to celebrate Christmas in July.
Doors open at 2pm
- Also Gingerman has announced a Belgian Beer and Food tasting on July 31:
Saturday, July 31st at 1:30pm
Enjoy some of the best beers Belgium has to offer paired with food items that complement the flavor of these brews.
Admission $2
Well that's all the beer news fit to print. If anyone knows of other events let me know and I'll add them to the calendar.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Brooklyn Sorachi Ace Ale
One of my heroes in the beer business is Garret Oliver, brewmaster for Brooklyn brewer. I respect him for many reasons, he's a strong advocate for beer and food, the two times I've gotten to meet him and speak with him he was incredibly nice and willing to answer any questions, and lastly he makes some damn fine beer. Because of all these things I was ecstatic when I saw Brooklyn's newest beer on the shelves Sorachi Ace Ale. An usual name for a beer that is based off the hop used. Many beers are made with blends of hops, few though are made of the single hop variety, fewer even are made with rare and unique hops. Sorachi Ace was created in 1988 by a Japanese Brewer as a cross between British Brewer's Gold and Czech Saaz. The resulting hop variety was unique in that it gave off strong notes of lemon. I'm not sure how many brewer's use this hop in their beer, but I'm pretty sure Brooklyn is the only one to create a beer using only this hop. This beer is brewed with belgian yeast as well as a Champagne yeast strain to create a sort of Saison style brew with the Sorachi Ace hop.
The Beer: This beer weighs in at 7.6% and pours a pale straw yellow with a thick dense head of bright white foam. The nose is of lemons and citrus, bright and floral, yeasty. The mouth of lemony, lemon tarts, sourdough bread. Refreshing, and finishing with that classic Brooklyn Brewery dry finish. Its like fresh baked lemon poppy seed muffins. Notes of white pepper. Its lemony but not overpowering, refreshing, crisp. Very nice summer beer that gets a B+ from me. The folks at BA enjoy it as well.
The Beer: This beer weighs in at 7.6% and pours a pale straw yellow with a thick dense head of bright white foam. The nose is of lemons and citrus, bright and floral, yeasty. The mouth of lemony, lemon tarts, sourdough bread. Refreshing, and finishing with that classic Brooklyn Brewery dry finish. Its like fresh baked lemon poppy seed muffins. Notes of white pepper. Its lemony but not overpowering, refreshing, crisp. Very nice summer beer that gets a B+ from me. The folks at BA enjoy it as well.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Haandbryggeriet Hesjeøl
As American's we tend to think that outside of Belgium we are the only countries making unique beer. Sure England makes some amazing brown ales, stouts, porters, barleywines, etc, and Germany is top notch when it comes to pilsners, Wheat beers, Bock's etc. But neither of these countries are necessrily known for pushing the boundaries (yes there are exceptions, I am speaking in generalities). But more than America and Belgium are making unique barrel aged sour's, or barrel aged anything, other countries are getting in on the fun as well. One of these countries is Norway. I've had beer's from Nogne brewery so I'm aware of some of the things that country is doing. Well during my last visit to Denver I saw another beer from Norway, this one from the hard to say and hard to spell Haandbryggeriet.
This is an interesting brewery, one that is run on a volunteer basis, yes that's right, they don't brew full time. Unexpectedly they are tiny, making 18 bbl at a time, housed in a 200 year old wooden building. Per their website it also seems like they are very environmentally aware. Reviewing their website they make quite a few beers for being so small, ranging from IPA's to Farmhouse ales to of course sour ales. The Hesjeøl that I picked up is a recreation of a Norwegian farmhouse ale made with rye, barley, and oats.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 7.0% and pours a cloudy hazy orange with a thick quarter inch head. The nose is malty, smokey, yeasty, candied sugars, white fruit. The mouthfeel is full and thick, fruity, grapes, pears, smokey finish, a bit of char, a bit of smoked meat. The flavors remind me of autumn if that makes sense. Slightly sweet, honey, flowers, smoked melon, very little alcohol. Some hop bitterness. Smokiness is more meaty less oaky. Candied sugars. It reminds me of a Belgian Pale ale combined with a rauchbier. Very good, very interesting that gets a B+ from me. The folks at BA like it as well.
This is an interesting brewery, one that is run on a volunteer basis, yes that's right, they don't brew full time. Unexpectedly they are tiny, making 18 bbl at a time, housed in a 200 year old wooden building. Per their website it also seems like they are very environmentally aware. Reviewing their website they make quite a few beers for being so small, ranging from IPA's to Farmhouse ales to of course sour ales. The Hesjeøl that I picked up is a recreation of a Norwegian farmhouse ale made with rye, barley, and oats.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 7.0% and pours a cloudy hazy orange with a thick quarter inch head. The nose is malty, smokey, yeasty, candied sugars, white fruit. The mouthfeel is full and thick, fruity, grapes, pears, smokey finish, a bit of char, a bit of smoked meat. The flavors remind me of autumn if that makes sense. Slightly sweet, honey, flowers, smoked melon, very little alcohol. Some hop bitterness. Smokiness is more meaty less oaky. Candied sugars. It reminds me of a Belgian Pale ale combined with a rauchbier. Very good, very interesting that gets a B+ from me. The folks at BA like it as well.
Busy Houston Weekend
Well if you were a beer lover in Houston last weekend you had a great time. In the span of 4 days (Thurs - Sun) you had Houston's 1st (annual???) Firkin Fest, an amazing beer dinner at Vic and Anthony's and Camp Beer III.
Unfortunately due to other issues I couldn't make nearly as much of these events as I would have liked, hitting only the Petrol Station's leg of Firkin Fest on Saturday evening. Lucky for me and you, fellow beer bloggers around Houston did make it to some of these amazing beer events.
Checkout Houston Chronicle's Ronnie Crocker for some Camp Beer and Vic and Anthony's Dogfish Head Dinner highlights.
Steve over at All Good Beer has another detailed post on Camp Beer.
All in all this past weekend was an amazing one for Houston. From the reports I heard, every night of Firkin Fest was packed. From Anvil, to Flying Saucer, and then on to Petrol Station all were jammed packed with folks wanting to try unique cask ales. Events like this and the support they received shows that Houston has a strong craft beer scene, and its growing waiting for new things to experience.
Unfortunately due to other issues I couldn't make nearly as much of these events as I would have liked, hitting only the Petrol Station's leg of Firkin Fest on Saturday evening. Lucky for me and you, fellow beer bloggers around Houston did make it to some of these amazing beer events.
Checkout Houston Chronicle's Ronnie Crocker for some Camp Beer and Vic and Anthony's Dogfish Head Dinner highlights.
Steve over at All Good Beer has another detailed post on Camp Beer.
All in all this past weekend was an amazing one for Houston. From the reports I heard, every night of Firkin Fest was packed. From Anvil, to Flying Saucer, and then on to Petrol Station all were jammed packed with folks wanting to try unique cask ales. Events like this and the support they received shows that Houston has a strong craft beer scene, and its growing waiting for new things to experience.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Avery Depuceleuse
Avery is one of my favorite Colorado brewers. They make great standard beers available in six packs, great large bottle higher abv beers, and lastly they have started releasing an outstanding series of barrel aged wild ales. The first of these was released almost a year and a half ago. In Houston it was only available in bottle at a bar (you couldn't buy them at stores like Spec's). Since then all the other ones have been available at your local craft beer carrying store. Each of these beers are incredibly unique, aged in different barrels, different base styles, etc. The latest of this series Depuceleuse,(say that three times fast)is an ale brewed with 100% Brettanmyoces, sour cherries and aged in Red Wine barrels.
The Beer: This one weighs in at a hefty 9.5% and pours a ruby reddish brown with a thin white bubbly head. THe nose is sour, tart, oaky, funky, with some almost wine-ish notes. The immediate impression is an effervescence with a dry finish. More sips reveals a sour funky barnyard flavor, sour cherries, vanilla, sweet malts. With the good level of cabonation one can imagine a funky cherry-vanilla cola. At times its mouth puckering sour but at the same times it's not completely over the top. As it warms you get notes of tobacco, dark fruits. Throughout it all it hides its alcohol very well. Its sour, its funky but there is a nice balance to it that makes this beer appealing. This one gets an A- from me. Lots of love from the BA folks as well.
The Beer: This one weighs in at a hefty 9.5% and pours a ruby reddish brown with a thin white bubbly head. THe nose is sour, tart, oaky, funky, with some almost wine-ish notes. The immediate impression is an effervescence with a dry finish. More sips reveals a sour funky barnyard flavor, sour cherries, vanilla, sweet malts. With the good level of cabonation one can imagine a funky cherry-vanilla cola. At times its mouth puckering sour but at the same times it's not completely over the top. As it warms you get notes of tobacco, dark fruits. Throughout it all it hides its alcohol very well. Its sour, its funky but there is a nice balance to it that makes this beer appealing. This one gets an A- from me. Lots of love from the BA folks as well.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
A pair of Fight Night Beers
As I do from time to time, I settled down Saturday night to watch some fights on TV. Nights like this are also a good excuse to pop open some new beers (well at least new to me) and last night was no different. Two breweries I'm very familiar with, but beers that I'd never had.
New Belgium Eric's Ale: Now I have actually had this beer, well at least a sample of it waaaay back in 2008 at GABF. This is part of New Belgiums ever expanding Lips of Faith, beers that are usually oak aged, and focus on traditional Beglian brewing methods. This one in particular is named for NB's brewer and is an oak aged sour made with peach juice. It weighs in at 7% and pours a pale pinkish color with a thin bubbly head. The nose is of the barnyard, hay, sourness, peaches, white fruit, grapes. The mouth is effervescent and medium bodied. Tart and sour, notes of cherries, vanilla, oak, reminiscent of a Cherry Sprite. Barnyard notes, hay, funky horse blanket. Peaches, peach bellini. The label says this is a sour beer for those that don't like sours and a fruit beer for those that don't like fruit beers. I gotta say I really dig this one. I do like sour beers but am not a huge fan of fruit beers and this has me wanting more. This one gets a strong A from me.
Boulevard Tank 7: Next up was this farmhouse ale from Boulevard brewing one of their outstanding Smokestack Series of beers. This one though is made with a ton of American hops which raised my eyebrows in interest almost immediately. It weighs in at 8.0% and pours a cloudy straw honey color with a thick dense head of white foam. The nose if of pale malts, grapefruit, and bready yeast. The mouth is vibrant, medium to full mouthfeel. Hoppy, full of grapefruits, pale toasted malts, bready grain, yeasty, chewy, slight peppery notes. Very yeasty, can a beer be doughy? Its good, but I want a little more oomph in this one. This one gets a good B+ from me.
New Belgium Eric's Ale: Now I have actually had this beer, well at least a sample of it waaaay back in 2008 at GABF. This is part of New Belgiums ever expanding Lips of Faith, beers that are usually oak aged, and focus on traditional Beglian brewing methods. This one in particular is named for NB's brewer and is an oak aged sour made with peach juice. It weighs in at 7% and pours a pale pinkish color with a thin bubbly head. The nose is of the barnyard, hay, sourness, peaches, white fruit, grapes. The mouth is effervescent and medium bodied. Tart and sour, notes of cherries, vanilla, oak, reminiscent of a Cherry Sprite. Barnyard notes, hay, funky horse blanket. Peaches, peach bellini. The label says this is a sour beer for those that don't like sours and a fruit beer for those that don't like fruit beers. I gotta say I really dig this one. I do like sour beers but am not a huge fan of fruit beers and this has me wanting more. This one gets a strong A from me.
Boulevard Tank 7: Next up was this farmhouse ale from Boulevard brewing one of their outstanding Smokestack Series of beers. This one though is made with a ton of American hops which raised my eyebrows in interest almost immediately. It weighs in at 8.0% and pours a cloudy straw honey color with a thick dense head of white foam. The nose if of pale malts, grapefruit, and bready yeast. The mouth is vibrant, medium to full mouthfeel. Hoppy, full of grapefruits, pale toasted malts, bready grain, yeasty, chewy, slight peppery notes. Very yeasty, can a beer be doughy? Its good, but I want a little more oomph in this one. This one gets a good B+ from me.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Houston Firkin Fest
Wow, that's about all I can say at the news that I just recieved. I've known this was brewing (pardon the pun) for a while now, but its awesome to see the final details in print. What are you talking about you ask? Well a colloborative event between some of the best beer bars in Houston holding a three day Firkin (or cask) event, serving special, some never before seen, casks of beer. Over the dates of June 24 to June 26, Anvil Bar & Refuge, Flying Saucer, and Petrol Station will each host a night celebrating cask beer and tapping several different brews. Here's the line up:
Thursday, June 24 at Anvil
Tapping Time – 5pm
Featured Cask Ales:
Real Ale 2008 Barrel-Aged Sisyphus Barley Wine
Great Divide Espresso Oak-Aged Yeti
Surprise Cask
Friday, June 25 at Flying Saucer
Featured Cask Ales:
Avery Maharaja
Left Hand Twin Sisters
TBA: Specialty cask from Southern Star
At least one surprise cask
Saturday, June 26 at Petrol Station
Tapping Time – 4pm
Featured Cask Ales:
Moylan’s Dry Hop Hopsickle
Stone Sublimely Self Righteous Dry Hop
Stone Double Dry Hop Ruination
St Rose Dry Hop Red Ale
Stash IPA
Now that my friends is a great list of beer. I'm going to try and hit up at least one, maybe two of these events. Things like this in this city make me smile. A short year ago something like this would have been hard to imagine but Houston's beer scene has grown by leaps and bounds. Bars are collaborating (see also the Stoned in 6 days event hosted by Petrol and Saucer), Special beers are being tapped all the time, restaurants focused on beer and food are opening, events like Camp Beer occur and many other things are happening making Houston a great place to be a lover of craft beer. However it's now up to you. We've asked for it, some of us have begged for events like this. Now we need no we must go out and support things like this if we want to show the bars/restaurants/etc that there is vast opportunity out there.
Thursday, June 24 at Anvil
Tapping Time – 5pm
Featured Cask Ales:
Real Ale 2008 Barrel-Aged Sisyphus Barley Wine
Great Divide Espresso Oak-Aged Yeti
Surprise Cask
Friday, June 25 at Flying Saucer
Featured Cask Ales:
Avery Maharaja
Left Hand Twin Sisters
TBA: Specialty cask from Southern Star
At least one surprise cask
Saturday, June 26 at Petrol Station
Tapping Time – 4pm
Featured Cask Ales:
Moylan’s Dry Hop Hopsickle
Stone Sublimely Self Righteous Dry Hop
Stone Double Dry Hop Ruination
St Rose Dry Hop Red Ale
Stash IPA
Now that my friends is a great list of beer. I'm going to try and hit up at least one, maybe two of these events. Things like this in this city make me smile. A short year ago something like this would have been hard to imagine but Houston's beer scene has grown by leaps and bounds. Bars are collaborating (see also the Stoned in 6 days event hosted by Petrol and Saucer), Special beers are being tapped all the time, restaurants focused on beer and food are opening, events like Camp Beer occur and many other things are happening making Houston a great place to be a lover of craft beer. However it's now up to you. We've asked for it, some of us have begged for events like this. Now we need no we must go out and support things like this if we want to show the bars/restaurants/etc that there is vast opportunity out there.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Boulevard Dark Truth Stout
If you've been reading this blog you know that I have been a big fan of Boulevard's Smokestack Series. Its their series of special beers, each packages in 750 mL, corked and caged. During my last trip to Spec's I noticed a new one on the shelf, this time a Russian Imperial Stout. But not just any stout its one made with barley, wheat, oats and rye.
The Beer: This stout weighs in at 9.7% and pours a very dark jet black with a thick dense head of crema colored foam. Cereal grains, I do get roasted barley and some oats. Esspresso, figs, dried dark fruits. Roasted malts. The mouthfeel is thick and chewy. Notes of oats, figs, raisins, plums, espresso beans and coco. Notes of oats. On the finish notes of creme brulee and coco powder sweetnes. Bitter dark chocolate. There is an almost grainy texture to this brew. The beer's not gritty, its just a feeling I get as I'm drinking. Dark Chocolate, dried fruits, oats and creme brulee are all great flavors in this amazing beer. This one gets an A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think about it.
The Beer: This stout weighs in at 9.7% and pours a very dark jet black with a thick dense head of crema colored foam. Cereal grains, I do get roasted barley and some oats. Esspresso, figs, dried dark fruits. Roasted malts. The mouthfeel is thick and chewy. Notes of oats, figs, raisins, plums, espresso beans and coco. Notes of oats. On the finish notes of creme brulee and coco powder sweetnes. Bitter dark chocolate. There is an almost grainy texture to this brew. The beer's not gritty, its just a feeling I get as I'm drinking. Dark Chocolate, dried fruits, oats and creme brulee are all great flavors in this amazing beer. This one gets an A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think about it.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Sam Adams 2010 Longshot
Some of the biggest supporters of microbrewers is the homebrewing community. They as much as or more than others can really appreciate what goes into making craft beer. It also doesn't hurt that many a craft brewer started out as a homebrewer once upon a time. Conversely many microbreweries support the local homebrewing clubs. From allowing them to hold meetings, having brew days and allowing homebrewers to take some Wort home to brew beer to all sorts of things their is definetely a symbiotic relationship between these two groups. I think one of the coolest things that is done is the Pro-am contest held at the GABF every year. A home brew recipe is brewed by a craft brewer and entered into the contest. We have two local breweries that participate every year in Southern Star and Saint Arnold's, but the most famous of these is probably Sam Adam's Longshot series. Every year Sam Adams picks 3 winning recipes (one is always an employee, the other two are "at large" winner's), enters them into the GABF contest and releases them in mixed six pack's nationwide. It has to be pretty cool to go to your local store and see your face on a bottle of beer. Well this year's Longshot has shown up in my local Spec's so I picked up the six pack to see how they tasted. A couple of notes before I start 1) I had tasted these beers back at GABF, 2) In talking to the maker of DR8 (winner of the BBBB contest) I know that there are many things that can change between the small home brew batch and the larger batch released to the public.
Lemon Pepper Saison: Weighs in at 6.4% and brewed with lemon peel and grains of paradise this is the employee winner. It pours a pale golden yellow with a thin white head. Its spicey, yeasty, lemony with notes of vanilla on the nose. Very effervescent in the mouth, light bodied, citrusy, white pepper notes from the yeast I think. Very refreshing, and finishes dry. There is a slight tartness in the mid-palate maybe even some slight funkiness. A good beer that gets a B from me.
Mile High Barleywine: This one weighs in at a hefty 9.8% and is brewed with 6 malts. It pours a brownish ruby color with a quarter inch taupe colored head. The nose is hoppy, grapefruit, dark fruits, caramel malts. Full mouthfeel, very malty, rich, dried dark plums, raisins, figs, finishing with bitter grapefruit peel. Toffee. On the finish there is a metallic tang and astringency that is off putting. As it warms the alcohol becomes much more noticeable. This one gets a B- from me.
Old Ben Ale: This old ale weighs in at 9% and pours a dark reddish copper with a thick slightly off white head. Very malty on the nose, caramel, raisins, very little hop bitterness. Medium bodied a little lighter than expected. Fruity raisins, figs, grapes, sweet toffee, very caramel-y. Needs something to off set the sweetness. This one gets a C+ from me.
Lemon Pepper Saison: Weighs in at 6.4% and brewed with lemon peel and grains of paradise this is the employee winner. It pours a pale golden yellow with a thin white head. Its spicey, yeasty, lemony with notes of vanilla on the nose. Very effervescent in the mouth, light bodied, citrusy, white pepper notes from the yeast I think. Very refreshing, and finishes dry. There is a slight tartness in the mid-palate maybe even some slight funkiness. A good beer that gets a B from me.
Mile High Barleywine: This one weighs in at a hefty 9.8% and is brewed with 6 malts. It pours a brownish ruby color with a quarter inch taupe colored head. The nose is hoppy, grapefruit, dark fruits, caramel malts. Full mouthfeel, very malty, rich, dried dark plums, raisins, figs, finishing with bitter grapefruit peel. Toffee. On the finish there is a metallic tang and astringency that is off putting. As it warms the alcohol becomes much more noticeable. This one gets a B- from me.
Old Ben Ale: This old ale weighs in at 9% and pours a dark reddish copper with a thick slightly off white head. Very malty on the nose, caramel, raisins, very little hop bitterness. Medium bodied a little lighter than expected. Fruity raisins, figs, grapes, sweet toffee, very caramel-y. Needs something to off set the sweetness. This one gets a C+ from me.
Quick Hits
Just a few short notes today from around the town in beer.
- First up Saint Arnold's has announced their 16th Anniversary Party will be held on June 13th. See below for details:
What: 16th Anniversary Party
When: Sunday, June 13
Time: 1 PM to 4 PM
Cost: $36
Includes: Barbecue lunch, special glass and the spectacle of the Saint Arnold Olympics
For reservations, please follow this link: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e2wqozfc3ae386f9
- Next week on June 3rd there is a Saint Arnold's Dinner in Galveston at Fisherman's Wharf. Only $50 plus tax and tip. For reservations, call 409-765-5708.
- One other piece of news that's somewhat old but I hadn't got around to posting on them, well until now that is. A few weeks back Southern Star held their now annual Pro Am home brewing contest. Just like last year's winning beer Saison was brewed, kegged, and entered into the GABF Pro Am tour, this year's winner will be as well. The winning recipe was a Smoked Porter. Very excited about this beer. I was very sad to see SS's Smoked beer go the way of the dodo bird so I'm happy that they are brewing another one even if it's not their recipe. No word on when this one will be showing up at your local watering hole, but I would guess sometime around late August.
- First up Saint Arnold's has announced their 16th Anniversary Party will be held on June 13th. See below for details:
What: 16th Anniversary Party
When: Sunday, June 13
Time: 1 PM to 4 PM
Cost: $36
Includes: Barbecue lunch, special glass and the spectacle of the Saint Arnold Olympics
For reservations, please follow this link: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e2wqozfc3ae386f9
- Next week on June 3rd there is a Saint Arnold's Dinner in Galveston at Fisherman's Wharf. Only $50 plus tax and tip. For reservations, call 409-765-5708.
- One other piece of news that's somewhat old but I hadn't got around to posting on them, well until now that is. A few weeks back Southern Star held their now annual Pro Am home brewing contest. Just like last year's winning beer Saison was brewed, kegged, and entered into the GABF Pro Am tour, this year's winner will be as well. The winning recipe was a Smoked Porter. Very excited about this beer. I was very sad to see SS's Smoked beer go the way of the dodo bird so I'm happy that they are brewing another one even if it's not their recipe. No word on when this one will be showing up at your local watering hole, but I would guess sometime around late August.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Dieu Du Ciel Peche Mortel
One thing I have learned as I increase my knowledge of craft beers is that almost every country has a craft beer culture. When folks think of Canadian beer most think of Molson, or Moosehead but there is so much more. Many are familiar with the greatness that is Unibroue from Chambly Quebec, but that is not the only craft brewer from the French Canadian province. Located within Montreal lies Dieu Du Ciel, a brewery that I've heard of, but never had the chance to try their beers. That all changed when I picked up a couple of their beers when I was in Colorado recently. The first one I didn't post on was called Rigor Mortis, an amazing Quadrupel that weigh
ed in at 10.0%. Dieu Du Ciel has a reputation for making some amazing and unique brews, many of them are higher gravity. Additionally the artwork on the labels is incredibly eye catching, I don't know who the artist is, or the story behind the labels but they beautifully done. Peche Mortel, or Mortal Sin is a bottle conditioned Imperial Coffee Stout.The Beer: This one weighs in at 9.2% and pours a pitch jet black with a thick dense head of cafe colored foam. The nose is of rich coffee, chocolate, darkly roasted malts and some citrus notes. The mouthfeel is full and creamy, black coffee with cream, roasted malts, slightly understated notes of bitterness. Very little alcohol. Chewy. It is reminiscent of iced coffee, slightly sweet. Some citrus acidity notes of lemon show up as well. Rich and smooth. Notes of alcohol shows up as it warms. Roasted malts, slight roasted bean bitterness shows up, but for the most part its creamy smooth. Figs, and raisins and other dried dark fruits show up enriching the flavor as the beer warms. This may be the best coffee stout I have ever had. This one gets an A+ from me. Here's what the folks of BA think.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Twisted Pine Hoppy Man
I love going to the liquor store and seeing a beer that I haven't seen before from a brewery that's new to Texas. That's not entirely true in this case as Twisted Pine has been in Texas for a few months with their basic line up of beer's, however last week was the first time I had seen their big bottle offerings like Hoppy Man. Twisted Pine is yet another brewery from Colorado (when on when will Odell's make it down here?!?), this one based out of Boulder. They do make some award winning beers, however my limited exposure to them has been of somewhat solid if unspectacular beers. I was able to taste many of their beers during one of my visits to Denver and a short drive up to their brewery.
This particular beer is a souped up version of their Hoppy Boy IPA. In other words an Imperial IPA.
The Beer: The beer has 3 different types of hops: Cascase, Chinook, and Simcoe, and weighs in at a hefty 10.5%. The beer pours a slightly hazy unfiltered orangish color with a thin off white head. The nose is of citrus hops, some piney qualities, and sweet caramel malts. Big hop impact on the tongue with the first sip, with slight caramel and toasted malts mid palate before plunging head first into a resiny hoppy finish. It was then that I got my first impression of the body of the beer which honestly was lacking. A thin mouthfeel, very little carbonation.
Other notes of caramel, toastiness, toffee, malts on the nose. Yes their is a resin-y finish, but there is also some sweetness mingling with the hops, a little too much sweetness for my tastes. Some spicey white pepper notes come out as the beer warms. An OK DIPA, with lots of hop notes, but with a little too much sweetness for my tastes. This one gets a B- from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.
This particular beer is a souped up version of their Hoppy Boy IPA. In other words an Imperial IPA.
The Beer: The beer has 3 different types of hops: Cascase, Chinook, and Simcoe, and weighs in at a hefty 10.5%. The beer pours a slightly hazy unfiltered orangish color with a thin off white head. The nose is of citrus hops, some piney qualities, and sweet caramel malts. Big hop impact on the tongue with the first sip, with slight caramel and toasted malts mid palate before plunging head first into a resiny hoppy finish. It was then that I got my first impression of the body of the beer which honestly was lacking. A thin mouthfeel, very little carbonation.
Other notes of caramel, toastiness, toffee, malts on the nose. Yes their is a resin-y finish, but there is also some sweetness mingling with the hops, a little too much sweetness for my tastes. Some spicey white pepper notes come out as the beer warms. An OK DIPA, with lots of hop notes, but with a little too much sweetness for my tastes. This one gets a B- from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.
BRC Gastropub part II
For a number of reason's I've been neglecting this blog for the past few weeks. The good news is that I have a few things that need posting, some are new beers that I've tried, other's are posts like this one about restaurants and bars. You may remember a few weeks ago I wrote my thoughts on Houston's new gastropub BRC. Well one of the things that I didn't focus on during that review was the beer. I thought then that it was a disservice to not talk about my thoughts on their beer menu, beer service and all points in between. With that in mind I headed (with my in-laws in tow) to BRC for an early dinner on Saturday and came away with some good news and unfortunately some bad news thoughts on this new establishment.
The Good news? Well, the food continues to be great. With a large party (6) we were able to try a few different appetizers. My wife, the lover of all things pickled ordered the amazing pickle jar again, while we also ordered the Crab Cake Beignets and the Boudin balls. Both orders were small (3 each) but we were able to split each one in half so everyone at the table got at taste. The Boudin balls were outstanding. They may not remind me of the ones I got in Louisiana, but they were crunchy on the outside and hot in the middle with great flavor. The Beignets were a little bit on the doughy side for my tastes, so the texture wasn't necessarily to my liking, but the flavor was spot on. For dinner I got the much talked about Dr. Pepper fried quail with blue cheese potato salad. Awesome. The sweetness of the Dr. Pepper, I mean you could taste it! It was really quite genius, just very very good. The blue cheese potato salad was mixes of blue cheese tangy explosions, celery crunch, and potato. A great wonderful combo.
Other good things? Well the beer for one. There were things on the draft wall like North Coast Le Merle, and while Bear Republic's Apex was gone it had been replaced with a Beglian IPA, Crazy Ivan from the same brewery. They are striving to have great beers on tap and so far are doing a pretty good job. I also noticed that they had expanded the big bottle list, one of the things I had asked for before.
Unfortunately there are two sides to this story which means there is some bad news to report and that's regarding the beer service and really all that encompasses. The first thing you notice when you open up the beer menu (yes the same one I lauded in my initial review) is there are a number of beers crossed out. Now this is bound to happen at a place that doesn't stock kegs and kegs of the same boring beer, but how does one know whats on tap? My first reaction of course would be to ask the waitress what was available that wasn't on the list, and here of course was the problem: She had no idea. She wasn't rude or discourteous exactly, but she just wasn't up to date with what all was new on the draft wall. So I walked up to the bar to get a look at the tap wall to see what I wanted (Bear Republic Crazy Ivan!), and got it poured into a frosty ice cold mug! What? If your restaurant is touting its great beer list and how it cares about craft beer, it shouldn't be pouring beers into what is essentially a frozen mug. Do they serve ice cold wine too? I doubt it, and that my friends is my biggest gripe. I want restaurants to care about beer service as much as they care about wine service. That doesn't mean I want to take beer to the sometimes over the top pretentious level that wine can be taken to, it means that I want folks to care about the temperature the beer and how the serve it. Is that too much to ask?
So where can BRC go from here? Like I said the food is outstanding, as is the beer they serve. However they need to do a couple of things that I think would really help them out: 1) Post updated beer lists as new kegs are tapped and old ones discarded. How do you do this? Well there are a couple of options here: a) go the Gingerman/Stag's Head way and print out a new beer menu when kegs are turned. Unfortunately this can get costly. b) Go the Petrol Station/Flying Saucer/Anvil route and post new beers somewhere like a chalkboard. This is relatively easy, although you need to do it somewhere that everyone can see it which would be difficult for the folks out on the patio. c) train the waitstaff to know what's on tap at all times. Again difficult to do if there are a lot of kegs that have been rotated since the last update to the menu.
2) Get rid of frozen glasses. As a sticker at a local bar says "frozen mugs are for wimps". Craft beer doesn't need them. At the very least choose what beers your going to serve in them, I can appreciate the appeal of an ice cold beer on a hot Texas Summer day while sitting on the BRC patio.
3) Get more beer glasses than just shaker pints. No, you don't need 16 different beer glasses, but all beer shouldn't go into shaker pints and a restaurant/bar is doing a disservice to the beer drinker if they serve their beers like that. This will be especially true if BRC gets big bottle formats of Beglian Ales.
I love what BRC is trying to do, combing good homey American food, with a great beer list. In the two times I have been there, Chef Jeff Axline has shown how much he cares about the food he is making. I only hope that they'll show the same care to the beer that they are serving. I don't want to be all negative, I'm incredibly impressed by the list of beers they are putting together, its by far one of the best of any restaurant in Houston, but if you are going to do it, do it right, that's what I am asking.
The Good news? Well, the food continues to be great. With a large party (6) we were able to try a few different appetizers. My wife, the lover of all things pickled ordered the amazing pickle jar again, while we also ordered the Crab Cake Beignets and the Boudin balls. Both orders were small (3 each) but we were able to split each one in half so everyone at the table got at taste. The Boudin balls were outstanding. They may not remind me of the ones I got in Louisiana, but they were crunchy on the outside and hot in the middle with great flavor. The Beignets were a little bit on the doughy side for my tastes, so the texture wasn't necessarily to my liking, but the flavor was spot on. For dinner I got the much talked about Dr. Pepper fried quail with blue cheese potato salad. Awesome. The sweetness of the Dr. Pepper, I mean you could taste it! It was really quite genius, just very very good. The blue cheese potato salad was mixes of blue cheese tangy explosions, celery crunch, and potato. A great wonderful combo.
Other good things? Well the beer for one. There were things on the draft wall like North Coast Le Merle, and while Bear Republic's Apex was gone it had been replaced with a Beglian IPA, Crazy Ivan from the same brewery. They are striving to have great beers on tap and so far are doing a pretty good job. I also noticed that they had expanded the big bottle list, one of the things I had asked for before.
Unfortunately there are two sides to this story which means there is some bad news to report and that's regarding the beer service and really all that encompasses. The first thing you notice when you open up the beer menu (yes the same one I lauded in my initial review) is there are a number of beers crossed out. Now this is bound to happen at a place that doesn't stock kegs and kegs of the same boring beer, but how does one know whats on tap? My first reaction of course would be to ask the waitress what was available that wasn't on the list, and here of course was the problem: She had no idea. She wasn't rude or discourteous exactly, but she just wasn't up to date with what all was new on the draft wall. So I walked up to the bar to get a look at the tap wall to see what I wanted (Bear Republic Crazy Ivan!), and got it poured into a frosty ice cold mug! What? If your restaurant is touting its great beer list and how it cares about craft beer, it shouldn't be pouring beers into what is essentially a frozen mug. Do they serve ice cold wine too? I doubt it, and that my friends is my biggest gripe. I want restaurants to care about beer service as much as they care about wine service. That doesn't mean I want to take beer to the sometimes over the top pretentious level that wine can be taken to, it means that I want folks to care about the temperature the beer and how the serve it. Is that too much to ask?
So where can BRC go from here? Like I said the food is outstanding, as is the beer they serve. However they need to do a couple of things that I think would really help them out: 1) Post updated beer lists as new kegs are tapped and old ones discarded. How do you do this? Well there are a couple of options here: a) go the Gingerman/Stag's Head way and print out a new beer menu when kegs are turned. Unfortunately this can get costly. b) Go the Petrol Station/Flying Saucer/Anvil route and post new beers somewhere like a chalkboard. This is relatively easy, although you need to do it somewhere that everyone can see it which would be difficult for the folks out on the patio. c) train the waitstaff to know what's on tap at all times. Again difficult to do if there are a lot of kegs that have been rotated since the last update to the menu.
2) Get rid of frozen glasses. As a sticker at a local bar says "frozen mugs are for wimps". Craft beer doesn't need them. At the very least choose what beers your going to serve in them, I can appreciate the appeal of an ice cold beer on a hot Texas Summer day while sitting on the BRC patio.
3) Get more beer glasses than just shaker pints. No, you don't need 16 different beer glasses, but all beer shouldn't go into shaker pints and a restaurant/bar is doing a disservice to the beer drinker if they serve their beers like that. This will be especially true if BRC gets big bottle formats of Beglian Ales.
I love what BRC is trying to do, combing good homey American food, with a great beer list. In the two times I have been there, Chef Jeff Axline has shown how much he cares about the food he is making. I only hope that they'll show the same care to the beer that they are serving. I don't want to be all negative, I'm incredibly impressed by the list of beers they are putting together, its by far one of the best of any restaurant in Houston, but if you are going to do it, do it right, that's what I am asking.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Camp Beer III
The next installment of Camp Beer is coming up quickly. For recap's of the previous 2 Camp Beer excursions, check out these posts 1 and 2. Camp Beer is hosted by Cathy Clark who founded the Live It Big organization after her good friend passed. The organization hosts events like Camp Beer, or Cocktail Camp to raise money for other charities. Yes you can drink good beer for a great cause. At Camp Beer, Anvil's Kevin Floyd hosts a tasting of around 20 or so beers, these beers are all highly ranked on sites like Beer Advocate or Rate Beer, and many of them are not available in Texas, so its a real treat to get to taste some of the beers. Check out my previous posts for all the beers we've tasted in the past, but to give you a quick example: Surly Darkness, Three Floyds Dark Lords, Smuttynose RIS, 2003 Alesmith Speedway Stout, Southern Tier Pumking, and Russian River Temptation. These were all served at one of the previous two Camp Beer sessions. I happen to know some of the other beers that Cathy has in her beer stash and while I don't know the exact line up for the next session I can guarantee that if you are a beer lover you want to be there.
So what are the details? Cathy announced yesterday that the next Camp Beer will be held on Sunday June 27th. Tickets will go on sale this Friday. If you want to know exactly when they go on sale follow Cathy on twitter, if you don't have twitter check our the Camp Beer website.
So what are the details? Cathy announced yesterday that the next Camp Beer will be held on Sunday June 27th. Tickets will go on sale this Friday. If you want to know exactly when they go on sale follow Cathy on twitter, if you don't have twitter check our the Camp Beer website.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Russian River Supplication
During my recent trip to Colorado I picked up quite a few beers that I can't get here in Houston. I love going to Co for many reasons, but getting beers that are unique to Texas is near the top of the list for me. One of the beers I picked up is from California favorite, Russian River, maker of not only one of the best IPA's in the world (arguably one of the best beers period), but brewer of unusual Belgian style ales as well. They specialize in barrel aging and sour ales. That's a lot to pack in for a brewery, but RR does it all incredibly well.
Supplication is RR's Brown ale aged in French Oak that previously held Pinot Noir. Three strains of bacteria were added along with sour cherries. The bacteria added are Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, Pediococcus.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 7.0% and pours a lightly beige almost pinkish with a dense head of off white head. On the nose its malty, sour cherries, oak, barnyard notes, hay, and horse blanket. The mouthfeel is medium, tons of carbonation. Funky, tart, sour, acidic are the first impressions of this beer. Notes of cherries, oaky, and dry finish. Vanilla and cherries. It gives me the impression of a cherry vanilla coke. Its not a sweet beer. Although there is a cherry sweetness up front the finish is dry enough that there is a great balance. Sour funky and barnyardy. Tons of sour cherries with undertones of roasted malts, caramel, even a nuttiness. This is such an outstanding beer. Every sip adds some new nuance to the flavor profile. I love it, this one gets an A from me. Here's what folks from BA think.
UPDATE: Experienced a mis-type in my entry. Brettanomyces is a strain of Yeast that was added to Supplication, Lacobacillus and Pediococcus are both different strains of bacteria. Sorry for the error.
Supplication is RR's Brown ale aged in French Oak that previously held Pinot Noir. Three strains of bacteria were added along with sour cherries. The bacteria added are Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, Pediococcus.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 7.0% and pours a lightly beige almost pinkish with a dense head of off white head. On the nose its malty, sour cherries, oak, barnyard notes, hay, and horse blanket. The mouthfeel is medium, tons of carbonation. Funky, tart, sour, acidic are the first impressions of this beer. Notes of cherries, oaky, and dry finish. Vanilla and cherries. It gives me the impression of a cherry vanilla coke. Its not a sweet beer. Although there is a cherry sweetness up front the finish is dry enough that there is a great balance. Sour funky and barnyardy. Tons of sour cherries with undertones of roasted malts, caramel, even a nuttiness. This is such an outstanding beer. Every sip adds some new nuance to the flavor profile. I love it, this one gets an A from me. Here's what folks from BA think.
UPDATE: Experienced a mis-type in my entry. Brettanomyces is a strain of Yeast that was added to Supplication, Lacobacillus and Pediococcus are both different strains of bacteria. Sorry for the error.
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Restaurant Review: BRC Gastropub
Ever since I first heard the rumblings about a restaurant that would be celebrating not only good simple food, but craft beer as well, I've been excited. Those first rumblings occurred back in September of last year and I've been following the goings on of BRC Gastropub since that time, waiting for it to open. Well that time has come. The newest 'B' restaurant (joining Branchwater Tavern and Block 7) on Shephard south of Washington Avenue is now open. BRC Gastropub is owned and operated by the same folks that brought you Glass Wall in the Heights. I spoke with Lance Fegan, chef of Glass Wall and co-owner of BRC, about his vision for the food at BRC:simply put is 'its the type of food a chef would want to eat', it's easy to
understand, easy on the wallet, fresh everyday
Well that sounds good to me, but what about the beer? Well...it has a great selection of draft beers. There are about 25 taps with strong variety, and some Texas Representation in Saint Arnold's and Real Ale. You can get IPA's, Pilsners, Brown Ales, Porters, Belgian Ales... The bottle selection is similar; a very large selection with a few large bottle formats thrown in as well. Larger bottles like Stone's Smoked Porter are available for sharing with the table. All this I knew, but what I didn't know was how it would all come together. How's the food? Are the tap lines in good shape? How's the beer knowledge? I aimed to find out, and headed to BRC for dinner on Friday night.
The full parking lot was a good sign, as we pulled up to the smaller than expected building with the big red rooster out front (I guess this is as good a time as any to explain that BRC stands for Big Red Cock). We headed inside to a well appointed, but small, dining area crowded with tables and booths along one wall. Another wall houses a long bar behind which sits a couple dozen tap handles. Not seeing any tables free, the wife and I headed outside to the comfortable patio and were promptly seated. We were handed the dinner menu and beverage menu. The beverage menu got major bonus points for having the beer list up front with the wine in the back. The beer was well organized into draft, bottle, and large format bottle, with each section subdivided by category (brown, pale ale, IPA, etc...). I selected a Real Ale Devil's Backbone and the wife selected Avery's White Rascal.
Beers chosen, we now needed food. The appetizers looked amazing. Things like Dr. Pepper fried Quail and Blue Crab Beignets sounded awesome, but there was one thing that drew my wife's attention, and that was the Pickle Jar with house cured cucumbers and asparagus. For dinner, my wife ordered the State Fair Griddled Cheese, and I ordered the BRC Pub Burger with Fries. We also ordered a side of Mac and Cheese of the day and Seasonal Fresh Veggies.
The order was taken quickly, and it wasn't too long before our beers and pickle jar arrived. It was exactly as it sounds (and looks). A jar of pickles...crunch, sour, dill...simply awesome. These pickles were divine with sprigs of dill, and whole black peppercorns in the pickling liquid. Th
ere were easily 10 or so pickles that we devoured while waiting for our food. Relatively quickly after eating our last pickle, our food arrived.
ere were easily 10 or so pickles that we devoured while waiting for our food. Relatively quickly after eating our last pickle, our food arrived.My wife's griddled cheese sandwhich was stuffed with cheese, steak, and tomatoes. My burger was topped with thick slices of bacon, tomatoes, onions, and a special BRC sauce. My fries came in a neat little mini fryer-esque holder. Our sides were set on the table, and we started eating our way through the food.
Griddled Cheese Sandwich - Texas toast with cheese, sliced steak and tomatoes. A deliciously meaty and cheesey delight. This was well seasoned, not too salty, almost perfect. My only complaint would be that at times the sliced steak was tough to bite through so you would have to take a huge chunk of steak with a bite leaving a lonely pocket of cheese behind. Maybe if the steak was chopped instead of just sliced this would be perfect.
BRC Pub Burger - Tillamook cheese, tomatoes, Maple-y bacon, onions, MEAT, and a BRC special sauce all sandwiched between buns. The bread was creamy eggy deliciousness. The meat was well seared but juicy and just slightly pink in the middle. The bacon crispy. All in all an incredibly well made burger with great textures and high juice factor. I don't know what the BRC special sauce was, and in all honesty I'm not sure what it added, as it surely wasn't overpowering anything on the night I was there. The fries were well seasoned thin strings...simple with large crystals of sea salt and herbs. While they tasted delicious, some were a little too limp and after them touting the 'double fried fries' I expected them to be a little bit crispier. That was a small disappointment that didn't affect their taste.
Mac and Cheese - This dish changes daily depending on what the chef wants to do with his Mac & Cheese. While most times I'm easy to please with this dish, BRC's M&C was truly a treat. Baked with bread crumbs topping the dish, it was hard to tell what the Mac was made with until the first bite....bacon? yep that was there, but something else, something richer, something blue....yep it was blue cheese and bacon Mac and Cheese. This dish was one of my favorites. Yes it was rich, so I couldn't have eaten a whole side by myself but shared with the wife, we were able to do some damage. The crunch bread crumbs added a needed texture to the mac and cheese. It was pretty much perfect.
Seasonal Vegetables - This was probably the one disappointment of the night. A dish of sauteed vegetables. Mainly squash topped with some herbs and what appeared to be a marinara sauce. While it didn't taste bad, it felt like something I'd pick up at a cafeteria compared to the rest of this fabulous meal.
We finished our meals and beers with happy smiles; very content and excited about this new establishment. I didn't talk much about the service intentionally. BRC has been open for such a short period that it was obvious at times that service issues were still being worked out. While our initial orders were taken promptly and the food arrived quickly and hot; after the food arrived we didn't see our waitress much. In fact I didn't get to order a second beer due to her absence, and we had to waive down a busser to pay our bill. This was a hectic Friday, one of their first (if not their first), so for now in my mind its excusable as they get their legs under them. I'll be back for sure and I know that their service will improve (if it doesn't I'll state as much here on the blog).
Other things that I would love to see in the future at BRC:
1) Cask beer - Again I have spoken to Mr. Fegen and they have multiple Cask Engines on order so that should be forthcoming!
2) A larger and more diverse 'large bottle format'. I think this is a way for folks to share a couple of different beers. It can be better to get unusual beers in bottle format vs. draft where you have to worry about long term quality of the beer if patrons aren't buying it.
One idea I absolutely loved that BRC is doing is selling tasters of beers. The tasters were a few ounces and are perfect to give patrons the ability to sample multiple different beers, some that they may not be familiar with before purchasing. Simply a great idea.
BRC is something that I have been waiting for Houston to have for a long time. A place that celebrates not only good simple food, but great beer as well. There are not many places in Houston, if any, with the quality of food and the beer selection that BRC offers which is why it is working its way quickly into one of my favorite places in Houston.
Monday, April 26, 2010
My trip to Colorado
I stated a couple of weeks ago that I had the opportunity to head to Colorado for a special family occasion. However, while there I was able to visit a couple of breweries just as I always try to do when heading to CO. Instead of writing my traditional: this is what I did, this is where I went etc...I want to take this post in a different direction. I want to discuss the breweries I went to and what I saw, but I want to put it into context as a comparison of what is wrong with Texas law's and how its hurting Texas Breweries, the Texas Economy and yes, even Texas Tourism. The best part? Its an easy fix.
During my visit, I headed up to Boulder to visit some breweries. We hit two that got me thinking about this post, and it's those two that I want to discuss. Both are very different, but very applicable to the Texas brewery scene.
The first Brewery we went to was the great Avery Brewing. Before heading to the tour,
we stopped by the tasting room. It was pretty full of customers on a Sunday afternoon. Some seem to be spending the day playing games, drinking one of the many beers on tap, and just hanging out. Others were, like us, there for the tour. It was here that I got a chance to taste Avery's new barrel aged beer Depuceleuse, aged in Zinfandel barrels (I was also able to pick up a few bottles). After a few more tastings and a pint for the road, it was off to the tour. The first stop along the tour was the Mash Tun and Fermenters. I was absolutely shocked by how small Avery brewing is. A single tiny mash tun and not that many fermenters; each much smaller than anything that Saint Arnold's has. When I ask
ed our guide how big Avery was, they replied that they just passed Microbrewery status (15,000 bbls) and are now around 18,000. This is much smaller than I expected Avery to be, but am still pretty happy that we are able to get so many of their great beers in Houston. After the mash tun and fermenters, we headed to the bottling line. Again, this was a pretty small operation and, along with their labeling machine, is run by 2 or 3 people. After the bottling line we headed over to the barrel room. This was absolutely the highlight of the tour. The barrels were floor to ceiling with many different labels. Some originally he
ld Rum, Whiskey (CO local Stranahan's), different types of red wine, and different types of white wines. Many of these barrels had white sheets of paper on the front that carried the history of the barrel and what had been in each one, along with owner, Adam Avery's, thoughts on the beer that was aged in side. It was also in this room that I received the inspiration to write this post. I asked our tour guide ab
out the size of the brewery, and how they planned to expand since they were basically land locked in an industrial complex. The tour guide said that by using the money they make in the tasting room: proceeds from selling bottles, merchandise, samples, and tastings, they were going to be able to buy a place and custom build a brewery in the future.
we stopped by the tasting room. It was pretty full of customers on a Sunday afternoon. Some seem to be spending the day playing games, drinking one of the many beers on tap, and just hanging out. Others were, like us, there for the tour. It was here that I got a chance to taste Avery's new barrel aged beer Depuceleuse, aged in Zinfandel barrels (I was also able to pick up a few bottles). After a few more tastings and a pint for the road, it was off to the tour. The first stop along the tour was the Mash Tun and Fermenters. I was absolutely shocked by how small Avery brewing is. A single tiny mash tun and not that many fermenters; each much smaller than anything that Saint Arnold's has. When I ask
ed our guide how big Avery was, they replied that they just passed Microbrewery status (15,000 bbls) and are now around 18,000. This is much smaller than I expected Avery to be, but am still pretty happy that we are able to get so many of their great beers in Houston. After the mash tun and fermenters, we headed to the bottling line. Again, this was a pretty small operation and, along with their labeling machine, is run by 2 or 3 people. After the bottling line we headed over to the barrel room. This was absolutely the highlight of the tour. The barrels were floor to ceiling with many different labels. Some originally he
ld Rum, Whiskey (CO local Stranahan's), different types of red wine, and different types of white wines. Many of these barrels had white sheets of paper on the front that carried the history of the barrel and what had been in each one, along with owner, Adam Avery's, thoughts on the beer that was aged in side. It was also in this room that I received the inspiration to write this post. I asked our tour guide ab
out the size of the brewery, and how they planned to expand since they were basically land locked in an industrial complex. The tour guide said that by using the money they make in the tasting room: proceeds from selling bottles, merchandise, samples, and tastings, they were going to be able to buy a place and custom build a brewery in the future.Compare this situation with that of Houston's own: Saint Arnold's. How were they able to build a new brewery? Obviously not by tasting room sales of beer, but more than likely by their contract brewing agreement with BJ's Brew Pub. This contract has probably allowed Saint Arnold's a much higher in-flow of capital than would otherwise have been possible.
The second brewery we went to was brand new and very tiny: Asher Brewing Company
, Colorado's first all organic brewery. Another small brewery tucked into an industrial park, but when I say small, I mean teeny tiny! When you entered the door you came face to face with the bar, a small sitting room to the right, a few taps behind the bar, and then a door leading to the brewery itself. I asked the brewerr, who happened to also be manning the taps, if I could take a step back. I headed through the door. I saw a mash tun and a couple of fermenters among other things, and that was it. No bottling line or anything. I came back to the bar, and ordered a sampler of their beers - A wheat, IPA, DIPA, and Green Monstah (strong Ale). While I wasn't a huge fan of the wheat beer, the other 3 were very good. Extremely hop forward, with the Monstah having a wonderfully balanced maltiness. After ordering a pint of the DIPA, I took a seat at the bar and spoke with the brewer for a little bit. Currently they are keg only, but are using the proceeds from their tasting room and selling to local bars to purchase a bottling line (which they were going to be doing in short order). This brewery is only 3 months old, and already were able to see a huge benefit from their tasting room. While I was there, 5 or 6 people came in to sit at the bar and drink, and a couple of folks came in to fill some growlers to take home.
, Colorado's first all organic brewery. Another small brewery tucked into an industrial park, but when I say small, I mean teeny tiny! When you entered the door you came face to face with the bar, a small sitting room to the right, a few taps behind the bar, and then a door leading to the brewery itself. I asked the brewerr, who happened to also be manning the taps, if I could take a step back. I headed through the door. I saw a mash tun and a couple of fermenters among other things, and that was it. No bottling line or anything. I came back to the bar, and ordered a sampler of their beers - A wheat, IPA, DIPA, and Green Monstah (strong Ale). While I wasn't a huge fan of the wheat beer, the other 3 were very good. Extremely hop forward, with the Monstah having a wonderfully balanced maltiness. After ordering a pint of the DIPA, I took a seat at the bar and spoke with the brewer for a little bit. Currently they are keg only, but are using the proceeds from their tasting room and selling to local bars to purchase a bottling line (which they were going to be doing in short order). This brewery is only 3 months old, and already were able to see a huge benefit from their tasting room. While I was there, 5 or 6 people came in to sit at the bar and drink, and a couple of folks came in to fill some growlers to take home. Now compare this scenario with that of new upstart Austin Area brewery Jester King. These guys are making some killer beer, but to start their brewery up they had to raise tons of money. They couldn't rely on starting as small as Asher brewing and use things like a tasting room to build up funds.
So what simple things could Texas do to help our local breweries?
1) Allow breweries to operate like a bar. They don't have to serve food, but wouldn't it be great to stop by a brewery on the way home from work and have a couple of extremely fresh pints? If they wanted to, they could offer chips and nuts, but you don't need to do much more than that. Neither Avery or Asher did and I would say they were very successful in getting folks in for a pint now and again.
2) Allow breweries to sell their beer on site. Imagine being able to go to a tour of the brewery and pick up a six pack or bomber of special beer to go. This is something that has been in work for many years and hopefully this next attempt it will pass. Not only does this help the breweries, regardless of what you may hear, it doesn't hurt distributors for a couple of reasons: 1) The beer breweries sell is not at a discount. Just like wineries, they do not undersell their sellers. Ask CO, CA, or OR distributors and see if they have been hurt by breweries selling some beer on site. The answer is a resounding NO. 2) By not underselling their beers, the breweries are able to get a higher percentage of profit off of those beers, which increases profit margin.
3) Allow breweries to sell Growlers to go. This works similar to allowing them to sell six packs, but also allows a customer to get something that may be offered keg only. There are some breweries in Texas that are keg only, like Live Oak, that would benefit greatly from this for the same reasons as mentioned above.
By doing these thing's how does it help Texas? States that have a strong microbrewery culture also have a strong culture of beer tourism. By making it easier for craft breweries to succeed, you help the economy and tourism. For example, I can go to the Denver area and hire a Brewery guide that will take me to dozens of area breweries, allowing me to pick up some special beers along the way. The same goes for places like San Diego and Portland. Look at Austin! There are many area breweries and more (like Jester King) on the way. Imagine a beer bus type of touring van that took folks from out of state to local breweries, allowing them to buy some beers, take them back to their home state, and talk about how great Texas Beer is. This brings even more folks back into the state, starting the whole process over. Texas has done an outstanding job of supporting the wine industry, and wine tourism has brought a ton of money into this state. When the economy is hurting, and taxing things left and right isn't the answer, shouldn't the state stand by the craft brewer's and at the same time bringing more money to the state coffers?
Friday, April 23, 2010
Avery Black Tot
Boulder based brewing company Avery Brewing is widely known for producing outstanding beers. Not only do they have a solid line of beers available in six packs, but there big bottle series like the Reverend, Salvation, Hog Heaven, Czar, as well as their great beer they collaborated with Russian River on: Collaboration Not Litigation, are all top notch beers. In the last year they have developed a barrel aging program, releasing small batch beers, of differing styles aged in different types of barrels. Some of these barrels contained rum, zinfandel wine or whiskey. The first release of this series was the funky Brabant No 1, followed a few months afterward by Sui Generis. The next release was this ale dubbed the Black Tot, an Imperial Oatmeal stout aged in Giddings Rum casks (they've since released a 4th barrel aged beer).
The Beer: This one weighs in at 10.0% and pours a pitch black with a thick head of dense dark tan colored foam. The nose is of oats, molasses, chocolate, coffee, figs, and raisins. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, slightly thinner than expected. Notes of chocolate, coffee, espresso, some acidity at the finish. Vanilla, a light oakiness and some licorice notes. A very complex ale that starts to show some slight funky tanginess brought forth from residual bacteria growing the rum casks. This tanginess gives the beer a presence of sour cherries covered in dark chocolate. This is a wonderful beer, and might be my favorite of Avery's barrel aged line of brews. This one gets an A- from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.
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