Saint Arnold's Divine Reserver #6

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

Texas Beer Culture

I know I know, two posts in one day. This one is a quick one. Its a topic that I want to write a much longer post on, but in the meantime to whet your appetite, head over to Beer Advocate where there is a good discussion going on whether or not Texas can support a beer culture. (a hint on where I stand, not only can we support one, we ARE, and its growing every day). More to come from me in a much longer post. If you have your own thoughts on our great states Beer culture, feel free to comment below.

Its ok to be bitter

This week I was pleased to see a beer article in the esteemed New York Times. The NYT wine writer/guru Eric Asimov wrote a rather well written expose on Bitter. Bitter is a British term for their 'ordinary' beer. This is not high alcohol, high hop, or even high flavor beer. These are session beers that can be consumed in the midst of conversation. Full of flavor but balanced, these are not extravagant beers, but beers to drink by the pool on a hot Texas day. As with wine, when summer comes we may start to turn away from the big bold beers (or deep dark red's) and turn to more gentle fare such as a bitter (or white or rose wine). One can not live by Extreme beer alone.
The article is a good summation of what is a bitter (even going so far as to take the reader briefly through the difference between cask bitter and bottled).
The rest of the article was the rating of the 25 bitters the panel tasted. The panel consisted of Mr. Asimov, Florence Fabricant, owner of Bierkraft Richard Scholz and Alex Hall who runs the website gotham-imbiber.com. Unfortunately for you and I we can't get all of their top 10 here in Houston. The good news we can partake in their top rated Bitter: Left Hand Sawtooth Ale that's available at Spec's, Central Market, and Whole Foods. Other beers that we can get our hands on in the area include: Fuller’s London Pride (#3), Black Sheep Ale (#4), Fuller's ESB(#5), Morland Old Speckled Hen (#6) Greene King Abbot Ale (#7),.
Good info to have when you're looking for a good tasty beer on a hot Texas day.

Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale

First off hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. I know I did, it was the first real get together my wife and I have had since we moved into our new house. Fun times were had. This is a sad post for me, my last Oskar Blues beer to post on (at least until I get some Ten-Fiddy). But as with the others I've tasted this one is in a can, which is not only good for the beer, its good for the pool patio, no broken glass here. This one is OB's flagship and noted for being the first hand-canned craft beer per their website. Since this beer showed up in our fair market it has quickly become my go to everyday non Saint Arnold's beer. I know that's a mouthful, but the point is its a great every day beer.
The Beer: Beer weighs in at 6.5% with 65 IBU's. It pours a bright orangish amber with a quarter inch head. The nose is full of grapefruit, pale toasted malts, other citrus notes. The mouth is smooth and crisp, great effervescence, hoppy, grapefruity even some orange and apricot notes.. However the mouth has some good balance to it, as hoppy as it can be there are some good bready pale malt notes as well. Its almost a IPA and not a traditional (think Sierra Nevada Pale ale) pale ale. Very good, this one gets a straight up B+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA have to say.

Beer News

A couple of quick Beer related news notes on this beautiful Houston Friday afternoon.
- First off an article from MSNBC on yet another Beer Merger. This one's big time folks. In news that could change the global economics of beer, Belgian SUPER Brewery INBEV may be bidding of American Super Brewery Anheuser Busch. If those two giants merge, you have one huge corporation with wide ranging imports, distribution resources, etc. Using A-B's distribution could INBEV's beers edge out some local micro-brewery's at the local supermarket? Bet on it.

- Secondly, I've been talking about Colorado Brewery Oskar Blues lately, so this news is rather timely. Colorado's only Whiskey Distillery Stranahans has contracted Oskar Blues to make their mash. You may remember that Stranahans is owned by Mr. Stranahan who owns Flying Dog, formerly of CO, however when Flying Dog left for Maryland recently Stranahans whiskey was left without someone to make their mash for them. They had always wanted to continue to use a local craft brewery and it looks like they've found a good one. What does Oskar Blues get out of the deal (besides money of course)? They get to use Stranahans used Whiskey barrels, leading me to ask the obvious question. Could a Barrel aged can beer be to far away?

Oskar Blues Gordon Ale

Another beer, another can. I guess I'm on a roll of late, but I'm just getting a big kick out of all the great beer that has come to Texas of late packaged in cans. Its a good trend. Speaking of new beer, there is lots coming to our fair state in the next few months. As the new beers arrive you'll see me posting on them as quickly as I can. Oskar Blues has three mainstay beers, and all of them have arrived in Texas. Old Chub which I tried last week, Dales Pale Ale, and this one Gordon's ale, named after Gordon Knight a Vietnam Vet who lost his life fighting a wild fire in Lyons, CO home of Oskar Blues. Oskar Blues website calls this one a strong ale, a mix between an Imperial Red and a double IPA. Sounds tasty.
The Beer: The beer pours a reddish brown with a thin taupe colored head and weighs in at 8.7%. Big hops on the nose, scratch that, HUGE hops on the nose. Grapefruit and piney. The mouth has great carbonation which I think helps bring down the hop intensity as its not nearly as big as I feared. Citrusy and piney with notes of apricots and pale malts. Not a lot of alcohol flavor but the finish does have some nice hop filled resin notes. Great lacing along the glass. Overall this is a strong showing from OB, this one gets a B+ from me, here's what the folks at BA think.

Newsweek Article on Beer

While perusing MSNBC.com I came across a pretty good article on craft beer from Newsweek. The first part of the article covers the amazing growth of craft beer, highlighting the quick rise and fall of the 90's to the re-emergence that we are seeing currently. However the main part of the article focuses on a very informative interview with Charlie Papazian. Some really good points on what Mr. Papazian and company are doing in D.C. working with The Small Brewers Caucus in helping change laws and tax codes. Recommended reading for sure.

Oskar Blues Old Chub

Well, I guess I must be hitting on a theme, two canned beers in one week. Oskar Blues is new to the Texas market, but I actually made it to their brewery not to long ago and found their beers to be extremely good. The package of course is canned which as I've mentioned before, I really appreciate and am glad that more craft breweries are doing it. Not only does Oskar Blues can all their beer, they were the first craft brewery to do so back in 2002. Not bad.
The Beer: This one is a Scottish Style beer along the lines of a Wee Heavy weighing in at 8.0%. The beer pours a very dark brown almost black topped with a creamy cappuccino colored head. The nose has notes of raisins, coffee, and toffee. The mouth is chewy, smooth. Rich roasted malt flavors abound, little hop flavor here. Chocolately, esspresso. Very nice and silky smooth. Another canned beer, another A- from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

Southern Star Pine Belt Pale Ale

YES! Finally the time has arrived. Texas's newest brewery Southern Star out of Conroe has released it's first beer. If you've read this blog much you know we've followed them since day one, and I've been extremely excited to try their beers. Before I get into the tasting a bit more on the package. The beer is packaged in cans, but not just any cans mind you, but Big Boy cans (for a visual think of the big Young's Double Chocolate Stout can's). I really really love the packaging (even if the primary color is Aggie Maroon, not that I'm from UT or any Texas school for that matter). I like the alternative packaging, getting away from bottles helps keep away oxygen or anything else that could damage the goodness that is beer. Plus its great to take down the Guadeloupe River. OK enough on the packaging, how did it taste?
The Beer: Pouring the beer out of the can into a snifter glass it comes out an orangish amber with a frothy thick off-white colored head. The nose is hoppy, piney, and grapefruity with some toasted bready pale malty flavor. The taste is surprisingly refreshing, notes of hops, but not as strong as I would have thought from the nose. Very balanced, with understated yet extremely flavorful hops. Nice resin-y finish, full of citrus and piney notes living up to its name. Smooth, very nice, this one gets an A- from me. Great job on their first beer, can't wait to try more. The folks over at BA seem to like it too!

The Session #15 Announcement

Its that time of the month, fresh off the roundup of the latest Session, comes the announcement for The Session # 15. For the uninitiated, The Session is a monthly virtual beer tasting event. The event is hosted each month by a different blogger, and each with its own theme. This month's session is hosted by Geistbear Brewing Blog, the theme is Beer Festivals. From the blog announcement:

As Summer approaches we are in full swing of beer festival season, so it seemed the perfect topic for the June Session. Do you have a favorite beer festival you like to attend or a particular memory of inspirational moment at a festival? Or perhaps talk about what you would like to see out of festivals or perhaps the future of them. All is fair game, I look forward to seeing where people take this topic.

In all honesty (and I'm sure I may upset some Session goers here) I'm not so thrilled by this month's session. Not everyone has an opportunity to go to a beer festival. Around here, there aren't any festivals that I've had a chance to attend. There is one or two out Austin way, but that means taking a weekend off to go which I can't always do. Now I've been to the Mecca of Beer Festivals here in the US, Great American Beer Festival, but I've already written about that, so I won't do a retread.
Just a bit of a rant here, but after weeks of non-beer themed sessions, I was hoping for something leaning more towards a specific style (Summer session ale perhaps?) that would give everyone an opportunity to participate in. Oh well, maybe next month. As for what I'll post on this month (if I do), it will probably relate to the latter portion of his post what I would like to see out of a festival.
The due date for this month's session is D-Day, June 6th, so come back and check it out. Even if I may not be excited I know that there will be plenty of good posts.

The Session # 15 Roundup

Well another Session that I didn't have a chance to participate in has passed by. This time the monthly event was hosted by the folks at Boak and Bailey. The theme was a fun one: How did you get into craft beer. This was one I was really looking forward to writing on, however due to my work schedule at the end of last week I was unable to. Ok ok enough with the excuses. Go check out the round up of all the posts for this session, and stay tuned for the announcement of next month's event.

What is local?

Today provides a relatively short post, whose main purpose is to point you in the direction of another blog. News broke over the last couple of days that Pyramid Brewing out of Seattle and Magic Hat Brewing out of Vermont are merging. This will allow Pyramid to be brewed on the east coast, and Magic Hat to be brewed on the west coast (hopefully with some coming down this way). This creates an efficient system where both brewery's expand their distribution, without having to necessarily ship all of their beer from coast to coast. However with this merger brings forth a good question that Stan over at Appellation Beer is asking: Does this make Magic Hat a local beer on the west coast? In other words what's the definition of a local beer? Can I call Budweiser a local beer because it may have been brewed on the east side of Houston? What about going to my local BJ's Brewery? Where does the line get drawn? Check out the post at Appellation beer and the responses it's creating.

How Did I miss this?

After a longer than expected hiatus I wrote a long post yesterday, one of the subjects was the recent representation of Texas Breweries at the World Beer Cup. Well I missed a winner! The great Covey Restaurant in Ft. Worth won a GOLD medal in the Vienna Lager Style category. Congrats to them. They also got a very nice write up in the Ft. Worth Business Journal. I really enjoy what Mr. Fulton is doing up there, and I know I've said it a thousand times, but why the heck can't Houston get a good brew pub?

Yes I'm Back

and no I am not dead.....I know its been a while, much longer than I originally planned between my last post and now. Blame it on buying a new house, blame it on weird work schedules, or blame it on getting a bit burned out with tasting and posting on the blog. Whatever you wanna call it, I'm back, refreshed, and better than ever.
With that intro over and done with there is SOOOO Much news to talk about. This one is going to be a rapid fire post filled with as much newsy bits on beer as I can remember.

- Texas beers kicked some arse at the World Beer Cup: Saint Arnold's wins a GOLD for their wonderful Divine Reserve 4 a Wee Heavy Scotch ale, and a Silver for their Elissa IPA. Our friends up North, Rahr Brewery in Ft. Worth wins a Bronze for Bucking Bock Spring seasonal. Way to go guys.

- Speaking of Divine Reserve Saint Arnold's has announced that Divine Reserve 6 will be a Hoppy American Barley Wine. They are brewing it now to be released in June. Can't wait.

- Over on the Beer Advocate website you can hear all about the new great beers that are coming to Texas - Oskar Blues Dales Pale Ale and Old Chub, Deschuttes, more of the XS beers from Rogue, Anderson Valley, Green Flash, and many more. Its an exciting time for Texas Craft Beer lovers, as I can't remember this many new great beers coming in at once.

- Texas's newest craft brewery Southern Star is open for business. They hosted their open house which from all reports was excellent. Their beer should be at local Spec's this week! Can't wait to pick up a six pack!

- Lastly some Session news. I can't believe I haven't had a chance to participate in this great event the last couple of months. I'm a huge proponent of it and I've been with it since the beginning and will continue to promote it as much as I can. With that here is the Session # 14 round up, and over here is the announcement for The Session # 15 hosted by Boak and Bailey, the theme is 'How did it start for you?'

Before I close this post, check out over to the right, as I've added some additional beer links. I'll be back later this week for more beer news.

Collaboration NOT Litigation

I'm a pretty big fan of Avery Beers, and I wish I could have a taste of a Russian River Beer, but this will have to do. What's become a yearly release this beer combines both Avery's beer called Salvation as well as Russian Rivers beer of the same name. Last year's was pretty dang good so I was excited to see it on the shelves of my Central Market.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 8.72% and pours a hazelnut brown with just a little taupe colored head. Very cloudy. Fruity, yeasty, white fruits, peaches, apricots. Low hop profile, sweet malty flavors in the mouth. Very much a Belgian as are their two namesakes. Some strong alcohol notes, but they actually add to the flavor not detract.. White grapes explode on the tongue. Really this is just an amazing beer, so much flavors and so many layers, I just can't place it all. Great Beer, this one gets an A+!

Updates on Southern Star

After two weeks of a hellish work schedule I'm going to try and get back to a more regular posting schedule. My first write up is with Texas's newest brewery, Southern Star. Based out of Conroe, they have already announced their first beer, Pine Belt Pale Ale, served in can's no less, something I'm a big fan of. Well, they've announced a Grand Opening Open House. The even will be on April 5th where there will be plenty of refreshments. Their Pale Ale is about ready to go out to the world and they have a yet unnamed Dortmunder Lager brewing as well. So if you're free on the 5th head up Conroe way and support our newest brewery.

The Session #14

My three hundredth post! Appropriately its going to be on the Session, the monthly virtual beer tasting with a different host and different theme every month. This months host is Stonch, a great beer blogger from across the pond. The theme this month is pretty interesting: Beer People. Write about people or as Stonch puts it:

That person might be a brewer, a publican, someone who sups at your local, or maybe just a friend who is passionate about beer. Let's read some pen portraits of your companions on the path to fermented enlightenment.

Date of the 14th Session will be April 4th. I think this is a pretty fun one as good beers are good beers, but when they're with your friends, or drank over discussions with brewers or publicans they can be come great.

Left Hand Widdershins Barley Wine

Well its that time of the year, March has started and Spring is around the corner. It means it time to turn our backs on our favorite Winter Beers and start to look forward to the rich malty beers of Spring Bock's. But before we do that, its one last look at winter beers and one of my favorite styles, Barley Wine.
The Beer: This version from Colorado's Left Hand is aged 50% in Oak. The beer pours a bright amber with plenty of lacing and low carbonation. The nose is of oak, orange, vanilla, malt. The mouth is oaky, woody, dry, fruity and rich thick roasted malts. Maybe a little cardamon. Initially the hop profile is very subtle, but the aftertaste has strong earthy, grass, stoney hop flavors. Very nice with some pretty good depth of flavor that comes in waves. Thoroughly enjoyable and something I'll definetely be looking forward to next season. This one gets a B+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.

The Session #13 Organic Beer

Yes its the first Friday of the month, that means its time for the monthly virtual tasting that we've all come to know and love. This month the Session is hosted by Chris O'Brien of the Beer Activist and the focus is on Organic Beer. It seems the new "it" words these days are Organic or all things 'Green'. But with those words one must ask what they really mean. Is organic just the growing of plants, vegetables, and even animals without antibiotics, chemicals or for that matter anything artificial? Or is it something more? Can a massive corporate entity plant a few hundred acres of 'organic' greens, growing them so close together and with no rotation of crops, thereby destroying the soil, be called organic? To me the terms organic and green should be mutual terms. To be organic shouldn't just mean not using chemicals, it should mean trying to be sustainable, helping and nurturing the surrounding environment. Doing as little harm to the earth as possible. In fact using the earth to help cultivate your crops or animals, not damaging it in the process of growing ones food.
The unfortunate issue as a beer drinker is that Organic beers are few and far between. This is not due to brewers not wanting these organic products. In fact I'm sure if you asked most would want all organic products. However for anyone that's visited a Whole Foods, you know that organic isn't always cheap. Therefore the problem is that its difficult to find a large supply of organic hops and malts for a beer. Mostly what you'll find is Organic barley, however Organic hops farming is starting to make some in roads. To put craft beer into my definition of what Organic should mean is to touch on the subject of those brewers sustaining in some way. Whether its on a larger scale like New Belgium who uses wind power to power their operations thereby limiting their carbon foot print, or to a lesser scale to those many brewers that give their used barley to local cattle farmers, thereby limiting waste, craft brewers tend to care deeply about their environment.
So the question that I'm finally getting around to, is what beer to choose for this weeks Session on Organic beers. Well I headed to that holy land of all things Organic, my local Whole Foods and selected a beer brewed specifically for the market. The beer comes from North Coast and is their Plowshare Stout.
The Beer: The beer is made with organic malts, but I'm assuming conventionally grown hops. This is an Irish style stout and weighs in at 5.7%. The beer pours a dark brown with a cafe colored head. Smells of strongly roasted malts, chocolate, cocoa, coffee. The mouth is sweet malts, coffee, espresso, a little of a burnt taste, and also a little watery. The mouth is not as strong as the nose, a little thin. A very tasty beer even if its not as robust as i would like. Easy drinking, highly quaffable. Good stuff, if nothing to necessarily write home about. This one gets a B from me. What do the folks at BA have to say?
Now that about wraps up my post for this months session, so head over to Chris's Blog and checkout his wrap up.

Tommyknocker Imperial Nut Brown Ale

As I've mentioned many times in the past, my wife is from Denver so I get ample opportunity to make my way to that haven of great beer and tour many of its breweries. One of the first I toured years ago while we were still dating was up in a tiny mountain town named Idaho Springs. There I was introduced to the local brewery pub Tommyknocker's. The beer alas was good, but not great. Fairly inconsistent in my opinion, and also lacking in flavor. They were all ok, but nothing that I would go out of my way for. Well last time I was in Denver, we actually went back to Tommyknockers, and in going through some of their beers, I was able to taste their Imperial Nut Brown, a souped up version of their Maple nut brown (made with real maple syrup). It was fantastic, so months later I was extremely excited to see it at my local Central Market. Let's see how it held up.
The Beer: The beer is actually a 10th anniversary ale and weighs in at 9.8% alcohol. Made with Chocolate and crystal malts and a blend of American and European hops. The beer pours a very rich dark brown with a taupe cafe colored head. The nose is malty and raisiny with a bit of roasted malt notes. The mouth is rich, maple sugar, raisins, chocolate, creamy. Put it all together and it's reminiscent of pancake batter with hints of nutmeg. Very smooth over all, if a bit sweet. Only slight hints of alcohol. This would be a great dessert beer, the biggest negative is what you would expect. Its almost cloyingly sweet which would prohibit one from drinking multiple pints. Overall I think its one of their better beers, and I'd give it a B. Here's what the folks at BA had to say.