More fun in OKC

As it turns out, Oklahoma City isn't the beer wasteland we thought when we first arrived. In fact, we've tried so many new beers since we've gotten here, we haven't had much time for our usual favorites(aside from the local Austin brews) like Sierra Nevada, Stone, and New Belgium. We've been trying things like Li'l Lucy's Hot Pepper Ale (refreshingly spicy with lots of pepper meat), Rodenbach Grand Cru (10/10), Roughtail IPA, Mmmhops(made by Hanson apparently...not sure why), Oasis Imperial ESB(strong and balanced- this one is a new favorite), as well as many more beers we've never seen before. Tonight we decided to review one local beer and one beer from the other side of the world. Craig Writes in grey. William writes in blue.

First, let's get to the local beer- the Black Hop India Black Ale from Dead Armadillo. 

Black Hop pours an opaque black color with a generous frothy head. Some brown can be seen through the light. The smell is fresh and grassy with some tropical citrus and piney hop notes. I feel like I can smell pink bubble gum and a hint of mango. The taste is sharp and bitter up front with some black coffee notes.  This beer is rich in roasted malt flavor as well as bitterness. The citrus of the hops is supported by the sweet caramel in the aftertaste to create a pleasant lingering taste that just  smacks of hops.  

Craig gives this beer a 'great' rating. 

It pours dark brown with a dirty head that lingers. Caramel in the nose, a lot like a barleywine 

and slight alcohol. The nose also features pleasant citrus (sweet like fruit juice). The taste starts with

hop bitterness and flows through into the caramel and other roasty tones (chocolate).

'Great' Black IPA, most of the malt is for color, but it reminds you it’s there.

Next, we get to talk about the beer from Belgium

Mikkeller Amarillo pours a hazy golden color with lots of sediment- clumps of it in fact. It smells fresh and hoppy with sweet caramel behind that. The taste is sweet caramel up front followed by a piney and fruity hops with a strong floral note. The malt is slightly buttery and well rounded. The beer drinks easy and is enjoyable. Overall a 'good' beer. Lots of juicy hops and balanced flavors. 

Fair warning, the word “apricot” is heavily used. It pours a hazy apricot color with a thick head that stays thick in the lacing. Sediment sits, neutrally buoyant in the midst of the golden orange hue. There is a distinct caramel and buttery barleywine aroma. The nose also gives us some sweet fruit and tangerine/apricot. The taste starts out with pine on  the sides of the tongue, fruits (pineapple and apricot), caramel maltiness. It finishes clean, just like an American-style IPA should.

I’ll give this beer a 'Apricot' (great) (not a lot of variety in overall opinion yet). I’ve always liked the idea of single hop beers, and this is a great way to get to know Amarillo hops. It may be a bit old, but even so the great interpretation of the American IPA style serves as a smooth and clean hop flavor.

Our rating scale is as follows:

terrible poor neutral good great

Adventures in Oklahoma City

Hello loyal readers. I've missed you. As many of you know Oklahoma has opened her rousing bosom to me and my friend/roommate/business partner/beer adventurer/level 3 lawful neutral dark wizard, William.  We were warmly welcomed but alas- beer is not as accessible here as it was in beautiful Tejas. Restrictive laws keep beer higher than 3.2% on the warm shelf at liquor stores. And any high alcohol beer is banned at gas stations. It becomes much harder to stop for a Sierra Nevada after a hard days work.

The good news is that there are more than enough beers at the liquor store for us to try. We’re going to start with some great local brews from RoughTail Brewing in Midwest City. That’s just a few miles south of Oklahoma City and close enough for a brewery tour(more to come).

Of the three brews sitting on the store shelf, we chose the American Strong Ale and the Stout. We left the IPA for next time and the stout had  a higher IBU than the IPA, so naturally we went with that. RoughTail Brewing comes in canned 16oz four packs for about 9 bucks. I'm impressed by the can designs. We start with the 12th Round Ale - a strong American style ale.

It pours very dark brown - almost black with a hint of red and a thin off white head. The smell is slightly buttery and rich with some caramel sweetness and a slight toffee note on the edges. There are also some apples and fruit notes in the smell as well as floral and herbal hops. The hops smell fresh and jump out of the glass into my nose. 

There is much of the same in the flavor. There are layers of caramel, piney biting hops, and soft alcohol. There is a sharp biting hoppiness with grassy and herbal tones.Overall this is a very drinkable ale and I'll probably be trying it again. 

Polar Night Stout pours a solid black with a creamy light brown head. Smell is of rich bitter chocolate and burnt marshmallow. 10 out of 10 for smell for Craig. Very hoppy bright leafy hops which come through strongly in the taste. The powerful hops lead well into dark berries with a chocolaty finish.

This brewery obviously likes hops and it comes across in their beer. They do it well creating distinctly American styles. The stout tastes more like a hoppy black ale to me (Black IPA or whatever you want to call it) which is a good thing.  This could be an everyday drinking beer.

Craig gives both beers a ‘great’ rating

Running blindly into the Oklahoma City brewery scene, it's lucky to land so softly on these two great beers. Prominent hoppiness pairs well with the high alcohol and the light but present maltiness.  Top rated of the two is Polar Night.  

William gives both a 'great' rating. 

Our rating scale is as follows:

terrible poor neutral good great

Beer

I haven't updated my blog for a long time, but I've still been drinking.

Boom Shaka Laka

Drinking a Sam Adams and watching the 97 NBA playoffs between the Bulls and the Jazz. Makes me think I'm playing NBA JAM on Super Nintendo.

Boom Shaka Laka!

More Texas Pepper!

I had the chance to try the No Label Don Jalapeno Ale last week when I was in Beaumont. If you've never heard of Major League Grill, it's one of the only places in Beaumont (in fact, it may be the ONLY place) with a variety of craft beers on tap.

Don Jalapeno has a strong smell of floral hops, followed by some malty caramel sweetness.Some jalapeno is apparent in the nose, but not overwhelmingly so. The taste is pleasantly spicy, with the heat levels on the low end. Nice balance of floral hops and pepper spice. The taste of the pepper meat comes through moreso than the spice. I like that the beer isn't all about pepper; it's more of a pale ale with just enough pepper highlights. This is a great beer! I just wish I could find it in Austin.



This beer is made with both fresh and roasted jalapenos and comes from No Label Brewing in Katy, Tx.

More Texas Beers at Whip-In (Fruit and Spice edition)

Pepper beers are one of my favorite styles. They come in a variety of flavor and spice levels, ranging from pleasantly warming to scorching hot. Fuego falls in the former camp. Just a kiss of jalapeno flavor makes this beer just right.

Twisted X's Fuego Pilsner is one of the more mild examples of the style. Slight floral and pepper notes in the nose. The taste is biscuity and crisp with a slight jalapeno note on the back end that doesn't linger very long. Overall a great contribution to the depth and range that is pepper beers. 

On the other hand, fruit beers are one of my least favorite style. Nothing ruins a good beer like dumping fruit or even worse - fruit flavoring - in an otherwise good beer. Ranger Creek did a really good job with this one.

Ranger Creek Strawberry Milk Stout is creamy and chocolatey. There is a bit of sweetness from the strawberries, but not an overwhelming amount. Made with locally sourced strawberries.   Ranger Creek proves itself with this beer. It's not overly fruity and it actually tastes more like a stout than anything else.

P.S. Sorry about the horribly blurry picture. I promise to do better next time.

Texas Beer Roundup

We had a few Texas beers on tap the other night at the Draughthouse.

Jester King's sour Boxer's Revenge is super tart and lemony. Green apples and something like black olives in the back. It's a strange descriptor, sure, but it's the only thing that accurately describes the strange taste on the back end. Jester King's farmhouse beers are always interesting. Very similar to New Belgium's La Folie.

Live Oak Schwarzbier is roasty, bready, and buttery with a slight hoppiness. Light bodied and easy to drink

Independence Brewluminati Easy Riser has a full, creamy mouthfeel. It's packed with roasted grain, coffee grounds, and bitter dark chocolate, and a little leather on the back end. Medium hop bitterness. Wow! what a great stout.

Austin Beerworks Golden Fist smells sweet and yeasty. Bready and lemony in the malt, the yeast takes the reigns with a spicy finish that lasts on the tongue for a while.


Hops and Grains Oak Aged Pale Dog smells slightly floral and hoppy. The taste is citruisy and assertively hoppy, but the wood is also apparent in the taste, making it slightly sour

Last but not least, Draughthouse's Gratzer Wit is a smoky, hoppy witbier. I've never had such a smoky witbier before. Very well done.




Thanks to Jason, John, and Nicholas for your input and to the Draughthouse Pub on 42 and Medical for Texas Pint Night.

Texas Big Beer

Beer in Southeast Texas? You must be talking about Budweiser.

Not quite.

If you've heard of Johnny Max, you know he's pioneering BIG beer in Texas. And why not? Any good Texan knows bigger is better, and this is certainly true of Texas Big Beer Brewery.



The wind is high and dusty as we make our way down a series of bumpy dirt roads in the middle of nowhere, Buna. The homestead is an unassuming, dusty lot with a pond in the back and a small metal building housing the brewery operation. Without the big red truck parked out front, you probably couldn't tell that this is a brewery at all.

Johnny Max and his beautiful wife, the Queen greet us warmly and start the day off right - by pouring us some beer.




Johnny pops a bottle of his Big Blonde for us to try. At 10.5%ABV it's remarkably easy to drink. The beer is brewed in the style of a Belgian Blonde, save for the use of a clean ale yeast, rather than the typical spicy Belgian style yeast. It works well for the beer. The hops are present in aroma and flavor, but not overwhelming. Well balanced and complex.

If it's one thing I admire about the Big Beer philosophy, it's not your typical 'the more hops the better' strategy. The Big Blonde comes out at only 28 IBU, which I think is the perfect amount for this style. You can always brew a big IPA later with as many IBUs as you want but this strategy shows skill and a certain level of constraint to make something so uniquely flavorful that even non-beer drinkers can love. Johnny says that a lot of wine drinkers enjoy the Big Blonde for just this reason. It has the sweetness and alcohol, but not the bitter hop bite.






The beers are big, but the operation is small.

The setup is simple. Small tanks line up in a row. The fermentor holds 8 barrels of Blonde Ale. The bottling line - well, the bottling line is unique. In fact, Johnny fabricated it himself.

To truly make it a homestead style brewery, Johnny tells us that he would like to use self sustaining techniques, bringing the process around full circle. From growing fermentables on the land and collecting honey from his colony of bees to the use of cold pond water to chill the wort, every small piece of this brewery will contribute to the whole.

There are more BIG beers in the works. For example, Cause Of Death, a 21% ABV ale. A homebrew originally brewed in 2004, all Johnny has to do is figure out how to brew such a big beer on a large scale.
A Wheatwine at 12.5% as well as some unique one-off beers are in the works as well. I can't wait to see what Big Beers Johnny comes up with next!




Brewery Tours every 1st & 3rd Saturday, from 1-3 pm.


Oh, and if you stop by the brewery, be sure to visit the Light Beer Processing Facility before you go:

The Brew Exchange

With over 100 beers on tap and a constantly fluctuating price list, The Brew Exchange is shaking things up on West 6th. In case you haven't heard of The Brew Exchange, beer prices work like the stock market. Beers that sell fast will go for a higher price, while the more neglected beers on the menu get a price drop.



You'd think that would get complicated, but not at all. It's fairly easy to see by the ticker which beers are going up and down in price. It makes choosing your next beer that much more interesting. The best part? We got some pints of Storm King for about five bucks each.

The bar is also fully stocked to fulfill all of your drinking needs.

Be sure to check out Market Crash Wednesdays. Beer prices are at their lowest all night long.

As they say here, "Buy Low and Drink Up!"

Cask beers at Black Star Co-Op

Mad Beetz, brewed by Black Star Co-Op is a beet and pepper infused ale. Comes out of the tap a bright reddish/purple color with very little foam. Pepper and some sweetness(I assume from the beets) in the nose. The Jabanero and Ancho peppers come through strong in the taste, almost overwhelmingly so. So hot it singes my tongue and throat on the way down. Truly a sensational beer. Reminds me of Mexican chile candies. I love pepper beers and this is definitely one of the best I've had.




The Jester King/Mikkeller collaboration known as 'Geek Rodeo' is made with chipotle peppers, coffee, oats, and brown sugar. The nose is strong with notes of chocolate, dark fruits, and pepper spice. The taste opens up more way for dark fruits and burnt coffee grounds. Some spice on the back end provides a lingering burn. Another delicious beer from Austin's own farmhouse brewer.

March 31 Tasting Recap

Wow! What a big tasting. Here's the full list:
Ellicottville Brewing Co White Winter
Ellicottville Brewing Co Blueberry Wheat
Ithaca Beer CoCasca Zilla Red Ale
Ithaca Beer Co Apricot Wheat
Southern Tier Brewing Co Eurotrash Pilz
Southern Tier Brewing Co Phin and Matt's Extraordinary Ale
Great Lakes Brewing Co Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
Great Lakes Brewing Co Burning River Pale Ale
Brooklyn Winter Ale
Goose Island Honker's Ale
Harpoon Celtic Irish Red
Saranac White IPA
Saranac Black Forest
Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan
O'Fallon Cherry Chocolate Beer
Schlafly Coffee Stout
Li'l Lucy's Hot Pepper Ale
O'Fallon Hemp Hop Rye
W'11 KGB
Yuengling Lager
Oskar Blues Deviant Dale's IPA
2010 Oskar Blues Ten Fidy
2011 Oskar Blues Ten Fidy
2011 Freetail La Muerta
Freetail Witticus
2008 Rogue Imperial Stout
Dogfish Head Aprihop
Indian Wells Lobo Bock
Abita Root Beer
Leffe Blonde
Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat
1997 Sam Adams Triple Bock
Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Imperial Stout
2011 Harpoon Leviathan Barleywine
Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro
Hennepin Saison
Sam Adams Chocolate Bock
2010 Fuller's Vintage Ale
Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Ale
Oskar Blues Deviant Dale
Austin Beerworks Black Thunder
Austin Beerworks Pearlsnap Pilsner
Homebrew Warp Speed Smoked Scottysh Ale brewed by James Machin



The Witticus and La Muerta were two of my favorites. Witticus was crisp and citrusy,spicy, and yeasty. The bottle boasts of it being a Super Saison. I would have to agree.
La Muerta was nice and thick with a strong presence of smoke and dark chocolate.

The Edmund Fitzgerald porter was delicious. Roasted grains and coffee were strong in both taste and smell. Fantastic porter.

We finally finished my bottle of 97 Triple Bock. As always, a confusing experience. Is it good? Is it bad? Maybe mankind will never know.



Li'l Lucy's Hot Pepper Ale was another crowd-pleaser. Crisp and bready on the front with a wash of spice at the end. This beer was probably my favorite of the night, simply because it's so well done. Most pepper beers are either terribly under- or overwhelming. This one does it just right.

Abita Root Beer even made an appearance. Not because it's an actual beer, but because Abita is also a craft brewery. The root beer was mediocre in case you were wondering.

There were a few fruit beers there - the Blueberry Wheat, Apricot Wheat, Cherry Chocolate, and Aprihop.
The Blueberry Wheat and Cherry Chocolate beer were a bit too fruity for me. Smells of paint and band-aids were attributed to the Cherry Chocolate. I wasn't a fan of either one.
The Aprihop was surprisingly good. I've stayed away from apricots because memories of elementary school lunches and rubbery apricots have been burned into my memory. But I digress from my point. The Aprihop was good. The Apricot Wheat, not so much.

The 08 Rogue Imperial Stout was delicious, though maybe a little past it's prime.


It's a shame I can't buy Saranac Black Forest, Great Lakes Burning River, and Southern Tier Eurotrash Pilz. All of these stood out against the rest.




Thanks to everybody who brought beer and food and joined us for a great time. See you guys next month!

Drink'in The Sunbelt with Jester King and Mikkeller

Notes from 3/17/11

Rusty the brewer weaves his hands together in an attempt to educate his audience on the life cycles of Brettanomyces. Listening intently, I take a whiff of my snifter of Boxer's Revenge Farmhouse. The 'Brett funk' is coming around. A lot more pronounced than at the Grand Opening in January. The sharp citrus notes have since faded, rounding the beer out quite nicely.


A strange mixture of saxophone, guitar and wailing drifts up from the stage below us, so I go down and check them out. My Boxer's is almost out, so I have a Drink'in the Sunbelt, a hoppy American style wheat collaboration with Mikkeller. Refreshingly crisp, the Amarillo hops stood out the most, though the bready and wheaty malts were easy to find as well.

Later we tour the brewery, taking specific interest in the stacks of whiskey and oak barrels everywhere. Among those spotted were George Dickel, Jack Daniels, Heaven Hill, and numerous French oak barrels.

We even got to see the Austin Zealots barrels, neatly adorned with a Viking helmet resembling a hop cone.

Good to be the King

Wow, so last Saturday was Jester King's grand opening. Situated on a little dirt road in the middle of nowhere in Bee Caves territory, Jester King's grand opening drew a ridiculous crowd, even burgeoning to the point where the roadway was becoming a hazard and local authorities had to step in and turn people away. Jester King's blog reports that the crowd might have reached 5,000 people.

The event was still small when I arrived at 1:00 to report to my assigned table to pour beers. Less than 100 people were there, some up the hill at the Beer Advocate tasting on the brewery patio.




(Left to right)
Struise Cuvee Delphine, Lost Abbey Judgement Day, Cascade the Vine, Rochefort 10, Pliny the Elder, New Glarus Belgian Red, Cantillon Gueuze, Cascade Bourbonic Plague, Westvleteren 12, Bell's Hopslam, Bourbon County Rare, Coton, Imperial Stout Trooper, Ivan The Terrible, Three Floyds Dreadnaught, Jackie O's Dark Apparition, The Bruery Loakal Red, New Glarus Rasberry Tart, COAST Event Horizon, Hoppin' Frog Bodacious Black and Tan, Southern Tier Choklat, Struise Black Albert '0', New Glarus Cherry Stout, Fantome Black Ghost.

Jester King used this opportunity to introduce their newest beer, Boxer's Revenge, a Farmhouse, or Saison style beer aged in french wine barrels. The taste is warm and bright with some fruitiness to it. Smells great, with a hint of hops. I'll admit to having a little buzz at the time I tasted this, so I'll have to give it a full review soon. I enjoyed it a lot, and it's a great addition to the already solid lineup.

Though there were kegs upon kegs lined up, it just wasn't enough for the thirsty crowd. The Boxer's Revenge was the first to kick at about 4, then the Wytchmaker bit the dust, and within another hour, the last of the Black Metal had been poured, and only Commercial Suicide was left. (The firkins of whiskey barrel Commercial Suicide finished somewhat early, too, but not before i had a couple of tastes.)

Having spilled beer all over my shoes and pants from the hysteria that was the beer line, I was relieved of my duties at about 5:30 when the next shift of volunteers filtered in. I grabbed my snifter and had a few delicious beers while walking the grounds and bullshitting around with the other BAs that I know. We took a little look around the brewery, then sobered up and drove home for a couple more beers.



Thanks again to Jester King for hosting this event, and everybody who came out. You're awesome! I hope to review all of your beers on this blog in the future.

January 15th Tasting Recap

Hello again, everybody! Another monthly tasting has come and gone, and has left many of us with hangovers which we may or may not regret (I don't regret mine, I had a great time!) The full lineup included:

Sam Adams Triple Bock 1997, Darkside Fermentation's Mark of the Yeast, Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve 6-10, Deschutes The Abyss 2010, Deschutes Hop Henge IPA, Stone Imperial Russian Stout 2009, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot 2008, Avery The Beast Grand Cru, Avery Mephistopholes Stout, Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA 2006 + World Wide Stout 2008 "Heaven and Hell", (512) Pecan Porter growler, Lemonade Joose, Brooklyn Local 1, Xingu Black Beer, New Belgium/Allagash Vrienden, A 3 year old hand-bottled bomber of Live Oak Hefeweizen , Anchor Liberty Ale, and Lagunitas Hop Stoopid.

Thanks especially to the homebrewers and chefs, included Ken's '09 Bourbon barrel Black Orlov RIS and a dry hopped barleywine, and Mark's Saison made with Orval dregs. We were also graced with some of John's delicious bread made with Well's Banana Bread Beer and muffins made with Newcastle Brown Ale




I'll start with my personal favorite- Sam Adams Triple Bock 1997. It comes in a small cobalt blue bottle with a cork. Surprisingly, the cork was still intact, which, from what I've heard, is what commonly ruins this beer- a crumbled, dissolved cork floating in the bottle. Lucky for us, this bottle was cellared properly. When I poured some out, a sort of scum was visible on the inside of the bottle that resembled coagulated blood. Not a good sign.



The Triple Bock poured a viscous black that coated the inside of the tasting glass with a layer of brown residue. "Look, I don't know what the hell this stuff is but it's worth trying once" I tell myself as I force myself to take a whiff. What else, but a chocolatey soy sauce smell. More soy than chocolate, though. Much more. First, I note my initial disgust with the soy sauce attack on my palate, but after forcing a few sips down my throat, I began to enjoy the raw sweet chocolatey thing happening below the Kikkoman. I still haven't made my mind up on the Triple Bock, but I still have half of the bottle left and plenty of tiny sips to help me decide.

Darkside Fermentation's Mark of the Yeast is always a favorite. This was the spiciest bottle I've had to date. Sweetness of raisins and sage abound. I'm not sure what yarrow, elderberries, or wormwood taste like, but i'm sure it's all in there, swimming in a sea of deliciousness.

The scavenger hunt for Deschutes The Abyss 2010 was fun, and probably worth the effort on the part of Jason, who drove through the rain to Bee Caves and back just to pick up two bottles. Bourbon booziness, dark roasty flavors, wood, dark licorice, leather, some chocolate and vanilla notes as well. If you didn't get to get any this week, chances are you missed your window. Only 70 cases hit Austin and they went fast. I've heard of some retailers holding back a case to open in a couple of weeks, so you might just get lucky and stumble upon some.






Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve 6 and 9 were my favorites of the lineup. I don't normally like pumpkin spice beers, but this one was great. It's a lot more mellow than when it was fresh, the spice compliments the beer rather than compete with it.

Deschutes Hop Henge IPA called itself an 'Experimental IPA', though I have no idea what that means. After a little research, I've found that Deschutes dry hops this in a barrel to give it extra strong aroma. It's not a bad IPA at all, but not nearly as strange or groundbreaking as the label would have me believe.

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA 2006 + World Wide Stout 2008 "Heaven and Hell" was very interesting, to say the least. Booziness-check. Bitterness-check. Roastiness-check. Somewhat confusing to the palate, and somewhat of a challenge, this is a black and tan to be reckoned with.

Lemonade Joose tasted like lemonade and alcohol. What else? Andrew chugged half the can and we poured the rest on the curb for our dead homies. That's about the only thing this stuff is good for-pouring on curbs.

The 3 year old hand-bottled bomber of Live Oak Hefeweizen was a unique and interesting treat, though to call it flavorful or 'good' would be a misrepresentation. There was nothing really horrible about it besides the fact that it's old and has lost everything that makes Live Oak Hefe magical. Steven liked it though, and he finished the whole bottle.


There were lots of new faces, which is always a good thing, as we try to build and grow our craft beer community through...what else? Drinking good beer. Thanks everyone for attending the tastings and for reading my silly beer blog. Until next month, drink beer, have fun, and drive safe! (And not necessarily in that order) See you next time!

November 27 Tasting Recap

What an EPIC tasting! So many beers, so little time...

Anchor Our Special Ale 2010, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale mini vertical 09/10, Estate Ale, 30th Anniversary Imperial Helles Bock, Real Ale Brewhouse Brown Ale, Rio Blanco Pale Ale, and Full Moon Pale Rye Ale, Deschutes The Abyss 09, Freetail La Muerta 10, Storm King 09 (with Amy's ice cream), Founders Backwoods Bastard and Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Brooklyn East India Pale Ale, New Holland Dragon's Milk, Dogfish Head Saison Du BUFF, Weyerbacher Riserva, Rogue Santa's Private Reserve Ale, Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve 10, New Belgium 2 Below and Ranger IPA, Lienenkugel's Honey Weiss, Darkside Fermentation Belgian Pale, Ska Brewing Euphoria Pale Ale, Ten FIDY, Orange Four LOKO, and homebrew- Stu's Blue Moon Clone, Ken's Imperial Stout and Northwestern Pale Ale, Britt's Belgian Blonde ale.



I'll start with the big stouts.

09 Abyss smelled and tasted like black licorice, smoke, and powerfully raw. The beer was slightly sour, but this only added to it, rather than detract from it. Alcohol is painfully present. feels super thick on the tongue. I enjoyed the remaining dregs in my coffee the next day.

La Muerta (bottle 155 of 450)was very good as well, thick and smoky with more chocolate than I expected. The smoothness of it all made it a star. Big, juicy flavors with a creamy feel. A very impressive Imperial Stout, and deserving of it's star status.

The Dragon's Milk was a real treat also- very smooth and subtle tastes of vanilla and oak.

Kentucky Breakfast Stout was kick-ass as usual. Though not altogether a rare beer, it's pretty hard to get here in Texas. We have to trade for the stuff, so when it comes through, it's a real treat. KBS is one of my favorite all-time beers for it's sheer force of flavor. It's got tons of booziness, bourbon, and roastiness.



The Sierra Nevada Celebration mini-vertical affirmed what I thought would be the only probable outcome. The beer did not get any better after a year. 09 felt more like a 'pretty good' malty pale ale than an excellent fresh IPA. Everything that makes this beer good was lost. Hop flavor and bitterness were nearly gone, muted, cardboardy, just...bleh. Everything you would think a year old IPA could be.

Weyerbacher Riserva 10 was almost painfully sour. Tart rasberry and a thick mouthfeel. Sour and sweet to the extreme. This is on the top of my 'to-get' list. There was a sticker on this year's release claiming it to be more tart than ever. I say, bring it on! Nothing hits the spot like a vinnegary, tart, rasberry ale.

Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve 10 is one of those few Texas beers that people go crazy for. Nearly every store had sold out of this stuff on the second day (or before) after the release. Andrew and I were lucky enough to find some at Whip-In, where we were limited to two bottles. Thanks Dipak! I know you catch a lot of flak for having a two bottle limit, but when something like the Divine Reserve comes out, people have been known to buy out a store's entire stock, usually by camping in the parking lot at every store in town and paying customers to buy for them. This type of behavior got really crazy last year when DR9 came out. The beer sold out in a day and its rarity was hyped up and trade value inflated ridiculously. It's really saddening that many Texans and Saint Arnold's fans didn't get to taste DR9 or DR10 because they were greedily snatched up and stuffed into dark corners for out-of-state trades. I could get preachy on the subject, as it's something I feel strongly about- a few jerks making it difficult for everyone else by inflating the value of a Texas local to the point that we have to fight for a sip...but I digress. DR10 is a wonderful beer. Brewer Brock Wagner told customers not to drink this beer for a year, but we just had to. It's a nice english barleywine, with lots of fruity notes, really boozy and not overwhelming with the hops. It's a good example of the style and I'm looking forward to opening our other bottle next year when DR11 comes out.

Year-old Storm King and Storm King Ice Cream made by Amy's in Austin was delicious. Both the beer and the ice cream are great on their own, but together it was a masterpiece. I've experimented with beer floats before, but this tops them all.


A few IPAs made it to the party- namely Brooklyn East India Pale Ale, New Belgium Ranger IPA, and Sierra Nevada Estate Homegrown Wet Hop Ale. Estate, of course, was overflowing with wet hop goodness. Clean, bitter, resinous- just about everything you would expect from the magic that is Sierra Nevada. Ranger and East IPA were great as well. Both are in my top favorite year-round beers. I love Brooklyn's version for it's subtle floral notes. Not agressive with the hops at all- very balanced and easy to drink. Ranger, on the other hand, is brimming with grapefruit and other citrus notes, and slightly more bitter than EIPA. MMMM Hops!

Another very special beer worth mentioning is the Belgian Pale 3 by Darkside Fermentation in San Marcos. I know I've blogged about this before, but I just can't get over how fantastic a small Central Texas brewer is able to capture the Belgian style so perfectly. Really, if you ever find yourself in San Marcos, pick up a bottle or 10- you won't be disappointed.


And finally, a very special beer, and, unfortunately, a retired one. This beer pours a beautiful amber/orange color with a thin head, smells and tastes of orange peels and... ass. What is this beer, you ask? Why it's Four LOKO! in Orange flavor no less. We poured this bad boy into a wine glass in order to preserve it's subtle nuances of flavor and smell. You don't want to overlook the complexities and craftsmanship of this beer. Truly, it's one of a kind. Some others may disagree with my score, but I would give it 4.5 bus stop skanks out of a possible 5 bus stop skanks. And that's saying something! So long, lovely Four LOKO. You will be missed.




There are a few brews I didn't mention specifically in this blog. Partially because there just isn't enough time to go through them one by one. (This tasting exploded with over 30 different beers) Partially because I want to spotlight some beers in future blogs. Soon, I'll be doing a 'Tour of Texas Beer' and giving full reviews on every Tejas beer I can get my hands on, including Real Ale's regular lineup- Brewhouse Brown Ale, Rio Blanco Pale Ale, and Full Moon Pale Rye Ale.

There were a few beers that night that I couldn't commit to memory. Yes, it was my own fault for being too drunk to remember, but hey-what can I say? Wouldn't you have done the same? I have this to say, however- Ska Brewing's Euphoria Pale Ale in the can- though I didn't get a big taste of it really wowed me. I want to get my hands on some more of this, but I've never seen it before. Same is true of the New Belgium 2 Below. ESB (extra special bitter) isn't my favorite style, but there's something bright and warm about the hops in this one.

Before I end this post, however, I want to thank especially the homebrewers that brought their own beers for our enjoyment- Stu, thanks for the Blue Moon clone. Ken, thanks for the growler of Northwestern Pale Ale and the barrel aged Russian Imperial. Britt, thanks for bringing the Belgian Blonde (my girlfriend really liked it). Until next month, friends, when I open a 13 year old Sam Adams Triple Bock and who knows what else- be safe on the road and remember to Drink Beer & Have Fun! See you guys next month!

October and November in beer years

October and November have been especially good for beer! For one, Jester King opened up big time with their beers Commercial Suicide (A whiskey barrel-aged dark mild at 3%ABV) and Wytchmaker Rye IPA (7% ABV). I got to taste both during Austin Beer Week at the Draughouse.














Though the Wytchmaker was a spectacular Rye IPA, it was the Commercial Suicide that really won me over. These guys are going to be doing great things for the Texas beer scene. Putting a mild beer in a whiskey barrel for aging is nearly unheard of, but it tasted excellent. From what I have heard, these guys are going to be doing all sorts of experimental brews with barrel aging and wild yeasts. I've even heard people at the pub saying they are going to be the next Russian River. We can only hope so. If any of Austin's up-and-coming breweries can put us on the proverbial 'beer map', (exclude Live Oak Hefe) then these are the guys to do it. I'll be keeping an eye on Jester King in the upcoming months and hopefully include them in an upcoming Texas Beers segment.

Besides the excitment of Jester King and La Muerta day, the October beer tasting was a success. Some of the highlights of this past month include a growler of Freetail Rye Wit, New Glarus Rasberry Tart, Darkside Fermentation Mark of the Yeast (Funky), Steel Reserve, 07 Storm King Stout, 09 Sam Adams Imperial Stout, Voodoo Brewing Black Magick Stout, North Coast's Brother Thelonious Belgian Abbey Ale, Sierra Nevada Black Barleywine, Real Ale Octoberfest, New Belgium Mothership Wit, a mini-vertical of 09/10 Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron, and my personal favorite: this year's Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale!

To start with the beer at the tastings, the Black Barleywine and Black Magick Stout were big hits. I'm glad I waited for a tasting to crack the Black Magick. The stuff poured like sludge and tasted like the blackest, roastiest, malt-bomb of a 15%ABV monster that it is. No way could I have finished that bottle in a sitting.There is no telling how old the bottle was, but considering the previous owner, I would have to put at between 3-6 years old. Highly recommended.

Putting the New Belgium Mothership Wit against Freetail Rye Wit in a side-by-side had some surprising results. Though I would prefer the Freetail Wit by a long shot, (freshness and the use of rye take it home for me) the Mothership held her own. Mothership was much sweeter and spicy, while the Rye Wit was dry and much of the flavor was attributed to the rye characteristics.

The 07 Storm King aged incredibly well, and at about 4 years, this is nearly perfect. There is not a hint of alcohol presence and it is very robust and smooth. The 09 Sam Adams Imperial Stout aged well also. Though I would have liked to let that one sit for a few more years. The 09/10 Palo Santo vertical was very surprising. It was like they were two different beers even after only a year. The 10 was boozy and harsh to the extreme, while the 09 was very gentle and smooth. Even the mouthfeel was much different. The woodiness seemed to come out more (probably because it's not fighting with the alcohol for attention). I think everybody there agreed that it's much better after a year.

The Steel Reserve 211 was especially nice. For this bad boy, we brought out a wine glass for sampling. Swill that it is, it really wasn't as horrible as I remember it to be. For the next month's tasting, I'll be picking up a Four LOKO, and if you don't know what that is, it's a malt-liquor with caffiene added. Clocking in at 11%ABV, it also contains as much caffiene as four cups of coffee. It's being banned by the FDA currently, so now's a good a time to try this fruit-flavored wretch of a beer.

I got the chance to share some beer and dinner with a couple of friends, Andrew and John, who were generous enough to show up with New Glarus Rasberry Tart, North Coast Brother Thelonious, and Darkside Fermentation Mark of the Yeast. Lucky for us all, John was able to snag a 'funky' bottle, whatever that meant. As it turns out, 'funky' meant delicous! The beer was sour and dark with lots of sweet licorice and dark fruits. One of the few Belgian style beers that I really like. Thelonious was great as well. Surprisingly my girlfriend (who hates beer) liked the Bro. Thelonious and loved the Rasberry Tart. She has since taken an interest in Lindeman's Framboise and similar beers. I think I may have a reason to buy more sour/wild ales.

And my very favorite for last: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale! My favorite time of the year is when I can go and buy as much of this stuff as I want. It's the perfect beer in my humble opinion. It's full of in-your-face citrus and pine needle hop flavor backed by a solid caramel background. There is an everlasting debate about whether or not to age Celebration. I've decided to test out whether there is any benefit to aging this beer. For the Nov 27 tasting, I'll be cracking an 09/10 mini-vertical. I'm sure the fresh version will be much better, but I thought this beer was excellent at 6 months also. I'll post the results soon.

And that concludes a couple months in beer-time. Hopefully December will find me coherent enough to blog about it, and if not, then that's okay too!

Dia De La Muerta and related excursions

Freetail brewpub held the release of La Muerta Imperial Stout on November 6. A few lucky Austinites were able to get the alloted 4 bottles apiece. This is their epic story.



John, Luke, and I arrived at about 9:00AM to find that the bottle share on the patio was already in full swing. Scott(the proprietor of Freetail) was on the patio to stick our numbered labels to our shirts. (I was number 39). In the freezing cold (alright, it wasn't THAT cold...but it's Texas) I shivered as I poured myself the first few samples of the day. There were tons of beer that I had never tried before and many that I have, including: Bell's Batch 9000, Surly Furious, Wet, and Darkness, Chocolate Yeti, Oak-Aged IPA, Weyerbacher Insanity and Heresy, Samurai IPA, New Glarus Belgian Red, New Glarus Pilsner, 09 and 10 Palo Santo Marron, a growler of Real Ale Coffee Porter, Cuvee Delphine, Pliny the Elder, Founder's Backwoods Bastard, Divine Reserve 09 and 10, Hoppin' Frog B.O.R.I.S., World Wide Stout, some great homebrew including a wee heavy, an irish red, and a milk stout, and one of my personal favorites: Duchesse De Bourgogne and many others that I have a hard time remembering for obvious reasons.






Scott and his crew were especially helpful, bringing out pitchers of their Cherry Ananke, Ate, and Dubl Octoberfiesta for everyone. Thanks especially for the bottles of 09 La Muerta and 09 Barrel Aged La Muerta. the BA version was sour as hell and delicious!

At 11:30 it had begun to warm up a little. We all lined up in numbered order to recieve our allotment of beer. Everybody in my group got the 4 beers and we carried the case proudly to the car where we took pictures and reveled in our own awesomeness.

The party was dying down, and patrons were ordering food inside, or otherwise heading back to Dallas, Houston, Austin, and every other corner of Tejas. Yea, there were a good number of people from San Antonio but I was amazed at the folks that woke up at 6AM or earlier to drive in from around the state. Kudos to you!


I helped myself to the half or mostly-empty bottles still on the table, while I listened to Scott and Silas (brewer of Darkside Fermentation) chat about labels, beer, and general brewer comraderie ensued. Somehow we agreed to visit Darkside in San Marcos at 5, I'm not really sure how as I was busy stumbling around the patio mumbling at the other patrons.

Next stop was the Ranger Creek Brewery and Distillery, where we got to walk among the equipment, watch a demonstration of brewing beer, and got to try the
Oatmeal Pale Ale, which was pretty damn good.
















We left San Antonio and headed for San Marcos for The Root Cellar/Darkside Fermentation, where brewer Silas played excellent host and popped bottle after bottle of his old, new, and experimental brews including the Pale 2, the Pale 3, Mark of the Yeast Quad, Lambic, Dubbel, and Tripel. Good times were had by all and our group wiped out Silas' stock. We even got a few unreleased beers. Many of these will be shipped elsewhere in the country, namely California and Florida.


We ended the night with some Jester King Commercial Suicide and Draugthouse's Malt Ball. Luke got a growler of Live Oak Hefe and we called it a night.


Overall I think everyone at Freetail, Ranger Creek, and Root Cellar had a great time enjoying Texas beer. Thanks especially to Scott, Silas, Nathan from Ranger Creek, and John and Luke for the great time! I hope to see you all again next year!