Saint Arnold DR #10 - November 2

Mark yr calenders. Crocker's got the details son.

3rd Annual Dig Pub “Monster” Homebrew Competition

You brew? I don't. I drink. But if you brew, you should enter this. November 6th. Details here.

Dogfish Head Theobroma

Apparently we are getting Theobroma this year. Sounds good. I really enjoyed this beer last time I had it.

Redneck Brewer's Picnic - Menu

Still happening September 12. And this is what they are serving:

Hand passed App: Beer Battered lil' smokie corn dogs with "Big Red" Mustard. Beer pairing: Bottle Rocket Lager

Platted App: Braised Shortrib turnovers with Chicken Fried Bacon. Beer pairing: Triumph ESB

Salad: Frog-leg Chopped Salad with Peppercorn Ranch. Beer pairing: Bride of Zombie

Entree: Country Fried Steak, "beanie weenie" and garlic mash taters. Beer pairing: Woodeye Rye IPA

Dessert: Chocolate Peanut Butter pie with vanilla ice cream. Beer pairing: Insomniac Coffee Stout

Pilsner Cask Tonight

Be there at 7pm.

Breath of Fresh Air

I don't want to sound like a dick, but reading beer reviews is usually very dry. I am not often attracted to beer review blogs. That is what BA and RB are for, they are much easier to navigate, read, search, etc. But every once in awhile, a long long while, someone will surprise me. As is the case with Pints and Panels. Just go to the blog, you will understand.

Twisted X Brewing Co. - New beer

New label looks good. Bring on the beer.

New Stuff, at Whip In at Least

http://www.whipin.com/beer.html



Triticus. Baleywine? Wheatwine? Speaking of Harpoon, have you watched MLP #22 with Harpoon owner/founder Rich Doyle?



Had it once, want it again. And again. and a . . .you know.



Never had it. Want it.



I really like this on draught. Gonna definitely pick up a sixer. Best part, my wife does not like it. ALL MINE!

Remember: (512) 2nd ANNIVERSARY OPEN HOUSE

See you this weekend? I am gonna try to swing by for the festivities, if we are not too busy with chores and dips in the "agua" which my 15 month old is obsessed with now. I have not had the (512) Two yet, but many people have. Mostly good things have been said, so obviously I am looking forward to my first pint of the stuff.

Testing Batches at Ranger Creek

As I mentioned earlier, Ranger Creek has started brewing. If you are not following their progress on Twitter or Facebook, you may not have seen that their power was knocked out during a storm, which ruined their first batch of South Texas Lager. Bummer. But they made a new batch and it is in the fermenters. And today they are brewing Mesquite Smoked Porter.

Fried Beer, ok

Could be coming to the 2010 Texas State Fair:

Fried Beer™ - Beer-filled pretzel pocket is deep-fried to a golden brown. One bite and the escaping beer serves as a dipping sauce. 21 and over, ID required.

h/t: Travis Poling

Chuck Silva of Green Flash MLP

Good beers and good dudes. Watch Chuck's My Last Pint. Shot during Flying Saucer's Hop Fest.

Ranger Creek is Brewing

It's on. I think this calls for a beer.

Black Star Coop Receives Equipment

More photos here. Closer and closer. Maybe I should join now . . .

Weedwacker Approved

Had our first pints of Saint Arnold's Weedwacker. We had them over a late lingering lunch at Zax this weekend. SA's first Movable Yeast beer is a success. I really enjoyed it. I love hefeweizen's and this hefeweizenized kolsch fits the bill. This is what some other nerds think.

Sam Adams/Lake Creek Alamo Drafthouse Dinner

Unfortunately I did not make it out to the dinner. But lucky for you my dear readers, Sarah Spradling stood in for me. And no Josh, this did not count as a "date." You still owe her one. Thanks Sarah, take it away:

Settled into my seat inside the Alamo Drafthouse theater. The tasting began with a cold bottle of Sam Adams Light and some old school beer commercials on the big screen to get everyone in the mood.

Servers came around with more beer all too quickly…mmm, now to the good stuff. Samplers of the Boston Lager and Stony Brook Red accompanied the first course, a smoked sardine with a baby arugula salad and American Kriek vinaigrette. I only picked at my sardine (ick!), but I found the Lager was the better of the beers to compliment the saltiness of the fish and spiciness of the arugula. I am in no way dissing the Red…it was awesome on its own. Deliciously fruity and sour, yum.

Bam! Two more samplers in front of me to accompany the wurst and cheese plate…I could not keep up—so much beer. This time the Octoberfest and Double Bock. I found that the Red (I still had some left) was great with the cave-aged gruyere and white cheddar that was part of the second course. I saved the Octoberfest to go with the wurst, and sipped on the Bock like it was dessert.

Next up were the New World Tripel and Cream Stout. I was running out of space at the table, geez. The third course was pork belly, squash and super-delicious Double Bock mashed potatoes.

Alright, time for dessert. The summer berry pudding with stout cream was served with Imperial Stout and the American Kriek. Cleaned my plate and savored the cherry-goodness of the Kriek.

The Alamo entertained us with some Drunk History when brewmaster Bob wasn’t chatting to us about beer and answering questions. This really opened my eyes to all the craft-beer-goodness Sam Adams has to offer, just wish we could more easily get our hands on it down here. It was a fun time with delicious food.

Firkin Friday @ Draught House

Real Ale Lost Gold IPA. Remember, they open today at 1pm.

NXNW 11th Birthday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 20, 2010

BREAST CANCER RESOURCE CENTER TO BENEFIT FROM NXNW CELEBRATION!

Restaurant and microbrewery celebrates with local music and fire dancers, all for a good cause

WHO: North by Northwest Restaurant and Brewery (NXNW) Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas

WHAT: NXNW’s 11th birthday is right around the corner on September 5th, and they are ready to celebrate with an evening of local music, NXNW-crafted brews and fire dancers, all for a good cause!

NXNW is encouraging guests to donate $5 at the door to enjoy the evening’s festivities. Some of Austin’s most popular musical acts will be part of the entertainment line-up. Schedule of events: (Note: In honor of 11 wonderful years, expect something special at eleven past every hour!)

• 5:11 p.m. – Opening act Stephen Doster, Bill Carter and Will Sexton
• 6:11 p.m. – Jeremy Steding
• 7:11 p.m. – cask tapping of anniversary brew
• 7:30 p.m. – headliner Red Volkaert
• 9:30 p.m. – local fire dancers, Elemental Uprising

NXNW brewers Don Thompson and Kevin Roark will tap a cask of specially made German Pilsner anniversary beer to commemorate the occasion, and, of course, what’s a birthday celebration without cake? Pastry Chef Emily Tipps will prepare a not-to-be-missed anniversary dessert that is sure to delight guests’ taste buds. Nate the Great Balloon Artist will also be a part of the evening’s festivities!

WHEN: Sunday, September 5, 2010

Austin Beer Week

Shame on me for not knowing about this sooner. Thanks to Steve for kindly pointing this out.

Stay tuned here and here.

Divine Reserve 10 Time

Divine Reserve is being brewed tomorrow. Start lining up now.

Hop Fest Day 2

Tuesday was Green Flash night at the Saucer. Look at that West Coast IPA. It was terrific. And the cask of Imperial IPA, forggggeettt about it.

(512) 2nd ANNIVERSARY OPEN HOUSE

(512) Two is set to be released on the thirsty Austin scene. A double IPA just in time for the end of Summer.

Details here.

Hop Fest Day 1

The fam and I hit up Saucer last night. Rich Doyle was there from Harpoon. Nice guy. I was able to shoot a MLP with him, so look for that later. Harpoon/Saucer put on a free tasting. Three samples and some tasty snacks to accompany the beers. Not bad for free, not bad for not free.



My kid knocked over my Harpoon IPA. My fault, but I really wanted to blame him. Sofia would not let me.



This is how I roll. That is not a Harpoon beer. It is a delicious Green Flash Hop Head Red.

Thanks to Sam and the rest of the Flying Saucer crew.

HomeField Grill Beer Dinner -This Week

The other dudes had this up way before me. But just in case any of you have not seen this, here ya go. Too far for me, man I practically live in Buda now. All info here and here.

First Course:
Beef Carpaccio with Black Pepper Aioli paired with: Saint Arnold Weedwacker (Lawnmower brewed with Hefeweizen yeast)

Second Course:
Frisee and Baby Romaine with candied walnuts, gorgonzola and raspberries paired with: New Belgium Lips of Faith Imperial Berliner Weisse

Third Course:
Roasted Fennel and Texas Chorizo Soup paired with: Unibroue Don de Dieu Triple Wheat Belgian Strong Ale

Fourth Course:
Pistachio crusted Grouper with Blood Orange Butter over Coconut Curry Rice paired with: Abita S.O.S. unfiltered Weizen Pils


Fifth Course: Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee with fried Plantains paired with: Live Oak Hefeweizen

Reminder: Hop Fest @ Flying Saucer

Info here.

Redneck Brewer's Picnic @ Uncle Billy's

From their FB page:

September 12 at 4:00pm - September 13 at 2:00am

Bring your brother, cousin-sister and friends! Its time for the Redneck Brewer's Picnic!

A 5-course meal will be served with paired beers masterfully brewed to complement for each course.

Reception beings at 4pm, Dinner will be served at 4:45pm.
...
Tickets are $40.00 per person. To RSVP call your Uncle at 512.476.0100

Saint Arnold Weedwacker Locations

The first release from Saint Arnold's Movable Yeast series is about to be unleashed. I've heard through the barley vine that these will be the bars in Austin soon to be pouring Weedwacker:

Ginger Man(cask)
Dig Pub (Cask)
Draught House(got his today)
Flying Saucer
HomeField Grill
Lovejoy's
Opal Divines-all of them
Billy's (cask)
Red's Porch
Zax(cask)

Raindrops a Fallin' on My Head . . . ugh, what am I doing

From the guys at JK:

We recently purchased 3,000 gallon rain water collection tanks from Tank Town in Dripping Springs, which is also home to Richard’s Rain Water. We will use the roof of both the brewery and 8,000 square foot beer hall next door to catch an estimated 10,000 barrels of rain water per year for use in brewing.

Jester King sent this info earlier today. That other blog beat me to it, but whatever, I know my readers wouldn't bother going their first.

An Old Friend Came to Dinner

FYI, this picture is from two years ago. Now I just dream about delicious meat like that, but I do take down plenty Sam Adams Oktoberfests.

BTA Podcasting

Me and some other people recorded some audio to burn your ears out. We even talk a little about beer.

Uncle Billy's Pils Fest

Info here.

Thursday at 3:00pm - August 26 at 2:00am

The Pils Fest is a celebration of arguably the best style of beer, the classic Pilsner. We will kick off our celebration of the Pils Fest on Thursday the 12th with the release of our award winning Hell In Keller Pils.

During the two week festival, customers will be able to sample some of the best Pils brewed in the US!

On tap along with the Hell In Keller will be:
...
Real Ale Han's Pils
Saint Arnold Summer Pils
Live Oak Pilz
Trumer Pils
Victory Prima Pils

"Whether you are a Pils fan or looking for something beyond the ales, drop in and enjoy the lagers that changed my life." - Brian Peters

Saint Arnold Weedwacker - August 16

Streat/Jorge Ordonez Wine Dinner

You read that right. Wine dinner. Once in awhile it's nice to take a break from beer. Right? Well, if you don't think so, don't worry, this will be over soon. I'll try to make it as easy as possible on ya'.

About a week ago Streat, a new restaurant in town, put on a Spanish wine and tapas tasting. Wine from Jorge Ordonez. Food by Streat.




This was the first plate of "tapas." All the food was very good, well it was all tasty, most of it was very good. Streat has a pretty cool concept going: Global Street Food. I love street food. Gyros, kabob, tacos, noodles, gorditas, etc. And Michael Vilim and crew do it well.

I'll go through the pairings one by one:

I. The Marques de Gelida Cava, Brut was paired with the Mexican Ceviche. I missed the Cava, but the ceviche was tasty.

Whites first . . .

1. The 2008 Borsao Rose was fruity, a bit musty and dry. It was paired with the Pork Flautas, which were tasty, wait, I already used tasty . . . they were yummy. Yeah they were, and I don't usually like flautas.

2. The 2008 Paso a Paso Verdejo was dry, yet smooth and cut right through the chive crepe rolls. Great pairing.

3. The 2008 Botani Dry Muscatel was light, sweet, easy drinking which made for a natural pairing with the mexicanish baja fish tacos.

4. The 2008 La Cana Albarino was apple-ish and was paired with a Spanish frittata (tortilla). Not sure why they called it a Spanish frittata, it's a tortilla. There is no such thing as Spanish frittata (this is sounding like those kooks who argue about black IPAs). Whatever. It was ok, not my favorite pairing.



The wines.



The second plate.

5. For the 2008 Shaya Rueda Blanco all I have written down is typical, classical white Spanish wine. So there you go. And of course it went great with shrimp.

And then the reds . . .

6. The 2008 Venta Morales Tempranillo had a great smokiness to it. The beef with chimmi churri was a bit tough, the beef that is. But that was probably the style. The chimmi churri was of course delicious, I could drink a wine glass of that.

7. The 2009 Monte Oton Garnacha was spicy and wet. Light bodied. Went nicely with the chipotle pork sopes. I really enjoyed the pork part, the sope part sucked, too dry and thick.

8. The 2009 Juan Gil Wrongo Dongo Monastrel had a BANGIN nose, loved it. Exactly what I look for in a "red wine." The flavor was not as pleasurable, but it had a nice spice to it. The ham, basil and manchego torta they served with this wine was quite chomp-able.

9. The 2008 Can Blau Montsant is a blend, it had a subtle nose but smooth spiciness. BAM!—served with slow braised pork on a bed of polenta, amazing. Loved the polenta. My wife is not a fan of polenta, but she is insane.

Dog(fish) Days of Summer @ Ginger Man

This starts August 21:



Stay tuned to their website and twitter feed for details as they come along....

Reminder: Sam Adams/Lake Creek Alamo Drafthosue Beer Dinner

Unfortunately I won't be making out for this one, but that shouldn't stop you. Wish I could, looks damn good. Ugh, that Stony Brook Red is sooo good. From Lake Creek's website:

Sam Adams Beer Tasting with Brewmaster Bob Cannon
Tuesday August 10th
8:00pm
$65

Here at the Alamo, we are always looking for a good excuse to kick a few back with some friends. doubly so if those friends also happen to be rockstars of the brewing industry. It’s hard to talk about craft brewing in America without mentioning Sam Adams, who’s always been a leader in the industry while still maintaining the spirit of a craft brewery. Utopias alone is reason enough to praise Jim Koch’s name every night before you lay your head down to sleep. As a part of our devotion to beers with flavor and how they came to be, we are excited to announce a tasting hosted by none other than Sam Adams brewmaster Bob Cannon. You may not recognize the name, but you sure will recognize the epic facial hair he is sporting in all of the Sam Adams commercials. Word on the street is that up to 5% of all Sam Adams is in fact produced by an ultra-craft brewery located inside of Bob’s goatee. The man has forgotten more about brewing beer than most of us will ever learn. And with a puff of Noble hops aroma (which is his trademark), Bob will arrive ready to discuss the beverage of the Gods while we sample various offerings from the Sam Adams catalogue.

The menu will include:

Sam Adams Light

One
Boston Lager
Stoney Brook Red

Smoked sardines with Boggy creek farms baby arugula and American Kriek vinaigrette

Two
Octoberfest
Double Bock

Wurst and Cheese Plate

Three
New World Tripel
Cream Stout

Richardson Farms Pork Belly braised with cherry and pearl onions in Sam Adams Lager with double bock mashed potatoes, roast local squash

Four
Imperial Stout
American Kriek

Summer Berry Pudding with Stout creme

Abita S.O.S.

Just picked up a bottle of this beer at Central Market, around $5.50 I think. This "Charitable Pilsner" is described this way: This unfiltered Weizen Pils is made with Pilsner and Wheat malts. It is hopped and dry hopped with Sterling and German Perle hops. It has a brilliant gold color, a sweet malt flavor, and a pleasant bitterness and aroma.

They have a whole website devoted to this beer and its cause. Ah, beer and charity . . . a match made in heaven.