Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year



Like every other beer geek douchebag out there I had one of these to ring in 2011. Flame on, I had fun. I bet you did too.

I've read some not-so-nice things about this beer. I liked it. Nice musty, almost toffee aroma. Bubbly, dry, yet . . . sweet. A bit too thick. A little syrupy. Not bad. Although, I think I prefer champagne.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

And we are back...



Sorry for the lack of updates this past week, we were out of town and had limited time for web based activity. Got a lot done in Orlando, more on that later. For now, read this. No Label Brewing made it official with their first commercial keg. Congratulations to them. Looking forward to trying their beers (duh).

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Nice Surprise



So I'm lurkin' the beer aisle at Central Market for a good beer to bring to the Spradling's Winter Solstice party and this guy jumped out at me. I slammed the brakes and picked up a six pack. A fine beer for a cool winter's eve. More of a pleasant surprise than nice, but now I'm just rambling. It's Christmas week, what do you want from me?

Monday, December 20, 2010

Craft Orlando, Ctd.



Florida Taproom. Close to my parents. Hopefully not full of Florida scumbags.

JK Black Metal Stout Released Today




I am hoping to have a pint before leaving for Florida. If I don't, Christmas will be ruined.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Craft Orlando, Ctd.

Some more Orlando beer stuff.



I'm having lunch with my Dad and Stepmom the day after Christmas. They are staying near Disney. I am going to push for lunch or at least a stop into Big River Grille & Brewing Works.



Cocoa Beach Brewing Company is close to my cousin's house. Maybe.



In nearby Mineola, these dudes might be worth a peek.



These guys have been around for awhile now, but I hardly ever see their beers when I visit Orlando. I WILL TRY some this time.

Craft Orlando

Going to Orlando for Christmas next week. Time to check into what is going on beer wise lately in my home town.




This place is opening soon, not soon enough for our visit though:

January 28 has been set for the grand opening of Shipyard Brewery & Emporium, the brewpub/cafe from the Maine-based beer maker. You can expect a soft opening before that date, but no decision has been made as to when customers will be accepted.

Shipyard Emporium will be at 200 W. Fairbanks Ave. in Winter Park in the building that most recently held Strollo’s Cucina Due. It was also the site of the original Dexter’s of Winter Park. Shipyard will brew its own beers on the premises, but only in small batches.

The cuisine part of the operation will be under the direction of Joslyn Tusa, a graduate of Southeastern Culinary Academy. No menu has been set, according to Shipyard spokeswoman Tami Kennedy, but the official logo, seen here, refers to the Emporium as a "market, bakery & brew pub." Tony Adams of Big Wheel Provisions had previously been attached to the project but is no longer.

I mean it's Shipyard, but it will still be cool to check out next time I am down there.




There are a few World of Beers now in Central Florida, but luckily there is also one about five minutes from my parents' house. Nice.


photo: Evan Gordon

And of course Knightly Spirits is close at hand. Actually it's not so close now, damn! They moved 15 minutes further away.



I need to finally check out this place.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Jester King Black Metal Imperial Stout



Bat blood, rat blood, snake blood, malt blood. Introducing Jester King's first seasonal beer:
Black Metal Imperial Stout, a.k.a. Suds of Northern Darkness, a.k.a. Iron Sword, a.k.a. El Martillo del Muerte. Black Metal is a cruel and punishing beer fermented by the sheer force of its awesome will. We are pretty sure that Kreator wrote the song “Impossible Brutality” about this beer while drinking it during their Extreme Aggression Tour.

Black Metal is Jester King’s winter seasonal release. Weighing in at about 10% ABV, it’s filled with huge flavors of roast, chocolate, burnt malt and alcohol and carries a hint of leather. We encourage Black Metal to be enjoyed from a snifter at a serving temperature between 57 and 61 degrees Fahrenheit.
And now . . . my favorite black metal links (What, you don't have "favorite black metal links?" Get on that.:



2011 Off-centered Film Fest



It's that time again, start yr cameras up. Open a few bottles. Let the magic happen!

Last year's events were terrific, surely 2011 won't disappoint.

Well, maybe it will.

Another Beer Movie

Beer Culture Trailer 1 from FM Productions on Vimeo.



What's with beer and emo-instrumental music? Cut it out. Enough inspiration. We're drinking your beer, stop making us blush. It's becoming lame.

I think craft breweries should release their own promotional DVDs like skateboard companies do. Dude, did you see the new (512) video? So sick!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Event of the week?



Billy's pouring a cask of Altared Amber from Saint Arnold. Sounds like a good time to me.

-Thursday,6:30 Pm

-Buy the beer, keep the glass

Circle Brewing Co. - First Brew Day



Congratulations guys!
You can only imagine our excitement ramping up to the first brew day. It was epic. Having spent the last three years building steadily to this point, I would be lying if I didn’t say that we were nervous as hell...
Read the whole story here.

Friday, December 10, 2010

(512) Whiskey Barrel Aged Double Pecan Porter - CASK ONLY RELEASE



....we are preparing to undergo our first (and to our knowledge Texas’ first as well) cask only release. What beer do we have to offer that’s worthy of such a monumental event? Our Whiskey Barrel Aged Double Pecan Porter, of course. This beer, a stronger version of our normal Pecan Porter, spent 10 months aging in Jack Daniels Whiskey barrels before the barrels were blended together and packaged in a limited (and we mean LIMITED) amount of firkins. We tasted the beer earlier this week (to many thumbs way up) and expect it to be released sometime early this month. We also expect to release the 2011 vintage of this beer sometime early in the new year.
Read the whole joint here.

Gettin' Heavy at Draugh House

From DH's last tweet, these are available:



More info on this one.







Damn. Heavy lineup.

FS Holiday Party



Bring a coat, drink some beers. Win, win.

I hate beer writers



Dan Shelton, of Shelton Brothers fame, is sure to bunch some beer panties with this:

"I hate beer writers," he said. "You can ask them; they hate me, too. They call me arrogant and opinionated. They think I'm a real asshole. But, hey, what can you expect? I was trained as a lawyer."

By doing little more than parroting the marketing-speak of advertising companies, Dan believes American beer writers are largely to blame for an industry and drinking public that's more taken with gimmickry than artistry. "The attitude seems to be, 'It's all good.' No one's willing to criticize a beer they don't like, and when I do, I'm told I'm just trying to sell the beers I import. I've had fights with beer reviewers who want to believe that you can't be objective about beer. It's all subjective, they say. You like what you like."

If that were true, he pointed out, why would anyone bother to review anything? If there wasn't consensus in the wine world, say, how could a wine dealer get away with selling a $100 bottle of wine? "If everything's great, then nothing's great," he said.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Knock Knock Knockin’



Another episode of Knockin' em Back from Beertown Austin, with the voice stylings of Craft Austin, is available now. Listen to us drink Lovejoy's beers and chat with Todd Henry.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Best Mexican Restaurants in Texas, Again

Remember Texas Monthly's list of best Mexican Restaurants in TX? Yeah, you do. Well, one of them is in Brownsville. A place we've never been to, called Taqueria Rico's. Texas Monthly was right. It was bloody tasty. I can't wait to go back.



As far as I could see they served no beer, but they did have this sign on the wall. Maybe it's BYOB.



Ugh. Awesome!

In the valley? Hit this place up.

The Penguin and the Bismark



Happening at the High Ball:

We will pour 3.5oz of Tactical Nuclear Penguin and 1.75oz pour of Sink the Bismark respectively and pair with complimentary snacks as well as tossing in another taster or two of another fine craft beer.
Not for me, but maybe you'd like to go.

Tickets ($55)

Eat Local Week: Texas Craft Brewers Mini-Festival

Remember this?



Well, it's almost arrived:
Texas Craft Brewers Mini-Festival. Presented by Black Star Co-op and Wheatsville Co-op. Meet our finest Texas craft brewers and sample their wares at this popular Eat Local Week event. Craft brewers will include: Live Oak Brewing Company, Saint Arnold Brewing Company, Real Ale Brewing Company, Independence Brewing Company, Thirsty Planet Brewing Company, Black Star Co-op, Jester King Craft Brewery, 512 Brewing Company, Twisted X Brewing Company, Austin Beerworks, Circle Brewing Company, South Austin Brewery, Hops and Grain (brewery and canine bakery), Buddha’s Brew Kombucha and more! ....
All those breweries for $15—pretty good. Not sure how the sampling will work, but for 15 bucks it might be worth checking out. By tickets here.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Independence Brewing Pub Crawl



From the folks at Independence:
Come out and join us as we crawl through campus the Sunday after finals!

1:30PM meet at Cuatro's (1004 W 24th)
2:30PM Cain and Able's (2313 Rio Grande)
3:30PM TBA
5:00PM Hole in the Wall(2538 Guadalupe St), Black Brew will be playing a show

We will give you a punch card and if you get it punched at each location we will give you a limited run Indy Crawl Pint glass!!! Must be 21 years old to participate.

New Avery Labels

Digging these new labels. Speaking of Avery, check out My Last Pint #34 with Riley Finnigan from Avery. The next two or three will also be from Avery. So, Avery fans, keep checking back. How many times do you think I can say Avery in this post?:









h/t: beernews.org

Apparently, Not the Best Cocktail/Beverage Blog in Austin



No not us. Thank god not these guys. The winner was Tipsy Texan. Congratulations!

How do I close a blog? Dump this, I'm going to start a scene blog. Actually, at the party I did have someone ask me if they could take over my blog as an arts and crafts blog. That sounds interesting.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Jester King Updates



Damn, that's a lot of barrels. For updates on Boxer’s Revenge, Das Wunderkind! and JK in bottles check out their latest blog post. Man, they really teased us with the first few releases, now we must be patient apparently. I WANT DAS WUNDERKIND!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Saint Arnold Creeps East




From Beer, TX, who has the whole scoop:

Saint Arnold Brewing Co. is making its first expansion outside of Texas this week by shipping beer to Louisiana.

Update on Barley Swine



Austin's newest gastropub is close to opening (with in the month). Follow the action:

Webwise
Facebookwise
Twitterwise

Altared Amber Locations (Austin)



According to Frank:

Billy's on Burnet
Whip In
Lovejoys
Draught House
Flying Saucer
HomeField Grill
Dig Pub
Fion
Ginger Man
Zax
Black Star

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Black Star Co-op: Open for Real



From Black Star:

Friday, 12/10

Grand Opening Party!, 6PM-12AM

We’ll kick off the festivities with a big outdoor party on Friday, December 10th from 6-12PM. Join us for Grand Opening ceremonies, the first tap of our house beers, a party into the night. Music by Vanessa Lively and Band, Ugly Beats, Melogrand, and Brownout!

The entire evening will be family friendly with free hot apple cider, face painting, and a bounce house.

Saturday, 12/11

Eat Local Week: Texas Craft Brewers Mini-Festival, 2-5PM

Come back on Saturday afternoon for the Texas Craft Brewers’ Mini-Festival as party of Edible Austin’s Eat Local Week. The event will run from 2-5PM, and tickets are $15. As with all Eat Local Week events, all process will benefit Urban Roots. Normal service at the brewpub will begin after the festival at 5PM.

Sunday, 12/12

Traditional Sunday Roast, 12-4PM

Charter Member Portraits, 12-4PM

Group Photo of Member-Owners, 4PM

Finally, we’ll wrap up the weekend with a traditional Sunday Roast and service starting at 12PM. Charter Member-Owners are invited to have their portraits taken from 12-4PM with a group photo of the membership scheduled for 4PM.