(512) Brewing 3rd Anniversary Open House

What: Fall Open House and release of (512) THREE. See below for tons of details.

When: Saturday, October 8, 1pm-5pm

Where: (512) Brewing Co., 407 Radam, F200

Much more info from (512):

Come taste the NEW (512) THREE Belgian Style Tripel

Get two free tastes. Buy a new Limited Edition (512) 3rd Anniversary Glass for $10 and we'll use your new glass as the tasting glass. Cash and checks only please.

Bring one non perishable items to benefit Bastrop county fire victims and receive one additional free beer ticket.

We will be projecting the TEXAS/OU Game

PARKING - PLEASE CARPOOL AND DESIGNATE A DRIVER!!! - PARKING
Please try and park in lots near the brewery before parking in the neighborhood across from the brewery. Suggested lots: Bender Bar (turn north just east of the brewery on Radam - EAT THERE AFTERWARDS! St John’s Lutheran Church (easiest access is from East bound Ben White Access Road) We will also be parking cars perpendicular to Radam in the grassy area near the entrance (see parking attendant). Please do not park illegally in the neighborhood, as cars will be TOWED Please observe our neighbor’s parking signs (this makes up 4 or 5 spots in total)

TAKE THE BUS!
Ride Capital Metro to the SOUTH CONGRESS TRANSIT CENTER and walk west on Radam
http://www.capmetro.org/planner/

Children are welcome, but they must be supervised at all times.

(512) Brewing's Third Anniversary Party - Early October

I know, we have been slacking. Sorry, very busy 'round these parts. But never fear, we plan to start rolling out some fresh new TEXAS GABF coverage later this month. The big news of the week is that (512) Brewery has postponed their third anniversary party. We are not the only staying busy. BA can be very informative—unofficial:

What: (512) Brewing's Third Anniversary Party - including the release of (512) THREE, a tripel (fitting)
When: Early October
Where: 407 Radam, Austin

(512) Brewing Now Offering Private Tours

From (512):

. . . When you check in, you will receive coupons good for 3 free 4oz. tastes of your choice of (512) brew. With a purchase of a (512) logo pint glass for $10, you'll get the glass filled 3 times and be able to take it home at the end of the tour.

Additional glassware and t-shirts will be available for purchase, and, of course, don't forget to tip your tour guide. Please arrive 10 minutes prior to your tour time and have your driver's license available. Sampling beer is limited to tour ticket holders and persons 21 years or older only.

Cash only. Please designate a driver. Designated drivers receive a free t-shirt or logo pint glass!

(512) ALT Out Now

 

(512)'s latest seasonal is back. If you have not had it, it's good. And this year it may be better:

We’ve released (512)ALT this year and we are very excited about how well it turned out. Our Head Brewer, Nate, and the tireless (512) production crew tweaked it a touch in the spirit of continuous improvement and waited on it a bit longer to give it a look and flavor that’s really outstanding. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the style, check here for our description or just try it and see what you think. If it’s not available yet where you regularly enjoy (512), please ask for it.

PLUS . . . about this year's anniversary release:

We’re excited about the beers we plan to release this summer too. We’re gearing up for our third anniversary beer, (512) THREE (still a secret creation- but a new style), and in anticipation, we’re planning to re-release (512) ONE and (512) TWO in sequence first. Thanks for the continued support and thanks for drinking local fresh draft!

Whip In is 25

And they are throwing a 4 day party. Sounds right. Plenty of music and this:

w/ $2.50 draft BREW SPECIALS from
(512) BREWING
FRANCONIA
INDEPENDENCE
JESTER KING
LIVE OAK
RANGER CREEK
REAL ALE
SAINT ARNOLD
THIRSTY PLANET

(512) WHISKEY BARREL AGED DOUBLE PECAN PORTER – 750ml BOTTLES

photo: (512) Brewing

It's that time again. Buy them here:

Whole Foods - Downtown (One per person, should have around 1pm Today)
Whip In (2 per person, available now)
Spec's Liquors - Brodie (3 or 4pm today) and Arbor Walk (by 1pm today)
Twin Liquors - bee cave/Hancock and a few others

Tastes of Texas @ Ginger Man

This is happening at the Ginger Man tonight:

Tastes of Texas

March 31st
7pm
$15 per person

Come taste some special Texas brews from (512) Brewing, Real Ale, St. Arnold and Live Oak. Meet the brains behind the beer.

Gross, brains. I know Real Ale will be pouring Volume XIV and/or Lost Gold IPA.

(512) Brewing Spring Open House & Black IPA

Its that time again. I had the Black IPA last night, but had a lot of beer before it. I need to try again with a fresh palate.

(512) Black IPA

Just saw this come across the Beernews.org wire....

(512) Cascabel Cream Stout

Cascawhat? (512) Brewing's newest beer is a cream stout with peppers:

Our cream stout, is an indulgent beer brewed with generous amounts of  English chocolate and roasted malts, as well as the traditional addition of lactose. Our stout, however, parted ways with tradition when we added over 20 pounds of Cascabel peppers to the beer.  Cascabel peppers, also called Guajillo, are characterized by their earthy character and deep, smooth spiciness. The peppers were de-stemmed by hand and added to the beer post-fermentation to achieve their most potent flavor potential. They add hints of raisins and berries to the beer, as well as a subtle tingling spiciness that washes away with each gulp.

I want a pint, now.

UPDATE: On tap at Whip In.

(512) Brewing Dinner at Lake Creek Alamo

A couple of days ago I had a comment wondering about beer dinners with local brewers. Here you go:

(512) Wit
Sweet Emotion
Orange Julius sorbet turbocharged with cayenne syrup Racing stripes, candied basil bud and rice paper

(512) Pale
Randall “Pink” Floyd
Pink salt and pink peppercorn crusted “London” broil With busted Griottine cherry vinaigrette

(512) Bruin
. . .”Air Raid!”
Dijon glazed pork belly with roasted tomatoes, pork jus, “magic” mushroom porridge and fried duck egg

(512) IPA
The Wooderson
Smoked jerk chicken with curried sweet potato, poached baby spinach and aged cheddar cornmeal biscotti

(512) January Seasonal
Top Notch Slider
Ground beef tenderloin slider on sweet brioche with grilled jalapenos, house made condiments, shoestring fries and icebox pickles

(512) Pecan Porter
Party at the Moon Tower
An assortment of mini moon pies

(512) Double Pecan Porter
“. . .Who’s buying breakfast?”
Mini pancakes with vanilla syrup, chopped beef hash and a poached quail egg

All that whilst enjoying Dazed and Confused. Groovy.

2010: Best and Worst

Best: Truthfully, I can't think of the "best beer" I had in 2010. I know I had some good ones. But none really pop into my head as the best . . . Peche Mortel was amazing back in January. Ohhhh and Jubel...too good. Sierra Nevada's four 30th anniversary beers were all solid, the stout and barleywine being my favorite. (512) Whiskey Barrel Double Pecan Porter was delicious most of the time. My bottle was perfect. Ok, now I remember, THE BEER is Grand Teton Double Vision Dopplebock. INSANE, no that is too far, it was close to insane - perfectly delicious.

I will also note my great pleasure in seeing the openings of our newest breweries: Thirsty Planet, Jester King (loved that Black Metal Stout last week) and Black Star. And it was exciting to follow the development of breweries like Hops and Grain, South Austin Brewing and Circle Brewing.


Now the worst: Live Oak Primus. It pains me to say this. I used to love this beer. I was so looking forward to it this year. I could not get enough of it last year. This year, after several pints, I'm just not feeling it. Something is off, it's leaving me flat, unaffected. I only include this as my worst beer, because it did not live up to it's past mighty form. Maybe I changed. I'll keep chasing the dragon though. I want my Primus passion back.

(512) Winter Open House

December 18, 2-5 pm. The usual shenanigans. Read all about it and RSVP here.

(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.

Best Mexican Restaurants in Texas

Texas Monthly has chosen the Best Mexican Restaurants in Texas. This has nothing to do with beer. Well, kind of, cuz Mexican food just begs for beer swilling (Austin and Brownsville are in bold because that is where I spend the majority of my TX time):

TEXAS MONTHLY NAMES

50 BEST MEXICAN RESTAURANTS IN TEXAS

Editors Declare This the Era of “Mex-Tex”

AUSTIN, TEXAS—November 15, 2010—In its December issue, available on newsstands this week, Texas Monthly names the 50 best Mexican restaurants in Texas. Headlining the list is the magazine’s selection of the top five, in alphabetical order by city. They are:

Fonda San Miguel, Austin

Cuquita’s, Dallas

Salsa Fuego, Fort Worth

Hugo’s, Houston

SoLuna, San Antonio

The other 45 “best” are listed below.

...

TOP 5 (alphabetical by city)

Fonda San Miguel, Austin

Cuquita’s, Dallas

Salsa Fuego, Fort Worth

Hugo’s, Houston

SoLuna, San Antonio

Rest of the “Best”

AUSTIN
Curra’s Grill
El Mesón
El Naranjo
Garrido’s
La Condesa
Manuel’s
Takoba

BROWNSVILLE
Taqueria Rico’s

DALLAS
Avila’s
Café San Miguel
Gloria’s
Javier’s Gourmet Mexicano
Nuevo León MEX-MEX
Tipico’s
Urban Taco
Veracruz Cafe

EL PASO
Forti’s Mexican Elder
H&H Car Wash and Coffee Shop
Tacos Santa Cecilia

FORT WORTH
Benito’s
Esperanza’s
Lanny’s Alta Cocina Mexicana
Paco & John

HOUSTON
Cyclone Anaya’s Mexican Kitchen
Gorditas Aguas-Calientes
Irma’s
Jarro Café
Original Ninfa’s on Navigation
Pico’s Mex-Mex
Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen
Teotihuacán Mexican Cafe

LAREDO
El Meson de San Agustin
Fonda Don Martin
Palenque Grill
Zaragoza Grill, La Posada Hotel

McALLEN
Costa Messa
El Pastor
Palenque Grill

SAN ANTONIO
Cascabel Mexican Patio
Cielito Lindo
El Siete Mares
Guajillo’s
La Fonda on Main
La Gloria Icehouse
Mary Lou’s Café y Cocina Mexicana
Rosario’s

Ok, let me give this a beer tie in....hmmmm. Alright, what Texas beer would I like to drink with a plate full of tacos. I'll give you my top five and then you can chime in:

5. Southern Star Bombshell Blonde
4. Southern Star Pine Belt Pale Ale from the can
3. Lonestar
2. Real Ale Hans Pils
1. (512) Wit

This list would be different tomorrow. Hell, it would be different if you asked me in five minutes. But right now, that sounds right.

(512) Bruin - The Bear is Back!

Reading that description has me craving one. Craving one, and I did not even like it that much last year. I want to sample it a few time this year and see if my opinion has changed. I like everything else (512) makes, so I guess they are bound to make one loser in my eyes. What's that Mick....

(512) Brewing Gets Sour

I was not a huge fan of the Bruin, but to be fair, I only had it a few times. I need to give it another shot this season. Maybe a little funk will do it good. From the (512) blog:

. . . in the spirit of half-cockedness, we decided to do some experimenting of our own. We bought a few barrels, threw some wild critters in and crossed our fingers. Actually it was a little more systematic than that. Earlier this month we became the proud owners of 4 brand new American Oak barrels made by World Cooperage. For those of you who’ve never seen a fresh oak barrel, it’s a work of art. Oak barrels make ideal vessels for sour beer because of the porosity of the wood. Essentially, once a barrel is inoculated with bacteria or wild yeast, it’s reached the point of no return and will inoculate anything else that’s put into the barrel (much to the dismay of the world’s winemakers). This works perfectly for us, as it will allow us to maintain a constant and consistent source of bacteria.

h/t: BTA

ABW Today (Thursday)

Going strong in ABW. Lots of stuff tonight. You can go see (512) Brewing and Beertown Austin at Billy's if you want. Or get some Bitches Brew at Ginger Man. Or head out to Jester King for a little music and brews. That's where we will be.

ABW: (512) Brewing

And now, (512) and what they will be up to during ABW. Check out the ABW website for full listing.

Sure these guys will be there, but still, it's a can't miss.

Bruin cask, need to try that.

Now these guys...

Haha, thanks for the reader tip.