New Belgium Take Over Draught House

This from Draught House Josh:

The phrase of the moment is "tap takeover" and who are we to resist. This Wednesday (the 27th) we will be taken over by New Belgium and be pouring eight of their beers.

We are happy to have both Love, the unblended base for La Folie and other sour beers, and Super Cru, their 20th anniversary ale, to serve.

In addition, we will be pouring Le Terroir, La Folie, Fat Tire, Mothership Wit, Ranger IPA and Somersault, their new spring seasonal.

PLUS, with any beer purchase, a globe glass is FREE.

But that's not all. We will also have cheese samples gratis with some (perhaps all) of the beers. And to top it all off Miss Lauren Salazar, sensory analyst extraordinaire, will grace us with her presence.

Gettin' Heavy at Draugh House

From DH's last tweet, these are available:



More info on this one.







Damn. Heavy lineup.

Tappings @ the Draught House

Tapping today or tomorrow at Draught House:






























Allagash Odyssey.

NB Tart Lychee and Sahti.

LOF: IBW

A secret informant says these are going for a good price at Specs on Airport. I checked the Brodie Specs last night and did not see them. Good luck and let me know.

Firkin Friday @ Draught House

NB Ranger IPA, from Josh:

Tomorrow we are happy to offer a cask of New Belgium Ranger IPA, guaranteed to be dry hopped.

Tapping is a 3pm, as usual.

That was last night. So tomorrow is today. Friday. Firkin Friday Baby!

TGIFF

Beers I Want This Weekend...

...but am to cheap to buy (right now). A man can dream.

Top 50 Craft Breweries For 2009

From the Brewers Association:

1. Boston Beer Co.; Boston MA
2. Sierra Nevada Brewing; Chico CA
3. New Belgium Brewing; Fort Collins CO
4. Spoetzl Brewery (Gambrinus); Spoetzl TX
5. Pyramid Breweries; Seattle WA 6. Deschutes Brewery; Bend OR
7. Matt Brewing; Utica NY
8. Magic Hat Brewing Company; Burlington VT
9. Boulevard Brewing; Kansas City MO
10. Harpoon Brewery; Boston, MA
....
48. Saint Arnold Brewing; Houston TX

H/T: Brookston

Firkin Friday @ Draught House

The cask of dry hopped Mighty Arrow starts flowin' at 3pm today. Heard it here first.

NB Dark Heather Saison

Just tapped at the Draught House. Enjoy it, because I probably won't get there in time.

This past Sunday was BTA's Bub Crawl. It was a fun time for all. I drank too many beers, breaking my diet, and even had the tasty Cobra burger at Billy's on Burnet. Next time I will stick with my beloved Ends burger though.

I used to be very good at taking pictures while out and about. On this day I swore I'd take tons of pictures of the revelries. I only took two. Kill me. And here they are:



My Ranger IPA. It was good. A solid IPA. I like mine a little more citrusy.



And a picture of Draught House's sign. Wow.

New Belgium Ranger IPA - Available Now in Austin

Draught House just tapped it. (via twitter feed)

Three New Beers in Town

At Whole Foods, and beyond surely.

Two of these I have had at the flying saucer, the other is not actually new just a seasonal that is in town.




This is one of the beers I had at Flying Saucer. Not so good. But Lee liked it. I think this is the first beer from Sierra Nevada that I have not enjoyed. Just not what I am looking for in a bock. An ideal bock for me - Saint Arnold Spring Bock.



Not a new beer. But new in 2010, as it is a seasonal. Maybe a hint of what is to come from Ranger IPA.



Not sure if this actually new to Austin. It's new to me anyway. I enjoyed one at Flying Saucer. So good. Seek it out. To me it tasted like a hybrid of Prima Pils and Brooklyn Lager, two of my favorite lagers.

New Belgium's New IPA and New Labels

An IPA from New Belgium? Why not. From Beernews.org:

Simpson notes, “Beer Rangers are our beer sales folks and they had long wanted an IPA – something with a lot of hops. This beer was created for them and as a tribute to all they do out in the market."

And they are adding new labels to a bunch of their beers (like the one above). Booo! I like their current labels:

Maybe I am just scared of change...

Eric's Ale to be Bottled

Have you had this on tap? It's good.

(Fort Collins, CO) – New Belgium Brewing will introduce two more beers in bottles next year (perhaps more) when they add Eric’s Ale, a previously draft-only product, and Belgian-style Blond Ale to the Lips of Faith bottle series. La Folie 2010 will also don a slightly different look.

Wow, I sure am happy that beernews.org exists...

Want This

PHOTO: JUST BEER

Heard this is in town. Can't wait to try it.

http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/frambozen

Thirsty Thursday #27

Le Fleur, Misseur?
by New Belgium Brewing Co., Ft. Collins, CO
Style: Belgian Pale Ale
ABV: 6.5%

Never heard of this beer. Then one day I am cruising the aisles of Spec’s and this bottle jumped out at me. Maybe because it was sitting next to his brother, La Folie. My first gulp I thought, “(512) One” and then the brett hit me. The brett came across muted, which was nice. Tart, but not cheek pucker tart, just kind of tweek yr tongue tart.

The story behind the name:

Produced for New Belgium coworkers to celebrate our 15th anniversary, Le Fleur has roots in the earliest days of our history. In 1988 founder Jeff Lebesch sat weary on the side of a Belgian road when a young lad passing by picked a delicate yellow flower and offered it to Jeff.

“Le Fleur, Misseur?” Jeff misspelled the boy’s comment in his journal as he accepted the offering. A treasured memory, a beer to treasure.

Santiago has good taste.

New Belgium Bombs

Saw these both in Central Market last night. La Folie was $13.99, a bit steep.

La Folie Again

photo: jcnkc

Ok, last post on La Folie. There are still some bottles available at the Hancock HEB. More will be available in the coming months, but these are the last of the cage-and-corked bottles. From here on out, La Folie will be produced in capped 22oz bombers. Say goodbye to the 750s.

La Folie Bottles

What would I do without the BeerAdvocate Southwest Forum? I probably would have 80% less material on this blog, for sure.

I got good news and bad news! Good news, La Folie has landed in Texas. Hopefully, it will be hitting stores this coming week. Beautiful 750ML corked and aged bottles.

Bad News, Austin only...for the immediate future. Don't be alarmed, it will find it's way all over, but looks like some of us will have to make a road trip.

The reason for Austin only is due to the packaging change. New Belgium is switching from 750ML corked and caged bottles to 22oz bombers. Austin is getting the last of the 750s, the rest of the state will see the new bombers soon after that.

La Folie is good. Really good. I've had my fair share on tap in the past month. But people go ape shit over this stuff.

I would be happy just to have this available on draught. It would keep it "special" for me. Especially considering my bar visits have wained in the past few months. This bottle business is going to ruin it.