Hopfields Opens Tomorrow, Softly

Cat is out of the bag. See you tomorrow. And this is what they will have on offer.

Independence/Judge's Hill Dinner

Hold on, I am trying to find my notes on this dinner . . .

Ok, I'm back. This was not your average beer dinner. It was a battle, a duel betwen Chef Jonathan Gelman of The Driskill Grill vs. Chef Rob Snow of Judges' Hill Restaurant. And it all benefited the Sustainable Food Center. All the food was Wild Game supplied by Broken Arrow Ranch. The dinner consisted of three rounds with a dish from each chef — each paired with an Independence beer. We voted on our favorite dishes/pairings. It was blind, RED plates vs. BLACK plates.

ROUND 1



Wild Boar Belly w/ Risotto Cakes, Smoked Walnut Vinaigrette, Pickled Local Vegetables and Bootlegger Brown
That belly was great. I really enjoyed the pickled vegetables except they were too small, diced beyond belief, annoying. Overall the food overpowered the beer, not a great pairing.



Buttermilk Fried Quail, "Stash" BBQ Sauce and Stash IPA
The fried quail was perfect, the egg on top a bit too decadent. BBQ was tasty. With the Stash, this was a better pairing than first plate.



My Stash. You think as a beer blogger I would have taken more photos of the beer. Sorry. But this one was just so pretty.

ROUND 2



Venison Steak, Jalapeno Cotija Potato Croquette, Raspberry Jasperilla Demi-glace and Jasperilla Old Ale.
Venison was venisony and cooked well. Reminded me of my childhood (I was raised by wolves). The croquette was light and fluffy or as I wrote in my notes - NICE. All paired nicely with Jasperilla.



Antelope Grilled, Chilled & Rood Awakenings and Rood.
Saying grilled antelope is not enough for this plate, it had three kinds of antelope meat. It was a meat orgy. The jerky was my favorite part. Again, second dish was a better pairing in this round.

ROUND 3



Gold Deluxe Angel Food Cake with Grilled Fredericksburg Peaches & Merlitons and Gold Deluxe.
Merlitons? I had to bing that. This may be the worst photo I've ever taken, my apologies. I liked the fruit, hated the angel food cake, but I've always hated angel food cake.



Wild Boar Smores and Gold Deluxe.
This was easily the most anticipated plate of the night after everyone read the menus. And it was good, really good. Made with boar bacon. I did not vote for it though. Putting bacon on something is cheating, everyone is gonna vote for bacon.

Overall, I enjoyed the food from the RED chef better and the pairings from the BLACK chef. Guess what, I forgot who was red and who was black and who won. So, bing that if you really want to know the results.

Thanks to Independence Brewing for having us out and also to Adam for giving Austin Beer Guide a nice shout out during the dinner (unexpected and appreciated)!

My wife and son were in San Diego last week. They stopped at Stone World Bistro and Gardens for a snack, beer and tour. These are a few of her photos:







She snagged me a My Last Pint as well. Thanks Sofia.

OMG + 24 Diner

Ommegang should release a beer called OMG! Or would that be totally lame. Yeah, probably. It could be a blend of their Chocolate Indulgence and Three Philosophers. Ommegang, if you are reading this, feel free to use this idea. You have my blessing.

For now, at least, we can still enjoy Ommegang's normal lineup of awesome beers. Drink them with some awesome food too on March 2 @ 24 Diner for $55. Also, 24 Diner's got a fancy new website.

24 Diner + Lagunitas

Looking for a good way to spend $55 on January 19? Well, look no further. Chowder and Hop Stoopid = Perfect.

From 24 Diner:

APPETIZER
Fried Gulf Oysters
Jalapeño Remoulade (Passed)
Lagunitas IPA

FIRST COURSE
Scotch Egg on Spinach & Roasted Winter Squash Salad
Pecans & Warm Honey-Lemon Vinaigrette
Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Wild Ale

SECOND COURSE
Creamy Shellfish Chowder
Applewood-Smoked Bacon, Potatoes & Fried Leeks
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Ale

THIRD COURSE
Braised Short Ribs
Roasted Mushrooms, Parsnip Purée
& Fried Root Vegetable Chips
Lagunitas Imperial Stout

FOURTH COURSE
Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Burnt Orange Caramel Sauce
Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout

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.

Update on Barley Swine

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

Webwise
Facebookwise
Twitterwise

New BJ's at Arbor Walk

New BJ's opening (not built yet) at Arbor Walk. What is that, like 3 seconds from NXNW? Please.

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.

Hopdoddy

Burgers and beer. What else do you need? Hopdoddy knows whats up. They open today.

For real media coverage:
Statesman
Thrillist

And for all other info on the new joint:
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Website
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Photo: Hopdoddy Facebook

h/t: BTA

Parkside/Independence Dinner

I want to be there . . . I love Parkside. Independence ain't no slouch either. Purchase tickets now.

Oaked Real Ale XIII @ Zax

From their Facebook page:

This Wednesday at 6 we will be tapping a keg of Real Ale Barrel Aged Vol. XIII. Try it side by side with the unoaked version. #ontapatx

Inedit in Austin

You know the story behind this beer. Remember, I wrote about it last year:

“The idea was to make a beer to drink with food, from a wineglass”

Hello, the Belgians have been doing that for centuries. How can such a genius chef say such a dumb thing. Seriously. This guy is the top of the top. Is he really oblivious to the world of good beer? Or did he just want something unique for his restaurant?

The review on BeerAdvocate are mixed. I think that is a good thing. Still, an average beer, for what has been the "world's best restaurant" for years.

(shaking my head)

Wow, my blog was way better last year. Anway, just wanted to let you all know, if you did not know already, that it has finally arrived in Austin. Saw it at Specs's on Brodie today.

South Austin Beer Search #1

We recently moved down to South Austin. The last two years we've lived up north, a hop, skip and a jump from Draught House and Flying Saucer. And a quick zip downtown to Gingerman. When I say south, I mean wayyy south. I was worried. Worried good beer would be hard to find. And that is what this little series is about. Our first exploration was to Red's Porch.



It was Saturday night and the place was jammed packed. They had a pretty decent tap selection. Something for everyone - even beer dorks.



NXNW Pale Ale?? They had it. Someone explain to me why they are allowed to have this. I am not complaining, I just thought this was not possible, beer-law-wise.



My Yakima Twilight. We also had a Green Flash IPA and Brooklyn Lager.

The food was pretty good too. My Border Burger was spicy as hell. Sofia liked her Chicken Fried Chicken, but her sides were soaked in garlic.

We will be back.

Tonight

Zax + Saint Arnold = Oktoberfest. With mug giveaways!

Texas Best Burger - Part 2

Parkside for dinner. Good news, their beer selection has drastically improved. It could still use more work, but it's definitely better than before. I had a Affligem Blond with appetizers (oysters, crab salad, bone marrow with herb salad), and a Old Rasputin with my burger.



Cheeseburger and fries. I actually split this with Sofia, since we had so many appetizers. Tasty for sure. A nice fresh ground meat flavor. The only complaint I have is the saltiness. I drank tons of water throughout dinner, but still felt dehydrated after having the burger and fries. Too far with the salt guys, take it down a notch.

On the Texas Monthly 50 Best Burgers of Texas list this is one notch above Black Sheep Lodge. The restaurants are much different. The burgers are both good, but I think I give the edge to the Black Sheep burger.

The Pour: A Beer, Please, and a (Good) Menu

Christopher Smith for The New York Times

Eric Asimov, nytimes writer and blogger who does not cover beer enough, checks in with a look at NYC hits and misses regarding beer bars and food menus. This sort of relates to my post from Monday. You think he read my post and decided to write this piece? Fat chance. Very fat.

Better Beer Selection at Austin's Better Restaurants

It seems like no restaurant in Austin can open without migas on the menu. Don't get me wrong, I love texmex as much as any other Austin yuppie. But a man can only eat so many breakfast tacos. It is refreshing to see restaurants like Parkside becoming more popular in Austin.

But there is a problem. Most of these places have delicious, inspired food menus and then offer shite as far as beer goes. Come on. If I am spending good money for good food at least give me something better than Fat Tire to choose from.

I have made my displeasure known. And there is good news from Parkside (from their new sommelier):

Thanks for the note. I have just come on at Parkside as of last week to head up the wine and beverage program and I couldn't agree with you more. In fact, I had just changed the beer headings the day before you sent this out, I’m happy to say. Look in the future for more local options (St. Arnolds, Independence) and more German and Belgian options. It’ll take a bit of time to have it where I’m completely happy with our selection but I would expect that certainly by the end of the summer the wine and beer list will be the most interesting in Austin