Best Craft Beer Moment of 2011

Ok, that's it. Let's wrap this whole thing up. This won't be beat:

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.

Dear Santa,

I want this!

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.

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.

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

Sam Adams Tasting @ Lake Creek Alamo Drafthouse

Looks like they got a lot of the biggies lined up for this tasting/dinner. I LOVE the Stoney Brook Red!

The Menu:

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

They should play this during the tasting. Sam Adams is all over that thing.

Boston Beer Co. is 25

2010 SA Longshot sixpacks

They are hitting TX now. Get one. I am.

From Wine Enthusiast (what...don't hate):

Michael Robinson’s Old Ale: An English-style beer with notes of dried fruit, nuts and caramel brewed with five different malts. Light brown and full bodied with a slight bitterness, the ingredients are all-American except for the yeast. At 9% abv, it’s a bit bigger than the average beer, designed for cooler nights or after-dinner sipping.

Ben Miller’s Barleywine: Ben is a self-proclaimed “hop head” meaning that several varieties of American hops were used in his barleywine, resulting in an intense profile of resiny citrus aromas and clean hop bitterness. Dark red and flavorful with rich red stone fruit and caramel components.

Jeremy White’s Saison: Jeremy White is the employee winner of the Sam Adams Homebrew competition, hailing from the IT department of the company. Refreshing, flavorful and light bodied, his classic Belgian-style saison is brewed with grains of paradise (sound familiar? Sam Summer Ale, anyone?), infusing a light peppery flavor throughout alongside notes of sweet grain and citrus.

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

Sam Adams Scotch Ale

Last night I was reminded how good this beer is. Smoky and subtle. One of the best available from Sam Adams.

James Beard Semifinalists: OUTSTANDING WINE AND SPIRITS PROFESSIONAL

Beer dudes in bold:

Larry Bell, Bell's Brewery, Galesburg, MI

Derek Brown, The Passenger, Washington, D.C.

Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE

Brian Duncan, Bin 36, Chicago

Merry Edwards, Merry Edwards Wines, Sebastopol, CA

Alex Golitzin, Quilceda Creek, Snohomish, WA

Paul Grieco, Hearth, NYC

David Hirsch, Hirsch Vineyards, Cazadero, CA

Jim Koch, The Boston Beer Company, Boston

Stephen R. McCarthy, Clear Creek Distillery, Portland, OR

Michael McCaulley, Tria restaurants and Fermentation School, Philadelphia

Greg Moore, Moore Brothers Wine Co., Pennsauken, NJ, NYC, & Wilmington, DE

Garrett Oliver, The Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn, NY

Neal Rosenthal, Rosenthal Wine Merchant/Mad Rose Group, NYC

Jörg Rupf, St. George Spirits, Alameda, CA

John Shafer and Doug Shafer, Shafer Vineyards, Napa, CA

Alpana Singh, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Chicago

Eric Solomon, European Cellars/Eric Solomon Selections, Charlotte, NC

Julian P. Van Winkle, III, Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, Louisville, KY

Gary Vaynerchuk, Wine Library TV/Wine Library, Springfield, NJ

Congratulations!

2010 Samuel Adams LongShot

They are coming. The most important part of the epicly long press release:

The 2010 Samuel Adams LongShot variety six-pack will be available nationwide in select retail stores beginning in April for a suggested retail price of $9.99. The variety pack will include two bottles each of Michael Robinson's Old Ale, Ben Miller's Barleywine, and Jeremy White's Saison.

Sounds good. It goes with out blogging, I want them.

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.

Utopia Tasting at the High Ball

More info at Beer Town Austin.

Thirsty Thursday #25

Longshot Cranberry Wit
by Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams), Boston, MA
Style: Witbier
ABV: 5%

I hate cranberries. Put 'em in beer...I love 'em. The same formula probably would not work with brussel sprouts. But I guess you never know, until you try it.

This beer is part of Samuel Adam's Longshot Series, a national homebrew competition. This year's six pack contained three different styles. This was my least favorite, but still very tasty. Perfect for grilling in the warmth of a Texas evening.

From the brewery:

The third brew in the Longshot package will be a Cranberry Wit created by Carissa Sweigart, winner of the Samuel Adams employee homebrew competition. Carissa’s beer was chosen by over 1,111 beer lovers at the 2008 Great American Beer Festival™ from among the 3 employee homebrew finalist. Congratulations Carissa!

Not Thirsty Thursday **update below**

No Thirsty Thursday. But I did have two of the Sam Adams' Longshots this week and they would have made fine additions. Possibly next week. Or I'll just do one later, maybe with Victory Wild Devil, which is available now reportedly.

**UPDATE: wiggy's on sixth has it for around 10.50