Jester King Brewery Night @ Zax

From Zax:

Zax Restaurant at 312 Barton Springs Rd. is pleased to announce that we have partnered with Jester King Craft Brewery to host the Jester King Craft Brewery kick off party at Zax Restaurant on Wednesday February 16, 2011 at 6:00. Come on out and meet the brewers. Enjoy the great food at Zax, paired with a variety of delicious Jester King Beers, and keep the commemorative logo glass. Featured Jester King Beer will include Wytchmaker Rye IPA, Commercial Suicide Oaked Dark Mild, and Boxer’s Revenge Farmhouse Provision Ale.

I plan to attend. I really want more of the Boxer's Revenge.

Weedwacker Approved

Had our first pints of Saint Arnold's Weedwacker. We had them over a late lingering lunch at Zax this weekend. SA's first Movable Yeast beer is a success. I really enjoyed it. I love hefeweizen's and this hefeweizenized kolsch fits the bill. This is what some other nerds think.

Saint Arnold Weedwacker Locations

The first release from Saint Arnold's Movable Yeast series is about to be unleashed. I've heard through the barley vine that these will be the bars in Austin soon to be pouring Weedwacker:

Ginger Man(cask)
Dig Pub (Cask)
Draught House(got his today)
Flying Saucer
HomeField Grill
Lovejoy's
Opal Divines-all of them
Billy's (cask)
Red's Porch
Zax(cask)

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

Saint Arnold Austin Pub Crawl Wrap Up.

First stop: Zax Pints and Plates. Place was packed. The wife, baby and I worked our way to the bar. Now before I go on let me say a little something about bringing a baby/kid to a bar. I am all for it. Obviously, there are a few caveats. These are mine:

1. No smoke
2. Not too loud
3. Before 10pm (although the 9 o'clock hour is pushing it)
4. The baby/kid is not screamin or running around like mad. This sucks for other patrons, but more so for the baby/kid, they don't wanna be there.

Movin' on. Grabbed a ticket from Lenny. Got to the bar. Unfortunately, it was too packed to see what beers were on tap on the other end of the room. Fortunately, Chris was on that end of the bar. A quick call to him and our decision was made (that Beer Town Austin is so helpful). We were bad crawlers and ordered NB Ranger IPAs (Sofia did not want a Winter Stout, I blame her). Chatted with Beer Town Austin, Josh and Sarah.

Second stop: Ginger Man. Packed as well. We waited in line to get in, apparently they were over capacity. Once in I had a SA Lawnmower, which was not as good as I remembered it, but still decent. Sofia had a Brooklyn Brown ale, a beer she had not had since living in Brooklyn. She was giddy. At this point we met up with Matt, Matt's Dad and Michael.

Third stop: After putting Sofia and the baby in the car to head home, I waved goodbye and walked over to Ghost Room. This place is depressing, barely a shadow remains of the the old Ginger Man. And they were out of Saint Arnold beer. Oh well, let's move to Little Woodrows.

Fourth stop: Little Woodrow's. We missed out on the official Saint Arnold Austin Pub Crawl pint glass, but got a normal one, which was fine. After sharing one last beer we walked back across the river to our cars and bid each other a good night.

Overall: Fun. I would have thrown in Opal Divine's into the pub crawl and taken out Ghost Room. I suspect that the addition of Ghost Room had something to do with Ginger Man.

http://www.saintarnold.com



This photo has nothing to do with the pub crawl, well maybe it does. It shows just what a beautiful night it was for a pub crawl. Perfect.

Tonight

Zax + Saint Arnold = Oktoberfest. With mug giveaways!

Zax Belgian wrap-up

I did not go. I was too busy hiding from possible hail damage. But Patrick Beach went and you can read about it.

3rd Annual Great Austin Belgian Beer Festival

Saturday May 16 • 2-7pm
Zax Pints and Plates
312 Barton Springs Rd.,
Austin, TX

Tickets now available$22adv/$25 at the door(advance tickets available only at Zax) Entitles you to a tasting glass and your first six 4-oz. samples of over 30 of the most amazing, remarkable and historical beers in the world. Additional samples will be available for purchase for $3 each.

Premier level ticketing is available for $40 per person, and includes access to a VIP tasting of exclusive Belgian Ales at 1:00pm, and unlimited tasting at the festival.

Food is not included, but our normal menu will be available.

Partial List of Beers (Subject to availability):
Tripel Karmeliet
Kwak
Deus
Duchesse de Bourgogne (Flemish Red Sour)
Urthel Hop It
St. Feuillien
Dubuisson Scaldis
St. Bernardus Abt 12
Chimay White
Chimay Blue
D'Achouffe Houblon Chouffe
Duvel
Liefmans' Kriek
Orval
Westmalle Dubble
Westmalle Triple

I could be wrong, but aren't all of these beers available in Austin? So why the hell would I spend $22/25 to sample them. Correct me if I am wrong. I like Zax. There food is tasty. They always have a fairly decent tap selection. But this is lame. I remember last year's list of beers being better. I was hoping for more. Something special, even rare.