More From the Flying Saucer

Don't miss this tomorrow. Sounds tasty (from BA Forums):

This Thursday we are breaking out the Randall again. This week, October 1st, in honor of Falls arrival we will be pouring 512 Pecan Porter through the Randall filled with spiced pumpkin. We will be roasting the pumpkin and seasoning it this evening, to be poured at 7pm tomorrow. Sure to go very quickly.

More on the Upcoming Flying Saucer Fest

From Jess in the comment section:

I just wanted to pass on some additional info about the beers Flying Saucer will be offering on Oct. 24.

Flying Saucer's Fall Beer Festival will feature five beer tasting tents plus a full-pint tent, each with at least four brews chosen by Flying Saucer’s own resident beer guru, Keith Schlabs and Austin Flying Saucer general manager Ted Rowell. Featured beers will include rare special releases and cask-conditioned ales, including Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale and cask-conditioned North Coast Red Seal Ale in the West Coast tent and Avery Dugana IPA, cask-conditioned Breckenridge 471 IPA and Boulevard Smokestack Tank 7 in the UR Not Worthy tent.

The Captain’s Picks tent is scheduled to feature, among others, a brew made by Captain Keith at Sierra Nevada’s recent beer camp. The brew, called Sierra Nevada Edge of Darkness, will be offered in a very limited supply.

Dig Pub Oktoberfest

This is a shot of Dig Pub's Oktoberfest. The photo is from within my car. Wow, what coverage! Well, I guess I can explain it this way: We had such a good time, I forgot to take any photos of the festivities, until the very last minute. You should go next year.

If you liked this, wait till you see how I report on Fredericksburg's Oktoberfest this weekend. I am guessing a photo of F'burg in my rear view mirror as I drive back to Austin.

Over a Pint: Episode 8

LIVE at Opal Divine’s for Go Texas Beer Week with Beer Town Austin. And Craft Austin.

TX GABF Winners!

Saint Arnold Brewing Co.	Saint Arnold Summer Pils	TX	Gold	Munich Style Helles
The Covey Restaurant & Brewery	Weizenbock	TX	Silver	German-Style Wheat Ale
The Covey Restaurant & Brewery	"100"	TX	Silver	Belgian Style Strong Specialty Ale
Uncle Billy's Brew & Que	Hell In Keller	TX	Gold	Kellerbier/Zwickelbier

Congratulations!

http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/

Randalled

Randall in action at the Flying Saucer tonight. Left Hand Haystack pushed through three pounds of raspberries.



Left Hand Haystack on Raspberries. At first, I was not so impressed with the raspberry flavor. It was clearly a good hefeweizen though. I dumbly never tried it before. But then I took a sip of a Red Seal Pale Ale and went back to the Haystack and BANG RASPBERRY! Maybe they should mix hops and raspberries together in a Randall. Get on it Saucer.

Pump King

You think they could have found some larger cans of pumpkin. What a pain. For their sake, I hope this one is killer. All those bleeding cans. Ugh.

http://www.saintarnold.com

Go Tex!

Tonight

Zax + Saint Arnold = Oktoberfest. With mug giveaways!

Jester King Sample #5

Yet to be named English Blonde Ale flavored with central Texas peaches or Peach Ale

From the brewer.

The beer is essentially a blonde ale with Marris Otter base malt fermented with British ale yeast. It's then flavored after fermentation with a puree of central Texas peaches.

Let's just say this was my least favorite sample sent to me by Jester King. The peaches were definitely present and accounted for. It just was not my thing. It seemed a bit flat to me, flavor, not carbonation-wise.

........

We'll see I guess.

Oh, I got a new job, so I am sorry if the posts start to slowwwwwww......

Divine Reserve #9: Imperial Stout Pumpkin Ale

Coming Nov/Dec 2009.

"It's like a chocolate pumpkin pie, and 10% abv," Saint Arnold owner Brock Wagner reports. "My complaint with pumpkin ales is typically the body of the beer doesn't carry the spice."

I hope they make a lot of this. It's gonna sell like mad. Beer geeks are going to be drooling zombies with their face planted against Spec's doors all over Texas waiting for this one.

I love good pumpkin ales. Judging by the quality of their past DR releases, I am confident this one will fill the bill.

Pecan Porter Ice Cream

I love beer. I love ice cream. Best news I've heard all week:

READY FOR DESSERT? Within a day or two of this post, you should be able to go to 2 Amy’s Ice Cream locations in Austin and get a bowl or cone of the NEW (512) Pecan Porter Ice Cream, made with our own (512) Pecan Porter (duh).

Here are the locations where the (512) Pecan Porter Ice Cream will be available:

AMY’s ICE CREAMS
1012 W 6th St
Austin, TX 78703
(512) 480-0673

Get Directions

Get Directions

AMY’s ICE CREAMS
10000 Research Blvd # 140
Austin, TX 78759-5814
(512) 345-1006

Plans for weekend: made. My wife will be so happy. Bonus!

Jester King Sample #4

Fryeheitsgebot

Forget saying that name. Just forget it. I wrote this about the aroma: Strong hoppy, baby carrots, citrus. I don't remember that. Bitter up front, then sweetness sneaks in. I do remember it having a strong rye flavor, with caramel touches. Some fizziness. Not a quaffer, a sipper. Nice, not my favorite from them so far.

http://jesterkingbrewery.com/ales/

Some Recent Beers of Mine

I know you are dying to know what I have been drinking lately. Here you go. Daniela brought me back this Mahou from Spain. Before leaving I kept telling her, green can, green can, green can, no red can. The Mahou in a red can sucks. I love the Clasica. It's the perfect macro. You can even drink it right off the shelf, room temp. We did plenty of times.



The Beer Wench brought me this from Tampa. I just asked for a regular IPA and she brought me the souped up version. Very cool of her. It was really good. Went well with Conan's pizza.



Saint Arnold DR8. This is what happens when you drink half a bottle at home and your wife yells that you are late for a dinner party. Try showing up at a dinner party with one of these. Strange looks are only the beginning.

Jester King Sample #3

India Pale Ale

From the brewer:

Jester King India Pale Ale or IPA celebrates the wonderful flavor and aromatics of hops, one of the key ingredients in beer. Pouring brilliant orange with a beige head that leaves bountiful rings of lace on the glass, IPA has a fragrant citrus bouquet with notes of grapefruit, pineapple and mango. The delicious hop flavor is complimented by tastes of oven baked bread.

Like I have said before, they need a name for this beer. Every other beer they are developing has some catchy, well thought out name. Not this one. Anyway, it's tasty just the same. Murky. West-coast-style hop forward IPA. Twangs my jowls. Fairly smooth and easy drinking for all it's hop presence.



Hop Trip?

Lost Gold Cask and DR8 @ Draught House

Tonight. From Josh at the Draught House:

Back due to popularity, Real Ale Lost Gold IPA. Tapping at 3PM as usual.
Also, DR8 is in the House.

via http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/2150457

Via Mr. Lee Nichols

 

2nd Annual Fall Beer Fest

When: Saturday, October 24, Noon-10pm
Where: In the park at the Triangle
What: 30 Rare & Exciting New Beers
Why: Seriously….you know why

http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/austin

DR8 Ratings

They are starting to roll in. Via Rate Beer. No BeerAdvocate ratings yet.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/saint-arnold-divine-reserve-8/103643/
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/337/?sort=nameA

Divine Reserve #8

Tomorrow is Divine Reserve day. Let the festivities/insanity begin!

http://www.saintarnold.com/beers/divine.html

Jester King Sample #2

La Danse Macabre

From the brewer:

Pitch black obsidian with a large tan head that falls glacially leaving remarkable lace. Its nose is a mixture of espresso, bitter chocolate and anise. The silky body embraces flavors of crushed coffee beans, dark chocolate and roasted malt. The hop bitterness is significant, but yields to the hearty malt character. La Danse Macabre pairs well with cheesecake, ice cream, fruit tarts, and cream based soups.

He wasn't lying. This thing was pitch black. Sweet crude. I reached for that anise, but could not find it. Strong boozieness at first, only in the first step. Roastiness from there on out. Flavor and aroma were very good. Maybe a bit thin for a imperial stout.

Beer Across Texas released

Beer Across Texas: A Guide to the Brews and Brewmasters of the Lone Star State

More info HERE and HERE.

Buy it HERE.

Jester King Sample #1

Finally...the only reason I started this stinking blog....free beer. Seriously though, thanks to Jeff and Jester King for sending along a nice box of samples.



Das Wunderkind!

From the brewer:

Das WUNDERKIND! is an American wheat ale heavily hopped with a blend of Amarillo, Centennial and Simcoe and fermented with a clean, crisp California ale yeast strain. It's a session beer with a fairly low ABV and simple grain bill, but flavorful as all hell with copious amounts of hops late in the boil and dry hops after fermentation. It's delicious with foods such as salads, sushi or vegetable dishes.

Just look at it. That is one pretty beer, no denying. No joke, it is full of hops, a bitter and refreshing wheat ale. Zesty, fruity. This would surely make a great year round beer for the Texas market. This is one I will definitely be picking up. Jeff, get it in stores soon!

http://jesterkingbrewery.com

Souther Star Saison

Still looking forward to this. It's on tap in Houston. Some good things are being typed about it.

Oktoberfest Sightings

I love Oktoberfest. And the Oktoberfest beer style. Some local versions are starting to crop up.

So far I've had Live Oak's and Saint Arnold's.


Real Ale's first Oktoberfest (and first lager, right?) should be hitting spots this weekend, according to their facebook page.

Have not seen or had Rahr's yet, but looking forward to it.

Who am I missing?

Shelton Bros in Texas

From the BA Forums:

Most of you probably don't know me, but I work for Shelton Brothers Importers, and just moved to Fort Worth from Madison, WI (and Chicago, before that). As most of you are probably aware, the exorbitant licensing fees and unique labeling requirements in TX limit what we're able to bring in to the state, but nonetheless, we are making a few strides. With that, the following are scheduled to hit our distributor's warehouse sometime in the next several days:

Mikkeller It's Alive (750ml)
Mikkeller Monk's Brew (750ml)
Mikkeller Big Worse Barley Wine (375ml)
Slaapmutske Tripel Nightcap (750ml)
Ridgeway Foreign Export Stout (500ml)
Ridgeway IPA (500ml)
Ridgeway Bad King John (500ml)
Kapuziner Weissbier (500ml)
Kulmbacher Eisbock (330ml 6-packs)
Kulmbacher Edelherb Pils (5L mini-kegs)
Kulmbacher Moenchshof Schwarzbier (5L mini-kegs)

These are all being distributed statewide by Mexcor, who seems pretty serious about jumping into the craft beer business.

For detailed information on any of the beers, please visit our site at www.sheltonbrothers.com.

On the next order, which we hope will follow quickly, we'll also be looking to add some kegs, and then we'll be introducing a few more beers, including the various holiday beers from these breweries, over the course of the next several months. Eventually, we hope to add a few more breweries from our portfolio, as well, but first we need to be reasonably sure that the combination of the interest level in the market and the availability of the beers in question is going to justify the annual cost.

Any questions, please feel free to email me directly at ron@sheltonbrothers.com.

Cheers,
Ron Extract

www.sheltonbrothers.com
www.beeradvocate.com