Movin

Sorry for the slow down, we have been moving the last three days. We celebrated our new place with a bottle of Péché Mortel.

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.

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.

NYT on Growlers

Growlers are not an unfamiliar thing in these parts. And that is good thing. Bierkraft (in my old n'hood Park Slope) gets even more coverage today in the NYT. I've never seen one store get so much coverage. Don't get me wrong, I loved that place, just seems heavy handed. It's like me with Beer Town Austin, jeez.

Just Saw This at Central Market

This one snuck up on me. Really want to try it.

More Black Star

Whilst I am on the subject, Lee from I Love Beer and Austin Chronicle fame has a cool article in the Austin Chronicle on the rise of Black Star. I meant to link to this last week. Again, forgive me, calorie excuse. Check it out.

Black Star Building Stuff

Beer Town Austin has a neat video/photo collage going on at their site. I know, ANOTHER BTA related post. Sorry, I am gettin a bit lazy maybe. I blame it on the lack of calories I am gettin'. Diets suck.

Debbie Does Dunkels

The bub crawl was fun yesterday. More on that later. The guys at Beer Town Austin follow that with this.

Load yr film and get it on.

SUNDAY - Like This, Less Douchey

Don't Forget This Weekend's Bub Crawl

*MEET AT CROWN & ANCHOR AT 4 PM. WE WILL DEPART FROM THERE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF 4:45 PM*

BEER TOWN AUSTIN

Stone Skips Across The Pond: Part 1

Greg is no Anthony Bourdain, but it's about beer - sooooooooooo it's still fun.

From Stone:

Here at Stone Brewing Co., we’re not content to merely work with awesome brewers from around the world on our collaboration beers. That’s why we’ve taken it a step further, by visiting a couple of our collaborators in their exotic homelands, brewing at their breweries, drinking their native beverages, and…eating their whales(?!)

To capture these madcap adventures, we’ve created a documentary of Greg, Mitch, and Steve’s trip to Norway and Scotland, where they brewed-up batches of collaboration beers at Nøgne-Ø and BrewDog. Along the way, watch as our intrepid crew relishes a Viking feast, braves the choppy waters of the North Atlantic, and seemingly attempts to bribe their way (with beer) into owning a lighthouse.

Pt1: Stone Skips Across the Pond from stonebrew on Vimeo.

The Future of Beer Bars? Not Likely.

Whilst doing some work research I came across these photos of the wine bar in the St. Regis Hotel. I can't believe I have not heard or read about this before. Obviously, wine bars are not my thing, but think of the beery implications. It is like a giant iphone app (I am thinking Beer Cloud) projected on to your bar or table. This would be interesting to see in a beer bar. But really it's just a novelty. I could not imagine this going on in a place like the Draught House, maybe Flying Saucer. Any place with this swanky action is not going to want me taking up a bar stool.

Photos snaked from The Map Office. They designed the graphics.

Sisyphus '09

Gettin' bottled son.

Via Facebook

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.

BTA Bike Pub Crawl (Bub Crawl)

www.beertownaustin.com

More Shiner 101 Info, Sort of

He's talking about the beer, right? Who knows...

Epicly Vertical

Matt graciously had a few of us knuckleheads out to his home for a Stone Vertical Epic tasting. It was a tasty good time. Thanks Matt.

We had 03.03.03 - 09.09.09.

My favorites were 03, 04, 08 and 09.

As usual, fellow advocates brought along some interesting selections to try between Epics. A couple standouts for me:

Moonlight Tower Brewing Co. - Austin

Via Texas Beer:

Welcome to the Moonlight Tower Brewing company blog! Here we hope to share our progress in starting a 100% organic microbrewery in Austin, Texas. We are still very early in the planning stages. Visit often or subscribe to get the latest Moonlight Tower Brewing news. Cheers!

At the Draught House Now

Two Beers

We are moving to South Austin. I gotta finish up my stupid Flying Saucer plate thing before I move. I do not see myself drinking there much after we move. Two from yesterday:





I love Foghorn.







Decent.

Spotted at HEB Tonight - Descutes Red Chair NWPA

Yum.

Did not catch the price. What a report...

RED CHAIR NWPA

Updates from Jester King

From Jester King:

JESTER KING BREWHOUSE AND FERMENTATION VESSELS PURCHASED

Jester King Craft Brewery in Austin has purchased a new 30 barrel brewhouse from Newland Systems, Inc. located outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. We chose Newland Systems because we were very impressed with their quality. They have a great reputation for crafting well-designed, durable brewhouses. Jester King’s brewhouse will be built in British Columbia over the next six to eight weeks then shipped to Austin. Here’s a picture of what the mash tun should look like when it’s finished.



Michael Steffing at Jester King has been working on the plans for outfitting the brewhouse once it arrives. Here are a few designs he created of the brewhouse with hot and cold liquor tanks, a grist case and brewhouse piping.



Also, here’s a little more detail into our vision of the brewery setup out at the ranch in southwest Austin:



Finally, Jester King purchased four 30 barrel conical fermenters from Pacific Brewery System Technologies to begin making craft beer. The concrete foundation for the warehouse will be poured later this month, and the warehouse is scheduled to be up by the end of March.

Thank you very much for your time and interest. If you have any questions, please contact Jeffrey Stuffings at (512) 364-7278 or jstuffings@jesterkingbrewery.com.

W'10 Pitch Black IPA and 33 Beers Journal (again)

Last week I winged about the size of these beer tasting journals. I don't know where I got the idea that these were large. As you can see they are about the size of an iphone. Actually perfect for bringing along to the bar. I stand corrected. I started my first journal with a "review" of Widmer Bros. W'10 Pitch Black IPA.



Sorry for the terrible handwriting. No one ever taught me how to hold a pen properly. The flavor wheel was my favorite aspect. Apparently W'10's flavor is best shown as sorta like a map of Texas. It was an exciting two minutes. I hope you like this, because I think I am going to start posting more of these.

Oh and W'10 is a very enjoyable beer. Get some.

Off Centered Film Fest

Get filming. More info here.

Over a Pint 14 - Independence Brewing

Over a Pint, Episode 14 from Beer Town Austin

Some items of interest:

... Stash IPA in bottles! Stash IPA in bottles! Stash IPA in bottles! …pending TABC label approval. ... Also they are working on getting the Convict Hill Imperial Oatmeal Stout in bottles soon.

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...

Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse!

Available now in Austin.

A sort of sad story

3 Fonteinen has decided to pack it in, as far as brewing lambics goes. They will continue to blend lambics and are starting a distillery as well. So it is not all sad news.

Thirsty Pilgrim has the full story.

Now I am craving a good lambic.

Also happening at Flying Saucer's 2nd Anniversary Party

Last year they were $1. Still pretty good though.

Beer Notes

Got some extra dough laying around after the Holidays? Here is a fun way to spend it. I have not written notes on beer in awhile, I go in cycles. When I do, I use a plain ole pocket notebook. These attractive pamphlets would probably make it more user friendly. I could not see myself carrying this into a bar though. I am a geek, but that would be over the line. Pocket notebooks are much smaller and you can pretend you are writing poetry, instead of beer notes. Which is worse? Home use only for me.

WIN TRIP TO THE BUDVAR BREWERY!

Pete Brown, UK beer writer, is hosting a contest to win his trip to Budvar.

Details can be found on his blog, which is one of my favorites.