Firkin Friday with Express Oak Aged YETI!

Happening now:

Interesting

Silas smells a collaboration ale. I smell a 1-Barrel Belgian Brewpub Deathmatch. But I guess a collaboration would be tasty too.

Boulevard Imperial Stout, NOW WITH BRETT

Whoops:

"It is Batch #2 of the 2011 Imperial Stout that exhibits the Brettanomyces trait. In retrospect, we should have called attention to this Brett character on the label. Because we didn’t, and because some consumers got a beer that was different from the one they had a legitimate right to expect, we’re offering a refund to anybody who feels shortchanged, and who can reasonably demonstrate that they did in fact buy a bottle of Batch #2 of our 2011 Imperial Stout."

I'd drink that.

Yeah, Another One

What, one new brewery today was not enough?

Fine, check this out.

h/t: Some zealot

Brewery Dada

How many times have I typed this: Yet another Austin brewery on the horizon. Today we have Brewery Dada. Still fund raising and planning and building and stuff. Dada this:

Brewery DADA has been in the minds of homebrewers Annie and Mercury McCall since they started brewing together in 2007. Their brews are marked by an adventurous spirit of invention and experimentation. They liken their brew style and aesthetic to the tenants of the DADA artistic movement, namely, a very specific absence of definitions and functions aligned with the propensity to collage and combine disparate ephemera.

h/t: Beertown Austin

Beer River

Brookston put this up last night. Why are they filming this? Did they know for sure it was going to fall? I'm guessing they tried to right the problem before filming, otherwise I call shenanigans.

What Happened Yesterday

I usually try to at least post one thing per day. Must have been busy, I didn't even post the easiest of posts - a reminder. Ok, here it is:

REMINDER

UNCLE BILLY'S 4th ANNIVERSARY PARTY IS TODAY (Yesterday I would have said TOMORROW)

New Belgium Take Over Draught House

This from Draught House Josh:

The phrase of the moment is "tap takeover" and who are we to resist. This Wednesday (the 27th) we will be taken over by New Belgium and be pouring eight of their beers.

We are happy to have both Love, the unblended base for La Folie and other sour beers, and Super Cru, their 20th anniversary ale, to serve.

In addition, we will be pouring Le Terroir, La Folie, Fat Tire, Mothership Wit, Ranger IPA and Somersault, their new spring seasonal.

PLUS, with any beer purchase, a globe glass is FREE.

But that's not all. We will also have cheese samples gratis with some (perhaps all) of the beers. And to top it all off Miss Lauren Salazar, sensory analyst extraordinaire, will grace us with her presence.

Sofia is Stoned, ugh

My wife was in San Diego a few weeks ago. She went to Stone. She was well impressed.



Did I already post this?



I was jealous of course, but at least she came back with a My Last Pint.

Real Ale Ride

Fix them flats, it's time to ride.

Dogfish/Alamo Feast - Off-centered Film Fest

Friday was the Feast portion of the Off-Centered Film Fest.



Seared Diver Scallop paired with Namaste. Best plate of the night, texture and flavor were spot on. This was my first taste of Namaste. I liked it, spicy and drinkable.



Smoked trout mousse. This was good. My dinning partner was not a huge fan, but he doesn't like smoked fish, sooooo. Paired with Aprihop, which seems to be less apricoty this year, still good though.



Koubes - bulgar wheat shell stuffed with roasted eggplant. This was the vegetarian dish of the night, so I can't hate. They tried. Try this next year with a squirt of Sriracha. It would go great with Midas Touch.



Smoked quail, ramps, wild mushroom empanada paired with Pangea. I think this was my lest favorite dish. The filling was good, but the empanada crust was chewy. Ooo that Pangea is sweet, a sample is nice though.



Seared bison and chimayo chile posole. This is a stomach killer for a pseudo-veg like myself, but I ate the whole thing. The posole was really good, but I prefer my posole in a bowl and a lot more of it. Cut the meat, give us a cup of posole. Paired with Raison D’Etre.



Cherry and Duck confit, barley risotto. Oh yeah, really loved this. It was paired with Immort Ale, but wish I had a normal 60-Minute IPA. That would have been perfect.



Bittersweet chocolate ganache in a ginger caramel crisp with candied grapefruit. The grapefruit was cool, but man do I hate ginger desserts. I like very basic desserts. Sorbet - perfect. Paired with this:



Vintage Fort, my favorite beer of the night. Love this beer. Forget a dessert, just serve this. Pair it with yr full belly.







Chris and Josh.



At the end of the night they showed some outtakes from Brew Masters. That lasted a good two minutes, almost as long as the show was on the air.

Thanks to Dogfish Head and Alamo Drafthouse for having us out. Good time as always.

Real Ale Lost Gold IPA Packaging

Cool.

The Texas Artisanal Beer Fundraiser UPDATED

The TABF is happening on May 1 and it benefits the Austin YMCA. RSVP and make donation (suggested donation has been lowered to $50). Donate and donate big. You will be rewarded, these breweries, brew pubs and companies will be pouring:

NXNW Restaurant and Brewery
The Dodging Duck Brewhaus
Freetail Brewing Company
Uncle Billy's Brew & Que
Live Oak Brewing Company
Eola School Restaurant Brewery and Lodge
Lovejoys Taproom
Blue Star Brewing Company
Independence Brewing Company
Fredericksburg Brewing Company
Black Star Co-op Pub and Brewery
Jester King Craft Brewery
Padre Island Brewing Company
Draught House Pub & Brewery
Thirsty Planet Brewing Company
Darkside Fermentation
Boulevard Brewing Company
(512) Brewing Company
Circle Brewing Company
Rahr and Sons Brewing Company
Ranger Creek Brewing and Distilling
Hops and Grain
Real Ale Brewing Company
Artisanal Imports - Brouwerij Bosteels, Brasserie St-Feuillen
Manneken-Brussel Imports - Chimay

STRANGE BREW BEER PARTY - Off-centered Film Fest

Last Thursday was the STRANGE BREW BEER PARTY, part of this year's Off-centered Film Fest. The line up was killer, as mentioned earlier. Doors opened at 6, I got there at 8:45. Guess what? Yup, missed all those amazing beers. When I arrived there was still some good stuff on tap, but not the ones I was looking forward to. I can't complain, I should have arrived earlier. Still, it made me cranky. What a baby! We grabbed a couple 90-Minutes and plopped down to soak up the movie.



This is what the movie looked like from my vantage point.



This is the way I wanted it to look.

Think my photos suck? No worries. FONS PR sent these along:





Donut eating contest.



Dudes. Rob's shirt.

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.

Twisted X Brewing Co. - Coming (Very) Soon

Just got an email from Twisted X. The big news is that they are set to launch in less than a month. Congratulations guys. Also he attached the above photo of their tap handle. I like em. More details about initial release party coming next week.

Live Oak's 14th Anniversary Party

This was in their inbox and then I asked them to send it to mine . . . now it's in my inbox:

WHO: Live Oak Brewing Company, White Mountain Foods, Smokey Denmark and others

WHAT: LOBC Anniversary Party (#14) and SpringFest.

WHEN: Saturday, April 16 - noon to six

WHERE: 3301-B E. 5th St. in beautiful East Austin

WHY: Because we can! And to thank you, our loyal friends and customers, for helping us to be where we are today!

YOU BRING: Outdoor chairs if you've got them.

Please join us this coming Saturday for a great afternoon of food, beer, music and fun. Musical lineup includes: Olde World, Leo Rondeau, Corinne Rose, The Lennings, Chinask, and DW & Superlites. Children are welcome (there will be activities for them), but please, no pets, four-legged, feathered, or slithering (even on a leash).

As many of you may know, there are a number of bills in the House and Senate this legislative session pertaining to the business of small breweries and brewpubs. We'll have a table with information re HB 2436 / SB 1575 (which would allow a small brewery - under 75,000 bbl to sell beer for on and off premises consumption to you, the ultimate consumer); here's a link to the Facebook page in support of this very important legislation - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Texas-82R-HB-2436-SB-1575/115242871889981.

And here's a link to our very own Live Oak Brewing Company Genuine/Official Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/liveoakbrewingcompany. Please take a moment to visit and "like" us!

Look forward to seeing everyone this Saturday! Cheers!

Uncle Billy's 4-Year Anniversary

Like last year, this year's anniversary party is sure to be a good time. Looking forward to trying their anniversary beer:

Our Anniversary Ale is going to be a hoppy Belgian style ale with German Pils malt, a touch of Belgian candy sugar, german hops for the early kettle additions and american hops for the late kettle, dry hop and hop back.

The details:

WHEN: Thursday, April 28 at 11:00am - April 29 at 2:00am
WHERE: 1530 Barton Springs Road

Euro Beer #9 - The Harp

In the fall of 2007 my wife and I traveled through Europe for 10 weeks. We ate a lot of food and drank of a lot of beer (and wine). Not enough food, not enough beer. These were our last beers in London:



Euro Beer #9 - The Harp

Killing time before meeting up with a friend for dinner, we stumbled upon the Harp. And what a discovery! I knew upon walking into the pub, it was the real deal. This was to be our last beer in London and it was a fine way to end our days there. The spot was jumping with after-work drinkers. We grabbed our pints and sneaked towards the back. It felt good to be in a legit pub. Look how happy I was, almost a grin. The beer:




First up, Sofia had a Spitfire Ale and I had a Bateman's XXB. Both great, the XXB was amazing.



My Black Sheep Best Bitter. It was very good. I enjoyed it whilst taking in the lovely paintings adorning the Harp's walls.

For more euro foodage and drinkage, go here.

The Harp
47 Chandos Place
London



Look, this was our dinner after the Harp. Ping Pong!

Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies

Nice to see Real Ale popping up on the list this year. Congrats to Shiner and Saint Arnold (I think Saint Arnold was on last year's list) as well. Texas coming up. From the Brewers Association:

Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies (Based on 2010 beer sales volume)

Rank Brewing Company City State
1 Boston Beer Co. Boston MA
2 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Chico CA
3 New Belgium Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO
4 Spoetzl Brewery* Shiner TX
5 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR
6 Independent Brewers United (IBU)* Burlington VT
7 Matt Brewing Co. Utica NY
8 Bell’s Brewery, Inc. Galesburg MI
9 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA
10 Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City MO
11 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE
12 Alaskan Brewing and Bottling Co. Juneau AK
13 Long Trail Brewing Co. Bridgewater Corners VT
14 Stone Brewing Co. Escondido CA
15 Abita Brewing Co. Abita Springs LA
16 Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY
17 Lagunitas Brewing Co. Petaluma CA
18 Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River OR
19 Shipyard Brewing Co. Portland ME
20 Summit Brewing Co. St. Paul MN
21 New Glarus Brewing Co. New Glarus WI
22 Great Lakes Brewing Co. Cleveland OH
23 Anchor Brewing Co. San Francisco CA
24 Kona Brewery LLC* Kailua-Kona HI
25 Rogue Ales Newport OR
26 Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Paso Robles CA
27 Sweetwater Brewing Co. Atlanta GA
28 Flying Dog Brewery Frederick MD
29 Victory Brewing Co. Downingtown PA
30 Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. San Jose CA
31 BJ’s Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc. Huntington Beach CA
32 Stevens Point Brewery Co. Stevens Point WI
33 Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO
34 BridgePort Brewing Co.* Portland OR
35 Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurants Louisville CO
36 Oskar Blues Brewery Longmont CO
37 Blue Point Brewing Co. Patchogue NY
38 Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe Eureka CA
39 Big Sky Brewing Co. Missoula MT
40 North Coast Brewing Co. Inc. Fort Bragg CA
41 Mac and Jack’s Brewery Redmond WA
42 The Saint Louis Brewery, Inc. Maplewood MO
43 Bear Republic Brewing Co. Cloverdale CA
44 Karl Strauss Brewing Co. San Diego CA
45 Breckenridge Brewery Denver CO
46 Utah Brewers Cooperative Salt Lake City UT
47 Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants Chattanooga TN
48 Saint Arnold Brewing Co. Houston TX
49 Real Ale Brewing Co. Blanco TX
50 Ninkasi Brewing Co. Eugene OR

(512) WHISKEY BARREL AGED DOUBLE PECAN PORTER – 750ml BOTTLES

photo: (512) Brewing

It's that time again. Buy them here:

Whole Foods - Downtown (One per person, should have around 1pm Today)
Whip In (2 per person, available now)
Spec's Liquors - Brodie (3 or 4pm today) and Arbor Walk (by 1pm today)
Twin Liquors - bee cave/Hancock and a few others

Brooklyn Brewery Brewmaster’s Reserve Coming to Texas

Good news to start out the week:

We are excited to announce that our Brewmaster’s Reserve line of draft-only specialty beers has broken the borders of Texas, and will for the first time be available State-wide.

2011 Off-centered Film Fest, STRANGE BREW BEER PARTY

Yo check out this beer list for the opening event for the 2011 Off-centered Film Fest:

(512) Brewing Company: Firkin of Cascabel Stout with extra peppers! A Tex-mex twist on a traditional English style – this firkin has been blessed with even MORE Cascabel peppers. Milky malt and potent peppers together in holy matrimony!

Circle Brewing Company: Envy Amber! Envy is the perfect balance between malt and hops. Not too dry or too sweet, it is a full-bodied and complex beer without being overly heavy. The notes of dried fruit make this the kind of beer that is hard to have just one of.

Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales: 90 Minute IPA! An imperial IPA that is so solid that it’s hard for a sentence on a blog to do it justice. Although it is hopped continuously for, you guessed it, 90 minutes, it is not as bitter as you would expect – there is a citrus and malt sweetness that works with the hops to make one of the best sips of beer in America. Dogfish is showing off their MORE of their portfolio at the other Off-Centered Film Fest screenings and they are all a force to be reckoned with.

Independence Brewing Company: Brewluminati! A special single malt, single hop ale that aims to overthrow mass produced, mass marketed American beers one gulp at a time.

Jester King Craft Brewery: JK/Mikkeller collaboration: Drink’in the Sunbelt! This is a special tapping of this hoppy, flavorful session ale that was made with the world renowned Danish “gypsy brewer.”

Live Oak Brewing Company: Chipotle Liberation Ale! A special take on the delicious citrusy yet hoppy Live Oak staple fortified with the scoville defying chili peppers!

Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling: Port barrel-aged La Bestia Aimable Belgian-style dark strong ale! This will be the FIRST tapping of this extraordinary sounding 9.4% abv beer. The beer aged for months in a Dry Comal Creek (TX Hill Country winery) port barrel. Get it here first!

Real Ale Brewing : Highlander! From Real Ale’s Mysterium Verum range of experimental beers comes Highlander – Real Heavy Scotch Ale aged in French and American wine barrels and then blended together. This interesting big beer will be a hot item at the event as it’s rarely released to the public. There can be only one.

Thirsty Planet Brewing: Double Buckethead IPA! By now, Austin beer drinkers are familiar with the rightfully popular Buckethead, but most locals haven’t yet had a chance to partake in its incredible and even hoppier brother the Double

Wow, great list! See you there.

HB 2436 /SB 1575

What would HB 2436/SB 1575 do? It would let breweries of a certain size (under 75k barrels) to sell directly to the consumers. It would allow these breweries to have real tasting rooms (bars) selling beer for off-premises and/or on-premises quaffing.

Earlier today, I sat down with a Chip McElroy of Live Oak to discuss HB 2436/SB 1575. Actually we just talked on the phone. I was sitting down, not sure about Chip.

Chip said that this is primarily a marketing issue. It would be a great tool for reaching

potential new customers and helping test possible new products. Sales would be made face to face, with the people who actually made the beer. In addition to the marketing aspect, the bill would open up a new revenue stream, which does not currently exist. Still though, most of their beer would not be sold at the brewery. The vast majority of sales would still be made at third party outlets, via wholesalers. And this, Chip pointed out, is a very important feature of the bill: Allows for sales at breweries without threatening the three tier system. Similar bills have been introduced in the past two sessions, but Chip and co. have a lot of confidence in this "tight, clean" bill

.

You are probably thinking, "What can I do?" Easy, contact a committee member. Before contacting, gather a handful of talking points from Scott Metzger's ECONOMIC IMPACT AND POTENTIAL OF THE TEXAS CRAFT BREWING INDUSTRY.

(512) Brewing posted this handy contact list for us:

CALL/FAX/EMAIL SUPPORT TO THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

House Licensing and Administrative Procedures

Representative Mike Hamilton (chairman)

phone number (512) 463-0412

fax number (512) 463-1915

Website http://bit.ly/h6ObWp

Representative Chente Quintanilla (vice chairman)

phone number (512) 463-0613

fax number (512) 463-1237

Website http://bit.ly/eFSJYX

Representative Joe Driver

phone number (512) 463-0574

fax number (512) 463-1481

Website http://bit.ly/hzRnKP

Representative Charlie Geren

phone number (512) 463-0610

fax number (512) 463-8310

Website http://bit.ly/hHLk1w

Representative Roland Gutierrez

phone number (512) 463-0452

fax number (512) 463-1447

Website http://bit.ly/hgBqoG

Representative Patricia Harless

phone number (512) 463-0496

fax number (512) 463-1507

Website http://bit.ly/fAzz2b

Representative John Kuempel

phone number (512) 463-0602

fax number (512) 480-0391

Website http://bit.ly/fcEqJX

Representative Jose Menendez

phone number (512) 463-0634

fax number (512) 463-7668

Website http://bit.ly/h3qiMp

Representative Senfronia Thompson

phone number (512) 463-0720

fax number (512) 463-6306

Website http://bit.ly/gaMwf1

Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Feast @ S. Lamar Alamo Drafthouse

Still have not tried all four of the SN Anniversary Beers? It's not too late. Alamo is hosting Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Feast: HIGH SIERRA. Drink the four beers, watch High Sierra and chomp on some good grub. It's happening April 18. The menu:

Amuse Bouche – Goat cheese Panna Cotta with bacon and cashew.
Beer: Pale Ale

1 “Pork Chops and Apple sauce” – Select bone in chops with fresh apple sauce and finger fries.
Beer: Jack and Ken’s Ale

2 Mama Agata’s Puttanesca – Fresh pasta with tomato, olives, capers, scallops, and parmesan reggianito.
Beer: Charlie, Fred and Ken’s Bock

3 High Sierra Burger – Choice ground lamb on a freshly baked buttered bun, cave aged gruyere, arugula and Sierra Nevada mustard.
Beer: Grand Cru

4 Bogart Tart – A chocolate tart filled with espresso mousse and topped with fresh blackberries and shaved chocolate.
Beer: Fritz and Ken’s Ale

Saint Arnold Pub Crawl #3: April 9 DETAILS

From Frank at Saint Arnold:

Saint Arnold Afternoon Austin Pub Crawl, this Saturday, April 9

We will utilize our "open house" schedule for the first 3 stops. This means that we will be signing tickets at all of the first three stops for three hours so you can enjoy a beer at each one with only a quarter of the people crammed into each establishment. You will get your ticket at whichever stop you decide to visit first. But, VERY IMPORTANT, we will only be handing out the tickets between 3 PM and 4 PM. Thus, you still need to start between 3 and 4. Then, at 6 PM, everybody will gather at one final stop and that is where we will award the prize.

The prize for making all four stops will be our newly designed Pub Crawl pint glass! And as always, designated drivers are both eligible for the award and encouraged to attend. Also, some locations will have a limited amount of Divine Reserve No. 11!

So here is the layout and our vague directions:

The first three stops:
A little bar full of LOVE and JOY! Think Neches river.
A 'SKINNY' little ballroom on San Jacinto/2nd St;
Is it GINGER or Maryann?

The final stop:
At 6:00 we'll head west to a DIVINE place near Rio Grande, where we will have beer upstairs and downstairs.

Remember that cash is helpful, be kind to your waitstaff, and always, always appear in public enjoying a Saint Arnold. We hold those that arrange for transportation to and from or use designated drivers in the highest regard!

Let's get it on. As they say.

Drinkin' Beer, Eatin BBQ and Saving Texas

Yesterday was the Drink Beer. Save Texas. event at Uncle Billy's on the Lake. It was my first time out there. If you have not been, go. It's great, everything you love about Uncle Billy's and more. And a stellar view. Don't look over the railing if you have a fear of heights, shit is high up there.

Since Beertown Austin (Josh) and I were repping as a unified front (Austin Beer Guide) for the day, I am going to steal some of their write up (these are Josh's photos too!):

Thanks to the Uncle Billy’s crew and Texas Beer Freedom for having us out for their fundrasing event to help improve the future of Texas craft beer. We heard good bands, drank some House Brown 660, toured the new brewhouse and enjoyed the views. Not a bad Sunday.

If you read this blog semi-regularly you should know about House Bill 660 and its efforts to allow brewpubs to sell their beers off-site. If you don’t know anything about it just go here, here or here to get schooled on what’s going on.

There’s still a long way to go, but it’s not too late to help. Check out the Texas Beer Freedom website for ways to donate, get involved or catch the next event.

Some beers. Nice shirt.



Rocking bands. And look, you can see a little peak of the lake in the back.




Insomniac Coffee Stout - best beer of the day.