It's the most wonderful time of the year! BOCK SEASON BABY! After the dog days of summer and the 58 minutes of winter we get in Houston, nothing NOTHING is better than late February in Houston, Texas. 70 degrees outside, crawfish are starting to pop up, and I can be found on the golf course on my Friday's off. But that also means that the Spring Bocks are back. Sweet, malty, low hops, crisp, easy to drink, clean, pure. I absolutely love. So let's make it happen.
Beer Log: Right now
State: A little loopy from last nights beering, especially the Saint Arnold Farmer's Brown
Clear amber, kinda great malt nose, a pinch raisiny taste, low hops. Has a nice water thing going that Abita is known for. Nice light body, good mouthfeel. Sure could use some crawfish right now. Light bitter aftertaste that barely lingers. High 3 stars.
Golden, pinch more straw. Good caramel malt and raisin thing going on. Smell something like wheat. Good chewier beer. Has a light bread thing going, seemingly noble hops and whatnot. Nice cookie thing going on. High 3 stars, but not as high as Abita's Mardi Gras.
Tinged amber color. Syrup sweet thing smell. Big caramel/cinnamon thing, with a pinch of brown sugar. Great meld of sweetness with crisp crisp aftertaste. After you drink it, it's like sipping a new one. 5 stars.
Even a darker amber, copper color. Head waned quickly, so not much nose. Much stronger sweetness than SA, but a little more cloying. Has some chalkiness to it. I like the way it comes together, just that the water is not there. It's actually great, just came after the SA Bock. 4 stars.
Great golden straw color. Nice lasting head. Cookie sweetness thing again. Much softer beer, better taken care of than b-ridge. Has a light hop and light sweetness to it. Extremely drinkable. A little more balanced with the hops. Has a lemony hop I'm getting now. Palate getting low. High 3 stars.
Very clear straw. Very tasty caramel malt, nice sweetness, low hops. Has a little honey thing going on as well. Great light mouthfeel as well. Has some light bread to it, but more of a oatmeal raisin bread. Funny thing is I don't care for raisins, but I love the flavor in the beer. Kinda running out of taste buds there. No rating right now.
With a law like this in place, the number of microbreweries in Texas would SKYROCKET. You could actually stay in business long enough to become a player in the game. Please write your representative about the bill and voice your support. Check out http://texasbeerfreedom.org/ for more information.
We find ourselves at a serious crossroads here in Texas Craft Beer. A number of brewers are trying to get going, and these entrepreneurs truly embody the spirit of free enterprise and pride in one's product. Right now these folks are hamstrung by laws that force them to only sell their beer via distributors. Whatever that profit margin is, it's NOTHING compared to the profit margin micros could get by selling just a fraction of their beer onsite.
The distributors will have nothing to worry about. Only a small few are actually going to dragass all the way to the brewery for a few bottles. 98% of the time, we are all going to go to Specs or HEB or Kroger to get our beering. However, letting these folks sell some beer onsite will give the micros a chance to build capital quickly, and allow them to remain viable businesses while they are pounding the pavement for taps and shelf space.
BTW, Rally today at the Flying Saucer in Houston at 3PM. Some special beers will be poured and I'm sure someone will get a speech going or something. The more the merrier.
So Shiner (the folks that got me into craft beer) have come out with a new seasonal Dortmunder and a Double Wheat for the 102nd anniversary beer. The Dortmunder calls itself an ale, which I believe the first version was a lager. My non-craft beer bud light folk love it. It's a basic light lager when I prefer my lagers at least at Premium Lager strength. Of course the bigger the flavor the better.
Beer Log: Right now State: Stuffed with the wife's spaghetti, watching Princess and the Frog again with the kid
Shiner 102: Double Wheat Picked up a sixer of this one today at Specs on Barker-Cypress. Has a very very clear appearance, no haziness at all. The nose is a little leaven bread thing going on, as well as the taste. Moderate carbonation and a nice saaz hop thing going on. I can get a sense of the wheat beer, some light bread and banana, but that's it. I guess if I were thinking a Double Wheat beer, I'm thinking of those big Imperial Wheat beers like Sam Adams or the Wheat Wine from Boulevard. This one has the hoppiness of a premium lager or dortmunder. The body is reminiscent of wheat, kinda like St. Arnold's Lawnmower. The 6.2% ABV is greatly masked however. Very very soft beer. You put this on one during summer time and or even just yesterday, it would do well. As the temperature plummets to below freezing, drinking this beer now ain't gonna get it. Hopefully they'll hold out until March with this beer. I think more brothas would give this one a shot. I'll give this a low 3 stars for now. Gotta love that Shine though...
So a couple weeks ago I find thought I was able to squeeze in enough time to run by Petrol Station for some stout/porter party, which Ben said I can call the "Black Party". The place was packed with people and had one special guest, the head man at Jester King, Jeff.
Hold up....
Beer Log: Right now State: Tongue a little burnt from tea and hot tomato catfish I was eating
Breckenridge Pandora's Bock Ruby-brown color with a great clarity. I love how this puppy has a nice light head and that sweet malt nose of the lighter bocks, though it's darker in color. The taste is that perfect light caramel-cookie-cinnamon with a pinch of chocolate and toast that makes Bock season my favorite beer season of all. Light bitterness, dare I say English hops with the simpleness of it all. I can see I'll be drinking these steely bocks as long as they'll let me. 4 Stars for the simple and excellently crafted beer.
The beeradvocate dudes are hating on it, but whatever. Those guys are like how I used to be, where only the hugest mega-hopped barrel aged with a specialty strains harvested from the Lost City of Atlantis would spark my interest. You just weren't a true craft brewer if you were spitting out a pilsner or helles. After surfing the strong, creative stuff which I still love, I find that I'm getting a major appreciation for the subtly of a Bohemian pilsner, the gentleness of a German maibock, and sometimes the smoothness of an English mild. Plus I don't have to have a DD to get home. Funny that I find myself copping a sixer of Pilsner Urquell more often than say a Broken Halo IPA.
OK, so Petrol was jam packed with people and I had an excellent long conversation with Jeff about his beer and how things are going. Being the consummate Houston oil-man, I couldn't help but try to sell our city and how great it is for craft beer, just has not had much success in the brewpub scene. I couldn't help but point out that sheer number of people drove many miles to the hood just for a stout party at some bar the size of a postage stamp. It's instances like that that show me we really are thirsty" for craft beer in Houston. Luckily Jeff has some space to get beer to the larger Houston beer bars, so I should be able to drown in Wytchmaker IPA all I want.
Just quickly on the beering...
Beer Log: January 22, 2011
State: Relaxed, just downed a ton of PS's great french fries, not really in the mood for the Oxtails, fried chicken, waffles, and collard greens they were cooking out back. Just a quick thing on the food, I had a few tweets and texts with some of the brothas out there. I think it's ultra cool that Petrol broke out the soul food for this event. These guys are awesome.
Rogue Hazelnut John John The John John boys are at it again, this time with a hazelnut thing juicing with what I thought were whiskey barrels. Dark Amber gold. No head do no nose, but I get a great hazelnut flavor aged in probably whiskey. Low nutty AT. Has this thin body that makes it feel sessionable. Turns out it's rum barrels. 3 stars
Somewhere around this point I caught with several of the other Houston beer-munity, including a nice lady who recognized me from this blog and gave me a few really cool knit beer coozies, which I use all the time.
Jester King Black Metal Good strong roast and toast. Low hops and alc flavor. High carbo, very drinkable. As I kept drinking it, the hops came out as it warmed, and the black patent smoke starting coming through. Not bad at all. I typically shy away from black patent beers as I get a lot of smoke and band-aid flavor, but this one did not overdue it. 3 stars.
Rogue Dirtoir Very smooth and choco. The JK blows it up. I should have had this one first. Turns out this one was a black lager, which won't taste like much after you drink a smokey imperial stout and a rum-barrel stout.
512 Cream Stout
Much later on I did try this one. Very candy like. Chocolate/butterscotch thing going on. Again should have had this one first.
I am so far behind in my beer adventures blogging it's ridiculous. I've got San Francisco, Indianapolis, Cleveland, and Houston beer adventures of note since November. And I'm only getting further behind with the new beering available in Houston, and Bock season coming on strong. Future travels in the 1st and 2nd quarter should include Tampa (Ybor of course) Cozumel, St. Louis, and I'll probably hit up Austin for my birthday. Of course there are a couple of trips to New Orleans/Covington.
I'll probably fly Southwest this time to NO b/c they've got the NOLA and Covington beers on that side of the airport. On the Continental side they can only get you a bomber of Abita SOS and a shot glass of Jack, not that that's a bad thing, but I need that NOLA Blonde like a crackhead needs crack, and they ain't bottling. We are also looking at a trip to Boston some time soon to visit my wife's Alma Mater (MIT baby).
Well I'm about to start a new position at the job, same company and all. I was pretty comfortable where I was but these changes can happen. At least for the first time in my life, I'll actually have an office with a door, all to myself, with a view. I'm thinking about getting a tap handle put in somewhere along with a kegerator. Maybe score some Southern Star Pine Belt. A couple of guys on my new team are homebrewers, so this could get pretty cool. Well I step into the new job tomorrow at the new building and I know how I'm going to walk into the building.
Who says engineer's can't be sexy.
This beer comes in highly touted in beer geek world, as this a collaboration of Sam Adams and Weihenstephan. Infinium comes gorgeous 750ml bottle, complete with cork a la a champagne. Haven't really looked up the style, so I'm putting these in our Stella Artois goblets.
Beer Log: right now State: Kinda out of it with football, sitting at home with the fam
Sam Adams Infinium
Nose is kinda sour musty thing going on with a lot of bubbles coming off the amber color and white head. The first I notice something akin to sugar like belgian candy sugar you get in Westmalle. Has that musty, danky taste going on. Some sweet, some sour, some jolly rancher, high carbonation. Gets better the more you drink it, but um... It's very spicy and whatnot, but it's hard to believe they actually got all of this and still be a Purity Law Beer. This one is a little cloying to me. The Beeradvocates tore it a new one, especially the Bros. As I sit and chill with this beer, it does grow on me. I can get those herbal notes and whatnot, but I think I'll take DeuS over this one. It's surprisingly belgian/french to me. Some sourdough bread, cherry-tart, sugar sweet. Medium body that the hops and carbo cannot cut through. I wish it was a few shades more dry. 3 Stars. I know when I'm trying to impress folks with a Brut beer it's always been DeuS, and I think I'll stick to that one for now. We bought another one we put way back in the beer cellar, so we'll see how it works for now.
Beer Log: Right now State: Slightly Inebriated, watching college football
Brooklyn Local No. 2 Don't even remember when we bought this one, but I think it was at Specs. Deep brown color with a heavenly honey and orange nose. Kinda what I figure orange blossoms smell like. It's like I'm dancing through an orange and honey field, probably naked. This beer has a great strong orange zest thing going on. Lots of honey sweetness as well. Low hop bitterness and a quick jumping off the tongue. No HINT of the 9%+ ABV, which makes this beer very dangerous, as I could see myself drinking this one all day long. The dark color is deceptive, in that you think it's going to be all roasty and it's the exact opposite. Aftertaste is kinda dry, which is great. I'm giving this one a high 4 stars. I just love the lightness of it. Easily the best beer I've had by Bully.
As I sit here watching Dynamite! 2010 on HDNet DVR, I can't help but think this has been a most amazing year. Starting with the Houston beer scene, we saw the emergence of several new breweries, which had some honorable mentions for the best beer of the year (Ranger Creek Oatmeal Pale Ale and the Wytchmaker IPA by Jester King). Not to mention the killer Houston Beer Week by my babymamma Cathy Clark and beering for the first time at Petrol Station, River Oaks, and being 3 beers away from my 200th beer at the Flying Saucer. For a great wrap up of the beer events in Houston, please see my good friend and fellow MMA enthusiast barleyvine for a wrap-up. However, as I sip on my second Lagunitas Imperial Red, I cannot help but think of all the great places I was fortunate to visit this year.
I almost think that I should start with just after Christmas, which was a trip to Long Island, New York for some dear friends of ours. Two friends of ours got married in the LI and the wife and I had a great chance to try a number of New York beers like Captain Lawrence and Brooklyn. This year took to me to places like Indianapolis, New Orleans, Atlanta, and of course San Francisco. Sometimes you have to wonder about the beer travelers.
Sometimes I wonder, what if I actually find what I'm looking for? What if the Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA I smuggled from San Francisco's Bevmo in November be the best beer I've ever had. Or is is my 2010 beer of the year, the Real Ale Oktoberfest. What will I do if it turns out the best gastropub in the world is a soul food lunch place in Montgomery, Alabama we went to during Thanksgiving. (Nothing like Mac-n-cheese and fried chicken with Kasteel Tripel).
We made it to a number of different places this year without ever leaving the country. I still have to write up all the beers and city/restaurant reviews of these locales, but DAMMIT what a country for beer. San Fran, New Orleans, Lafayette, Mobile, Austin, Indy, and of course the newer spots in Katy and Cypress. This year I met small set of homebrewers that brew beer for Texans games and are in the same lot as me. I ran into hippies at Magnolia in Haight Asbury, threw fireworks for the Saints in Covington and of course later made it to the Abita Brewpub in Abita Springs. My only regrets is that I could not find the time to get back to my hometown of Charlotte or my wife's old stomping ground in Boston.
I didn't get anything international this year, but next year I'm looking forward to a trip to South America, maybe for another Marathon run, and I am dying for another trip to Europe, perhaps something in Denmark or Belgium. The wife and I are looking forward to a trip to Boston, and several more trips to New Orleans, Austin, and maybe a week longer to Canada. Holla back baby
