Ah the Beave. Heard about this gastropub a few weeks ago and we had to check it out. You walk in and it has a whole rustic/eclectic/cut out of wood look to it. The tables and chairs at the bar are logs and whatnot. It smells like BBQ as well. I'll forgive the 3 beers on tap as they were all local beer, yet they made up for it with 75 bottled beers. This place is perfect for the Heights, a happening part of Houston just northwest of downtown. It looks pretty grimy, but it's damn expensive to live there.
I did try a couple beers...
Beer Log: May 9, 2009
State: Hanging out with the Misses
Southern Star Bombshell Blonde (ON TAP)
The more I research the beer name "Bombshell Blonde", the more I realize how unoriginal it is. But it's a helluva name, so I won't knock the boys from Conroe for coming up with it. Light malt nose. I notice a kind of chill haze orange color, no head. Moving on the taste, I get a light toast followed by bread (if you like amber beers, you'll know what I mean). A little grapefruity and a little sour (perhaps intentional?). There is some light bitter aftertaste, but that puckering sourness lingers and a touch cloyingness hurts. Medium body and medium carbonation. Sadly this is 2 Stars for Southern Star. I think they were trying to get to an amber ale, and it very well may be an amber ale if you entered it in competition, but not quite there for me.
(As I read these entries in my book from early May, everything seemed to taste sour and/or overly hopped. Could be my palette was evolving at the time).
By the way, take your girlfriend to Beaver's. It has a much better wine list than other beer bars and it has some very fun looking cocktails which I'm sure the ladies would love.
Real Ale Coffee Porter
From one extreme to the next. Light espresso nose. Black night color with a creamy head. It tastes like coffee, has a thin body, and is a touch watery at the back of the tongue. Low 3 Stars. The more I drink it the coffee morphs into chocolate and the mouthfeel is pretty dry. But that doesn't save this brew as the feeling of burnt coffee remains throughout the pint. Oh well.
I would much rather have a New Belgium Giddy Up or the Kona Pipeline Porter for my coffee porters. Again, this is at the same bar. These beers are local so I'm sure I'll have them again. If nothing else, Southern Star beer comes in cans, which is great if you're going to the beach or the pool.
After we made it back home I turned to my old trick of drinking a pale ale.
Summit Extra Pale Ale
I need to take some time and look up the difference between an "Extra Pale Ale" and a "Pale Ale". Holdup, I'm on the Internet, one sec...
Alright I'm back. After the first six pages of Google, I give up. I see a lot of beer pages for beers with "extra pale ale" in their name, but no formal definition. Wikipedia doesn't even have that. Someone please chime in and tell me what the specific style of "Extra Pale Ale" is. I get the feeling it is open to interpretation, but the XPAs I've had kind remind me of "Extra Special Bitters" ESB, in that the name is a misnomer. ESBs are not really bitter at all, and I find XPAs (save Bear Republic's) are not super hoppy like you'd think. Where was I?
Summit Extra Pale Ale
Light malt and orange nose. taste is some light malt and hops with a metallic character in the back of the palette. There is a funky type of hop with an icky hop aftertaste. Maybe it's sat too long in the store. The good woman brought this one back from her trip to Maryland. Clear amber color with offwhite lasting head. Low 3 Star to 2 Star.
I did try a couple beers...
Beer Log: May 9, 2009
State: Hanging out with the Misses
Southern Star Bombshell Blonde (ON TAP)
The more I research the beer name "Bombshell Blonde", the more I realize how unoriginal it is. But it's a helluva name, so I won't knock the boys from Conroe for coming up with it. Light malt nose. I notice a kind of chill haze orange color, no head. Moving on the taste, I get a light toast followed by bread (if you like amber beers, you'll know what I mean). A little grapefruity and a little sour (perhaps intentional?). There is some light bitter aftertaste, but that puckering sourness lingers and a touch cloyingness hurts. Medium body and medium carbonation. Sadly this is 2 Stars for Southern Star. I think they were trying to get to an amber ale, and it very well may be an amber ale if you entered it in competition, but not quite there for me.
(As I read these entries in my book from early May, everything seemed to taste sour and/or overly hopped. Could be my palette was evolving at the time).
By the way, take your girlfriend to Beaver's. It has a much better wine list than other beer bars and it has some very fun looking cocktails which I'm sure the ladies would love.
Real Ale Coffee Porter
From one extreme to the next. Light espresso nose. Black night color with a creamy head. It tastes like coffee, has a thin body, and is a touch watery at the back of the tongue. Low 3 Stars. The more I drink it the coffee morphs into chocolate and the mouthfeel is pretty dry. But that doesn't save this brew as the feeling of burnt coffee remains throughout the pint. Oh well.
I would much rather have a New Belgium Giddy Up or the Kona Pipeline Porter for my coffee porters. Again, this is at the same bar. These beers are local so I'm sure I'll have them again. If nothing else, Southern Star beer comes in cans, which is great if you're going to the beach or the pool.
After we made it back home I turned to my old trick of drinking a pale ale.
Summit Extra Pale Ale
I need to take some time and look up the difference between an "Extra Pale Ale" and a "Pale Ale". Holdup, I'm on the Internet, one sec...
Alright I'm back. After the first six pages of Google, I give up. I see a lot of beer pages for beers with "extra pale ale" in their name, but no formal definition. Wikipedia doesn't even have that. Someone please chime in and tell me what the specific style of "Extra Pale Ale" is. I get the feeling it is open to interpretation, but the XPAs I've had kind remind me of "Extra Special Bitters" ESB, in that the name is a misnomer. ESBs are not really bitter at all, and I find XPAs (save Bear Republic's) are not super hoppy like you'd think. Where was I?
Summit Extra Pale Ale
Light malt and orange nose. taste is some light malt and hops with a metallic character in the back of the palette. There is a funky type of hop with an icky hop aftertaste. Maybe it's sat too long in the store. The good woman brought this one back from her trip to Maryland. Clear amber color with offwhite lasting head. Low 3 Star to 2 Star.
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