Our wonderful and talented employee Sahara Smith has started a new monthly blog she’ll be writing exploring beer styles, beer history & the brewing process. The first installment is called Cellaring 101 and shares information on what and how to cellar. Each time she will also build a curated 6 pack available for purchase in the store. Read the first entry here.
Free Tastings 6-8pm
Thursday, February 19th – TONIGHT!
Nick Lensing from Dogfish Head will be in the house pouring free samples of 90 Minute IPA, Piercing Pils, Chateau Jiahu and Sixty One. BONUS – we’ll be releasing our allocation of the 120 Minute IPA that arrived today for purchase during the tasting. EXTRA SUPER DUPER BONUS: we’ll also be releasing for sale some 2014 120 Minute IPA.
Tuesday, February 24th
Brand new brewery Goliad Brewing Company in Southern TX is just launching their brand in Austin next week and we’re lucky enough to have the owners into our shop to support the launch. Taste their three releases for free! A Golden Ale, Black Hefeweizen & and an IPA. Join us and meet the brewers.
Wednesday, February 25th
Green Flash just launched a few new beers to the market this past week and they’re outstanding and hoppy, like most things GF does. Woody from the brewery will be tasting the 30th Street Pale ale, Soul Style IPA and Palate Wrecker in addition to a few others from Green Flash.
Thursday, February 26th
New Southern Star Austin rep Black Murrah will be in the house pouring free samples of Pine Belt pale ale, Valkyrie Double IPA, Bombshell Blonde, Buried Hatchet Stout & Red Cockaded imperial red. BONUS: We’ll be raffling off the ability to purchase the last 6 bottles of Black Crack from the 2014 shipment we received.
New Beers This Week
Breckenridge Whiskey Barrel Aged 72 Imperial Chocolate Cream Stout – Breckenridge for the first time bottled & sent their whiskey barrel aged version of their popular chocolate cream stout outside of their home state. It comes in at 11.2% and it’s not overly boozy. The whiskey notes play well with the chocolate but don’t overpower it. 11.2% ABV/Denver, CO/Ratebeer 93/Availability: decent but not a ton
Deschutes Abyss Barrel Aged Imperial Stout – Straight from the bottle: malt beverage brewed with blackstrap molasses, licorice, with cherry bark and vanilla added, aged 6% in oak bourbon barrels, 11% in oak barrels and 11% in oak wine barrels. 11.1% ABV/Bend, OR/Everyone rates it 100/Availability: limited
Deep Ellum Cherry Chocolate Double Brown Stout – Once a year the folks from Deep Ellum take their double brown stout for a spin by adding Red Tart & Dark Sweet Cherries as well as cocoa nibs during fermentation. The result is a decadent and rich dessert brew. 8% ABV/Dallas, TX/Ratebeer 88/Availability: plenty
New Braunfels Mexican Cannon – New Braunfels’ take on a German-style Gose uses their Luftweiss hefeweizen as the base beer. It is then secondary fermented in steel with 525 lime peels and 5 pounds sea salt. New Braunfels, TX/Availability: limited
New Braunfels Sangre de Shiva – Shiva’s Tears weizenbock was the base beer for this one which was then aged in Texas syrah barrels from William Chris Vineyards. Purposefully carbonated lower on purpose so the syrah sits on the tongue before dissipating. 8.2% ABV/New Braunfels, TX/Availability: limited
De Ranke XX Bitter & XXX Bitter – De Ranke is hands down one of the best Belgian breweries we receive in Texas. We received limited quantities of the XX and XXX Bitter beers (each is 750 mL), and each is a blond, bitter ale containing 6.2% ABV. Pale pilsner malt and loads of Brewers Gold and Hallertau hops create this well balanced brew. 6.2% ABV/Dottignies, Belgium/Ratebeer 97 and 98 respectively/Availability: limited
De Ranke Guldenberg – A strong blonde ale of about 8.5% alc. by volume that claims vaguely to be an “abbey” beer, Guldenberg bears no resemblance whatsoever to any Tripel you may have sampled, except in color perhaps. It is very hoppy and malty (though not quite as assertive as De Ranke’s XX Bitter). 8.5% ABV/Dottignies, Belgium/Ratebeer 96/Availability: limited
De Ranke Saison De Dottignies – Has aromas of crisp citrus with unripe orange among slightly spiced wet grass. Peppery spices get a mild, dough touch to them, due to a distinct, slightly tart and lemony yeast foundation. The taste mirrors the nose to a certain degree, with a fruity, lemony beginning, revealing clove, cardamon and pepper, together with orange zest. Very round, refreshing and versatile, while staying at lower abv, perfect example of a traditional saison. 5.5% ABV/Dottignies, Belgium/Ratebeer 96/Availability: limited
Mikkeller Chipotle Porter – What used to be called the “Texas Ranger” beer but is now rebranded as the Mikkeller Chipotle Porter, this is a very special and complex dark ale, brewed with American hops and malt, and made particularly unique by the addition of warming chili and hints of vanilla. 6.6% ABV/Copenhagen, Denmark/Ratebeer 99/ Availability: limited
To Ol Yeastus Christus – A farmhouse IPA, this one has lightly oxidized malt showing a bit of caramel, multigrain bread, light toast and some nutty toffee which lay a solid base, but it’s quickly overshadowed by remnant bittering hops and some real weird, brett funk (but it’s good funk). Bitter orange zest, a bit of sharp cheese rind, a strong grassy tang, and yellow grapefruit flesh take over the flavor profile quickly, moving toward a floral dimension on the back end. 7.4% ABV/Copenhagen, Denmark/Ratebeer 95/Availability: limited
To Ol/Mikkeller Betelgueuze – The founder of Mikkeller was actually a science teacher prior to starting his brewery, and 2 of his students then went on to found To Ol brewing. This beer is a collaboration between the 2 breweries and it is a severely dry hopped (10 different hops!) gueuze lambic. Complex, sour and hoppy. 5.5% ABV/Copenhagen, Denmark/Ratebeer 97/Availability: limited
Craig Allan Cuvee D’Oscar – Craig Allan is a French brewer who has studied at many different breweries in the UK. This is the first beer we’ve ever had from him, and he gypsy brews out of the de Proef brewery in Belgium. For this brew he started with the concept of a dunkelweisse (dark wheat beer) which emanates a sublime mix of tropical fruit aromas from the Nelson Sauvin dry hopping (mango and passion fruit aromas) and clove and banana notes from the Bavarian yeast strain. The use of wheat malt to make up about half of the grist gives a slight acidity and bready feel (think natural sour-dough bread.) The finish is dry and reminiscent of dark, bitter chocolate. 7.5% ABV/France/Ratebeer 91/Availability: limited
Moonlight Meadery Wicked – A 13.3% ABV mead made with ginger and Madagascar-Bourbon vanilla which each add a nuance to the honey flavor and aroma. Spice from the ginger balances well with the smoothness of the vanilla. 13.3% ABV/Londonderry, NH/Availability: limited
Maui Lorenzini Double IPA – Double IPA with Tangerine & Blood Oranges and Maui cane sugar. The deep red hue is a result of the blood orange juice and specialty malts. The unique hop profile is made up of Azacca, El Dorado and Sorachi Ace. This beer is delightfully bitter and aromatic with noes of tropical fruit and orange. 8.1% ABV/Maui, HI/Ratebeer 92/Availability: limited
Moonlight Meadery Last Apple – This just sounds awesome. Directly from the MM website: We took the very last New Hampshire apples that were available to us, which we had fresh pressed into apple cider. This fresh cider was delivered the day it was pressed to our Meadery, where we blended it with honey and let it ferment, then we let it age in freshly emptied Jim Beam barrels that our friends at Allagash Brewing Company were able to help us with. The aging process took over 6 months. The ending result is oh so heavenly and oh so cherished. 16% ABV/Londonderry, NH/Availability: limited
Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu – The latest in the ancient ales series, this recipe dates back over 9000 years to northern (what is now) China. Preserved pottery jars showed evidence of an alcoholic drink made from fermented rice, honey and fruit. Try it during our free tasting tonight! 10% ABV/Milton, DE/Ratebeer 87/Availability: decent
Ensenada Horchata Porter – A brewery new to Texas, Ensenada Brewing out of Mexico has 2 new releases. This horchata porter has accents of cinnamon and locally grown vanilla that distinguish this exceptional porter from its traditional base. Created from brown rice, chocolate malt, and roasted barley, this porter is sure to please any palate. 6% ABV/Mexico/Availability: limited
Ensenada Smoked Piloncillo Stout – This robust award-winning porter uses roasted malts to deliver its characteristic smokiness. A touch of piloncillo, a cultivated and unrefined sugar used in Mexico for more than 500 years, rounds out this beer with a subtle yet pleasant hint of sweetness. 6% ABV/ Mexico/Availability: limited
Victory Moving Parts #3 – A Belgian IPA that’s the third in this rotating IPA series from Victory, the Belgian yeast puts a tart, fruity twist on a spicy and citrus-forward IPA, creating a refreshing and deliciously drinkable caramel-hued brew. 6.6% ABV/Downington, PA/Beer Advocate 88/Availability: plenty
Back in stock: Infamous Sweep the Leg, Lone Pint Yellow Rose (limited but still available at the time of this email), Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin (arriving Friday!).
Weekend Tastings, 6-8pm
Friday
New Braunfels Sangre de Shiva
5 Stones Back from Bridge City
Victory Moving Parts #3
Lagunitas Imperial Stout
Saturday
New Braunfels Mexican Cannon
Lagunitas Night Time
Community Witbier
Southern Star Pine Belt