The polls are now open for this year’s Austin Beer Guide Best Of Readers’ poll, so we encourage you to cast your votes for all of your favorite things from the Austin beer world this year. Voting takes place here. The issue release party will be Thursday, December 17th at ABGB and is open to the public! We would certainly be honored to received your vote for the Best Bottle Shop category. 🙂
We’re in the home stretch of Advent Calendars sales. We only have 10 Tier 1 boxes left for sale and 9 Tier 2s. Don’t miss out on your opportunity to choose a GOLDEN BOX! Full details of the program and how to purchase are here.
Mark your calendars for Small Business Saturday (Nov 28th), when we’ll be releasing our allocation of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout at 12 noon. We’ll also be pulling a bunch of random stuff out of our cellar in the store, so get a chance to buy some great beers that have been released in previous months/years! More details in next week’s email.
Free In-Store Tastings 6-8pm
Thursday, November 19th – TONIGHT!
Our originally scheduled tasting this evening got moved so we decided to just open up some random new stuff for the fun of it! Uinta Cockeyed Cooper bourbon barrel barleywine, St Arnold Sailing Santa, Four Corners La Lechuza and Alpine Hoppy Birthday.
Friday, November 20th
Kelly Meyer, owner & founder of New Braunfels Brewing Company, will be joining us for a very special Sangre de Shiva vertical tasting. There have been three blends using Shiva’s Tears weizenbock and aging it in various red wine barrels. We’ll be sampling each of the three blends and Kelly will also be pairing each with a different cheese. Don’t miss this event!
Saturday, November 21st
Andrew from 5 Stones Brewing is back with their fall seasonals – Sleepy Hollow, a pumpkin ale with spices, as well as the rum barrel aged version of the same beer. We’ll also be sampling Melo Rainbow (saison with cantaloupe & rainbow peppercorn) and Lightning Bug (black IPA with citrus zest).
Tuesday, November 24th
John Sikes from Independence Brewing will be back at the bar sampling the brand new Hop Brownie (details below) as well as some other Indy faves: Reaper Madness black IPA, Indy Ten Barleywine and Power & Light.
New Beers This Week
Back in stock: Jester King Mad Meg, Jester King Wytchmaker, Deep Ellum Oak Cliff Coffee Ale.
Community Ascension Coffee Porter – Community Brewing partnered with Ascension coffee house in their neighborhood to roast and brew this Baltic porter. Cold-brewed coffee was infused into this rich & roasty porter that is a multiple beer medal winner, including a bronze at 2014 GABF. 6.9% ABV/Dallas, TX/Ratebeer 98/Availability: plenty
Stone 24 Carrot Golden Ale – The latest in Stone’s collaboration series is 24 Carrot Golden ale, made to taste like carrot cake. Stone holds an annual homebrew competition and this year’s winner, Juli Goldenberg, got to brew her winning recipe on the big system at Stone. Carrots, raisins and cinnamon were added to this Belgian-style golden strong. 8.5% ABV/Escondido, CA/Beer Advocate 83/Availability: limited
Karbach Yule Shoot Your Eye Out – Karbach’s holiday seasonal and ode to the movie A Christmas Story is your typical winter warmer with Christmas spices added. Ginger, cocoa nibs, orange peel, cardamom, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg. This year in 4 pack cans! 8% ABV/Houston, TX/Beer Advocate 85/Availability: limited/
North Coast Grand Cru – What was originally North Coast’s 20th anniversary ale, this is brewed exclusively with pilsner malt and agave syrup to help boost the ABV before resting in bourbon barrels. Belgian yeast brings some slightly fruity esters to the party resulting in a rich and decadent brew worthy of being called the excellent North Coast Brewery’s grand cru. 12.9% ABV/Fort Bragg, CA/Ratebeer 93/Availability: very limited
Saint Arnold Sailing Santa – Sailing Santa is a blend of Saint Arnold’s Christmas Ale and Elissa IPA with spices added. The result is a pleasantly hoppy strong dark ale with spices. For the 2015 version, SA used a brand new hop called Snap, which is actually a blend of hops, spices and botanicals. The new hop adds a ginger snap aroma and a complexity that makes Sailing Santa taste like the holidays. 7.2% ABV/Houston, TX/No ratings yet on this batch/Availability: limited
Four Corners La Lechuza S’more Stout – Four Corners attempted to make a beer reminiscent of everyone’s favorite campfire snack. A creamy stout base on which cinnamon and semi-sweet chocolate sit. 7.6% ABV/Dallas, TX/No ratings yet/Availability: plenty
Independence Hop Brownie – Indy’s latest seasonal 4 pack release is a very hoppy brown ale brewed with chocolate malt, dry cocoa powder and hazelnut. Apollo, Nugget and Columbus give a very piney hop kick. 5.6% ABV/Austin, TX/No ratings yet/Availability: plenty
Deschutes Black Butte XVII – Deschutes’ 27th Anniversary Imperial Porter was brewed with cocoa nibs, pomegranate molasses and select spices, blended with apricot puree, and then aged in bourbon barrels. The result is a truly exquisite ale with bold chocolate character, inspired flavors of fruit, and just a pinch of spice. 11% ABV/Bend, OR/Ratebeer 99/Availability: extremely limited
Strangeland Dewi Sant Braggot – Braggots blend two of the world’s oldest drinks – beer and mead. Mead is essentially fermented honey wine, and braggots either were blended malt/honey wort prior to fermentation, or honey added to fully fermented beer at the time of purchase in a pub, for example. Strangeland resurrected this old style with their own twist using Texas honey. 13.5% ABV/Austin, TX/No ratings yet/Availability: limited
Karbach FUN Series #12 Trigave – The twelfth beer in the FUN series is a Belgian-style tripel aged in Dulce Vida Extra Añejo barrels. Extremely limited and will go fast. 10% ABV/Houston, TX/No ratings yet
Alpine Pure Hoppiness – A West Coast Double IPA So mega-hopped it will take you to hop heaven. In 6 packs. 8% ABV/Alpine, CA/Ratebeer 100/Availability: extremely limited
Avery Raja Double IPA – The little brother of Maharaja, also brazenly bitter with a fierce hop bite. 4 pack cans. 8% ABV/Boulder, CO/Ratebeer 98/Availability: limited
Lagunitas Brown Shugga – Originally a failed attempt at a 1997 batch of Old GnarlyWine barley wine that ended up being one of Lagunitas’ most popular brews. Brown cane sugar is added to boost the ABV and give a rich sweetness. 9.8% ABV/Petaluma, CA/Ratebeer 96/Availability: limited
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout – Brooklyn uses three mashes to brew each batch of this beer, achieving a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor through a blend of specialty roasted malts. It is brewed every year for the winter season. It is delicious when newly bottled, but also ages beautifully for years. 10% ABV/Brooklyn, NY/Ratebeer 100/Availability: decent
Free Weekend Tastings: 6-8pm
Friday
New Braunfels Brewing Company Sangre de Shive vertical tasting! Details above.
Saturday
5 Stones free tasting! Details above.