We worked with one of our suppliers to secure a special buy – Southern Tier Tangier session IPA brewed with tangerine peels – at a low price of $5.99 while supplies last. They’ll be arriving around noon this Friday 1/14; we hope to see you this weekend!
Free In-Store Tastings – All 6-8pm
Thursday, January 14th – TONIGHT!
Angi Wilkes from Meridian Hive Meadery will be at our tasting bar tonight sampling out two still and two sparkling meads. Rhapsody is a sparkling blackberry, Discovery is a straight up orange blossom sparkling mead. Wildfire adds cinnamon, hibiscus and peppermint for some spiciness and Blackberry Blossom is a dry still mead. Yum!
Friday, January 15th
Arjit from Flood Distributing will be back, this time exploring the excellent lineup of Jolly Pumpkin farmhouse ales out of Dexter, Michigan. We’ll be tasting Maracaibo Especial, Bam Biere, Bam Noire, Fuego del Otoño, Oro de Calabaza and Noel de Calabaza. Jolly Pumpkin is some of the most underrated beer we get in Texas. If you like farmhouse funk and are a fan of Jester King, this is the tasting for you!
Saturday, January 16th
We’re helping to launch Bull Creek Brewing from Liberty Hill by inviting founder & head brewer Julia to the tasting bar to sample out all 4 newly released beers. See details about those four in the section below.
Wednesday, January 20th
4th Tap Brewing Co-op is the new production brewery in town, and they’re in the same “brewers’ circle” in north central Austin. Laura Christie will be here from the brewery pouring free samples of their three canned releases – Long Walk Grapefruit IPA, Renewal Tamarind Wheat ale and the gluten free Sorghum-based Sun Eater.
Friday, January 22nd
Revolver has a new rep in town and we’ll be celebrating his arrival with a free tasting event featuring Mother’s Little Fracker stout, Mullet Cutter double IPA, Sidewinder pale ale and Revolver Bock.
New Beers This Week
Back in stock: Left Hand Wake Up Dead Imperial Stout Nitro 4 packs, Strange Land Root Beer Porter, Breckenridge Rum Barrel Imperial Vanilla Porter, Stone NXS barrel aged double IPA, Jolly Pumpkin Rojzilla, Uinta Port O Call, Sierra Nevada Otra Vez (now in cans!), Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Tropical IPA, Lagunitas Undercover Shutdown, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, Real Ale Ghost Eye Oatmeal Stout, Clown Shoes Blaecorn Unidragon, Odell Runoff Red IPA, Prairie Bomb (arriving Friday).
Live Oak Hefeweizen – We can’t overstate how exciting it is for Live Oak to finally begin canning their beers. They are an incredibly well respected Austin institution, and Austin drinkers have been waiting almost 20 years to be able to take cans of Live Oak to the pool, the greenbelt, to BBQs, or anywhere that doesn’t have draft beer. 6 packs, plenty in stock. This is the 2nd highest rated Hefeweizen made in the entire world. 5.2% ABV/Austin, TX/Beer Advocate 97/Availability: plenty
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot 2016 – Sierra’s Bigfoot barley wine has been brewed annually all the way back to 1983. It is pretty much the gold standard of American-style barley wines. High ABV, heavily hopped, and can age for multiple years under the right conditions. 9.6% ABV/Chico, CA/Ratebeer 99/Availability: decent
Rogness/Schoppe Private Stock Heller Weizenbock – Mark Schoppe is a local multiple award-winning homebrewer who has partnered up with Rogness Brewing a number of times for various receipes. The latest is a pale weizenbock, or a strong wheat beer. Munich and wheat malts create a bready flavor and traditional German ale yeast create the banana & clove esters expected for the style. Extremely limited production… only 120 bottles were released into the market. 7.3% ABV/Austin, TX/No ratings/Availability: very limited
Knee Deep Breaking Bud – Knee Deep is a California-based brewery that is brand new to Texas and this is their first release into the market. Restrained bitterness and alcohol of a classic IPA with newer tropical fruit hop flavors and aromas of Mosaic, Simcoe and CTZ. I had this last night and absolutely loved it. 6.7% ABV/Auburn, CA/Ratebeer 98/Availability: decent
New Belgium Side Trip – During Brewmaster Peter Bouckaert’s last trip to Belgium, a side trip led him to Brouwerj Van Den Bossche and their Buffalo yeast strain that was then used for this Belgian-style pale ale. Bready, caramel-sweet malt base with a stone fruit hop profile. 6% ABV/Fort Collins, CO/Beer Advocate 86/Availability: decent
New Belgium Glütiny – New Belgium is jumping into the gluten free world with their two newest releases, one of which is Glutiny golden ale. This is crafted using malted barley like normal beer but an enzyme is added with a specific function to reduce gluten in the finished product. Pale malt with some oats for body and Nugget, Cascade and Goldings hops. 5.2% ABV/Fort Collins, CO/No ratings yet/Availability: decent
Bull Creek out of Liberty Hill just started bottling and distributing their beers outside the brewery. Longhorn Blonde is an easy drinking golden ale with a slightly biscuity malt flavor and light hoppiness. Iron Balls Imperial Stout has plenty of roasted malts create rich chocolate, coffee, vanilla and dark fruit flavors. Champs Au Sud Saison is dry and slightly spicy saison. And Tommy Raj IPA is an English-style IPA that is a bit more malty than American-style IPAs with a citrusy finish.
903 Brewers out of Sherman, TX officially entered the Austin market this week with their 4 year-round beers. We’ve actually carried them all before but this time around they’ll be readily available as opposed to the sporadic drops we’re received before. What’s available: Crackin’ Up Pecan Porter, Sasquatch Imperial Chocolcate Milk Stout, Milk & Honey Pale Stout and The Chosen One coconut cream ale.
Anchor Spring Saison – It’s nice to see American craft beer pioneers Anchor putting out new seasonals, and their saison uses some California-harvest ingredients for a CA twist on the traditional Belgian style. Lemongrass, lemon peel and ginger spice things up a bit but you can still expect a dry finish. 7.2% ABV/San Francisco, CA/Beer Advocate 82/Availability: limited
Real Ale Brewers Cut ESB – A new recipe, designed specifically to showcase the complex malt character of local maltsters Blacklands, this ESB highlights the unique bready and biscuity notes that this malt is known for. Accented with English crystal malt for color and a wisp of caramel sweetness, the Blacklands base is the star of the show. East Kent Goldings and Bramling Cross hops bring elements of herbal citrus and a spicy fruitiness to balance the malt. 5.2% ABV/Blanco, TX/No ratings yet/Availability: decent
Austin Eastciders Hopped Cider – This is the first new can release from Austin Eastciders in quite some time. They took their traditional and vintage apples and paired them with hops for a floral and aromatic finish. 5.1% ABV/Austin, TX/No ratings/Availabilty: decent
Free Weekend Tastings: 6-8pm
Friday
Jolly Pumpkin Tasting (details above)
Saturday
Bull Creek Brewing Tasting & Meet the Brewer