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. 🙂

No plans this weekend? Join us for the last Wurstfest bus tour! Tickets can be purchased here. We’ll be visiting both Guadalupe & New Braunfels Brewing Companies prior to heading to Wurstfest.

 

Still haven’t pre-ordered your Advent Calendar yet? Don’t miss out! We’re only making a limited amount of these and the first beer is supposed to be opened December 1st!  We’re also reviving the supremely awesome GOLDEN BOX concept. Full details of the program and how to pre-order are here.

Free In-Store Tastings 6-8pm

Thursday, November 12th – TONIGHT!

Joe Dotson from Original Sin will be back at the tasting bar dishing out free samples of their original apple cider as well as the excellent cherry and elderberry versions. Cider-riffic!

Friday, November 13th 

Shannon Brewing from Keller TX is launching next week and we’re celebrating by having a free tasting with all 4 of their new releases that arrive next week! Irish Red, Blonde, IPA and Chocolate Stout.

Saturday, November 14th – 3 to 5 pm

Amy from Goose Island will be here tasting the whole lineup of sour sisters minus Madame Rose for an epic fruited sour tasting. Lolita, Gillian, Juliet &  Halia will all be open for free samples as well as available for purchase. We’ll also have special pricing on 4 packs of Sofie & Matilda. If you like fruited sours this is not a tasting to miss!

Saturday, November 14th – 6 to 8 pm

Megan from Freetail Brewing will be back in the house pouring free samples of the two brand new La Muerta releases – both imperial stouts, and one aged partially in Elijah Craig barrels! **While Supplies Last… These are very limited and will NOT be sold prior to the event**

Tuesday, November 17th

The always affable Blake Murrah from Southern Star Brewing will be back to sample out the brand new Honesty of Reason IPA just released a couple weeks ago. We had to reschedule this tasting due the fact that it was originally scheduled 2 weeks ago Friday when it flooded! Blake couldn’t make it in from Wimberley. We’ll also be tasting Bombshell Blonde and Buried Hatchet.

Wednesday, November 18th

The entertaining Irishman Daniel Dillon will be at the tasting bar pouring free samples of the 3 Goliad Brewing mainstays plus the brand new seasonal Roustabout dry stout.

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 taking 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).

New Beers This Week

Back in stock: Ballast Point Victory at Sea 6 packs (arriving Friday), Avery Raspberry Sour, Avery Twenty Two, Alpine Hoppy Birthday, Rodenbach Caractere Rouge.

512 Whisky Barrel Aged Double Pecan Porter – We always get so excited every time we get to sell 512’s beers, as they don’t normally bottle or can they ever-popular lineup. In this installment they brewed a double strength batch and then aged it for months in whisky barrels to make for a big, roasty, boozy delight. 9.5% ABV/Austin, TX/No ratings on this batch/Availability: very limited and will go fast

Freetail La Muerta* – One of Freetail’s most sought after annual release is an imperial stout released to commemorate Dia de los Muertos.  A big, lush imperial stout, La Muerta is full of roast, smoke and chocolate flavors from an array of specialty malts that go into this big black ale. 9.1% ABV/San Antonio, TX/Ratebeer 98/Availability: extremely limited & will not be released prior to Saturday night’s tasting event.

Freetail La Muerta Barrel Aged* – The exact same beer as above except it got the bourbon barrel treatment courtesy of 12 year Elijah Craig barrels. 11.4% ABV/San Antonio, TX/No ratings yet on this batch//Availability: extremely limited & will not be released prior to Saturday night’s tasting event.

Boulevard Bourbon Barrel Quad* – Based loosely on the Smokestack Series’ The Sixth Glass, this abbey-style quadrupel is separated into a number of oak bourbon barrels where it ages for varying lengths of time, some for up to three years. Cherries are added to make up for the “angel’s share” of beer lost during barrel aging. Selected barrels are then blended for optimum flavor. The resulting beer retains only very subtle cherry characteristics, with toffee and vanilla notes coming to the fore. 11.8% ABV/Kansas City, MO/Ratebeer 99/Availability: decent/*Arriving Friday

Goliad Roustabout Stout* – Goliad is back with their first packaged seasonal release, a dry American stout. Roasty coffee & cocoa flavors but with a very dry finish. 7% ABV/Goliad, TX/No ratings yet/*Arriving Friday

Brooklyn Defender IPA – An annual collaboration done with the New York Comic Con every year, this 4^th year’s batch is a bright, juicy, West Coast-style IPA that takes on a reddish twist from a dash of roasted malt. Bold, fruity, hop bitterness and an intensely resinous nose lead the way into a dry finish that blazes the trail for your next sip. 6.7% ABV/Brooklyn, NY/Ratebeer 88/Availability: plenty

Odell Friek – Created by combining framboises (raspberries) with kriek lambic style ales. Odell took ales fermented with wild yeast and tart cherries and moved them into oak barrels to age and sour—taking on the cherry flavors. Then, immediately prior to the final blending, the brewers throw in handpicked framboises from Schroyer Family Farms in Fort Collins. Making for sweet and tart flavors that mingle on the tongue with a sparkling dry finish. 6.9% ABV/Fort Collins, CO/Ratebeer 99/Availability: very limited

Stone Double Bastard in the Rye – Rye whiskey barrel aging melds mid–palate with Double Bastard Ale’s colossal hop and malt presence, adding dimension to the beer’s already deep caramel-like flavors. 12.7% ABV/Escondido, CA/Beer Advocate 91/Availability: very limited

Brooklyn Intensified Coffee Porter (bourbon barrel aged) – Brooklyn Intensified Coffee Porter starts as a big, chocolatey ale which then undergoes months of aging in Kentucky bourbon barrels. Brace yourself for complex notes of dark chocolate, vanilla, oak, berries, and dried fruit, coming to intensify you. 11.8% ABV/Brooklyn, NY/Ratebeer 97/Availability: very limited

Jester King Black Metal – English Imperial Stout meets the Franco-Belgian Farmhouse tradition in this dry, drinkable beer. Pitch black in color with notes of chocolate, roasted and black malts coupled with earthy, peppery and floral farmhouse esters. This batch was fermented a slightly higher temperature than the other most recent batches which resulted in not quite as much farmhouse character. Just a fantastic batch. 9.3% ABV/Austin, TX/Ratebeer 98/Availability: plenty

No Label Elda M Milk Stout* – Elda M is a milk stout brewed with 10 different malts. Rich flavors of roasted and chocolate malts with a hint of coffee. This stout is creamy and sweet but not overly filling. 6.89% ABV/Katy, TX/Ratebeer 86/Availability: decent/*Arriving Friday

We just got another huge shipment of new Evil Twin and Stillwater beers, so naturally we’ve made brand new mixed packs of each. 5 packs of Evil Twin and 6 packs of Stillwater… try every single new beer!

From Evil Twin we received:

Evil Twin Ashtray Heart (smokey imperial stout, 8.9% ABV), Freudian Slip (barley wine, 10.3% ABV), Lil’ B (imperial porter, 11.5% ABV), Molotov Lite (imperial IPA, 8.5% ABV), Molotov Cocktail (triple IPA, 13% ABV).

From Stillwater we received:

Why Can’t IBU (Belgian IPA, 5.7% ABV), Stateside Saison (saison, 6.8% ABV), Of Love & Regret (saison with the addition of flowers/herbs, 7% ABV), As Follows (Belgian strong ale, 9% ABV), Cellar Door (witbier, 6.6% ABV), Autumnal (biere de garde, 7.2% ABV), Projector (imperial IPA, 9% ABV).

Free Weekend Tastings: 6-8pm

Friday

Shannon Brewing release event! Details above.

Saturday 3-5 pm

 Awesome Goose Island sour tasting!

Saturday 6-8 pm

 Awesome Freetail La Muerta release & tasting!