#AvoidSXSW and the 2018 Texas Beer Tourney

South by Southwest, huh? Okay, got that out of our system. When, not if, you need to avoid the onslaught, why not drop by either of your friendly neighborhood bottle shops? We have plenty of tasting events, new bottles and taps, and plenty of employee-curated Pandora playlists. If you ask nice, maybe we’ll even sing some Disney karaoke. Heck, maybe even if you don’t ask. 

And don’t forget to start that cough this Monday leading up to Thursday’s NCAA Tourney. Don’t pull that rookie mistake of calling in that day. And make sure to spend your days at WhichCraft Mueller, we’ll have Happy Hour specials any time a tournament game is on. That’s a lot of games, and a lot of happy hours.

Speaking of tournaments, it’s that time again for the WhichCraft Texas Tournament of Beers. We’ll have 32 beers from all around Texas, and this year, we separated each quadrant according to style (Hoppy, Darker, Light/Wheat, and Belgian/Wild Card) and sorted via totally scientific, objective algorithms. Math, y’all. Starting Saturday, 3/10, visit this link to create your bracket, then stay tuned to our Twitter and Facebook pages when each pairing goes live to vote on the outcome, using either to vote. The Bracket will progress on the same timeline as the basketball tournament, with new matchups happening almost every day for just over to weeks. We’ll offer prizes for the 1st & 2nd Place winners, and remember to spread the word and sway those votes for your favorite beer with each new matchup! And use that hashtag #WhichCraftMadness.

Finally, keep coming in to pick up Independence 6 packs as our Brewery of the Month: Cowboys from Helles, Power & Light, and Austin Amber will be $6.99, and Stash IPA, Liberty Lunch, and Red Bud for $7.99. 


Free Tastings at WhichCraft South Lamar – All 5-7pm Except Where Noted

Friday, March 9th
We welcome in our Brewery of the Month and pour some Independence Beers. Try, then buy, Cowboys from Helles, Liberty Lunch, Austin Amber, and Power & Light.

Saturday, March 10th
Its always a great event when Founders shows up. Stop by to sample their new Solid Gold, All Day IPA, and Rubaeus.

Tuesday, March 13th
Alaskan Brewing drops by Lamar. Take some time off from SXSW to try their Spruce IPA, Husky IPA, and their Smoked Porter. 

Wednesday, March 14th
Hops & Grain! Haze County! Zoe! New Volumes of Oak! Today!

Thursday, March 15th
We have a full lineup of Adelbert’s beers to sample: Travelin’ Man, Scratchin’ Hippo, Mango Wit, Lemon Rye, and Tripel B. Holy cow!


 Special Events at WhichCraft Tap Room in Mueller

Wednesday, March 14th
7:00pm:  Geeks Who Drink Trivia Night! Weekly free event that puts your useless knowledge to the test. Prizes and good times are included!

Thursday, March 15th
5-8pm: Chris from Brazos Valley Brewing stops by to tap their Galaxy-hopped Lost Highway IPA. We’ll also sample some of their canned goodies.


New Beers This Week

(All beer available at both WhichCraft locations unless otherwise noted)

Back in Stock: Clown Shoes ‘Nillionaire (Lamar), Clown Shoes Moon Bear (Lamar), Celis White (cans), Petrus Oud Bruin

Anderson Valley Hopheiser – Brewed with Chinook and Columbus then heavily dry-hopped with Citra and New Zealand Ekuanot, Hop Hyzer is juicy pale ale bursting with tropical fruit aromas and citrus flavors with a clean and mellow bitterness. 4.9% ABV / Boonville, CA / Availability: Good

Anderson Valley Framboise Rose Gose – By adding rose hips to the boil and fresh raspberry puree at the end of fermentation, this kettle-soured beer is a mélange of flavors and aromas. With a light ruby hue, subtle raspberry fruit notes greet the nose and fall soft on the palate; tangy, hibiscus-like flavors mingle with the salty tartness of gose to create a uniquely complex and refreshing drinking experience. 4.2% ABV / Boonville, CA / Availability: Decent

903 Friday Slide – Imperial Stout with Irish Cream and Irish Coffee. 10.3% ABV / Sherman, TX / Availability: Good / SoLa Only

Champion Easter Basket – Mosaic Double IPA brewed with a twist – chocolate and coffee, for a taste unlike any other they have brewed before. 8% ABV / Charlottesville, VA / Availability: Good 

Dogfish Head Romantic Chemistry – What you have here is a serious IPA shacking up and hunkering down with mango and apricots. At the same time! Romantic Chemistry is brewed with an intermingling of mangoes, apricots, and ginger, then dry-hopped with three varieties of hops to deliver a tropical fruit aroma and a hop-forward finish. It’s fruity, it’s hoppy, it’s tasty! 7.2% ABV / Milton, DE / BeerAdvocate 85 / Availability: Decent / SoLa Only

Lagunitas Dark Swan – An experimentally-hopped sour ale fermented with dark red wine grapes. Observers of yestercentury once doubted the existence of the Dark Swan, stating the fair-feathered fowl was the only color of its kind. Explorers eventually upended that theory, shocking the world and shining light on the Dark. This beer might just do the same. It’s a sour ale fermented with dark red wine grapes, giving it its uniquely deep and rich purple hue. Then it received the signature Lagunitas treatment with a healthy dose of experimental dry hops. This might just shock your taste buds! 8.5% ABV / Petaluma, CA / RateBeer 93 / Availability: Decent / SoLa Only

Great Divide Strawberry Rhubarb – Strawberry is the yin to rhubarb’s yang—the sweet to the tart. This beautiful partnership creates a beer that glows ruby in the glass, bursts with strawberry aroma, and bites with every sip. Bright and effervescent, this sour is a fun and refreshing, lip-puckering treat perfect for every occasion, any time of the year. 6.2% ABV / Denver, CO / RateBeer 86 / Availability: Decent / SoLa Only

Austin Beerworks Heavy Machinery DIPA – This is extreme in every way. Loaded with six pounds of hops per barrel, it immediately delivers huge citrus and pine aromas that pack as much punch as Sam Elliott’s mustache. Next comes the sweet bready body, but before you appreciate the malt profile, your face is flush from the alcohol. It’s basically a free-fall of flavor. And you should only have one in a session. But don’t worry, the hop-burps will keep you company. 10% ABV / Austin, TX / RateBeer 98 / Availability: Limited

Austin Beerworks Flavor Country – This hoppy pale ale is the newest to join their year-round lineup. It’s good, y’all! 5.8% ABV / Austin, TX / Availability: Decent


New Beers on Draft at WhichCraft Taproom

Full Draft List Available on our Website

 

Austin Eastciders Ruby Red Grapefruit -A refreshing and slightly tart cider made with heirloom bittersweet apples, American dessert apples and Ruby Red Grapefruit from the Texas Rio Grande Valley. 5% ABV / Austin, TX 

Lone Pint Yellow Rose – A SMaSH, Single Malt and Single Hop, IPA using a caboodle (technical term for a large amount of malt) of malt and a new hop released in 2012 called Mosaic. Whole cone Mosaic is used for bittering, flavoring, and aroma in the kettle; it is also massively dry hopped. The beer is named after a Texas Heroine. Tasting notes: chalk-white head with a very clean malt backbone. The hops impart strong grapefruit, pineapple, and blueberry flavor and aroma. A strong beer that is extremely quaffable. 6.8% ABV / Magnolia, TX / BeerAdvocate 98

Community Public Enemy #1 – Community Public Ale aged for five months in California White Burgundy barrels with three Brettanomyces strains and tart cherries. 8.5% ABV / Dallas, TX

Blue Owl Dapper Devil – A dry, fruity and effervescent Belgian Strong ale with raspberry sweetness. 8.5% ABV / Austin, TX

St. Elmo Carl Kolsch – A pale golden beer. Full-flavored yet very drinkable. Perfectly refreshing for the eight-month Texas summer. German Pilsner malt, Tettnanger hops, and clean Kolsch yeast come together in graceful harmony to make the perfect everyday beer. Come hang with Carl! 4.6% ABV / Austin, TX

Community Vienna Lager – This all malt, Vienna-style lager begins with their own crystal clear water – run through their state-of-the-art filtration system – which is treated to mimic the waters of Bavaria, before being mashed with the finest malts from one of the oldest German maltsters. Using traditional techniques, they craft this lager’s wort in their four vessel brewhouse, transferring it to their fermenters to settle in for the long haul that all true lagers must undergo. Their European lager strain ferments very cold and slow, leaving a crisp, clean, highly quaffable, light copper colored beer. 5.2% ABV / Dallas, TX

Celis Grand Cru – A heartier version of Celis White. Made with select hops, Celis Grand Cru is brewed with the bright flavors of lemon peel and mellow coriander, which give a robust finish to the classic wheat beer. Perfect for the cool fall and winter months, or when you want a beer slightly bolder in flavor. 9% ABV / Austin, TX

Austin Beerworks Heavy Machinery DIPA – This is extreme in every way. Loaded with six pounds of hops per barrel, it immediately delivers huge citrus and pine aromas that pack as much punch as Sam Elliott’s mustache. Next comes the sweet bready body, but before you appreciate the malt profile, your face is flush from the alcohol. It’s basically a free-fall of flavor. And you should only have one in a session. But don’t worry, the hop-burps will keep you company. 10% ABV / Austin, TX / RateBeer 98

Weathered Souls West Coast IPA – Citra, Simcoe, Galaxy, and Mosaic hops. 7% ABV /Austin, TX

Southern Heights It’s Probably Awesome – This hazy mysterious beauty has been bombarded with copious amounts of Citra, Columbus, and Simcoe hops creating layers of juicy awesomeness. 6.7% ABV / San Antonio, TX

Celis White – This signature witbier sparkles with remnants of coriander and orange peel, and will take you back to the first taste, made famous by the legendary “Father of Witbier,” Pierre Celis. 4.9% ABV / Austin, TX


This Week’s Specials

  • Make sure to pick up six packs of Independence, our March Brewery of the Month. We’ll be offering their Power & Light, Austin Amber, and Cowboys from Helles for $6.99, and their Stash, Red Bud, and Liberty Lunch for $7.99 all month.

South Lamar Dad Joke

  • What do you call a fly without wings?                 A walk.

Mueller Specials

  • WhichCraft Happy Hour is now every gul-durned day from 4-6pm, and during the NCAA Tournament, if there’s a game on our TV, it’s Happy Hour at Mueller.

Parking at WhichCraft Mueller. The garage behind us on McBee is free to use.

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