Can you believe next month is our one year anniversary already?? This year has been absolutely fantastic and it has been incredible getting to know so many of you, our loyal customers. We’re celebrating by throwing a birthday blowout party and YOU’RE invited! We’ve partnered with Hops & Grain to throw an anniversary party and tickets are only $15! See details and buy tickets here.
Have you seen or heard about the superb Untapped Festival happening here in Austin on Saturday 4/18? It’s a perfect marriage of craft beer and music, boasting a truly excellent music selection in addition, of course, to the crazy awesome slate of beers. The full beer list has yet to be released, but we DO know that there will be 277 total beers, 68 IPA or Imperial IPA and 25+ barrel aged beers. Tickets are very reasonably priced & available here.
Sahara’s latest blog post & corresponding curated 6 pack features an insider look at what it takes to study for and pass the Certified Cicerone tasting exam. For those that don’t know, the Cicerone program is the beer equivalent of Sommelier, and the exam features a blind taste test in which the user tastes a beer and has to choose which of two styles it is. Read more here and purchase the blind 6 pack in store today!
Free In-Store Tastings 6-8pm
Thursday, April 2nd – Tonight!
Artisanal Imports is the US importer for some excellent and very well known Belgian beers, and we’re incredibly lucky to have their US headquarters right here in south Austin! We’ll be focusing on the import portfolio from St. Feuillien. Not only do they make well balanced Belgian beers but they also starting putting a dry hopped version of their saison into 4 packs cans! Talk about a fantastic summer pool sipper. Taste the whole lineup for free.
Monday, April 6th
Stone Brewing’s Steve Ponsetti will be in the house pouring free samples of Cali-Belgique, Enjoy By 4-20-15, Old Guardian & Delicious IPA!
Tuesday, April 7th
Odell rep Todd Ewing will be sampling out a handful of the fantastic Odell beers. Which ones will be a mystery!
Wednesday, April 8th
Kerrie from Rahr & Sons will be sampling out the new Bucking Bock and Iron Joe bourbon barrel scotch ale as well as Pride of Texas Pale ale and Regulator Doppelbock.
Thursday, April 9th
We’ll be breaking in new Ballast Point rep Nick Picciandra by tasting out the Sculpin, Grapefruit Sculpin, Longfin Lager, Victory at Sea and Even Keel Session IPA.
New Beers This Week
Back in stock: 5 Stones Manmosa, Lone Pint Yellow Rose, Austin Beerworks Heavy Machinery Double IPA, Adelbert’s Vintage Nun Sour Witbier.
Oasis Meta Modern Session IPA – Sessionable, Citrus, Summertime – Oh boy are we excited for this one to drop. Local sessionable beer experts Oasis TX Brewing just dropped their 4.5% session IPA dry hopped with nothing but citra and mosaic. A citrus bomb! This is going to be a go-to pool beer for you this summer, guaranteed. 4.5% ABV/Austin, TX/No ratings yet/Availability: a little now, but tons arriving tomorrow
5 Stones Beary’s Porridge – Brown Sugar, Raspberries, Cinnamon – 5 Stones are the kings of adjunct ales, and this one is a rich, sweet & a bit fruity. Oats provide a slightly chewy base for the porridge-like concoction of flavors. 7.1% ABV/Cibolo, TX/No ratings yet/Availability: plenty
Clown Shoes Crasher in the Rye – Smokey, Whiskey, Rich – Clown Shoes’ latest release features oak smoked malt from right here in our fair region of Texas, courtesy of Blacklands Maltery in Leander. A touch of rye malt adds a bit of spiciness to the imperial stout which is then aged 100% in rum and bourbon barrels and blended! 11.5% ABV/Ipswich, MA/No ratings yet/Availability: limited
Brooklyn Summer Ale 4 pack cans – Crisp, Light, Summery – Brooklyn just released their summer hit in 4 pack 16 oz cans! This is a great light & refreshing poolside slammer, and who doesn’t love 16 oz cans? 2-row British malts hopped with a mix of German & American hops. 5% ABV/Brooklyn, NY/Beer Advocate 81/Availability: plenty
Seguin 9 Pin Kolsch – Bready, Biscuit, Crisp – Seguin Brewing’s latest bomber release is their 9 Pin Kolsch, a lighty & slightly sweet kolsch. 9 Pin bowling is a popular pastime in Seguin, apparently, so this beer is an homage to that history. 6.8% ABV/Seguin, TX/No ratings yet/Availability: plenty
Real Ale Brewers Cut Helles – Crisp, Biscuity, Dry – Real Ale’s Brewers’ Cut series is a way for the brewers to continually put out new and different receipes. This release is the Helles, a German style that has simple flavors but is very difficult to make well. Clean, bready, light & refreshing. 4.5% ABV/Blanco, TX/No ratings/Availability: plenty
Real Ale Real Heavy – Caramel, Peat, Toast – The 2nd in Real Ale’s new year-round bomber series, this is a rich, dense and malty wee heavy/scotch ale. English Crystal malt, English malts and house English yeast make this a very traditional wee heavy. 9.3% ABV/Blanco, TX/Ratebeer 91/Availability: plenty
Real Ale Red King Imperial Red – Bitter, Malty, Toffee – The 3rd bomber from Real Ale is a big hoppy & malty imperial red. A little bit of toffee sweetness counterbalances the hop profile nicely. 8.6% ABV/Blanco, TX/No ratings yet/Availability: plenty
Stone Old Guardian – Sweet, Bitter, Rich – Stone’s annual release of Old Guardian Barley Wine is one that will cellar with the best of them. Being a Stone release, it’s very large & malty but of course extremely aggressively hopped. A lot of folks like to build “verticals” of this beer – essentially buying a bottle of each year as they come out and then tasting them all together with friends. 11.2% ABV/Escondido, CA/Ratebeer 99/Availability: decent
Stone Old Guardian Extra Hoppy – Sweet, Rich, Hoppy – Every odd year Stone puts out a variation on their Old Guardian, and this year it’s an extra hoppy version. As if you even needed to guess. The dry hopping is with a newly experimental hop variety called Azacca. 11.2% ABV/Escondido, CA/Ratebeer 99/Availability: limited
Crispin Venus Reigns* – Pear, Red Wine, Sweet – Crispin continues their barrel aging program with a pear cider that has been aged in red wine casks. 6.9% ABV/Minneapolis, MN/No ratings yet/*Arriving Friday/Availability: plenty
St Arnold Lawnmower (now in cans!) – Crisp, Bready, Light – St Arnold’s classic summer kolsch Lawnmower is now in 6 pack cans! Perfect timing for summer. 4.9% ABV/Houston, TX/Beer Advocate 80/Availability: plenty
Buffalo Bayou Black Raz – Vanilla, Raspberry, Chocolate – Dessert in a glass, the latest release from Buffalo Bayou is a stout that features a wonderfully decadent interplay of vanilla, raspberry & chocolate. 8% ABV/Houston, TX/Beer Advocate 87/Availability: plenty
Weekend Tastings, 6-8pm
Friday
5 Stones Beary’s Porridge
Oasis TX Meta Modern Session IPA
Real Ale Real Heavy
Prairie Limo Tint
Saturday
Seguin 9 Pin Kolsch
Real Ale Helles
Circle Devil’s Envy
Brooklyn Summer Ale