Wurstfest 2015 road trip is ON! This year, instead of taking 80+ people on a single day which was a little insane, we’re going to take one bus full of 55 people on each Saturday of the festival. Last year this event sold out in about 48 hours, so DO NOT delay if you want to go. Details and tickets for Saturday, Nov 7th are here and Saturday the 14th are here. On the 7th we’ll be visiting Middleton & New Braunfels Brewing Companies prior to heading to the festival, and on the 14th it’ll be Guadalupe & New Braunfels. This trip was a blast last year; please come with us!
Flight Kits are still available! We curated a selection of 12 different fall beers — an even mix of Oktoberfest and Pumpkin beers. It’s a great way to explore the styles without having to spend a bunch of time choosing them all yourself. Each flight kit comes with a code that allows you to visit the Case for Beer website and read about each of the beers we selected. It links to their Beer Advocate profiles as well as a little write up of each beer and why we chose it. The kits are $40 while supplies last and would make a great gift.
Free In-Store Tastings 6-8pm
Thursday, October 1st – TONIGHT!
Seth from Wasatch will be at the tasting bar pouring free samples of Black O’Lantern, Wasatch Pumpkin, Apricot Hefeweizen & Ghostrider White IPA. Join us!
Friday, October 2nd
We’re very excited to launch Zilker Brewing’s first can release! The Marco IPA (details below) will be poured by none other than founders Forrest Clark & head brewer Marco. Meet the brewers and pick up some fresh local IPA!
Tuesday, October 6th
Adam from Circle is always a treat to have at the tasting bar, and with the repackaging and reformulation of Hop Overboard session IPA he’ll be regaling us with his warm personality while he pours free samples of that, Blur & Envy.
Wednesday, October 7th
Holly Aker from Real Ale will be in the house pouring all the most recent releases from the little-brewery-that-could in Blanco. Three Lions Imperial IPA, Black Quad, Kriek and Devil’s Backbone – now in cans!
Thursday, October 8th
It’s been a while since we had a Twisted X tasting, so Niles from the brewery will be in the house sampling Lager, Cow Creek, Chupahopra & Fuego. Join us!
New Beers This Week
Back in stock: St Bernardus Oak Aged Abt 12, Real Ale Sisyphus 2015 Barleywine, Real Ale Devil’s Backbone (now in 6 and 12 pack cans!), 3 Ballast Point beers all arriving Friday: Victory at Sea, Habanero Sculpin & Dead Ringer.
Independence Reaper Madness Black IPA – Indy’s brand new fall seasonal that they just released for the first time is Reaper Madness, a roasty yet hoppy black IPA. It’s got a great Misfits-looking can label design too. 6.66% ABV/Austin, TX/No ratings yet/Availabilty: plenty
Freetail Hopothesis – This hop megatron bomb blasts your palate in places you didn’t know you had taste buds. Brilliantly golden, with a faintly green hue due to the incessant hop additions that continue from first wort through the boil, the hopback, primary and secondary fermentations, this skillfully crafted beer has enough alpha acids in it to bitter a barleywine three times its size. 8.2% ABV/San Antonio, TX/Ratebeer 96/Availability: plenty
Zilker Marco IPA* – Zilker’s first beer to be canned! A 7.0% American IPA featuring El Dorado and Simcoe hops. “Burnt Orange” in color, it has a substantial and complex malt profile. Powerful aromatics of tropical fruit and pine, from extensive dry hopping, will welcome you. A warm, bready malt character quickly washes away the initial bitterness, and then gives way to the resinous hops. 7% ABV/Austin, TX/No ratings yet/Availability: plenty/*Arriving Friday
Stone Your Father Smelt of Elderberries – This re-creation of a medieval English ale is a brew the Knights of the Round Table would have heartily enjoyed. A strong beer, it has intense bready malt character accompanied by herbal, earthy hop notes and mild smokiness. The addition of elderberries imparts subtle blueberry-like flavor, while flaked oats and pale, amber and smoked malts mirror grains used by English brewers hundreds of years ago. 10.3% ABV/Escondido, CA/Beer Advocate 83/Availability: plenty
Abita Strawgator – A fusion of Abita’s Strawberry Harvest Lager sweetness with the bite of Andygator doppelbock. This golden lager is made with malted barley and wheat. It is hopped with German Perle hops for a delicate hop flavor. After filtration, generous amounts of fresh Louisiana strawberry juice are added, giving the beer a pleasant sweet taste and aroma, as well as a rich golden color and slight cloudiness. 8% ABV/Abita Springs, LA/Beer Advocate 85/Availability: plenty
Central City Thor’s Hammer Barleywine* – This strong ale is heavy and malty with lots of fruitiness. Central City out of Vancouver, BC has been sending their hoppy beers to the Texas market for a few months now but this is the first malty one we’ve had from them. Rich, caramel, notes of molasses and toffee. 10.25% ABV/Surrey, Canada/Ratebeer 95/Availability: decent/*Arriving Friday
Green Flash Treasure Chest – An exotic pink IPA brewed with grapefruit, prickly pear juice and hibiscus flowers. Erupting with fruit-forward complexity, 100% Mosaic hops present aromas of heady citrus and refined stone fruit. The pleasantly bitter flavors of the hops are enhanced by the addition of fresh grapefruit juice. Offering balance to offset the bold citrus notes, prickly pear juice imparts a peppery-sweet kick in the finish. Tropical Hibiscus flowers give this beer a naturally pink hue, a nod to the official color of the Treasure Chest mission for breast cancer research. 5.7% ABV/San Diego, CA/No ratings yet/Availability: decent
Odell Mountain Standard –Mountain Standard Double Black IPA showcases homegrown hops Odell’s brewers helped pick from farms along Colorado’s western slope. Pours dark with a light brown head and a slightly roasted hoppy nose. 9.5% ABV/Fort Collins, CO/Ratebeer 99/Availability: decent
Ommegang Take the Black Stout – The 2nd in the Game of Thrones series, Ommegang recently brewed this one again. Take the Black Stout is a 7% beer, brewed with base, caramel, chocolate and roasted barley malts. Hopping includes Northern Brewer and Columbus; spices are licorice root and star anise. Tastes include chocolate, coffee, rich malts, and balanced roastiness. 7% ABV/Cooperstown, NY/Ratebeer 94/Availability: decent
Ommegang Iron Throne – The original in the series, this one is a blonde ale with malty sweetness and a touch of fruity spiciness, Noble Hops aromas and notes of citrus. 6.5% ABV/Cooperstown, NY/Ratebeer 94/Availability: decent
Ballast Point Commodore* – The Commodore came out of BP’s search for a medium-bodied American Stout. Strong flavors of roast coffee and bittersweet chocolate balance with light citrusy hop aromas, highlighted by a crisp, bitter finish. 6.5% ABV/San Diego, CA/No ratings yet/Availability: decent/*Arriving Friday
Free Weekend Tastings, 6-8pm
Friday
F0rrest and Marco from Zilker will be here pouring fresh Marco IPA!
Saturday
Independence Reaper Madness Black IPA
New Braunfels Fleurs du Mal
Abita Strawgator
Odell Cutthroat Porter
Urthel Hop-It