Southern Star Brewery’s Pine Belt Pale

Great news! Houston (Conroe) has another micro-brewery and they are making some great beer. Southern Star Brewery in Conroe, just outside of Houston, finally released their first beer, Pine Belt Pale, last week, and I must say I am a big fan. If Southern Star is able to live up to the precedent set by this release, we are going to have another great Texas beer to add to our increasingly powerful local beer lineup. Read more

Allagash Musette Oak-Aged Scotch Ale

I love being back in Houston. After 2 years in the cocktail backwoods of North West Arkansas, where a bottle of the local watery beer and a Jager bomb toped my list of great drinking experiences, and 4 years before when I passed my time shooting Jack and kicking back Coronas in a mostly dry region of West Texas, I find it refreshing to be crafting drinks at a bar where we are given the freedom to explore the Rosetta Stone that is the Savoy Cocktail book. Read more

Real Ale Devil’s Backbone Trippel Finally at the Bar

Texas is a big place; we have shore lines, high plains, wide valleys and a beautiful hill country. In amongst the green trees and white rock outcroppings of Texas’ hill country lays the small town of Blanco, the home of Real Ale Brewing. Real Ale is one of Texas’s smaller breweries offering only 4 beers year-round in 12oz bottles and draft, but small size can be a useful trait if used correctly. Read more

St. Arnold’s Summer Pils

As the mesquite smoke floats off the coals, past the sizzling steaks, and into my eyes, I retreat into the garage and pop open the beer cooler. After a long day of grilling, I need something to hydrate me long enough to finish off the rib-eyes. My cooler homes a plurality of beer types from different regions; perhaps, I should have a big IPA, a nutty brown, a cellared barley wine, or a black lager? Read more

Unreasonable Expectations for Beer

Over the past several weeks, I noticed an ongoing trend in my beer selection. Instead of opting for the well-crafted, seven to eight dollar six-pack, I found myself seeking out the exotic, extreme bomber. For example, over the last week, I consumed Avery’s Maharaja Imperial IPA, the Malheur-12 Dark Ale, and the Dogfish 120 Minute IPA. Also, awaiting their doom in the fridge are Read more

Real Ale Phoenixx Double ESB

I swung by the Gingerman after work the other day hoping to get a pint of the Real Ale Real Heavy, we just got it on tap at the bar; however, they hadn’t yet tapped their keg so Joe grabbed me a Phoenixx Double ESB by Real Ale instead. Read more

Session 12: Real Ale Sisyphus

Welcome fellow beer lovers. I know you might be wondering how a cocktail blog found its way to the beer party, but hey, good beer has a special place in every imbiber’s heart, especially when it is barleywine. Regular readers of this blog are aware of my support for local products; I generally go on at least one rant every couple of months abut how large corporations are threatening the autonomy of small spirits destroying both quality and innovation with their massive purchasing. The only way to resist the Pernod-Ricard leviathons is to support the micro-distilleries that are popping up all over the country in the same manner that micro-breweries did a decade before, reinvigorating the creative elements of the industry. Unfortunately, for a long time, Texas was far behind the micro movement in regards to both spirits and beer. Fortunately, the last several years have produced several breweries and, most recently, a few new micro-distilleries. Texas beer and spirits are finally becoming noteworthy.

The mere existence of a brewery, however, does not mean that drinkable beer is being produced. I’ve had some local brews that the community must be tolerating because they just want to have their own nostalgic brewery nearby. Under these circumstances, one of two things occurs: the brewery goes out of business or they get better. Texas has had both over the last 15 years, but fortunately, one brewery in particular has began producing some excellent beers that should position it as the lone star state’s premier brewery: Real Ale Brewing Company.

Their barleywine, Sisyphus, is just one example of their stellar seasonals. If you can get past the name and drink the beer without putting on a condom, you’ll find that Texas might just be catching up with the rest of the micro-brewery scene. Actually, as you might know, Sisyphus is a mythical Greek figure, not a STD, who was doomed to pushing a boulder up a hill for all eternity. When the boulder finally reached the top, Sis would lose the rock and be forced to repeat the exercise. All this because of his belief that his trickery was beyond that of Zeus. I don’t know why you would name a beer after this guy. If you ask me pushing heavy loads up hills and drinking beer are just about as opposite as you can get, but to each their own. Maybe the brewery is hoping that we will repeat the exercise of drinking the barleywine over and over again.

But, at 11%, this might be a bit overwhelming. The beer pours a thin tan head atop a amber coloered beer. The nose has toffee, caramel, honey, and floral elements. The mouthfeel is surprisingly smooth for a barleywine. Maybe it’s just me, but I find this to be the easiest to drink barleywine I’ve ever had. I think this beer is easier to drink than their recent seasonal release the Phoenix Double ESB. Me and Sisyphus here could get into trouble quickly, and I don’t think the “push the boulder up the hill option” is an option nowadays. This of course is riding on whether the beer tastes good. This is certainly the case as a pleasant combination of light coffee and toast, honey/maple syrup, and floral flavors are balanced well with a present, but not overbearing bitterness. I read some of the reviews on BeerAdvocate, and people mentioned citrus frequently. I really didn’t notice very many citrus components at all, which is something that usually jumps out at me in beer. I do think this beer could have offered more however. The beer’s flavor was rather modest for a barleywine, which isn’t what you are usually looking for when pulling this style of the shelf. Nevertheless, evaluated independently, it is exciting to see a Texas label put this out.

Combined with some of the St. Arnold’s Divine Reserves released in recent years, Real Ale’s seasonal, especially the Sisyphus are redefining Texas beer. The days of Shiner dominance may finally be coming to an end. Granted a good Shiner now and then is never a bad thing, but hey we were once our own country, I’m sure we can make our own beer too. Hopefully, the upcoming release of Southern Star’s first batch will add another contender to the group. Well, this Session thing was kind of fun; I might have to try this out again next time. An excuse to drink more beer isn’t really needed, but I’ll gladly use the justification. Be sure to head over to the Brew Site for more barleywine post and the Session round-up.

Texas Adds Another Brewery

One of the great things about our huge beer selection at Beaver’s is our devotion to local beers. I think we will have 75 different beers when we finally get everything in stock, and of these beers, I think around 15 will be Texas beers. Texas has made some monumental strides in brewing beer since I left the state, and the number of microbreweries is set to grow even further. I have been talking all week with my bar guests about the upcoming debut of Southern Star Brewing after reading about it on Barley Vine. According to the brewery’s website, Southern Star’s “production target remains Mid-December”. They have plans to release a Dortmunder-style lager, available on tap at selected locations, and an American Pale Ale called, Pine Belt Ale. Interestingly, Southern Star has plans to package all of their beers in cans. This is definitely going to get the new brewery a lot of needed attention and, hopefully, help to jump start another small brewery in Texas.

The Texas brews we have chosen at our bar really help to contrast the rest of our beer collection which currently is seasonal and, consequently, rather heavy and bold at the moment. Currently, we have 5 barley vines for example. Texas beers are generally lighter in style to compliment the warmer weather. Perhaps, this new brewery can help to fill this Texas void at some point. One intriguing exception to this stereotype of Texas beers is the Real Ale Coffer Porter, which we carry on tap. It is actually brewed with a local artisan coffee called Katz Coffee and makes for an nice seasonal beer.

Texas currently has 5, or 6 depending on your perspective, craft breweries:

-Independence
-Live Oak
-Rahr & Sons
-Real Ale
-Shiner (Debatable Craft Status)
-St. Arnold’s

The addition of Southern Star Brewing is really exciting, especially since it will be based out of nearby Conroe, and their unique twist has really intrigued me. I plan to do a review and ranking of Texas Breweries in the upcoming weeks, so please make sure to check back for my thoughts on Texas’ microbrewery industry. For more information on Texas’ beers or just beer in general, check out Barley Vine, where I was tipped off about Southern Star Brewing. I always read this blog to keep up with local beers and get what is obviously an experienced opinion on beer.

Goose Island Reserve - Part 3, Bourbon County Stout

Price – 19.99 (4 Pack)

ABV – 11.0%

Alcohol by Weight – 9.0%

Hop Bitterness (IBU) – 60, High

Color (SRM) – Midnight

Continuing the series of reviewing Goose Island’s reserve beers, it is time to look at the beast of the series, the Bourbon County Stout. I wanted to review this beer since I spent all day today looking at barrels in Kentucky. The Bourbon County Stout is a huge intimidating stout, and it doesn’t disappoint. As we will do throughout the series, here is Greg Hall’s label description:

“I really wanted to do something special for our 1000^th batch at the original brewpub. Goose Island could have thrown a party. But we did something better. We brewed a beer. A really big batch of stout—so big, the malt was coming out of the top of the mash tun. After fermentation, we brought in some bourbon barrels that aged the stout. One hundred days later, BOURBON COUNTY STOUT was born. A liquid as dark and dense as a black hole with thick foam the color of a bourbon barrel. The nose is an intense mix of charred oak, chocolate, vanilla, caramel and smoke. One sip has more flavor than your average case of beer. It overpowers anything in the room. People have even said it’s a great cigar beer. But I have yet to try a cigar that can stand up.”

~Greg Hall, Brewmaster

This beer is one of the few that one will think back on as a privilege (and it better be for the price). When you pour the beer, you immediately question whether you grabbed a beer or a weird bottle of some type of oil. The beer is immensely thick and extremely black. If I didn’t know it was a beer, I wouldn’t be able to pick it out of a lineup full of Penzoil because the thin tan head dies quickly. The intimidating feature of the beer’s appearance continues through all elements of the beer. The aroma is enormous. The bourbon is definitely noticeable, but the nose also brings forth burnt toast and coffee. The beer’s taste again shows the bourbon, but the alcohol is unexpectedly submissive leaving flavors chocolate, caramel, and coffee. Even though the alcohol is well hidden, the beer’s flavors are so intense that this beer is probably a “once-a-nighter” for most. However, the experience is so fulfilling that once is enough.

The use of bourbon barrels in the microbrew industry is escalating quickly. While I have been unable to taste any other similar beers to this point, I think that Goose Island has definitely established a bias in this drinker. The beer achieved its goals so well and was so impressive that I have to recommend it to anyone who even moderately enjoys stouts. Be prepared though – the beer itself is drunk on bourbon!

Goose Island Reserve - Part 2, Demolition

Price – 11.99 (4 Pack)

ABV – 8%

Alcohol by Weight – 6.0%

Hop Bitterness (IBU) – 55, Medium

Color (SRM) – 5, Pale Honey

On each Goose Island Reserve label, Brewmaster Greg Hall provides a description of the beer and the story behind it. Each story is unique and shows the special care and attention that each beer in this series receives. I thought that it would be nice and informative to provide the label description for each beer as I review these fine products. Here is Demolition’s label –

“Back in the early 90’s, our landlord went bankrupt and they tore down the mall surrounding the original Goose Island Brewpub. Sure, we were still open, but who would know it with all the demolition going on. We had giant wrecking balls careening around, the walls were shaking, it was tough. We lost a good part of our business for a year, if not for the most loyal of our customers, Goose Island would have closed. To HONOR those BRAVE SOULS, we brewed a strong golden ale called DEMOLITION. It was so good and so popular, we’ve brewed it every year since (I even served it at my wedding!). It’s brewed with SAAZ and STYRIAN GOLDING HOPS for a grassy, citrus aroma and lots of the finest pale malt for a “honey” malt middle and intense flavor. Demolition tastes great on its own or with a plate of fresh oysters.”

~ Greg Hall, Brewmaster

This was the second of the Goose Island Reserve beers I tried. After tasting Matilda, I decided to pick up a couple more Goose Island Reserves from the store with a friend and see if they compared. Demolition destroyed any doubt that Matilda was a one hit wonder. Greg Hall’s description is dead on; plus he knows a whole lot more than me. But, I review beer on this blog, so here’s what I got…

The nose is dominantly malty though some citrus and grassy aromas came through as well. The beer’s color is a cloudy golden orange which provides a noticeable head that dies quickly, leaving no lace. The citrus flavors were again evident in the taste, and the hops were evident, but not overly stressed in the taste. The beer has a slight bitter taste and finishes with alcohol and citrus flavors. The citrus elements of the beer are the peaks of the taste, providing doses of acidity. If anything, the beer would improve from increased bitterness and less emphasis on the citrus flavors. However, this was the goal and, as is, fits nicely into the Reserve collection.

Demolition is one of the middle weights in the Goose Island Reserve series (yes, 8 percent is a middle weight when compared to the others). I really enjoyed the beer, but I think that I would like to have this one on tap at the Clybourn brewpub. The beer’s adaptation from the tap to the bottle seemed too apparent. This was especially notable in the beer’s head. Unfortunately, I don’t think I will get this chance to visit the brewpub as moving can be extremely time-consuming. Nevertheless, the beer is outstanding, and if I had access to it at all times would certainly give it plenty of attention.

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