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.