I had a feeling we’ve done this before but I wasn’t sure, so I had to trawl back through the archives and yes, we did in fact change all three Badass Beers, but it was two drafts and one bottle, and it wasn’t all on the same day. This time it’s one draft and two bottles, and they’re all hitting the floor at the same time.
Moylans is a brewery-cum-restaurant in Novato, CA, and I’ve been meaning to get one of their beers on tap for a while now. As you might be able to tell from the logo they have Irish roots, and if that’s not enough for you the names of some of their beers are a dead giveaway: Dragoons Dry Irish Stout, Old Blarney Barley Wine, Ryan Sullivan’s Imperial Stout, Danny’s Irish Red Ale, Celts Golden Ale and...
Moylans is a brewery-cum-restaurant in Novato, CA, and I’ve been meaning to get one of their beers on tap for a while now. As you might be able to tell from the logo they have Irish roots, and if that’s not enough for you the names of some of their beers are a dead giveaway: Dragoons Dry Irish Stout, Old Blarney Barley Wine, Ryan Sullivan’s Imperial Stout, Danny’s Irish Red Ale, Celts Golden Ale and...
- 4/4/2011
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Since the Badass Tap came into being more than a year ago we’ve only had one beer that’s appeared twice, and then with a different name (Victory’s Yakima Twilight/Glory), but this is a bona fide, straight up repeat performance, and one that’s had me licking my lips in anticipation.
In fact, it came in a little earlier than I thought. I wasn’t expecting to see any in Austin until at least April, but rumours have been flying around the halls of beer geekdom that it had been sighted already! Last year we had Avery Maharaja on tap in July (Avery brews two or three batches each year), but this really isn’t a beer style that’s well suited to Texas temperatures at that time of the year so I’m especially pleased to see it around right now… not that I’d turn...
In fact, it came in a little earlier than I thought. I wasn’t expecting to see any in Austin until at least April, but rumours have been flying around the halls of beer geekdom that it had been sighted already! Last year we had Avery Maharaja on tap in July (Avery brews two or three batches each year), but this really isn’t a beer style that’s well suited to Texas temperatures at that time of the year so I’m especially pleased to see it around right now… not that I’d turn...
- 3/28/2011
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Every once in a while we get a chance to put something really special on tap, thanks to the fantastic people who devote their lives to brewing the beverage we love to drink. One group of these heroes works not far from here in Blanco and call themselves the Real Ale Brewing Company. They make some of the best beers around these parts, and although not situated within Austin city limits I always think of them as a local brewery.
Nestled among their portfolio of seasonal beers is a Belgian style tripel called Devil’s Backbone, usually on tap around late spring/early summer. I reckon you’re probably familiar with it so I won’t go into any great detail, but if you’ve yet to become acquainted with this beer you can check out Real Ale’s own description of it.
During the few months that it’s...
Nestled among their portfolio of seasonal beers is a Belgian style tripel called Devil’s Backbone, usually on tap around late spring/early summer. I reckon you’re probably familiar with it so I won’t go into any great detail, but if you’ve yet to become acquainted with this beer you can check out Real Ale’s own description of it.
During the few months that it’s...
- 3/11/2011
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
One of the few downsides about carrying imported beers, especially draft beers, on the menu is that supplies can sometimes be erratic and we occasionally run out of something rather good. But that can give us an opportunity to tap a keg of something else that’s just as good, or maybe even a little better, and today is one of those days.
We’ve had Wells Bombardier English Premium Bitter on the menu for several months here at Lamar and it’s proven to be a popular choice, but with 5,000 miles between us and the brewery, plus the vagaries of the Us Customs service, Bombardier is going to be out of stock for a few weeks, and that gives us a spare tap to play with! Fuller’s Esb to the rescue!!!
Fuller, Smith and Turner Plc is headquartered at the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, west London. The company...
We’ve had Wells Bombardier English Premium Bitter on the menu for several months here at Lamar and it’s proven to be a popular choice, but with 5,000 miles between us and the brewery, plus the vagaries of the Us Customs service, Bombardier is going to be out of stock for a few weeks, and that gives us a spare tap to play with! Fuller’s Esb to the rescue!!!
Fuller, Smith and Turner Plc is headquartered at the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, west London. The company...
- 3/10/2011
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
January and February are usually the two coldest months of the year (if you live in the northern hemisphere and outside the tropics), and I reckon the sub-freezing temperatures and snowfall last week proved the point nicely. When the weather gets like that, drinkers tend to head in the direction of darker, heavier beers like the winter warmers, barley wines and stouts. We’ve got a pretty good selection of those styles stashed away, some of which have been waiting since this time last year to make an appearance, and it’s about time we started showing a few of them the light of day.
Rogue’s Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout is one of the two current Badass Bottles here at Lamar (the other, at least for the remaining two bottles we have left, is Delirium Noel Belgian Dark Ale). Being an oatmeal stout it has a smoother, more creamy texture...
Rogue’s Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout is one of the two current Badass Bottles here at Lamar (the other, at least for the remaining two bottles we have left, is Delirium Noel Belgian Dark Ale). Being an oatmeal stout it has a smoother, more creamy texture...
- 2/7/2011
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Among Austin beer geeks, the word ‘Treehugger’ is spoken with awe and reverence. Memories of previous releases are discussed with misty-eyed wistfulness. Occasionally there’ll be a feeding frenzy as one of the local beer bars announces that they’re tapping a keg of this mysterious brew which they’ve had tucked away since Eisenhower was in the Oval Office, and once every three or four years strong men will weep openly and women will swoon as Live Oak announces that they’re about to release a new vintage.
Get your handkerchiefs and smelling salts ready folks, it’s that time again.
Okay, so maybe that was hyperbole, but to say this beer is merely a bit special is like saying Niagara Falls is just a lot of water. It doesn’t convey the grandeur and the magnificence of the thing. As a beer style the barley wine is a beast.
Get your handkerchiefs and smelling salts ready folks, it’s that time again.
Okay, so maybe that was hyperbole, but to say this beer is merely a bit special is like saying Niagara Falls is just a lot of water. It doesn’t convey the grandeur and the magnificence of the thing. As a beer style the barley wine is a beast.
- 1/21/2011
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Now that the madness of the Christmas/New Year week is over (I don’t think we’ve ever poured so much beer in ten days) I’ve had time to sit down and work on last year’s numbers, and I like what I see. Of our top ten drafts in 2010, six are Texas beers. Four of those are brewed in Austin and one of them isn’t even alcoholic! Seven of the ten (excluding the root beer but including the Badass Tap) are from breweries that fall into the craft beer category, the threshold for which, incidentally, has just been raised by the Brewers Association from 2 million barrels production a year to 6 million, so the Boston Beer Company gets to keep their status as a craft brewery. Good news.
Here’s the rundown.
1. Real Ale Fireman’s #4
No surprise there really – it was our best selling draft last year too,...
Here’s the rundown.
1. Real Ale Fireman’s #4
No surprise there really – it was our best selling draft last year too,...
- 1/4/2011
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
It’s always sad to see the Christmas seasonals disappearing from the tap wall, but it’s a cloud with a sliver lining because those empty taps mean that we can dip into our growing inventory of Badass kegs and, at least for a week or two, triple or even quadruple the number of Badass beers on tap.
Last weekend, when the Shiner Cheer ran out, we tapped the first of two kegs of St Bernardus Christmas. This superb Belgian Strong Dark Ale was one of the Badass Bottles we put on during Christmas in July, and here we are already saying goodbye to this season’s Christmas beers. How can it be six months since then?
The Watou brewery, although the beers are no longer brewed by monks, the friars having decanted back to France, still specialises in abbey style ales such as the dubbel (8%), tripel (8%) and Abt 12 (quadrupel...
Last weekend, when the Shiner Cheer ran out, we tapped the first of two kegs of St Bernardus Christmas. This superb Belgian Strong Dark Ale was one of the Badass Bottles we put on during Christmas in July, and here we are already saying goodbye to this season’s Christmas beers. How can it be six months since then?
The Watou brewery, although the beers are no longer brewed by monks, the friars having decanted back to France, still specialises in abbey style ales such as the dubbel (8%), tripel (8%) and Abt 12 (quadrupel...
- 12/31/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
The festive season is upon us once more, and whether you’re religious or not that means Christmas and winter seasonal beers! We’ve several menu offerings at Lamar, including the traditional Drafthouse trinity of Real Ale Coffee Porter, Sierra Nevada Celebration and Anchor’s Our Special Ale, aka Anchor Christmas (all on draft), plus Boulevard Nutcracker (draft), Deschutes Jubelale (bottle), Sam Adams Winter Lager (bottle), Sam Smith’s Winter Welcome (bottle) and Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (bottle).
I really hope that next year, Texas gets enough draft Brooklyn Bcs for us to be able to put it on tap as a regular menu seasonal, instead of just the two kegs we managed to lay our hands on for a Badass Tap release at some point in the next several months when you’re least expecting it.
Erm, did I say that out loud?
Stay tuned. In the meantime here...
I really hope that next year, Texas gets enough draft Brooklyn Bcs for us to be able to put it on tap as a regular menu seasonal, instead of just the two kegs we managed to lay our hands on for a Badass Tap release at some point in the next several months when you’re least expecting it.
Erm, did I say that out loud?
Stay tuned. In the meantime here...
- 12/7/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Ideally we should be putting a Christmas beer on the Badass Bottle right now but this week we managed to get our hands on a case of Boulevard’s 21st Anniversary Pale Ale, and this is a beer that by its nature cries out to be drunk as fresh as possible.
Boulevard Brewing of Kansas City is fast becoming one of my favourite breweries, and their Smokestack series of beers my favourite part of their portfolio. This is their range of higher end beers, generally bigger, more alcoholic and more just plain delicious that their regular beers. Like, for instance, the Double Wide Imperial Ipa that we had here for the Badass Bottle earlier this year.
Now we have a beer that’s stylistically similar, but has one very special aspect to it – fresh hops.
The vast majority of beers are brewed with hops that have either been dried to preserve them,...
Boulevard Brewing of Kansas City is fast becoming one of my favourite breweries, and their Smokestack series of beers my favourite part of their portfolio. This is their range of higher end beers, generally bigger, more alcoholic and more just plain delicious that their regular beers. Like, for instance, the Double Wide Imperial Ipa that we had here for the Badass Bottle earlier this year.
Now we have a beer that’s stylistically similar, but has one very special aspect to it – fresh hops.
The vast majority of beers are brewed with hops that have either been dried to preserve them,...
- 12/2/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
It seems only fitting to have an English beer, or at least an English beer style on the Badass Tap while we’re showing a Harry Potter film, so the timing for this one couldn’t have been better.
Among the new breweries in Austin, Jester King is the latest one to start shipping beer (Thirsty Planet were first off the starting block a few months ago, and Austin Beerworks should be delivering beer in January). The brewers at Jester King cannot be said to be playing it safe when it comes their lineup of beers. They’re going to produce some very interesting brews in the months and years (yes, they really are thinking that far ahead) to come, and their first two offerings are hardly standard. Wytchmaker Rye Ipa is “a decadently hopped rye Ipa with abundant notes of citrus, tropical fruit, pine and spice” which includes 15% malted Canadian rye.
Among the new breweries in Austin, Jester King is the latest one to start shipping beer (Thirsty Planet were first off the starting block a few months ago, and Austin Beerworks should be delivering beer in January). The brewers at Jester King cannot be said to be playing it safe when it comes their lineup of beers. They’re going to produce some very interesting brews in the months and years (yes, they really are thinking that far ahead) to come, and their first two offerings are hardly standard. Wytchmaker Rye Ipa is “a decadently hopped rye Ipa with abundant notes of citrus, tropical fruit, pine and spice” which includes 15% malted Canadian rye.
- 11/24/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Recently we launched a sister site, lovingly known as Badass Digest. Periodically, we’ll be cross-posting some of their material, because it’s too good not to share. Jim Hughes, Alamo beer nerd and S. Lamar bartender, posted this list of five essential beers that all beer nerds should know and love. An opinion piece, yes, but one that should be read as fact! Check out the site and the original blog here: Badass Digest!
Our latest addition to the Badass Hall of Fame is Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of beer and brewing. With that in mind we asked Alamo Drafthouse’s resident beer nerd Jim Hughes to suggest the five most essential beers. Get drinking!
- Devin
There are hundreds of variations on the four-note theme of water, barley, hops and yeast, so pinning down just five beers is a near-impossible task . If you get three beer geeks talking...
Our latest addition to the Badass Hall of Fame is Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of beer and brewing. With that in mind we asked Alamo Drafthouse’s resident beer nerd Jim Hughes to suggest the five most essential beers. Get drinking!
- Devin
There are hundreds of variations on the four-note theme of water, barley, hops and yeast, so pinning down just five beers is a near-impossible task . If you get three beer geeks talking...
- 11/11/2010
- by Caitlin Stevens
- OriginalAlamo.com
That, dear reader, is a bottle of my favourite British beer – Marston’s Pedigree. Brewed in Burton-upon-Trent, known across the beer-drinking world as the source of some of the best water for brewing our favourite beverage, it’s a classic English bitter. Unfortunately, Pedigree isn’t to be had in Texas but every time I meet a new distributor rep or beer importer I ask them if they’d consider bringing it to Austin. Maybe one day.
More of the Official Beer of England later.
Austin Beer Week is finally upon us after several weeks of anticipation. There are so many beer-related events going on around town it’s hard to know which way to turn… or how to get over the hangover that’s going to follow seven days of drinking so many fine beers. Could be worth telling your stockbroker to buy Alka-Seltzer futures.
I thought we should...
More of the Official Beer of England later.
Austin Beer Week is finally upon us after several weeks of anticipation. There are so many beer-related events going on around town it’s hard to know which way to turn… or how to get over the hangover that’s going to follow seven days of drinking so many fine beers. Could be worth telling your stockbroker to buy Alka-Seltzer futures.
I thought we should...
- 10/23/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
As I’m sure many of you already know, the first ever Austin Beer Week is just around the corner (and if you didn’t know, this is your wake-up call).
There’ll be all sorts of fantastic beer-related events going on in bars and restaurants across Austin, and the Alamo Drafthouse is very pleased to be part of it.
The centrepiece of festivities here at South Lamar is a beer feast featuring Live Oak Brewing and a screening of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. Chef John Bullington has put together a splendid five-course menu of German, French and Jewish dishes, each of which has been paired with a Live Oak beer chosen by Chip McElroy and his friends at the brewery. You can view the menu and buy tickets for the feast here.
Throughout the week we’ll have extra Badass Beers on tap and in bottles (one of...
There’ll be all sorts of fantastic beer-related events going on in bars and restaurants across Austin, and the Alamo Drafthouse is very pleased to be part of it.
The centrepiece of festivities here at South Lamar is a beer feast featuring Live Oak Brewing and a screening of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. Chef John Bullington has put together a splendid five-course menu of German, French and Jewish dishes, each of which has been paired with a Live Oak beer chosen by Chip McElroy and his friends at the brewery. You can view the menu and buy tickets for the feast here.
Throughout the week we’ll have extra Badass Beers on tap and in bottles (one of...
- 10/14/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Six or seven times a year we get an opportunity to shake things up a little as the front page of the menu is reprinted to reflect the current films or the changing seasons, and for me, seasonals are one of the most fun things about the business of beer. To be fair, south central Texas hardly gets the mists and mellow fruitfulness enjoyed by most other parts of the northern hemisphere at this time of the year, encouraging us away from the hefeweizens, witbiers, lagers, kölsches etc, and towards the darker, heavier beers, but we can still pretend.
As mentioned previously, both Live Oak Oaktoberfest and Sam Adams Octoberfest are already on tap, and Real Ale’s fall seasonal will be added to the lineup as soon we drain the current keg of Lost Gold Ipa. We’ll have at least three Oktoberfest Badass drafts: Bear Republic Late Harvest Lager is already flowing,...
As mentioned previously, both Live Oak Oaktoberfest and Sam Adams Octoberfest are already on tap, and Real Ale’s fall seasonal will be added to the lineup as soon we drain the current keg of Lost Gold Ipa. We’ll have at least three Oktoberfest Badass drafts: Bear Republic Late Harvest Lager is already flowing,...
- 9/18/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Foodies and beer drinkers unite! This Tuesday (9/14), we are pleased to be hosting a beer dinner at Lake Creek with Houston’s oldest and finest craft brewery, St. Arnold. Owner and founder Brock Wagner will be in attendance to host the event and run through some of the brewery’s finest offerings, paired with a multi-course mini-feast to complement the brews. My mouth is watering just thinking of the “Taco Party” course. Check out the menu below as well as a writeup of what’s in-store via resident Alamo Beer Guru Jim Hughes.
The Menu will include
1st Course – Seafood
St. Arnolds Lawnmower : New England Clam Chowder.
St. Arnolds Texas Wheat: Kristalweizen Mussels with coriander and shallots
2nd Course – Taco Party
St. Arnolds Amber: Amber marinated flat iron steak with roasted poblano peppers and cotija cheese
St. Arnolds Elissa Ipa: Achiote and Orange marinated chicken w/ Habenero cream sauce.
The Menu will include
1st Course – Seafood
St. Arnolds Lawnmower : New England Clam Chowder.
St. Arnolds Texas Wheat: Kristalweizen Mussels with coriander and shallots
2nd Course – Taco Party
St. Arnolds Amber: Amber marinated flat iron steak with roasted poblano peppers and cotija cheese
St. Arnolds Elissa Ipa: Achiote and Orange marinated chicken w/ Habenero cream sauce.
- 9/10/2010
- by bret
- OriginalAlamo.com
As mentioned in the last Badass Beer post, we have indeed gone to two Badass Bottles, but we lost one Badass Draft in the process. However, there’s a light on the horizon, a silver lining around the cloud, one door closes etc.
The reason for losing the draft is that summer is drawing to a conclusion. Now, all things are relative, and although we’re still experiencing near-100° temperatures and Austin’s hottest recorded temperature (112F/44.44C) happened in September, the fact is that we’re only three weeks away from the autumnal equinox, and to friends of John Barleycorn that means one thing – autumn seasonals! Yesterday (Monday), Live Oak rolled out the first kegs this year’s Oaktoberfest and it is delicious. I had me a few pints while watching Get Low, a film I highly recommend. We also tapped a keg of Sam Adams’ autumn seasonal, and...
The reason for losing the draft is that summer is drawing to a conclusion. Now, all things are relative, and although we’re still experiencing near-100° temperatures and Austin’s hottest recorded temperature (112F/44.44C) happened in September, the fact is that we’re only three weeks away from the autumnal equinox, and to friends of John Barleycorn that means one thing – autumn seasonals! Yesterday (Monday), Live Oak rolled out the first kegs this year’s Oaktoberfest and it is delicious. I had me a few pints while watching Get Low, a film I highly recommend. We also tapped a keg of Sam Adams’ autumn seasonal, and...
- 8/31/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
It’s not often… no, wait, we’ve never changed all three Badass beers within a day of each other. In fact, we usually don’t have the luxury of three. By this time next week we’ll be back down to one draft and one bottle again, although there ain’t no reason why we couldn’t have two bottles at the same time.
Any road up, to business.
The first of the two drafts is a limited release from a brewery we’ve never featured either on the Badass Tap or the regular menu. Two five-gallon kegs of Redhook’s 8-4-1 Expedition Imperial Brown Ale were delivered to us back in April and we’ve been sitting on them since then. Now, I freely admit that brown ale isn’t one of my favourite beers styles, but whenever a brewer makes a double/imperial version of any...
Any road up, to business.
The first of the two drafts is a limited release from a brewery we’ve never featured either on the Badass Tap or the regular menu. Two five-gallon kegs of Redhook’s 8-4-1 Expedition Imperial Brown Ale were delivered to us back in April and we’ve been sitting on them since then. Now, I freely admit that brown ale isn’t one of my favourite beers styles, but whenever a brewer makes a double/imperial version of any...
- 8/23/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
For the past few weeks we’ve had the luxury of two Badass Taps while waiting for the autumn seasonals to come along (yes, I know several Oktoberfests have been on sale since July… don’t even get me started on how I feel about that), and, for a few days at least, we’re going to have two local Badass beers pouring at the same time. We’re still working on the keg of Independence Jasperilla that was tapped a little over a week ago, and just this morning we tapped a keg of Real Ale Empire.
Empire is another of Real Ale’s Mysterium Verum (Real Mystery) series of barrel-aged and experimental beers. Most of you probably know this already, but to recap: Real Ale have taken a selection of their seasonal beers and aged them for two to three months in red wine barrels, some of which...
Empire is another of Real Ale’s Mysterium Verum (Real Mystery) series of barrel-aged and experimental beers. Most of you probably know this already, but to recap: Real Ale have taken a selection of their seasonal beers and aged them for two to three months in red wine barrels, some of which...
- 8/19/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Lagunitas is a brewery we’ve only featured once so far on the Badass Tap, so let’s double that number. The previous beer, Undercover Investigation Shutdown Ale, was a big, bold, bitter brew. Lagunitas does that sort of thing really well – GnarlyWine, Hairy Eyeball, Hop Stoopid and Maximus are not for the feint of heart. But they can also do the, shall we say, less difficult end of the spectrum just as well.
A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ is a good example. It’s an American Pale Wheat Ale that goes down very easy at this time of the year. The American Pale Wheat is a comparatively new beer style which has been developed from the German hefeweizen (hefe = yeast; weizen = wheat). Typical of the hefeweizen are the familiar yeast-derived banana and clove (also sometimes bubble gum) characteristics found so spectacularly in our own Live Oak HefeWeizen, considered by many...
A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ is a good example. It’s an American Pale Wheat Ale that goes down very easy at this time of the year. The American Pale Wheat is a comparatively new beer style which has been developed from the German hefeweizen (hefe = yeast; weizen = wheat). Typical of the hefeweizen are the familiar yeast-derived banana and clove (also sometimes bubble gum) characteristics found so spectacularly in our own Live Oak HefeWeizen, considered by many...
- 8/10/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
I’m always happy to put a local beer on the Badass tap, and I’m especially pleased to get this one because it’s an unusual and ancient beer style. Independence Jasperilla (named after the brewery dog, Jasper) is an Old Ale.
Old Ales go back to the time when hops started to become a common ingredient of beer, around the middle ages. Before then, beer was flavoured with gruit – a concoction of herbs that varied from place to place and brewer to brewer. Gruit imparts flavour and bitterness but the beer would spoil quickly so it had to be drunk young. Hops have the added benefit of preservative and antiseptic properties allowing beer to be kept longer and to develop new flavours as it ages and matures. Brewers started using this technique to make beers with interesting new qualities, often unique to the alehouse where it was brewed,...
Old Ales go back to the time when hops started to become a common ingredient of beer, around the middle ages. Before then, beer was flavoured with gruit – a concoction of herbs that varied from place to place and brewer to brewer. Gruit imparts flavour and bitterness but the beer would spoil quickly so it had to be drunk young. Hops have the added benefit of preservative and antiseptic properties allowing beer to be kept longer and to develop new flavours as it ages and matures. Brewers started using this technique to make beers with interesting new qualities, often unique to the alehouse where it was brewed,...
- 8/8/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
This Tuesday (8/10), we are excited to present a tasting hosted by Sam Adams Brewmaster Bob Cannon at Lake Creek. If his name doesn’t ring a bell, surely you will recognize Bob’s signature goatee, as seen in all of the Sam Adams commercials. In preparation for the tasting, resident Alamo beer expert Jim Hughes has written up a breakdown of the various Sam Adams beers we will be sampling. Be warned though, the following write-up can be considered borderline pornographic for beer lovers.
“Before the dinner we’ll start off with an apéritif of Sam Adams Light. As light lagers go, this one’s in a class of its own. In fact it’s hardly even a light beer, if by ‘light’ you mean lower in calories. Nor does it have any of the adjuncts and… stuff found in most other light lagers. You know the ones I mean,...
“Before the dinner we’ll start off with an apéritif of Sam Adams Light. As light lagers go, this one’s in a class of its own. In fact it’s hardly even a light beer, if by ‘light’ you mean lower in calories. Nor does it have any of the adjuncts and… stuff found in most other light lagers. You know the ones I mean,...
- 8/7/2010
- by bret
- OriginalAlamo.com
Now that July is almost at an end and so, therefore, are all the festive beers*, let’s get back to the plain old, run-of-the-mill, common-or-garden Badass beers.
Well, not quite. There’s nothing plain or ordinary about Avery Maharaja (or any of the Badass beers!). It’s one of the three beers in Avery’s Dictator series, the other two being The Kaiser (Imperial Oktoberfest) and The Czar (Russian Imperial Stout). Maharaja is the summer release of the three and Avery makes two or three batches each year.
Brewed in Colorado and therefore closer to the west coast than the east, Maharaja’s profile is correspondingly located towards the hoppier end if the Ipa spectrum (remembering that east coast IPAs tend to be sweeter while west coast are hoppier), but with a strong malt backbone providing plenty of sweet, caramel balance. Don’t let that lull you into a false sense of security though.
Well, not quite. There’s nothing plain or ordinary about Avery Maharaja (or any of the Badass beers!). It’s one of the three beers in Avery’s Dictator series, the other two being The Kaiser (Imperial Oktoberfest) and The Czar (Russian Imperial Stout). Maharaja is the summer release of the three and Avery makes two or three batches each year.
Brewed in Colorado and therefore closer to the west coast than the east, Maharaja’s profile is correspondingly located towards the hoppier end if the Ipa spectrum (remembering that east coast IPAs tend to be sweeter while west coast are hoppier), but with a strong malt backbone providing plenty of sweet, caramel balance. Don’t let that lull you into a false sense of security though.
- 7/30/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
It’s around about this time of the year that I start pining for the cooler temperatures of November and December. Here we are at the beginning of July with the dog days of August still ahead of us, although it has to be said that this summer hasn’t been too uncomfortable so far. We’re almost halfway through the hottest part of the year and we still haven’t hit 100°!
Damn, I probably just jinxed it, didn’t I.
During the summer months I also start pining for some of those delicious winter beers. Sure, I love the summer seasonals and the lighter beers that the hot weather puts you in the mood for but I’m ready for a winter warmer or two any time of the year, so with that in mind we’ve decided to take a little break from the wheats and the lagers...
Damn, I probably just jinxed it, didn’t I.
During the summer months I also start pining for some of those delicious winter beers. Sure, I love the summer seasonals and the lighter beers that the hot weather puts you in the mood for but I’m ready for a winter warmer or two any time of the year, so with that in mind we’ve decided to take a little break from the wheats and the lagers...
- 7/6/2010
- by Jim
- OriginalAlamo.com
Friends, beer lovers, and especially hopheads, it’s time for another brew from what is close to becoming (after Dogfish Head) our most frequent visitor to the Badass Tap: Bear Republic (and this isn’t the only Bear Republic keg we have in the building, by the way).
I was first introduced to the California brewery when the then bar manager here at Lamar (Ryan Schibi, who is now Head of Booze at The Highball) said we should get in some Racer 5 Ipa for a tie-in with Speed Racer. That was not long after I’d been promoted to head bartender, so I took his advice and was very glad I did so. The film kind of bombed, but the beer didn’t – it was delicious.
Racer 5 is a bottle that frequently finds itself in my fridge. Alas, not so Racer X, because Bear Republic don’t bottle this one – it’s draft only,...
I was first introduced to the California brewery when the then bar manager here at Lamar (Ryan Schibi, who is now Head of Booze at The Highball) said we should get in some Racer 5 Ipa for a tie-in with Speed Racer. That was not long after I’d been promoted to head bartender, so I took his advice and was very glad I did so. The film kind of bombed, but the beer didn’t – it was delicious.
Racer 5 is a bottle that frequently finds itself in my fridge. Alas, not so Racer X, because Bear Republic don’t bottle this one – it’s draft only,...
- 6/26/2010
- by Jim
- OriginalAlamo.com
Well here’s a fortuitous opportunity! Real Ale’s spring seasonal, Devil’s Backbone, has just finished its run and their next one, Lost Gold Ipa, won’t ship for about a week so we have an empty tap on the beer wall. As far as I’m concerned that can mean only thing…
Two Badass drafts! And, as it happens, we have two different Dogfish Head beers in the walk-in.
The first is an unusual one – Festina Peche. This is a Berliner Weisse, not a commonly brewed beer style in this part of the world, nor, indeed, in its native Germany any more. It’s a speciality wheat beer brewed with lactobacillus culture which imparts a tart, almost sour character to the beer, such that in Germany it’s usually drunk with the addition of flavoured syrups to cut the acidity, a bit like an alcoholic Italian soda. The...
Two Badass drafts! And, as it happens, we have two different Dogfish Head beers in the walk-in.
The first is an unusual one – Festina Peche. This is a Berliner Weisse, not a commonly brewed beer style in this part of the world, nor, indeed, in its native Germany any more. It’s a speciality wheat beer brewed with lactobacillus culture which imparts a tart, almost sour character to the beer, such that in Germany it’s usually drunk with the addition of flavoured syrups to cut the acidity, a bit like an alcoholic Italian soda. The...
- 6/21/2010
- by Jim
- OriginalAlamo.com
The Boulevard Brewing Co. of Kansas City, Mo doesn’t have the same high profile as some of the more well know craft breweries such as Dogfish Head, Stone or Sierra Nevada, but they make some fine beers, one of which – Single Wide Ipa – we’ve had on tap here at Lamar for a few months now, and another – Nutcracker Winter Warmer – sold well last Christmas. I’m also a big fan of their Bully Porter.
A few years ago they began bottling a new range of beers – the Smokestack Series – which come in 750ml cork-and-cage bottles, and the second one to be released was Double Wide Ipa in 2007.
As American IPAs go this one is fairly restrained, at least compared to some of the big west coast IPAs, and that’s no bad thing. You can only have so much of the 100+ Ibu hop bombs before your palate is wrecked.
A few years ago they began bottling a new range of beers – the Smokestack Series – which come in 750ml cork-and-cage bottles, and the second one to be released was Double Wide Ipa in 2007.
As American IPAs go this one is fairly restrained, at least compared to some of the big west coast IPAs, and that’s no bad thing. You can only have so much of the 100+ Ibu hop bombs before your palate is wrecked.
- 6/12/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Where does one begin with BrewDog? This little Scottish brewery has caused more ripples in the craft brewing scene than just about anyone else. They are, at one and the same time, brash, experimental, provocative, self-aggrandising, radical and sometimes even outrageous, but above all they brew good beer.
Founded barely four years ago by James Watt and Martin Dickie, BrewDog has flown in the face of the generally more reserved and traditional British brewing industry with the style of their beer and their marketing, both of which are more in line with American craft breweries such as Dogfish Head and Stone. To call them progressive is almost an understatement, and they’ve polarised beer geeks with their antics. BrewDog is a phenomenon you either love or you hate.
They first made headlines in Britain with Tokyo* Oak Aged Stout – a beer brewed to 18.2% Abv. For those of you in the know,...
Founded barely four years ago by James Watt and Martin Dickie, BrewDog has flown in the face of the generally more reserved and traditional British brewing industry with the style of their beer and their marketing, both of which are more in line with American craft breweries such as Dogfish Head and Stone. To call them progressive is almost an understatement, and they’ve polarised beer geeks with their antics. BrewDog is a phenomenon you either love or you hate.
They first made headlines in Britain with Tokyo* Oak Aged Stout – a beer brewed to 18.2% Abv. For those of you in the know,...
- 6/12/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Finding beers for the both the Badass Tap and the Badass Bottle is pretty much the most fun part of my job, and up to now I’ve chosen brews that I think have merit and will be enjoyed because they’re top quality. This time, however, I’ve chosen a beer simply because I love it. And because I think it has merit and is a quality brew, of course.
A few weeks ago we had one case of Stone Sublimely Self Righteous Ale, and they flew out of the door on wings. Twelve bombers sold in less than two days. Stone just don’t make bad beers and the drinkers who come to the Drafthouse know good beer when they see it. Although Stone themselves consider Stone Ipa to be their flagship beer, I think a lot of us feel that it should be Arrogant Bastard. It’s a fantastic beer and,...
A few weeks ago we had one case of Stone Sublimely Self Righteous Ale, and they flew out of the door on wings. Twelve bombers sold in less than two days. Stone just don’t make bad beers and the drinkers who come to the Drafthouse know good beer when they see it. Although Stone themselves consider Stone Ipa to be their flagship beer, I think a lot of us feel that it should be Arrogant Bastard. It’s a fantastic beer and,...
- 6/5/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
I think it’s fair to say the beer industry is largely male dominated. How many brewery owners/founders/head brewers/beer critics/general beer personalities can you think of off the top of your head? Adam Avery, Sam Calagione, Greg Stone, Ken Grossman, Garrett Oliver, Rob Tod, Chip McElroy, Fritz Maytag, Charlie Papazian, Michael Jackson. All of them are possessors of a Y chromosome.
One notable exception is Austin’s own Amy Cartwright, co-founder of Independence Brewing. Another is Hildegard van Ostaden of the Leyerth Brewery in Belgium, brewer of the Urthel range of beers since 2000. Like Amy, Hildegard is also co-founder of the brewery. Her partner in the venture is husband Bas who designed the gnome-like characters that feature on their labels.
One other unusual aspect of the enterprise is that the beers, although Belgian in style, are brewed across the border in Holland, at the Koningshoeven Brewery...
One notable exception is Austin’s own Amy Cartwright, co-founder of Independence Brewing. Another is Hildegard van Ostaden of the Leyerth Brewery in Belgium, brewer of the Urthel range of beers since 2000. Like Amy, Hildegard is also co-founder of the brewery. Her partner in the venture is husband Bas who designed the gnome-like characters that feature on their labels.
One other unusual aspect of the enterprise is that the beers, although Belgian in style, are brewed across the border in Holland, at the Koningshoeven Brewery...
- 5/29/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
At last, after a few months of trying, we finally have a Lagunitas beer for the Badass Tap, and it’s a brew with a story behind it. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.
Way back in the dim and distant past (2005), Lagunitas used to hold parties at the brewery in Petaluma. The beer was cheap and the food and music were free. Unfortunately, someone at the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control must have thought they were having too much fun so they started staking out the parties, undercover. Over an eight-week period they tried getting Lagunitas on several counts – serving a minor, serving an intoxicated person, trying to get free beer – but none of them stuck.
However, over the course of the investigation they found a few people in the garden out back enjoying some of northern California’s, umm… ‘tobacco products’, so they decided to raid the party,...
Way back in the dim and distant past (2005), Lagunitas used to hold parties at the brewery in Petaluma. The beer was cheap and the food and music were free. Unfortunately, someone at the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control must have thought they were having too much fun so they started staking out the parties, undercover. Over an eight-week period they tried getting Lagunitas on several counts – serving a minor, serving an intoxicated person, trying to get free beer – but none of them stuck.
However, over the course of the investigation they found a few people in the garden out back enjoying some of northern California’s, umm… ‘tobacco products’, so they decided to raid the party,...
- 5/27/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
For this latest Badass Draft we’re revisiting the Bear Republic brewery of Healdsburg, CA. A few months ago we had their Heritage Wee Heavy Scottish Ale on tap and it went down very well. This time it’s something which… well, in some respects you could say it’s from the other end of the beer spectrum – Apex Double Ipa.
Scotch Ales like Heritage tend towards the sweeter, maltier side of things whereas Double IPAs are often thought of as being the apex (no pun intended) of bitter hoppiness. While that isn’t entirely false, it’s not exactly true either. For sure, west coast IPAs have gained a reputation for extreme hops, and it’s a deserved one. Try a Dogfish Head 90 Minute (Milton, De) and then a Stone Ruination (Escondido, CA) – they’re almost two completely different beers, but the Dogfish beer is actually more representative of...
Scotch Ales like Heritage tend towards the sweeter, maltier side of things whereas Double IPAs are often thought of as being the apex (no pun intended) of bitter hoppiness. While that isn’t entirely false, it’s not exactly true either. For sure, west coast IPAs have gained a reputation for extreme hops, and it’s a deserved one. Try a Dogfish Head 90 Minute (Milton, De) and then a Stone Ruination (Escondido, CA) – they’re almost two completely different beers, but the Dogfish beer is actually more representative of...
- 5/22/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
There’s a marked difference between American ‘craft’ breweries and British (mostly English) ‘real ale’ breweries. British breweries tend to concentrate on a comparatively small range of traditional styles which are predominately cask-conditioned. The company will often go back two, three, four generations or more and they generally keep things pretty local, mostly because cask beer doesn’t travel too well. Because of the tied pub system in the UK, British breweries sell just about all their draft output to their own outlets.
American craft breweries, as I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you, are a very different beast. Their output is more varied and is mostly kegged rather than cask conditioned (although there is some of that around), and there’s a larger emphasis on bottles. Us breweries aren’t responsible for a chain of pubs with their name on, and rather than concentrating on traditional beer styles,...
American craft breweries, as I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you, are a very different beast. Their output is more varied and is mostly kegged rather than cask conditioned (although there is some of that around), and there’s a larger emphasis on bottles. Us breweries aren’t responsible for a chain of pubs with their name on, and rather than concentrating on traditional beer styles,...
- 5/20/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Well, yeah, I guess there should probably be an image of Christopher Lambert there… but c’mon, it’s Sean Connery with the Cross of St Andrew behind him. It doesn’t get much more Scottish than that, and he was in the movie so that’s good enough for me. Damn, I hope I look that good when I’m his age.
The Scottish angle is entirely appropriate because Highlander is the barrel-aged version of Real Heavy – Real Ale’s Wee Heavy Scotch Ale.
Allow me to recap. Real Ale have recently embarked on a project they call Mysterium Verum (Real Mystery). They’ve been ageing several of their beers in oak barrels, some of which are French, some of which are American, but all of which were previously used to ferment red wine. They put some of the beer in each of the two kinds of barrel, leave it there for three months,...
The Scottish angle is entirely appropriate because Highlander is the barrel-aged version of Real Heavy – Real Ale’s Wee Heavy Scotch Ale.
Allow me to recap. Real Ale have recently embarked on a project they call Mysterium Verum (Real Mystery). They’ve been ageing several of their beers in oak barrels, some of which are French, some of which are American, but all of which were previously used to ferment red wine. They put some of the beer in each of the two kinds of barrel, leave it there for three months,...
- 5/18/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Two’s company, three’s a crowd, Four’s a Belgian style beer from Allagash of Portland, Maine.
The Quadrupel is one of the most powerful of Belgian beer styles, and not just in terms of alcoholic content. If you like dubbels you’ll probably love the quadrupel. It’s typically a dark beer with plenty of rich, malty flavours, somewhat sweet, and full-bodied. Abv is usually in the 9-12% range, so you can imagine that it’s a sippin’ beer, not a chuggin’ beer.
Allagash have taken the ‘quad’ theme to extremes by using four malts, four hops, four sugars and four strains of yeasts, and fermenting the beer four times. If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing… to the power of four.
I think we’ll be featuring more Allagash beers in the coming months, as and when we can get them. Brewery founder Rob Tod...
The Quadrupel is one of the most powerful of Belgian beer styles, and not just in terms of alcoholic content. If you like dubbels you’ll probably love the quadrupel. It’s typically a dark beer with plenty of rich, malty flavours, somewhat sweet, and full-bodied. Abv is usually in the 9-12% range, so you can imagine that it’s a sippin’ beer, not a chuggin’ beer.
Allagash have taken the ‘quad’ theme to extremes by using four malts, four hops, four sugars and four strains of yeasts, and fermenting the beer four times. If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing… to the power of four.
I think we’ll be featuring more Allagash beers in the coming months, as and when we can get them. Brewery founder Rob Tod...
- 5/16/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
The Stone Brewing Co. of Escondido, California is not known for making wimpy beers. Their Arrogant Bastard Ale (“Are you worthy?”) has been on tap here at Lamar for most of the five years we’ve been open, and frankly, I’d be afraid to ever take it off the menu. It has a loyal following and I really wouldn’t want to piss them off. Besides, I’m one of that band of brothers – it’s a beer that I could drink like mothers’ milk if it wasn’t for the fact I’d be drunk all the time.
And their other beers?
Stone Ruination Double Ipa is a huge hop bomb of flavour; Stone Imperial Russian Stout is one of the best on the market; Old Guardian is a barley wine that’s hard to beat; Stone Smoked Porter is a beer everyone should try once before they die.
And their other beers?
Stone Ruination Double Ipa is a huge hop bomb of flavour; Stone Imperial Russian Stout is one of the best on the market; Old Guardian is a barley wine that’s hard to beat; Stone Smoked Porter is a beer everyone should try once before they die.
- 5/15/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Those two gentlemen to the left are Rogue Brewmaster John Maier (with the face furniture) and Rogue Spirits Master Distiller John Couchot. Between them they’ve created a new series of Rogue beers – the John John Ales.
Rogue also makes a range of spirits including Dead Guy Whiskey, which is made from the same wort as Dead Guy Ale. It’s taken to the distillery where magic things happen to turn it into whiskey which is then put into oak barrels for 30 days. When those are emptied and the whiskey is bottled for further ageing, they’re refilled with Dead Guy Ale and this is left to mature for 2-3 months.
As with any beer aged in wood, the oak and the whiskey both impart their own flavours, but in this instance neither are overpowering or detract from the sweet, bready maltiness of Dead Guy. Although it’s a bock,...
Rogue also makes a range of spirits including Dead Guy Whiskey, which is made from the same wort as Dead Guy Ale. It’s taken to the distillery where magic things happen to turn it into whiskey which is then put into oak barrels for 30 days. When those are emptied and the whiskey is bottled for further ageing, they’re refilled with Dead Guy Ale and this is left to mature for 2-3 months.
As with any beer aged in wood, the oak and the whiskey both impart their own flavours, but in this instance neither are overpowering or detract from the sweet, bready maltiness of Dead Guy. Although it’s a bock,...
- 5/14/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Just in time for Robin Hood we’ve got an ancient beer style that Robin and his band of outlaws would probably have been familiar with – braggot. In fact, it’s mentioned in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales which was published in the late 1300s:
But of her song, it was as loud and yern,
As any swallow chittering on a bern.
Thereto she coulde skip, and make a game
As any kid or calf following his dame.
Her mouth was sweet as braket, or as methe
Or hoard of apples, laid in hay or heath.
Braggot (bracket/bragget/bragawd) is similar to mead (methe), but whereas mead is, at its simplest, fermented honey and water, braggot can be either a mix of mead and beer, often with added spices, or it can be brewed as a kind of honey beer. Either way, the difference between mead and braggot is that braggot must involve malt.
But of her song, it was as loud and yern,
As any swallow chittering on a bern.
Thereto she coulde skip, and make a game
As any kid or calf following his dame.
Her mouth was sweet as braket, or as methe
Or hoard of apples, laid in hay or heath.
Braggot (bracket/bragget/bragawd) is similar to mead (methe), but whereas mead is, at its simplest, fermented honey and water, braggot can be either a mix of mead and beer, often with added spices, or it can be brewed as a kind of honey beer. Either way, the difference between mead and braggot is that braggot must involve malt.
- 5/13/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Kraken (krãkn). 1755. [-Norw. kraken (n is the suffixed def. art.).] A mythical sea-monster of enormous size, said to have been seen at times off the coast of Norway.
Kraken (krãkn). 2010. A mythical beer monster of enormous flavour, said to have been seen in Texas in the early 21st century.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Y’know, two of the biggest reasons to be glad about living in central Texas right now are 1) the fantastic breweries and brewpubs we have here, and 2) the prospective breweries in various stages of development (five… or is it six… at the last count), plus the Black Star Co-op. Now that’s what I call an embarrassment of riches!
Up there with the best of them is Real Ale Brewing in Blanco. Not only do they make our house beer (Drafthouse Esb, and if you haven’t tried it yet… why not?) but also our biggest selling draft beer – Fireman’s #4. They also make a fantastic range of seasonal beers,...
Kraken (krãkn). 2010. A mythical beer monster of enormous flavour, said to have been seen in Texas in the early 21st century.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Y’know, two of the biggest reasons to be glad about living in central Texas right now are 1) the fantastic breweries and brewpubs we have here, and 2) the prospective breweries in various stages of development (five… or is it six… at the last count), plus the Black Star Co-op. Now that’s what I call an embarrassment of riches!
Up there with the best of them is Real Ale Brewing in Blanco. Not only do they make our house beer (Drafthouse Esb, and if you haven’t tried it yet… why not?) but also our biggest selling draft beer – Fireman’s #4. They also make a fantastic range of seasonal beers,...
- 5/8/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
A few years ago the idea of craft beer in a can was unheard of, unthinkable even. Craft beer came in bottles, preferably brown ones, usually 12 oz, although 22oz bombers were nice and 750ml cork-and-cage was just plain classy. Cans were for brews like Natty Ice, Busch Light and Steel Reserve.
Oskar Blues said ‘To hell with that’, and put a great big spanner in the works by deciding to can their beers, dividing the beer geekerati between those who saw the advantages and those who couldn’t get past their prejudice.
Founder Dale Katechis (that’s right, Dale’s Pale Ale is named after him) opened the brewery in 1997 in Lyons, Colorado, and in 2002 he started canning the beers, one can at a time (their canning line works much more quickly these days, obviously).
Cans makes sense in so many ways. They’re much lighter than bottles, which makes transport costs cheaper.
Oskar Blues said ‘To hell with that’, and put a great big spanner in the works by deciding to can their beers, dividing the beer geekerati between those who saw the advantages and those who couldn’t get past their prejudice.
Founder Dale Katechis (that’s right, Dale’s Pale Ale is named after him) opened the brewery in 1997 in Lyons, Colorado, and in 2002 he started canning the beers, one can at a time (their canning line works much more quickly these days, obviously).
Cans makes sense in so many ways. They’re much lighter than bottles, which makes transport costs cheaper.
- 5/8/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Doesn’t that look good? A big, foaming chalice of Belgian beer; beer which many experts contend is the best in the world. Indeed, it was the favourite of the late, lamented Beer Hunter, Michael Jackson. We have just one case, 12 bottles, of such a beer – St. Bernardus Tripel.
St. Bernardus beers are not recognised as official Trappist ales, although they were originally brewed by monks, first in France at the Catsberg Abbey Community, and later a few kilometres across the border at the Refuge Notre Dame de St. Bernard in the Belgian village of Watou after they moved north, following a bout of religious intolerance in France around the turn of the 20th century. Just like Chimay, the abbey of St. Bernard was known for producing both cheese and beer.
Although the monks eventually moved back to France, brewing and cheese-making continued in Watou throughout the 20th century.
Right up until the 1990s,...
St. Bernardus beers are not recognised as official Trappist ales, although they were originally brewed by monks, first in France at the Catsberg Abbey Community, and later a few kilometres across the border at the Refuge Notre Dame de St. Bernard in the Belgian village of Watou after they moved north, following a bout of religious intolerance in France around the turn of the 20th century. Just like Chimay, the abbey of St. Bernard was known for producing both cheese and beer.
Although the monks eventually moved back to France, brewing and cheese-making continued in Watou throughout the 20th century.
Right up until the 1990s,...
- 5/2/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
(512) Brewing in south Austin was partly instrumental in kicking off the whole Badass Beer thing so it’s fitting that we should have another one of their beers on the Badass Tap.
Last year, during the depths of what passes for winter in Texas (actually, it was quite wintry this year, wasn’t it), I was pondering the idea of having a rotating tap of seasonal, aged and high-end beers, and when the Christmas seasonals started running out at the end of December we found ourselves with an empty line or two, right about the time that (512) released the Whiskey Barrel Double Pecan Porter. Just thinking about that beer brings a little tear of happiness to my eye.
So we got a pair of kegs. They flew out of the door on wings, and thus was born the Badass Tap. This time we have a few kegs of their spring seasonal,...
Last year, during the depths of what passes for winter in Texas (actually, it was quite wintry this year, wasn’t it), I was pondering the idea of having a rotating tap of seasonal, aged and high-end beers, and when the Christmas seasonals started running out at the end of December we found ourselves with an empty line or two, right about the time that (512) released the Whiskey Barrel Double Pecan Porter. Just thinking about that beer brings a little tear of happiness to my eye.
So we got a pair of kegs. They flew out of the door on wings, and thus was born the Badass Tap. This time we have a few kegs of their spring seasonal,...
- 5/1/2010
- by Jim Hughes
- OriginalAlamo.com
Dear reader, you might remember that we had a keg of Avery Hog Heaven Barley Wine on tap at South Lamar at the beginning of this month. In fact, we had two kegs, but after the first one emptied we put on the delicious and delectable Hercules Double Ipa from Great Divide to coincide with Clash of the Titans (I had a glass or two myself while watching the film).
Well, the three, yes three, kegs of Hercules are history, and the second round of Hog Heaven is under way. Man, it’s good stuff.
There are some fantastic Badass Beers in the lineup for the next few months, and from all over the country, but the ones I’m most excited about are the ales from local breweries which are already in the building, one or two of which are really special and extremely rare. Stay tuned for further information.
Well, the three, yes three, kegs of Hercules are history, and the second round of Hog Heaven is under way. Man, it’s good stuff.
There are some fantastic Badass Beers in the lineup for the next few months, and from all over the country, but the ones I’m most excited about are the ales from local breweries which are already in the building, one or two of which are really special and extremely rare. Stay tuned for further information.
- 4/18/2010
- by Jim
- OriginalAlamo.com
‘Never mix the grape and the grain’, they say – a wise motto to live by if you want to avoid the mother of all hangovers in the morning. I guess the folks at Dogfish Head didn’t get that memo because they’ve put them both in the same bottle and come up with Red & White.
First brewed in 2007 and now one of Dfh’s established seasonals, it starts off as a Belgian style witbier (that’s the ‘White’ part) brewed with coriander and orange peel, but it’s fermented with Pinot Noir juice (’Red’). At this point, a portion of the batch is drawn off and put into Oregon Pinot Noir barrels while the rest is aged in Dfh’s oak tanks (some descriptions say ‘aged on oak staves’). After a few month’s it’s blended, packaged and sent out for you and me to enjoy.
This is...
First brewed in 2007 and now one of Dfh’s established seasonals, it starts off as a Belgian style witbier (that’s the ‘White’ part) brewed with coriander and orange peel, but it’s fermented with Pinot Noir juice (’Red’). At this point, a portion of the batch is drawn off and put into Oregon Pinot Noir barrels while the rest is aged in Dfh’s oak tanks (some descriptions say ‘aged on oak staves’). After a few month’s it’s blended, packaged and sent out for you and me to enjoy.
This is...
- 4/8/2010
- by Jim
- OriginalAlamo.com
This one’s a little bit tenuous, so bear with me.
Clash of the Titans opened at South Lamar this weekend. The film’s based around Greek mythology. Heracles was a divine hero in Greek mythology. Hercules is the Roman name for Heracles. Heracles doesn’t actually appear in Clash of the Titans.
But who needs justification to drink a beer as delicious as this?
That is all.
Jim Hughes, Head Beer Nerd, Alamo South Lamar
“If I had all the money I’ve spent on drink… I’d spend it on drink.” ~ Sir Henry Rawlinson...
Clash of the Titans opened at South Lamar this weekend. The film’s based around Greek mythology. Heracles was a divine hero in Greek mythology. Hercules is the Roman name for Heracles. Heracles doesn’t actually appear in Clash of the Titans.
But who needs justification to drink a beer as delicious as this?
That is all.
Jim Hughes, Head Beer Nerd, Alamo South Lamar
“If I had all the money I’ve spent on drink… I’d spend it on drink.” ~ Sir Henry Rawlinson...
- 4/5/2010
- by Jim
- OriginalAlamo.com
Regular followers of the Badass Tap might be starting to think by now that we’re favouring the Avery Brewing Company. So far we’ve had The Czar (Russian Imperial Stout) and duganA (Double Ipa), and pretty soon we’ll be getting a keg or two of The Maharaja Imperial Ipa delivered. But this week it’s the turn of their Hog Heaven barley wine.
There are people who buy bottles of barley wines such as Hog Heaven every year and cellar them like vintage wine, then have a ‘vertical tasting’ of several year’s-worth. Barley wine is one of those beer styles that’s perfect for that sort of thing because it improves with age when kept under the right conditions. Higher alcohol beers and beers with a big, high-roasted malt component are generally better for ageing than hoppy beers because the hop character of something like an Ipa fades relatively quickly,...
There are people who buy bottles of barley wines such as Hog Heaven every year and cellar them like vintage wine, then have a ‘vertical tasting’ of several year’s-worth. Barley wine is one of those beer styles that’s perfect for that sort of thing because it improves with age when kept under the right conditions. Higher alcohol beers and beers with a big, high-roasted malt component are generally better for ageing than hoppy beers because the hop character of something like an Ipa fades relatively quickly,...
- 3/30/2010
- by Jim
- OriginalAlamo.com
You might recall the hops and barley shortage of a few years ago. It didn’t affect the likes of Anheuser Busch, Miller and all the other industrial brewers too much because they already had a plentiful supply on hand and had locked in prices by buying hops and barley futures. Craft breweries, on the other hand, were hit hard as both hops and grain were in short supply and increasing in price almost daily, so Brett Joyce, president of Rogue Brewing in Newport, Oregon had an idea – Grow Your Own.
Rogue teamed up with a number of local farmers to plant hop gardens. It was so successful that they quickly got into growing barley too, and a new line of beers was born.
The first of the Chatoe Rogue Gyo beers was First Growth Wet Hop Ale – an American style pale ale released last year. The second in the...
Rogue teamed up with a number of local farmers to plant hop gardens. It was so successful that they quickly got into growing barley too, and a new line of beers was born.
The first of the Chatoe Rogue Gyo beers was First Growth Wet Hop Ale – an American style pale ale released last year. The second in the...
- 3/27/2010
- by Jim
- OriginalAlamo.com
If, like me, you’re of a certain age, the word ‘deadlift’ conjures up images of a big Russian bloke called Vasiliy Alekseyev who dominated the sport of weightlifting in the 1970s, although I don’t think the deadlift was one of his specialities. It seemed to me that every time he won a competition he’d come out afterwards, throw a few more kilos on the bar and Poof! There’s another world record lift.
Anyhoo. Let’s talk about beer.
Widmer is yet another Oregon brewery which started shipping to Texas not so very long ago. A few years back, Kurt Widmer… or was it Rob… dropped by South Lamar and introduced himself and some of his beers on a swing through Texas, and I thought they were pretty good. More recently I’ve had a taste of their Pitch Black Ipa, an interesting concoction sort of in...
Anyhoo. Let’s talk about beer.
Widmer is yet another Oregon brewery which started shipping to Texas not so very long ago. A few years back, Kurt Widmer… or was it Rob… dropped by South Lamar and introduced himself and some of his beers on a swing through Texas, and I thought they were pretty good. More recently I’ve had a taste of their Pitch Black Ipa, an interesting concoction sort of in...
- 3/23/2010
- by Jim
- OriginalAlamo.com
Whether or not you’re a religious or spiritual person, sometimes you’ve just got to believe that that God/Fate/the Great Bird of the Galaxy is smiling down upon you.
The Deschutes brewery in Bend, Oregon only started shipping its beers to Texas about two years ago. They make some excellent brews: their Christmas seasonal, Jubelale, was a big hit at South Lamar in 2008 and 2009, and we’ve had both Mirror Pond Pale Ale and Black Butte Porter on the menu.
This year they’ve released their ‘once-a-decade’ beer and the timing couldn’t have been better for Texas. Although brewed every year for Deschutes’ own pubs in Bend and Portland as Super Jubel, this is a beer that’s only bottled and put on general sale once every ten years, and in limited amounts.
The (almost certainly apocryphal) story goes that a burglar was hauling a keg...
The Deschutes brewery in Bend, Oregon only started shipping its beers to Texas about two years ago. They make some excellent brews: their Christmas seasonal, Jubelale, was a big hit at South Lamar in 2008 and 2009, and we’ve had both Mirror Pond Pale Ale and Black Butte Porter on the menu.
This year they’ve released their ‘once-a-decade’ beer and the timing couldn’t have been better for Texas. Although brewed every year for Deschutes’ own pubs in Bend and Portland as Super Jubel, this is a beer that’s only bottled and put on general sale once every ten years, and in limited amounts.
The (almost certainly apocryphal) story goes that a burglar was hauling a keg...
- 3/12/2010
- by Jim
- OriginalAlamo.com
After the fireworks of Dogfish Head 90 Minute (damn, wasn’t that a good beer!) we’re easing off the gas a little before the next big brew goes on, and that one’s gonna be a whopper! Stay tuned for more information, it’s something really special.
In the meantime let’s head off to Belgium again, style-wise at least, with Victory Golden Monkey Tripel. If you cast your mind back a few Badass drafts ago, we had another Victory brew on the tap – Yakima Twilight, a dark Ipa. Golden Monkey is a very different type of beer.
Compared to some of the more heavy-hitting and darker beer styles, the Belgian tripel can be overlooked by drinkers who want their ale to deliver a knockout blow, but, to continue the boxing metaphors, it punches well above its weight in terms of character and Abv. It’s a beer that’s...
In the meantime let’s head off to Belgium again, style-wise at least, with Victory Golden Monkey Tripel. If you cast your mind back a few Badass drafts ago, we had another Victory brew on the tap – Yakima Twilight, a dark Ipa. Golden Monkey is a very different type of beer.
Compared to some of the more heavy-hitting and darker beer styles, the Belgian tripel can be overlooked by drinkers who want their ale to deliver a knockout blow, but, to continue the boxing metaphors, it punches well above its weight in terms of character and Abv. It’s a beer that’s...
- 3/7/2010
- by Jim
- OriginalAlamo.com
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