by Brian Wall
On Saturday, December 21, a new brewery will be celebrating their grand opening tour. Cobra Brewing Company will be opening in Lewisville and is offering a total of six beers according to their Facebook page. These beer are: Hoppy Daze, a year round offered IPA, Blonde Bomber I, a blonde ale made with Cascade hops that impart a citrus flavor with grapefruit notes, and Blonde Bomber II, a blonde ale made with Tettnanger hops which impart a lighter hop presence.
The other three beers offered are seasonal and will only be available until the kegs run dry. These beers are: Drunkin Pumpkin, a pumpkin ale, Nitemare Before Xmas, a pumpkin stout, and Jack Froth, a winter ale. There a limited amount of tickets available for the grand opening so be sure to get your tickets soon. Hours are 12-5 with live music from 1-4. Tickets are ten dollars for the glass, tour and three samples.
Aside from a new brewery opening right before Christmas, there are also a few days left for shopping. What to get the loved one? How does the gift of beer sound? Home brewing is an adventure and not as hard as many people think it might be. If you have a beer enthusiast that you still need a gift for, consider a home brewing kit or maybe a home brewing book to start the path of beer nirvana.
Locally, there are plenty of home brewing supply shops in the Metroplex that can aid in the perfect gift. Homebrewing Headquarters in Richardson, The Wine Maker’s Toy Store in Carrrollton and Stubby’s Texas Brewing Inc. in Haltom City are just a few that can give you what you need. The Complete Joy of Home brewing by Charlie Papazian is the “bible” for home brewers. The pleasure of opening your own beer, seeing the carbonation and tasting the creation is something that truly needs to be experienced by any serious beer lover.
The final tidbit here is the tasting of a Belgian IPA, Troubadour Magma Special Edition 2013 Galaxy from Brouwerij De Musketiers in Belgium. Belgian beers are generally cloudy, not overly hoppy and offer some spicy esther flavors. This beer definitely surprised me overall.
The beer itself gave a citrus note on the orange side with a touch of sweetness from the fine opening of the bottle. Being an IPA, it was expected to be hop strong but the sweet character was a nice twist. The color was an orange hue with a cloudy haze typical to most Belgian beers. The flavor was a nice twist of malty sweetness that seems almost like a glass of orange juice without the citric acid hit. Hop notes were subtle but present but not overly bitter as some IPA’s may impart. This beer was offered in a 750ml bottle and rang in a nice 9% without much alcohol bite. Overall, this was a great, highly drinkable IPA without a fear to those people that dislike overly-hopped beers. The sweetness and citrus notes will definitely want more to slide around the tongue.
I hope the holiday season has been well and continues to be well for you, your friends and family.
Slàinte.
