Category Archives: Brian Wall

by | September 23, 2019 · 10:16 am

Brooklyn Brewery Post Road Pumpkin Ale

post-road-pumpkinby Brian Wall

Fall is a special time of year. There is a plethora of increased flavors and spices that do not come out the rest of the year. Winter will also invite a cornucopia of warmer flavors and heavier beers that are higher in calories, alcohol content and in different flavors for some. Autumn does offer a nice assortment of flavors and varieties due to harvesting of fruits and vegetables.

The biggest flavoring for autumn beers and in most Oktoberfest-style beers is pumpkin. Ahh, pumpkin. The visage of warm pie, Jack-o-lanterns and a fireplace can easily fit into the mind when picturing a nice round, full orange pumpkin. One beer that is inundated with the spirit of pumpkin was sampled recently- Post Road Pumpkin Ale.   Continue reading →

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by | June 19, 2014 · 1:05 pm

Little Elm’s Brew and Cue

brew2by Brian Wall

Little Elm joined the ranks of the craft beer movement last weekend, June 14, when the first Brew and Que happened. While it was a little warm, there was a pleasant enough breeze off the lake and some shade in certain spots close enough to the bands to enjoy the day. The park offered adequate parking and volleyball courts for some exercise. A standard playground rounded it out for the parents that visited the fest.

The food at the fest was a great variety of barbeque, street tacos, Cajun and others. The only downside to the food vendors were the supplies on hand. A few vendors ran out of food only a few hours into the six hour fest. This can be expected from a first year event when the amount of attendees is underestimated.   Continue reading →

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by | April 9, 2014 · 9:27 am

Big Texas Beer Fest 2014

beer5by Brian Wall

Most people enjoy a good festival. Whether it be a carnival, renaissance faire, music gathering; they all have their own separate functions but are all designed for one simple thing- to enjoy a social atmosphere and have fun. Beer festivals are no different from other festival with the exception that there is normally plenty of brewers offering samples and rarities that may have only been brewed for the festival. On April 5th, the festivities at Fair Park gave us the Big Texas Beer Fest.

Beer fests are not for the uninitiated or the casual beer drinker. Similar to the way a marathon is not for the three mile per day jogger, beer fests are marathons that must be prepared for and trained for. The craft beer offerings go unrivaled from the standard tavern selection and maintain more samples than it is safe to consume in a given day. BTBF was definitely no exception to this rule.   Continue reading →

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by | March 26, 2014 · 10:54 am

Review: Pliny the Elder

pliny1by BrianWall

Every now and then, it comes to pass that luck holds an outstretched hand in your favor. This doesn’t happen often and it seems to be at the most unlikely of times. It never occurs when the Powerball is in the hundreds or when you see the flashing lights in your rear-view when the road is clear and you decided to bump it up ten miles over the limit. It did shine a bit of light on me recently.

At my full time job, I took a couple classes and the instructor was from Northern California. I chatted with her and discovered we had a common interest in craft beers. Her boyfriend got her involved in the craft beers and I explained my flare at doing home brewing. After enough discussion, we talked about Pliny the Elder, one of the best IPA’s on the market but only distributed to the West coast and Pennsylvania. She made a phone call to her man and before I could express my gratitude, she informed me there were three bottles in transit to me.

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by | March 19, 2014 · 3:02 pm

Lakewood Brewing Antigoon’s Revenge

lakewodby Brian Wall

Ahh, St. Patrick’s Day. There are fewer days on the calendar year that are more perfectly suited for enjoying a beer. New Year’s, your birthday and Fourth of July come to mind as better days but St. Pat’s is definitely in those rankings if not at the top of the list. While there were quite a few beers drank on this day, none being green because I don’t drink poor beer that requires green coloring, the one that definitely stands out is Lakewood Brewing Company’s Antigoon’s Revenge.

Lakewood Brewing Company has a focus on Belgian style beers and Antigoon’s Revenge is no exception to this rule. Antigoon’s Revenge is a limited release Belgian-style golden ale from their Legendary Series. Most Belgian ales are very light in hop flavor and can be slightly sweet or spicy depending on the malts and yeast used in the brewing process.  The Belgian ales that I have personally tasted have a slight spicy flavor from the yeast strains used.      Continue reading →

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by | February 28, 2014 · 8:55 am

Bourbon County and Atrial Rubicite

Atrial Rubicite Labelby Brian Wall

I recently had a birthday and with that special day came an opportunity to sample a couple of very serious beers from the cellar. As these are very limited and difficult to locate sometimes, it seemed like the perfect time to drag them out for a tasting. While cellaring has long been reserved for wine enthusiasts, beer lovers have come into their own by doing the same. The biggest concern for cellaring a beer is if it will survive the time.

The best rule of thumb is to cellar in a cool, dark area and plan on only cellaring a beer with an ABV over 10%. Anything less may lose flavor and runs the risk of being a little more “boozy” than you’d prefer.     Continue reading →

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