by Brian Wall
The title is not a typo. There is actually a beer called that. Southern Tier Brewing Company from Lakewood, New York is the subject of sampling this week. Southern Tier opened its doors and vats in 2002 and has given us some decent beers but the most notable would have to be the Pumpking, an Imperial Pumpkin Ale. They offer a good selection of year-round beers and some seasonal series as well. This beer was something completely off the normal grid of expectations. Continue reading
Filed under Brian Wall
by Brian Wall
Twisted Pine Brewery makes some truly good beers. Whether it be the Hoppy Boy IPA, the Rocky Mountain Wheat or the Billy’s Chilies, there are no beers of theirs that I have tried that I would not happily drink again. This time around though, the beer sampled was the “world’s hottest beer” that they brew- Ghost Face Killah.
There two beers I truly enjoy, aside from free and cold, and those are IPA’s and chili beers. The chili beer niche is very slim and not many breweries offer them. Granted, some brewers decide to add some mild or even bold chilies to their stouts or porters but heat is often steered clear by most. It could be because the capsicum can detract from the malt and grain blend or the big question of what hop strain to use is not very pronounced. Continue reading
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by Brian Wall
Elevation Beer Company is relatively new to the Texas beer market. Based in Poncha Springs Colorado, Elevation categorizes their beers in way similar to skiing. There is a black diamond and double black diamond series. On the side of the bottle is a suggestion for food pairings to heighten the taste and experience of the beer. The brewery opened in 2012 and is still young in its offerings but still gave a nice beverage to taste.
The beer sampled this go around was the Downpour Extra India Pale Ale. This beer gave off a slight scent of a pilsner with a slight maltiness. Color poured an amber with a caramel hue. The flavor is not like other IPA’s. The malty flavor is slightly sweet with a back bite of hop character. There is very little piney taste or citrusy flavor that presents itself. Continue reading
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by Brian Wall
Beers can surprise you. Beers can elude you. Beers can be made with a plethora of flavors and styles that may sound good and be better than expected or be worse than expected. In this case, Widmer Brothers Brewing has proved that the beers can be quite tasty.
Widmer Brothers started as many brewers did, by home brewing when it was legalized in 1979. Fast forward five years and they started their brewery with a small amount of beers. Fast forward to today and the listed offerings, past and present, exceed one hundred beers. Other past tastes have been impressive and enjoyable so my expectation of these two beers were quite high. Continue reading
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by Brian Wall
This past was an interesting one for the craft brew scene in Dallas-Ft. Worth and surrounding areas. A few breweries opened and graced us with an ever widening expanse of offerings, every brewery celebrated a birthday and continued to grace us with the beers we love, a few breweries took home some hardware from competitions and beer festivals seem to have increased in popularity. This alone would be impressive for an area but add the ongoing beer dinners, North Texas Beer Week and the incoming craft beers and a beer lover can safely enjoy a plethora of styles that commercial breweries lack from their tasteless and soulless swill. Continue reading
Filed under beer, Brian Wall, Crave
by Brian Wall
A new year and a fresh slate to try beer. On this particular sample, I was given a couple of canned beers from Austin Beerworks from a friend visiting from Austin. He traded me a bottle of Jester King’s Atrial Rubicite but that beer review will wait until I have a special occasion to open that world-class “Holy Grail” beer.
Austin Beerworks offers a few different beers with a German beer theme being the most dominant. German beers have a distinct flavor and are normally set by the “Reinheitsgebot” or the Bavarian Purity Law that simply states beer may not contain anything other than water, barley and hops. This is mostly because the knowledge of yeast was not prevalent in the fifteenth century. With this in mind, most German-style beers have little variance in the way they are made. Fortunately for us, American beer makers don’t have to follow century-old laws from other countries. Austin Beerworks offers two such beers that are German in style- Black Thunder and Pearl Snap Pils. Pearl Snap Pils was sampled and showed me what to expect from Austin Beerworks in the future. Continue reading
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