I’m happy to announce I just recently returned from my first Texas Beer Run up to Dallas and Fort Worth! That means that starting today you can buy your favorite beers from both Martin House and Community Brewing here at WhichCraft. Both breweries were happy to host us, gave us brewery tours, and provided us with samples of each of the beers we purchased… and a few we couldn’t!
Martin House
Martin House is a relatively new brewery (1+ year old) just east across the river from downtown Ft Worth. It’s a small operation with a lot of passion and a crew who is really kicking out some solid and well rounded beers. We were able to buy three styles from them, which each come in 4-pack 16oz cans:
Day Break is technically a Blonde Ale but it has way more flavor than you’d expect from the style, due to the fact that they use 4 different “breakfast” grains in the mash: rye, wheat, barley and oats. The rye adds a bit of spiciness, the oats add some mellow round mouthfeel and it ends up being a flavorful blonde that doesn’t get uninteresting. Honey and milk sugar are added as well to sweeten up and thicken the body. 5.0% ABV
Rubberneck is a well rounded red ale that balances a bit of hop bite with plenty of roasty maltiness. How many beers can say they are sponsored by the rock band The Toadies?? They developed this beer in partnership with The Toadies as something they could drink on tour. The band loved the taste of the Imperial Texan but at 9% ABV on that one, that’s not exactly something you can session before a show. 5.0% ABV
Imperial Texan – This is a heavy-duty 9% ABV red ale with a profusion of hop flavor and aroma. The Imperial Texan is able to retain a wondrously piney and resinous hop character that perfectly balances its smooth but strong and dry malt backbone. This beer has a sticky presence that puts each sip perfectly on the tongue. 9.0% ABV
Special Offer While Supplies Last!
Buy any two 4-packs and receive a free Martin House-branded beer can glass!
Community Brewing
In the less than 2 years Community has been around, they’ve already racked up some serious hardware in the craft beer community. Their Public Ale won GABF Gold last fall in the ESB category. And just a few months back their Witbier won World Beer Cup Gold in the Wit category. All of their beers are truly fantastic examples of the style, and it’s hard to believe this is a relatively new brewery in Dallas. They cultivate all their own yeast strains (how many breweries this new have a full yeast lab?!) and every single beer of theirs uses a different strain of yeast. We have five different styles of 6 packs available for sale, and one in a 750mL format:
Witbier – This is the brewery’s homage to Pierre Celis, original founder and brewer of Hoegaarden as well as Celis Brewery right here in Austin. This is an incredibly well developed example of the style, and believe me when I say this is one of the best witbiers I’ve ever tasted, hands down. That gold medal ain’t no joke! 5.1% ABV.
Mosaic IPA – This is not a single varietal IPA, but Mosaic hops definitely take center stage and provide a huge citrus & floral burst, both on the nose and the taste. British Maris Otter and American Pale malts stand up to the bitterness so it ends up being a very drinkable IPA at 7.5% ABV.
Vienna Lager – I personally rarely reach for a Vienna Lager as a general style, but this one is quite tasty and could make me rethink that decision. It’s just malty enough and offers enough of a crisp lager & hop finish to make it really quite drinkable and more complex than you’d typically find in a Vienna lager. 5.2% ABV.
Texas Pils – This is a German-style pils that offers everything you want it to from the style and a few extra little treats. They use over 90% Hanka variety Pilsner malt from Bohemia: an heirloom barley variety related to the oldest cultivated barleys in Eastern Europe. This barley has a rich, smooth taste that stands up to the noticeable hop character of this beer. In order to stand up to the added malt characteristics, this pils clocks in a 6.1% ABV and uses a new German hop – Hallertau Blanc.
Public Ale ESB – This is Community’s other gold medal winner, and it is a great example of the style. They use 100% British malts to perfectly nail the style’s typical bready/malty characteristics. ESBs never offer much of a hop bite, and this one balances all that bready malt with just enough hop to really blend in well. 5.5% ABV.
Trinity Tripel (750mL) is a hoppy Belgian-style Tripel, technically falling into the Belgian-Style Pale Strong Ale category. The smooth body and flavor come from select German Pils malts used for the grist, lending a deep golden hue and clean finish. The lack of complexity in the grist is necessary to highlight the stars of the show: three of Community’s most beloved Belgian yeast strains and a new German hop variety called Mandarina Bavaria and also the famed Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand. 9% ABV.
As time progresses, I plan on making more of these Texas beer runs, with the goal being able to offer our customers access to beers they’ve heard or read about from Texas but haven’t necessarily seen on Austin shelves. This is all part of our ongoing mission to truly be a destination store for craft beer lovers. Cheers!
– Jody, Owner/Founder