Wurstfest 2015 road trip is ON! Details and tickets for Saturday, Nov 7th are here and Saturday the 14th are here. It’s $60 including all taxes and fees, though you need to cover Wurstfest tickets and brewery tasting fees (TABC rules). On the 7th we’ll be visiting Middleton & New Braunfels Brewing Companies prior to heading to the festival, and on the 14th it’ll be Guadalupe & New Braunfels. This trip was a blast last year; please come with us!
WhichCraft Advent Calendar pre-sales are now available! For those that bought last year, you know how fun these boxes are. Pickup will begin in mid-November and we’re reviving the supremely awesome GOLDEN BOX concept. Full details of the program and how to pre-order are here.
Austin Beer Week is still here! Only a few days are left, though there are still plenty of awesome events happening… see here for the whole calendar.
Free In-Store Tastings 6-8pm
Thursday, October 29th – TONIGHT!
Upslope is back with their very popular Pumpkin Ale in 16oz cans in addition to the year round IPA, Imperial IPA (19.2 oz can!) and Brown ale.
Friday, October 30th
Blake Murrah from Southern Star is always a treat and we love hosting him at the tasting bar. This time around they are releasing their brand new IPA Honesty of Reason! We’ll also be sampling out Buried Hatched stout, Bombshell blonde and Walloon farmhouse ale.
Tuesday, November 3rd
It has been a looooong time since we’ve had an Adelbert’s tasting in the store so we’re inviting Sarah from the brewery in to sample out the new Whimsical Series Hibiscus Saison in addition to Tripel Treat (rum barrel aged Tripel B… details below) and a few other from the year-round lineup. It will be awesome!
Wednesday, November 4th
BLUE OWL IS HERE. REPEAT. BLUE OWL IS HERE. THIS IS NOT A JOKE. IF IT IS, WE’LL NEVER FORGIVE JEFF & SUZY. Beer should be arriving on Tuesday; taste it for free Wednesday.
Friday, November 6th
Revolver rep Johnathon is back in the house releasing the brand new Mother’s Little Fracker stout seasonal. It will arrive next Thursday, so taste it shortly after it releases! Also sampling Blood & Honey and Ironhead IPA.
New Beers This Week
Back in stock: Silly Scotch Port Barrel, Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin, plenty more Alpine Nelson rye IPA.
Prairie Flare – Prairie always has awesome label art, and this one is an ode to the movie Office Space, see here. It’s a gose with (slightly tart & salty wheat beer) with orange and coriander added. 500mL format. 5.4% ABV/Tulsa, OK/No ratings yet/Availability: plenty
Prairie Vanilla Noir – Vanilla Noir is Prairie Noir (whiskey barrel aged imperial stout) aged on organic, fair trade vanilla beans. The vanilla flavor compliments the whiskey barrel aging process and adds a delicious layer to the beer. 12.5% ABV/Tulsa, OK/Ratebeer 96/Availability: plenty but will go fast
Adelbert’s Triple Treat – Adelbert’s Tripel B Belgian-style tripel matures in the same barrels Treaty Oak Distillery uses to make their Barrel Reserve rum. Beginning with a surprisingly fruity nose, this ale exquisitely balances notes of warming rum, soft coconut and buttery oak. 11.7% ABV/Austin, TX/No ratings yet/Availability: decent
Hops & Greenhouse #34 (yes, I meant to do that) – 100% Nugget hops. Whoaaaaa.
Founders Backwoods Bastard – Founders normally outstanding scotch ale Dirty Bastard gets the bourbon barrel treatment in this perfect 100 rated beer. Expect lovely, warm smells of single malt scotch, oaky bourbon barrels, smoke, sweet caramel and roasted malts. A bit of earthy spice and a scintilla of dark cherries. 10.2% ABV/Grand Rapids, MI/Ratebeer 100/Availability: It makes me happy to say this… we have plenty.
Sierra Nevada Celebration – Sierra can’t start brewing Celebration until the first fresh hops have arrived, but once they have the season is officially under way. First brewed in 1981, Celebration Ale is one of the earliest examples of an American-style IPA and one of the few hop-forward holiday beers. Famous for its intense citrus and pine aromas, Celebration is bold and intense, featuring Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops. 6.8% ABV/Chico, CA/Ratebeer 98/Availability: plenty
St. Bernardus Christmas – St.Bernardus Christmas Ale is a dark seasonal brewed in the classic ‘Quadrupel’ style of Belgium’s best abbey ales. It offers a spicy, mint-like flavor profile exuding the tastes of warming alcohol, fermented molasses, apricots, licorice and marzipan that are highligted by the perfect balance of brewing sugars. 10% ABV/Watou, Belgium/Ratebeer 99/Availability: limited
Sierra Nevada Barrel Aged Narwhal – Sierra’s deliciously dark Imperial Stout aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels. Barrel aging is a strange science; it mellows some characteristics of the original beer while intensifying others. Narwhal’s aggressive roastiness has calmed, but the rich, chocolate-like malt backbone is brought to the fore. Black as midnight, this intense stout is complex with notes of cocoa and espresso balanced with hints of vanilla and toasted coconut from the oak casks. 12.9% ABV/Chico, CA/Ratebeer 100/Availability: very limited
Southern Star Honesty of Reason – It’s been a little while since we’ve seen a new beer from Southern Star but this one is worth the wait. It’s a fairly dank IPA that uses Simcoe, Amarillo & Centennial. Hard bitterness but still with a lemon peel/zest character and medium bodied. Very good and quite limited. 6.8% ABV/Conroe, TX/No ratings yet/Availability: plenty
5 Stones Sleepy Hollow – Ale handcrafted with mesquite smoked pumpkins with traditional pumpkin pie spices like nutmeg & cinnamon. 7.7% ABV/Cibolo, TX/No ratings yet/Availability: decent
5 Stones Barrel Aged Sleepy Hollow – The same beer as above but aged in Caribbean rum barrels. Yum! 10.4% ABV/Cibolo, TX/No ratings yet/Availability: decent
Strangeland Old North Road – Strangeland keeps up their streak of cool & limited releases with an English Strong Ale brewed with vanilla, rum and oak. Winter is coming, so drink like it! 8.9% ABV/Austin, TX/No ratings yet/Availability: plenty
Clown Shoes Flight of the Angry Beast – The 4th release in the “Beast” series, this ridiculous barrel aged stout is blended 1/3 Undead Party Crasher aged in bourbon barrels, 1/3 Blaecorn Unidragon aged in scotch barrels and 1/3 Billionaire aged in scotch barrels. Insanity. 10.75% ABV/Ipswich, MA/No ratings yet/Availability: decent
Silly Scotch Bourbon Barrel – The rich & delicious scotch ale from Brasserie Silly out of Silly, Belgium gets the Jack Daniels bourbon barrel treatment. The previous barrel versions of this same beer (cognac and port barrels respectively) were both awesome, and we’re sure this one will be too. 11% ABV/Silly, Belgium/No ratings/Availability: limited
Free Weekend Tastings: 6-8pm
Friday
Southern Star’s release of the brand new Honesty of Reason IPA! Plus a few others; details above.
Saturday
Stone Enjoy By 10-31-15
Strangeland Old North Road
Alpine Nelson
Sierra Nevada Narwhal