Check it out! We just ordered a whole bunch of brand new merch for your wearing pleasure. We now have 3 new t-shirt colors (the brand is Next Level and is suuuuper soft) and each color has shirts available in the following sizes: Ladies’ cut Med & Large, Men’s Sm, Med, L, XL & 2XL). All shirts are only $15! We also have new glassware and koozies, $5 and $1.50 respectively. Getcha some swag!
Sahara’s latest blog post is all about Regional Beers of Germany and can be read here. Her curated 6 pack is now available for sale through the month of March.
Free In-Store Tastings 6-8pm
Thursday, March 12th – TONIGHT!
New Belgium rep Zach Ritter will be at our tasting bar sampling out the new Session IPA, Portage, Cocoa Mole and Snapshot Wheat. We’ll also be releasing our entire allocation of Cocoa Mole for customer purchase!
Tuesday, March 17th
What better way to spend St Patrick’s Day than sampling for free the Dry Irish Stout from Brooklyn Brewery? Nadine from the brewery will be present pouring free samples of that plus the new Sorachi Ace 4 packs and the outstanding bourbon barrel aged K is for Kriek. Also, Dry Irish Stout 6 packs will be available for only $8 the night of the event!
Wednesday, March 18th
Wednesday is a very special tasting and cellar release event. Cole from Firestone Walker will be pouring free samples of the three beers they’ve just started canning recently – Pivo Pils, Union Jack IPA & Easy Jack Session IPA. But the real fun of the evening will be a cellar release event of the Proprietor’s Vintage series we’ve received since our grand opening almost a year ago. We don’t have a ton of quantity of these, and we’ll be doing a raffle system to allow customers the right to purchase one of these rare bottles. Bottles that will be included in the raffle: Double DBA, Sucaba 2015, Anniversary XVIII, Velvet Merlin & Stickee Monkee. Limit 1 bottle per customer if you win the raffle.
New Beers This Week
Back in stock: Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin IPA (plenty), Stone Delicious IPA (decent amount), Lakewood Temptress, Ensenada Horchata Porter, Corsendonk Dubbel, Founders All Day IPA cans, Abita Macchiato Espresso Milk Stout, Brooklyn K is for Kriek, North Coast Old Stock Ale 2015.
Founders Blushing Monk* – Founders last put this beer out in July 2011, so we’re excited it’s making a comeback. It’s a Belgian dark ale brewed with a whole bunch raspberries, essentially an Imperial Rubaeus but with a Belgian yeast strain. Raspberry flavors & Belgian yeasty esters round out the flavor. 9.2% ABV/Grand Rapids, MI/Ratebeer 100/Availability: plenty, but will go quickly/*Arriving Friday
Oskar Blues Pinner IPA* – Oskar Blues dubs this a “throwback IPA” and enters the session IPA market with a bang. With tropical fruits, citrus juices, pineapple and spice berry up front in the aroma and flavor, the biscuit & toasted bread at the back balance out all the hops and make a great finish. 4.9% ABV/Longmont, CO/Ratebeer 89/Availability: decent/*Arriving Friday
New Braunfels Thunder Kiss – German Dunkel Weizen aged in wet Garrison Bros bourbon barrels. Inoculated with house souring culture but the massive amount of bourbon still in the barrel limits the amount of souring activity. Goes in at 4.5% and comes out at 8%, so almost half of the alcohol comes from bourbon. Aroma is all bourbon. 8% ABV/New Braunfels, TX/Availability: plenty
New Braunfels Wasserweiss– The popular New Braunfels Wasserweiss Berliner Weisse is now available in 500 mL bottles! 3% ABV/New Braunfels, TX/Availability: decent
Kostritzer Schwarzbier – One of the classics of the style, Kostritzer Schwarzbier, a black lager, is now available in 6 pack bottles. 4.8% ABV/Kostritz, Germany/Beer Advocate 88/Availability: plenty
Stone Smoked Porter – A rich, dark and delicious porter with chocolate and coffee overtones accented by a subtle smokiness from just the right amount of peat smoked malt. Unlike a rauchbier, the “smoke” in Stone Smoked Porter is an element of the character rather than being the character. 5.9% ABV/Escondido, CA/Ratebeer 99/Availability: plenty
Hops & Grain Greenhouse Batch #16 (arriving Friday)* – The Greenhouse bonanza continues with the latest in the series comprised of Simco, Centennial, Cascade & Falconer’s Flight hops. You know you want to keep drinking Greenhouse. 7.7% ABV/Austin, TX/Availability: plenty, but they always go quickly/*Arriving Friday
Anderson Valley Blood Orange Gose –Blood Orange Gose is a tart, refreshing wheat beer that is kettle-soured with lactobacillus and brewed with sea salt and coriander. However, unlike traditional versions of the style, this one features liberal additions of blood oranges during fermentation. This imparts tangy citrus notes that complement the champagne-like flavors, creating a complex and sessionable ale perfect for any occasion. 4.2% ABV/Boonville, CA/Ratebeer 93/Availability: plenty, but will go quickly
Karbach Love Street – What used to be only a summer seasonal, Karbach recently promoted Love Street to their year-round lineup. It’s a kolsch in 6 pack cans. It’s slightly biscuity and a tad sweet but still finishes crisp & refreshing. 4.9% ABV/Houston, TX/Availability: plenty
New Belgium La Folie 2015 – New Belgium’s Lips of Faith series is one of the best readily available sour beer programs in the country. La Folie, their sour brown, is aged for at least a year if not more in huge oak vats called foeders. The resulting beer is complex and sour. 7% ABV/Fort Collins, CO/Ratebeer 100/Availability: plenty
Austin Eastciders Small Batch #2 – The 2nd in the Small Batch series from Austin Eastciders uses Arkansas Black apples, an old Southern apple variety used for pre-prohibition cider. Dry, fresh and lemony with a long finish. 6.5% ABV/Austin, TX/No ratings yet/Availability: limited
New Belgium Cocoa Mole – Chocolate, cinnamon and chilies combine for a sweet and spicy burst of fun in this Lips of Faith offering. Brewed with deep caramel and dark chocolate malts and a healthy dash of chocolate rye, Cocoa Molé pours midnight dark with a subtle reddish hue, lifting a pillowy burnished head. The cocoa and cinnamon accompany plentiful ancho, guajillo and chipotle chilies to bring the molé merriment to the forefront. 9% ABV/Fort Collins, CO/Ratebeer 97/Availability: plenty
Saint Arnold Icon Blue Rye IPA – The latest in the Icon series is a Rye IPA. St Arnold wanted to make a big west coast IPA with tons of Mosaic and thought rye would add an interesting element to it. This copper colored take on an American IPA uses Rye and Cara Rye to add a distinct spicy flavor. The sweetness from those malts help balance out the bitterness created by the six varieties of American hops used in the beer. Columbus, Chinook, Centennial, Cascade, Simcoe and Mosaic combine to create a fruity, piney bouquet of flavors. 7.8% ABV/Houston, TX/Availability: limited
New Braunfels Shiva’s Wrath – Head Brewer & owner Kelly Meyer took his Shiva’s Tears weizenbock and freeze distilled to create an Eisbock. This process removes water from the beer which raises the ABV & creates a smoother & sweeter product. We got the only 12 bottles delivered to Austin. 8.8% ABV/New Braunfels, TX/Availability: very limited
Smuttynose Gravitation Belgian Quad – Gravitation Belgian Quad is the newest offering in the Smuttynose Big Beer Series. This strong dark ale is brewed using a variety of Belgian specialty malts along with 200 pounds of raisin puree per batch. The resulting flavor is a viscous mix of dark fruit, rum, toffee and raisins balanced with aromatic fruitiness of the Belgian yeast. The beer weighs in at 8.5% ABV from a starting gravity of 23 degrees Plato. 10% ABV/Hampton, NH/Ratebeer 96/Availability: plenty
Moonlight Meadery Embrace Black Currant Mead – Rich with black currant notes that last long into the finish, considered dry to semi-sweet. It will pair well with cheese, dark chocolate, red meats, and a wide variety of dishes. Deep tart finish that is clean and flavorful. 15.7% ABV/Londonderry, NH/Ratebeer 87/Availability: limited
Firestone Walker Easy Jack Session IPA, Union Jack IPA & Pivo Pils are now in 6 pack cans!
Weekend Tastings, 6-8pm
Friday
Saint Arnold Icon Blue Rye IPA
Karbach Love Street Kolsch
Prairie Ale Saison
Rahr Snowmageddon Oatmeal Stout
Saturday
Hops & Grain Greenhouse #16
Stone Smoked Porter
Anderson Valley Blood Orange Gose
One more random thing we’ll open up!