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February 2010
Two more local breweries — one opening crazy soon
This is insane but in such a good way. New micros and craft breweries are springing up in these here parts like mushrooms after a week’s rain.
But there’s one that’s succeeded in keeping a low profile for quite awhile: Thirsty Planet Brewing, owned by Oklahoma transplants Brian and Tammy Smittle. They’ve done such a good job of keeping things quiet that they’re maybe three weeks away from brewing their first batches, with getting beer out the door in maybe six. Expect a draft-only operation for the first 60-90 days, with bottles to follow. The first beers to roll out with be Yellow Armadillo Wheat, Buckethead IPA and Thirsty Goat Amber.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking, that those don’t sound terribly adventurous — and adventurous is exactly what we need more of? I asked them about that. Brian notes that the IPA will have 75 International Bittering Units, enough to satisfy any hophead, his wife included. “I like IPAs that take the enamel off my teeth,” Tammy says. Brian also has intriguing ideas about brewing with chipotles and Hatch chiles.
Moreover, they’ll have a 25-gallon system to brew test batches, which they’ll offer to folks who stop by the tasting room, which is right in the front door. (The main system in the brewhouse is 30 barrels.) They’ve also got plans for a patio-biergarten, live music and, courtesy of a gas hookup, maybe even barbecues. They’ve built a first-rate facility from the ground up, pouring the slab on Brian’s 40th birthday last July 28. They’ve got two stories and 10,000 square feet on a little more than five acres in Southwest Austin right by the Austin Zoo.
Brian’s love of good beer goes back to his days of studying British politics in England. Classes were conducted in a 17th Century manor house with a pub in the basement. Continental, that. He started home brewing and, after graduating from a Missouri college in 1991 with a degree in business administration, took a year off to ski around Vail, Colo. While there he went to a beer festival and met a guy who brewed at a pub in Vail. The guy said, “I ski in the morning and brew beer at night.”
“Well, there you go,” Brian said he replied. “That sounds like a scam and I want in on it.”
From Vail he moved on to what’s now Coach’s in that world-renowned beer Mecca, Norman, Okla. It was in Oklahoma that he met Tammy on a blind date. One of the first gifts he gave her was a book by beer guru Michael Jackson. On their first date he talked about opening a brewery. One, two: Awwwww…
So now here they are. Tammy is working another job full time but this has been Brian’s calling since they came to down in 2008. And Tammy has another project going: The Smittles are expecting their first child, a son, in about three weeks — exactly the time Brian expects to start brewing.
“I’ll be adding the strike water when her water breaks,” Brian said. (To explain that very good joke, strike water is the initial water that goes into the grain in brewing.)
They raised in the neighborhood of $1 million in a private offering to family and friends to finance this little adventure. A good chunk of it their own, so yes, they’re serious.
This is good news, people. Smittle will be the brewer, and he has the brewing chops, the business acumen and the ability to drive a forklift. No reason on paper why the beer won’t be great and the business a hit.
Then there’s Barbed Wire Brewing Company, which is still in the site location and fundraising stage and plans to brew beers twist in the Jonestown area.
“There’s a lot of craft brew buzz around Austin right now and the maj are doing traditional beers. We’re going to focus on Tex-Mex beer,” said Shane Bordeau, one of the venture’s partners. “We’re going go for the taste and marketing side of some of the Mexican beers.” They’re planning on initially rolling out beers in the style of Corona, an amber (Tecate-ish, maybe?) and Negra Modelo. More news on that when they commit it.
(American-Statesman photo by Patrick Beach)
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Nugan Estate wine lunch
The rap on Australian wines used to be that they were kind of like AC/DC: blunt and undeniably effective, but not exactly nuanced or sophisticated. Check out the Australian selection at your supermarket and you’ll know what I mean: If you’ve had one you think you know what the rest of them are roughly like.
So when I had lunch Thursday with Phillip Goodman, Nugan Estate’s director of sales for North America and Asia, I thought I knew what I was getting into. Not so. We had Chardonnays that were balanced and complex, not oaked to within an inch of their precious lives, a Shiraz worthy of the name and a surprisingly approachable Cabernet.
Although it’s one of Australia’s top 20 wine exporters, Goodman said the company struggled for its first few years in the Texas market — where H-E-B is its biggest retailer — because they’re making wine that disarms.
“We’ve always been more on the elegant side,” Goodman said. “More balanced, subtle.”
I have to agree. And the two Chardonnays I sampled went dang good with that lobster grilled cheese at Trio.
Best of all these things are affordable — the suggested low end is under $15 — so it’s worth a try.
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More details on weekend beer events
I’ve posted on both of these below but more info is dribbling in. The Beer Connoisseur thing Saturday afternoon is going to have tastings of lots of local brews. And don’t forget about the pre-game show at the Ginger Man.
Second, here’s the beer lineup for the Cajun brewers’ dinner Sunday at Uncle Billy’s: Passed app: Hell in Keller Seated app: Hill Country Amber Soup: Ax Handle Pale Entree: Wood Eye Rye Dessert: Smokestack Lightning
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Cajun brewers’ dinner this Sunday at Uncle Billy’s
As in this coming Sunday. It’s five courses with beer pairings by brewer Brian Peters. Courses are to include chicken and sausage gumbo, crawfish etouffee and Bananas Foster, one of my favorite desserts ever. (And not just because it involves fire.)
They’re also planning to have Cajun music.
Tickets are $30 and you should stop by the joint to buy them in advance because this shows all signs of selling out. A few more details are here.
UPDATE: Here’s the full menu:
Passed App: Spicy Fried Shrimp & Oyster Duet w/ Creamy Rémoulade Sauce Plated App: Catfish Beignets with Creole Mayo and Micro Greens Soup: Chicken & Sausage Gumbo served with fresh baguette Entrée: Crawfish Étouffée, Red Beans and Rice, Mustard greens and cornbread muffin with boiled crawfish garnish Dessert: Crepe Wrapped Bananas Foster with vanilla bean ice cream.
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“Blood Into Wine” dinner wrap-up
Somewhat belated; got distracted watching all that Olympic curling. The dinner was Friday at the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek and accompanied by wines from Maynard James Keenan’s Merkin Vinyards and Caduceus winery.
Bottom line: Really good juice. The one I was least wild about was Arizona Stronghold’s Mangus Read, which tasted a little on the young side. But Paul Michie’s parsnip bisque with crispy pork belly, which was the course that accompanied that sample, was so insanely great I didn’t really mind. The almond crust on the goat cheese cheesecake also came from Keeman’s farm. Nice touch, that.
Keenan’s other job, of course, is as frontman for the oppressively art prog-metal band Tool but don’t expect a concert doc. This is strictly about the guy’s efforts to grow grapes and make wine in a sometimes less-than-hospitable environment. The movie had its big premiere Friday night in Scottsdale. Trailer is here.
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Hey wow it’s National Margarita Day
A publicist just e-mailed me; it must be so.
Also there’s this on the Food Channel.
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Free Lone Star (for a while) at the Mohawk tonight
Seriously. The first 100 people in the door for the Birds Barbershop Beard & Mustache contest at the club tonight get a free beer and Birds koozie. The winner gets a year’s supply of free — and presumably desperately needed — haircuts. I’m told the festivities begin around 8 p.m.
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Beer Connoisseur magazine coming to town
President and publisher Lynn Davis sends along news that the new beer publication has decided that Austin is the place to celebrate their national launch: The event is from 4-8 p.m. Feb. 27 at Austin’s own Independence Brewing. There’s a pre-game show at the Ginger Man from noon-2 and sober shuttle service available between the two venues.
So why Austin? Davis says via an edited e-mail below:
All the pieces fit for us to come to Austin. It is the most logical “first step out of Atlanta” for a variety of reasons.
From a logistical standpoint its very easy. We have good friends who live in Austin who actually moved to Austin from our stomping grounds…
We met the Independence folks at the GABF last year and really got along with them. They were excited to have us and we have been eager to have this event with them since the GABF.
The craft beer scene in and around Austin seems to be really taking off with the promise of a couple new breweries coming to your area. It’s no secret that Austin contains an energetic and vibrant social scene and craft beer seems to be having a stronger grip in and around Austin. Its a great opportunity for us to introduce our magazine and at the same time heighten the awareness of craft beer and the breweries in Austin. Breweries by themselves draw attention, but when you combine a brewery with a beer magazine it can really draw focus to the craft beer scene in the area.
Press release below, and sorry for the lack of links. You remember how to cut and paste, right?
Come join the Beer Connoisseur Magazine as it makes its debut national appearance for its Spring Issue Release Party at Independence Brewing Company in Austin, Texas!
Mingle with the Founder/Publisher, Managing Editor, writers and staff as well as with Austin’s most notable beer figures. Taste Independence Brewing Company beer while listening to live music and enjoying Austin Eats. Also help BC Magazine raise money for the Haiti recovery efforts by joining in a raffle for fantastic prizes donated by the industry.
$15 tickets In advance $20 at door for RSVP’s only. RSVP full name to editorial@beerconnoisseur.com Entry includes a copy of BC’s Spring Issue 2, Beer Tastings, Brewery Tours, Live Music, Photographer and more. Food available for purchase Raffle for prizes for Hatian relief
PURCHASE TICKETS: http://xorbia.com/tickets/beerconnoisseur/ VIEW ONLINE INVITATION: http://www.beerconnoisseur.com/emailmarketing/austin/austin.html
PRE PARTY AND POST PARTY at THE GINGER MAN
12 - 4pm and 8:30pm to close Enjoy $.50 off draft and $2 off pitchers with show of your event ticket.
Meet the BC staff in a more relaxed setting from 12 - 2 PM and have your picture taken for consideration for the Summer issue. Then catch the event Uship shuttle to the brewery for the evenings main event. At the conclusion of the party, catch a sober ride back to The Ginger Man on the Uship shuttle and enjoy the same post-party discounts!
The Ginger Man 301 Lavaca St Austin, TX 78701 (512) 473-8801 http://www.gingermanpub.com
Brought to you by The Beer Connoisseur™ Magazine and Independence Brewing Company.
Safe shuttle/bus service from brewery to downtown provided by Uship.com http://www.uship.com
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“History in a glass”
That’s the Sazerac, “the official cocktail of New Orleans.” Tuesday Tales of the Cocktail[’s founder Ann Tuennerman (she of the New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society led a bunch of Austin’s finest mixologists and, uh, me, through a delightful history class and cocktail party on the Sazerac in an effort to revive the classic drink. It was Fat Tuesday — how could I not go?
The Sazerac is sometimes touted as America’s first cocktail, or the oldest cocktail, or something. Whatever the case it’s a fascinating history that goes back to around 1975, when one Antoine Amedee Peychaud came from what is now Haiti to New Orleans with his family’s bitters recipe. Peychaud ran an apothecary and became renowned for serving toddies with his bitters in an egg cup — the precursor to the steel jiggers that are ubiquitous in bars today.
Then there were two soldiers in World War I, J.M. Legendre and Reginald Parker, who learned how to make absinthe while serving in France. They returned to New Orleans to make Herbsaint (Creole, roughly, for wormwood), a substitute for absinthe. Convenient, that, because true absinthe was banned in the U.S. beginning in 1912. And during Prohibition Herbsaint was…medicine. Yay.
Then there’s the legendary Sazerac Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel. Ready-made Sazerac in a bottle was available for a time. Every single ingredient has a story to tell, and the drink is a huge part of New Orleans’ cultural heritage. Tennessee Williams drank them, you know.
So there I am with some of the best drink-slingers in town, people who go to international competitions and win, and at the end of the class we get to make our own. First thing we do is fill a glass with ice, then we muld a sugar cube with two dashes of bitters. Tuennerman asks us to display our results and says, “Yes. Patrick, that’s very good.” Then I realize I’d used the rounded end, the wrong end, to smash the cube. And there was the telltale red stain. No hiding that.
Oh, shame. Oh, humiliation.
Here’s the recipe as it was given to us. We were told Herbsaint isn’t available right now in our market but I guess you could use absinthe. Distillation resumed here in 2007, after the ban was sensibly repealed.
Pack and Old-Fashioned glass with ice.
In a second glass place the sugar cube and Peychaud’s Bitters and crush the sugar, ideally with the right end of the mulder.
Add 1.5 oz. Sazerac rye whiskey (Cognac was used originally) to the glass containing sugar and bitters.
Empty the ice from the first glass, coat the glass with Herbsaint and discard Herbsaint. (Really, you don’t want too much of that unless you really love black licorice.)
Empty the whiskey, bitters and sugar mixture from the second glass into the first glass. Garnish with lemon peel and laissez les bon temps roulez.
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I pledge allegiance to the Sazerac
Happy Fat Tuesday, boys and girls. Let the games begin. Or end. I forget which it is.
In recognition of possibly the oldest cocktail in America, I’m going to Tales of the Cocktail’s Austin Sazerac Cocktail Academy at the Hancock Twin Liquors. Stay tuned for a full report. I mean, you could have an Abita today, or a Hurricane, but why not play with rye whiskey and absinthe, the latter the fugu of booze.
(Wikipedia photo)
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Fat Tuesday at Sherlock’s? Oh, why not?
The Saints won the Super Bowl and now it’s time for Mardi Gras. Press release:
“Can’t make it to Mardi Gras but still want to get that French Quarter feeling that comes with the parade, flying beads and hurricane drinks?
“Then stop by Sherlock’s Baker St. Pub, 9012 Research Blvd., on Tuesday, February 16 for the Fat Tuesday Shopping Cart Parade and Bead Toss, when staffers march through the pub with shopping carts decorated like floats and filled with Mardi Gras beads.
“Besides the Shopping Cart Parade and Bead Toss, which starts in each location at 10 pm, Sherlock’s Baker St. Pub will offer live music and Bacardi hurricane drinks for $4.50.”
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St. Arnold Austin pub crawl
No valentine? No problem! Drag your broken heart on St. Arnold’s Feb. 19 pub crawl downtown. Details from St. Arnold via Craft Austin here.
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Still another Austin brewery starting up
Say hello to South Austin Brewing Co. Disclosure: Jordan Weeks is a pal I know through a mutual friend, a good guy and a very accomplished brewer whose commercial experience goes back to Balcones in the late ’90s.
Now he’s the newest player in a field that’s filling up in very promising ways. He’s got the keys to an 8,000 square-foot space at 451 St. Elmo Rd. This comes after approximately eleventy billion other breweries announced plans to get going this year. (Weeks was hoping to keep his plan under wraps but it turns out the Twitters keep no secrets. And if you’re his friend on Facebook this is not news to you.)
“I think there’s a new requirement: If you want to be a resident you have to open a brewery,” Weeks says.
He’s aiming to have beer ready in a year. “It’s an aggressive schedule but I’ve worked in a production brewery like this before so i know how to do it,” Weeks says.
Most promising: He’ll be making “aggressive beers that appeal to the already sophisicated craft beer drinker, people who drink Stone and Avery and Lost Abbey. They’re going to be style-challenging. I’m not going to stick to Belgians but I have the greatest respect for Belgians. That’s where everything I know about beer started from.”
Production plans call for an 80 to 20 percent split between 750-ml bottles with wire corks and kegs. This is Weeks’ identified niche: Lots of people will take a chance on a 750 but not a six-pack. The single bottles make nice gifts, and people seem more likely to take a chance on something they haven’t tried before if they’ve only got a single to finish.
As I said, I can’t say I’m impartial on this one. But Weeks has the experience and the brewing chops to do great things for the Austin craft beer scene.
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Exciting news from Sierra Nevada
Jody Hunt, Sierra’s guy in our neck of the woods, pointed me to this site, promoting the Chico, Calif., breweries 30th anniversary brews. And WOW, is this going to be a great year for them.
Ken Grossman’s fledgling brewery actually goes back to 1979, just three years after Jack McAuliffe’s New Albion’s, the nation’s first micro, got going in Sonoma. With Fritz Maytag at Anchor, these three and others launched the American craft beer revolution.
Sierrra already has stuff on the shelves to commemorate its modest beginnings, but there’s a quartet of offerings coming through the year that are really special. Maytag and Grossman have a stout coming in March; McAuliffe and Grossman have a barley wine coming in July (!); homebrewering pioneer Charlie Papazian, beer authority Fred Eckhardt and Grossman have an imperial Helles. And here’s the one that’s going to make this a very long year. In mid-October they’re rolling out an oak-aged marriage of Bigfoot barley wine, Celebration and and Sierra’s pale ale.
Shop early and cellar. They’ll be released in limited quantities in bottles and on draft in our area.
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A great beer book coming in April
That’s right, the 1,001 things you must do before you die series now tackles beer (Universe, $36.95, lots of pretty color pictures, vintage ads and the like). Dividing the beer by color — from amber to specialty — more than 40 beer experts from around the globe weigh in, browsing the book is more like armchair traveling than anything else. I mean, I know I’m not going to get to South Korea anytime soon, and I can’t get too excited about the bland lager that’s featured here, the main selling point of which is it doesn’t taste like much of anything so it goes well with a variety of food. Some endorsement. There’s always water if taste is a problem. One I’d really like to get my hands on, however: The Green Peppercorn Tripewl from the Brewer’s Art brewpub in Baltimore. And I was just there, dangit.
I was impressed with how many of these I hadn’t heard of — and even a style, “Italian-style barleywine” — and while the book lacks the geographic organization and singular authoratative voice found in Michael Jackson’s New World Guide to Beer, it’s been close to a decade and a half since that book’s been updated — and quite a lot has happened in the beer world since then.
I also detect something of a contrarian streak in general editor Adrian Tierney-Jone (yes, he’s British) with the inclusion of Pabst Blue Ribbon, justified as illustrative of America’s gloomy post-Prohibition decades-long hangover of bad beer. But Blue Moon? MolsonCoors has owned them for longer than most people have known that little brewery existed.
As best I can tell, no Texas breweries are represented, not even Pete’s of San Antonio. An unsurprising shame. Come on, Texans, get out there and brew something that makes it into the second edition of this book.
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Mixing drinks: It’s science!
San Francisco’s Exploratorium Museum had this thing on “The Science of Cocktails” and Boingboing.net has this pretty comprehensive post, including recipes, bar trick videos and more. Check the thing out and you’ll feel like you’d been there for the fundraiser.
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Rare Anchor anniversary beer on its way
To commemorate the 30th anniversary of their move into Anchor’s current facility, Fritz Maytag and friends brewed Anchor Humming Ale, an American pale with a rare and unusual hop, Nelson Sauvin.
Anchor’s rep will be on hand Tuesday when they tap it at the Ginger Man, so if you’re interested I’d put it on my calendar now.
It’ll also be on at the Flying Saucer. Only a few kegs are coming our way, so hurry.
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They’re making a movie about Michael Jackson
Beer Hunter Movie Trailer from John Richards on Vimeo.
Here’s the story. Apparently the film will premiere at this year’s Great American Beer Festival. Filmmaker J.R. Richards shot the DVDs for Jackson’s rare beer club.
Jackson had Parkinson’s disease and died in 2007, but if you’ve got good beer in your fridge today, it’s in large part thanks to Jackson, whose writing, research and enthusiasm preserved tradition and helped spark the blazing innovation we’re enjoying today. And he was a really nice guy. I enjoyed the pleasure of his company exactly three whole times but remember each one fondly.
Proceeds from the film go to fund Parkinson’s research. Movie web site here.
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To get you in the mood for those Super Bowl commercials
Fun ad. Beer, bromance and Australian accents:
Speaking of the Super Bowl, are you all putting special stuff in your larder to watch the game at home, or are you heading to a bar? If the latter, what’s your favorite bar that fits the game day bill — that is, someplace with lots of great beer and decent TVs? Author of the most interesting comment wins a copy of Max Watman’s new book, “Chasing the White Dog: An Amateur Outlaw’s Adventures in Moonshine.”
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Your bar tab could be a lot worse
See this post on the $10,000 martini and more.
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Are you in Austin? Then you’re probably drunk
Men’s Health magazine has a ranking out of the drunkest cities in America and guess what? We’re #5! Editors created a “statistical sobriety checkpoint, based on factors such as death rates from liver disease, frequency of binge drinking, number of drunk driving arrests and alcohol-related crashes and more.
Fresno, Calif., was #1, San Antonio 37. The least drunk of the top 100 cities was Boston. Obviously there was no research done at Fenway Park.
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Alamo gourmet dinner with wine by the dude from Tool
Did you know that Tool/A Perfect World frontman/enigma Maynard James Keenan has a whole other life as a winemaker? True. And there’s a documentary film about his viticultural adventures. UPDATE: I’m told the man himself will not be making an appearance, except on celluloid, because the movie is premiering everywhere that day and Keenan has “other commitments.” Mosaic Wine Group tells me Keenan and mentor Eric Glomski may be making a swing through Texas “possibly later this year.” Original press release:
“Blood Into Wine” - Special Feast Screening Friday February 19th (Special Feast Screening), Saturday February 20th (General Admission Screening)
Friday Feast Screening is $55 (cost includes admission, feast, and wine pairings. Price does not include gratuity), Saturday General Admission Screening is $9 7:30pm on both nights
“Blood into Wine” is the widely anticipated documentary that shares the story of Tool/A Perfect Circle/Puscifer front man Maynard James Keenan and his mentor Eric Glomski as they pioneer winemaking in the hostile deserts of Arizona.
Keenan’s various musical entities have sold over 10 million records in the US alone while the man himself has revealed little of his personal life. “Blood Into Wine” gives unprecedented insight into Keenan’s world and his motivations for taking on the arduous task of bringing winemaking to the region’s unforgiving landscape and how winemaking fits into Keenan’s creative trajectory.
Because we are such fans of music, movies, and well crafted beverages at the Drafthouse, we have decided to take the opening of this film to the next level. We are working with the good folks at Arizona Stronghold and Caduceus to offer a multi-course gourmet meal with wines featured in the film to accompany the screening. So, for oneophiles, the documentary lover, or just the hardcore fans of Maynard, have we got an event for you! For those who feel the feast screening is a bit too decadent, we will also screen the film the following night for general admission prices.
The menu for Friday’s Feast screening will include:
Chicken liver ravioli with Tazi beurre blanc sauce *paired with Arizona Stronghold 08 Tazi White
Parsnip bisque with crispy pork belly *paired with Arizona Stronghold 08 Mangus Red
Merkin braised pork cheeks with gorgonzola polenta and rocket puree *paired with Merkin Vineyards 06 Chupacabra Red
Goat cheese cheesecake with almond crust and mixed berry compote *paired with Caduceus 07 Primer Paso Red
**Pork belly, pork cheeks, and chicken livers are all from local farm, Richardson Farms. Goat Cheese is also from a local dairy farm. Pure Luck Almonds are straight from Maynard’s farm in Arizona.
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Small-batch Belgian ales in San Marcos
Silas Parker, who spent a little time helping out at Bruce Collie’s former pub in Wimberley, is now brewing half-barrel (15 gallon) batches at the Root Cellar Cafe in San Marcos. Pending Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission approval, they were aiming to have the operation running on Super Bowl Sunday.
Parker is not kegging, only bottling in 24-ounce bottles with cage-and-cork tops, and the beer will be available to go as well as on site. Everything’s done by hand. The labels are even screen-printed by hand (no digital!) and printed on recycled paper. “I want to brew a beer that’s as small and as potent as San Marcos itself,” Parker said.
His plan is to have three standard Belgians available at all times, a light blonde, a dubel and trippel — “the standard Belgian formula, the 1-2-3 punch,” as well as other stuff.
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Sam Adams had fun with Phil
Belated amusement: Phil may have seen his shadow, meaning six more weeks of winter, but the village elders posed with Sam Adams’ springtime pils, which includes five varieties of Noble hops.
(Photo courtesy Michael Ishman/Punxsutawney Spirit)
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Atop the rainy day to-do list
Ad in today’s paper says 20 percent off ALL BEER at Central Market. Run!
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I made bacon-infused vodka over the weekend
Has anybody tried this? I found myself standing over a pan of sizzling porky goodness Saturday morning and thought, Hmm…
Of course there are recipes all over the Interwebs and little if any agreement on proper procedure. This Instructable calls for infusion of merely 30 minutes in the freezer, after which you pull off the frozen fat and strain the vodka to remove any residual bits of bacon.
Other recipes say put it in the fridge, still others in a dark cupboard. Some call for a full pound of bacon, some for just a few strips, some for just the fat and not the meat itself.
Then there’s the question of time: Thirty minutes? Overnight? A week? Two weeks? And supposedly the end result will be a little on the cloudy side. Some say using Irish moss, a clarifier in some home brew recipes, will take care of that.
I went for three strips and a fair amount of drippings and stuck the jar in a cupboard. I’ll check it in a week and see if I go blind. Any advice?
