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April 2010
Intriguing take on mortality and beer
We’re all going to die, right? So what would be your last pint. That’s the set-up for Craft Austin’s Aaron’s new venture, My Last Pint. Check out the debut.
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Jester King donates beer to good paws
The PAWS Shelter and Humane Society’s sixth annual Dinner by the Bite soiree is at 6:30 p.m. May 13 at Wilson Appliance in Dripping Springs, and there’s added incentive to go this year: Jester King is contributing five of their fabulous beers to go with food prepared by local chefs. On tap: Das Wunderkind, Barrel Aged Bitter, India Pale Ale, Hill Country Ale, and La Danse Macabre Imperial Stout. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: That imperial stout is as good as any I’ve tasted.
Tickets are $50 in advance, $60 at the door. Details here or take a gander at the flyer.
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Dan Aykroyd brings Crystal Head vodka to town
Dan Aykroyd is one of those show biz people with a suitcase full of stories. (In Aykroyd’s case, the harmonica comes in a separate briefcase.) Here’s just one, about how he gained an appreciation for big, plump red wines:
When Aykroyd and John Belushi were still on “Saturday Night Live” and shooting “The Blues Brothers” — which after 30 years still must hold the record for most cop cars wrecked in a movie — they’d knock off in the evening and head to Steve Cropper’s house in the hills just above the Universal lot. It turns out Cropper — best known as the guitarist in Booker T and the MG’s and the iconic Stax Records house band — is a pretty committed oenophile.
“He enhanced the knowledge of my palate,” Aykroyd said. “We’d wrap the night of shooting, we’d finish around 7 or 8 and go right up to his house and he’d cook these beautiful burgers and open up his cellar and he turned me onto all the big reds of the world.”
Which explains why there’s Dan Aykroyd Wines, and it’s not far from there to distilled spirits, including his new vodka, Crystal Head, bottles of which the man himself will be signing at the Twin Liquors at Hancock Center from 4-6 p.m. May 10. You can’t miss the bottle — it’s a beautiful glass skull designed by artist John Alexander. But, Aykroyd stressed, it’s not just a packaging gimmick.
“I said, ‘We’re not going to put junk in this bottle,’” Aykroyd recalled. “We just manufactured our millionth bottle. People are responding to the neat package but also what’s in the bottle. Crystal Head represents the vodka you want to step up to. We’re not gonna own the world, but we’re supplying a luxury item that my waning celebrity can help sell.”
The juice is made with Canadian wheat and corn (the latter giving it a suggestion of sweetness), with water from the glacial aquifers of Newfoundland. It’s quadruple distilled, then filtered through charcoal and Herkimer diamonds — quartz crystals, actually, from upstate New York. It’s also certified kosher.
James Beard-decorated critic Anthony Dias Blue gave Crystal Head Vodka a 91 rating: “Silky and smooth with vanilla; a clean, dry spirit with a kick of heat on the finish.” While my vodka palate is by no means as sophisticated, here’s my take after pouring a wee dram cold into a snifter: Absolutely none of those nasty rubbing alcohol phenols you get from cheap vodka, a hint of sweetness from the corn, character that’s a result of not being filtered too many times and a flirty, peppery burn on the back end. I’d buy it even without the awesome bottle.
“There’s a genuine psychic satisfaction when you step up to a Crystal Head drink. Six shots, no hangover. I can guarantee that. After that, I can’t guarantee it. Am I having any fun? Oh, no.”
Why the name? Take it away, crystalhead.com: “Legend has it that the 13 Crystal Heads are said to project enlightenment, positive energy, and mystical properties…So what better vessel to hold a non-enhanced vodka that is ‘Pure Spirit.’ “
Um. OK then. But this is right up Aykroyd’s alley, since he’s long had a fascination with ghosts and unexplained phenomena. The onetime Ghostbuster and fabled UFOlogist will, without your asking, bring up the Stephenville UFO sightings near George W. Bush’s ranch in January 2008.
For a guy who jokes about his celebrity being in twilight, he sounds pretty busy. He’s the voice of Yogi Bear in a 3-D movie of the same name directed by Eric Brevig and slated to come out toward the end of the year. (Justin Timberlake is Boo-Boo.) He’s still opening Houses of Blues all over the country, including one coming up in Connecticut. The wine business has been steady for seven years or more. And now vodka.
And let’s not forget this is a guy who recorded in the studio with Ray Charles, jammed numerous times with “my brother James Brown” and rattles off a long list of friends that’s pretty much anybody who matters in music, comedy and the movies over the last three decades. But he’s not bragging. The man’s Canadian, after all.
“I feel very fortunate for the collaborators with whom I’ve been able to work,” Aykroyd said. I’ve worked with the greatest people.”
You know why, right? He’s on a mission from God.
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Like Oktoberfest but in May
That’s the German-Texas Heritage Society’s 15th annual Maifest celebration from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. May 8. Spaten Bock and brats — what else do you need? Press release:
A German beer tasting will be the featured at the German-Texan Heritage Society’s 15th annual Maifest celebration on Saturday, May 8th from 11:00 am until 6:00 pm. The festival takes place at the Historic German Free School at 507 E. 10th street in downtown Austin, near the corner of 10th and Red River and behind the Mohawk Lounge. The tasting will include: • Spaten Lager (Helles in German) • Fransikaner Hefeweisen (Weise) • Spaten Dark Lager (Munchen Dunkel) • Spaten Bock (Maibock) Spaten’s Maibock is a strong beer brewed in the springtime for Maifest celebrations. 2010 is the last year Maibock will be sold in the USA. In addition to beer, the festival will feature German food and entertainment. The Best Wurst will be selling delicious bratwurst and sauerkraut along with potato salad made according to a traditional German recipe. Apple strudel and big pretzels top off the menu. There is something for everyone in the family. Entertainment begins at 11:00 am with the Siekers and their German bluegrass, and at 12:15 pm the Walburg Boys play traditional German music. Other performers include Shirley Johnson on accordion at 11 am and at 3:00 pm we step it up with Austin’s Flatcar Rattlers. Other music includes the UT German Harmonics, our own Samstagsschule Kinder Chor, and Austin’s Saengerrunde. For the children, a magic show, Yodel lessons, Marionette shows, and Rudy Roberson, recently of Broadway’s The Lion King, doing his version of Rotkaeppchen, or Little Red Riding Hood in German! Games for the children include kite making, scavenger hunt, and face painting. Finally, it would not be Maifest without the wrapping of the Maypole. Students in the Austin Waldorf School German Club perform the wrapping of the Maypole, which involves dancing in a circle around the Maypole and intertwining colored ribbons held in their hands. The ribbons create a braided pattern on the pole, and then the dancers retrace their steps to unravel the ribbons - all to the strains of traditional German folk music. The Maypole dance will be performed at 1:30 pm and 3:15 pm. Admission is $4.00 per adult and children 12 and under free with adult. Discount coupons are available at www.germantexans.org
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Uncle Billy’s birthday beer blowout Thursday
Ah, geez. I still haven’t picked up a present, but the barbecue and beer emporium on Barton Springs Rd. certainly is rolling out the goodies for us starting at 3 p.m. Thursday. They’re rolling out 11 special beers, most in very limited quantities, including the highly decorated Hell in Keller, Bitchin’ Camaro, second anniversary Boozer Chavez, Hop Zombie and more. The anniversary beers will be served in half-pint pours but you’ll have plenty of options provided you get there early enough. In other words: See you at 3.
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Drink (512) for a good cause
Whacha doing for happy hours next Friday, the 7th? Go to (512) Brewing, 407 Radam, from 5-7, drop a suggested donation of $20 to LifeWorks, a local nonprofit that helps youths and families in crisis, and you get a pint glass and three tickets to explore Kevin Brand’s wonderful beers.
Local beer + worthy charity = fun event. More info here.
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Congress ponders limiting your wine choices
Like ordering direct from out-of-state wineries? Congress is considering sticking a cork in it.
Sigh Here we go again. Reader Shannon Perdue alerts us to legislation the U.S. House of Representatives is considering that would effectively put an end to wineries shipping directly to out-of-state customers.
It’s all over the blogosphere. There’s an exhaustive, vehement analysis here. Wine Spectator’s take is here. And there’s a story with a Texas angle here.
Prevailing wisdom from all the chatter is that wholesales are playing the heavy, aiming to shore up the sacred three-tier system.
You know, as a completely objective journalist, that I have no opinion whatsoever on this — and I know a fair number of good people in that corner of the business. But how on Earth is this good for the wine business, particularly small wineries? Now what happens if you visit a winery in Sonoma whose wines are not distributed in Texas and you want to ship a case home? I’ll tell you what: You’re out of luck.
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Anchor Brewing sold: ruminations
Beer & Nosh broke the story Monday that craft beer icon Fritz Maytag was selling Anchor to the Griffin Group, an alcohol investment and consulting group led by Bay Area residents Keith Greggor and Tony Foglio. Here’s the San Francisco Chronicle story. Good on Maytag (yes, one of the appliance Maytags from Iowa) for keeping ownership local. At 72 he’s probably entitled to a break. He’s been involved in the company since 1965, when his washing-machine inheritance kept the venerable brewery, which dates to the 1850s, from going under. Since then he’s more or less single-handedly kept the steam beer style alive and is as responsible as anyone for reviving craft brewing in America, which today is brewing the lion’s share of the world’s most interesting beers.
Although Steam arguably isn’t a true steam beer, the company has focused on fidelity to historic styles. Their porter is as good as any; Old Foghorn barley wine is exactly as it should be and their ever-changing Christmas beer has a wide, passionate cult following. (Tastes too much like a pine tree for my taste, but knock yourselves out.) And he recently brewed a killer imperial stout with Sierra Nevada to commemorate the latter company’s 30th anniversary.
Now what? What niche hasn’t been filled? Might they hop on the hop bandwagon like Green Flash, Stone and others? I don’t know if we need yet another huge imperial IPA out there.
One clue: The new owners have a stake in Brew Dog, which suggests they have a taste for the extreme.
Thoughts? Anybody?
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“Bottle Shock” wine feast menu
We’ve talked about this event at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek, but this one, unlike the recent Dogfish Head extravaganza, isn’t yet sold out, so here goes. From the web site:
Bottle Shock Wine Feast Wednesday April 28th 7:30pm $50
It’s time for us to clean out our wine cellar at Lake Creek. Over the past year, we have built up quite a reserve of killer wines. Well, our back-log is your gain! We have a stock of some of the finest wines around and it’s time to put together a fun event to share the love. Don’t miss the film Bottle Shock with a multi-course gourmet meal with top of the line wine pairings.
The Menu will include:
Bacon Corn Chowder w/ Fiddlehead Honeysuckle Sauvignon Blanc
Mussels in white wine w/ Arizona Stronghold Tazi White
Branch Ranch Ribeye with bleu cheese butter, marinated mushrooms, and pomme frites w/ Terra Valentine Cabernet
Apple biegnets with honey cinnamon ice cream w/ Fiddlehead Sweetie
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Sam Adams Longshot contest tasting notes, round 2
Moving right along, you’ll recall we’re working our way through the 2010 Samuel Adams Longshot homebrew contest winners. Next up: Michael Robinson’s Old Ben Ale, an outstanding representation of the style. A dreadnought of malt without cloying sweetness, full bodied and pouring an antique gold (the color of an English gentleman’s library shelves), this beer suggests peat, faint aroma hops but plenty in the boil to make for a relatively dry finish.
And it’s brewed with raisons, which is why it dimly reminded my tasting companion of Dogfish Head’s Raison d’Etre.
The Longshot winners are available in limited edition six-packs right now. Get ‘em while you can.
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7-Eleven launches house beers
First they did wine, now this.
Full release from the company says it’s available in Texas as of a couple of days ago.
Would you try it? Have you tried it? There’s a light beer and an ice beer. Rolling out in 17 states, at least to start.
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Who wants a Germany beer cocktail?
This new place in Pflugerville has them.
Sprite I can do. Coke not so much.
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Wine & Food Fest Sunday Fair wrap-up
Famed New Orleans (and tharabouts, and that’s him right there) chef John Besh got things off to a brunchy start at the Vineyards at the Salt Lick a little after noon Sunday, with a homey cooking demo that was appropriate after a weekend of lots — in some cases too much — of good wine and food.
He said he’d finished the previous evening at Parkside and “I called it a night after the tequila shots came out, so I thought I’d make a good morning-after breakfast, shrimp and grits.”
Good it was. Besh said restaurant chefs tend to be more cerebral when they’re on the clock, but elsewhere “The food that I like to eat at home is like this — food that is rustic, food that is forgiving.”
And in less than 30 minutes he had it — American wild shrimp, stone-ground grits, a little red bell pepper, leeks, andoille, butter (grass-fed dairy cows produced that) and a few other ingredients made for a beautiful beginning to the day.
“The food that I like to demo is the stuff that I want you to take home and cook,” said Besh, who added that he grew up in a family that made a habit of making stocks and freezing them. Lots of folks were taking notes.
Breaking news: Besh announced he’s opening a place in San Antonio so we won’t have to go so far for his award-winning cuisine.
The grounds were a tad soggy Sunday but nothing like last year’s monsoon mudfest, a precursor of ACL a half-year later. There were lines of folks at least 30 minutes before the gates opened at noon and tents filled up by mid-afternoon. Balcones, the Waco distillery, was doing good business pouring samples of their Baby Blue whiskey and Rumble, a turbinado sugar rum/brandy concoction. In that same spirits tent, mixologist David “Tipsy Texan” Alan (that’s him in the photo) made Maker’s Mark mint juleps ahead of the Kentucky Derby, Savvy Vodka — distilled 20 times — poured it straight, in martinis and with cranberry juice and Deep Eddy vodka-infused sweet tea was a big hit.
We also ran into a 10-year old girl named for a Belgian beer: Tara Chimay Senn, who goes to St. Gabriel’s.
(American Statesman photo by Patrick Beach)
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Dogfish Head Off-Centered Film Fest wrap-up
Two nights a year, the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek — which regularly puts on great beer dinners and programming — turns into hophead heaven for Dogfish Head’s Off-Centered Film Festival with Sam Calagione, the Delaware Brewery’s founder, presiding over the festivities.
This year they outdid themselves. Friday night was a 15-course dinner paired with 15 Dogfish beers, a number of which aren’t yet available in the Texas market. (Calagione had a few things to say about what he regards as Texas’ rather finicky labeling requirements.)
“Tonight, we’re going to get our geek on for beer,” Calagione said at the outset Friday. That we did. Paul Michie’s house-made duck sausage paired beautifully with Dogfish’s Indian Brown, and Aprihop, a crisp and refreshing apricot ale, ambled up nicely with a chicken, corn and black bean mini-burrito. A sturdier brown ale, the wood-aged Palo Santo Marron, stood up to a chorizo and cojita cheese quesadilla. Pours and portions were small, but even so, by the time we got to that latter course many in the crowd were flagging. But your you, dear bloggy readers, I soldiered on. Great jazz all night by local band Torch, whose keyboard player teased us with a little Journey.
If you didn’t feel like spending $60 for the decadent dinner experience, Saturday spotlighted the film submissions and they were offering $5 pints of 10 Dogfish beers. Out of some three dozen submissions, Erik Mitchell of Philadelphia was the winner for “Burton Baton and the Legend of the Ancient Ales,” an Indiana Jones-style parody that actually featured Molecular Archeologist Dr. Patrick McGovern of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, who’s worked with the brewery for more than five years to help develop Dogfish’s series of ancient ales such as Chateau Jiahu. Brilliant. (That’s Calagione, second from left, and Mitchell, third.)
Mitchell was a finalist in last year’s competition, too. What’s his secret?
“We did a lot of drinking while we were coming up with ideas,” he said. “We were third last year and wanted to come down to Austin and do some drinking again.”
Making sure Mitchell didn’t have to do all that drinking by himself were Brian Moore, Robert Desjardin and Dan Woolard.
Best comment I heard about DFH all weekend came not at the film festival but at the Wine & Food Fest out by the Salt Lick Sunday. On Doghfish Head 120, Brian Senn of Austin said this: “That beer makes you see God.” Aye.
(American-Statesman photo by Patrick Beach)
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Palate Cleansers, Grape Escape at the Driskill Saturday
You know the push back against crazy bold wines is going full tilt and the Hill Country Wine & Food Festival books a room on a Saturday afternoon for lighter, more delicate tastes. So it was Saturday for Palate Cleansers, a tasting of rieslings, roses, chenin blancs and more.
I was particularly taken with a dry rose from McPherson Cellars of Lubbock. It was long on strawberry, airy and delightful for mid-afternoon sipping. Owner Kim McPherson said the grapes come from Brenham.
Two 2008 South African chenin blancs from Indaba and Raats Family, respectively, showed the difference even a little oak aging can make. A portion of the Inbada is aged in oak barrels for only about six months. That short time resorted in an oaky pull so faint you could barely taste it on the first sip, just a faint suggestion on the back end. The Raats chenin blanc, on the other hand, ages in all stainless steel barrels, yielding a somewhat more mineraly taste.
We wrapped things up for a comparatively more bold 2006 chardonnay from Byron in the Santa Maria Valley. That was made itself known in a roomful of more retiring offerings.
Maker’s Mark sponsored the Grape Escape cocktail challenge later Saturday afternoon, with a bunch of bartenders competiting to concoct the top Maker’s concoction. Among them, Jeff Boley from Paggi House, who offered something he called a “Sway Tay,” with Maker’s, fresh iced tea, fresh lime juice and candied lemon. The winner will have their drink poured by master mixologist David Alan at the Sunday Fair today. (I’d love to tell you who won but the thing started late and I had to get the the Alamo Drafthouse. And it turns out I was supposed to be a judge. Guess I need to read those e-mails more carefully. Stay tuned for an update on the winner.)
UPDATE: The winner was Lara Nixon, David “Tipsy Texan” Alan’s teaching partner and author of The Blue Ruin blog, for her “Kentucky Peach,” a simple concoction of peach, bourbon and mint. Sample it today and judge for yourself.
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They dump old beer, don’t they?
City employees in Columbia, Mo. accused of stealing beer from landfill.
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Sam Adams Longshot contest tasting notes, round 1
Out of 1,300 submissions three were chosen. First up: Jeremy White’s Lemon Pepper Saison. It pours the color of sunshine, offers a yeasty nose perfectly appropriate for the style. The pepper offers a subtle dry heat that balances the tartness of the citrus. It’s medium- to light-bodied, making it great for warm weather. I’d definitely have one again.
Beernews.org has the full press release on the competition from Boston Beer Co. here.
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Like SXSW but with better booze
If you ever catch me complaining about this cushy gig, slap me. But now and then it keeps me busier than a one-legged man at a butt-kicking contest, and this weekend is one of those times. Here’s a quick rundown of what you can expect to see on Liquid Austin and its Twitter feed in the coming days.
Tonight: Claus Hagelman from Dogfish Head and Rob Todd from Allagash pour some crazy big beers at the Flying Saucer.
It’s the 25th Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival, and I’ll be lunching with winemakers from Freemark Abbey, Byron and Stonestreet at Sullivan’s Friday, followed by the sold out first night of the Dogfish Head Off-Centered Film Festival at the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek.
Saturday begins with two festival events at the Driskill, including one called the Grape Escape Cocktail Showdown, which sounds like a pleasant break from wine, not that I’ll be tired of it. Then back to the Alamo for night two of the festival — you know, the night they show the actual film submissions. DFH founder Sam Calagione will be on hand both nights, and as of right now tickets are still available for Saturday’s show.
Saturday from noon-6 p.m. is Live Oak’s 13th anniversary party at 3301-B E. 5th St. (enter on 4th St.). Bring an ID if you’re interested in sampling their portfolio. They’ll have bands playing all day, raise money for Meals on Wheels and More. Non-alcoholic goodies, too, from White Mountain Foods, Smokey Denmark beer brats (yeah, there’s beer in them but the alcohol cooks out), Innocent Chocolate, Main Root root beer and Nada Moo desserts.
Sunday is the festival’s big to-do out at the Vineyards at the Salt Lick. Last year’s rains made the grounds a mucky mess in many places. Let’s hope the rain holds off at least a little this year.
(One thing I won’t be doing, because it conflicts with the film fest, is the Stars Across Texas Grand Tasting Friday night at the Long Center. Honestly and truly, it was one of my favorite nights of 2009. It’s worth the $100 ticket.)
Wednesday after next, the 28th, is the “Bottle Shock” wine feast at the Alamo Lake Creek. Fun movie, and the $50 ticket gets you that and four wines paired with four courses, including mussels in wine and a Branch Ranch ribeye with blue cheese butter. Mmm…blue cheese butter…
So with all that coming up and the duties of my, you know, job job, there’s a number of things we just haven’t had time to talk about here of late, such as:
Last Friday’s groundbreaking party and beer tasting at Jester King. Jeff has the lowdown and pictures on that. And I’ve got to say, that La Danse Macabre Imperial Stout will blow your mind. It’s right up there with any imperial stout I’ve had, and if you’re thinking, “Even Old Rasputin?” the answer is yes.
Boston Beer Co.’s 25th anniversary. The official date is Monday and the company tells me it has something special planned. Meanwhile, I haven’t had a chance to work through the six-pack of Longshot homebrew contest winners, but for you I will — and I’ll report back. They’re rolling into our area now and I’ll have a partial list of places where you can grab it posted soon.
Jordan Weeks at South Austin Brewing Co. has tapped Edward Peters of Austin Homebrew Supply to wear the rubber boots whenever the startup gets rolling. But Peters isn’t quitting his day job just yet; you’ll still see him around AHS.
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Chat with Urthel’s Hildegard van Ostaden
We talked about her upcoming visit to the G-Man already, but late last week I got her on the phone for an interview in the middle of her whirlwind tour of U.S. brewing hotspots. What a delightful person.
Belgian beers are a widely varied and distinctive lot, but Urthel has managed to distinguish itself with big, bold beers that veer from tradition. Why is that?
“I was always interested in doing something other than what other people do,” she said. “Why make a copy of another beer? I don’t see the use of that. But traveling the U.S. has been an inspiration for us. In Belgium, brewers tend to think they are superior, and I was a little naive the first time i traveled to the U.S. I thought Belgium was the best beer country. And then I got here and I was flabbergasted. The U.S. has always been an inspiration for me. That’s why Hop-It came along.”
Among U.S. breweries, she’s particularly fond of Stone and Lost Abbey. As for the scene back home, she confesses she was a little out of step from the beginning. “I make beers that aren’t really American and aren’t really Belgian,” she said. As for the scene back home, she says it’s getting a little more adventurous, perhaps because of nudges from our neck of the woods.
“I am not making traditional beers,” she said. “You have to respect tradition, but if you don’t experiment you go to sleep.”
She’s at the Ginger Man starting at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
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All hail Brian Peters
Oh hey wow — Uncle Billy’s won a bronze medal at the World Beer Cup in Chicago over the weekend in the kellerbier/zwickelbier category. As brewer Brian Peters points out, that’s three medals in three years for Hell in Keller, including a gold at last fall’s the Great American in Denver. Congrats!
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A sip of Cruz tequila with Pep Katcher
Joseph “Pep” Katcher is el presidente of Cruz tequila, an ultra-premium brand that’s only been in the Austin market for about a year but has made significant inroads in that short time, pouring in some 50 locations around town. It’s also won at least eight international awards. Not bad for something that started out with a backyard barbecue with a bunch of guys with zero distilling experience who had some rotgut and sniffed, “We could make better tequila than this.”
The 100 percent blue agave is grown in the highlands of Jalisco, where the distillery also is. (The company’s home is Scottsdale, AZ.) Katcher, who was in town Thursday and Friday for a slew of events, says the aim was to produce “a lighter, softer, sweeter taste profile. This is what I should tequila should taste like. There’s no quirky tag line, no funny bottle. We just say ‘Taste it.’ We call it the ‘holy cow’ factor.”
The twice-distilled reposado, the flagship, is aged for some five months in oak barrels for a nutty, buttery nose and mouth feel, with light citrus notes and no burn. That one won Cruz a gold medal in the 2009 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The blanco, more of a mixing tequila, doesn’t have the peppery burn that you get from a lot of lesser products.
Lucky us, Cruz is only available so far in Arizona, Texas and Colorado and they’re currently making 5,000-10,000-liter batches. But they’ve got room to expand and they surely will.
The company also gets eco-cred points for using all recycled glass for their distinctive, antique-y-looking bottles, and for giving seven percent or more of its profits to charity.
I’m just sayin’: If you haven’t had it, it’s pretty darn fantastic tequila.
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Belgians, other big beers in town next week
The Belgians are coming: Ruiselede, West Flanders, Belgium is known for many things. OK, maybe just one thing — Urthel, the brewery that’s been one of the biggest hits out of Belgium in the last 10 years. Hildegard van Ostaden (that’s not a name, that’s a crown) is the brewery; her husband Bas helps with recipes, artwork and marketing. (And before we proceed further, let’s note that Hildegard’s beers have been produced since 2006 in Tilburg, Holland.)
Anyway, Hildegard (that’s her in the middle, obv.) will be hanging around the Ginger Man next Wednesday the 14th beginning around 6 p.m. I’m wild about their Hop-It and Quad, the latter brewed first Hildegard and Bas’ wedding. And Artisanal Imports is now bringing in their Saisonnière, which is says is “brewed with 20% wheat for a style-shifting beer that is part Saison, part wheat beer and part golden/pale ale.”
Meanwhile, over at the Flying Saucer, Rob Todd from the Belgian-centric Allagash of Portland, Maine, will be pouring some of his great stuff, including Curieux, beginning at 6 p.m. the night following. Also on hand will be Dogfish Head “indie guru” and Central Texas native Claus Hagelman, who’s bringing at least eight beers, including some vintage rarities. If you like your beer big, 814 W. 47th St. in the Triangle is the place to be Thursday.
(Photo courtesy Christopher Campana)
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New distillery and brewery coming to San Antonio
Three guys are sliding into their 30s, thinking about changing career course, making plans over beers at the Flying Saucer in San Antonio. Let’s open a craft brewery, they say. No, how about a whiskey distillery?
And after many pints are put away, they come up with a third option: Why not both? Malt advocates and beer nerds, I give you Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling, which calls itself the first combo brewery and distillery startup. It is for Texas, anyway. In a landscape where new breweries are popping up like bluebonnets after a wet winter, this is new.
According to Mark McDavid, one of the founders, the initial discussions between he, T.J. Miller and Dennis Rylander (all three MBAS, Rylander and McDavid from UT’s McCombs School, so if this venture fails it won’t be for lack of book learnin’) focused on why the idea wouldn’t fly.
Eventually they talked themselves into it — beer can be a great persuader — and they’re recruited Rob Landerman, an accomplished home brewer who’s currently at the Fying Saucer in Austin, as the man who’ll wear the rubber boots in the brewery. They’ve got the 30-barrel brewhouse ordered, are homing in on a location and aim to have product rolling out the door — albeit only in the San Antonio market to start — in September or perhaps late August.
So why a hybrid operation? Casual drinkers might think they’re distinct and tempermental arts but they have a number of similarities, coverting starches in grain to fermentable sugars under heat, then adding yeast to produce alcohol. Some equipment, such as the mash and lauter tuns, can be used in both operations. Just as important, whiskey and bourbon need to age before they ship — and during that time there’s no money coming in. Why not use the down time to brew beer?
“We created this really nice synergy that is going to be really exciting,” says McDavid, 31. “We can use both sides of our business. We can use our own bourbon barrels to age our own beer in it.”
As McDavid and his partners see it, San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the country, and it has no homegrown craft brewery, although their are brew pubs such as Freetail. They think it’s time to change that.
“We’ll have a pretty good portfolio with interesting but approachable beers,” he says. “We’ll have one lager and three ales. They will go from a sort of an approachable mass market beer to the types of beers that will have beer nerds go crazy. I think Texas beer drinkers are getting more adventurous. It seems like we’re getting to the point where you can be a little more experimental, as long as you’re brewing a really good beer.”
You can track their progress and work up a powerful thirst doing it at http://www.drinkrangercreek.com/.
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Dogfish Head film fest update
The gourmet dinner and portfolio tasting of 15 beers April 16 is sold out already. (See post below for details.) Alamo Drafthouse officials say tickets are still available for the following night for the film screening and sampling of whatever Dogfish Head beers are remaining.
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Weekend to-do: Dogs and beer
Independence Brewing Co. is teaming up with local dog rescues from noon-3 p.m. Saturday in “Pups for Pints.” Bring an Independence mug or glass and a $10 donation and you can pet a greyhound and sample Independence’s new chocolate stout.
Warning: Have enough beer to soften your heart and you might walk out of there with a dog. Independence is at 3913 Todd Ln. #607.
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Save the date: American Whiskey Fest at Opal’s
It’s April 29 at the Penn Field location, and the $30 tickets will go on sale soon at the web site. Stay tuned and act fast; the thing’s almost certain to sell out.
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FREE Bell Wine Cellars tasting at Mirabelle
With appetizers and everything. Can’t beat this deal. Press release:
Bell Wine Cellars Tasting with Owner/Winemaker Anthony Bell, Weds. April 7th 6:30pm. Free. With appetizers. Short notice on a great tasting, in fact, such short notice its going to be free. Hopefully, all our new email reciepants will take this opportunity to come and try one of our winetastings. Mirabelle welcomes our good friend, South African born winemaker, Anthony Bell to Austin for a current release tasting. Bell Wine Cellars is located in the heart of Napa Valley, just south of Yountville. Looking west out across the vineyard is the Mayacamas mountain range. Anthony is an amazing winemaker. Born on a wine farm in South Africa, Anthony gained practical and academic experience in Spain, France, South Africa and California before he formed Bell Wine Cellars with a winegrower nearly two decades ago. Of course, the most significant entry on Bell’s lengthy resume is his 15-year stint with Beaulieu Vineyard, where he worked alongside master winemaker André Tchelistcheff and established Clone 6 Cabernet Sauvignon as one of the most important clonal selections of Cabernet Sauvignon in the world.
Bell Wines to Be Tasted: 2007 Viognier, Tanimura and Antle Vineyards. 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Lake County 2005 Chardonnay, Napa 2006 Merlot, Napa 2005 Claret, Napa 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa 2005 Clone 6 Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford
Reservations and more on Mirabelle here.
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Waiter, there’s a rat in my beer
Seriously. According to the Houston Chronicle, this guy in Crystal Beach says he grabbed a Tecate Light out of his fridge, thought it tasted funny and then his wife noticed a rat’s head floating in the bottle. And even though this alleged incident was two years ago, he remains severely traumatized. And guess what? He’s suing!
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Bear market, bull market, beer market
Here’s a new one: The Exchange Bar & Grill in New York has a ticker that shows its wildly fluctuating drink prices, according to Gothamist.
As far as bar gimmicks do, I’m sticking with the self-serve tableside taps.
