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Monday, February 13, 2012
Local brewers named finalists for Starchefs.com Rising Star awards
Online culinary magazine StarChefs.com announced the winners of the Austin-San Antonio Rising Star Awards a few weeks back, and now they’ve released the list of finalists for its Rising Star Brewer award, which will be announced at the Revue event on Tuesday the 21st.
Here’s the lineup of nominees:
Kevin Brand, 512 Brewing Company
Will Golden, Austin Beerworks
Scott Metzger, Freetail Brewing Co.
Brian Peters, Uncle Billy’s Brew & Que
Jeffrey Stuffings, Jester KingCraft Brewery
Jeff Young, Black Star Co-op
StarChefs Rising Stars are a set of awards that recognize up-and-coming individuals in the culinary arts. Every year, the organization picks four cities to feature. The best and brightest chefs, sommeliers, pastry chefs, and mixologists from each city are all recognized with an award for their work.
For the Austin beverage scene, June Rodil of Congress won an award for her work as the Sommelier at Congress Austin.
We’ll see if one of Austin’s breweries gets recognized at the Driskill on Tuesday. If you’re interested in going to the event, tickets can be purchased for $85 per person (VIP $125) on their website.
Permalink | | Categories: Beer
New North Loop bar Drink.well opens tonight
The North Loop neighborhood gets a little more hip tonight, with the soft opening of Drink.well American Pub.
The cozy but modern bar, located at 207 E. 53rd St. (directly across the street from Foreign and Domestic), joins other neighbors Phara’s Mediterranean Cuisine, the Tigress Pub, and the soon-to-be-open Workhorse Bar in establishing the North Loop scene as a new culinary pocket for the city.
Owners Mike and Jessica Sanders (yes, they’re married) left jobs in the advertising and marketing industries in New York and moved to Austin “two years ago last week,” with the intention of opening a bar. Taking inspiration from their favorite neighborhood watering hole “The Paris” by South Street Seaport (where Mike proposed to Jessica), the couple wanted to open a place that was “craft-forward and took the drinks seriously, but was in a venue that was fun and vibrant and didn’t take itself so seriously,” Jessica explained.
The focus on all things American craft stemmed from their desire to “provide a platform that celebrated boutique American distillers, vintners and brewers,” Jessica said. “Having been in Austin for 2 years, we obviously got to see the serious rise of local craft beer - we believe now it’s time for folks to get more exposure to American craft wine and spirits too.”
For food, the pub offers quirky bar snacks and entrees like Fried Bologna and Cheese, Yardbird Sausage and Waffles, and a rotating selection of house made twinkies. The Executive Chef, Aaron Zarcynski trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Atlanta and previously worked as the Executive Sous Chef at The Porch in Dallas.
You might recognize the name of consulting chef on the menu. Roblé Ali stars in Bravo TV’s “Chef Roblé and Co.” Mike Sanders has known Ali since childhood, so it seemed a natural fit to bring him on as consulting chef. Ali also officiated the Sanders’ wedding.
The beverage program represents a triple threat with a hand-picked selection of craft cocktails, beer and wine. The Sanders’ brought in former Contigo bartender Tacy Rowland to lead the bartending team, and local Tipsy Texan David Alan consulted on the cocktail program, which advertises 12 craft cocktails, ranging from “bold boozy and brown” to “light and long libations reminiscent of a cool breeze on a warm day.”
The pub will have 8 rotating beer taps, half of which will be Texas brews, and a long list of bottled craft brews from around the country as well. American wines by the bottle and glass are also offered, two of which are Texas wines (a Bianco from Duchman Family Vineyards and McPherson’s Sangiovese Reserve).
Drink.well will be open from 4 to 11 p.m. Thursdays through Tuesdays (closed Wednesdays).
Permalink | | Categories: Bars
Samuel Adams crowd-sourced ale announced
Remember when Samuel Adams announced they were creating a beer based on input from facebook users?
Well, the people have spoken, and the brewery has determined the style of the beer that will debut exclusively in Austin during SXSW at the Guy Kawasaki Girl + Guy Party in Austin on March 10.
The brew will be called B’Austin Ale, and have the flavor profile set forth below.
