In 2011, the Goose Island brewery was sold by its owner to AB-InBev for $38.8 million because they couldn’t meet demand for their products. Until recently, Goose Island wasn’t available in Texas at all. However, three of their beers have now been introduced in stores. The three I saw in the store the other day were Honker’s Ale (currently being served at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival), 312 Urban Wheat, and their India Pale Ale. Production for all three beers  [ Read More ]

Here’s something new for the spring from Abita. In addition to the Mardi Gras Bock that appears in the early part of the year, Abita started releasing this year a new seasonal called Spring IPA. This brew replaces Abita’s Red Ale, and to be honest I won’t miss their Red. Abita’s description of the beer: Spring IPA (March-May) is a West Coast-style IPA with an up-front intense hop flavor and aroma. Amarillo and Centennial hops give the brew a rich  [ Read More ]

Ballast Point’s beer is fairly new to Texas but has been brewing in San Diego for over 15 years. In 1992, Jack White opened Home Brew Mart in San Diego which provided brewing supplies to the homebrewing community in San Diego. By 1996, he and co-founder Yuseff Cherney started brewing Ballast Point beer in the back of Home Brew Mart. All the beers are named after fish, and the one I’m drinking tonight is Sculpin IPA. The Sculpin is a  [ Read More ]

And hello. You probably don’t remember me seeing as how my motivation to write blog posts is somewhat like my motivation to clean this house after a party. So you know, not there. As I experiment with other beers instead of relying solely on Lagunitas to fuel my alcoholism, I find that, man, there are some darn good brews out there. Devil Dog is one. It’s a 22, 10% ABV and pretty darn hoppy. Action shot! This beer is by  [ Read More ]

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA is somewhat rare around here. Prior to this bottle, the last time I had this beer was February 7, 2010. I’m sure you’re asking how in the world I know the last time I drank this beer was on that date. This is how: I had one bottle sitting in my refrigerator waiting for a special occasion, and the Saints making it to the Super Bowl for the first time ever was a good enough  [ Read More ]

Every year Stone Brewing makes a special limited release beer for their anniversary. Some years it has been an IPA, other years it has been a different type of ale, but each year they try to do something special. This year for their 16th anniversary Stone decided to brew an IPA that featured lemon flavors. From the label: We’ve been loving creating Collaboration beers with great creative brewers from all over the world these last several years-unique beers that would  [ Read More ]

The menus are out and the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival Beer List is updated (along with a brand new app). Let’s chat about what’s on the list. Last year I wrote a huge article detailing every beer at every location. This year I’m going to cut it down a bit and talk about the changes; a lot of the beers, especially at booths like Mexico and China, have the same exact boring selection. The majority of Brewer’s Collection  [ Read More ]

You may have been expecting the next installment of my visit to The Avenue in New Orleans, but I’ll get back to that soon. On Saturday I visited Saint Arnold Brewing Company for my birthday; it’s just north of downtown Houston and is located at 2000 Lyons Ave. Saint Arnold hosts tours every day except Sunday. On weekdays they open at 3:00 pm until about 4:15 pm, but on Saturdays they are open from 11:00 am until 2:00 pm. During  [ Read More ]

It’s that time of year in America where we honor those who gave their lives serving this country in the Armed Forces. On this Memorial Day let’s take a look at the latest release from Saint Arnold, Homefront IPA. This beer’s story starts with Chris Ray; you might know him as a pitcher for the Seattle Mariners. He’s also a homebrewer. Chris came up with the Homefront IPA recipe and brought it to Matt Lincecum, owner of Fremont Brewing Company  [ Read More ]

American Craft Beer Week celebrates the small brewery. One of the newest breweries in the Houston area is Karbach Brewing Co. The owners, Chuck Robertson and Ken Goodman, sold their beer distribution business in order to start Karbach. The brewery is housed in the old beer distribution warehouse on Karbach Street in Houston, and they currently brew five different beers. Rodeo Clown Double IPA is one of their newer brews (well, newer as in it wasn’t one of the three  [ Read More ]