AHA Rally at Saint Arnold

Saint Arnold Brewing is hosting an American Homebrewers Association rally on Sunday, February 26th from 1pm ~ 3pm. Entrance to the event includes beer samples, brewery tour and a chance to win prices from the AHA and Saint Arnold.

Entrance is free for current AHA members and non-members can gain entrance by joining for a discounted rate at the door. Space is limited and you are asked to RSVP online if you plan to attend.

To learn more about the American Homebrewers Association and what a membership can do for you, see the Membership Benefits on their website.

A Celebration of Dark Beers at Petrol Station

In celebration of Stouts and Ports, the Petrol Station is once again hosting a "Once you go black, you never go back" celebration on Saturday, January 28th. So far, they've announced on their Facebook page the following beers will be available during the event:

Stone - 15 th anniversary double black ipa
Stone - IRS
Avery - Mephistopheles
Great Divide - Belgian Yeti
Flying Dog - Gonzo Imperial Porter
Rogue - Double Chocolate
Rahr - Barrel-aged Winter Warmer
Buffalo Bayou Brewing co - Imperial Gingerbread Stout

In addition to the above beers (and probably others that haven't been mentioned yet) there is also a special tapping of various cask-conditioned beers:

2pm - Independence Brewing - Convict Hill Oatmeal Stout
3pm - Saint Arnold - Whiskey-Aged Imperial Stout
4pm - Real Ale - 15th Anniversary Russian Imperial Stout
5pm - Clown Shoes - Vampire Slayer

If that's not enough beer for you, you can also join the special bottle share starting at 1:00pm. However, you need to bring a bottle of a rare dark beer to participate. For everyone else, the party begins at 2:00pm.

The results of the homebrew contest will also be announced during the event. The entries were narrowed down a few weeks ago to the following 7 finalists:

Brian Barran, Matt Foster, Kevin Butler, David Rogers, Lisa Norberg, Kyle Preston / Chris Keller and Allen Schneider.

Open The Taps Fundraiser at Southern Star Brewing

Open The Taps (a grassroots organization dedicated to changing Texas beer laws and regulations) is holding their first fundraiser of 2012 on Sunday, February 12th from 2pm ~ 5pm at Southern Star Brewing in Conroe.

Only 100 Tickets are being sold for the event which will be available for purchase online to current members of the Open The Tap organization starting on Friday, January 20th.  Any remaining tickets will then be released for sale to the general public over the weekend. Tickets are $30 each or 2 for $50 (when purchased together) which will get you the following:


• A brewery tour & tasting.
• Food from Coreanos Texas Food Truck.
• Music from local band Folk Family Revival.
• The chance to bid on special items from local breweries and businesses.
• 1 raffle ticket (additional raffle tickets will be for sale at the event - $2 per ticket or 3 for $5).

The proceeds from the event will help fund their mission to bring change to Texas craft beer laws in the 2013 legislative session.

Independence Brewing Wins National Award

Independence Brewing of Austin, TX received a 2012 Good Food Award for their Convict Hill Stout at an awards ceremony that took place in San Fransisco last night. 

The Good Food Awards, now in its second year, grants awards to outstanding American food producers and the farmers who provide their ingredients in such categories as beer, charcuterie and spirits. The Good Food Awards seal, found on winning products, assures consumers they have found something exceptionally delicious that also supports sustainability and social good.

Selected from over 900 entries, Independence was the only Texas brewery in the list of 18 finalist which included well known craft breweries such as Alaskan, Brooklyn, New Belgium and Victory.  In order to be eligible for a Good Food Award in the beer category, brewers must meet the following criteria:

• Practice water recycling and other resource conservation
• Support local communities
• Source ingredients locally when possible
• Make an effort to seek out ingredients that are free of synthetic inputs, including pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers.
• Do not use any artificial ingredients or GMOs.
• Seek to know their suppliers and customers in order to support and promote sustainability

“Breweries should be a reflection of their community, and Independence Brewing is a reflection of Austin,” said Independence co-founder Amy Cartwright. “With creative tenacity we strive to responsibly produce the absolute best in our field while working with fellow farmers, business owners and non-profits to build a thriving community.”

Congratulations to the crew at Independence Brewing.  Convict Hill Stout is available at various locations around town including Spec's, HEB and Whole Foods.

January Glass Nights at the Ginger Man

The Ginger Man has released their list of Glass Nights for the month of January (sorry, late on posting this and missed the first two already, too busy drinking beer and not posting about it):

18th - Magic Hat frosted glasses
25th - Rahr mugs

The glasses are available starting at 6:00pm and only one glass per person with purchase of the beer of the day. As always, the glasses are subject to change and only available while supplies last.

Jester King Issues Bottle Recall

Jester King Craft Brewery has issued a recall on bottles of their Commercial Suicide and urges anyone who purchased a bottle to return it to the retailer or directly to the brewery. From their press release:

A few weeks ago, we posted about an issue with Commercial Suicide bottles continuing to ferment beyond the projected finishing point, and becoming overcarbonated as a result. At the time, we did not feel that the issue warranted a full recall, but with extended cold storage, the bottle fermentation would cease and the excess CO2 that resulted from it would most likely get reabsorbed into the beer. Unfortunately, the fermentation has continued to a point where bottles may now be showing significant signs of leakage and may gush extensively upon opening. For this reason, we must ask that any retailer that still has Commercial Suicide on its shelves pull the product immediately. We would also advise any consumers who may be in possession of Commercial Suicide bottles to return them, either to the retailer from which they were purchased, or directly to the brewery. While we do not currently have any more Commercial Suicide to replace the overcarbonated batch, we are currently working on a Farmhouse version, which we hope to have ready sometime this spring. In the meantime, we will gladly replace any unopened bottles of Commercial Suicide that are returned to the brewery during our Saturday open hours with fresh bottles of one of our other beers of equal or higher retail value. Please accept our apology for this issue and for the inconvenience it has caused.

Wishing everyone a

Merry Christmas!

From,
All Good Beer

Texas: Where beer is now beer!

Christmas came early for those attempting change of the local beer laws when Judge Sam Sparks of the United States District Court For the Western District Of Texas handed down his summary judgement regarding the lawsuit filed by Authentic Beverages (with co-plaintiffs Jester King Craft Brewery and Zax, LLC) against the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. 

The biggest win for local breweries is that they can now advertise where their products are available for purchase.  Instead of attempting to work around the law by vaguely indicate locations without using the actual name of the store or bar, they will be able to directly list where their products are sold.  Both local and out of state breweries will certainly appreciate the ruling that labels no longer have to contain the word "Beer" if its under 4% ABW or "Ale" if over 4% ABW (regardless of the actual style of the product).  This often prevented out of state breweries from shipping their product into the state as they didn't want the extra burden of designing new labels just for the Texas market.  It also occasionally caused existing beers to be pulled from the shelves or blocked from distribution when it was found their labels violated this ridiculous law.  Unfortunately, the Judge stopped short of overturning the ban on breweries from being able to sell directly from the public, a freedom the wine industry has enjoyed for many years. 

Although they didn't get everything they were trying for, its great to see any change that helps the beer industry and brings further attention to the issues.

Further information regarind the case and judgement is available at the Jester King Blog and Free Tail Brewing Blog.

12 Beers of Christmas at Back Yard Grill

The Backyard Grill on Jones Road in Northwest Houston is celebrating the holidays with a 12 Beers of Christmas beer and food pairing.  Starting today, they will be featuring a daily food and beer special starting with Ranger Creek's Mesquite Smoked Porter with a Chili Pie and ending with Independence Bootlegger Brown and Brown Sugar Sirloin on December 23rd.  The daily special is available starting when they open at 11:00am until its gone.

Cigar and Beer Pairing with Open The Taps

Open The Taps (a grassroots organization dedicated to changing Texas beer laws and regulations) is hosting a Cigar and Beer Pairing at Hubcap Grill on Friday, December 9th from 6pm ~ 9pm.

For the price of $35 you get a goodie bag and a pint glass with a pint of Moylan's Ryan Sullivan's Imperial Stout and a Hight Cigar Primitivo cigar. The Hubcap Grill will also be offering burger and slider specials during the event. Teresa Merchant, The Smoking Hot Cigar Chick, and Jenny from the Heights Cigar Lounge will also be on hand to talk about the cigars.  100% of the ticket sales will go to help the Open The Taps organization. Only 20 tickets are available and you can RSVP to leslie@openthetaps.org.