Record Number of Texas Breweries Attending 2012 GABF

There will be a record 578 breweries serving 2,700 beers (the biggest selection ever) in the festival hall at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival (GABF). There are 676 breweries entered into the competition with 154 first-time entrants.  84 categories of beer will be judged, covering 135 beer styles, as well as the GABF Pro-Am.

Texas has its largest showing ever with 30 breweries listed, up from the previous year of 22.

(512) Brewing Company - Austin
Adelbert's Brewery - Austin
Austin Beerworks - Austin
Black Star Co-op Pub and Brewery - Austin
Circle Brewing Company - Austin
Cornel's Brewing Company - Beaumont
Deep Ellum Brewing Company - Dallas
Flix Brewhouse - Round Rock
Fredericksburg Brewing Company, Inc. - Fredericksburg
Freetail Brewing Co. - San Antonio
Hops & Grain Brewing - Austin
Humperdinks Restaurant and Brewery - Dallas 
Independence Brewing Co. - Austin
Jester King Craft Brewery - Austin
Karbach Brewing Co. - Houston
Live Oak Brewing Co. - Austin
No Label Brewing Co - Katy
North by Northwest - Austin
Pedernales Brewing Company - Fredericksburg 
Peticolas Brewing Company - Dallas
Rahr & Sons Brewing - Fort Worth
Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling - San Antonio
Real Ale Brewing Company - Blanco
Rogness Brewing Company - Pflugerville
Saint Arnold Brewing Company - Houston
Southern Star Brewing Company - Conroe
Spoetzl Brewery - Shiner
Thirsty Planet Brewing - Austin
Uncle Billy`s Brew & Que - Austin
Uncle Billy`s Brew & Que - Austin (Lake Travis)

Four breweries from Texas took home medals last year, including a Silver to a brewery on its first appearance at the festival:

Gold (American-Style Amber Lager): Uberbrau - Humperdink's Restaurant and Brewery
Silver (English-Style Summer Ale): Peacemaker - Austin Beerworks
Silver (Kellerbier or Zwickelbier): Bottle Rocket Lager - Uncle Billy's Brew & Que on Lake Travis
Bronze (Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale): Barton Kriek - North by Northwest

The map of the 2012 GABF convention floor is available on the website. The brewery tasting booths are arranged by region of the country and the attending breweries from Texas are in the Southwest section. If you have any specific breweries and beers that are a "must try", I strongly suggest you download the .pdf file and print the the map and mark the location of those booths. It can be overwhelming and chaotic in the convention center (particularly if this is your first time) and you will definitely miss out on some great beers if you just wander up and down the rows (save that for after you've got to the ones you wanted).  Have a smartphone? Make sure you download the free GABF app for iPhone and Android.

Growler on Board

Here's something handy for people that drive around with growlers in their car. The Growler on Board Beer Transportation Unit not only keeps your growler from rolling around in your trunk or the floor, the low density foam that its made of also helps insulate it. According to the website, it can hold standard 1/2 gallon growlers as well as the 2L swing top style with handles and the holes in the bottom of each cavity can be used to hold the growler upside down for drying. The price is $29.95 and available online or at a few retailers.

Don't forget to grab one of the handy warning stickers as well to inform other drivers of your precious cargo.

BeerFeast 2012 at Flying Saucer Sugar Land

The Flying Saucer's Sugar Land location is hosting their inaugural fall beer festival, BeerFeast 2012, on Saturday, October 27th from 1:00pm to 7:00pm.  BeerFeast 2012 will feature more then 40 breweries and 60 different craft beers including rare and limited releases tapped on the hour.

Tickets, which include tasting glass and tasting card good for 12 samples, will be available at a discounted price of $25 beginning on Sept 13th and increase to the full price of $30 on the 27th.  A very limited number of VIP tickets will also be available for $65 which includes tasting glass, tasting card, early admission to the festival at noon, food vouchers for attending food trucks, a BeerFeast t-shirt and a brew caddy lanyard to hold the tasting glass.  VIP ticket holders will also have a separate line for the hourly rare beer tappings and access to them 10 minutes early.  Additional tasting cards will be available for purchase by both regular and VIP ticket holders for $6.

More information and link to purchase tickets will be available soon on the BeerFeast2012 website.

No Label Brewing 1st & 2nd Anniversary Party

Tickets are now on sale for No Label Brewing's 1st & 2nd anniversary party being held on Sept 22nd from 6:00pm ~ 10:00pm. Tickets are $25 each and include a glass, beer, food and live music as well as a chance to win special prizes.

2012 BrewMasters Craft Beer Festival

The 3rd annual BrewMasters Craft Beer Festival in Galveston takes the place this Labor Day Weekend.  Over 400 craft beers will be available, including one of a kind and hard to get brews in the Taste It First section. In addition to sampling beer at the BrewHaHa Grand Tasting, there are other events such as beer and food pairing, beer and cigar pairing, pub crawl and live music throughout the weekend. See the website for tickets as there is a variety of packages and options (in fact, its almost a little confusing).