What ya drinkin? Share your thoughts on Beer, Wine, and Spirits!

[throet]

Long day of yard work earned a 16oz can of cold SWIL! 

[WatersPark]

These local IPAs are a nice post wheelie practice refreshment.  I hadn't seen these in the store before, nice to see Whitestone out there.  Of course Real ale has been awesome for years.

[jcarneytx]

11 hours ago, WatersPark said:

These local IPAs are a nice post wheelie practice refreshment.  I hadn't seen these in the store before, nice to see Whitestone out there.  Of course Real ale has been awesome for years.

Whitestone in can new? I've never seen their beer in retail. And the ONE time I went to go visit the brewery, it was their "closed" day...

[WatersPark]

1 hour ago, jcarneytx said:

Whitestone in can new? I've never seen their beer in retail. And the ONE time I went to go visit the brewery, it was their "closed" day...

Yep, got it Last week at the Specs at Arbor Walk (N Mopac). They also had the Konverter Kolsch. Plus a crew sanitizing the fridge area.  Although these brews were not in the fridge (on the end cap). Cheers!

[Chief]

3 hours ago, WatersPark said:

Yep, got it Last week at the Specs at Arbor Walk (N Mopac). They also had the Konverter Kolsch. Plus a crew sanitizing the fridge area.  Although these brews were not in the fridge (on the end cap). Cheers!

Been drinking a fare share of Whitestone Moondog stout. They had Bananas Foster also but it's completely sold out. Also been pounding back a fare amount of Redhorn also. My wife and I frequented both breweries so we're doing our part to support them. I hope these two along with others can keep the doors open, it would be sad to see them go away.

[ATXZJ]

9 minutes ago, Chief said:

 My wife and I frequented both breweries so we're doing our part to support them. I hope these two along with others can keep the doors open, it would be sad to see them go away.

That's a good thing for sure because the news isn't too good, but was bound to happen at some point with such a leveraged industry. 

https://www.americancraftbeer.com/texas-craft-brewers-guild-finds-71-decline-in-brewery-sales-due-to-covid-19/

 

At this point, ive been supporting whatever i can get curbside at spec's

 

 

[AntonioGG]

Realistically, with no COVID, how many of those breweries would have been around a year from now?

[ATXZJ]

2 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

Realistically, with no COVID, how many of those breweries would have been around a year from now?

This^

My local-ish brewery went up for sale in February and from what i understand has closed its doors as now late. They had a lot of potential, but poor planning and execution so no surprise there. The market was just too saturated and everyone thought they'd be the next Karbach and was taking that seed money hoping it'd pay off.

 

[GFisher]

6 minutes ago, ATXZJ said:

This^

My local-ish brewery went up for sale in February and from what i understand has closed its doors as now late. They had a lot of potential, but poor planning and execution so no surprise there. The market was just too saturated and everyone thought they'd be the next Karbach and was taking that seed money hoping it'd pay off.

 

Which one are you referring to? And in case anyone isn't aware Karbach = Anheuser Busch

[ATXZJ]

39 minutes ago, GFisher said:

Which one are you referring to? And in case anyone isn't aware Karbach = Anheuser Busch

Two wheel brewing in Buda. 

[AustinBike]

If you like IPAs, try the Santa Fe 7K IPA, it's really good.

We got some Lagunitas about 2 weeks ago, always liked that beer. But this is the first 12-pack since Heineken took over. Not impressed. One of the wife's favorites and now she is forcing me to finish the 12-pack. That sounds like a good thing, but she claimed the Voodoo Ranger as all hers, so I got the short end on this one.

[GFisher]

13 minutes ago, ATXZJ said:

Two wheel brewing in Buda. 

Ahh yes. I stopped by there a couple times. Decent place. I did also see it was for sale. Hope they can make it after all. .

Edited April 13, 2020 by GFisher

[ATXZJ]

39 minutes ago, GFisher said:

Ahh yes. I stopped by there a couple times. Decent place. I did also see it was for sale. Hope they can make it after all. .

Same. We lived in downtown Buda and was stoked to see them breaking ground (and also deep eddy coming) but they opened with only 4 taps and once weekly. Also was a bit baffled that their tasting room was in the back (?) They started to add some good beers and got a steady foodtruck but it guess it didn't pan out. Really liked their racepoint IPA and hope they make it but........

The ones that will make it are aggressive, offering things like curbside, home delivery, hand sanitizer and namesake beers. Being able to order online, pay through google or PP, pull up and have my sh*t loaded in the trunk or bed goes a long way.

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by ATXZJ

[GFisher]

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/north-by-northwest-brewpub-closed-permanently-coronavirus/269-9052951d-6f0e-4ca3-b5b9-29cfe1cc86e2

Big loss. They had some good brews, and some good food. Zombie Dragon and Blackjack were two of my favorites. I got slappy at many an Oktoberfest too. The owner is a roadie and has done a lot for cycling in the community. I suspect there will be a lot of other places on my rotation that do not make it to the other side. 😞

 

[TAF]

53 minutes ago, GFisher said:

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/north-by-northwest-brewpub-closed-permanently-coronavirus/269-9052951d-6f0e-4ca3-b5b9-29cfe1cc86e2

Big loss. They had some good brews, and some good food. Zombie Dragon and Blackjack were two of my favorites. I got slappy at many an Oktoberfest too. The owner is a roadie and has done a lot for cycling in the community. I suspect there will be a lot of other places on my rotation that do not make it to the other side. 😞

It's a sad fact that many talented brewers haven't got a clue how to market, sell and generally run a business.

[ATXZJ]

1 hour ago, GFisher said:

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/north-by-northwest-brewpub-closed-permanently-coronavirus/269-9052951d-6f0e-4ca3-b5b9-29cfe1cc86e2

Big loss. They had some good brews, and some good food. Zombie Dragon and Blackjack were two of my favorites. I got slappy at many an Oktoberfest too. The owner is a roadie and has done a lot for cycling in the community. I suspect there will be a lot of other places on my rotation that do not make it to the other side. 😞

 

used to hit the south location until it closed. in the end, a lot of these places had to go as the market was just super saturated and couldn't sustain for long. 

[AntonioGG]

They were just going to start delivery this past Thursday!  We frequented this place very often.

[ATXZJ]

Spec's curbside to the rescue!

 

[Barry]

Nice! That Balcones Rye is a pretty good and a quite unique whiskey. For me it's a bit of a dessert whiskey, since, while not terribly sweet, that chocolate note is huge. It starts of spicy and grassy like a lot of rye, but then it hits you like a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles. Although it isn't totally unique...Corsair Ryemageddon is really similar in flavor and composition (lots of chocolate rye malt). 

 

Interestingly Balconies Rye is maybe the only whiskey ever that I didn't find value in the cask strength version over the standard version. Most whiskey is helped dramatically with the extra ABV by revealing an extra level of complexity. It often elevates middling whiskies to being world class, with Elijah Craig being the prime example.  But for this one, the added ABV didn't add anything except a little heat and $40 of price. 

[AustinBike]

Finally got around to drinking the stout a friend brought me from Wisconsin at xmas, it was good, paired well with our Chicken Katsu Curry (Wagamama recipe...)

 

[bestbike85]

Only thing I’ll buy from Karbach these days. 
 

 

[ATXZJ]

On 4/17/2020 at 2:00 PM, Barry said:

Nice! That Balcones Rye is a pretty good and a quite unique whiskey. For me it's a bit of a dessert whiskey, since, while not terribly sweet, that chocolate note is huge. It starts of spicy and grassy like a lot of rye, but then it hits you like a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles. Although it isn't totally unique...Corsair Ryemageddon is really similar in flavor and composition (lots of chocolate rye malt). 

 

Interestingly Balconies Rye is maybe the only whiskey ever that I didn't find value in the cask strength version over the standard version. Most whiskey is helped dramatically with the extra ABV by revealing an extra level of complexity. It often elevates middling whiskies to being world class, with Elijah Craig being the prime example.  But for this one, the added ABV didn't add anything except a little heat and $40 of price. 

I was a big fan of their "brimstone" and figured it was worth a try, especially for $35. I was also surprised with the finish of this rye as well compared to the others we've bought. Definitely agree on the chocolate on the back end of the profile. 

We got started on the rye kick back when we lived in salt lake and had high west at our figertips. Were pretty loyal until they got bought up by constellation. 

[AntonioGG]

On 4/17/2020 at 2:00 PM, Barry said:

Nice! That Balcones Rye is a pretty good and a quite unique whiskey. For me it's a bit of a dessert whiskey, since, while not terribly sweet, that chocolate note is huge. It starts of spicy and grassy like a lot of rye, but then it hits you like a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles. Although it isn't totally unique...Corsair Ryemageddon is really similar in flavor and composition (lots of chocolate rye malt). 

 

Interestingly Balconies Rye is maybe the only whiskey ever that I didn't find value in the cask strength version over the standard version. Most whiskey is helped dramatically with the extra ABV by revealing an extra level of complexity. It often elevates middling whiskies to being world class, with Elijah Craig being the prime example.  But for this one, the added ABV didn't add anything except a little heat and $40 of price. 

Thanks to you recommending the barrel proof Jack Daniels I got to experience this.  The best I can describe it is like maple syrup with butter at some point then the flavors and notes changing.  It was a bit stronger than I expected but I definitely sipped it very slowly and enjoyed it.

[Barry]

19 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

Thanks to you recommending the barrel proof Jack Daniels I got to experience this.  The best I can describe it is like maple syrup with butter at some point then the flavors and notes changing.  It was a bit stronger than I expected but I definitely sipped it very slowly and enjoyed it.

I'm glad you enjoy it! Not surprised though, as it is really spectacular. And the fact that it's a Single Barrel means that each one you get will be slightly different. The neck has the barrel # on it, but it's easier to remember the ABV of a particular bottle. If the next one is a little higher or lower, you know it's from a different barrel even if it's at the same store. I find the slightly lower ABV bottles to be fruitier, with a lot of cherry and some banana. And the higher ABV ones tend to have a lot of wood spice. The ones with a lot of wood spice taste amazingly like a good bottle of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof or Stagg Jr., both of which a ridiculously hard to find and run $70 to $100 when you do find them.

 

We're going on 4 years in, and I'm still in total amazement that this is a product that JD put out. It's akin to Budweiser releasing an amazing barrel aged stout--but not exactly. Because JD is a very competent distillery, so just doing their daily work means that they have some amazing barrels of whiskey sitting in their warehouse. The amazing part here is that they put this product to the market, making it regularly available, at such a good price point, considering their standard Old #7 is less than mediocre and overpriced, and after pushing out $150 or more special releases of mediocre whiskey, like Sinatra and such. 

[Barry]

22 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

We got started on the rye kick back when we lived in salt lake and had high west at our figertips. Were pretty loyal until they got bought up by constellation.

Honestly, good for HighWest for "selling out." Their whole line of whiskey is quite good, and so far as I can tell, the sell out hasn't damaged their integrity. They're still the company who tells you more about their sourced whiskey than any other out there. They are basically the Compass Box of American whisky, except they just used blends to jumpstart their distillery business. They're holding on to their core range, and gradually transferring the sourced whiskies over with their whiskeys. There is a right way and a wrong way, and dammit, they're 100% doing it the right way and have been since the beginning. And anything that keeps me drinking a very occasional bottle of A Midwinter Night's Dram is okay with me.