11 Below Lame Duck

Brand new can alert: this week, the first adorable-duck-adorned cans of 11 Below’s pale ale hit the market, so this one is good to get fresh asap. Bryce Baker, 11 Below co-founder, states that it’s “quickly become a favorite among staff and customers.” And although the can was designed by a Dallas firm (Caliber Creative), I have to agree with Bryce that “the artwork is pretty badass.” It’s hard to imagine a better beach can design, and the beer inside speaks for itself as well, as kegs move pretty fast all over town.

SpindleTap Houston Haze

I never expected to see Houstonians wait in line to take beer home from a brewery, but if it’s going to happen, it makes perfect sense it would be for SpindleTap Houston Haze, an insanely crushable NEIPA that blows away any other Houston attempts at the distinct and delicious style. “The excitement surrounding Haze has been fantastic and consistent,” founder Adam Wright says. And while this is likely the hardest acquire to get from this list, that will only get easier over time: “every batch we’ve brewed has doubled in size … Haze is the champ of the cans we sell out of the brewery.” The can features art apt for the oilfield-centric brewery: “the downtown skyline with a shadowed offset against a refinery outline,” with a “purple spectrum” that reflects the “haze” imagery. There may be nothing about an oil derrick or refinery that suggest cooling off, but in this case, as with so many buildings in Houston, the coolness is inside.

8th Wonder Weisstheimer

No summer is complete for me without cans of Live Oak Hefe, and now 8th Wonder brings some local competition: a “ridiculously drinkable and delicious Hefeweizen,” in the words of Ryan Soroka, 8th Wonder co-founder. At 5.4% abv, this summer seasonal is just strong enough to make you forget the heat for a little while and still light enough to allow enjoyment of a few cans in one go. The cans are pretty slick too, a play on a historic style Houstonians will recognize from the blue tiled street signs still present all over the city. 8th Wonder’s cans are all designed by local branding agency GoodProject, but for this project they also teamed up with the Blue Tile Project for additional art and signage.

Bakfish Defying Gravity

Bakfish planned to can their beers from before they even opened, acknowledging that cans are better for the environment, better for portability, and thanks to their ability to eliminate sunlight, better for the beer. Defying Gravity is just one of the canned offerings available now, not only beloved by fans on tap and in cans, but also co-founder Brian Allen’s personal favorite. The focus is a hoppy beer with some light caramel tones mixed in, “but dominated with tropical fruits like mango, papaya, and pineapple mixed with citrus fruits like mandarin oranges and tangerines.” If that doesn’t sound like summer refreshment to you, I don’t know what does. The cans feature art by Houston-based Brenden Polk Designs, and are available to-go directly from the brewery in Pearland as well as at nearby stores.

Southern Star Buried Hatchet

Southern Star has been canning beer in Houston since before most other breweries in this post even existed. “First to Can Craft in Texas” is a badge Southern Star happily displays on their cans, and they’ve earned that right. If you can imagine now, when the can explosion has taken over craft beer across the nation, there was once a time when Southern Star faced retailers that refused to carry their beer “because we did not have beer in bottles,” owner/founder Dave Fougeron recalls. Of course, you might not think of a rich, smooth stout as a “summer beer” but until very recently, no one thought of it as a canned beer either, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s always stout season in Texas. Buried Hatchet is a true classic, one of the state’s best beers, and the beer that Dave is happy to say he’s “most proud of,” and in his opinion is “one of the best stouts in the country.” I can’t say I’d argue against that. Interestingly the artwork on the can is the inspiration for the name, and not the other way around. Art director Michael Draper drew the now iconic buried hatchet, and from that image, the beer was named. Dave points out “an old pull ring buried in the dirt” as an homage to the beer can’s long history.

Brazos Valley Willin’

If you know me, you know I love Mosaic. It’s my favorite hop, or as I call it, the “cheat code.” So Brazos Valley Willin’, a new mosaic pale ale that also features comet hops, hits the spot, “crushable yet hop forward and perfect for the Texas heat,” according to Production Manager Avery Clayton. The can features a “strong, take no BS, Texas woman,” also prominently displayed in all Brazos Valley Brewing artwork, and designed by Evan Hill, a childhood friend of the brewery’s founders. Willin’ joins a family of Texas IPAs designed to cool you off better than air conditioning, and this particular can gives Houstonians a great reason to visit the brewery in Brenham – after all, I can’t think of anything else out there that could be so refreshing.

Saint Arnold Raspberry AF

Of course, no list would be complete without a beer from Houston’s oldest brewery, Saint Arnold, and no list of summer-friendly cans would be complete without something as refreshing as Raspberry AF. Raspberry AF, according to brewer Aaron Inkrott, was a “truly collaborative effort,” and unlike many fruited beers, actually uses “100% fruit” ensuring it’s “great to drink again and again.” Of course, Saint Arnold’s cans are fairly iconic, but the artwork designed by in-house marketing guru and freestyle rapper, Jeremy Johnson, truly conveys summer. The art is supposed to invoke “a peaceful, serene picnic scene abruptly interrupted by the AF,” according to Jeremy. Saint Arnold only recently started canning, but their cans have really taken off, with many releases being can-only. And it’s paid off: Raspberry AF, with its juicy, “pleasantly tart,” flavor that built off the excellent Boiler Room, is an incredible beer perfectly packaged for a picnic or anywhere else your summer takes you.

The post 7 Canned Beers to Drink This Summer first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post 7 Canned Beers to Drink This Summer appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

The original Don Jalapeno label. | Photo: No Label Brewing Co.

Sadly, the Stag’s Head is no longer, and soon the same will be said about Don Jalapeño. No Label has announced that this batch will be their last of the beer I so enjoyed, as they make room for new brews such as a “Mojito Lime,” “Citrus Ginger,” and new DIPA. Disheartened to see one of my favorite Houston beers disappear forever, I caught up with No Label co-founder Jennifer Royo, who assured me that the move was a good one. “We are making room for new, exciting seasonals … rest assured, Don Jalapeño will be replaced by some amazing new beers.”

No Label, the Katy stalwart, unfortunately is not “No Limit” and is constrained in production, so ultimately some brands have to be retired. Jennifer explained, “we are limited by our size, tap handles available to us at bars, and the shelf space available to us in retail, so we need to keep our lineups new, fresh, and exciting.” This means more room for new beers, as well as new entrants in some of the brewery’s experimental series, such as the Hop Solo line of beers.

Still, one can’t help but lament the loss. The beer was one of the first seasonals No Label produced, with Jennifer’s uncle providing the peppers from his own garden. While it’s true that pepper beers can be divisive, as many can’t handle the heat, I always felt that Don Jalapeño served as a nice Houston symbol: down here, food is hot and flavorful. And as for the various other spicy beers that No Label has made? Well, it seems like that era of heat might be ending: Don Gusano, the one-off Mezcal Barrel-Aged Don Jalapeño produced for the Wild West Brew Fest in 2015, remains only a one-off, with no plans to ever return. One iota of hope remains, as Jennifer explains, “What the Hatch may come back, as we know Hatch season is big!”

Here’s hoping that’s true, and more to the point, here’s hoping even one day Don Jalapeño returns from the dead. In the mean time, I’ll miss that heat, and look back only on fond memories of the fiery beverage that once somehow cooled me off on such a hot day.

The post Adiós, Don Jalapeño first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Adiós, Don Jalapeño appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

When I wrote the piece on Karbach selling out to Anheuser-Busch, it was with no great pleasure, nor any great joy. In fact, I was devastated. As I tweeted the day after the post ran, “They had the resources to truly spur Houston beer innovation,” and that was what truly saddened me. “They took the easy way out in every decision. And that culminated in yesterday’s news.”

Of course, for me, the most devastating part of the sellout was not that Karbach had chosen the easy way out by “partnering” with another, larger investor, but how Karbach had executed the move: with Anheuser-Busch InBev, a stalwart enemy of craft beer. ABI has used their profits for numerous (questionable) tactics intended to crush craft beer, from purchasing distributors to erode the three-tier protections to disincentivizing craft support from distributors they haven’t bought (or can’t, due to the integrity of states where that’s still illegal) to sponsoring and lobbying for legislation that hurts craft beer. We’ve seen the impact of ABI’s influence in the Texas State Legislature all the way back to 2011, and we continue to see it today.

So when I saw that Karbach founder Ken Goodman wrote an opinion piece which the Houston Chronicle saw fit to print, I had no choice but to read it, knit my eyebrows, turn my head slightly askew, and finally chuckle confusedly. Ken Goodman, the wolf who built a business with the prime goal of selling it to the highest bidder, suddenly plays the role of the sheep in a flock of craft brewers, suggesting that a bill currently working its way through the Texas legislature, HB3287, would hurt craft beer growth.

Well, Ken, I have to say, I don’t think wool is the right fabric for you.

Reading the bill, I can’t help but notice that not too much is actually changing: whereas previously a single brewery couldn’t sell conduct on-premise sales if they produced 225,000 barrels (a staggeringly large amount – Saint Arnold finds their production at around 50-60k per year), now that will extend to breweries whose overall company produces such a high amount of beer. In other words, if this bill passes, Karbach, now owned by megalithic ABI, will no longer be able to legally operate a tap room where they sell beer. Of course, with ABI’s deep pockets, they can always give it away, if they so choose, as so many Texas craft breweries were forced to do before 2013.

Sure, there may be some craft casualties: Oskar Blues, whose 2015 production was 192,000 barrels, will likely be excluded given the increase in production at their Austin facility. Similarly, Deep Ellum’s ownership group would be significantly discouraged from purchasing any other breweries, as they too might find themselves crossing that 225k barrier. And the increasingly-poorly named Independence Brewery in Austin, partially owned by Lagunitas/Heineken may also be impacted. But to say that such a bill “will crush craft beer,” as Ken puts it, is not only silly, it’s disingenuous: the result of this bill passing would likely do the opposite, providing a competitive advantage for smaller breweries that isn’t afforded to massive, established players.

While ABI might find themselves with buyer’s remorse should HB3287 pass the Texas Legislature, and while that might (I have no insight into the conditions of the purchase) inconvenience or even devalue Ken Goodman’s position, I cannot imagine a scenario in which this bill will hurt small Texas breweries.

We all hope we’ll one day be rich, there’s no doubt about that. But the truly evil thing we can do once we get there is hurt others from achieving the same dream. As far as I can tell, this is a bill that will protect small breweries, the heart of craft beer, from the unbalanced power of established players. Might it discourage breweries from selling out or “attract investment partners, as we did with Anheuser-Busch,” as Ken so elegantly states? I can only hope so.

One final note: In a time of deep media distrust, I think the Houston Chronicle should be ashamed to run a piece that is so clearly imbalanced, without any rebuttal or accompanying disclaimer. Karbach is by no means a yardstick to measure how Houston, a proud, honorable city, should encourage its businesses.

The post Editorial: Ken Goodman doesn’t look good in wool (HB3287) first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Editorial: Ken Goodman doesn’t look good in wool (HB3287) appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Update 3:00pm: Karbach has yet to respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, we were able to reach Scott Metzger, Freetail owner, who was able to clarify the ramifications for Karbach as far as the Texas Craft Brewers Guild is concerned: “The Guild does not allow voting members who have any non-craft brewer ownership. They can be associate, non voting members.” Finally, due to conditions attached to the recent merger between ABI and SABMiller, the Department of Justice will have a chance to review this buyout, even though it is under usual thresholds. Whether they will exercise that right remains to be seen.

Update 9:00am: ABI has announced and confirmed that Karbach will join their High End division. As stated in the original story, this is a major disappointment for Houston beer.

Original Story: 

Rumors are swirling that a Texas brewery is on the verge of being acquired by global beer behemoth Anheuser-Busch InBev. Houston Beer Guide has been unable to confirm on-the-record the identity of the acquired brewery, but has received media confirmation that the announcement will be made today, around 9:45am. Similar rumors have surfaced in the past, but they appear to be louder, more consistent, and more concentrated than ever before, and the media source confirms fears we’ve had for a while: ABI’s next “High End” purchase will be in Texas. While we continue to chase this story, we’d like to briefly discuss why we think this is has the potential to be a huge moment.

The brewery would presumably join ABI’s High End division, which also includes prior acquisitions such as Goose Island, Elysian, Four Peaks, and Breckenridge. The five breweries ABI has acquired since January 2015 have produced, on average, about 60,000 barrels annually each. Recent acquisitions and public acquisition targets have fallen in the around 30-100k barrel range, so any local acquisition will likely follow suit. Similarly, it’s reasonable to rule out some of the more rural breweries that dot Texas’ countryside, as past acquisitions have shown that ABI prefers urban breweries with taprooms. These characteristics fit a small handful of Texas breweries, so the rumors, as one may expect, are fairly focused, though, again, not confirmable at this time by HBG.

In general, ABI’s acquisitions have followed a fairly constant market penetration goal, with expansion that has covered the Midwest, Northeast, Northwest, Southwest, and mid-Atlantic. ABI has shown a propensity to only target breweries in states where they do not already have a High End presence. An acquisition in Texas would make sense in this context, allowing further map coverage. In addition, Texas has a very strong network of ABI-centric distributors, such as Silver Eagle in Houston, Ben E. Keith in Dallas, and Brown in Austin. Since ABI already has a large macro brewery in Houston, established ties and relationships here would provide even greater leverage for their craft acquisition strategies.

Needless to say, such an acquisition would be heartbreaking to craft lovers. While many drinkers view such acquisitions with a “meh” attitude, the realities of the destruction caused by ABI’s purchases are real. There should be no doubt that ABI’s desire to own all beer production globally represents an anti-competitive and dangerous goal. There are countless examples (some examples linked below) of ABI using its influence to stagnate the growth of craft, including by buying distributors or leveraging their influence with distributors to hurt craft, by influencing legislation or, through their acquisitions and subsequent price-cutting or pay-for-play, by a “Trojan horse” strategy of acquiring more shelf space and a greater number of tap lines.

The best indicator of a free market is choice. When consolidation occurs, it benefits the consolidated – ABI would increase their already massive foothold in Texas, and the purchased brewery would see, as has already been the case for the other High End brands, their name everywhere. Soon, the brewery’s name would be known by casual drinkers not only in Texas, but also in stadiums and concert halls all over, wherever a “Craft Beer” sign can be placed over a set of tap handles all pouring from the same company. But when consolidation occurs, it hurts the consumer. When choice is decreased, the consumer has to “settle” rather than opt for his or her first choice. For some, this means nothing. For some, this means sacrificing a connection to a local brand that is no longer local.

It is worth stating that not all consolidation is the same, and ownership matters. When one starts a business, they do so to make money. However, in craft beer, we all like to think there’s something more noble in the intentions as well. After all, there’s more than one way to make money, and taking a payday from the most vicious anti-craft macrobrewery is only one option. As in the past, we have no choice but to wish the acquired brewery the best of luck in their future endeavors, but we won’t settle, and won’t drink another drop of their beers, regardless of how good they are. This is a sad story for Texas beer.

The post BREAKING: Anheuser-Busch InBev purchases Karbach first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post BREAKING: Anheuser-Busch InBev purchases Karbach appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

To be fair, Texas’ haul as a whole dropped, from fifteen to twelve. But the fact that Houston failed to take home even a single Bronze evokes a lot of questions, chief among them: is the city being left behind, as far as beer is concerned?

I intend to explore this question, and other tangential thoughts, in depth in future articles, but for now I have just two thoughts to touch upon. First, it’s possible that this conclusion is spot on. After all, Saint Arnold Weedwacker has been a big winner in the past, garnering two Bronze medals and one Gold. This year, the German-Style Wheat category actually had fewer entries than in 2015, so one would expect the back-to-back-to-back medalist to place again. (Interestingly, the Gold medal went to AlpenGlow from Ohio’s Fat Head’s Brewery, a brewery that took home five medals.) Second, and perhaps more importantly, these competitions aren’t perfect. Sure, the judges this year included Saint Arnold brewer Aaron Inkrott, but like any other subjective competition, there are whims and preferences that vary from person to person.

Ultimately, I don’t personally believe that medals at events like this matter all that much. But I do think there’s something to be said about the fact that a city that previously had shown an impressive trend of improving in the medal standings each year, by either quantity or position, has just fallen off, hard. I think the silence says quite a bit.

(Featured Image Photo © Brewers Association)

The post GABF 2016 Wrap-Up: What happened to Houston? first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post GABF 2016 Wrap-Up: What happened to Houston? appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Image: Copperhead Brewery

Copperhead Brewing Company

Late last year, I had the pleasure to visit Copperhead Brewing in Conroe, and was pleased to try five of their beers, two of which, Striker IPA & Copperhead White, are now being bottled. They join Medusa, a Belgian Dark Strong, as Copperhead’s initial distribution bottles. I’m particularly pleased that the White was chosen as one of the three, as I found it to be rather refreshing, and it will serve as a great beer for Houston’s somehow-still-present summer. Copperhead doesn’t intend to stop with these three: already, Copperhead Red was a brewery-only bottle release, and Kangaroo Killer (previously named Yellow Tail Pale) is coming soon. In addition, I’ve been told that a brewery-only bottle release for King of Terrors, a 15% imperial stout aged on coffee, cocoa nibs, and vanilla beans, is hopefully in the works. And of course, as before, Copperhead still remains one of the handful of Houston-area breweries where you can take crowlers home. I look forward to seeing more Copperhead in beer departments soon.

Braman Brewery (Running Walker)

The excitement in the beer community these days is cans, cans, cans, and Braman Brewery is jumping right into the mix with their first cans, packaged just last week, for all five of their Running Walker beers. Their IPA, Kolsch, Pilsner, Stout, and Texas Secession cans will join an increasing number of aluminum options. Braman went all out on design for these cans, enlisting the help of branding firm Hawkeye Communications. Right now the cans are being produced on a mobile canning line, with plans to eventually purchase a canning line for the brewery.

Image: Graeme Rabe

Galveston Island Brewing

It’s no secret that I love Galveston Island Brewing’s Citra Mellow. It’s a truly excellent beer, and in my opinion, easily slots into the top beers in Houston. So imagine my excitement at learning that it will join Tiki Wheat as Galveston’s first canned offerings. Both will be available in 12 ounce six-packs, at first brewery-only, but very soon to see distribution. There are also plans for the Balinese smoked imperial porter to join the cans soon. Canning is being done via Armadillo Mobile Canning, an Austin-based mobile canning solution. Cans were designed by GI’s owner, and, as shown, are quite attractive.

The post New Beer Cans and Bottles All Over Houston first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post New Beer Cans and Bottles All Over Houston appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

My love for you is well-documented. When you first arrived, you finally answered the question: “Why do I tick so many beers?” The answer: to find a beer like you. Since your creation, I’ve drank my weight in the stuff, possibly many times over. Yellow Rose, you have been my menu beer (a beer to drink while perusing the menu), my go-to beer whenever I’m at a place that has you on tap, and a serious vexation to me whenever I’m at a place that doesn’t. I have chosen where to eat based on your availability. I am obsessed.

But then I moved, Yellow Rose, away from the lovely home we call Texas, to a place far away and, sadly devoid of your incredible elixir: Brooklyn. And as a beer drinker, I found that Brooklyn is no desert, with myriads of amazing beer, including the occasional mosaic-hopped beverage to attempt to quench my thirst. But you have no substitute; you are a beer that stands alone. So I resorted to doing what any obsessed fan would do: import bottles.

When I’m in Houston, as I am this week, I drink you, Yellow Rose, as often as possible. And then I export bottles back with me to NY in my checked baggage. When I’m not in Houston, I have friends pick up and ship bottles to me. This has gone on for long enough that I feel it’s time that you and I had a chat.

You know I love you, Yellow Rose. You know we’ve had some great times together. I can picture the Valentine’s Day “Bae” snapchat I sent my friends with only a picture of a pint of you. I can still recall my glee when you won the first inaugural Houston Beer Bracket. You know I love you, Yellow Rose. But we need to talk.

See, while you’re amazing on tap, there’s a problem with your bottles: I never know your age. Am I drinking you only a few days out of the bright tank, or a few months after your delivery to a store that doesn’t move product fast enough? Other beers, they are forthcoming with their age, but you, you hide it, with no bottle dates to be seen! It’s disheartening, and it makes me feel like you don’t trust me, to tell me the truth of your age.

I know that Aaliyah taught us that “age ain’t nothing but a number,” but in this case, I feel like that doesn’t apply. In this case, age ain’t nothing but an indication of how fresh your mosaic goodness is. And that indication is important.

So, Yellow Rose, we might need to take a break. It pains me to say it, but I don’t think I can drink from the bottle any longer until you have a bottle date. What I’m trying to say is, perhaps we need to see other people/beers when I’m not in town.

Love,
Nathan

p.s. What’s that? You say that Lone Pint just got a new bottling line for 500ml bottles and that they’ll soon be bottle dating you going forward? Incredible news, Yellow Rose! Disregard all the stuff above, I would never reject you! Welcome, Yellow Rose, to the world of bottle dates!

The post I love you, Yellow Rose, but we need to talk [Lone Pint to bottle date Yellow Rose!] first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post I love you, Yellow Rose, but we need to talk [Lone Pint to bottle date Yellow Rose!] appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Using the same methodology as the Beer Ranking posts, the seeds below are based on the top 64 rated beers in Houston based on weighted rankings.

Voting for the Round of 8 ends Thursday night, March 31st. The Round of 4 will begin Friday, April 1st. We’ll update results on Facebook and Twitter as well.

[Direct link to the full-sized bracket here]

Update #1:

Well the first round is in the books and it appears the seeding wasn’t as absurd as some thought: chalk won almost every matchup, with just two exceptions. The contenders from B-52 and Texas Beer Refinery live on, winning as underdogs and heading to the Round of 32 below. Maybe we were right when we said, “You should be drinking Texas Beer Refinery.”

Update #2:

After the relatively predictable Round One, the Round of 32 went a lot differently, with several upsets. While Texas Beer Refinery continues their Cinderella story as a 13-seed (now facing a very tough Vanilla BBH 1-seed), the joy hasn’t been shared by everybody: Buffalo Bayou, Brash, B-52, and No Label were each eliminated in the bloodbath. One clear takeaway as we enter the Sweet Sixteen: the commonly “hyped” styles are clearly winning. Of the remaining sixteen beers, only two are styles other than IPA or Porter/Stout, and both of those, BB10 & FUN 013, are barrel-aged (as are five others at this stage). What will make it out of this round on Sunday to enter the Elite Eight of Houston Beers? There’s no certainties at this point, though I certainly hope my Yellow Rose is still alive!

Update #3:

As we enter the Elite Eight, the bracket tells two very different stories. On the right side, an unexciting previous round led to all the highest seeds progressing, and this round pits Black Crack against Yellow Rose, as well as a face-off between two Saint Arnold stouts. On the left side of the bracket, however, a completely different drama has unfolded with the Cinderella story TBR Catalyst knocking out one of my expected Final Four picks, and the fourth overall seed Vanilla BBH. It faces a heavy competitor in Bishop’s Barrel #10, but don’t be surprised if the magic continues. Meanwhile, another upset occurred in the previous round and the juicy newcomer Art Car IPA advances to face off against the number one overall seed and competition favorite, BBH. Vote below and come back on Thursday when we enter the Final Four.

Update #4:

With so much drama in the HBG, it’s kinda hard being a beer bracket referee. We’re down to our last four beers, and as the Final Four comes to Houston in the basketball sense, we’ve also got the Final Four here. Sadly, the Cinderella story from TBR didn’t make it past the last round, but nonetheless it lives on in my heart. On the left side of the bracket, number one overall seed Karbach BBH faces off against Saint Arnold BB10 in a battle of two bourbon-barrel-aged beers: a porter and a barleywine. The bourbon champion will move on to face a non-barrel-aged winner from the right side of the bracket, where my favorite, Lone Pint Yellow Rose (fingers crossed y’all), goes up against the annual autumn delight, Saint Arnold Pumpkinator. Who will make it to the championship? Vote below and come back on Saturday afternoon for the championship matchup!

Update #5:

This is it! From a field of sixty-four competitors, only one shall be victorious. Who will take home glory and who will take home defeat? (Except, not real defeat, because, either way both competitors are delicious.) We’re down to the final competition: Lone Pint Yellow Rose and Karbach Bourbon Barrel Hellfighter. Two of Houston’s most beloved beers and two of the country’s most exciting styles: bourbon-barrel-aged anything and mosaic-hopped anything. Vote below for your pick.

Update #6:

That’s it for our inaugural Houston Beer Guide Bracket. Obviously I’m thrilled with the result (read: WOO YELLOW ROSE FTW) and I hope you are too. What would you like to see us change next year? How can we make this bracket even better? Sound off in the comments below!

Championship Results:

Championship – Karbach vs. Lone Pint (903 Votes)
Bourbon Barrel Hellfighter — 42.4%
Yellow Rose — 57.6%

Final Four Results:

Game 1 – Karbach vs. Saint Arnold (592 Votes)
Bourbon Barrel Hellfighter – 56.3%
Bishop’s Barrel #10 – 43.7%

Game 2 – Saint Arnold vs. Lone Pint (637 Votes)
Pumpkinator – 23.7%
Yellow Rose – 76.3%

Elite 8 Results:

We had a little bit of a hiccup with this round. Someone decided to vote 2000+ times in an attempt to ruin it for everyone. We pulled the poll early, so there were fewer overall votes. We took the raw voting data and filtered it for 1 vote per IP address. Going forward the polls will self-regulate to one vote per IP address. We will also “check the tapes” before we publish the results.

Game 1 – Karbach vs. Saint Arnold (588 Votes)
Bourbon Barrel Hellfighter – 55.1%
Art Car – 44.9%

Game 2 – Texas Beer Refinery vs. Saint Arnold (619 Votes)
Catalyst – 41.4%
Bishop’s Barrel #10 – 58.6%

Game 3 – Saint Arnold vs. Saint Arnold (562 Votes)
Pumpkinator – 52.5%
Divine Reserve #15 – 47.5%

Game 4 – Southern Star vs. Lone Pint (610 Votes)
Black Crack – 31.3%
Yellow Rose – 68.7%

Round of 16 Results:

Round of 32 Results:

Round of 64 Results:

The post Houston Beer Guide Bracket 2016 first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Houston Beer Guide Bracket 2016 appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

A quick reminder of the methodology: To make this list, I started with all Houston-area beers with at least 100 Untappd check-ins. I then excluded any beers that have had less than 5% growth in activity since last quarter. The resulting 202 beers from 24 breweries were then weighted using a Bayesian estimate based on total check-ins and ratings. And finally: obviously all ratings should be taken lightly. Ratings are subject to the whims of rarity, perceived excitement, and even personal vendettas from groups of people. This is just a fun exercise but should not be considered a reflection of my opinion or the opinion of Houston Beer Guide.

Last time around, we only had 193 beers from 21 breweries. For the second quarter in a row, three more breweries have qualified for this list, indicative of the city’s steady brewery growth.

The Top Ten Beers in the Houston area, weighted:

Atop the chart, not much has changed from last quarter. Southern Star Black Crack rose two spots, largely due to the latest successful release. And sadly, my love of Yellow Rose can’t save it from another quarterly drop. Near the bottom, however, the real excitement occurs: the first sighting in the Top 10 of a Brash beer (likely a sign of more to come), as well as the first time that a No Label beer has made the chart. This year’s Perpetual Peace release has been incredibly highly reviewed and the Single Barrel variety helped as well. Clearly a good sign from the Katy brewery.

The Top Ten Breweries in the Houston area, weighted:

Again, the top of the chart remains unchanged. Much more exciting: Brash’s rise into the Top 5, as well as Texian’s return on the chart, something obviously bolstered by their recent focus on funky & sour beers. Texian’s return dethrones Brazos Valley, which has fallen completely off the chart, something likely affected by their lack of a new qualifying beer since last quarter.

What do you think? It’s March and that means one major thing for sports fans, and a similar thing for Houston beer fans. You’ve seen the rankings above, but now we want you to vote in our own March beer bracket with the top 64 Houston beers. Check it out here!

The post Top-Rated Beers & Breweries in Houston: March 2016 first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Top-Rated Beers & Breweries in Houston: March 2016 appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

If you ask any Houston beer nerd for the most exciting developments in recent months, you’ll likely hear an answer that includes mention of Brash Brewing and Flood Distribution. Brash, after its start as a contract brewery in Massachusetts, under the leadership of Petrol Station’s Ben Fullelove, relocated and opened its Houston facility, Brashland, only four months ago, and immediately began churning out incredible beers. Meanwhile, in just barely two years of operations, Flood Distribution has brought, to Houston and Austin, an incredible portfolio of beverages that include Oasis Texas, Jester King, Virtue Cidery, To Øl, and, recently announced, The Bruery.

And, as the same beer nerds above will tell you, it makes perfect sense for two local Houston beer-loving establishments such as these to be in a partnership, as was the case for the past four months. Thus, it comes as a shock that Brash has chosen to relocate their distribution to Ben E. Keith, the Fort Worth-based fourth-largest distributor in America, whose business is most associated with Anheuser-Busch InBev products.

Ben E. Keith has always had a craft focus, however, and recently has expanded their craft portfolio to include new distribution contracts for Whole Foods Brewing, Conroe’s B-52 Brewing, and Smuttynose. Through recent actions, it’s clear that Ben E. Keith sees craft as an important part of their business, and the Brash contract will certainly bolster that in Houston.

How this impacts Flood remains to be seen, though one could speculate that the hit from Brash will be somewhat mitigated by the upcoming Bruery launch, as well as the Cantillon approvals that are gradually occurring. Flood Distribution’s Kyle White, when asked about Brash’s decision, stated simply, “Brash made a decision to leave based on what they believed to be best for their business. As a fundamental principle, we don’t use state franchise laws to imprison brands who are not interested in working with us. We wish them well in the future.”

The statement’s mention of “state franchise laws” alludes to the curious niche in Texas alcoholic code that allows a distributor to essentially lock up a contract with a brewery forever, or until such time as both parties agree to part ways. Flood, acting as an independent and craft-focused distributor, chose not to exercise this right in business with Brash.

As to what may have triggered this change, Houston Beer Guide has only heard rumors and speculation and cannot reasonably comment. At this time, representatives from Ben E. Keith and Brash Brewing were unavailable for questioning. Should this develop further, we will of course update. In the meantime, we wish nothing but success for both Houston businesses, regardless of the circumstances.

Update (2/16/16):  This morning, we received the following statement from Ben Fullelove from Brash Brewing: “The only thing we really have to say is, we love making beer and we will continue to make Houston proud by making the most kickass liquid we can possibly make.”

The post Brash Brewing to Leave Flood Distribution for Ben E. Keith first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Brash Brewing to Leave Flood Distribution for Ben E. Keith appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.