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.

Pumpkin has a distinct place in American beer history. I’ll bore you with a very brief history lesson. Pumpkin was often used in colonial times in lieu of malt, which could be scarce, as shipments from Europe were expensive and more difficult to come by. Pumpkin contains fermentable sugars, which are obviously necessary to brew, so it was used for its alcohol making abilities, not its taste. Today, most pumpkin beers are more akin to liquid pumpkin pie than to those early gourd-based beverages.

While most pumpkin beers today contain a well-pronounced spice profile that tends to dominate the nose and palate, there is a wide-range of varying base styles available. Here in Houston, we are lucky to have an assortment of these options accessible to us, and not just from breweries outside our borders. The following are four bottled selections you are likely to find on the shelves around town, made by local breweries, and each unique and tasty in its own way. (This is not a ranking. Order is in no way an endorsement of one option over another. Try them all!)

Karbach Krunkin Pumpkin

Available in four-pack, 12 oz. cans

7.9-8.5% ABV (depending on vintage)

Karbach Brewing’s Krunkin Pumpkin has been an annual fall release since 2012. Though there has been some variation from year to year, the recipe has been honed-in and is quite delicious. Coming in under 9% ABV makes this one of the more “casually drinkable” options of the four I will cover in this article. Of course I am being a bit facetious. But I do find this to be a great late-afternoon porch option, rather than a dessert beer, which most pumpkin beers tend to be.

A delectable balance of sweet malt, pumpkin, spices, and hops, all dancing in aromatic unison. This year’s rendition was the freshest I’ve had, being lucky enough to find cans only a few days old. This allowed me to enjoy the play of the well-pronounced hops as they worked in harmony with the other wonderful aromas, rather than being masked by the spices. Taking a sip you first notice the caramel sweetness of the malt, followed by hints of pumpkin, a solid amount of clove and allspice, and finish with a sweet almond extract-like flavor new to me in this beer, which added greatly to the already complex yet balanced flavor profile. And while this beer has all the key elements you expect in a pumpkin pie flavored beverage, it never takes you so far away that you forget it is beer. The hops and malt provide the foundation of this delightfully spiced amber.

No Label Nightmare On 1^st Street

Available in 22 oz. Bombers

9.3% ABV

A true hit and part of the Off Label specialty series, No Label’s Nightmare On 1^st Street was one of the best beers (period) to come from the Houston area last year. Well-received and highly sought after, this one did not sit on shelves for very long last year. (You should have no trouble finding it this year, as it is plentiful.)

Incredibly complex, yet superbly balanced, this beer presents you with many great flavors. A malty, sweet background with pumpkin and the standard spices present; allspice, clove, nutmeg. And though I did not pick up as much cinnamon and ginger as others have, they are both assuredly present. But to me, no particular spice stands out much above any other; they have found a possibly perfect, harmonious combination.

Another element that makes this beer great is that it creates a nostalgic and tangible homage to Halloween. The aroma is like a candle, but without the artificial presence that other, lesser pumpkin beers sometimes impart. Along with the spices and pumpkin, I taste sugary sweet caramel corn and candy. Whimsical memories of fall carnivals and trick-or-treating walk along with me as I enjoy this great concoction.

I was lucky enough to find a couple of extra bottles last year to age. Recently I opened one to see how a year had treated it. All the key flavors were there, and still in balance. However, some overall fading had occurred, and I can’t say it was improved by aging. A little shouldn’t hurt, too much, but I suggest drinking it now to fully appreciate the spices. Like most brews, Nightmare is intended to be enjoyed fresh.

Buffalo Bayou Pumpkin Spice Latte

Available in 22 oz. Bombers

9% ABV

Like Nightmare On 1^st Street, this is the second year for this fall selection. And while Nightmare is my Halloween beer, Buffalo Bayou’s Pumpkin Spice Latte is now my Thanksgiving (and probably Christmas) beer. Taking one of my favorite holiday beers, Gingerbread Stout, Buffalo Bayou mashes in pumpkin and then ages it on coffee beans.

The aroma and taste are in unison: pumpkin, spice, sweet cream, toasted notes, and a touch of coffee. These flavors all work together delightfully to give you the closest experience to actually eating a piece of pumpkin pie topped with Cool Whip, while drinking a cup of coffee, after a big Thanksgiving meal. I adore this beer for being able to put me in that moment, and for its great execution of flavors working wonderfully together. Buffalo Bayou has a knack for creating complex experiences with many of their beers. This is another great example.

Saint Arnold Pumpkinator

Available in 22 oz. Bombers

10% ABV

Certainly the most sought-after and highly coveted of the Houston pumpkin beers, Saint Arnold Pumpkinator is an imperial pumpkin stout that has built a large following, creating an almost mad fervor that drives people into stores every October, sometimes to buy cases at a time. (Important note: Pumpkinator will be released Monday, October 19^th. It does not stay on shelves for very long, so grab a bottle or six while you can.)

Released originally as number 9 in Saint Arnold’s Divine Reserve series, this beer has captivated beer drinkers of all types since 2009. Both pumpkin beer haters and lovers have found common ground with this one, as it tends to have a relatively small pumpkin presence (compared to others), and is dominated mostly by spices over a fantastic imperial stout base. Loads of cinnamon and other pumpkin pie spices almost overwhelm both your nose and tongue. Graham cracker sits underneath, giving this one a cinnamon cereal quality. Pumpkin, toasted notes, molasses, and dark fruit flavors come out as it warms. A complex and wonderful beverage, perfect for cooler weather and holiday gatherings.

For those that wish to seek out more pumpkin flavor, a more prominent stout presence, or maybe just a little less spice, aging this one can do all of these things. But the prominent flavors are strong and will remain mostly intact for years, allowing this one to be enjoyed for many years to come.

Love them or hate them, pumpkin beers are here to stay. Go out and find one you like. Cheers!

The post 2015 Pumpkin Beer Roundup first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post 2015 Pumpkin Beer Roundup appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Untapped Houston is this Saturday at Discovery Green, and you’re obviously going. You’re not? Oh. Well, you really should. It’s Houston’s best annual craft beer festival by far, and also doubles as a pretty cool music fest too. Plus, the weather is supposed to be awesome. So, yeah. You should buy tickets. Go. I’ll wait.

OK, now we can talk about the beer. It’s a huge list, both awesome and overwhelming at once. It’s one of those classic #beernerdproblems — you want to drink all the beers (and tick all the ticks) but you don’t even know where to start. That’s where this post comes in. I’ve been to a beer fest or four, and since I’m a nerd about these things, I never go in without a gameplan (and/or a spreadsheet). After a few hours of staring at the list, I’ve got a pretty good idea of what I want to drink. Maybe more importantly, I also know what I’m going to drink first.

–Jester King

A pretty obvious first stop, and a repeat from last year’s first stop and first beer: 分 桃, aka Fen Tao, their peach sour. In addition to having an awesome label/name/story, it’s delicious. I’m pretty confident that this will be the first keg to blow on Saturday, so it’s a no-brainer. Don’t ignore La Vie en Rose while you’re here: this farmhouse ale refermented with “leftover” Atrial Rubicite raspberries is nowhere near as famous as AR (it also looks and tastes almost nothing like it), but it’s a great beer on its own.

–Freetail

I remain bitter about the biggest tease in recent Texas craft beer history (RIP, Freetail Houston), but Freetail still rocks. I’m most excited about trying their Peach Berlinercus, a blend of Yo Soy Un Berliner (their summer seasonal Berliner Weisse) and Peche’cus (their rye wit aged in wine barrels with peaches). They’re also bringing Rye Wit (what it says on the tin) and Oktobefiesta (an Oktoberfest with a twist in the form of Belgian yeast).

–Karbach

These guys seem to be flexing their creative muscles a bit more lately, with the most exciting project (to me, anyway) being the recently announced Fieldworks series. Three of the six Karbach beers available at Untapped will be “new to me”: Bourbon Barrel Hellfighter with Vanilla, Belgian Tripel, and Belgian Pale Ale. If you haven’t tried it yet, the Fieldworks Brett IPA is definitely worth a shot, too.

–Firestone Walker

Few U.S. breweries can match these guys when it comes to the diversity of their exceptional portfolio — they make kickass “regular” beers (two of which, Pivo Pils and Union Jack IPA, will be at the fest), and they’re at the head of the class when it comes to barrel-aged monsters. They’re only bringing one of the latter to Untapped, but it’s a doozy: Helldorado, a blonde barleywine that they just released for the very first time. I missed out on a bottle, but there’s no way I’m missing it on Saturday.

–Live Oak

A huge key to surviving a long day at a beer festival is making sure many of your pours are low in alcohol. There’s no better place to do this than at the Live Oak stand. Their Hefeweizen (5.2%) is world class and on the short list of “best beers in Texas” regardless of style. They’re also bringing two rarer beers that I’m excited to try for the first time: the 3.0% abv Grodziskie (a top-fermented, smoked, hoppy, all-wheat Polish style that was nearly extinct), and the 4.4% Helles Rauchlager (a pale, smoky and bitter lager brewed using a decoction mash).

You’ll note that I’ve only suggested 15 of the 250 or 300 beers that will be available on Saturday. That’s no knock on many of the breweries/beers that went unmentioned. There’s going to be a TON of good stuff out there. Just to name a couple more:

-Saint Arnold is bringing their delicious new Art Car IPA and their eminently crushable (and also delicious) Boiler Room Berliner Weisse. They’re also serving some Divine Reserve and Bishop’s Barrel big guns at scheduled times. Expect lines for those.

-8th Wonder and Buffalo Bayou are each bringing staples (Rocket Fuel and Hopston; 1836 and More Cowbell), rarities (Mission Control and AstroTurf; Peppermint Gingerbread Stout and Whiskey’d Smoke on the Bayou), and Cream Ales (Dome Faux’m and Sam’s Daily).

-Brash has released four Houston-brewed beers (all of which are really good), and three will be at Untapped: Cortado Imperial Coffee Stout, Cali Green IPA, and Pussy Wagon Imperial IPA.

Hell, that’s just some of the Houston stuff. There’s so much more. KBS! Red Bud! Commissar! BA Narwhal! BA Bigfoot! The Calling! Saison-Brett! Yellow Rose! Sorachi Ace! Abyss! Burton Baton! 120! Zoe! La Folie! Cali Belgique! Golden Monkey! Outer Darkness!

You get the point. If you made it this far and you’re still not going, you confuse me. But I’m not giving up on you. Go get those tickets. See y’all on Saturday.

The post My first 5 stops at Untapped Houston first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post My first 5 stops at Untapped Houston appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

On the side label, Buffalo Bayou explains that the name Rotundone comes from the flavor compound that is most often described as “peppery” (referring to black pepper, not the spicy vegetables). This flavor is found in, well, peppercorn, some grape skins, and it is often a flavor produced by Belgian yeast strains during fermentation. While Rotundone likely would have had this peppery flavor from the yeast alone, Buffalo Bayou added green and pink peppercorns to highlight this flavor.

They go on to say that 1 in 5 people are not sensitive to the Rotundone flavor, so your experience with this beer may be entirely different than mine.

While pouring it, a peppery spice aroma wafts up to your nose. I was afraid a beer named after the flavor of pepper, with pepper added, would be a pepper bomb, but that is not the case. The aroma is subtle, but distinct.

It is very hazy, typical of Saisons, which are a little less refined than their British or German counterparts. When pouring the beer, it grows a thick head of foam, but that quickly retreats to a whispy band around the edges of the glass. Eventually, there is only a raft of fine bubbles floating in the center of the glass.

In the first few sips, the pepper was a dominant flavor, with a little bit of sweetness on the finish. As it began to warm, that sweetness transformed into baked apples. A slight hint of lemon began to show through toward the end of the glass. While waiting for it to warm, I took long pauses between sips. During those pauses, an earthy, woody flavor stuck around in my mouth that bordered on savory. This is really the only hint that the pepper flavor comes from something other than the yeast.

The oats give this a full body, and it doesn’t have a lot of carbonation. You won’t find me drinking this by the pool, but it would be a great beer to sit out on the porch with. Something about the old-world flavors make you want to be outside while you enjoy this beer.

Typically, Buffalo Bayou is not known to stick to style guidelines. In this case, they hit very close to the mark. At 8.2%, the ABV is a little high. However, Boulevard’s Tank 7 is often considered one of the primary examples of the style, and it comes in at 8.5% , bringing with it a noticeable alcohol heat. Rotundone has no hint of it’s alcoholic heft, despite being almost as strong as Tank 7.  

This is a very well made beer, and I enjoyed it a lot. Unfortunately, Buffalo Bayou is not known for re-brewing many of their beers. (They only recently brewed the second batch of Chai Porter, one of their earliest releases.)

What did you think of this beer?

Let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.

The post Tasting Review: Rotundone from Buffalo Bayou first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Tasting Review: Rotundone from Buffalo Bayou appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

I’m talking about the Saison*. A style criminally underrated and underrepresented in Houston.

There are guidelines for official judging, but in practice the Saison is a “you know it when you see it” style. Historically, it was brewed in the Wallonia region by Belgian and French farmers from excess grain at the end of the fall harvest. It was fermented and stored over the winter to be served to laborers during the next harvest season. Over the long storage time, the yeast and other organisms would ferment all of the available sugars, resulting in a light bodied, dry beer.

Based on this historical practice, Belgian commercial brewers began to brew their own variations of Saisons. According to Phil Markowski, who literally wrote the book on Belgian Farmhouse brewing history, Belgian brewers considered themselves first artists, then brewers. Like artists, they tended to eschew guidelines and put a spin on the Saisons brewed by their predecessors. This led to a variation in ingredients and as a result, flavors.

In my opinion, these characteristics make it the perfect craft beer style. It is light in body and delicately flavored, making it a great gateway beer for those that don’t like thick stouts or dissolve-your-tongue-bitter IPAs. It’s also the perfect style for beer nerds. Each version is more unique than the next. They can run the color gambit from bright yellow to brown with flavors such as apple, banana, orange, lemon, clove, black pepper, sour, tart, and funky. There are even “Black Saisons” brewed with dark roasted grains, but I’ve found the roast, fruit, and pepper flavors don’t usually work well together. It can be brewed from 100% barley, like Saison Dupont, or it can have wheat, rye, or spelt. Or heck, Jester King just put hay into one**.

I would love to see more Saisons being brewed in Houston.

• Karbach’s Barn Burner is the most popular of the Farmhouse Ales*** brewed in Houston. It’s heavy on the citrus, lightly carbonated, and finishes sweet. I love taking cans to the beach where the salty sea air helps me imagine I’m one of the early Belgian laborers enjoying my daily refreshment as I wipe sweat from my brow. And maybe I’m a sucker for marketing, but it sure tastes good around a campfire.

• Southern Star’s Walloon does justice to it’s eponymous region. The fruity esters offer up flavors of lemon, banana and apple, and the spice is perfectly balanced. With similar flavors, I can’t help but compare Walloon to Saison Dupont, often regarded as the benchmark of the Saison Style.

• Saint Arnold’s 2013 Icon Gold: “Biere de Saison”, created by brewer Aaron Inkrott, is more of a “Winter Saison”. Much darker than most versions of the style, Icon Gold had more body and mellow, subdued flavors when compared to its counterparts, skirting the line between Saison and Biere de Garde. I think Icon Gold has been the best beer to come out of the Icon series, I’m holding out hope we’ll see it again. Until then, I have 1 bottle left.

• Coincidentally while I was writing this article, Buffalo Bayou announced their new Saison, Rotundone. It comes out next Wednesday, April 22. It is brewed with Wheat and Oats, with Green and Pink Peppercorns added. Although I think adding the peppercorns, rather than getting the pepper flavor from the yeast is cheating, you’d better believe that’s what I’ll be drinking on April 22nd. Look for a review in a future article!

*For the craft beer police, I know much of what I’m saying also applies to the Biere de Garde style, and I could use “Farmhouse Ales” instead of Saison to be more accurate. But I’m specifically talking about the lighter bodied and more carbonated farmhouse ales, which we can agree is closer to a Saison than a Biere de Garde. I’ll also be talking a little bit about Biere de Gardes later in the article, don’t worry.

**Yes, I know, “Jester King brews farmhouse ales, not Saisons”. I told you I was going to call them Saisons for the sake

***I know they call it a saison, but it doesn’t quite fit into my definition, and I’m about to talk about non-saisons as well. Chill out.

The post Houston’s Ideal Beer is the Saison first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Houston’s Ideal Beer is the Saison appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.