Today we celebrate our home state with the anniversary of the adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence.  25 million Texans celebrate our liberty and honor the founding generation of Texans who secured it for us.   I can’t think of a more perfect day to announce an upcoming initiative we are launching state wide.  While New England IPAs continue to get attention and the faithful West Coast IPAs still drawing in its loyal crowd, there hasn’t been much love to the South to spotlight the nation’s third coast.  Let’s face it, if any state deserves its own unique beer style and name, its right here in the Lone Star State.

Introducing the Texas Coast IPA.

So…what is a Texas Coast IPA?  Simply put, it’s a new specialized beer style created by Texans, for Texans. 

We are partnering up with Saloon Door Brewing to kick off this project with the launch of the new series of their interpretation of a Texas Coast IPA.  The first beer, “Resting Beach Face” was tapped last Thursday in taproom and is already getting rave reviews from consumer feedback.  Considering the feedback, the brewers are already busy brewing a new variation of the style in hopes to narrow down on a IPA recipe that can be enjoyed by all IPA drinkers.

But why stop there?

We would like to extend an invitation and encourage ALL Texas breweries to get involved by designing their very own version of a Texas Coast IPA to help us celebrate this beautiful state and all IPA fans.

• Get involved and start profiling your customers on what features of an IPA they would love to see in a Texas Coast IPA.  Is the beer clear or hazy, tropical fruit forward or bitter and piney? All of the above?  You tell us! 
• Consider experimenting with local Texas ingredients for your beer.  Does your beer use Texas corn in the malt or contain local hops grown here in Texas?  Does it contain real grapefruit or other native fruit? 
• Finalize your new Texas Coast IPA style based on your customer’s feedback and launch your best version during Houston Beer Month (Event details coming soon) and celebrate the accomplishment of this new style.  Will this style make the BJCP guidelines? Probably not, but I bet it will be delicious!

Rejoice hop heads! It’s time to shine and celebrate our favorite beer style in a big Texas way! This project can only be successful with active involvement from our beer community and breweries. Share this article with your favorite local brewery and encourage them to join in on the fun!  We can’t wait to enjoy they you come up with! 

Got questions? I would love to hear from you – email me at beerfedmother@gmail.com

Cheers!

Audio version of this article is available here!

The post Introducing the Texas Coast IPA first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Introducing the Texas Coast IPA appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

This year’s list of collaborators is an exciting who’s-who of both American craft breweries and international standouts. It has garnered a lot of attention from the greater beer community, especially here locally in Houston. Among those selected, Houston’s own Saint Arnold Brewing was invited to participate for the first time; a great honor for a brewery that, like many others, was heavily influenced by the groundbreaking work of Sierra Nevada.

Photo courtesy of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

The beer that Saint Arnold and Sierra Nevada ultimately decided on is a dry-hopped Berliner Weisse. The base Berliner style is nothing new to Saint Arnold, as they have been brewing one in Boiler Room (now with the addition of raspberries, reinvented as Raspberry AF) for a few years. But a dry-hopped version is a unique twist on this lightly tart, refreshing wheat beer. When discussing the decision process involved, Saint Arnold brewing operations manager Stephen Rawlings had this to say:

“When we first got the call to do Beer Camp, we went through a lot of discussions trying to decide what beer we wanted to brew and we asked ourselves a lot of questions: ‘What kind of beer exemplifies Saint Arnold?’, ‘How can we combine the best parts of Saint Arnold with the best parts of Sierra Nevada?’, ‘How can we really stand out in this 12-pack that includes many of the best breweries in the world?’ We ultimately decided on the Berliner Weisse because, despite being a traditional style, it can be a technically challenging beer to brew and we have always prided ourselves on being able to execute any brew (as does Sierra Nevada).”

Stephen went on to describe the brewing process and how they worked to achieve the best combination of the two breweries:

“…we decided on using the Kellerweis yeast with their open fermenters to really blow out the hefe flavor. To really put that Sierra stamp on this beer we knew we had to dry-hop this beer with the Torpedo (a specially designed perforated cylinder for dry-hopping Sierra Nevada beers). Amarillo was the most logical choice from both an aroma and Texas standpoint.”

The unfortunate reality with the beers created and produced in Beer Camp is that aside from a few select options, most will only exist this one time. I asked Saint Arnold about any possible plans to recreate the beer or something similar at some point in the future. Stephen had this to say:

“We will probably let this beer have its life and that may be the end of it. This whole process has certainly gotten plenty of wheels turning, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see something in the same vein at some point down the road.”

When asked about the general takeaways regarding the entire process, and what it was like to work on such a special project, Saint Arnold founder and owner Brock Wagner had this to say:

“Sierra Nevada Pale Ale was an influence on the recipe of our Amber Ale, so we all felt truly honored to be able to be a part of Beer Camp Across the World. When Sierra first asked if we wanted to be a part of this collaboration, the only answer was ‘YES!’  We would have been crazy not to do it. Getting an up-close look at everything Sierra does is an inspiration, and take-away for any brewery regardless of size or age.”

Beer Camp boxes are available right now and cost around $25. For a full list of this year’s breweries and beers, click here: http://www.beercamp.sierranevada.com/beers/

The post Saint Arnold Goes Camping With Sierra Nevada first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Saint Arnold Goes Camping With Sierra Nevada appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.