The highlight, of course, is the beer. This year’s beer list, unsurprisingly, is impressive, varied, and huge; I counted nearly 300 beers and ciders. Yes, I counted. Yes, I made a spreadsheet. Duh. A good beer nerd has to have a game plan for an event like this. I don’t quite have mine finished, but I do know what my first five stops will be.

Jester King

This is becoming an annual tradition. For the third year in a row, my first stop will be Jester King, and my first beer will be 分 桃, aka Fen Tao, their peach sour. I’m once again predicting that this will be the first beer at the festival to run out. I’ll say it’s 50/50 to even survive the VIP hour from 3:30-4:30 (that’s your cue to get VIP tickets). I’m also excited to try Space Waves, their recent collaboration with Jolly Pumpkin. It’s a JK farmhouse blended with their own cherry sour (Montmorency vs. Balaton), with a salty twist.

Saint Arnold

Houston’s best brewery always brings good stuff to Untapped, but this year they’re going all out. Four vintages of Pumpkinator, three Bishop’s Barrels, two Divine Reserves, and a Raspberry AF in a pear tree. 2016 Pumpkinator, which debuted just this week, will surely be popular. I’m most excited for Raspberry AF, their Boiler Room berliner weisse with raspberries. It’s delicious, and at 3.7%, it’ll be the perfect break beer/thirst quencher.

Peticolas

This Dallas brewery is the most welcome surprise on the list for me. The only other time I’ve seen their beer in Houston was at the (late, great) Draft Fest at Guadalupe Plaza Park in 2012. All these years (and awards and raves) later, Peticolas still doesn’t distribute to Houston, despite our social media pleas. I’m excited to try all three of the beers they’re sending to Untapped: Velvet Hammer (an imperial red), Ghost of Alfred Brown (their English brown ale with ghost peppers), and Sit Down Or I’ll Sit You Down (their highly regarded double IPA).

The Bruery

No, I haven’t stopped nerding out about the fact that my favorite U.S. brewery is now in Houston. I’ll take a second to wish they’d diversified their lineup for Untapped, since all three beers (Melange 14, Mash & Vanilla, and Poterie) are at least 13.4% abv, but that’s a nitpick. All three are crazy delicious.

Real Ale

It should come as no surprise that my pick for the best overall Untapped lineup comes from the best brewery in Texas. They’ve got the whole spectrum covered: sessionable & pale (Hans’ Pils), sessionable & dark (Coffee Porter), hoppy (Axis, their killer new IPA), classic Belgian (Devil’s Backbone), sour (Tenebrae Aeterna, their spectacular barrel-aged sour porter), and rare (a special rye-whisky-barrel-aged version of their 20th Anniversary Rye Double IPA). That is how you structure a festival lineup. I expect to spend a lot of time at the Real Ale table.

So that’s my top five. There’s a ton of other great stuff, of course. Hell, it’s kind of mind-blowing to think that I’ve made it this far without mentioning luminaries such as Brash (EZ7, Cortado), Odell (Jolly Russian, Friek), Founders (KBS), Avery (Lillikoi Kepolo, Rumpkin), Boulevard (Tank 7, Love Child #7, Rye-On-Rye), Alpine (Pure Hoppiness)… you get the point. I’ll also be making a point to check in on some of Houston’s newest breweries: SpindleTap, Under The Radar, and Eureka Heights. Make sure you try Eureka Heights Mostly Harmless. I’m kind of obsessed with it.

See y’all on Saturday

The post My first 5 stops at Untapped Houston, 2016 edition first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post My first 5 stops at Untapped Houston, 2016 edition appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Photo by Andy Bouffard

I guess third time’s a charm: after being plagued by weather problems the past two years, 2015’s Untapped Festival was a perfectly sunny sweat-drencher. The weather wasn’t the only thing Untapped got right this year: from beer selection to musical talent, this year’s line-up did Houston proud.

I got there a little later than I wanted to due to events out of my control, so I missed out on a couple rare and limited-quantity tappings (looking at you, Jester King Fen Tao and Firestone Walker Helldorado), but I got to try almost everything else on my “must-hit” list.  

First up, Jester King La Vie en Rose. Made with raspberries previously tasked to make their much-beloved Atrial Rubicite, La Vie en Rose is dry and, predictably, less fruity than Atrial Rubicite. To me, that’s not a bad thing. Don’t get me wrong, I like Atrial Rubicite, but I’ve never been a fangirl. (I’m more of a Noble King kind of gal.) La Vie en Rose is vinous; add that to the dryness and subtle raspberry, and it tastes almost like a slightly sour rosé.

At the Saint Arnold tent I skipped some of the rare tappings as I’ve tried most of them before, but somehow I’d missed Divine Reserve 15 (Russian Imperial Stout), which was lovely: boozy, creamy, chocolately and pruny. I also finally tried the new Art Car IPA which had a floral nose and a crisp, fruity body with a bitter finish. I have to say I like it better than Elissa.

Too late to the party, I missed out on Pussy Wagon, but I got try Brash’s Cali Green. I’ve heard a few people criticize it for being too bitter, but I think its bitterness is well balanced with citrus and incredibly drinkable. In fact, excuse me while I go get a growler fill.

Photo by Andy Bouffard

Freetail’s Oktoberfiesta, an Oktoberfest bier fermented with Belgian yeast, surprised me: clean, slightly fruity with a hint of bitterness and a caramel finish. That may not sound like it works, but it does.

I am an equal-opportunity beer-lover. I really do like most styles, and even if I don’t, I will always try them at least once. I’ve never been a fan of smoked beers, but I like to push myself outside my comfort zone. Based on recommendation and my admiration for their venerable Hefeweizen, I decided to give Live Oak’s Grodziskie and Helles Rauchlager a try. I was pleasantly surprised.

Grodiziskie is an almost-extinct Polish style made from oak-smoked wheat. More earthy than smoky, and slightly lemony, the grodiziskie is a nice alternative to a hefeweizen that would taste great with barbecue. The Helles Rauchlager is made with beechwood-smoked barley like a rauchbier, but pale like a helles lager. It is dry and aggressively smoky, but the clean noble hops shone through and created a very refreshing, summery brew. With all the single-hop beers out right now, it was a nice change of pace to try some styles that are, as Jason from Live Oak said, “more like an orchestra than a solo.”

Moving onto beers from outside of Texas, SanTan Moon Juice, a wheat IPA with a beautifully floral and citrus nose, impressed with a nice balance of fruity and bitter, as did Founders Porter with its creamy mouthfeel, notes of coffee and chocolate, and lightly smoky finish.

I always go for favorites when I can get them on draft, so I was delighted to get some pours of Lagunitas Maximus, Victory Golden Monkey, Real Ale Devil’s Backbone, and one of my new favorites, Boulevard The Calling.

Of course, as with all festivals there are always too many beers and too little time. I missed out on several brews I wanted to try, such as 8th Wonder Mission Control and Premium Goods, Ballast Point Indra Kunindra and Even Keel, and Independence Red Bud. But, there’s always next year.

Photo by Andy Bouffard

I go to a lot of festivals. Too often you have to choose between drinking great beer and listening to crappy music or listening to great music and drinking crappy beer. What I like about Untapped is that the good folks who organize it had the bright idea to make it a no-compromise situation for people like me who appreciate both beer and music. As with the past two years (thank you Suffers and Tontons), I found a new-to-me band to add to my list of local favorites — New York City Queens, who remind me of the Dum Dum Girls with the addition of, well, guys.

Sarah Jaffe surprised me; having only heard “Clementine” and a couple of her earlier ballads, I expected a folky set and instead got a guitar-driven alt rock show. I was casually interested in her music before, but after witnessing her guitar skills and falling in love with her emotionally vulnerable songs, I am now an official fan.

I have long liked Cold War Kids, and their set had moments of glory. Nathan Willett’s voice was strong throughout, but the band’s enthusiasm lagged at times. Standouts included “We Used to Vacation,” “Drive Desperate,” “I’ve Seen Enough,” and their most well-known song, “Hang Me Up to Dry.”

New this year to Untapped Houston was the addition of the Saint Arnold Game Garden tent. While I’m not a gamer, I thought it was a great idea for geeks to have another way to enjoy themselves and stay out of the heat.

Finally, food. Festival food is often salty, fried or overcooked. Fortunately, the Untapped organizers promote the farm-to-table movement. Enter Underbelly to the rescue with the best festival burger I’ve ever had. Kind had a tent for gluten-free festival goers, with interesting new savory bar flavors. I particularly enjoyed the Sweet Thai Chili, Honey Smoked BBQ and Honey Mustard offerings.

Kudos to Untapped for getting all the festival elements right. I’m already looking forward to next year’s fest.

The post Untapped Festival 2015 – All the beer. All the music. All the sweat. first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Untapped Festival 2015 – All the beer. All the music. All the sweat. 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.