If you’d like to have your event included, send an email to info@houstonbeerguide.com with the subject line “July Event Calendar.” Please include the date & time, a brief description of the event, the location, and a Facebook event link if available.

Saturday, July 1st

City Acre’s 1st Anniversary Party | 11am-5pm| City Acre is turning one! To celebrate, they’ll have special beers on tap all day (some new, some past favorites), a German food buffet, and bottles to go of their Skull Creek Kolsch aged on City Acre grown blueberries, dewberries, and blackberries.
This is a ticketed event.
More details on Facebook | Ticket link

Fetching Lab is, well, open | 1pm-5pm | Fetching Lab is only open one or two weekends a month, and even then only depending on the weather. The brewery is on the same property as their house, which is sure to make any homebrewer envious. The brewery is dog friendly, kid friendly, and horse friendly, but bring your own chair.
More details on Facebook

Local Brews Local Grooves at House of Blues | 3pm-10pm | The beer list for this annual event is too long to list. If you like Houston beer, your favorite brewery will probably be pouring beer here. There are multiple ticket tiers, some of which include a Saint Arnold beer dinner before the event.
This is a ticketed event.
More details on Facebook | Ticket Link

Town in City’s First Of JuLuau Party | 6pm-11pm | Town in City is celebrating the beginning of July. They’ll have Blood Brothers BBQ serving Hawaiian food, Hot Rod Pops serving frozen popsicles, and Reggae band Dem will be providing the grooves. They’ll also have some special tropical themed beers available.
More details on Facebook

Bike Ride and Hot Dog Eating Contest at TBR | 12pm-6pm | Join Texas Beer Refinery for their Independence Day celebration. Join 1 mile the “bike parade” from the taproom to the brewery at 12:15, and head back for the hotdog eating competition. There will also be live music starting at 2 and they’ll have “Cloud Nein” a German IPA brewed in collaboration with Wurst Haus.
This is a ticketed event.
More details on Facebook | Ticket Link

Running Walker’s Official Grand Opening | 12pm-11pm | Running Walker is officially opening their outdoor beer garden this weekend. They’ll have food trucks and live music all day to celebrate.
More details on Facebook

Tuesday, July 4th

Fourth of July Celebration at No Label | 12pm-7pm | It’s a day of contests at No Label: hotdog eating, watermelon seed spitting, and dog costumes. They’ll have beer available by the pint, plus food trucks and music throughout the day.

Friday, July 7th

Bishop’s Gone Wild Bottle Release at B-52 | 3pm-? | B-52 will be releasing their Saint Arnold tribute beer, a sour amber ale with raspberries and blackberries, at the brewery at 3pm. Limits will be based on turnout.

Bishop’s Gone Wild Bottle | Photo: B-52 Brewing

Saturday, July 8th

Saint Arnold Pub Crawl Downtown | 2pm-6pm | It’s time for the annual downtown pub crawl. Stop at any one of the locations below between 2pm and 3pm to get a punch card. Your route and stops will vary depending on where you start. Meet everyone at Market Square Park at 6 to redeem your fully stamped card for your Pub Crawl pint glass. You don’t have to drink at every stop to earn the stamp. After the pub crawl, Ishi and The Waxaholics will be performing at Market Square Park.

Stops: El Big Bad, Springbok, Molly’s Pub, Flying Saucer, OKRA Charity Saloon, Christian’s Tailgate, Conservatory, Batanga, Boots ‘n Shoots, Bovine & Barley, Nightingale Room, Shay McElroy’s, Little Dipper, Market Square Park
More details on Facebook

Monday, July 10th

Houston Haze Release at SpindleTap | 3pm-Saturday, July 15th | The newest batch of Houston Haze will be released on Monday at 3pm. As long as supplies last, it will also be available Tuesday-Thursday from 9am-6pm, Friday from 9am-9pm, and Saturday from 12pm-pm.

Friday, July 15th

Cubano and Craft at SpindleTap | 12pm-6pm | Experience a day of Cuban culture, Cuban cuisine, and craft beer. They’ll also have a cigar rolling station.
More details on Facebook

Belgian Beer Week kicks off at Flying Saucer Downtown | July 15 – July 21st

Saturday – Saison Saturday – Discounted Saison Bottles + BYO Saison Flight: Funkwerks Brett Saison, Funkwerks Tropic King, BLVD Tank 7, BLVD Saison Brett, Saison Dupont, Southern Star Summer Saison and more.
Sunday – Belgian Bottle Bottle Release: Large Format and rare Belgians from the cellar.
Monday – $3 Belgian Drafts + Maredsous Chalice Release
Tuesday – Victory Trivia – $5 Victory Golden Monkey all day long + Victory Hoppy Quad at 6pm.
Wednesday – Belgian Flight – De Ranke Tripel, Da La Senne Zinnebir and more.
Thursday – Belgium comes to America – The Bruery Sans Pagaie at 6pm.
Friday – Belgian National Day – Build Your Own Belgian Flights + Cantillon Tapping at 7pm
More details on Facebook

Sunday, July 16th

Feast of Saint Arnold | 5pm-8:30pm | Feast of Saint Arnold is Saint Arnold’s annual fundraiser for Texas Children’s Hospital’s Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center. It’s a 4 course meal (plus hors d’oeuvres and dessert) served family style like a medieval feast. Plus beer, of course.
More details on their website: www.saintarnold.com/feast-of-saint-arnold/

Sunday, July 23rd

Screwed Up Sunday at 8th Wonder | 11am-6pm | 8th Wonder’s annual event paying tribute to DJ Screw is back. The event will include music (of course), an interactive live artshow with Donkeeboy, and a DJ Screw pint glass with 3 beer tokens.
More details on Facebook

Friday, July 28th

Sangria bottle release at B-52 Brewing | 3pm-? | B-52 is releasing their red & white wine barrel aged saison that has been re-fermented with wild yeast, pink guava, blood orange, blackberries & raspberries.

Saturday, July 29th

Xmas in July at Buffalo Bayou | 6pm-9pm | This year’s annual event features a commemorative glass, all you can (responsibly) drink beers, and an ugly sweater contest.
This is a ticketed event.
More details on Facebook | Ticket Link

Board Game Bonanza at Flying Saucer Downtown | 12pm-6pm | Tea & Victory is bringing their library of over 200 board games to the Flying Saucer in downtown Houston.
More details on Facebook

Flying Saucer Board Game Bonanza – July 29th

August Preview

Aug 3 – IPA Day at the Flying Saucer Downtown
Aug 6 – Root Beer Float Day Celebration at Saint Arnold
Aug 10 – Beer dinner & cooking demo at City Acre
Aug 19 – “Nuke the Whales” bourbon barrel imperial milk stout release at Eureka Heights
Aug 20 – Flying Saucer Downtown’s 17th Anniversary Party

Don’t see an event near you? Use our Brewery Map to find somewhere new to visit.

The post Houston Beer Events – July 2017 first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Houston Beer Events – July 2017 appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Green Flash Cellar 3 Glass Night

The Famous Cheech and Chong 420 Glass

There has been some talk and a bit of grumbling among the Houston Beer Knurd community with the Flying Saucer’s decision to end their glass night at their downtown location. Manager Joshua Justice reached out to Houston Beer Guide to offer some information about the decision.

Kenneth Krampota: Why did you decide to cancel the glass night?

Joshua Justice: Demand for glass night has waned here recently and as more and more bars begin to offer glass nights, we felt the need to take the lead and offer something new, different and unique. Kind of like glass night used to be.

KK: It appears that the Sugar Land location is continuing their glass night, is this a location specific decision?

JJ: It is. Some other Flying Saucers have moved on from Glass Night as well but this was a decision unique to us.

KK: What has been the reaction? Has anything made you rethink your decision?

JJ: A bit mixed but once we’ve explained the reasoning and shared what we have up our sleeve for Wednesdays going forward, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. No turning back.

KK: You’ve had a few events to countdown the ending of this, and the last one is on the 31st, a great glass swap. Is there anything you’d like to tell us about that event?

JJ: We want all the hardcore glass collectors out that night. We will have almost our entire collection of old brew glasses out and on display (and on sale).  Feel free to bring glasses to trade, sell or giveaway. It will be a great chance to try to pick up that elusive Cheech and Chong 420 glass.

KK: What are you planning to replace the glass night with weekly?

JJ: Flight Night. We are going to debut Flight Night September 7th with Hitachino White Flights. We will be pouring Hitachino White, Kiuchi no Sizuku ( a spirit made with distilled White) and a cocktail made using both. Upcoming flight nights include Sierra Nevada/Mahrs flights, Oktoberfest flights and more.

KK: Finally, I know a lot of people collect beer glasses, what should we tell them to do with all of the extra cabinet space they’ll have?

JJ: Don’t go collecting gnomes or Wedgewood plates just yet. Flying Saucer glasses like 420, John Lennon and Texas Independence day aren’t going anywhere. Plus we will always have special glasses on sale when we find cool glassware (Das Boot anyone?) Glass night might be dying, but we will still be the best place in town for cool glassware.

The post Flying Saucer Downtown Ending Glass Night first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Flying Saucer Downtown Ending Glass Night appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Ballast Point’s original Victory at Sea is brewed with San Diego’s Caffe Calabria coffee, and has vanilla and dark chocolate notes. Malty and boozy, the bold beer has a slightly bitter, but not acidic, finish. Paired with Shortbread and Thanks-A-Lots, fudge-dipped shortbread cookies, Victory at Sea took on different flavor profiles: the Shortbread cookies made the chocolate notes more apparent, and the Thanks-A-Lots made the porter taste more coffee-forward. The thick breadiness of both cookies soaked up the booziness in a satisfying way; much like shortbread and tea, and made the beer seem less heavy.

Coconut Victory at Sea was paired with Caramel deLites: vanilla cookies covered in caramel, topped with toasted coconut, and striped with chocolate. While apparent in the aroma, the coconut is very faint in the flavor of the beer, which is slightly sweeter than the original Victory at Sea. While the Caramel deLites made the coconut taste more prominent in the porter, I was hoping the pairing would create more than a slight coconut accent in the flavor of the brew.

An instantly recognizable classic, America’s much beloved Thin Mints were paired with Peppermint Victory at Sea, which tastes very strongly of mint. The minty, fudgy-coated chocolate wafers amplified the mint flavor of the already peppermint-forward beer, making it overpowering for my taste.

Finally, Girl Scouts love peanut butter so much that it is a major ingredient in two of their cookies: the chocolate-covered vanilla cookies layered with peanut butter called Peanut Butter Patties, and Peanut Butter Sandwiches, which are crispy oatmeal cookies with a peanut butter filling. Peanut Butter Victory at Sea met my “Goldilocks standard” for flavored beers — the peanut butter was not too strong or too faint — it was just right. A perfect complement to both cookies, the Peanut Butter Victory at Sea is peanut butter forward, but has chocolate and coffee notes in the background. The oatmeal in the Peanut Butter Sandwiches went well with the maltiness of the beer and soaked up the slight bitterness of the coffee. The Peanut Butter Patties brought out more of the peanut butter flavor in the porter, and left a lingering present: a thin coating on the tongue that created a chocolate finish with each sip.

Looking for Houston beers to approximate this tasting? Try Brash Cortado or 8th Wonder Rocket Fuel with Thanks-A-Lots and Shortbread. Clear Lake’s Saloon Door brews a peanut butter and chocolate stout perfect for Peanut Butter Sandwiches and Patties. While we have a dearth of mint porters or stouts in town, Southern Star Buried Hatchet pairs well with Thin Mints. Without a coconut beer available year-round to accompany Caramel deLites, bourbon barrel-aged beers go quite nicely with the caramel, vanilla and coconut flavor combination: try them with Saint Arnold Bishop’s Barrel brews or Karbach Bourbon Barrel Hellfighter when they are available.

Don’t want to stop there? If you’re interested in local beers to pair with the remaining two Girl Scout cookie varieties offered in the Houston area, try Saint Arnold Art Car with Lemonades, a winning citrusy combination; and Buffalo Bayou Rotundone with Cranberry Citrus Crisps: the slight tang and subtle spice of the saison play well off the zesty, whole-grain cookies.

Featured Image from Little Brownie Bakers

The post Have Your Cookie and Drink It, Too first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Have Your Cookie and Drink It, Too appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

There’s enough pictures of beer on HBG to allow for one picture of killer ceviche…

Ever since my first taste of Bayerischer Bahnhof’s Leipziger Gose, I’ve absolutely loved the gose style of beer. The mingling of salt and coriander with a sour wheat base is interesting and delicious, and the low alcoholic content is a perfect touch allowing extra enjoyment of more goses. So when I heard that the Flying Saucer, in my opinion the home of Houston’s best beer program, would be hosting a $20 gose tasting, I knew there was no chance I could pass up on it. And I’m glad I didn’t.

Led by the Saucer’s own Joshua Justice, the gose tasting started out with a glass of the recently-released Prairie Flare from Oklahoma. I found Flare to be very soft, with only a little salt and a nice hint of citrus. It paired excellently with a Peruvian ceviche and a French sheep brie. The citrus in the ceviche actually paired well, rather than distracting from the gose, and, very surprisingly, the cheese complimented the light saltiness.

Between goses, Josh treated us to information on the history of gose, including the fact that, since its invention in Goslar well before its 16-17th century migration to Leipzig, it has died out as a style three separate times. As the discussion continued, we were treated to our second pairing: Destihl’s Here Gose Nothing, from Illinois, with a smoked salmon dip. This one has been in Texas for a few months, but the first cans of it were recalled after reports of undesirable off-flavors. This time, however, the flavor was much more similar to what I recall from having had it a few years ago: lightly tart with a good balance and lime notes throughout. The smoke in the dip worked well as a counterbalance.

Those two pairings wrapped up the formal part of the tasting, but it wouldn’t be a party without party favors, and Josh and the Flying Saucer arranged a few free tastings of extra goodies that are not available for sale in Texas. The free tastings included Vermont’s Lost Nation Gose, Oregon’s de Garde Hose, and South Carolina’s Westbrook Gose, three of the more well-known goses outside our state, paired with Linie Aquavit. In addition, a few participants got to taste some even more limited free tastings, including two more beers from de Garde (Nelson Hose, which was my favorite by far, and Cherry Gose), another treat from Lost Nation (The Wind), and finally a delectable treat from Connecticut’s OEC (Artista Zynergia: Gosatequin).

To say the event was awesome would be a major understatement. There should be no surprise that the Flying Saucer would put together an event of this caliber (and price), but somehow I still left amazed. Hopefully when the next tasting is on the schedule (Josh hopes to do American Pale Ales next), you’ll be able to join!

The post Flying Saucer’s Gose Tasting first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Flying Saucer’s Gose Tasting appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

@GoodBeerHouston

These guys have been at it for a number of years, and just do a damn fine job of keeping up with the amazing diversity of beer events, releases, tappings, and general goings on across the vast geography that is Houston. If there’s one account to plug into on a visit to Houston, it’s this one. They’ll get you to a great spot with good beer and good people to talk to.

@FlyingSaucerHou, @SaucerSugarLand, @Petrol_Station, @HayMerchant, @Cottonwoodbar, @DandTIceHouse, @nobipub, @GrowlersMontros

Every craft beer bar in Houston has a social media presence, but these bars stand out to me for their interaction with customers, frequent tweeting of specials (and special tappings), and just overall participation in the social media fabric of H-town’s beer scene

@Specs_Beer_Dept, @TheBeerStation, @CornerFoodMart

Again, many supermarkets (especially the HEB locations around town) and the Whole Foods do a nice job of tweeting out special releases and allocations, but these 3 guys have been at it a long time and, like the bars I listed above, are interactive with their customers on Tha Twitterz.

So let’s say you’re at that craft beer bar or store, and you just scored an incredible pint/bottle of tasty Houston craft beer…but there’s no one to talk about it with! The HBG crew is a great place to start — they’ll always be willing to send a few @replies into your timeline …

@HoustonBeer, @astrosguy, @beernoulli, @beer_chris, @nathanmmiller, @beernerds, @LushtasticTX, @ehnovelty, @TheBeerGentlmn, @Jack_Around, @TimSpies, @codyhaskell, @ManuelTransmssn, @Lake_Speed

The post A (very) short guide to who to follow on Houston beer Twitter first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post A (very) short guide to who to follow on Houston beer Twitter appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Houston Beer Week is not just another week; there’s fifty one of those sprinkled liberally throughout the year already. No, HBW is a shining beacon of hope, an oasis in the desert, a sign of beauty and glory, and a lot of other overly vibrant metaphors.

When I think back on HBWs of the past, I think back on wonderful experiences with new friends, drinking new beers, at new-to-me places. That theme, of newness in beer, is one that continually draws me back to this wonderful beverage. Newness is exciting, and if you can find new excitement (and I certainly do), if you can find new thirst, then that initial wonder upon tasting your first “favorite beer” doesn’t have to be a thing of the past. Thus, I present to you, a short list of events I’ve chosen to highlight for Houston Beer Week 2015 with the theme “new again.” I hope you’ll join me at these or many other events this week.

New To Houston

Alpine Beer Company has been around since 1999, but only in the last month have they entered our fair city. They’ll be at many events this week, including a tap takeover at Whole Foods Voss and special west-coast takeovers at both Petrol Station and Hop Scholar. But as for me, I’m most excited for the “Westside Connection” at Flying Saucer Downtown. Not only for delicious new-to-Houston Alpine brews, but for wonderful West Coast rap music.

New Beer

Karbach is going hard for HBW this year, and in addition to a new Pilsner and Blood Orange Ale, they’ll also be supplying a keg of their new imperial stout, Three Legged Lab, to Mongoose v Cobra for their “Mongoose Versus Houston” flight. Because this flight is available all week long, I’ll be able to stop in after work one day and also try the new 2522 Hefe from Southern Star. Two new beers in one shot. Hot dang.

New To Me

I have a confession to make and I’m not proud of it: I’ve never had Dairymaids cheese. I freaking love cheese, and somehow I’ve missed out. But soon this shall not be true! A new-to-me venue, Siphon Coffee, is hosting a BB9 cheese pairing with new-to-me Dairymaids cheese. I’m stoked.

New Breweries

11 Below doesn’t open officially until May, but the upcoming Houston brewery is hosting a sneak peek and three-beer tasting during HBW. And obviously I’m very excited for that, because with names like “Oso Bueno,” how can their beer be anything but exciting? But one new brewery isn’t enough for one week, so Brash, the newest brewery as of this week, will bring two kegs of their freshly-brewed hoppiest beers to Beavers for a speakeasy night. And there’s live music too.

These are obviously only a handful of the many, many events going on this week, so get yourself over to the official Houston Beer Week events calendar or live map and find some beer to drink!

The post Houston Beer Week 2015 first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Houston Beer Week 2015 appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

I think the best place to start with my writing here on Houston Beer Guide is by introducing myself and give any possible reason you might need to read through all of the opinions and nonsense I will, undoubtedly, be slinging your way through this site.

First things first, I’m nothing new or unique in the world of beer, craft beer or the Houston beer scene. I was not in it before most. I have been in the right place at the right time, a lot. I have been the benefactor of some very kind and important people in the local beer scene. I have done my best with most of the opportunities that have come my way and for all of these reasons; I’m in a place to have what I hope to be a unique perspective on things worth reading.

I got my start in beer out in Katy at a glorified bowling alley (think Dave & Buster’s…but not epic). I wasn’t much of a drinker at the time, and when I did drink it was some gimmicky liquor beverage made known to me by friends or pop culture. I was introduced to beer through Guinness and a story I’ve told more times than I can count.

After the bar, I ended up as a stocker/cashier at the Mason Rd. Spec’s location in Katy. While at the cash register, I grabbed a beer book we were selling and read through it during down time. I started buying different beers based on the book and my curiosity. Originally, I loved malt, hated hops (IPAs) and was confused by Belgians. I have read and drank just about everything beer I could get my hands on since then.

I eventually moved into the beer department at that location, then to the beer department at the location in the Target shopping center on Grand Parkway and Westheimer. It was there that an email came down from the Spec’s Craft & High End Import Beer Buyer, Justin Cody, that they were looking for a beer guy at the Smith St. location. I replied, expecting to be put in the queue for upward mobility behind whoever got the job.

Unwisely on their parts, Spec’s chose me to take the position as department manager at the Smith St. location, having never had any experience in management or actual work. It was here that I was introduced to the depth and diversity of the Houston beer community and where I discovered my favorite part of it. The community itself is my favorite part. View it as pandering or a cop out, but I am sincere in my statement. I have been on the receiving end of so much good, love and enjoyment from the Houston beer community, that it has my, nearly, undying dedication.

In my time at Spec’s, both Flying Saucer locations (Downtown & Sugar Land), and my current return to Spec’s, I have been fortunate to watch things change, evolve and grow. Texas beer is snowballing into a monster in and of itself, a monster I’m excited to support. Consumer taste, knowledge, curiosity and openness are astounding. Sours & wild ales couldn’t be given away in my first tenure at Spec’s Smith St. Now, “where are your sours?” is at the top of FAQs. Saint Arnold Divine Reserve used to be the only line item. Now, we do our best to compile special releases and handle the best we can to reduce the stress of lining up weekly for special releases.

The growth of available liquids, the creation of events, the birth of local breweries and most importantly the appearance of new faces on a constant basis is my favorite thing about Houston Beer. I plan to state my opinions, however contrary to yours they might be. I hope that you will fight me, tooth and nail, on them. But more, I hope that after we slug it out in a way that only internet debates can allow, we go grab a beer and enjoy what we have here

The post My Craft Beer Journey – Joey Williams first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post My Craft Beer Journey – Joey Williams appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.