To my surprise, this Belgian White style ale beer was very enjoyable to drink. Really felt like a complete beer on my palete. The traditional Belgian-style white beer is made with malted barley and unmalted wheat and sometimes oats or spelt too. It is spiced with a touch of hops to keep the bitterness low but carries notes of light coriander and citrus orange peel. Paired with a Belgian yeast character it’s mildy fruity and has subtle spice flavor notes. The appearance of white beer is usually pale yellow in color with a slight haziness and a rich, foamy head. The aroma is citrusy, spicy, and fruity and the body is light. Perhaps a bit too light?

The taste is balanced with light malt and wheat flavors, and has a bright pop of citrus on the nose. I am not gonna suggest you throw an orange slice in it for the Blue Moon effect but you could! The alcohol content of traditional white beer is usually between 4.5% and 5.0% ABV but sitting at 0.5%, this beer is perfect for those that enjoy drinking the more traditional beer styles and want to give their liver a break. After all, it’s good to start fresh with the new year, free from alcohol and easy to enjoy.

If you run across this beer in town, give it a taste. It might not be your favorite beer to drink every day but it’s well executed beer example of a traditional style. The no alcohol part? Your body says thank you. You deserve a break – free yourself and take it easy.

The post Free & Easy N/A Belgian White from Karbach Brewing first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Free & Easy N/A Belgian White from Karbach Brewing 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.

Fellow writer Chris White and I both tried this beer last night. Here are our condensed thoughts:

Josh: It opened with a louder than expected hiss. The first glass I poured was very foamy, the second not as much. The foam collapsed pretty quickly. I had to hurry to take the photo before it became a whisp. It’s very clear and copper colored; a little darker than I would expect.

Chris: It smells sweet and a little fruity. There’s a little citrus hop aroma somewhere in there, but the aroma is dominated with honey and some yeast esters. Don’t smell much alcohol for the ABV.

Josh: I cheated and looked up the flavor descriptors for the Vic Secret dry hop. It’s an Australian variety that can impart tropical fruit, pine, and herb flavors and aromas. I definitely get the pine.

Chris: It is initially quite sweet, with some tingly heat (maybe from the alcohol?). Some banana and apple flavors follow, then another hit of sweetness and breadiness. A sharp bitterness hits, and then a pretty short caramel flavor and alcoholic heat, and then a little more hop flavor. Quite quaffable for the size.

Josh: I think that’s right on. I let mine warm up a little too much and that sweetness took over and the hop bitterness started to take on an herbal quality. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

Chris: As it warms for me, the esters really take over. It’s sweet, almost Belgian, but with a pretty distracting bitterness.

Josh: Funny you should say Belgian. If I were handed this blind, I’d guess it was a Belgian Tripel blended with a Barleywine.

Chris: To me, it’s almost a hoppy Belgian Quad.

This is day-after Josh again. Overall, I think calling this a Quintuple IPA is gimmicky. There are several beers fighting for dominance, and none of them are an IPA. An IPA by any definition should be hop forward. If you’re going to call a beer “Quintuple IPA” it should reach out of the glass and smack you in the face with hops. If this beer were called “5th Anniversary Belgian Barleywine” I think I would be more enthusiastic. I do this think beer will get better with age as the hop bitterness it does have fades and the flavors have time to mellow and meld. But I’m personally not buying any to age.

Details:

Malt Varieties: 2 Row Pale, Vienna, Biscuit, Honey, and Acidulated Malts

Hop Varieties: Enigma, Amarillo, Brambling Cross, Cascade, Spalt, and Vic Secret as a dry hop addition

Sugars: Maltose (from the 5 malts), Dextrose (in the form of brown sugar), Maple Syrup, Belgian Candi Sugar, and Blue Agave Nectar

Yeast Strains: House Ale (the yeast used in beers like Hopadillo, Rodeo Clown, and Three Legged Lab), House Lager Yeast (the yeast used in beers like Sympathy for the Lager and Mother in Lager), House Hefe (the Weisse Versa yeast), Champagne Yeast, and Pasteur Champagne Yeast

IBU: 85
ABV: 13%

The post Karbach Brewing Co. Celebrates 5 Year Anniversary With Quintuple IPA first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Karbach Brewing Co. Celebrates 5 Year Anniversary With Quintuple IPA appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Even the fine print is awesome:

• This special is valid at every location with a bar in the greater Houston area. (I think that’s all of them, but feel free to correct me in the comments.)
• This only applies to draft beers served in 8-16 ounce pours. (Again, I think that’s the vast majority of the beers they have on tap.)

As of the time that I am posting this, I found Whole Foods bars with Karbach Brewing F.U.N. beers, Brash Brewing Abide, various Funkwerks beers (one of my current favorite breweries), 8th Wonder Brewery Instant Classic (one of my favorite new local beers), and 12% ABV Founders Brewing Devil Dancer (if you really want to get your money’s worth). If you haven’t been to the brewery in the Post Oak location, you no longer have an excuse!

Check out the Tap Hunter links below for semi up-to-date tap lists at each location.

Whole Foods Market Montrose
https://www.taphunter.com/location/whole-foods-market-montrose/6011610797703168
Whole Foods Market Kirby
https://www.taphunter.com/location/whole-foods-market-kirby/5608335833300992
Whole Foods Market Post Oak
https://www.taphunter.com/location/whole-foods-market-post-oak/5816669442146304
Whole Foods Market Bellaire
https://www.taphunter.com/location/whole-foods-market-bellaire/5611821199261696
Whole Foods Market Voss
https://www.taphunter.com/location/whole-foods-market-voss/5260785151377408
Whole Foods Market Wilcrest
https://www.taphunter.com/location/whole-foods-market-wilcrest/6349803686461440
Whole Foods Market Sugar Land
https://www.taphunter.com/location/whole-foods-market-sugar-land/6188749960511488
Whole Foods Market Champions
https://www.taphunter.com/location/whole-foods-market-champions/4851873712439296
Whole Foods Market Katy
https://www.taphunter.com/location/whole-foods-market-katy/5406849322975232
Whole Foods Market the Woodlands
https://www.taphunter.com/location/whole-foods-market-the-woodlands/5224272202039296

The post If It’s Thursday, Whole Foods Market Has the Best Beer Deal in Town first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post If It’s Thursday, Whole Foods Market Has the Best Beer Deal in Town appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Held under the pavilion at Hennessy Park next to Saint Arnold Brewing Company, the small venue was a perfect setting for this bite-sized festival. The 10.79-gallon firkins used for the event allowed brewers to offer a small batch for experimentation to add adjuncts to, creating concoctions with fruit, spices, chocolate, coffee and other special ingredients. Fifteen Texan breweries brought firkins full of beer featuring everything from peanut butter to peppers.

Freetail’s Double Cherry Bexarliner was a hit. Though I prefer their more refreshing peach version, the tart Michigan Montmorency cherries in the latest of their Berliner Weisse fruit series paired well with the lactic tang of the beer. An improvement over the too-restrained single Cherry Bexarliner, which was served on the festival’s specialty tap wall, the extra cherry punch of the Double was just what the Berliner needed. Also fruity and refreshing was the addition of grapefruit to Real Ale’s White, a dry-hopped Belgian wit. Crisp with a subtle grapefruit finish, it hit the spot at the hottest time of day on the summer afternoon.

The popular variant vanilla earned high marks in its starring roles in New Republic’s Vanilla Sky, based on their Skylight dunkelweizen, and Lone Pint’s vanilla and chicory variation of their standby brown ale, Gentleman’s Relish. Though a bit overpowering in the dunkelweizen, the vanilla was a natural complement to the typical banana flavor of the hefeweizen yeast, and it tamed the boldness of the chicory in the brown ale.

No Label brought two cocktail-inspired beers: Old Fashion Ridgeback Ale and Dark & Stormy 1^st Street Blonde. The Old Fashion was the more successful of the two. Bourbon cherries, bitters and orange peel added complexity to the dark amber brew and nicely accented its existing caramel notes and roasted malt. The rum-soaked ginger and lime enlivened the blonde, but the lime finish was too intense.

Arguably the most audacious experiment, Cycler’s Ryed Hard (Reubenized) was the brewery’s take on a Reuben sandwich. Their rye ale was made over with mustard seed, star anise, juniper berries, dill seed, bay leaves, ginger, cloves, cardamom, allspice, coriander and mace to taste like a Reuben without the corned beef: an odd beer, but it worked well.

Like any experiment, the results can vary. Sometimes the result is something you want to replicate, and sometimes it falls flat. In my opinion, Deep Ellum’s Very Berry Dallas Blonde, 8^th Wonder’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Rocket Fuel, and Real Ale’s modified Real Heavy Scotch ale were misses. The Very Berry Blonde tasted like a watered-down berry lemonade, the Peanut Butter Chocolate Rocket Fuel was thin and had hardly any discernible peanut butter flavor, and the Real Heavy with English tea tips, candied figs and dried apricot had too many flavors to focus on.

A late entry in the Fest, new kid on the block Eureka Heights really impressed me with My Stoutrifice, an incredibly well-balanced milk stout brewed with Mexican cinnamon and peppers. It’s one of the best pepper beers I’ve ever had.

Other highlights included (512) Café au Lait, their venerable Pecan Porter with a coffee kick; the sarsaparilla-spiked Brazos Valley NYF Silt Brown, a dead-ringer for its namesake, Not Your Father’s Root Beer; Deep Ellum Tongue Punch, a solid tropical twist on their standard IPA; and the luscious, creamy Nutella®-like evolution of Southern Star’s Buried Hatchet Stout, Deez Hazelnutz.

Those standouts were a warm-up for my vote for Best in Show: Karbach Bourbon Barrel Hellfighter Horchata. The welcoming, warm cinnamon nose invited me to drink the imperial porter. Bourbon upfront with a grainy backbone and a cinnamon finish, it was a perfect symphony of flavors and one of my favorite BBHs to date. I really hope Karbach releases this one, at least in limited batches, so more people can try it.

Though most of the beers at the Fest were variation of standards from their regular beer lines, some breweries brought unaltered brews, showing off the richer, smoother character of cask-conditioned beers. Karbach offered their lupulin bomb, Hop Delusion Double IPA; Southern Star’s newish IPA, Conspiracy Theory, made an appearance; the revered Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 15 Russian Imperial Stout came out of retirement for the occasion, and 8^th Wonder’s tasty limited-release gose, Haterade, was also featured at the Fest.

One of my favorite aspects of this festival was the signage. Too often at festivals you are left on your own to figure out what you are actually drinking. Firkin Fest featured signs labeling the style, ABV, IBU and a detailed description of each beer and its transformation from its normal base into its firkin alter ego. Even better, some of the brewers were on hand to ask questions about their beers. The intimacy of the event allowed for longer discussions with the brewers, which I very much enjoyed. I’ll be back next year.

The post Houston Firkin Fest 2016: A Firkin Good Time first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Houston Firkin Fest 2016: A Firkin Good Time appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Why would a brewery use a firkin over a regular keg? Well, the firkin lends itself better to allowing natural conditioning and makes the beer have a smoother finish because of the lack of CO2 needed. It is also an outlet for a brewery to try something special like adding fruit, chocolate, coffee, spices or any other adjunct that the brewery wants to experiment with. Breweries now a days seem to like to use these to add an adjunct to a beer that they commonly brew, and that is what makes this festival so exciting. These beers will be unique. Yes, some of the breweries will have firkins of something they regularly sell, but just putting that in the firkin will change it a bit. In addition, this year there will we a draft wall with 10 limited releases from the participating breweries.

Speaking of participating breweries, it’s a who’s who of the Texas craft beer scene. The festival is actually run by the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, so in many ways it’s the breweries putting this on. The following breweries are planning on participating: Real Ale Brewing Company, Saint Arnold Brewing Company, Freetail Brewing Co., Deep Ellum Brewing Company, Brigadoon Brewery & Brew School, (512) Brewing Company, Cycler’s Brewing, Karbach Brewing Co., No Label Brewing Co., 8th Wonder Brewery, Lone Pint Brewery, New Republic Brewing Company, Southern Star Brewing Company, Brazos Valley Brewing Company and Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company.

Check back as the festival nears as we will update this article with the full beer list, and check back after the festival as I will be writing up a review. I’d love to hear about what you’re drinking and enjoying most that day. So, write a comment after the festival, or better yet, come say hello if you see me; I’ll be out there enjoying it.

Firkin List:

If you get the urge for more carbonation, this year Firkin Fest is offering some traditional draft options as well.

For more detailed descriptions, check out http://houstonfirkinfest.com/

Location: Hennessey Park, 1900 Lyons Ave, Houston, TX  77020

Time: 2 — 6 PM with VIP entrance starting at 12:30 PM

Parking: Free at Saint Arnold as well as on street

Tickets: VIP, General Admission and Designated Driver tickets are available at: Https://www.eventbrite.com/E/Houston-Firkin-Fest-Tickets-21216080869

 

Website: houstonfirkinfest.com

Twitter: @htxfirkinfest

Facebook: www.facebook.com/houstonfirkinfest

Facebook Event RSVP: Https://www.facebook.com/events/1686760454925906/

The post Houston Firkin Fest – Preview first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Houston Firkin Fest – Preview 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.

I chose to whip out my fancy snifter glass for this one; however, with the low hop aroma you don’t miss much out of the can. It’s a very rich beer, as any imperial stout should be, but the flavors meld together well. Chocolate is by far the largest player, with a smooth boozy finish. I found myself craving more as I drank it, which is always a good sign.

When I poured it into my glass, the first thing I noticed was the color. It pours black — almost jet black — and I didn’t get much foamy head out of it either. There’s not much fruit or bitterness, and the licorice-like taste that hits you at the end is a very pleasant surprise. It also makes you very aware of the high alcohol level (9.3% ABV), and the booze content will warm your belly. Lastly, this is a thicker beer, even for a stout, so prepare to chew on it.

Speaking of chewing, it’s always nice to add a food pairing into the mix that will enhance your beer experience. I say you go with a big old slice of pie, preferably pecan. The strong malt profile of the beer stands up well to the sugary goodness of the pie. Also, since pecan pie can be so sticky having a beer with higher alcohol keeps your palate more clear. Never mind the New Year Resolutions with this one.

Overall, I think Three Legged Lab is an excellent beer and a great representation of the imperial stout style. All beer snobbish commentary aside, it’s awesome and I’m proud to say it is made here in Houston. Go find a 4-pack while you can — you don’t have much longer this year to find it! Cheers

The post Karbach Three Legged Lab Imperial Stout first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Karbach Three Legged Lab Imperial Stout appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Let’s back up. The latest release in Karbach’s F.U.N. series — their limited, occasional, barrel-aged line — is a bourbon-barrel aged Belgian quadrupel. Here’s a description Karbach marketing manager David Graham gave Tenemu.com:

“Kentucky Habit is brewed with a blend of specialty malts and cane sugar. We used a Trappist yeast for fermentation which lends some spicy, phenolic notes to hints of fig, caramel and raisin. This brew was aged in 72% Old Fitzgerald barrels and 28% Four Roses barrels. The aging process imparts some great toasted, vanilla oak character as well as a discernible bourbon flavor.”

Photo courtesy of Karbach Brewing via Twitter.

He’s about half right. There’s a lot of flavor here. Toasted, vanilla oak? Check. Sugary sweetness? Check. Discernible bourbon flavor? For days. This really is quite delicious. It’s undoubtedly a must-try for anyone who likes bourbon-barrel-aged beers. I do, and I had a hard time putting it down, even despite the hefty (and noticeable) 11.9% abv.

But where’s the quad? There’s nothing spicy/phenolic to be found. Dark fruit? Maybe — but not in the typical, estery quad/Belgian Strong Dark Ale kinda way. In fact, it’s very one-note. Now, it’s hard to complain when that one note tastes so good, but still: there’s nothing complex about this beer. It’s a dark, sweet, boozy bourbon bomb.

I don’t think I’m asking too much of Kentucky Habit. After all, a spectacular BBA quad, Boulevard Bourbon Barrel Quad, sits on Houston shelves year-round. (It also ages quite interestingly, for the record — the cherries gain prominence after a couple of years, giving it a really nice “imperial oud bruin” twist. I know I’m the #DrinkNow guy, but this one’s worth a shot.) And if you ever see Deschutes Not The Stoic return, buy it all — it’s one of my favorite releases from the last couple of years, and it absolutely nails the bourbon/quad mix.

Back to Karbach’s version. It reminds me a lot of their prior F.U.N. release, 012, aka Trigave. That was a Belgian-style tripel brewed with agave and aged in tequila barrels. It, too, was very tasty — with tons of tequila and barrel flavors, but no sign at all of the tripel. I enjoyed the beer and drank it more than once, but still found myself annoyed by it. If they’d called it a “tequila-barrel-aged agave golden ale”, I would’ve had no complaints. But I adore the classic Belgian styles, and if you call something a tripel, I want at least a hint of a tripel. Trigave had none.

Same goes for Kentucky Habit — I never found any quad. I easily and happily drank the whole bomber, too. So, go buy this. I know it’s limited, but I’m guessing there’s enough out there that you’ll be able to find it with a little bit of effort. I can just about guarantee that you’ll like it — as long as you’re OK with a delicious bourbon-barrel-aged dark ale, and you’re not expecting a quad.

The post Karbach F.U.N. 013 Kentucky Habit first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Karbach F.U.N. 013 Kentucky Habit appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.