Senate Avenue Brewing brought home the gold Bolo in the first ever Legislative Pro-Am hosted by the Craft Brewers Guild. The award had 16 breweries enter in conjunction with the Texas House Representatives from the brewery’s respective districts. Senate Avenue worked with Representative Lacey Hull and her staff on the submission for District 138 to choose a style of beer that was most representative of the people that live in the district. which skews heavily of Latin descent. The idea that was chosen was aptly named House District 138 Mexican Hot Chocolate Stout. Owner Andrew Mitcham credits his staff, especially Kitchen Manager Jessica Cerro, for their contributions for the recipe. Cerro, a native of Acapulco Mexico, contributed by offering her family’s storied recipe for Mexican hot chocolate to be the basis for the stout. 

Mitchem also credits brewer Adam Millard for helping come up with a unique stout recipe to work along with Cerra’s hot chocolate to create the winning submission.

“Adam brewed it, then it went to fermentation. Towards the end of fermentation, we started to add the spices to it like cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa nibs and a little bit of cayenne. We were a little nervous about adding too much cayenne because we didn’t want it to be like our pepper beer, so we added half of what we would normally add for cayenne and it ended up being the perfect amount.”

Andrew Mitcham

Representative Hull commented as well on the award, saying “I was excited to collaborate with Senate Avenue on creating this Mexican Hot Chocolate Stout as our House District 138 entry to the inaugural Pro-Am competition! I am proud to represent HD 138 that encompasses west Houston and Jersey Village, one of the most diverse districts in Houston and the state. Senate Avenue is a great small business partner not only in this (competition) but in our community”. Representative Hull went on to add, “I look forward to continuing to work with them (Senate Avenue) and hopefully defending our title next year!”

Not to be outdone, True Anomaly Brewing has quickly established a dynasty of sorts in the state by winning not just four total Bolos in this year’s competition (three gold and one bronze) but most importantly repeating as Brewery of the Year in the 600+ Barrel Group. This is True Anomaly’s second time being named the 600+ Barrel Brewery of the Year and also their second in a row. Per the Texas Craft Brewers Guild website, the criteria for winning Brewery of the Year are based off of each medal awarded at the Brewers Cup, with one point for a bronze Bolo, two points for a silver, and three points for a gold.  

True Anomaly won four medals at this year’s Brewers Cup, including three gold and one bronze Bolo. The winning beer submissions this year for True Anomaly were a gold Bolo for White Dwarf (American & European Sour), a gold Bolo for Flanders Redux (Wood & Barrel Aged Sour & Brett Beer), a bronze Bolo for Sea of Waves (also Wood & Barrel Aged Sour & Brett Beer), and finally a gold Bolo for Fireflies (Experimental, Hybrid & Specialty Beer). This after True Anomaly won 5 total Bolos in 2023 (three gold and two silver).  Co-Owner of True Anomaly Michael Duckworth attributes the accolades to the work of the entire team, especially considering many of their accolades are in categories for beer styles that are often time intensive to produce and are difficult to master to an award-winning level.  

With a new production facility and tap room under construction currently with hopes to open to the public later this year, the future is bright for True Anomaly. With a bright future and being two-time defending Brewery of the Year in the state comes high expectations. Duckworth added that he felt the brewery was more than up to the task of continuing to produce excellent beer, but also continuing to challenge itself to not accept the successes of the recent past.   

The post True Anomaly and Senate Avenue Bring Additional Notoriety with Awards from 2024 Texas Craft Brewers Cup first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post True Anomaly and Senate Avenue Bring Additional Notoriety with Awards from 2024 Texas Craft Brewers Cup appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Big congrats to True Anomaly Brewing Company for taking home the big one – the 2024 Brewery of the Year award. Cheers to brewing great beer!

See the full list of Texas winners here.

The post Texas Craft Brewers Cup Awards 2024 first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Texas Craft Brewers Cup Awards 2024 appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Category 25: Fruited American-Style Sour Ale – Total 163 Entries
Gold: Pink, Vallensons’ Brewing Co., Pearland, TX

Category 95: Imperial India Pale Ale – Total 174 Entries
Silver: Cali Boy, No Label Brewing Co., Katy, TX

Category 31: Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer – Total 82 Entries
Bronze: Sea of Waves, True Anomaly Brewing Co., Houston, TX

I asked Tom Paynter, with No Label Brewing how this concept got kicked off in the first place. He mentioned it was heavy on his mind during his trip back home from Minneapolis. After pitching the idea, the brew teams talked back and forth over a couple weeks to work it in the brew schedule and a beer style was decided among the group. No Label was the obvious choice for production given the capacity of the brewhouse. No Label and Vallensons’ had teamed up with before with the launch of Spa Day IPA back in June 2021 so the label was modified to include True Anomaly as well.

“It’s such a rarity to win a World Beer Cup and it just so happens that we’re all actually good friends – which made it easier to ask Vallensons’ and True Anomaly to join us on this crazy adventure,” said Tom Paynter, No Label’s Co-Owner and Marketing Director. “Collaborations are hard enough, but a three way collaboration – GET OUT OF TOWN!,” says Paynter. “I just hope these guys are still my friends after this week.

No way Tom, I am staying in town for this release. And you should too!

This collaboration beer is a 5% Hazy Pale Ale. According to Untappd (listed under No Label Brewery), it pours pale gold and extremely hazy. This beer features a combination of New Zealand and American hops and tasters can expect the dried apricot and grapefruit aroma with subtle hints of citrus and pine in the finish. The flavor is much like the aroma with grapefruit in the forefront and hints of stone fruit, citrus and pine in the finish. Creamy tongue mouthfeel on a medium body with low bitterness and a dry soft finish. Interesting profile! With shared imagery and similar profile, this beer sounds very much like the Spa Day IPA release.

This beer has a week long release schedule kicking off at No Label Brewing, where it was produced and labeled. The party then will moves to Vallensons’ for a Thursday evening release event. (Being this is one of two breweries in my hometown of Pearland, come say hey!) Finally, the celebrations will blast off north into Downtown Houston at True Anomaly Brewing for the final release event. Six packs of this beer will only be available at each brewery. Each brewery only received 2 halves and 20 cases so this beer is super limited. During the launch party at No Label this past Saturday, six-packs sold out within hours.

In addition to the taproom parties, Triple Brewery Tap Takeovers featuring beers from all three breweries, including Vallenson’s which has never distributed their beer outside of their taproom will be happening all across the city. There will be a total of 7 taps at each tap takeover with 5 happenings this weekend.

Celebration Schedule This Week:

Saturday, November 12th – Taproom Party, No Label Brewing, Katy, Texas
Tuesday, November 15th – Triple Brewery Tap Takeover, Thistle Draftshop, Spring, Texas
Wednesday, November, 16th – Triple Brewery Tap Takeover, Nobi Public House in Webster, Texas
Thursday, November 17th – Taproom Party, Vallensons’, Pearland, Texas
Friday, November 18th – Triple Brewery Tap Takeover, Growler Spot, Fulshear, Texas
Saturday, November 19th – Taproom Party, True Anomaly, Downtown Houston

So grab a pint of this beer (and 6-pack to go if you can) in your area and cheers to Houston beer friendships and out of this world brewing accomplishment taking place in our great city!

Cheers!

The post For All the H: A beer collaboration with/for friends first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post For All the H: A beer collaboration with/for friends appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Houston’s breweries are as widespread as it’s never-ending freeway system but there are a few spots in town where you can easily do a traditional “bar-hop” between breweries!  One of our favorite brewery-hops, not only because we live down the street, is in the East End (for these purposes using this term to encompass Second Ward and Eado together).

Stop one:  8^th Wonder. 

One of Houston’s more iconic breweries in terms of amazing venue and good brews, 8^th Wonder Brewery makes a perfect starting point for an East End brewery hop.  Grab a pint glass and 3 tokens and enjoy the downtown views and retro H-town inspired art.  Recommended beer:  Rocket Fuel (Vietnamese Coffee Porter) or Premium Goods (Belgian Dubbel).

Stop two:  True Anomaly. 

Inspired by NASA and Space, True Anomaly Brewing is located walking distance from 8^th Wonder and has some of the best beer in town.  Specializing in Sours and Wild ales, Old World styles and experimental styles you can’t go wrong with anything on the tap list.  Recommended beer:  tap list changes, but if they have the Sixteen Sunsets Belgian Tripel grab yourself a bottle and savor the spicy hoppy deliciousness.  If you want something lighter any of their lagers are great, look for the Scout Mexican Style especially.

Stop three:  Equal Parts. 

Formerly known as Sigma, Equal Parts Brewing continues to impress in the Second Ward.  They recently reopened their expanded and completely redesigned taproom complete with a slow pour tap.  Nothing on tap disappoints and the range of styles is great.  From fruited sours to extreme triple IPAs you’ll find something you like.  Recommended beers:  Loggerbier German Pilsner (try it on the slow tap!) and anything in the Exotica series (beers designed to mimic cocktails, from Mai Tai to the Navy Grog).

Bonus stop:  Moon Tower Inn. 

After all that beer, stop by Moon Tower Inn for more beer but also for a meal!  Moon Tower has their own beer as well as a huge tap list of craft beer options, but the star is the food:  try one of their wild game wieners with chef choice toppings.  Phenomenal!

Now that is what I call a great day of brewery hopping. 

Cheers!

#HoustonBeerMonth Guest Submission from Cole Wehner 

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The post Brewery Hopping in Houston’s East End first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Brewery Hopping in Houston’s East End appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.