We’re still recuperating and vacationing following Austin Beer Week so things are a little slow. Thus, news of the copy/paste kind.

Last night Jester King announced a new beer, Noble King Hoppy Farmhouse Ale. Then they went on to talk about a lot more. The highlights:

• Noble King is a medium strength, dry, golden ale brewed with their farmhouse yeast, and an abundance of noble, European hops.
• Noble King is “thoroughly hoppy, yet elegant, dry, balanced, and drinkable.”
• Noble King will debut this Saturday (Nov 5) at the tasting room, followed by a draught and cask-conditioned rollout around the state. Bottles expected late November or December.
• The “farmhouse” Wytchmaker and Black Metal released during Austin Beer Week will eventually replace the English ale versions as Jester King works towards using the same house yeast for all beers.
• They’re working on a new Farmhouse Table Beer, followed by a limited release Farmhouse Strong Ale, new Farmhouse Provision Ale, and farmhouse version of Commercial Suicide.
• After seeing the results of time spent aging with wild yeast and in barrels, Jester King is now describing Das Wunderkind! as a “Sour Saison” and Boxer’s Revenge as a “Barrel-Aged Wild Ale” as opposed to farmhouse ales.
•  Das Wunderkind! will see a small bottle release in the upcoming months.

For all the details straight from the satyr’s mouth, read below or visit the Jester King blog.

This Saturday, November 5th, during our weekly tasting room hours and tours, our newest beer, Noble King Hoppy Farmhouse Ale will be available for sampling. Noble King is a medium strength, dry, golden ale brewed with our farmhouse yeast, and, as its name suggests, an abundance of noble, European hops. We’re all very big fans of the subtle, delicate earthy flavors of classic European noble hops, and particularly enjoy the way that those flavors interplay with the character of our farmhouse yeast. Though the hops in Noble King are front and center, they don’t overwhelm the palate, the way some high alpha (highly bitter) New World varieties sometimes can. This results in a beer that’s thoroughly hoppy, yet elegant, dry, balanced, and drinkable. Following Saturday’s debut, it will be available on draught and cask-conditioned at a small number of venues and special events around the state, with an anticipated bottle release some time in late November or December.

If you were at any of our Austin Beer Week events or our Funk’n Sour Gravity Fest, you may have noticed a few other new additions to our lineup, as well, including “farmhouse” editions of Wytchmaker Rye IPA and Black Metal Imperial Stout, which will ultimately replace the English ale yeast versions that we’ve been brewing up until this point. The strain of farmhouse yeast that we use is much more difficult to work with and more sensitive to environmental variables than the English strain, but we believe that, when handled correctly, it adds an extra layer of character and complexity to the finished beers. Using the same house yeast for all of our beers also allows us to manage and reuse that yeast much more effectively. Over several generations, it will continue to evolve and adapt to the particular environmental conditions of our brewery, contributing its own unique terroir to all of our beers. This house terroir is something that we feel is part of what it means to be an authentic farmhouse brewery.

In addition to Noble King and the farmhouse versions of Wytchmaker and Black Metal, we also have a new Farmhouse Table Beer that’s currently in the works, to be followed soon by a limited release Farmhouse Strong Ale, a new Farmhouse Provision Ale, and a farmhouse version of Commercial Suicide Dark Mild. Some of you may recognize the terms “Farmhouse Table Beer” and “Farmhouse Provision Ale” as having been applied at one time to two other beers that we showcased during Austin Beer Week: Das Wunderkind! and Boxer’s Revenge. When we first formulated these beers, we had a particular vision in mind for each of them, but after extended aging in oak barrels with wild yeast and souring bacteria, Das Wunderkind! and Boxer’s Revenge quite literally took on a life of their own, and as we continued to sample them, those visions began to change. Eventually, we felt that the terms “Farmhouse Table Beer” and “Farmhouse Provision Ale” no longer captured the essence of what they had become, so we decided to change those descriptions. Das Wunderkind!, we felt, had become a very good example of a sour saison, of the sort Yvan De Baets talks about in Phil Markowski’s book, Farmhouse Ales, so we decided to label it “Sour Saison”. (Look for a very limited bottle release of Das Wunderkind! Sour Saison sometime in the upcoming months.) Boxer’s Revenge has not been bottled yet, but when it is, we plan to go with the more straightforwardly descriptive designation, “Barrel-Aged Wild Ale”.

Our new Table Beer and Provision Ale, which we haven’t yet named, will be “sibling beers” to Noble King, made with similar malts and hops, and our farmhouse yeast, but with the Table Beer lower in ABV and more sessionable, and the Provision Ale much stronger and better suited to cellaring. Ultimately, all three beers will become part of our regular, year-round line up. At the same time, we will also continue to produce Das Wunderkind!, Boxer’s Revenge, and a variety of other “wild” beers, but we will do so without any pre-announced release dates or promises of consistent supply, so that we can give them the time they need to mature and, as we’ve said all along, let them tell us when they’re ready to be packaged and released.

This post is coming “soon” after the Dogfish Head Beer Feast & Sudsy Comedy Shorts event. Because you know, “soon” is subjective, just like “short.”

I think the last of the three “short” films at this thing was 45+ minutes. Five beers in and my attention was waning.

Seared diver scallop (paired with Namaste)

The beer and food were great, but I’ve heard past Off-Centered Film Fest feasts were a little more entertaining and informational. Oh well, it was a good time nonetheless and we were happy to be invited. On to the highlights:

• Food and beer: the Namaste and scallop pairing was a great start and the chocolate ganache and Fort were a perfect closer (though I would have been more than happy with just the Fort). I also enjoyed the cherry and duck confit. Nice job to the Alamo staff pumping out all those plates.
• Breaking the rules: My date and I broke our quasi vegan/vegetarian/pescatarian diets for this thing. I must admit I couldn’t finish the seared bison, but I powered through the rest like a champ.
  

  Chocolate ganache (paired with Fort)

• Celebrities: Sam showed some outtakes from BrewMasters. You know, his TV show? Who cares it was canceled after one season, the man has transcended the beer world into cable TV stardom. Everyone wanted to meet him afterward.
• Ridiculous company: Someone on our row informed the waitress she was gluten free. At a beer dinner. With a preset menu. Geesh. I think her date was disappointed he didn’t get her beers when the staff substituted them with cider.
• Eating in the dark: Usually my pictures suck, now I have a reason

Until next year, cheers!

From the inbox. Go, last year’s was fun:

Dear Friends of Live Oak,

WHO:   Live Oak Brewing Company, White Mountain Foods, Smokey Denmark and others
WHAT:   LOBC Anniversary Party (#14) and SpringFest.
WHEN:   Saturday, April 16 – noon to six
WHERE: 3301-B E. 5th St. in beautiful East Austin
WHY:   Because we can!  And to thank you, our loyal friends and customers, for helping us to be where we are today!

YOU BRING:  Outdoor chairs if you’ve got them.

Please join us this coming Saturday for a great afternoon of food, beer, music and fun.  Musical lineup includes:  Olde World, Leo Rondeau, Corinne Rose, The Lennings, Chinask, and DW & Superlites.  Children are welcome (there will be activities for them), but please, no pets, four-legged, feathered, or slithering (even on a leash).

As many of you may know, there are a number of bills in the House and Senate this legislative session pertaining to the business of small breweries and brewpubs.  We’ll have a table with information re HB 2436 / SB 1575 (which would allow a small brewery – under 75,000 bbl to sell beer for on and off premises consumption to you, the ultimate consumer); here’s a link to the Facebook page in support of this very important legislation.

And here’s a link to our very own Live Oak Brewing Company Genuine/Official Facebook page.  Please take a moment to visit and “like” us!

Look forward to seeing everyone this Saturday!  Cheers!

Drink Beer. Save Texas. We tried our best on Sunday at Uncle Billy’s on Lake Travis.

Thanks to the Uncle Billy’s crew and Texas Beer Freedom for having us out for their fundrasing event to help improve the future of Texas craft beer. We heard good bands, drank some House Brown 660, toured the new brewhouse and enjoyed the views. Not a bad Sunday.

If you read this blog semi-regularly you should know about House Bill 660 and its efforts to allow brewpubs to sell their beers off-site. If you don’t know anything about it just go here, here or here to get schooled on what’s going on.

There’s still a long way to go, but it’s not too late to help. Check out the Texas Beer Freedom website for ways to donate, get involved or catch the next event.

As you may or may not know, the LIVESTRONG Austin Marathon and Half Marathon is this weekend, and I’m happy to say my wife and I will be two of the 12,000 half marathoners (plus 6,000 marathoners) running the streets of Austin Sunday.

I have a feeling a lot of those runners love their beer. And despite what the TV may have told you, plenty of them are reaching for a craft brew. Craft beer and running, along with an abundance of outdoor activities, seem to go hand in hand.

Just ask the Beer Runner, who is more than a third of the way through his quest to run and drink a beer for 365 consecutive days, those runners who have waited in line to get a beer from Hops & Grains following the Rogue Raffler events, or the various clubs that put on pub runs.

A great beer can taste even better after a long run. It also makes an easy reward. I know there are plenty of days where the thought of pint at Billy’s on Burnet or home brew from the fridge is the only thing that keeps me pushing through a sluggish run. On the flipside, running can give great balance to those crazy weeks where you find yourself hopping from one special beer event to the next.

So cheers to all you beer runners, and good luck if you’re running this weekend. I know I’m already contemplating my post run drinking. Cheap Texas pints at Draught House? House beers from Black Star? Something I’ve been holding on to at home? Whatever it is, I know it will be extra tasty after those 13.1 miles.

Already planning your post race beer? We’d love to hear it.

Sure, the Black Metal, Commercial Suicide and Wytchmaker are all great, but if you’ve been following the progress of the guys at Jester King over the past year, this is the beginning of what we’ve really been waiting for.

This weekend they’ll roll out Boxer’s Revenge  Farmhouse Provision Ale, the first of three authentic farmhouse ales they’ll produce year-round (the other two coming this spring). Boxer’s Revenge is initially fermented with French farmhouse yeast then aged in oak wine barrels with wild yeast  before finally being dry-hopped with fresh Cascade and Centennial hops. Yum.

Boxer’s Revenge will be available at their grand opening party this Saturday, January 29. Count us in. You?

The full story, copy and pasted for your pleasure:

“Jester King Craft Brewery is very pleased to announce the debut of Boxer’s Revenge  Farmhouse Provision Ale this Saturday, January 29th at the brewery’s Grand Opening Celebration.  Boxer’s Revenge is the first of three authentic farmhouse ales brewed as part of Jester King’s year-round lineup.  The others are Das Wunderkind!, a farmhouse “table beer”, and Cocksure, a hoppy, amber farmhouse ale inspired by the French tradition of bière de garde.  Das Wunderkind! and Cocksure will be available in the coming months.

All three of Jester King’s year-round farmhouse ales are aged in oak wine barrels with wild yeast after undergoing an initial fermentation with French farmhouse yeast.  After aging, the individual barrels are blended to taste.

Boxer’s Revenge is inspired by the hearty “stock ales” or “provision ales” produced by some of iconic farmhouse breweries located along the Franco-Belgian border and named in honor of the stalwart workhorse in George Orwell’s Animal Farm.  It combines delicate notes of tropical fruit, citrus and spice from the primary French farmhouse yeast with tart, rustic, earthy notes from the Brettanomyces.  A final dry-hopping with fresh Cascade and Centennial hops adds yet another layer of depth and complexity.

Following Jester King’s Grand Opening Celebration, Boxer’s Revenge will be available on draught at a small number of accounts throughout Texas.  In the months that follow, it will be released as a regular, year-round offering in both kegs and 750mL, amber, champagne-style bottles.  Please see the attached information sheet about Boxer’s Revenge.”

Photo and images courtesy of Jester King

Got your BeerTownAustin Mustache glass yet? If not, you need it. Like, now. It’s a pretty big deal. Last month it was able to bring the Jester King guys out with a special barrel-aged beer, and this Wednesday it’s getting Ranger Creek to make the drive up from San Antonio for the “Buy the Ranger Creek Beer, Keep the Mustache Glass” night at the Flying Saucer.

Ranger Creek was around some during Austin Beer Week, but now they’re back WITH BEER. They just debuted their Oatmeal Pale Ale a few weeks ago. It’s good, and we’re not just saying that ‘cause you get a free BTA glass when you order one Wednesday.

Come out to the Saucer on Dec. 8, talk to brewer Rob Landerman about the “brewstillery” (especially if you can’t make the drive for their open house this Saturday) and leave with a sweet ‘stache pint. Glasses go on at 7:00 pm, supplies limited.

Already got yours? Come get more, it’ll make a good stocking stuffer.

Despite our requests to be written in as “Most Consistently Inconsistent,” “Most Broken Promises,” or “Crappiest Blog with an iPhone App,” we were nominated for Best Cocktail/Beverage Blog for the Austin Blogger Awards. Thanks?

Being that today (Friday) is the last day to vote we thought it was time to put something up about this (posting this earlier in the week just isn’t our style). We’re not going so much for the win here (our money is on Tipsy Texan) as we are trying to make sure we finish above Craft Austin. Results from the BTA vs Craft Austin Bike Pub Crawl were inconclusive, so this is the only way to show our dominance.

When you vote for BeerTownAustin you are saying NO to copy and paste posts. You are voting FOR low quality videos with awkward moments, FOR mustaches on your glasses and FOR crass, semi-beer related podcasting.

SO GO VOTE NOW. Voting ends at 5:00 pm on Dec. 3. Remember, a vote for BeerTownAustin is a vote against Craft Austin!

ps – We love you Aaron; next beer is on us.

Photo via (512) Brewing Facebook page

As if we weren’t already excited enough about our (512) Brewing cask/keep the glass night at Billy’s on Burnet, we woke up this morning to see the boys have added two new fermenting tanks. A few (512) brewers will be on hand tonight when the cask is tapped so come by and congratulate them on the continued success. Who knows, maybe they’ll even tell you more on how they got all that in there.

See you at Billy’s on Burnet tonight (Oct. 28)  for Austin Beer Week as we enjoy a cask of Bruin dry hopped with Simcoe (we heard this is the first public (512) firkin!)

The short:

• 2 new 60 barrel fermentation tanks
• 40% increase in production capacity
• Annual production now over 4,000 barrels
• Room for tanks made by moving the chiller outside
• Allows for some new creations!

The long (from (512) Brewing Facebook page):
We’re the proud new owners of yet two more 60BBL fermentation tanks at (512) Brewing! More beer to come!! This expansion represents a 40% increase in production capacity and brings are total annual production volume to well over 4000BBL per year! In addition to allowing us the ability to keep up with continued demand for (512) beers, these tanks will likely enable Nate to brew some of the many new creations we have in the works.

Where could these tanks fit in our current space, you may be asking? Well, we took this opportunity to relocate the chiller to outside, which was very similar to a heart transplant for the brewery. The chiller supplies cold antifreeze solution (glycol/water) to the fermentation tanks and cold water tank on demand and in order to not interrupt a very tight production schedule, taking the chiller off line for as short a time as possible was crucial. Nate’s skills working under fire constantly made it a pretty painless transition, but this is it, as far as new tanks, for this space. New tanks, scheduled for sometime in the 1st quarter of 2011, will accompany a new chiller and hopefully the adjoining rest of the building.

Thanks for creating a need for us to grow as rapidly as we have!

]]> http://www.beertownaustin.com/blog/512-increases-capacity-congratulate-them-at-tonights-cask-tapping/feed/ 0 http://www.beertownaustin.com/events/lets-do-this-beertownaustin-vs-craft-austin-ultimate-fanboy-bike-pub-crawl/ http://www.beertownaustin.com/events/lets-do-this-beertownaustin-vs-craft-austin-ultimate-fanboy-bike-pub-crawl/#comments Tue, 19 Oct 2010 03:42:15 +0000 Josh Spradling http://www.beertownaustin.com/?p=3223

Despite their irregularity, the bike pub crawls are one of our favorite events. Rolling through some of Austin’s best beer bars while making new friends – who wouldn’t love it?

With such a lag since our last one, we knew we were going to have to really bring it this time, which is why we teamed up with our frenemy for the BeerTownAustin vs Craft Austin Ultimate Fanboy Bike Pub Crawl Throwdown 2010. (Want more words in there? We got plenty where that came from.)

We’ll be kicking off Austin Beer Week on Sunday, October 24 by riding through north central Austin and hitting up some of our favorite neighborhood bars. We’ll give out wristbands for all riders to get beer specials at the stops (think cheap Texas pints and such).

Meet up on the Flying Saucer patio at 2:00 p.m. After hanging there, we’ll be off to Draught House to catch some of their Beer Olympics, then to Billy’s on Burnet, followed by Thunderbird Koenig and ending at one of Austin’s newest bars (and soon to be brewpub), Black Star Co-Op, just in time for dinner.

We’ve had a fun time at the past rides and are hoping for a great turnout. If you can, RSVP on Facebook so we can give the bars a heads up on how many people are coming through.

Bring I.D., cash and water and tip well. We’re not looking to make a scene so follow the rules of the road and be friendly. Helmets, light and common sense encouraged – we can’t afford to lose any more readers. And if you do find yourself in trouble, just tell them you’re with Craft Austin.

See you Sunday.

p.s. – Feel free to comment below or on Facebook if you are riding from south or east and are looking for others to ride with to the Saucer and home – safety in numbers.

[Big thanks to Design Shaman for the poster artwork!]