Beer Town Austin

Last weekend I, along with maybe 100 others, attended the Clementine Coffee Bar beer tasting event benefiting the Open Door Preschool.

If you didn’t go, SHAME ON YOU.

For $15 (which was given to a program that provides “a quality, inclusive preschool program to children of diverse abilities and backgrounds in a safe, nurturing, and stimulating environment that promotes respect and acceptance.” [Read: kids]) you got “generous beer samples from Austin’s best local brewers” (emphasis Clementine).

Clementine should have described their event saying, ” Give $15 to kids and we’ll give you a bottomless 5 oz sampler glass to have as much beer as you want on a hot Saturday afternoon from all the local brewers PLUS anything we have on tap (and they have a decent selection).” (emphasis ours).

So yeah. Shame on you.

The highlights:

• Live Oak, Real Ale, (512), Independence all there giving generous beer samples (Ima going to keep on emphasising this to rub into all you shameful people who didn’t come).



• Independence’s new head brewer, Justin Rizza, there to give out generous beer samples of his new retooled Stash IPA. Yup. It’s mighty tasty. He told me he’s also done some tweaking of the Pale Ale recipe. AND he’s got some chops from breweries in Seattle and Denver, so you can assume he knows a thing or two about pales and IPAs. Find the Stash and Drink it.
• Real Ale assistant brewer Adam DeBower let on that they are making a lager. VIA Facebook earlier this week they let “the cat out of the bag”  and announced it will be an Oktoberfest. YEAH!
• Kevin Brand and Nate Seale of (512) talked about their (512) One anniversary ale (which I’m enjoying as I write this).
• I gave $15 to children and I got generous beer samples in return (shame shame shame on you for not going… *high five* if you did!)

We also shot a handful of videos for the Over a Pint series. Check out them out.

Besides the heart warming feeling of doing something good for someone else and the generous beer samples, we attendees were also privy to some on the spot, in the heat , off the cuff, from the hip, something the something brewer talks.

Luckily for you shameful folks who missed it, we made video. You’re welcome.

Mr. Chip McElroy of Live Oak Brewing Co talking us through his beers. If he looks really hot in this video, it’s because it was really hot. As enjoyable as his talk was, it would have been nice to hear something/anything about their new property or the future possibility of Live Oak in a can.

Adam DeBower giving everyone the Real Ale run down. Out of the brewers, he looked the most comfortable talking to a group of uninvolved beer drinkers in the July mid afternoon heat. Good show Adam!

Justin Rizza, Independence’s new kid on the block. The kid’s got moxy. And a damn good IPA. Looking forward to the beers he’s going to come up with (maybe he mentioned something about a Belgian… remember I was enjoying generous beer samples all day.)

Mr. Kevin Brand: owner/brewer of (512) Brewing. He’s riding high on this one year anniversary (I’m on my second of the (512) One currently… glad I rode my bike) and you can kind of tell from his talk. This guy’s prolly done more press than any other brewer in town this past year. And he’s found time to make some great great beers. Congrats on the One year guys!

So next time we tell everyone about an event that has generous beer samples, you should clear your schedule and go. This was possibly the best local beer event I’ve been to this year/ever in Austin.

For shame!

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