April 29 Uncle Billy’s celebrated their third anniversary of slinging beers in Austin [we realize this is nearly two months tardy; we're still playing catch-up...]

Yup. And they had a party and a special beer to celebrate.

Specifically, the “Dave Tripel”; a Belgian style tripel that truly hit the celebratory spot. It’s been said before, but since I put it in my notes I’ll say it too, similar to the Real Ale Devil’s Backbone, but not in a hacky way.

I was told by Ryan Fulmer (UB manager) that the Dave Tripel was brewed close to the Tres Diablos from the Bitter  End. Sadly, I never tried any of their beers, so I have to take his word for it.

Also on deck were the second anniversary ale, the “Boozer Chavez” (a belgian style quad), the GABF/World Beer Cup medal winner Hell in Keller, a cask of the Axe Handle pale, and a round up of the usual suspects.

The 2nd Anniversary quad aged well. It was very smooth wt a good mouthfeel and a raisin finish.

I also imbibed in the Hell in Keller; my first time since the medal winnings. It was a bit awash after having both anniversary ales back to back.

All the beers were $3, the new parking lot was packed out, we ran into Jordan Weeks of South Austin Brewing Co (you ate our fried Okra and therefore owe us a video…), Josh Hare of Hops & Grain, JB of Austin Homebrew, Stuart West of the Church of Zmurology, and a few other Zealots and BeerAdvocates.

Also, congrats to Otis (formerly the assistant brewer to Brian Peters) on his promotion to full time brewer.

<unfounded blogger speculation>Perhaps this means Uncle Billy’s is prepping up to brew beer in a second location???</hopes and dreams>

All in all, it was a great event with some great beers.

Thanks for all you do in Austin, Uncle Billy’s and here’s to three more years!

YEAH!

SHIT YEAH!

Welcome to our final episode of Knockin’ em Back at Thunderbird Coffee Koenig podcast.

And boy is it a doosey.

Check out the other THUNDERBIRD COFFEE Knockin’ em Back episodes here, here, and here.

JIB, Shawn, Josh (Little Beard) and I finish out the evening on the rainy patio with beer news, a giving out of the gift card, Chinese internet cafe gang culture, a random guy who came by and cussed out his boss, how we would protect our homes and times that we didn’t, and some other shit (I tell a great story about catching people porking behind a Quizno’s dumpster).

[The banner photo is totally relevant... you have to get close to the end for it]

In the beer news we talk about the Uncle Billy’s/Austin Homebrew/Austin Zealots homebrew competition, the Real Ale barrel bottling project, the BJ’s Brewhouse Stone dinner, the arrival of the Sierra Nevada 30 yr Anniversary Fritz’s & Ken’s Imperial American Stout, and Saint Arnold possibly putting together some sampler sixers. I’m feeling lazy and am not going to link any of these. Do your own copy/past/Google-ing.

Big congrats to Dave (we didn’t gat a last name) for following us on Twitter and also being at Thunderbird and also approaching us and also winning the THUNDERBIRD COFFEE gift card. Good job, Dave.

So just like the last one, we are working hard on earning our “EXPLICIT” label in iTunes, so don’t play this for kids. Maybe find another beer podcast for kids.

Thanks thanks thanks to Chris and Ryan at Thunderbird for sponsoring this month’s podcast and to Josh for coming on as our fourth seater.

“Thunderbird Coffee, the cheapest place to be a hipster” -Dave

Enjoy!

Audio

Direct link to the mp3 HERE

Subscribe to the Podcast

More photos…

We’re launching a new reoccurring series here on BTA called “I Haz Homebrew,” penned by homebrewer extraordinaire, Stuart West.

After crossing paths at about every single local beer event, consistently bugging him for homebrew advice and eventually winning his good graces and becoming tolerable to drink with, we mustered up the courage to ask Stuart if he would like to share his extensive homebrewing wisdom on our site as a “monthly” columnist.

AND HE SAID “YES”!

Basically, we asked Stuart to share some of the lessons and tips he has picked up along the way with some of us who may be starting out homebrewing, tinkering with the idea of homebrewing, have been homebrewing for a while but have hit a wall, or are just interested in the subject as an observer.

Stuart recently moved to Austin last Fall from Houston, has already become a huge supporter in the ATX brewing arena, is the former Foamrangers homebrew club president, organized the 2009 Dixie Cup homebrew competition and is an all around nice guy.

Enough from me, here’s what he has to say:

After stumbling into Defalcos homebrew store on Morningside in Houston sometime during the early 1990s my parents bought me my first beginners kit as a Christmas gift and a lifelong obsession with beer took root. For several years I brewed all extract batches on the stove while my wife watched in horror as boilovers coated our apartment range with sticky wort.

Sometime in the late 1990s I discovered a business associate of mine also homebrewed and was involved in a local area club called the Foamrangers. As it happened the business associate and his brother in law were quite prolific having won numerous awards and brewing a robust porter for a competition at St. Arnolds that would become the brewery’s Winter Stout recipe.

Although I had a strong independent streak I first entered and attended several of the Dixie Cup competitions hosted by the Foamrangers, but after three years of doing so I decided to attend a club meeting. There I met other avid homebrewers and relative newbies like myself, all eager to learn about anything related to making better beer. I later joined other area homebrew clubs including the KGB and Deja Brew which provided insights into how different groups operate as each proved to be very different.

Still, I focused most of my attention on the Foamrangers with their monthly quasi-educational style tastings and a wealth of brewing expertise among their members. Luckily the club also hosted a Beer Judge Certification Program class (BJCP) which myself and several other people took advantage of.

Over the years I held a number of positions within the organization and in 2008 was elected as their Grand Wazoo, the defacto head of the group. My wife and I also organized the Dixie Cup homebrew competition in 2009, a highly taxing but rewarding experience that brought in almost 900 entries.

In July of 2009 we realized a dream of moving to Austin having been regular visitors for the last five to ten years (so much so the folk at the Draughthouse and other brewpubs already knew us by name). Here in Austin I joined the Zealots homebrew club at monthly meetings and now frequent the Austin Homebrew store.

For the last ten to twelve years I have brewed only all-grain batches (unless I win an extract kit in a raffle) on a two tiered pump assisted 10 gallon system. My favorite styles to brew include Barleywines and Imperial Stouts, partly because I like the end result, but I also like the idea of party-guile brewing in which the second runnings from a “big” beer are utilized to make a session beer, often a bitter in the case of making a barleywine or a dark mild in the case of an imperial stout. It’s a practice used in the UK for quite some time and replicated by a few companies like Anchor and Alesmith in the US. Beyond big ales I also enjoy making a hoppy Bohemian pils with lots of Saaz character and an occasional sour ale, my last being a Belinerweisse.

As far as a homebrewing philosophy I suppose I would suggest I enjoy brewing what I like and taking my time. While I know many people that brew a huge number of batches each year, I sometimes go several weeks or even a month without brewing. It’s easy to pour all of your spare energy into a hobby as great as homebrewing, but there are some incredible brewers out there that “burned out” quickly, so my last piece of advice echo the words of Charlie Papazian “relax, don’t worry, have a homebrew”.

Stuart West

Stuart also has a beer blog of his own over at Zymurology.com.

Wow. This came across the Austin Zealots’ forum this morning.

This is huge.

From the horse’s mouth:

Announcing the 2010 Uncle Billy’s Keep Austin Beered Pro-Am!  Brew a beer in BJCP Category 8 (Bitter, Special Bitter, or ESB) and enter it in this contest and Brian Peters at UBBQ will brew the winning beer and enter it in the GABF Pro-Am Competition* .  The GABF Pro-Am started about 4 years ago and homebrewers can win a GABF medal.  YOU MUST BE A MEMBER OF THE AHA at the time you enter your beer on through the GABF (Sept. 18), so make sure you are an AHA member from June to September.  NO EXCEPTIONS!  The AHA will verify.   Join using the link at the bottom of this email.

It is $5 to enter and you just need to take your 2 bottles to Austin Homebrew Supply or to a ZEALOTS Happy Hour or the club meeting at the Gingerman in June.  The window to enter is from June 10-21.  Entries will be judged later in June.

More details and bottle labels here: http://austinzealots.com/files/UncleBillysKeepAustinBeeredProAmRules.pdf

THANK YOU to UNCLE BILLY’S BREW & QUE (http://www.unclebillysaustin.com/) at 1530 Barton Springs (NOW WITH FREE PARKING!) and to AUSTIN HOMEBREW SUPPLY (www.austinhomebrew.com).  New location of AHS:  9129 Metric, across from Goodwill near 183 and Metric.  Thanks to Stuart West as well for helping setup the competition! Questions about the contest can be sent to dandew3@att. net.

Cheers,

Dan Dewberry

Welcome to Over a Pint episode 13, the baker’s dozenth.

Recently we went out to Opal Divine’s Marina with homebrew extraordinaire, John “JB” Brack for the Wednesday TX Pint special. John works at Austin Homebrew Supply and is very active with the Austin homebrew club, the Austin Zealots.

If you’re a homebrewer, you’ve mostly likely been blessed by JB’s expertise in recipe selection/tweaking, or in retrospectively assisting you with identifying what went wrong with your brew. If you’re a regular of the better Austin beer bar scene, you’ve prolly shared a pint or a laugh with him.

JB’s been part of Austin beer culture since the 90′s, and even though that’s not that long ago, the ATX beer landscape has undergone quiet a few changes. JB talks about the big brew pub boom of the 90′s, the microbrews of yesteryear, the current resurgence of Texas microbrews, and how homebrewers have played such an intrinsic role in shaping the current scene.

He drops major kudos to Live Oak (of which we are both drinking in the video), Real Ale, (512), Independence, and future brewstars, Jester King.

Thanks to Opal Divine’s, JB, and Austin Homebrew Supply !

Crack open a cold one, watch the video, and next time you see JB, buy him a beer.

Enjoy!

This episode had a surprising amount of out takes. Maybe JIB will have some spare time and compile and post them. It took me a few times to actually nail the cheers and sip wt/out spilling my beer down my face…