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!

Welcome welcome to our 18th Over a Pint. This one was shared with Mr. Brian Peters of Live Oak, Bitter End, and currently, Uncle Billy’s fame.

Brian had us out a week or so ago to share some beers and talk shop. We showed up just as he and brewing assistant Amos Lowe were finishing up a batch of the Back 40 Blonde. Seeing the two of them work in tandem, moving hot liquids, creating cool liquids, turning wheels, checking tanks, all the while skillfully maneuvering around their 10 barrel brewhouse made my beer that afternoon taste all the more “craft.”

Brian told us that they pumped out 800 barrels last year and expect to produce 1,200 barrels this year, thanks to the newly opened parking lot. When Uncle Billy’s Brew and Que came on the scene in 2006, they were slinging more beers than they could barely produce.

“It was fun selling so much beer you can’t keep up,” commented Brian.

The parking lot went away in June, 2007(?- neither of us could remember for sure), and the beer production dropped. Brian fully expects it to pick back up as the brewpub opened their new parking garage just north of the location last week (if we were on the ball, we’d had gone out and taken some pictures… we were there in spirit.)

Brain just put on the Parking Lot Pilsner and he said he the Hell In Keller (yeah, the one that won that medal) should be on soon, too. On the day we went out, we had the Axe Handle Pale (which I kept calling the Buried Hatchet), the [Ctrl] [Alt] [Delete], the Resonator 2X IPA, and the barrel aged Ruby Red (my favorite).

The Axe Handle is on year-round, but I’m not sure if the other rotating beers are still on tap. If so, go get them. Brian said he made the Alt hoppier than the style is, but I appreciate that. The Resonator is a solid 2X IPA, nicely hopped with a good malt balance. And the Ruby Red with the wild yeast added in the barrel is, in my opinion, outstanding- maybe one of the best local brewpub offerings I’ve had in a while.

I feel I would be doing our readers (I’m pretty sure I can use the plural here) a disservice if I don’t address all the recent rumors surrounding Uncle Billy’s concerning a second location and a canning line. Brian could not comment on it, so I used my other source (is Twitter a source now?) and was told “As for now, we can’t confirm or deny it…we’ll let you know when we have official details and information.”

So, there you have it. Still/just rumors. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. But seriously, shouldn’t we already be more than happy just to have the GABF medal winning Uncle Billy’s in our town? YES!

We’re drinking the Axe Handle Pale, Resonator 2X IPA, and [Ctrl] [Alt] [Delete] in the video, so if you can prepare yourself with a cold one and join us over a pint.

Enjoy!

Audio

Direct link to the mp3 HERE
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