Couple weeks ago Parkside had us out for their ‘summer nights’ Independence beer dinner.

It was pretty swanky. Four courses plus h’orderves. Nice.

I’m not a food blogger and I won’t pretend to be. No lie, I was there for the beer, and the food was nothing to scoff at either. In fact, in recollection I think I liked it all. None of the notes I scribbled on the menu are negative.

Also Mr. Justin Rizza, head brewer out at Indy Brewing was present to talk about the beers and pairings. It was nice and educational. Also the Parkside chef came out to introduce the dishes. I like this. I like when beer dinners have someone talking about the beer and the food and why they paired them together. Especially when they can go into enough detail that it shows they didn’t just use that beer/food pairing chart you can find on BeerAdvocate.

Thanks Parkside, Independence for putting some thought into it and educated us on in the process.

I came in a bit late and missed most of the appetizers. Luckily, our server was able to procure some chicken loli-pops for me. These were all paired wt the Freestyle Wheat.

Course two was fun. Pickled stuff. Pickled on premise. I’ll confess- I took the one pickled egg yolk for our table. Sorry team.

Presentation is key. They nailed it. How’s that for some food blogger shit? This is still course one, the charcuterie platter. The pate was my favorite. They paired it wt the Amber. Not bad, but I was craving a Stash IPA.

Course two was grilled halibut, steamed clams, octopus, petite potatoes, etc. Best course of the night, in my opinion. There were smoked peppers in the broth. I love halibut and this was good halibut. Paired with the Pale Ale. Not bad, still would have gone for the Stash.

It was too dark for pics when course three came out, and I get embarrassed using the flash. It was a pork plate paired with the Bootlegger Brown. I liked the pork ribs and in my notes I scribbled “best pairing?”

NOPE. Dessert was the best.

Best. Pairing. Ever. From the notes, “the best!!”

TWO EXCLAMATION MARKS ! !

I meant business. It was outstanding. A cinnamon sugar yeast doughnut, pretzel ice cream, chocolate, and blueberry crumble paired with the Convict Hill Oatmeal Stout. This pairing did it for me. See the photo? I couldn’t even wait to take a picture before I started digging in.

Parkside mentioned they plan on doing more of these. I hope so.

Alrighty kiddos, welcome to another episode of Over a Pint, the 14th, with Rob and Amy Cartwright of Independence Brewing Co.

Yup. Rob and Amy, along with new brewer Justin Rizza, have been working on some new beers, retooling some existing ones, and experimenting with some favorites. They graciously invited us out to the brewery to check out what they’ve been up to and try some beers.

First thing is first, Stash IPA in bottles! Stash IPA in bottles! Stash IPA in bottles! …pending TABC label approval. This is great news. I’ve mentioned a few times that I’m a huge fan of what Justin has done with the recipe and have been a Stash advocate since he first cracked one open for me at the Clementine (now Thunderbird) tasting last summer. Look for it in the Spring.

Also they are working on getting the Convict Hill Imperial Oatmeal Stout in bottles soon. I’m also excited about this. Just not copy and paste three times in bold excited (it’ll be a great local IPA in a bottle!)

We spent the business end of the Over a Pint talking about and tasting the Jasperilla 2009.  If you made it out to the 5th Anniversary party, you had the chance to taste and vote on a few variations of the 2009 Jasperilla. They Indy crew made two versions with oak spirals in the fermentation tanks: one on medium oak, the other on dark oak. Lots of ppl tasted and gave feedback and the Jasperilla on medium oak won.

It’s very tasty. We talk about it in the video so I’ll be brief here. The oak makes it very smooth and brings out some nice rich fruity esters, almost like a cabernet. In my opinion, it’s a very foodie beer. Big and flavorful.

It made my mouth water for cheese, steak, cheesesteak, or any other rich, sharp, or semi-spicey type foods.

The 2009 Jasperilla should be on shelves soon (the end of January), so go get some.

Rob, Amy, Justin, and the rest of the Indy crew are doing some cool things, and I look forward to some of the other things they are working on (…did someone mention several current test batches aging?)

We’re all drinking the Stash IPA and Jasperilla. So if you can, crack open a cold one and enjoy the video.

Enjoy!

We got to sit down and share some beers

Rob gives us an oral history of Independence, the story of how their business plan was “fueled by pale ale“, the story on original three brews, their history with the Alamo Drafthouse and the Austin Amber, and hints at some future plans involving thier new brewer Justin.

Justin spells out the specs (see below the video for these) and talks up some of some of the newer beers he’s had his hands in.
Of the one’s I’ve tried, I’m a pretty big fan of the Stash IPA; Amarillo hops stole my heart long ago.
We’re also into that Convict Hill Imperial Oatmeal Stout… just a little.

We got to try a vertical tasting of the Jasperilla with oak additions that they are tooling around with and were pretty impressed.

If you made it out to the Anniversary party, they were offering the same tasting. What I understood is that the most popular of the oak variations would go into production (go dark oak!) As I remember, the light oaked version was rich, mellow and finished a little like mead. The dark oak, my favorite, was rich and full and grabbed you like a Cabernet.

Justin also debuted their 5th Anniversary ale. It’s a Belgian inspired strong ale with a custom yeast strain.
It’s flavored with mandarin, star sanus, and coriander but still very drinkable. It’s been spotted on tap at Draught House.

Craft Austin posted a pretty good write up of the beers too.

I’ve never tried it, but Rob finishes the video talking about the Southside Special ale. From how he describes it, I’m looking forward to tasting it next time
it’s out.

Rob, Amy, Justin, and all the rest of the Independence team, thanks for 5 years of good beers and here’s looking forward to the next five, cheers!

Stash
Interpretation of Rob’s IPA
Northwest style IPA, bittered to a higher degree than most Indy beers
Amarillo, Tanum, Cascade in the kettle, very florally
Dry hopped Amarillo

Convict Hill Imperial Oatmeal Stout

9% ABV

“huge chocolaty roasty coffee”

5th Anniversary Ale

Belgian inspired stong golden ale
7.5% ABV
Mandarin, star sanus, coriander, flaked barley, flaked rye, and Justin’s special blend of yeast
Very limited time

South Side Special Ale

Based off the bootlegger brown
Chocolate malt
Roasted cacoa beans, ground Indonesia Sumatran coffee, cardimum
Inspired by Turkish coffee