One of those breweries “participating” in this revival of craft brewing is Freetail Brewing Company in San Antonio.  They have an excellent reputation and A  ratings on BeerAdvocate.

The brewpub is in a shopping center on the north side of the city–They have a great layout and an even better selection of beers!

From the limited number of trips I’ve made there already it seems that they specialize in two types of beers … Wits and Sours.  They have others available (IPA, Amber, Etc), but they seem to produce several small batches of specialty beers (kind of like in-place gypsy brewers)–haha!

Here are the 10 I had at one tasting:

The first photo represents my sour tastings: 1) Prickly Pear Ate’ (Sour), 2) Rubio Fumando (smoked beer), 3) Chile Fumando (another smoked beer), 4) Ate’ (Sour), and 5) Bandito (Sour).  All of the sours are called “American Wild Ale” but they are definitely belgian-inspired/fermented.

The second photo represents my “wit/hop” tastings: 1) Hopothesis (double IPA), 2) Real Tail (witbier collaboration with Real Ale Brewing), 3) Spirulina Wit (obviously a wit), 4) Witicus (double witbier), and 5)  S.A.weet IPA (American IPA).

I’ve also eaten here twice–the food was excellent, the beer outstanding, and it is a good atmosphere.  I highly recommend a visit the next time you are in San Antonio!

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

Neither of these were easy and I’m still experiencing fallout from the move!  However, the BJCP exam is finished.  In February of this year I searched on-line for a place I could take the BJCP exam–wow, is that difficult.  There are only so many sites who can schedule an exam and the exam has to be proctored … so the pool of available tests at that site is also small.  I found a site in Albuquerque, New Mexico in August (the 21st to be exact).  I called and was able to get on the waiting list.  Thankfully, a few people dropped out and I was able to move up the list!

It ended up being a great experience!  The test was very hard–probably the hardest test I’ve taken since my Master’s degree comprehensives.  Three hours of writing mixed in with blind beer tasting.  Yes.  The test is as hard as they claim.  It will test your knowledge!

The test location was at La Cumbre Brewing.

Yep … that’s my friend Mike.  This was also the site of the judging for the New Mexico State Fair.  I had the pleasure of judging some beers for 2011 NM State Fair Beer Competition the same weekend I took my test.   The test host homebrew club was the Dukes of Ale … everything was well set up, well presented, and thoroughly enjoyable.  Mike was a test proctor (nationally certified Beer Judge) and we both judged for the fair.

Back to La Cumbre for a minute.  If you check the recent GABF results–you will see that they medaled (2 Golds and a Silver!).  Way to go!  Their beer was excellent…if you are in the area, definitely stop by the brewery–you can drink right on premises.  Just be careful where you park! LOL!

I won’t receive my test scores for a couple of more months.  I also combined this weekend with some Mountain Biking!

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

This is a great brewery, awesome people, and an excellent atmosphere.  You show up on a Saturday at 1pm, pay $5 for a pint glass and you get to drink free beer.  Their brewery location reminds of Heavy Seas in Baltimore (except a little bit smaller).  Tucked away in an industrial/commercial complex it’s quite the laid back atmosphere.  They have brats/burgers twice a month out back–and they let you tour around the brewery!  Here are a few pictures — they have the most interesting fermentors I’ve ever seen … and most of them all have interesting names too!

Another interesting thing about this brewery is that they can all of their beers.  Here’s their “canning machine” — two at a time!  Wow!  Look at the stack of beer cans ready to be filled!

They are producing about 3500 barrels a year with plans to push it up over 5000 this year (2011/2012).  If you are in the area, I highly recommend a stop in at Southern Star — Well worth the trip!

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

It is the home of Firestone Walker Brewery.

Started by brothers-in-law 15 years ago (at the Firestone Vineyard), they’ve quickly made a name for themselves as Regional Craft Brewers winning several GABF and World Beer Awards.    They also happen to make my favorite American beer: Union Jack IPA.  This is a fantastic (award-winning) version of a West Coast IPA (but definitely balanced…so maybe not completely west-coast)!

But on to the brewery!  My friend Bobby and I had the pleasure of “Tim’s” company as our tour guide walking around the brewery!

Tim did a great job–super nice guy, knowledgeable, and answered our 1 million geeky questions.  We saw the inner-workings of the brewery … and, yes, they do use the double-barrel fermentation system … and keg it!

They have the same issues as other successful breweries — they are cramped for space — from fermentors, to lagering tanks, and places to store their wonderful firkins.  I think Tim told us they would be expanding in the near future …

After the extensive tour, we retired to the tasting room where you can sample all of the beers they sell (plus some you can only get at the brewery).  Can you pick out the beers on this sign you can only get at the brewery??

If you have the opportunity and are in the area, I highly recommend stopping in at Firestone Walker.  All of the staff are super, the beers are great, and the location is excellent!

Enjoy,

Beer Mentor

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

This place was pretty upscale … but then … laid back.  Quite an interesting atmosphere.  We “dined” in the upstairs portion.  The picture above with the stairs leads down to the cellar bar.  I had the Resurrection-Brined Grilled Rack of Pork.  Very tasty … however, I think I started with the wrong beer.  I went with the Green Peppercorn Tripel … wow.  This was a rock-solid Tripel–quite yummy.  I next had the Dorothea (collaboration with Stillwater (I think) … a blonde/golden ale).  Unfortunately, it was bland compared to the Tripel … I even had the Resurrection (sample)–the same.  Bland compared to the Tripel.  I should have had the Resurrection first.  I really like Dubbels … but, I really like them with the wild yeast, and I didn’t get that in this beer.

I would definitely recommend this place–excellent selection of beers–great bar upstairs AND downstairs.  Worth a visit!

Beer Mentor

I opted for their newest summer seasonal: Ruby Redbird.  The name is a play on the type of grapefruit that comes from “The Valley” in Texas (down around the Rio Grande river) — Ruby Red Grapefruit.  When I was in High School in Texas, one of our annual fundraisers for the Future Farmer’s of America was selling boxes of Ruby Red grapefruits … I still remember the smell of all those grapefruits (and the taste).   The flavor in this beer reminds me of that.  It’s a very refreshing beer (Beer Snobs need not apply to drink this one … those are the folks who score it a “C” on beeradvocate)– definitely one to drink during the long, hot Texas Summer!

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

1) Tour Clipper City Brewing Company (Heavy Seas Beers).  More on this later in this post.

2) I wanted to tour Stillwater Artisanal Ales.  Obviously, I wasn’t paying close enough attention to this one–the Stillwater brewer is what’s called a “Gypsy Brewer.”  He uses other folks’ breweries (and routinely collaborates with different brewers).  To substitute, I decided to sample some of his beers while in Baltimore (and did so at Max’s Taphouse – more on this place in another post).  I also bought a couple of the Stillwater beers at a place called “The Wine Source” (and a few more beers as well … <smile>).  If you need a beer/wine/spirit, this is the place to visit in Baltimore!

3. I had a couple of the Stillwater collaboration beers at Max’s (Stillwater/Max’s 25 to one, Stillwater/Mikkeller Our Side (cask conditioned! WOW!), and Stillwater/Struise Outblack – yum, too!)  I will have another post about the Stillwater beers.

4. Finally, I went to The Brewer’s Art for dinner–plus had a couple of their beers.  This will be another post (they are #71 on the All About Beer Growler list).

Ok, back to the Heavy Seas tour … one word: Great!  My friend Brian and I showed up for the 1100 tour … of course we got there at 1015 and they don’t open until 1030 (could you tell we were excited?)  We almost missed the place … very low-key entrance.

They unlocked the doors at 1030 and when we walked in … score!  They had a nice bar area set up to sample their beers.  You paid $5 for the tour–that bought you a glass and 5 tokens.  Each token could be used for a 4oz pour.   We sampled their Gold Ale, Pale Ale, Maerzen, Dubbel Cannon (Belgian-style IPA), and the Hang Ten (Weizen Dopplebock — 2oz pour).   They were all very solid beers, right to style, and were a nice kickoff to the morning.  They also have one called “Plank I (Old Ale)” which is a new beer for them … had a little sample of that (bought one–think it will definitely get better after some cellaring).

After our tour, we met the owner (Hugh Sisson).  His office space is right where the tasting room is … that’s the kind of brewery I like!  He was kind enough to take a picture with us, but he must have been distracted …

As far as the tour goes, it was excellent.  Our tour guide was enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and gave us the grand tour.  Here are a few random pics!

You can see my friend Brian in this last picture leaning over their Hopback.  Their brewery is in one giant warehouse — so you can tell from the pictures that all their operations are crammed in there together.  They just worked a deal to expand another 10,000 square feet.  You can tell that all the people we interacted with really liked working there.  They also do a lot of specialty brews (a lot).  All the kegs in the picture below are specialty brews — the close up is a “6 Hop Double IPA.”

Finally, one of the cool things touring an active brewery–you get to see the fermentors kicking stuff up!  I will post the link to one of the videos soon.  They only have one brew kettle so they are running their facility 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.  Sure seems like people like their beer!  And I can see why …

Enjoy!

Beer Mentor

Just savored this one … looking forward to tomorrow’s big events!

Beer Mentor

I’ve several entries in my blog about Southern Tier beers … again, they are doing great things with beers–this one is their summer seasonal: Hop Sun.  They call it a summer wheat beer … but when you open it and smell the hops, you don’t really think wheat … it is definitely a unique blend, very drinkable … I can’t wait to try one after mowing the grass — heck, maybe I’ll try it before mowing the grass!!

Enjoy,

Beer Mentor