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Recession Thanksgiving Tip: Drink Beer Instead of Wine

Airline travel is down, grocery stores are giving away free turkeys to get customers in the door, and everybody is looking for ways to economize this Thanksgiving. But before you decide to save money by buying a jug of Riunite instead of an expensive wine, consider serving your guests American cra ... More >>

What to Get a Texas Beer Lover for Christmas?

The Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner celebrates its 100th birthday next year and while we'll have to wait until January for the anniversary beer to be released, a new book on the history of the brewery has already hit the bookstores--just in time for Christmas. The hefty coffee table book (beer table book? ... More >>

Congratulations: It's a Dopplebock!

While it hasn't actually been announced yet, beer geeks report that Shiner 100, the beer that will mark Shiner's 100th anniversary, will be a dopplebock. The robust German-style beer will be labled Shiner Commemorator. Doppelbocks are traditionally darker and stronger than standard bocks. Shiner Co ... More >>

Aloha: The Beer I Had For Breakfast

Kona Brewing Company's Pipeline Porter is "Made with 100% Hawaiian Kona Coffee" according to the label. It's a limited release winter beer and it goes down very smooth. There's none of the saccharine sweetness or ponderous malt you find in many stouts and porters. The taste is rich and creamy with l ... More >>

American Homebrewers Association Rally

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Texas Beer

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Texas Wants Beer: My Ten Top Texas Beers

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Texas Wants Beer: Five Places to Drink Beer in Houston

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Texas Wants Beer: Change This Law!

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Texas Wants Beer!

Our state is the top beer market in the country, so why are we falling behind in the microbrewery movement?

Drink and Walk

Our state is the top beer market in the country, so why are we falling behind in the microbrewery movement?

Saint Arnold's Celebrates Their 15th Anniversary With the First Annual Beer Olympics

Photos by Jeff BalkeSunday's bracing heat and thick humidity didn't stop the hundreds of beer lovers who turned out to help local microbrewery Saint Arnold celebrate its 15th anniversary while feasting on barbecue and watching the spectacle that was the first annual Beer Olympics. Emcee Lennie Ambr ... More >>

Texas Traveler: Southern Star Brewery

Photos by Brittanie SheyThe canning processUp until March of last year, there weren't a whole lot of good reasons to spend a Saturday afternoon in Conroe. But now there's a least one: The Southern Star Brewing Company. Southern Star celebrated their one-year anniversary this spring with the release ... More >>

Texas Traveler: Southern Star Brewery

Photos by Brittanie SheyThe canning processUp until March of last year, there weren't a whole lot of good reasons to spend a Saturday afternoon in Conroe. But now there's a least one: The Southern Star Brewing Company. Southern Star celebrated their one-year anniversary this spring with the release ... More >>

My Top 5 Summer Beers

In the winter, a cold beer is a nice thing to drink with a sandwich. In the Texas summer, a cold beer is a necessity. It is a cure for the malaise brought on by too many days without a fucking break from this heat -- the short term solution to global warming. And here are my five top beers of the su ... More >>

A Lone Pint or Two Tonight

​Beer lovers can get a sampling of what may be Houston's next microbrewery tonight during a free tasting at Chelsea Wine Bar in Seabrook. The crew behind Lone Pint Brewery will have seven kegs of beer, four different recipes, for sipping. The Lone Pint crew -- Trevor Brown and his wife Christ ... More >>

St. Arnold's Winter Stout

​Normally we use the anniversary of some historical event to try to justify what would otherwise be a random beer review each week. But this is current folks, no encyclopedia digging required. This week, as early as yesterday at some stores and watering holes, our own St. Arnold Brewing Co. ... More >>

Tasting Beer: Samuel Smith's Lager

​American microbrewed beer may be the passion of many a beer knurd here in Houston, but we recently geeked out sampling English microbrewery Samuel Smith. We'd been fans but had failed to experience its version of a lager until now. Medium hoppiness and light body make this a refreshing brew ... More >>

Mexican Microbrews Hit Houston

Photos by Katharine Shilcutt​The first thing that struck me about the cans of Sierra Madre that were delivered to my office was that they looked almost cartoonish, like one of the Simpsons illustrators had created a satirical beer based on an amalgam of a Coors Light can and a Corona bottle. I ... More >>

Warm Weather Drinking: 5 Beer Styles to Cool You Off

Kevin H. via Flickr​1. Vienna Lager: A crisp, lighter style with no oppressive flavors. There are just enough hops to keep your palate awake, rounded out with a slightly malty sweetness. As the beer lost favor in its country of origin, Austrian brewers enjoying the warmer climate down Mexi ... More >>

Brew Blog: Independence Brewing Co.'s Freestyle Wheat and Bootlegger Brown

​Austin-based Independence Brewing Co. began expanding into the Houston market this week, distributing its Austin Amber and Independence Pale Ale to eight H-E-Bs in north Houston and stocking all six of its styles at the Smith Street Spec's, co-founder and brewmaster Rob Cartwright said in an ... More >>

Brew Blog Interview: Rob Cartwright of Independence Brewing Co.

​Rob Cartwright and his wife Amy started Independence Brewing Co. in an Austin warehouse six years ago. Today the company has nine employees, not counting two dogs. ("They don't have thumbs," he explains, "so they're not on the payroll.") Having been selling well at H-E-B stores in Austin and ... More >>

Brew Blog: Pinkus Organic

​We've always chuckled on seeing the offerings from Pinkus Organic on the shelf. We tend to think all German breweries have venerable, awesome names. And then we see Pinkus. And the world returns to balance. This time we chose Jubilate, a dark lager. After having pedants beat us about the he ... More >>

Houston Needs a Brewpub

robtrentIf Salmon Arm, BC has one, why can't we? ​I've never believed in the "if-another-city-in-Texas-is-doing-it-why-doesn't-Houston" train of thought. Even though Houston has lacked a distinct identity at times, we aren't followers here. Like everyone else, I cringed when I read a recent na ... More >>

Brew Blog: Le Freak from Green Flash Brewing Co.

​It was the artful label that drew us to Le Freak, an "extreme ale" from California's Green Flash Brewing Co. But it was even harder to pass up when we read the description: "converging San Diego-style imperial pale ale and Belgian-style trippel." This certainly went a step beyond a black and ... More >>

Five Tips for Getting Started Homebrewing

​Doak Procter, the Grand Wazoo from local homebrewing club The Foam Rangers, helped me to come up with five tips to help people who are interested in home-brewing get started. Here's some advice for how to take up a rewarding and delicious hobby. 1) Learn firsthand: As Doak puts it bluntly, ... More >>

Brew Blog: "Moveable Yeast" Series

We here at Brew Blog try to be educational. The ultimate goal, of course, is to welcome casual beer drinkers into the more complex but infinitely more satisfying world of craft beer. So we were flat out exuberant when we heard about a new project from hometown St. Arnold Brewing Co. that founder ... More >>

The Brew Ha-Ha on the Brewmasters International Beer Festival

​Hopheads, grab your steins! It's a brewtiful day to love beer in the Lone Star State. On Labor Day weekend (September 3-6), through a partnership with Spec's and Food & Vine Time Productions, Galveston's Moody Gardens will host the largest-scale beer event in Texas. The Brewmasters Internatio ... More >>

Five Easy Steps To Beer Pairing Nirvana

SamuelAdams.comAnd you thought only wine could be paired with food.​No, we're not talking about the way the subtle notes of ice-cold rocky mountain air in that Coors Light accentuate the cool ranch flavor in Doritos, not here at least. The knowledge that different varieties of beer compliment ... More >>

Learning Is Fun and Intoxicating: "Beer 101" at Anvil Bar & Refuge

The place settings were almost too pretty to disturb. ​Kevin Floyd is a huge beer nerd. In fact, you could say the co-owner of Anvil Bar & Refuge is the Lord of the Beer Nerds. Okay, that may be stretching it just a tad, but Floyd is the biggest beer nerd we've encountered, which made the "Bee ... More >>

We're Buzzed About Houston Beer Week

foshydog​From October 11 to 17, local taprooms, eateries, breweries and beer aficionados will join forces to pay homage to all the creative combinations of hops, malt, yeast and water - better known as beer. The first ever Houston Beer Week will be eight days of beer magic taking place in Hous ... More >>

More on The Hay Merchant

Kevin Floyd​Oh happy day. On Wednesday we heard the news that our favorite beer nerd, Kevin Floyd, was expecting. No, he's not having a baby. He's opening The Hay Merchant, a new beer bar with Anvil Bar & Refuge co-owner Bobby Heugel, and yesterday we had the opportunity to talk with him it. ... More >>

Proposed Beer Legislation Seeks To Loosen the Reins on Texas Brewers

logocheif.comFreetail for retail sale? Supporters of HB 660 hope so.​Hey, I love Texas as much as the next girl, but when it comes to laws the Lone Star State has a reputation for being a bit outdated. And when it comes to alcohol laws, we're downright hard-core. The regulations are particula ... More >>

Comment of the Day

​Today Nicholas Hall tried St. Arnold's Divine Reserve #11 and loved it, like just about everyone else in Houston. Except, perhaps, commenter Bubbledome: Much ado about nothing - the later third of this review sounds more like an acid trip than a beer tasting. Sheesh... There are probably a ... More >>

Pierre Celis, Brewer of Hoegaarden and Celis Beer, Dead at 86

Flickr user wolfworld​Pierre Celis, the "King of Belgian White Beer", died over the weekend. He was 86. In spite of several unfavorable transactions with major brewing companies, Celis is widely considered one of the forbearers of the craft-brewing movement in America. His self-named brewery ... More >>

Brew Blog: Texas Beer Fest

​Despite having some really terrible beer laws, Texas has some really great beer. While efforts are currently underway to change the law, we don't have to wait to get our hands on some wonderful brews. Not only are there many bars around town serving up Lone Star libations, we now have the Tex ... More >>

AB InBev Trademarking Our Area Code for Crappy Beer

Filling a stein with Budweiser is tantamount to filling a Riedel glass with Boone's Farm, just FYI.​Anheuser-Busch is counting on civic pride to make its next product a smash seller: beer named after America's various beer-drinking cities, based on their area codes. To that end, AB has alread ... More >>

Open the Taps: Houston Lobbies for Statewide Access to Better Beer

Will you support the cause?​It's one thing to sit and complain about the wretched restrictions the State of Texas has placed on the sale and distribution of craft beer. It's quite another to actually do something about it. And because Houston is a city of do-ers, five Houston craft beer lovers ... More >>

5 Lessons Learned From Our First Homebrew

Garrettc​We enjoy the occasional pint and, like much of America, have taken an interest in craft beer ever since we could afford (and thus appreciate) it. While I like to simply imbibe my beers, my husband enjoys discussing the various flavors and styles of beer. "What if," he asked, "we cou ... More >>

Oktoberfest 2011: Where to Binge on Beer and Brats

Insert obligatory photo of buxom woman in a dirndl consuming lager from a stein here. (And remember: Lederhosen are Austrian, not Bavarian!)​If there's one thing that we Americans enjoy doing, it's co-opting other countries' holidays and turning them into giant boozefests for no good reason ot ... More >>

Would You Like Some Cheese with That Beer?

Photo by LexnGer on Flickr​Greg Engert, the only beer expert ever to be named Sommelier of the Year in 2010 by Food and Wine Magazine, first got his interest in fine craft beers from his father. After he studied abroad in Munich and Dublin, his taste for international brewing developed. Eng ... More >>

Austin's Jester King Craft Brewery Sues the TABC, But Is the TABC Really the Bad Guy?

Shit just got real.​Jester King, based in Austin, is one of the state's most popular craft breweries. The TABC (or Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission), also based in Austin, is one of the state's most powerful agencies. And with news that Jester King has just filed a lawsuit against the TABC, ... More >>

Karbach Brewing's Grand Opening Brings a Big Crowd

Karbach's banana-flavored wheat beer is already a hit.​At last night's grand opening for Karbach Brewing, Rich Arnold walked over to me with a glass of Karbach's Weisse Versa wheat in hand. "Have you ever had a beer that tastes so much like..." "Banana!" we both finished at the same time. The ... More >>

Houston Beer Week 2011: Bigger, Better, Beer-ier

Read on for a full -- and we do mean FULL -- schedule of HBW events.​The second annual Houston Beer Week kicks off this year on an auspicious date: 11/11/11. That's when the big craft beer festival will celebrate its sophomore year with a kick-off happy hour at Ziggy's Downtown, from 5 to 7 p. ... More >>

Night After Monsters: Winner and Craft Beer Labels Announced

Brooklyn's Oktoberfest: the label that proved toughest to guess.​We had 29 entries for last week's Night After Monsters contest, in which we asked our readers to identify 15 craft beer labels which had been edited to remove all identifying text. And of those 29 entries, an impressive 19 got al ... More >>

Upcoming Events: A Week Full of Beer

Read on for our picks of the best beer dinners next week.​In case you hadn't heard, it's Houston Beer Week, y'all. The week-long celebration of craft beer and local breweries kicks off tonight with a kick-off happy hour at Ziggy's Downtown, from 5 to 7 p.m. The restaurant will be offering $2 ... More >>

Mikkeller Beer Comes to Houston: Night After Monsters

Mikkel Borg Bjergsø and Jakob Mielcke​Mikkel Borg Bjergsø moved around the crowd last night at the Night After Monsters beer tasting like a virtual unknown. Clad in a red plaid shirt and a scruffy beard, Mikkel looked more like any other Montrose resident who'd walked over to Whole Foods for ... More >>

Fort Bend Brewing Brings One More Craft Brewery to Town

​First Houston, then Conroe, then Katy. Now Sugar Land is getting a craft brewery of its own -- Fort Bend Brewing -- and the momentum created by the rash of brewery openings in 2011 seems determined to continue into 2012. Fort Bend Brewing plans to open early next year, starting small with a ... More >>