Saint Arnold's 16th Anniversary Party

Saint Arnold Brewing is celebrating their 16th anniversary with a party on Sunday, June 13th from 1pm ~ 4pm. The cost is $36 per person which includes a barbecue lunch and an anniversary glass. Reservations must be made in advance online (click here) and will most certainly sell out. The Saint Arnold Olympics will also take place that afternoon and the teams competing have been selected (video of selection process).

Also in celebration of their anniversary, the Amber Ale will be released in casks to a few select accounts on June 9th (the actual anniversary date).

Cask of Convict Hill Oatmeal Stout at Petrol Station

The Petrol Station has manged to get a cask of the Convict Hill Oatmeal Stout and will be pouring from it tonight starting around 7pm. This will be the first time that a beer from Independence Brewing will be available on cask, but hopefully not the last.

Here's a few photos of beer being poured from the cask at the Petrol Station last night:

Charlie, Fred & Ken's Lager

Sierra Nevada is beginning to ship the second beer in their 30th Anniversary Series. The Charlie, Fred & Ken's Lager is an Imperial Helles Bock brewed by Charlie Papazian, Fred Eckhart and Ken Grossman. The description on the Sierra 30 website indicates that it's "Bold yet balanced with distinct toasted malt character, moderate sweetness and clean and floral hops."

I certainly enjoyed the first one in the series, Fritz and Ken's Ale, a stout with strong flavours of roasted malts and dark chocolate and I'm sure the second will be equally as good.

Recap of Houston Ginger Man 25th Anniversary Party

I've been drinking beer at the Ginger Man since I started travelling down to Houston from my homeland of Canada in '93 and made it one of my regular spots when I ended up moving here two years later. Naturally, I had to help celebrate its 25th anniversary last weekend. I arrived at around 2pm and was surprised to see that the place was already packed. I think the staff didn't anticipate that it would be that crowded so early either as it took a while to get beer at the bar. However, the wait was worth it as there was some great beers on tap, including the Saint Arnold Bourbon Stout on cask which didn't last very long. One of my favourites of the afternoon was the 2007 Dogfish Head 120 Minute which I don't think I've ever had on tap, never mind one that was 3 years old. Happy anniversary to the Ginger Man and I hope it will be around for another 25 years.

Houston Ginger Man 25th Anniversary Party

This Saturday is the 25th Anniversary Party for the Houston Ginger Man. This is the original location, the one that started them all. The celebration begins at noon and features roll back pricing ($2.50 a pint) on Sam Adam's Boston Lager, Sierra Nevada Pale, St. Arnold's Elissa and Amber, Guinness, Harp and Shiner. Joe Jackson, the General Manager of the Ginger Man, emailed me a list of the special and vintage kegs that he has on hand that could get tapped throughout the day:

• 2007 Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
• 2007 Dogfish 120
• Dogfish Black and Blue
• 2009 Allagash 4
• Allagash Black
• Allagash Odyssey
• 2009 Avery Maharaja
• 2009 Avery Karma
• 2008 Avery Hog Heaven
• Avery Samaels
• 2008 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot
• Real Ale Barrel aged Highlander
• Real Ale Barrel Aged 13th Anniversary
• Ska Modus Hoperandi
• Lagunitas Hop Stoopid
• St. Arnold's Bourbon Stout
• Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous
• Stone Russian Imperial Stout
• Barbar Honey Ale
• Boulevard Saison Smokestack Series
• and some other stuff

That's obviously a pretty big list and what actually gets tapped will depend on demand and tap space, but there's some pretty impressive beers in there.

DJ Clint Broussard will be spinning music in the back from 2pm - 7pm and the 007's will be performing from 8pm-12am.

Souvenir pint glasses and bar towels embroidered with the winning tagline from the Anniversary Tagline Contest will be available.

Joe also encourages everyone to come wearing your best 1985 fashions. I've pretty much just worn jeans and t-shirts my entire life, so that shouldn't be too difficult.

Recap of Independence Brewing at the Petrol Station

Rob Cartwright of Independence Brewing was at the Petrol Station last night as part of their American Craft Beer Week celebration. Rob spoke to the crowd and answered questions while everyone enjoyed the Mandarin Saison, Independence Brewing's new draft-only summer seasonal. Unfortunately, the enjoyment was short-lived as the keg was emptied in about three hours.

American Craft Beer Week Events

Referred to as the "Mother of All Beer Weeks", American Craft Beer Week is organized by the Brewers Association in celebration of the small and independent craft brewers.

"American Craft Beer Week has become a cherished tradition, making this annual celebration a great chance to toast craft brewers and to celebrate the advanced beer culture here in the United States," stated Julia Herz, a spokesperson for the Brewers Association.

There are a few places around the Houston area that are having special celebrations in recognition of American Craft Beer Week:

Petrol Station - Hosting different breweries and events each night (see previous post for more info).
Flying Saucer - Special beer tappings throughout the week (see previous post for more info).
BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse - Daily featured beer and food pairings.

The events page on the American Craft Beer Website lists all the registered events for each state. And don't forget to sign your Declaration of Beer Independence. Post in the comments if you know of any other beer places around Houston having special celebrations.

Denver Rare Beer Tasting II

Last year during the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver, I attended the inaugural Denver Rare Beer Tasting. I just received an email survey about the event which also indicated that the Denver Rare Beer Tasting II will take place on Sept 17th.

We plan to start selling tickets to the Denver Rare Beer Tasting II in June. You can check www.pintsforprostates.org or join the Pints for Prostates Facebook page for information on the date the tickets will go on sale. By the way, you may want to watch this video from the 2009 event and share it with your friends to show them what they missed.

If you're planning on attending the GABF this year, I highly recommend getting tickets for this as well. Its a great opportunity to try some rare beers, meet the brewers and help out a worthy cause.

*** UPDATE 05/17/10 @ 8:30am ***

A post this morning at Lyke 2 Drink confirms that tickets for Denver Rare Beer Tasting II are $80 and will go on sale June 1 at http://www.pintsforprostates.org/.

Call For Saint Arnold Olympic Teams for Anniversary Party

Saint Arnolds Brewing is looking for teams to compete in the Saint Arnold Olympics:

Does doing challenging tasks, getting stinky and possibly bloody sound like fun? If so, we are seeking eight two person teams to compete at our 16th Anniversary Party which will be held on the afternoon of Sunday, June 13.

If interested, send the name of your team along with the names of the two team members (include email address and phone number) to ann@saintarnold.com. A random drawing of teams will be made if there are more than 8 teams submitted. More information about the actual anniversary party will be released in a few weeks.

BJ's Expands Tap Selection

I received this email message last night that indicates BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse have expanded their tap selection. They used to only have their lineup of house beers (contract brewed by Saint Arnolds Brewing for the Texas locations) with maybe one or two guest taps. Apparently that wasn't enough as it seems they'll now also be offering a "variety of finest local and best imported craft beers". There are four locations in the Houston area, but none are close to me. If anyone happens to stop by a BJ's in the near future, take note of the new beers on tap and leave a comment.

American Craft Beer Week at the Flying Saucer

The Flying Saucer in Houston will be celebrating American Craft Beer Week with some special beer tappings:

May 17 - 2 or 3 Rare Beers From Craft Beer's Founding Fathers
May 18 - Real Ale Barrel Aged Devil's Backbone & Barrel Aged Vol. 13
May 19 - Victory Golden Monkey Glass & Tapping Storm King Cask
May 20 - Brooklyn Fire Sales & Tapping a Brooklyn Choc '07
May 21 - Allagash White Fire Sale & tapping Allagash Black and Odyssey

Big Batch Brew Bash Winner to Inspire Divine Reserve #10

Saint Arnold Brewing has announced that the English Barleywine recipe that wins the 15th annual Big Batch Brew Bash will be used to inspire the 10th release of their Divine Reserve series. The Big Batch Brew Bash, an American Homebrewers Association sanctioned event organized by the Kuykendahl Gran Brewers, is the biggest single-style brewing competition in the world. There's approximately 100 entries this year and the winner will be announced after the judging takes place at the Saint Arnold Brewery this Sunday, May 16th.

“We look forward to giving the winner a taste of what making beer for a living is really like – from mashing to pouring hops into the kettle to cleaning up and, of course sampling for quality control,” said Brock Wagner.

This will be the fifth time that the winning recipe from the event will be used by Saint Arnold for the Divine Reserve series. Divine Reserve #10 is currently scheduled to be released this September. Previous releases of the Divine Reserve series have sold out within hours (and sometimes within minutes) of being put on a sale.

Road to Brussels at Broken Spoke Cafe

I've posted a couple of times (here and here) about the fantastic mussels and Belgian beer served at The Broken Spoke Cafe. I haven't had a chance to get over there lately, but it looks like I may have a new excuse to go. Their recent email newsletter announced "Road to Brussels", a new mussels and beer combination dinner. For $28 ($25 if you mention the email add) you get 18 mussels, frites and a sample of six Belgian Beers. Sounds like a fun and delicious combination.

Tickets on Sale for Camp Beer III

The date for Camp Beer III has finally been announced which is June 27th from 3pm ~ 6pm and tickets are now on sale via the website. Camp Beer is a fund raising event put on by Live It Big, a non-profit organization that assists small and start-up charities to grow by raising money for them and providing administrative assistance. It's a fun and unique opportunity to learn about the craft brewing industry and taste some fantastic beers (see my Camp Beer II Recap). Tickets are $50 per person which is actually for a lecture about beer from Kevin Floyd, the beer master at the Anvil Bar & Refuge, but it also include free samples of beer. It just so happens that it's 20+ highly rated and highly sought after beers, most of which are not available for purchase in Texas. If this sounds great and you want in on the action, then you'd better hurry. Tickets for Camp Beer II sold out in less then a day. I've already got mine!

*** UPDATE 05/07/10 @ 2:00pm ***

There are 55 tickets for the Camp Beer this time (30 last time) and 40 are currently left at the time of this update. The website should be updated this weekend with the full list of beers that will be at the camp.

Celebrate American Craft Beer Week at Petrol Station

In celebration of American Craft Beer Week, The Petrol Station will be hosting different breweries and events each night:

May 17 - Real Ale Brewing
May 18 - No Label Brewing
May 19 - Independence Brewing
May 20 - (512) Brewing and Foam Rangers (homebrewing)
May 21 - Southern Star Brewing

Festivities begin at 7:00pm and the brewers will be on hand to talk about their beers and answer questions.

Ginger Man's 25th Anniversary Tag Line Contest

The original Ginger Man location in Houston is celebrating it's 25th anniversary with a big party on May 22nd and they need your help with thinking of a catchy tag line for the event. The winner will receive a commemorative pint glass, a commemorative bar towel and a $20 gift certificate. In addition, the winning tag line will appear on The Ginger Man Anniversary bar towel.

Submit all ideas to gm-houston@gingermanpub.com before 11:59am on May 12th and include your name, address and phone number.

Great Austin Beer Festival Website

The website for the Great Austin Beer Festival is now more then just a single page placeholder and is actually listing the breweries that have committed to attending. I look forward to watching that list grow in the coming weeks. I'd particularly like to see more breweries and beers that are not commonly available here, but the TABC may not agree with me on that.

Independence May Tour Day Recap

I spent the afternoon on Saturday helping out at the Tour and Tasting Day at Independence Brewing. I checked ID's and handed out wristbands and then helped with pouring beer. The weather was beautiful and everyone enjoyed themselves. Boomerang's meat pies were available for purchase, including one made with the Bootlegger Brown Ale (meat, mushrooms and cheese). The new summer seasonal brew, a Mandarin Saison, was available for tasting which is now available on draft at select bars in Austin and Houston. Like most saisons, its very light and refreshing but with a hint of mandarin orange, great for a hot summer day. Here are a few more photos from the event:

May Pint Glass Nights at The Ginger Man

The Ginger Man has released their list of Pint Glass Nights for the month of May:

May 5th - Breckenridge
May 12th - Modelo
May 19th - Newcastle (stemware)
May 26th - Independence Brewing

The glasses are available starting at 5:30pm and only one glass per person with purchase of the beer of the day. As always, the glasses are subject to change and only available while supplies last.

Big Brew for National Homebrew Day

In 1988, May 7th was announced before Congress as National Homebrew Day. The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) created Big Brew as an annual event to be held on the first Saturday in May to celebrate the National Homebrew Day.

Homebrewers planning to participate are asked to register their locations for a communal brew-in. Then, on Big Brew day, everyone congregates at the brewing site, joins in on a collective toast at noon Central time and gets on with brewing one of the recipes selected by the AHA. Full information is available at the Big Brew website.