Two Years of All Good Beer

Its been two years since I created All Good Beer as a simple way to keep track of my experiences with drinking, brewing and enjoying good beer. Some of the highlights for me over the past year was checking out the beer scene in Seattle, WA, Portland, OR and Washington, DC, attending Camp Beer II and III, and travelling to Denver for the 2009 GABF and inaugural Rare Beer Tasting.

During the last year, I've seen a huge improvement in the craft beer culture here in Houston and Texas overall. There's been more beer dinners in Houston over the past year then the entire time I've lived here. Petrol Station, Pappas Bros Steakhouse and Vic & Anthony's (to name just a few) have all had at least one with more being announced all the time. Bars and restaurants are increasing their craft beer selection and offering a greater range of styles with some starting to pay attention to the concept of pairing beer with food. Several beer bars have started to work together to promote craft beer and managed to organize Houston's first Cask Festival. Several beer festivals have been announced lately and the very first Houston Beer Week featuring all Texas breweries is set for October. A few people have even seen this new awareness and interest in craft beer as an opportunity to take a chance and follow their dreams. There is currently over a half a dozen new craft breweries under construction in the state with at least twice that number that have announced intentions and are in various stages of fundraising.

It's looking like Texas is at the beginning of a beer renaissance and I'm definitely excited about the next year of All Good Beer. Cheers.