And I probably won't be there, because it's the same day as the Texas Relays (track & field is one of my other great passions in life). Theoretically I could make about the last hour, but I'm guessing I won't. Y'all have fun without me. :-(
Press release from Zax Pints and Plates:
The 2nd Annual Great Austin Belgian Beer Festival:
Saturday April 5 Noon-7pm
Zax Pints and Plates 312 Barton Springs Rd., Austin, TX
Tickets now available: $22adv/$25 at the door (advance tickets available only at Zax)
Entitles you to a tasting glass and your first 6 4 oz. samples of over 30 of the most amazing, remarkable and historical beers in the world. Additional samples will be available for purchase for $3 each.
Food is not included, but our normal menu will be available.
Discount hotel packages available at the Embassy Suites. Just mention the festival or follow this link.
Partial List of Beers (Subject to availability)
Tripel Karmeliet
Kwak
Deus
Duchesse de Bourgogne(Flemish Red Sour)
Urthel Hop It
Urthel Samaranth
Grotten Brown
Grotten Flemish
St. Feuillien Tripel
Dubuisson Scaldis
St. Bernardus Tripel
St. Bernardus Wit
Chimay White
Chimay Blue
D'Achouffe La Chouffe
D'Achouffe Mc Chouffe
Duvel
LeFebvre Blanche de Bruxelles
Lindeman's Framboise
Orval
Westmalle Dubble
Westmalle Triple
Rochefort 8
Rochefort 10
Despite the blast of cold last night, spring is more or less here in Texas. Time to transition from those heavy-duty winter warmers to something a little (but not too much) lighter.
My Kansas City mother-in-law is in town, which is wonderful in and of itself, but it's enhanced by the fact that (A) she's here to watch the kids while M'Lady and I enjoy South by Southwest and (B) she always brings me Boulevard beer, which finally started distributing to Texas but we still can't get it here in Austin. (Yo, Boulevard – you really think Dallas is a better craft beer market than Austin? Seriously? Maybe I underestimate my DFW brethren, but I think your hardcore beer drinkers are down here.)
So the MIL (not to be confused with the MILF — that would be my wife) brought me Boulevard's Irish Ale, which I've never had before because I usually visit KC only in summer and winter; Irish Ale is a spring seasonal. This is wonderful stuff. As the name suggests, it's an Irish red, which if drunk at proper temperature has just the right touch of malt, not overpowering like a winter doppelbock, but more balanced. (And the right temperature, by the way, is in the 50s. I love today's weather – I can just leave the beer on my back porch instead of the beer fridge, and it's perfect.)
Speaking of bocks, I'm also leaping for joy because Saint Arnold's Spring Bock has arrived. These guys had me at the label, with those gorgeous Texas bluebonnets on it, but the b
eer inside is even better. I was talking yesterday with Brock Wagner, the CEO of Saint Arnold, and he said that I only have something like three more weeks of it – that makes me sad. I want them to keep pumping this stuff out at least through the end of April. (Man, the Winter Stout disappeared way too quick!) Also a nice dose of malt, a little heavier than this Irish Ale, it borders on being a winter beer. I suppose I shouldn't be so sad that I can't get Boulevard in Austin — Saint Arnold (out of Houston) is doing a fine job of filling the "regional brewery" role for Texas that Bully does up in the Midwest.
But hey, I'm greedy — I want it all.
I'm a little sad tonight. Only a little.
You see, I cover politics for The Austin Chronicle, and one of the races I've been covering is Texas' 10th Congressional District. Which I also happen to be a resident of. We've been represented by a Republican since 2004, after Tom DeLay's famous re-redistricting. But this year, on the Democratic side, we were really lucky – we had two really great candidates. Our choice was between great or greater.
But I really took a liking to one of the candidates, Dan Grant (that's him in the picture). Why? Because after we finished my interview of him, he confessed that he had also done some research on me, had found my blog, and professed his love for craft beers. Let me tell you, when I walked into the voting booth, I still hadn't made up my mind, but knowing that I might have a Congressman who could appreciate a Belgian trippel or the latest seasonal from Saint Arnold was pulling on me. Hey, people have cast votes based on stupider logic than that.
So I finally had to make my decision. I went into the polls, looked at that voting machine, and cast my vote for … well, my vote is secret and I'll leave it at that. But Grant lost. Now I don't know how the winner, Larry Joe Doherty, stands on craft beer, but he's a bit of a good old boy and strikes me as more of a Lone Star man. What I do know is that he'll be a much better Congressman that what I currently have.
But I also know that craft beer lovers may have missed a chance to have influence in the halls of power. Sorry, Dan. I know you would have made a great congressman. Let's hoist a beer together sometime soon.
Yes, she is drinking beer there.
I just got off the phone with Chip at Live Oak Brewing, and I asked him about the impact that the current worldwide hop shortage is having on his company. He says they have enough hops to last through the year and into 2009, but the inability to get sufficient Cascade hops is causing them to downgrade their Liberation IPA from a regular brew to a seasonal, which ought to have Austin hop fans … um, crying in their beer.
And there's more bad news: their Pale Ale (which I tried for only the first time last night on my first-ever visit to Bull McCabe's after the They Might Be Giants show at Stubb's) is going away altogether.
But all is not lost: Live Oak will still make an IPA, they're just not going to call it Liberation because they can't duplicate its distinct Cascade dry-hopped taste signature. The new one will simply be called Live Oak IPA, and Chip says it tastes "fantastic."
Okay, the brewer himself isn't exactly an unbiased source, but given that I've never put a Live Oak product to my lips that I didn't love, I'm going to believe him and look forward to trying it.
Po – a twisted, tortured soul who should be approached with caution – read an e-mail where I lamented that tonight (Election Day) I'll be way too busy to drink because I'm a political reporter, and I asked for people to pray for me as I struggled through an entire Monday-to-Wednesday period without beer. He was happy to oblige:
Almighty God, maker of heaven and earth and all that is in it,
including hops and yeast and grain,
architect of the joys and mysteries of fermentation,
look upon this thy servant Lee
who shall for the sake of those he loves
leave off from his enjoyment of the liquid bounties of creation
for eight and forty hours.
Help him to recall with delight this evening's blessing of
Pyramid Snowcap Ale.
Help him to cross through the great parching wilderness of the next
48 hours, bearing always in mind the greater joys to come.
And, while You are at it, help Obama win tomorrow so we can start to take
our sheenin' country back.
And, if Hillary should prevail in this contest, may you find it in your
goodness to help her persevere through the barbs and darts of Elephantine scorn
and derision, through to final victory in the greater contest to come.
And, dear God, should both of these thy champions fail to unseat the
Princes of the Powers of this World,
help us all.
Here's some old pictures from 2005, before I started doing the blog. I just stumbled across them.
Here's me in Boston, at the grave of Samuel Adams. I can't believe the gravestone mentions all that stuff about "Declaration of Independence" and "ardent patriot" but says nothing about him being a brewer. (Click on the pic if you want to actually be able to read the gravestone.)
And here's me in Healdsburg, Calif., at the Bear Republic brewpub, a day before the wedding of our friends Erin and Ben. I have no idea what I'm doing with my hand. It looks like I'm doing the "Hang Loose" sign, but I can't imagine that, because I'm certain I've never flashed that sign in my entire life, and I hope somebody would slap me if I did. Maybe I'm picking my nose.
