Saint Arnold Participates in 'Hops for Heroes'

Bravo to Saint Arnold for helping out our service members:


Press Release
HOMEFRONT IPA ANNOUNCES EXPANSION INTO FIVE NEW BREWERIES AS IT CONTINUES ITS SUPPORT OF OPERATION HOMEFRONT
“Hops for Heroes” participating breweries will be partnered with a baseball ambassador to champion Homefront IPA and increase donations made in support of military families and service members.

Ashland, Virginia, March 30:  Saint Arnold Brewing Company (www.saintarnold.com), the oldest craft brewery in Texas, is among the six craft breweries participating in “Hops for Heroes.” The initiative, which involves brewing and bottling Homefront IPA later this spring, will raise funds for Operation Homefront. A creation of Major League Pitcher Chris Ray and Fremont Brewing Company, Hops for Heroes began last year in Seattle. In 2012, it expands into five new markets, including Texas:

·         St. Arnold, Houston, TX

·         Sly Fox, Phoenixville, PA

·         21^st Amendment, San Francisco, CA

·         Cigar City, Tampa, FL

·         Perennial Artisan Ales, St. Louis, MO

Homefront IPA is a collaborative beer developed in 2011 by Fremont Brewing Company and Center of the Universe Brewing Company in order to raise money and awareness for Operation Homefront (operationhomefront.net), a charity that provides emergency financial and other assistance to the families of our service members and wounded warriors.

Aged on oak bats donated from Louisville Slugger, this IPA is more than just flavorful – it improves the lives of our soldiers. All proceeds from the sale of this beer will be donated to Operation Homefront.

The expansion into these breweries and the support from our generous sponsors – Hops Direct, LLC, The County Malt Group, Louisville Slugger, Great Western Malting Co., Brewers Supply Group, and Rahr Malting Group – makes for a promising 2012. Baseball ambassadors and special events will be announced in the upcoming weeks.  

Event this weekend at Independence. Sounds worthwhile:

Pints for Pups April 21, 12-3pm @Independence Brewing

http://www.independencebrewing.com/events/pints-for-pups/

Join us from Noon to 3pm for a tasting event at the brewery that will benefit 6 local dog rescues/shelters.  For $10 guests will receive a commemorative pint glass and enjoy some of our finest brews.

Steve Anderson Leaving Live Oak, Moving to Alpine

I have double news about Live Oak Brewing. (Does that make it "imperial" news?)

One: They're having their 15th anniversary party this weekend. More on that at the end of the post.

Two: This is the big one. Brewer Steve Anderson, after 32 years in Austin and about a decade at Live Oak (and almost another before that at the late, lamented Waterloo Brewing), is leaving and moving to Alpine, out in west Texas, to start a new production brewery. (That's Steve in the picture, and yes, I'm sad to say that is the best picture I have of him.)

I wish I could say I'm breaking this news, but Scrumptious Chef beat me to it back in January. But maybe I'm the first to interview him  about it:

"I'm there right now," Anderson said when I caught him on the phone. "I'm opening Big Bend Brewing. I'll have a 30-barrel brewhouse. Our flagship beer will be either a pilsner or helles named Tejas."

Why those styles?

"It's beer for out here," Anderson says. "They're lagers. And it's hot and dry here. We'll also brew a hefeweizen and an IPA. Probably a porter and a bock later, but they may become year-round beers. We'll sell draft here in the region, and maybe in Austin, and we'll can."

But why Alpine?

"I've been wanting to do this for about a dozen years," Anderson says. "We visited out here and fell in love with the area." [An affliction that befalls a lot of Texans who visit the Big Bend region, as I myself can attest. I've had Big Bend Fever since about age 12.]

"We've had a house in Sanderson for about 12 years, and now we have one in Alpine. I didn't say anything about these plans for a long time. It was just a pipe dream, but then this finally panned out. There's no stopping it now."

It panned out because he landed some financial partners who also love the area, including Matt Kruger of Chicago and Connecticut's Clifford Mallory and Konrad Wos.

As for his replacement at Live Oak, owner Chip McElroy says the brewing duties are actually dispersed among three employees, so there's really not a "head brewer." As for losing Anderson: "Oh my gosh," McElroy says. "I hate to see him go, but he really loves west Texas. It's all for the good. I know he'll still be in our lives, though."

Anderson says he'll be back in town for the 15th Anniversary party. Here's the info on that, shamelessly cut-and-pasted from Beer Snob Sarah, who shamelessly cut-and-pasted it from an e-mail sent out by Live Oak:

Hello Live Oak Fans!

It’s that time of the year again - time for the Live Oak Anniversary Party. This is our 15th anniversary and possibly the last Anniversary party at our old, original address. [Wait, they're moving? Okay, make it triple news. Or is that tripel news?]

As usual we will have live music, sausage wraps by our neighbor Smokey Denmark, hummus treats from Zilks Foods, a bouncy house for the kids and, of course, beer from Live Oak Brewing Co.

The band line up is:

• The Brown Paperbags
• Lonesome Dave Fisher
• Corrine Rose
• The Lennings
• Leo Rondeau
• The Preservation
• The Superlites
• Chinaski

So, please come and join us in celebrating the completion of our 15th year of business in Austin, Texas - now the “Live Beer Capital of the World”.

Time: Saturday, April 14th, from Noon to 6 pm.

Place: Live Oak Brewing Co.
3301-B East 5th St.
Austin, TX 78702

Kids are welcome, but please leave your pets at home.

My Hill Country Brewpubs Tour in Austin Chronicle

My Central Texas readers may have noticed: A whole lot of brewpubs have begun springing up in the Hill Country west of Austin. In today's Austin Chronicle, I explore how good beer is spreading to the most beautiful part of Texas. Please give it a read here.

P.S. I must offer my apologies to the Barber Shop in Dripping Springs. I love that place, and visited there in the course of putting this article together, and yet somehow managed to completely forget to include them when I wrote it. I have no idea how I managed to have such a brainfart. I shall try to make amends to them, either here or in the pages of the Chronicle.

UPDATE: The online version of the article now contains a review of the Barber Shop.

Only a Fool Would Pass Up This Beer

Schlafly was supposed to release this at the first of the month, so I suppose it's too late for me to get some, but damn it sounds good.



Oh well, I guess I just settle for a six-pack of Heisler.

Local Beer Festival Canceled

I just received the following e-mail. It refers to this festival.

I have taken the decision to cancel the festival that was scheduled for April 21^st. This decision was prompted by 2 factors:

·         A number of sponsors who had agreed to support the event did not provide funding in time for me to produce what I felt would have been a quality event. I would rather cancel than produce something substandard.
·         The disastrous Austin Beer Festival that was held last Sat at the Travis County Expo Grounds. The complete fiasco – well documented online – has contaminated the market for beer festivals – especially ones run by private  companies.

I want to thank you for your interest in the event and will let you know if I decide to re-schedule.

Regards

Steve Farrer

Metzger Challenges Restaurants to Up Their Beer Game

Okay, I've started to let this blog look like an abandoned amusement park. Time to start posting again.

And a new acquaintance in the beer-loving world will help me out today. As I've mentioned, back in December I started a new job as the communications director for a state senator from San Antonio, which has necessitated getting to know the news media in my neighbor city to the southwest. Among those has been Ryan Loyd of Texas Public Radio, who, as it turns out, was already a fan of I Love Beer, along with his wife Sarah, who is a fellow beer blogger.

Ryan's figured out what I wised up to a few years ago -- if you're a reporter who also happens to love craft beer, then make a beat out of it. Hey, it's a lot more interesting than sitting through a zoning commission meeting.

This morning, via my iPhone, I heard Ryan reporting on that incorrigible troublemaker Scott Metzger, owner of Freetail Brewing, a San Antonio brewpub, again doing something crazy: encouraging his competitors to get more competitive with him. He's challenged local restaurateurs to quit having lame beer selections in places that otherwise serve fine food. Craft beer is at least as interesting as fine wine, and deserves the same attention to selection. (And no, his challenge doesn't directly benefit Metzger, because of Texas' unfair laws banning brewpubs from selling their beer in other bars and restaurants, although Scott is smart enough to know that cultivating the craft beer market in San Antonio generally will eventually lead people to his door.) Good for Scott, and good for Ryan for covering it.

It's a good story. Check it out here.