St. Pauli Girl

Was in Austin over the weekend for SXSW and sampled a few locals:

Austin Beerworks Fire Eagle, Austin Beerworks Pearl Snap, The One They Call Zoe Lager, Thirsty Planet Brewing Bucket Head IPA

I only had one beer left in the fridge on Saturday night. Fat Tire. It went well with pork tacos.

Smithwick's

Goose Island IPA, a newcomer to my fridge

Must not be a UA flyer :p

Grabbed Elysian's Immortal IPA - I wanted to give it a shot, given that I haven't seen a lot of their stuff since they got bought out by Anheuser InBev. It's a solid IPA, but it definitely has that refined, smooth feel that a lot of these beers that have been bought out by macro brewers (similar to, ironically enough, Goose Island) have. Not as good as it used to be.

Sapporo

Victory Vital IPA

Drinking Atypical, an oak-aged IPA from Barrier Brewing. Very good body and full flavor.

New one for my fridge: Hi-Wire Brewing Hi-Pitch Mosaic IPA. Quite good.

You never forget your first Girl. :D

We had unexpected guests yesterday afternoon and I found myself taking them to The Craft Bar for dinner. I'm not ashamed that I broke my Lenten beer-fast as a result. I did limit myself to a single pint of Red Right Return Irish Ale from local Oyster City Brewing.

After dinner, I was perusing the beer list once more and discovered a barrel aged, high gravity version of Funky Buddha's Last Snow, my favorite beer in the world and only available for a couple months of the year. It's called Last Buffalo in the Park and I paid $31 plus tax for a 32 ounce crowler. A coworker has been bugging me to share some of the Last Snow I have stashed at home. I decided I would invite him over to split the crowler. Then back to my beer-fast until Easter.

Update: drank the beer last night and it was excellent. Alcohol content was 11.5% as opposed to 6.4% for Last Snow. The other notable difference was a much more coffee forward flavor, with coconut taking a step back. I was just a little disappointed with the crowler, the first I have bought. I don't think I could have waited another day without losing the last of the head. I thought they were good for a week or so. This one maybe 3 days tops.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Yes, the macro breweries did ruin the smaller companies. Red Hook tastes much different now than what I remember it tasting like a few years ago. And not for the better.

Haven't seen the Elysian Porter, "Perseus" for quite a while. Had it been discontinued?

No idea. The only Elysian beer I had seen consistently was Space Dust IPA (an average effort pre-buyout), so I took a flyer on Immortal when I saw it. I miss their jasmine tea-infused IPA...that was such a money beer. I remember where I had that first (at the restaurant under the Ferris wheel in Seattle on a sunny July day). I do worry generally even about some of the bigger craft brewers expanding...I see that Stone is now touting their 'proudly brewed in Virginia' versions of their beers. Pass...give me the San Diego-based versions with their superior water quality any day.

Added a few things to the fridge today:

-Stone Emperial 14th Anniversary IPA (limited-release British-style IPA)...looking forward to seeing how this turns out, given that British pale ales, in general, can tend to be bitter without much of the redeeming qualities that hops can provide

-Flying Dog Tamarind Ale - coincidentally, I had stopped at an Indian restaurant to grab lunch to eat at home with this. What a fantastic beer. Full-bodied and spiced, and a great balance at 7% ABV.

-Revolution Brewing Jukebox Hero Black IPA. Perhaps a touch less bitter / slightly sweeter than 21st Amendment's Back to Black, but very similar (down to the casing in cans).