Boston Brewing Company's Samuel Adams Long Shot Old Ben Ale

The only reason I bought this was because of the Long Shot competition. I bet it started as a great beer. but will be greatly reduced after Sam Adams gets hold of it.

Pours a deep coppery amber with a nice small-celled tan head. Nice bready smell to it, with no alcohol, a surprise for a 9% beer.

There's the alcohol. It's the biggest part of the taste, followed by a sickly sweet fruit taste. Not citrus, more dank.

I bet this was alright at the home brew competition, but here it's odd. Too much going on to be an old ale, I think.

Dixie Brewing Company's Blackened Voodoo Lager

I hate all things that incorporate the word 'Dixie' into them, and despite avoiding this one for years for that very reason, I decided to buy it just so I could hate on it.

Blackened? Not really. It's closer to a brown. It's like their hillbilly dislike for black people kept them from making a black beer, too. It has that wet raisin smell that poorly made lagers often have.

It's a lager, so I didn't expect it to have much body, but this tastes and feels like an MGD 64--whatever that tastes like, anyway. It feels weak. The bitterness tastes like it comes from a bad metal taste from the tanks, not hops. No malt to speak of.

All in all, exactly what I expected. Maybe the next big hurricane will take this place out for good.

Flying Dog Brewery's Snake Dog IPA

One of the most over-hyped over self-promoted breweries ever. Yes, I like the label art. The beer just never has matched it.

Pours a decent enough amber, with a pillowy tan head that is fairly large probably because the last pour out of the bottle was all foam. Smells nice enough, with a fair amount of grassy hops but a substantial amount of malt as well.

Eh. Kind of a dull, hollowness to it. The grassy hops smell is adulterated in the taste, and the bitterness flattens out to bland, followed by a weird bitter aftertaste.

About what I remembered this beer to be, when I tried it years ago. Won't try it for several more, if then.

Estrella Damm

Another single that I had to pick up.

Pours a clear yellow with a fizzy white head. Like a lot of European lagers, it seems to be a pilsner. And from the funky smell, a Czech at that.

Light bodied--too light for a German pils. Nice and crisp, but a little more dull than a Czech Rebel. A little more watered down. Good beer for what it is, but not a great beer for the style.

Otter Creek Brewing Company's Wolaver's Certified Organic Ben Gleason's White Ale

Saw the label and thought it was going to be a straight-up wheat. Must. Read. The. Labels.

Pours a hazy yellow with a white head that thins to a sheet fairly quickly. Has that deep yeasty smell that wits have. I'm hopeful though, because it doesn't have the plastic or chemical smell that many have. I've like the only other Wolaver's beer I've had so far, which was a very good stout, so maybe this will be better than most wits as well.

Eh. It's heavier-bodied than most macros, but not much, and has a zip to it that they can have. Smothered under a hugely wet, yeasty taste. I like this better than most wits, but it's still not my favorite style. It is, however, well done for the style that it is ad I'd recommend it to anyone who like wits.

Twisted Pine Brewing Company's Red Mountain Ale

Pours a fairly deep red, almost brown, with a nice tan head that stays. Smells like a pretty strong pale, with grassy hops and a sweeter than normal malt for an amber/red.

The taste is back down to a red though. Standard amount of bitterness that is less grassy than the smell, and no real sweetness. Instead, more of a grainy malt taste that suits the style well. A bit watery in the feel, is my only complaint, and otherwise it's a pretty good red.

Big Sky Brewing Company's Moose Drool Brown Ale

I've had a few Big Sky beers, but none have been posted here for some reason. Guess it's been a while. Of all of them, Moose Drool has the biggest following. The right name is everything, sometimes.

Pours a nice brown, tinged with red. Tan head dissipates to a collar pretty quickly. Nice slightly nutty smell, with minimal hops.

Much nuttier in the taste. Nice, fairly light body, again with light hops so that the malt is more prevalent than the bitterness.

Good version of an American Brown. Not a sexy style, but a solid beer.

Abbaye St-Remy's Trappistes Rochefort 10

I stopped trying Belgians by the time this one was widely available in Houston, but I couldn't pass it up for one reason, here about a month ago.

Nice, deep smell. Not terribly bready like I'd expect, but deep ad not hoppy. Slightly fizzy smell to it. Tan head didn't stick around too long, but didn't disappear immediately, either.

Big feel to it, like a quad should have. Fairly strong alcohol taste, which isn't unexpected from an 11.3% ABV, but I wish it was hidden a little better. I know a lot of people would talk about dark fruits when describing this beer, but I refuse to. It has a deep, slow taste to it, with a wet cigar tobacco aftertaste.

Excellent beer. Trappists know what they're doing.

Dogfish Head's Raison D'Etre

I'm guessing this will be another over-hyped Dogfish beer, but I swear I'm keeping my mind open.

Pours a deep brown--same color but not as opaque as Palo Santo, with a nice tan head that stays. Smells kinda fizzy. Very slightly nutty, like a brown, but mostly just kind of... there.

Eh, not bad. I expected something much more off the wall. The 8% ABV is imperceptible, and there isn't a hint of the standard Belgian yeast flavors. It feels a little fizzy as well, but in general it's pretty good. Not hoppy or bready, just kind of light in feel despite the color and alcohol.

Grand Teton Brewing Company's Lost Continent Double IPA

I've liked everything I've had from this brewery, so I hope this hasn't been sitting in the cellar too long. From what I remember, I got it in Nebraska about a year ago.

Pours a cloudy deep amber with a pillowy light tan head that thins fairly quickly to a sheet. Big grassy hops smell, with a sweet malt and a slight hint of alcohol. 8% ABV is bigger than most, but not too big for a DIPA.

Whoa. It has such a big scotch hit to it that I had to look this beer up and see if it wasn't barrel aged. It wasn't, as best as I can tell. And the description from the brewery throws in just about every fruit they can think of as taste descriptors, and I just don't get it. I can taste the grapefruit in the mid-aftertaste, but the biggest thing about this beer is the oak taste, followed by the solidly bitter hops.

Good beer. Wish I'd had a warning about the scotch, but it's pretty good nonetheless.

Left Hand Brewing Company's 400 Pound Monkey English-Style India Pale Ale

Pours a yellowish amber with a decent enough light tan head. Slightly grassy, more malt than the last IPA I had, which is a good sign.

Tastes nice, I'm betting this has been laying around a while so I bet it would be better if it was newer. Grassy hops that are fairly moderate, with a lighter body than I would like.

All in all, there's nothing that stands out about this one. Not bad, but not great, just a middle of the road IPA. That's about par for this brewery, from my experience.

Twisted Pine Brewing Company's Hoppy Boy IPA

Damn. Foams out of the bottle, then again right out of the glass. Too bad, because it smells like it would be a good IPA.

Pours a nice amber with a tan head, and there must be some carbonation left because it's loosely filtered with particulates that rise to the top and then sink again. Smells nice. Very grassy, and slightly sweet.

Despite the apparent carbonation, it feels dead. It tastes nice because it's still pretty grassy and bitter and despite the slight sweetness there's no feel to it at all. I'm certain it's because of how it foamed out, but regardless of why it makes this a weak beer because it just feels wrong.

Xingu Black Beer

I bought this thinking it was from China. Oh well.

Pours black alright. Color and body of a standard stout, with a fizzy head but I'm going to stick with my gut that it's an ale and not a lager. Smells kind of like a porter. Slightly sweeter than a stout, with a smaller roasted smell.

Whoa. It's like drinking fizzy raisins. Blech. Too sweet with a weird tobacco (cigar, not pipe or cigarette) aftertaste. Stay away from this one.

D.G. Yuengling and Sons' Yuengling Porter

So, my first Yuengling. From what I can tell it's like the Shiner of Pennsylvania, but with a longer history. Sounds good to me.

Pours nice. Like a stout with a hint of red and a nice medium-tan head that stays pretty well. Smells great. Roasted malt with a sweet floral hops, but both are subtle. Tannins are even more so.

Nice. Still very mild, very much like a schwarzbier, but enough body and tannins to distinguish it. A good version of the style, and a very good beer.

Spoetzel Brewery's Marzen-Style Oktoberfest

I don't remember this last year--glad to see another Texas Oktoberfest, even if it is likely to taste like Shiner Bock with a twist. It has '96' on the neck label--maybe this is what they brewed that year for their anniversary beer.

Pours very light orange with a ton of carbonation and a nice light tan head that stays for quite a while. Clear Shiner smell to it. It also has a sweeter malt taste to it, but to me it has hints of bock.

Bigger than the clear color would indicate, but more bland than expected. I like Marzen-style beers to be a little spicier, to feel a little more like Fall. This one, is just kind of bland.

Dogfish Head's 60 Minute IPA

I was surprised to see that my Dogfish Head beers, except for the big ones, predate my posts here. Been a while and I've felt no real urge to go back and buy more of them, because I have always considered this brewery's IPAs a bit overrated.

Pours a hazy almost amber with a huge pillowy tan head. Throws off a ton of floral hops at first, but then kind of dies out in the smell. Slightly sweet, more from the hops than the malt, it seems.

This one tastes kind of like your regular old pale. Nice body to it with a decent amount of malt, but the hops take a back seat to the hops, which you wouldn't expect from an IPA, much less "The continually-hopped" one.

Pretty much like I remembered it--average.

Summit Brewing Company's Horizon Red Ale

Pours right. Reddish, to almost brown, actually. Light tan head that stays well. Decent enough smell, slightly sweet and crisp, with a raw hops smell as well.

Not bad. A bit harsh, maybe, like the raw smell indicated, but overall it';s pretty good. I've had a few Summit beers and was surprised to see that I haven't posted about them, but this one is my favorite so far, from what I remember.

San Miguel's Dark Lager

Here's how you know you have a problem--even a crap beer is a must-buy because you haven't seen the dark version of the crap beer you've had before.

Pours a deep brown, with a nice tan head that's fizzy like it should be for a lager. Smells sickly sweet though, and a bit like raisins. I hate that I just used that word in describing a beer. Someone please shoot me if I ever say 'cloying'.

Eh. Just a stronger Budweiser. A little sweeter, a little more roasted, and a little more bitter. Not a very good beer, because it's just too sweet.

Laguinitas Brewing Company's Imperial Red Ale

Finally, a Lagunitas beer without a stupid name.

Pours a deeper red than most, so that's another step in the right direction. Decent enough tan head that thins to a sheet, which is fairly standard for a red/amber.

Nice, sweet smell. Kind of a light, floral hops, which adds to the sweet smell. Not bready, or grainy, just sweet.

Good hit, close to an IPA. The hops are grassier than I expected, which I guess is what makes it taste like an IPA to me. Sure, it's basically an amber and an imperial amber is basically an IPA, but still. And because of the sweetness, it also reminds me of a substantially lighter Old Foghorn, from Anchor.

Very nice beer. I like just about everything Lagunitas brews, just not what they call them.

Pike Brewing Company's 2009 Pike Entire Wood Aged Stout

On a good note, I see that none of my old reviews of Pike beers are on this blog. So, I have an excuse to buy them all again.

I can't remember where I got this one, or how long ago. I'm hoping that they didn't over-do the wood aged aspect, as so many brewers are prone to do in an attempt to be bigger than they really are. Pike always does the bigger beers right though.

This one pours black. Completely opaque with a nice dark tan head. Throws off a big, grainy, roasted smell. Not really scotchy, like some wood aged beers can be, but instead slightly oaky with some vanilla. That's good.

Nice. Big and smooth, not quite an imperial but more than a standard stout. Good roasted flavor that's closer to coffee than chocolate, with the vanilla still slightly present.

Very good beer. Makes me want to make the rounds through the Pike beers even sooner. I'll pick up the seasonals as they appear, but I have too many singles to go out and pick up more right now.

A good problem to have, I guess.

Michigan Brewing Company's Celis White

This post will be proof positive to the one person who ever reads it that I can be objective. Just because I don't like something, doesn't mean it isn't done right.

This one pours a hazy yellow with a fizzy white head that fades fairly quickly. Throws off a ton of floral hops and that weird, chemical smelling yeast that I don't like. But, of course, it's supposed to be like that.

Ooof. Smells the same. Do.Not.Like.

Yeah, tastes to me like a weak form of cleaning solution. It's zippy and light, with a huge amount of the Belgian-type yeast that I just cannot stand.

But for the style, it's very good. It has all of the characteristics that a Belgian wit should have, and is fairly strong for one as well. So if you like for even the lighter beers to have a little more kick than usual, and like Belgians, you'll like this one.

I just don't, though.

Buzzards Bay Brewing Company's Buzzard's Bay Brown

Man, I remember the last time I looked up this brewery I found that it had been sold and the labels discontinued. And that felt like a year ago. Still, it's sitting in the cellar, so I'm trying it tonight. Besides, I just came back from out of state with about 40 new beers to try, so I'm cleaning house.

Pours a clear, slightly coppery brown with a nice enough tan head. Browns never seem to have much in the way of carbonation or head, and this one follows that trend.

Smells fine. Earthy malt, slightly nutty, low hops that are more floral than bitter.

Nice enough taste as well. It is still a bit raw feeling like a brown should be, but it has lost quite a bit of its zip. This beer is well over a year old, so that's expected. I bet it was really good back then. It's pretty good now.

It's also gone for good.

Great Divide Brewing Company's 16th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA

This is one of the first breweries that I remember being different. And although I traditionally don't like wood aged beers because they're overdone with scotch, I'll try everything Great Divide makes.

Pours slow, with a ton of body. That's a good sign. Deep amber with a huge tan head and a great smell. Slight vanilla that comes from the oak, but mostly floral hops and a slightly sweet malt.

Tastes about the same. Solid body and a great bitterness that isn't affected by the oak, which isn't too scotchy like some brewers try to make it. Good stuff, and another reason this brewery has set itself apart from the start for me.

Ridgeway Brewing's Bad King John Black Ale

I've started to like all Ridgeway beers, and a black ale as opposed to a black lager is intriguing, so I have high hopes for this one.

Pours like a stout, although not as opaque as some. Nice tan head and a good, roasted grain smell to it.

Excellent taste to it. I'm not sure what the difference between a black ale and a stout, but it feels just a little lighter in the body so maybe the gravity is the distinction. Either way, it's about like a Saint Arnold's stout, which I think is one of the lightest out there. It's even got a little more flavor than St. A's. Good beer, from a brewery that's working its way up my list.

Sweet Water Brewing Company's Extra Pale Ale

Pours a slightly hazy light amber with decent carbonation and a decent enough tan head. Nice grassy hops in the smell, with a twangy, sweet malt as well. Almost a bit of citrus--orange, not lemon.

Nice. I've had this one sitting around for a while and was a bit worried about how good it would be. Plus, it's from Georgia. But it's right on type for a pale (I don't know about that "extra" business). Fairly solid bitterness, with a nice body and slight sweetness to round it out.

Simonds Farsons Cisk's XS Cisk Extra Lage

A Maltese beer? Had to buy it.

Pours a slightly amber yellow with a head that never really forms, despite pretty strong carbonation. Smells like white grape juice.

Huh. Decent body, which must be what the "extra" is about. And I didn't notice before, but it has 9% ABV, but bites like it's higher. Not very subtle. Sickly sweet malt and a cardboard bitterness that only comes out when the rest of the flavors thankfully fade away.

Not a good beer.

Moylan's Brewing Company's Kilt Lifter

Pours a deep orangish amber, and pours very slowly in a way that implies a big body. Big rocky head stays for a long time.

Huge floral hops thrown off as the head dissipates, and if you get closer you can smell a slightly sweet malt.

Big. I'm starting to really like this style, and this is a very good one. Solid in both bitterness and bready malt, it's a big beer that is essentially like a much less hoppy barley wine. I can only remember having two others of this type, and liked them both. So I'll move it right up under stouts as my favorite type.

Real Ale Brewing Company's Oktoberfest

I'm glad to see the various new beers from Real Ale. I've liked them for years, even back when people were complaining about carbonation issues, or distribution problems, or whatever it was cool to complain about at the time. All that seems to be behind them now, and I haven't heard a complaint about them, legitimate or otherwise, for some time. What they need now is a good stout--but that's not a complaint. I just want someone to give Southern Star and Independence Brewing a run for their money. And I love Saint Arnold's, but their stout is flat-out inferior to the others.

This one pours a nice, clear orangish-amber with a great small celled tan head that stays well. Smells very mildly spicy, and zippy.

Light taste with low bitterness and malt, with a good spiciness for the style. I don't really know Bavarian Style from Marzen, but they taste pretty close to me. Which makes this an excellent beer for an Oktoberfest.

Ridgway Brewing's Foreign Export Stout

I must confess my ignorance as to what make a stout one that is foreign and to be exported. If it's foreign, wouldn't you haves to import it? And aren't all exports to foreign places? I don't know.

What I do know is that it pours a nice, almost completely opaque black with a good tan head that sticks. And that it smells grainy and substantial.

Tastes the same. It's straightforward, with a solid roasted grain that keeps its grainy taste and has a limited amount of the other chocolate or coffee tastes or smoothness that lactose can impart. Simple.

Great beer. Glad I picked up one of every Ridgway beer I saw.

Dogfish Head's Red and White

Alright, I know ahead of time it's a wit, but I couldn't avoid the hype.

Pours a solid amber with large particulates and a nice light tan head.

Smells sweet, like a white grape juice. The yeast smell that I don't like is barely present, so I'm hoping the taste is better than I expected.

Sure enough, it's like a sweet, grapey, light bodied wit. The taste that I usually don't like in Belgians is almost imperceptible, so I drank it all. I won't buy it again, but it was interesting.

Harpoon Brewery's 100 Barrel Series Single Hop ESB

Pours a deep amber with a nice tan head that stays very well.

Smells great. A good compromise of hops and malt, without getting too hoppy like an IPA as a few ESB's try to do.

Solid taste. Hops are indistinct but present, the malt is there without being too sweet.

Good beer. I've decided to pick up every beer in this series that I see.

Backus and Johnson's Cusquena

Another single that I couldn't pass up.

Pours a clear yellow with a fizzy white head that quickly thins.

Huh. Great smell. Excellent pilsner funk to it, more hoppy than malty.

This is a good beer. It's right where it needs to be for the style, and damn if that's not surprising fro Peru. I'll have more of this, for sure.

Sterkens Brewery's Belgian Dubbel Ale

I have several beers, parks, and BBQ joints that I haven't posted in a while, but this one seems like a perfect one to start back with.

Pours a great deep brown, with a smooth tan head that stays. Smells great. I know I bag on Belgians all the time, but this reminds me of when I first started trying different beers and thought Belgians were the best. I had yet to try all of the great American beers out there, so the Belgians were still fairly pure and I didn't taste the various odd plastic and chemical yeast tastes that they often leave me with now. But this one is straight-up bready. Like the type f beers you hear about monks brewing as a bread substitute during fasts.

Nice. Straight-forward, bready, and like a substantive beer that is the way it's supposed to be. It's not as good as Sam Smith's Stingo, but it's getting there and it makes me want to go back and try the Belgian staples again to re-evaluate them.

I don't think they have this at Spec's, so go to D&O on Richmond in Houston, and after you're done step across the street to Chapultepec for some of the best Mexican food in the city.

Laguinitas Brewing Company's Gnarleywine

You know how small equipment with four cycle engines use oil that's not black, but it's kind of amber to orange? That's how this pours, almost.

Smells great, too. Big head that thins but stays, and a smell that doesn't quit. Strong, grassy hops with big, sweet malt.

Well, the 10.85% ABV makes it a little sharp, but otherwise it's a nice beer. Not as good as I was hoping early on, but it has a big body and strong bitterness that stays for quite a while. This bomber will probably be the only one I have tonight, so I hope it slows down a bit as it warms.

Spoetzel Brewery's Shiner Frost

Not sure why I'm just now getting to this beer, but I'm hoping this goes well with my brisket and sausage from Leon's in Galveston.

Pours a clear, deep yellow to amber with a nice fizzy white head that stays well with decent carbonation. Nice malty smell. Very slight hops smell in there somewhere. Not distinct.

You know, this tastes a great deal like a bock, and not just because it has a hint of the Shiner Bock taste to it, but it has a solid malt that fades pretty quickly to a crisp bitterness that never overpowers it or makes you forget that it's mostly malt. Nice and mild with kind of a peppery finish, it goes very well with my BBQ.

Independence Brewing Company's Stash IPA

Pours a deep amber, slightly hazy, with a huge tan head that stays forever. Smells great as it pours, too. Nice and grassy, with the malt present, but clearly secondary.

This is very similar to Great Divide's barleywine, just scaled back as an IPA should be. Big grassy bitterness with a nice, smooth body and with the malt providing more body than taste. Not sweet, it's slightly sharp.

Very nice beer. I'm glad to see that they're thinking through this and their stout more than their regular offerings. This is probably the best IPA in Texas, in fact.

Stevens Point Brewery's Whole Hog Six Hop IPA

Pours a cloudy deep amber with a light tan head that like many IPAs thins to a sheet, but stays.

I can smell it right as it starts to pour. Both grassy and floral, a bit sharp, and with an alcohol bite to it. Slightly sweet malt is back in there somewhere.

The alcohol stays prominently in the taste, followed by a grassy bitterness, which is finished off by a nutty brown taste, which is very unusual for an IPA. The 8.5% ABV is unusual for an IPA and explains the alcohol bite, but I wish they would have hidden it a bit better. Otherwise, it's a pretty decent beer that is a nice twist on an IPA.

Saigon Beer-Alcohol Beverage Corp.'s Saigon Export

Ingredients: water, malt, rice, hop.

Just one hop?

Pours a clear amber-tinged yellow with a decent head for a lager on the lighter side. Wow, for only 4.9% ABV, this one smells like little more than alcohol. It's like a champagne pilsner, but only once your nose stops burning.

Not too bad of a taste. Kind of like a white grape juice pilsner. A friend of my dad's once wrote a book about Vietnam called Winter's Coming, Winter's Gone, and this must be the tiger piss he wrote about. Good book. Mediocre beer.

Odell Brewing Company's India Pale Ale

Pours a hazy, deep amber with a nice tan head. Smells floral, with a sharp alcohol bite right at first. Both mellow to primarily malt. Not really sweet,and not really bready.

Ooof. Tastes like alcohol and sharp bitterness. Not in a good way, either. Thin body that makes it feel and taste week, except for the harshness of the alcohol and a bitterness that isn't really hoppy, just harsh.

Not a good beer, and I'm not drinking any more of it.

Grand Teton Brewing Company's Sweetgrass IPA

Nice. A bottle conditioned IPA from a random micro brewery? Should be good.

Pours a nice amber with a good tan head that sticks well. Hazy with quite a few larger particulates floating around on the carbonation. Looks great.

Pretty mils. Sweet malt and slight grassy hops are in there, but it's not as in your face as many IPAs try to be.

Very nice. Bitterness is right on, and it's got a nice body that many IPAs seem to skip. I think the yeast is contributing to the bitterness, but not in a negative way. It just feels bigger than a heavily filtered IPA.

Nice beer. I've had others from Grand Teton but I don't remember liking them this much.

Great Divide Brewing Company's Wild Raspberry Ale

On the one hand, I like very few fruit beers. On the other, Great Divide is one of my favorite breweries. Here goes.

Wow, throws off a huge sweet malt smell. Not really raspberry, but sweet and bready.

Pours a deep amber, like a red ale, not red like raspberry. Hopefully that means they were subtle about the raspberry.

Good for a fruit beer. It's as bitter as a pale, but not as sharp. It's dulled by the sweet raspberry taste, and then everything fades pretty quickly to a bitter hops and raspberry taste.

I wouldn't ever look for it again, but it's one of the better fruit beers out there. Not in your face like Fort (the one exception to the rule that too much is a bad thing), but enough to tell what it is without completely abandoning the taste and feel of a beer.

The Hickory Pit

This place is in the old fake Luling City Market off West Gray, and I'm in the area frequently so I thought I'd give it a shot. Plus, I was in between hearings and had plenty of time for lunch and a beer. Or two.

First impression: Five meat combo! Why don't more places do this?

Sauce is light and vinegary. Hint of black pepper, with a non-distinct red pepper zip. Not bad, but meh.

Cole slaw was light instead of sloppy and soaked in mayo, with chives. Good stuff. Pinto beans were well cooked with primarily black pepper and a bit of the sauce, it seems. Good, especially because there's no hint of the ranch style taste that so many places have.

Sausage had a crisp skin and were moderately smoked, but had a bit too much of a summer sausage taste to them. Nicely ground though, not chunky and fatty like a summer sausage.

Pulled pork is nicely smoked and lean. Pulls apart easily and is moist. Good stuff.

Finally, a well-smoked brisket in Houston. It could stand a slight salt rub, but not much of one. It's lean and moist with a substantial smoke layer. Good stuff.

The ribs are a let down after the rest. They're chewy, and because I was here fairly soon after they opened I suspect they're from yesterday. They were also a bit on the cool side. They have a slight rub that tastes like the sauce, which doesn't compliment the meat at all. They were lean and had decent smoke flavor though, so drop the rub and serve them off the smoker and I bet they'll be good.

I won't be back, mostly because it failed to top my favorite Mexican food restaurant in the area, but this place has potential. Just tweak a few things, and it'll be one of the best places in Houston. As it is, it's got a couple of high points but overall is solidly in the pack of halfway decent BBQ places in Houston.


138 West Gray
Houston, Texas 77019
(713) 527-8100
Mon. to Sat. 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Black Sheep Brewery's Holy Grail Ale

You know how you can tell I'm not a serious beer drinker? Because I try stuff like this.

Pours a nice amber, with a good tan head that stays well.

Nice and grassy, with a slight floral smell as well. Not a lot of malt in the smell.

Eh. Kind of empty. It's kind of slightly bitter, and kind of maybe a little like a pale, and maybe there's a smooth body to it. But in general, it's just... kind of a beer.

Tibet Lhasa Brewery Brewery, Ltd.'s Lhasa Beer

Last time I had a beer from such a random country, I was very pleasantly surprised. It was Lion Stout from Sri Lanka, and it was a very good beer. So, who knows.

Pours a slightly hazy deep yellow with a big, fizzy, white head that actually stays very well.

Says "all malt lager" on the label, but lists Saaz hops as an ingredient--I know they meant 'all barley malt', but still. Very low hops smell, mostly a sweet malt with a hint of yeast.

Very nice for such a light beer. The taste follows the smell closely. Very light hops that are more apparent in the aftertaste than anywhere else, and a light, smooth, malt that isn't too sweet.

Good beer. Not sure I'll ever have occasion to have it again, but maybe just for kicks.

Boulevard Brewing Company's Single-Wide IPA

To me Boulevard is another brewery that distributes beyond its means. Beyond its abilities, certainly, given that their beers generally seem off. Like a small Sam Adams.


This one pours more orange than amber, with a huge tan head that may be because there was some water in my glass, but then again it stuck pretty well so maybe it's legitimate.

Smells OK too. Moderately hoppy for the style, with floral hops that are a bit... soapy.

I like the taste, there's just not enough of it. It's has a slight punch and a good twang to the hops but in a good way. Loses the twang as it warms, and gets a bit harsh.

Not bad, just drink it fast.

Fredericksburg Brewing Company

I've been here twice now, both times after hiking Enchanted Rock. It makes a great stop on the way home, or if you're camping in the area. The food is pretty good for what you should expect in the area, and the beers are decent. Not great, and not all good, but worth supporting. Hopefully they'll tweak them in the future to beef them up a little.

The beers are below, and are very briefly described. I took minimal notes because I was tired as hell. But, they all seem to fit what I remember.

Haupsttrasse Helles: This one pours a clear yellow with a fizzy white head. Grassy hops, unusual for a helles. I think of them as much more subdued, but this one has more kick to it than others of the style.

Harper Valley IPA: You know, this one is weak, more like a pale. Looks and smells on style in other ways, but it's just too weak.

Not So Dumb Blonde: It's weak, as expected, but has a harsh, cardboard bitterness that I never like in a beer.

Peacepipe Pale Ale: I like this. It's as bold as an IPA, which makes me wonder if the server didn't mix up the pale and the IPA. Grassy hops with a nice, smooth body.

Enchanted Rock Red Ale: This is a fairly sweet amber with a slight hint of the grassy hops that are used in the Peacepipe. Good beer, but slightly too sweet.

Pioneer Porter: Their best offering if you ask me. Slightly smoky, light tannins, and a smooth body. Nice.

Pyramid Brewing Company's Thunderhead IPA

Pours a slightly hazy amber with an off-white head.

Great smell. Nice and hoppy, slightly sweet malt backbone.

Pretty good. The hops are a little muted, but still in good form. Nice body to it that is on the heavier end for the style, which I like.

Good beer. I never really go looking for Pyramid beers, but this is the best one of theirs that I can recall.

/in a hurry, for some reason

Dogfish Head's Squall IPA

I'm a sucker for the bombers that are new to Houston, and even though I'm hit and miss on Dogfish beers and I think they play fast and loose with the rules (Palo Santo is not a brown!), I picked this one up right before the 4th,

Pours a nice enough amber, but it pours fast. I was expecting to see more body, and if it's this obvious this early, I'm guessing that it'll be even more obvious in the feel.

Smells very nice. Big and grassy, but not too much malt behind it. I'm thinking I'm one step closer to being disappointed.

Yep, sure enough. The body is just not there, which is a real let down for a beer that is supposed to be this big. It's bitter enough, but there's no malt follow through. The lack of body makes it land flat, and it just feels and tastes fizzy.

I have a couple more DFH bombers sitting around. I'll mix them in with beers that I think will even out the good/bad ratio.

Moylan's Brewing Company's Ryan Sullivan's Imperial Stout

I've heard plenty about this brewery, but never had one of their beers. I figured I'd start them off with one of my favorite styles and hope for the best.

Pours a completely opaque black with a big dark tan head that sticks very well.

Nice, robust smell. Deep and roasted grain, with more coffee than chocolate.

Nice body as well, goes down smooth and is as heavy as an impy stout should be. Still more coffee flavor than chocolate, which I like, and still has a nice roasted flavor as well.

Simple and straight forward, and just right for the style.

Dundee Brewing Company's Honey Brown Extra Rich Lager

Man, I guess wherever Dundee is made "brown" means "crystal clear and kind of orangish." Standard lager head, it fizzes up and then is gone.

The honey smell is fairly strong, mixed in with a harsh malt and alcohol smell. Lots of rise, I think.

Eh, it's like a sweet, bigger, Budweiser. The honey is definitely there, as is the rise-ish harshness that many macro lagers have. It's not a bad beer, it's kind of like the macros--it is what it is.

Productura la Florida's Imperial

It's not labeled as such, but this one os clearly a pilsner--and I'm going to say a Czech instead of a German, since it's not very malty.

Pours a clear deep yellow to amber with a huge tan head.

The smell gives it right away. It has the perfect skunk's ass smell that a pilsner should have. Very floral.

Great taste as well. This is a very good pilsner, which is surprising from Costa Rica. I doubt I'll go back to it, but if I see it around I just might.

Caddo Lake State Park

It's scarily close to Louisiana and Arkansas, but Caddo Lake is a beautiful park near Uncertain, Texas. Huge pine trees, and a swamp that is a rarity in Texas--not even the Deliverance-like parts around Beaumont and Orange are as much like a real swamp as this. Like most all state parks there are primitive campsites, screened shelters, and cabins, but this one offers boat tours of the swamps. The tour boat in the park is a little expensive for what you get, so ask around for a more detailed tour.



And no matter what you do, the one time of the year to go to this park is on July 4th. I heard a few years back that they did fireworks over the swamp on the 4th, so I decided to go despite envisioning a couple of hillbillies shooting Roman candles from the shore. Instead, it's about as big as anything I've seen in Waco or Austin, but not timed perfectly or set to music. I'm serious when I say this is a must-see for everyone. The local restaurants aren't that great, so cook at your campsite and spend your money on fishing guides and a tour.





These are just a very few of the pictures I took. For the fireworks, go to Johnson's Ranch in Uncertain, and hang out on the docks. Or, take some chairs and sit by the stage where the local band plays. Parking can fill up, so be prepared to walk, or park in the yard right across the street and give ChiChi $10.00 like I did. It was worth it.

Martens Brewery's Grand 95

I will never buy beer in plastic bottles again.
I will never buy beer in plastic bottles again.
I will never buy beer in plastic bottles again.
I will never buy beer in plastic bottles again.
I will never buy beer in plastic bottles again.
I will never buy beer in plastic bottles again.
I will never buy beer in plastic bottles again.
I will never buy beer in plastic bottles again.

This one was dead on arrival. Poured a cloudy brownish amber with no head and no apparent carbonation.

Smells like pure alcohol, but only for a second, after which it smells like almost nothing.

I'm sure it's gone bad, so this really isn't fair to judge it. But it tastes like bready peanuts, with a chemical residue in there somewhere.

I have to stop buying every single I see, especially Belgians.

Dutch Crown's Dutch Lager

My compulsion to buy singles has struck again. The key here: low expectations. I'm sure it has a brewery name, but I can't find it on the label. Kind of a generic Euro lager. It says it's a "Dutch Pilsner," whatever that is, although I like pilsners so it should be at least passable.

Mild in smell. The pilsner funk is in there, with a sweetness that European lagers all seem to have.

It's basically two beers competing if you ask me. A harsh Euro lager and the pilsner, with the harshness winning out. More like spoiling the pilsner taste, I guess. Not a good beer, and I'm glad it's out of the way.

Gordon Biersch Brewing Company's Blonde Bock

It's been a while since I had a Gordon Biersch beer, and I remember them as mediocre. Add to that my lackluster feeling about Sierra Nevada's Golden Bock, and all I really hope for this beer is that it doesn't suck mightily. That's okay though, low expectations are usually exceeded.

Pours a hazy light amber with a nice off white head.

Nice malty smell, with a hint of the usual lager smell to go with it. Very low pils smell to it, with a tiny alcohol bite as well.


Well, it doesn't suck mightily, but it's an odd combination of flavors. The aftertaste is the best part of it, it's bready and mellow. Up front, however, it's mostly an odd bitterness with an alcohol bite that really shouldn't be present in a beer under about 9% ABV. Overall, this just isn't a good beer and I'm wondering if the style can be done correctly at all. It seems like a European Golden that has had its flavors heightened by concentrating them, presumably by freezing the beer and scooping out the ice. But I doubt they went to all that trouble for this one.

Thomas Bar-B-Q

Alright, I ordered the three meat plate, with the holy trinity of brisket, ribs and sausage, which came smothered in sauce. Serious party foul. Sauce is nice though. Slightly vinegary and peppery, maybe a little tomotoey? I like it.

Green beans are overcooked and mushy. Black eyed peas too. They tasted good but it was kind of like black eyed pea soup.

They make their own hot links, and they're well cooked and lean, like I like. Great flavor, slightly smoky, well ground as opposed to the fatty and chunky summer sausage type.

Texas toast instead of bread, which takes me back to my DQ country basket days.

Only one rib? That's kind of a rip. It was kind of tough, and more like a pork chop. Not very much smoke to it at all.

Brisket is lean, but not dry and well smoked. Would be excellent if not smothered in sauce, but it's very good even with it.

Peach cobbler is great. Lots of crust, not soupy, and not too sweet.

Over all this is a good local place to stop in. I'll choose different sides and be sure to keep the sauce on the side in the future, but I think it's one of the best BBQ places in town. It's a damn sight better than Goode Co. or Pappas, but not up to par with anything in Luling or Lockhart. That's not really a fair comparison though, and I'll be back to this place whenever I find myself hungry on the north loop.

Harpoon Brewery's 100 Barrel Series Island Creek Oyster Stout

Pours like a straight stout. Opaque in the glass, but amber highlights as it pours. Great dark tan head that stays for good.

Smells great too. Big roasted and chocolate flavors, backed by a solid and grainy smell.

Medium body with moderate bitterness, its primary flavor is the roasted grain.

This would make a great imperial, if it had more body, but as a stout it's excellent. I'm starting to like Harpoon more and more.

Tallgrass Brewing Company's Buffalo Sweat

Alright--back from another round of illness, but ready to go. I do have some catching up to do, mostly with parks, but while I get started on some of that I'm going to have this beer. I thought it was going to be a brown, but it's a stout, so it's already looking up.

Pours an opaque blackish brown with a better than average dark tan head.

Nice smell. A bit harsh and grainy, with a nice chocolate smell hidden way under there somewhere.

Odd taste. Has all of the above characteristics, plus a mild bitterness, but probably the closest analogy would be that this tastes like a Belgian stout. It has that odd yeast taste of many Belgians that I'm not very fond of. Feels a bit like a milk stout, with that forced smoothness that lactose can give a beer.

This is about par for a Tallgrass beer, not great, but not really that bad either.

Independence Brewing Company's Convict Hill Oatmeal Stout

Finally, another Texas stout.

Pours an opaque black with reddish highlights as it pours and a nice dark tan head.

The oatmeal lends a great grainy smell to the roasted and coffee flavors.

It feels like it's going to have a nice body at first, but then it gets a bit watery. Very nice taste though. Still grainy from the oatmeal, and the coffee comes out a bit more in the taste.

Not quite enough body for an oatmeal stout, but otherwise a very good beer. I hope they keep it around.

Tallgrass Brewing Company's IPA

This one's left over from a Kansas trip last Thanksgiving. I've had beers from this brewery in BOTM shipments, so I had to finish out their others when I saw them.

Pours a foamy and slightly hazy amber with huge carbonation and a huge pillowy tan head.

Great smell. Nice and grassy, slightly sweet malt.

Nice. Body is a little light, but it's spot on otherwise. This is the best Tallgrass beer I've had so far, and it's a very good IPA.

Oskar Blue' Gubna Imperial IPA

Sweet. Heard about this one, but just now found it at Spec's. Glad to see Oskar Blues expanding./

Pours a deep, clear amber with a nice tan head. Slow carbonation, hopefully due to a big body.

I guess my nose isn't working, because I can barely smell anything from this one.

Taste may be gone too, because although there's quite a bit of bitterness I don't really get anything else from it.

I'll revisit this one in a few days.

Real Ale Brewing Company's Devil's Backbone Belgian Style Tripel

I must have been in a hole somewhere, because I had no idea that Real Ale was even coming out with this beer. And of course I'm no Belgian fan, but I have to get everything they put out. Plus, I bought it as a single, so there was little risk.

Pours a nice, clear orange-tinted yellow with a very nice pillowy white head. Nic ecarbonation too.

Smells right for a tripel. Solid and malty, it still has the plastic smell that I'm not liking.

Wow, this one hits you in the face. A bit hoppier than most tripels, it has the standard Belgian yeast taste and although I can't find the ABV, it has a definite and sharp alcohol bite.

It's right on type, but I won't be finishing it.

Sherwood Forest Brewers's Friar's Belgian Style White Ale

This came in a BOTM shipment a while back, and I've been avoiding it like the plague. I'm not a fan of whites, and this brewery doesn't impress me with its name or label, so, let's just get it over with.

Pours a very pale yellow with a thin white head.

Well, it smells yeasty but not overly so. None of the plastic or chemical smells I hate in some lighter Belgians, especially the lighter styles.

Yeah, there it is. More plastic than chemical, but it's there. Light in body and fairly fizzy, it's right on type. If you like whites, you'll like this one. I just don't.

Molson Coors Brewing Company's Amber Moon

I refuse to reference this as 'Blue Moon Brewing Company,' just out of spite if for no other reason. I was impressed by Blue Moon when I first had it though, so I'm hoping for the best out of this one too.

Pours a nice, clear amber. The light tan head never really forms, which isn't unusual for a wheat.

Nice amber smell to it, with a good wheat twang. About like I'd expect from an amber wheat, of which this is the only class member that I know of.

A bit too sweet in the taste. It's brewed with lime leaves and limes, and I think it's a bit over done. Otherwise it has a nice feel and would make a great amber/wheat, but it's just another example of a beer that's overly flavored.

Mikkelle's 2009 Santa's Little Helper

Found this left over Christmas beer in the back of the beer cellar. Yes, I know it's a kitchen cabinet, STFU.

Pours a deep brown, completely opaque. Great small celled tan head that is as big as you want it to be. At this point I read the label and found that it's most likely a Belgian Strong Ale instead of a winter warmer, brewed with spices and cocoa. Odd combination, but it looks great.

Smells a great deal like Chimay Blue. Deep, dark, bread. No real spices in the smell, and no cocoa. Just the deep Belgian strong smell. No alcohol yet, despite the 10.9% ABV.

Nice. Great complex taste, very much like Chimay, which is still my gold standard for Belgians. I don't taste the cocoa, but I can feel it. It gives it a smooth feel that is much like a chocolate stout. The spices are very mild, and more than anything it tastes like a solid Belgian strong ale.

Very good beer. Very little alcohol bite despite the big ABV, and nice and solid all the way around.

Pyramid Brewing Company's Haywire Hefeweizen

Bolstered by yesterday's surprise, I decided to go straight away with another Pyramid beer. I'm hoping this is more like an American wheat than a true German hefe.

Pours a cloudy orangish yellow, with a nice fluffy off white head, like a hefe should have.

Smells a little German. Slight chemical yeast smell that I'm not too happy with, but maybe it lessens in the taste.

Yep. It's very slight, and it tastes much more like an American wheat than I initially thought it would. Good beer, nice and drinkable. I may have to revisit some of the other Pyramid beers and see if I have a better opinion of them than I remember.

Pyramid Brewing Company's Curve Ball Blonde Ale

I remember trying a few pyramid beers a while back. Stayed clear of them ever since, but I figured a blonde would be simple enough to get right, and since I found it as a single I couldn't resist.

Pours a clear, straw yellow with a fizzy white head that disappears fairly quickly.

Smells sweet and malty. Bigger than I expected, and without a hint of hops.

Nice, clean taste that is right in line for the type. Very light and indistinct hops taste. Blondes are nothing sexy, ever, but they're light and drinkable, and this is a pretty good one.

Clipper City Brewing Company's Heavy Seas Pale Ale

Pours an orangish amber with a barely existent head. Decent carbonation.

Smells right. Slightly grassy hops, slightly sweet malt.

Tastes about right as well, although it's kind of weak in the feel. All in all it's within type, but that's about it.

Meh.

Moerlein Brewery's Emancipator Doppel Bock

Pours kind of on the amber side for a bock, much less a doppel bock, but it has a great tan head that's about as big and stays as well as any lager I've ever seen.

Nice dark bread smell. Just right for the type.

Not bad. Standard bock taste, although it gets a little raisin-ish as it warms. So, drink it cold. Not too much else to say about it, it's good but not a stand-out in the style.

Nethergate Brewery's Old Growler

It says Old Growler on the label, but it doesn't have a picture of my ex wife on it. Didn't know there were two, but I hope this one tastes better.

Pours opaque brownish black with an almost cascading tan head. Looks great.

As soon as I opened it it smelled more like a stout than a porter, mainly because it smells heavily of scotch. It doesn't say barrel aged, so it was kind of unexpected.

Interesting. The scotch is much more subtle in the taste, and it has an excellent vinous taste and the right smooth porter feel to it. Nice beer. I wish it had less of the barrel aged taste to it, but I like it.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's Sierra 30th Anniversary Fritz and Ken's Ale

I like this one already. This is my favorite brewery that knows how to stay close to home despite selling a ton of beer (I'm looking at you, Sam Adams). The second I popped the cork I could already smell it.

Pours opaque and black with a great, small celled dark tan head that is as big as you want to pour it.

Nice, mellow roasted smell. Not really coffee, more like a slight bit of cocoa.

Pretty much perfect. Nice and smooth, it has the body of a heavy milk stout without the lactose taste. Still the hint of cocoa, and not a hint of the 9.2% ABV. Which, by the way, is exactly how to do it. All of the chumps at BrewDog could really learn from this beer. Stop following Stone (they're not worth copying, anyway), and start making great beers that focus more on being beer than a pissing contest. Just like this one.

Clipper City Brewing Company's High Seas Gold Ale

Is there such a thing as an "American Gold Ale"?

Pours deeper than I expected, basing my assumptions on European golden ales. Slightly orangish, with the expected weak head that never really forms.

Almost no smell at all. Slightly sweet malt, but barely any at all.

Another beer with a soft-drink feel, it tastes like a stronger Budweiser--like rice and minimal hops.

I guess it's not bad, but it's as much like a weak macro as anything BMC puts out.

Sunner GMBH and Co.'s Sunner Kolsch

One of my favorite styles, and in a craft beer industry that is obsessed with big beers and ever-increasing ABV, it's fairly unusual to find. Craft brewers don't think that craft drinkers want a beer with only 5.5% ABV, and that you can see through like Budweiser, I guess.

Wow, one of the clearest beers I've ever seen. It's a bright yellow with just a twinge of amber, and a huge pillowy off-white head that stays forever.

Nice light, malty smell with a floral, almost soapy smell at first. Lavender, maybe? Slightly pils-ish when cold, but when it warms it gets a hint of that Belgian/German wit smell that I don't like.

Back toward pilsner in the taste, it's very lightly bitter with no distinct hops flavor. Light malt as well, it's clean and crisp. This would make an excellent lawnmower beer as well. More flavor than any macro of the same clarity/color/body, but still very drinkable.

Choc Beer Company's Basement Batch Pale Ale

Always skeptical of beer from Oklahoma, but from what I remember of the other beer from this brewery that I had, this one should be pretty good.

Pours a deep, dark-ish amber, darker than many pales because it looks to be only loosely filtered. Light tan head that stays well.

Mostly sweet malt in the smell, but slightly grassy hops and a little bit of pepper in the smell.

Lighter body that I expected because of the smell, but it's got a nice hoppy hit that fades cleanly.

Nice beer, right on type. I'll probably never see it again, but I'll definitely keep the others that came in the BOTM shipment.

Avery Brewing Company's Dugana IPA

Avery has a ton of fanboys out there, and in general I don't get it. Avery reminds me a lot of Stone, because they always seem to be trying too hard and their labels remind me of some emo wiccan in a high school art class. But I always buy them, for some reason, because I like bigger beers and these guys seem to try to make a lot of them.

This one pours a nice, slow, deep amber with a big light tan head that stays very well.

Smells great. Grassy and a bit sweet, simple, like an IPA should.

Damn. It has the bitterness, but not the body, of a barley wine. Great grassy hops, at the high end of the style, with malt that's a bit lower. Not really unbalanced, just a hop-forward version of an IPA.

Very nice surprise, and one of the best Avery beers out there.

Breckenridge Brewery's Lucky U IPA

Another brewery I always want to like, Breckenridge has some fairly decent beers. From what I can remember, their best so far is their Agave Wheat.

This one pours a nice coppery amber with a light tan head that thins to a sheet quickly.

Smells nice. Grassy, with sweet malt.

Very nice. Good punch right up front, fades cleanly through sweet malt to a dry, bitter aftertaste.

Good beer. They stuck to the basics, and it turned out well.

Boulevard Brewing Company's Collaboration No. 1 Imperial Pilsner

What do you get when you combine an over-ambitious brewery in Kansas City, with an odd and difficult to pull off beer style and a Belgian brew master?

The worst of three worlds.

It pours like a standard pilsner. Doesn't look any maltier, and in no way looks like more of anything. It's a clear yellow and although the carbonation may rise fractionally slower, that's about it. Moderate white head that thins fairly quickly.

Smells like any macro. No trace of the pilsner funk I love in the style.

Tastes the same. Except here's where the Belgian comes in, because it has a residual chemical/plastic taste that many Belgians have, especially the lighter styles like wits. Light bitterness that comes out primarily in the aftertaste when the malt fades. The chemical taste gets worse as the beer gets warmer, and I mean much worse, and it tastes nothing like a pilsner by then.

After reading I Love Beer's post about this beer I decided I had to try it, despite having avoided all of the smokestack beers as over-priced and from a mediocre brewery. So it's him I'm really pissed at about this.

Alright, I guess 'pissed' is a bit strong, but I still think he owes me $10.00. Rogue makes an excellent imperial pilsner, which, like I Love Beer, I believe is an odd imperial to make. But they do it the way it should be. If you have a choice, and you do, buy Rogue's instead. Every time.

Cosmos Brewery Company's Chang Beer

I really need to replace the list of countries I've had beer from, just for kicks. This one's from Thailand, and I'm always curious about beer from places like this. My guess: an adjunct macro that's still better than half of what the BMC folks put out.

Pours a straight-up yellow with a fizzy white head.

Man, smells like a funky pilsner. Not in a bad way, a pils is supposed to have that funk to it, and this smells like a malty one, with a white grape smell to it as well.

You know, I like it. It still has a strong grape flavor to it, but the pils taste is there as well and it's light and crisp. I won't go looking too hard for it again, but it would be a nice regular lawnmower beer.

Kona Brewing Company's Fire Rock Pale Ale

Hawaii. Another state that, like Florida, shouldn't be brewing beer. Except, this is from... New Hampshire? That makes no sense.

Pours an orangish amber with a head that starts decent enough but fades quickly.

Smells right. Hops seem a bit floral, but that's not a great description. Not grassy or piney, they're there but not very distinct. Malt is there in about equal parts too.

Well, it tastes a bit like apples. Not sour green ones, and not sweet red ones. Maybe a tart red one. Not quite a cider taste, but it leans that way a bit. That fades fairly quickly to a clean bitterness, but the warmer it gets the more apple flavor comes out.

Much better than I though a fake-Hawaiian beer would be. Better than anything Florida ever put out, that's for damn sure.

Spring Creek Barbeque

I'm not adding a map entry to this, because you can get this franchise's food just about anywhere. I went to lunch with several others recently, and the consensus (with my dissent) was to go there. So, I decided to hold my nose and try it.

But you know, it wasn't too bad.

The pepper sausage was decent. Not smoked enough, and slightly too porky tasting, it was still alright. The brisket was too fatty, but smoked well enough and also decent. The pork ribs were actually good. They used a sweet rub that is more molasses based than their sauce. They were lean and well-smoked, and came right off the bone. The sauce was a twangy vinegar-based type that is really not good at all. Sides were decent, beans like in a Luby's, large-chopped slaw, and decent enough pinto beans.

All in all, it was better than expected. But nowhere near the places where 80-year-olds man the pits in places that have been around for decades. I mention it here, I don't know, just for completeness, I guess.

Matt Brewing Company's Saranac India Pale Ale

Pours a light amber with a small-celled tan head that stays well with strong carbonation.

The head throws off a slightly grassy smell, and when it subsides the malt peeks through. Slightly sweet, it seems to be right on style.

Body is a little weak, but it's got a nice bitter punch to it that fades cleanly. Not a whole lot to describe about it, it's within type but not sexy. It's on the lighter side of bitter and body, but still clean enough to be drinkable. Pretty good beer, a definite improvement over their other one that I've had.

Sweet Water Brewing Company's Extra Pale Ale

Beer from Georgia? We'll see.

Pours deeper than a standard pale, slightly amber with a light tan head that is thin from the start and only gets thinner.

Very nice smell though. Piney hops that are very solid. It may actually live up to the "extra" billing. As the hops smell dissipates with the head, the sweet malt peeks out a bit.

A bit of a fizzy feel and harsh(ish) aftertaste, but on the front end it has a fairly crisp bitterness and decent enough body.

Not a beer I'll look for too often, but it was a BOTM beer so I'll probably never see it again anyway. I'd keep the others that it came with, but I have about 80 singles that I've never tried before. And that's no shit. So I'll be trying those instead, but this would be good enough if not for the alternatives.

Full Sail Brewing Company's Limited Edition Lager, Recipe No. 1

I'm iffy on Full Sail, but was pleasantly surprised by their Session Lager so I'm hoping this will be a surprise as well.

Pours a bright copper color with a quickly disappearing tan head.

Smells like a winter warmer. Malty, not too hoppy, slightly peppery. And you know, it smells so much like a warmer that I looked it up online just to check. Sure enough, their site says to look for it in the Winter of 2008, but this doesn't look like it was bottled that long ago. Maybe this is the third release of this recipe. Whatever, it smells good so far even if it presents a space-time anomaly.

A little sharper than most warmers, but it's still on type. Moderate bitterness, a bit watery, but the correct slightly spicy flavor that is more pepper than winter spices. Also has the standard aftertaste that fades to a nutty flavor from a slight hops bitterness.

Good beer, although I'll probably be giving most of the rest away. Just not a sexy style compared to the now 85 beers that I have cellared and have never tried before.

Redhook Ales Brewery's ESB

I like ESBs for some reason. They're like pales, without the malt. Good stuff, usually.

This one pours orangish amber with a nice light tan head. Nothing exotic, but just right for the type.

A bit sweeter and maltier than usual in the smell. Like a light, sweet bread. Almost like a dinner roll at Luby's, but with a bitter tweak to it.

Pretty nice. Still maltier than I'd like in an ESB, which makes it more like an amber. Decent bitterness that stays pretty clean, even if it's fairly indistinct.

Drinkable beer, but nothing to really look for in the future.

Full Sail Brewing Company's Session Lager

I ran across this beer as a single in a small beer store off of Richmond, long before it showed up at Spec's, but never got around to trying it. Then, it came in a BOTM shipment, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

First impression--I don't like the Red Stripe type bottles. Except for how they pour. For some reason, they pour extremely smoothly.

Pours clear and light yellow with a crisp white head.

Nice smell. Crisp and malty, a bit of an odd combination. Smells like adjunct grains like a macro, but it's still good. Like a more robust Budweiser.

Light. Low bitterness, light malt. Aftertaste is a bit cardboardish, but not really in a bad way. The light taste isn't watery, it feels like it's supposed to be this way, which is good for a session.

Good beer. Proof that a beer doesn't have to have a huge ABV or be an imperial-something to be worth keeping.

Margaritaville Brewing Company's Landshark Lager

This is the height of my self-loathing. You see, if I can get a single of a beer, I have to buy it. It's like my compulsion to buy stouts, but knowing it'll be bad. I don't know what it is. I hate everything about this beer in advance. An American Macro, that is sure to be more like Corona than Budweiser, which I actually like. Jimmy Buffett sucks ass. And Florida sucks. So I know it's going to suck.

Pours a very clear yellow with a fizzy white head.

You know, it smells like a mils Czech pilsner. No, German. It's sweeter and maltier than a Czech. Surprising.

Yep, there's where it goes downhill--in the taste. Much like a Corona. Kind of a European golden lager--weak and watery. No body, just an adjunct taste with weak bitterness and lame aftertaste.

So, on top of sucking, that bastard Jimmy Buffett teased me with a decent smell. Assface.

Stone Brewing Company's Old Guardian Barleywine,

I personally dislike Stone. All of that "you're not worthy" bullshit is ridiculous. And the gargoyles? Makes them seem like a bunch of emo wimps.

But like stouts, I have to try every barleywine I run across. Plus, after a long day at work, there's nothing like a bomber of 11.1% ABV beer.

Pours a slow, deep copper with a nice tan head that thins to a sheet. Slow carbonation tells me there's a good body in this one.

The head throws off a very grassy and sharp hops smell, which moderates to a sweet bready malt.

Fairly big feel, but a bit watery for a barleywine. Sharp hops with an odd twang. Not the appropriate bitterness that a barleywine should have, but a harsh, sharpness that isn't pleasant.

I can't remember the last bomber I poured out, but I'm wondering whether or not this will be one. It's just not a good barleywine.

Wychwood Brewery's Hobgoblin Dark English Ale

I've seen this in larger bottles but the label art always pushed me away. So I was glad to find a twelve-ouncer that I could put in a mixed sixer. Because I have to try it, but I don't want to buy too much of it, since I'm expecting a flop.

Pours like a brown, with moderate carbonation and a thin tan head. Not bad, really, but I was expecting darker as in toward black.

Smells like sweet bread. Plus a little something that smells like a cross between cloves and allspice.

It has a fizzy soft drink feel, with an odd bitterness that gets very harsh, like cardboard. Moderately hoppy, which fades to the dull bitterness. The odd spice taste is there as well, but duller. In general, it has the body of a macro with the taste, I don't know, of a dark macro. Tastes like lots of adjunct grains.

Glad it's only a single bottle.

Matt Brewing Company's Saranac Black and Tan

Alright, not sure how a black and tan is going to work out of the same bottle, but here goes.

Eh, pours like a stout. I'm actually waiting to see if it separates, and, nope. Red highlights with a nice tan head that thins but sticks.

Smells like a straight up stout. Slightly grainy, slightly roasted, not hoppy.

Yeah, you can definitely taste the lager part of it. It has that Budweiser taste to it, and the stout is definitely watered down.

This one gets a resounding 'meh'.

Sherwood Forest Brewers, Ltd.'s Sheriff's India Pale Ale

Well, the label is gay enough that I never would have tried this one had it not come to me in a beer of the month club. And I already have the other two of these in the "give to friends" side of the cellar.

Plus, it's from Massachusets. Which means it's brewed by massholes.

Pours a hazy amber with a nice tan head that has small cells and sticks well, just like an IPA should.

Smells nice as well. Kind of a floral hops smell that's very clean.

Yep, here's where it goes wrong. Lots of IPAs grab you right on the back of the tongue. This one does too, but too sharply. If you've ever stuck your tongue on a 9V battery, that's a bit how this feels. Not tastes. Feels. Weird weak-ish body as well that doesn't really flow well. More sharp than bitter with a bit of a fizzy soft drink feel.

Well, I gave it a shot. It looked and smelled just fine, but really went downhill from there.

Avery Brewing Company's Black Tot Imperial Oak Aged Oatmeal Stout

I've always found Avery beers to be over-hyped, but they have so many fanboys out there that I thought maybe I'm wrong and they're right. And I guess it makes sense that I'd try them again with this beer, since I have a compulsion to buy anything that says stout on it.

Pours a murky, inky, opaque brown, like it should. Small tan head, which is expected in a beer so big.

Yeah, here we go. Smells like whiskey, which I wouldn't have minded ten years ago when that was what I was drinking. I never like it in a beer though.

But even then, it tastes hollow. It doesn't feel like an imperial. It's a mish-mash of various roasted, whiskey, and bitter flavors, but in a confused, unbalanced way.

Not a good beer. I'm pouring it out after two sips.

Sweet Water Brewing Company's Georgia Brown

Beer from Georgia? I don't know.

Pours a deep coppery brown. Almost like a murky amber instead of a brown. Nice tan head with moderate carbonation.

Smelled almost like a bourbon barrel aged beer for a second, the head was throwing of a serious alcohol bite. Faded to a vanilla and nutty brown smell, but in a small beer like this there's no reason for such an overpowering alcohol smell.

Watery. Decent enough flavor,, except the bourbon taste is still there. The standard brown tastes are in there somewhere, but it's a bit too hoppy as well.

Weird beer, and fairly off type. Never heard of this brewery, and I won't go looking for it again.

Sweet Water Brewing Company's- Georgia Brown, Brown

Spoetzel Brewery's Shiner 101

Pilsner is one of my favorite styles, and Czechs especially, so I can't believe I waited this long to try 101. And I also got busy with work and let this one sit in the bottle and get a little warm on me. That usually makes a pils a little oily feeling, but we'll see how this goes anyway.

Pours deep golden, moreso than most pilsners, with a big frothy white head that slowly recedes. I can smell that awesome pilsner funk smell from here. Smells like a skunk's ass. It's great.

Not oily. Nice and crisp, even when it's a little warmer than it should be. Maltier than most as well, almost to the point of being a German. It's a bit hoppier than a German though, so we'll just call it a malt-forward Czech pilsner. It fades to the standard Shiner malt aftertaste, which is just a variant of the bock. Not bad, just familiar.

This one is right up there with Kosmos as my favorite Shiner beer now. Hope they keep it around for more than a year.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's Glissade Golden Bock

I don't know why, but I've never seen this before. So, great surprise to see a new one, for me anyway, from my favorite quasi-macro brewery. I'm not real sure about a golden bock, but if anyone is going to do it right, they will.

Pours clear and golden, with a light, almost white head that is as big as you want to pour it. Slowly recedes, due to good carbonation.

Great malty smell. Crisp and clean, with no real floral or other smells that would indicate that it's hoppy, but not really overly bready either.

You know, it's only really bock-like in the aftertaste. It feels heavier than many beers, and the hops are low, so I can see why it would be a bock in style by the numbers, but it's just a bit cardboardy in bitterness and taste.

I don't know, I wish I didn't have 11 more of them now. Probably my least favorite Sierra Nevada beer.

Harpoon Brewery's Leviathan Baltic Porter

This is the first Baltic porter I can remember, and if it's not going to be in or from one of the Baltic states, I'm glad it's from a decent brewery.

Pours nice and inky brown, with a huge small celled tan head. Looks great so far.

Nice. Great grainy, yet vinous smell, with a bit of chocolate instead of any real roasted grain smell.

Excellent porter taste. Moderately hoppy, but no real grainy or grassy flavor. The bitterness almost comes from the chocolate taste, like an unsweetened chocolate. Very smooth feel and excellent tannins, just like a porter should have. Despite the fact that the hops are indistinct, they still taste sharp and fresh. A solid malt sweetness also comes through right after the hops fade.

Very good beer and my favorite Harpoon so far.

Choc Beer Company's Miner Mishap

Alright, back in the saddle after a long stint being too busy to do anything but work and sleep. But excuses are like assholes, I guess, so here we go.

Pours nicely opaque for a black lager. Sure, they're all called black, but they're usually fairly see-through. This one has a nice brownish tinge to it, and a good tan head for a lager that stays moderately well.

Nice grainy malt smell. Much like a lighter stout.

Fairly bitter, almost like a pale. Blacks are usually more malty than hoppy, but this one is a bit on the hoppy side. Slight twang to it that fades to a dull bitterness.

All in all a good beer, I think. Slightly off type, but not too much, and I bet it's very good on tap. I won't go looking for it, but if I was from wherever this was made, I'd probably drink it regularly.

Boston Brewing Company's Cream Stout

Well, it's early enough in the day to wash my mouth out thoroughly, so I figured I'd try this one from Sam Adams. This is where my compulsion to try every stout I see bites me in the ass.

Although it's fairly opaque in the glass, it pours kind of watery for a stout. Looks like a bock, almost, especially if any light shines on the glass. Thin tan head just kind of sits there.

Smells as much like a pale as it does a stout. Not roasted enough, and too hoppy. Also too lightly grainy.

Taste is much the same. The usual stout flavors are only in the aftertaste, and the feel is watery. Weak, all around.

If Budweiser made a stout, this is what it would taste like. No, Budweiser actually does a good job at what they do--they unabashedly make wimpy, light beers. Sam Adams pretends to be a craft brewer while making wimpy, light beers. The difference is huge.

Sure, I have a built-in bias against Sam Adams, so I'll be objective here: this beer sucks.

Sprecher Brewing Company's Dunkle Wewizen

I never know what to do with these. It came to me as a freebie, which tells me that someone else didn't like it. But, whatever. I'm bored.

Pours a deep coppery brown, with a thin tan head.

European yeasty smell. I'm not liking this.

Feels like a soft drink, tastes like a dark wit. In other words, the worst of just about everything.

Also, grouchy.

Twisted Pine Brewing Company's Northstar Imperial Porter

Tonight is the night for bigger beers, I guess. Plus, this is a new(ish) arrival at my Spec's, so I had to get it.

Nice inky black pour with a tan head that sticks at a sheet. No real highlights, even in my hefe glass. Just opaque.

Well, the imperial part has really added to the grain bill in a way that makes this one smell like a solid stout. I don't detect the vinous tannins that usually make a porter what it is. That's OK, stouts are my favorite, but it'll affect the rate to style ranking (not that anyone cares).

That's better. Nice and smooth, a bit more grainy than most porters, again due tot he imperial part, but the tannins are there. Oddly enough they're not more prevalent than in a regular porter, and if anything they are lower than some, but it's still very good. Imperial anythings are not really rateable to style, except as more bold than the regular of the style, and this is no exception. It's bigger in grain and roasted flavor, but the vinous taste is much lower than usual. Some get out of hand though, so that's a good thing in a way. Smooth body that is a little more raw than a porter usually is as well. It dries faster, somehow, and has less of an oily finish.

All in all a very interesting beer. And very good. Seems to be a bit more of a stout than a porter though.

I own part of a brew pub...

...and you can too.

Thanks to I Love Beer, I learned about Black Star Co-Op, and thought what the hell, so I bought a share. It was just $100.00 for the share, and we'll see what it gets me. Plus, my membership card will evidently say "Charter Member" on it, and if nothing else I'm more than happy to help out another group of Texas beer lovers.

Good luck. I'll be there to tell you how it should be run in a few days.

Laguinitas Brewing Company's Cappucino Stout

Another coffee stout. Must... buy...

Pours a deep back with a nice tan head that stays well. I'm pouring it in a hefe glass because everything else is dirty, so at its thinnest point in the glass you can see strong carbonation and brownish amber highlights.

Mild roasted grain smell and mild coffee as well. It has a lactose softness to it that makes it really seem like more of a cappucino than a coffee stout, one of the rare times the names really fits.

Nice, smooth feel that feels like lactose, and the sweetness is there underneath. The roasted grain flavor really picks up in the taste, with moderate coffee flavor as well. The 9.26% ABV is absolutely imperceptible, something most "extreme" beer makers can never get right.

By far this is the best Lagunitas beer I've ever had, and is an excellent one all around.

Boulevard Brewing Company's Unfiltered Wheat

Found this stray at the back of the cellar, in an aluminum bottle, of all things. I bought it out of state as a single just because I'd never had it, and I guess I may as well start out this pizza with a wheat.

Pours clear yellow, with a zippy white head that stays at a sheet with good carbonation. The label says it's unfiltered and that it has a distinctive cloudy appearance. Wait a minute, it pours out in chunks in the dregs. Not cloudy.

It has a mellow wheat smell. Not like a wit, although hints of the yeast peek through.

Nice enough taste. Mellow for a wheat, mildly zippy. Not bad, but not great, either.

Real Ale Brewing Company's Phoenix Double ESB

ESB's, or even their "double" variants, are generally not terribly exciting. But Real Ale has become a solid brewery (I heard rumblings of quality control and distribution issues two or three years ago), so I'm looking forward to trying just about anything they put out.

Pours a nice deep copper that's about 50% opaque, with a small light tan head that fades to a sheet.

Smells mild and malty. Almost no hops, and not terribly malty, it just smells like a mild beer.

Much bigger punch than I thought it would have based on the smell. The solid bitterness grabs you, and at first it's indistinct but it gets grassy in the aftertaste. The malt holds up as well, but it's not heavy.

Good beer. Still not sexy, but solid and drinkable.

Brooklyn Brewery's Winter Ale

Here's a winter warmer that didn't make my Winter Warmer Blitzkreig last month because it wasn't in Houston at the time. But, here it is. Hope it's better than their Monster Ale barleywine...

Pours nice and coppery. Light tan head disappears as quickly as it appears, despite decent carbonation.

Smells nice. Like a bock, almost, with the malt but a zippy slightly spicy smell that a warmer should have.

Nice. Bigger in the feel than I expected. A little more bitter than many warmers, but not overpowering and not very specific in the type of bitterness. It just grabs you a little without being piney, floral, or grassy. A little less malty than I thought it would be based on the smell. It's pretty zippy, but not peppery like many warmers.

This style is bland sometimes, but it's generally a good beer all-around. This is no exception. Good beer, nothing to write home about though.

Tallgrass Brewing Company's Kold

I'm a victim of my curiosity sometimes. And my compulsion to try at least one of everything I haven't had before. So even though I have been less than impressed with Tallgrass beers, I had to buy this one. (But only one.)

Pours fairly light yellow, although not as clear as a Budweiser, with strong carbonation and a bright white head that thins but stays.

The label says pilsner malt with notes of honey and citrus, so I labeled it as a pilsner. Smells like a good Czech variety, because it's less malty than a German, and more zippy.

Yep. There's a rough, cardboard bitterness in there somewhere, but it's right on type for a Czech pils. It has the funky bitterness that it needs, and a light body that goes down nicely. I don't know about the citrus, but the honey is there and makes it dry quickly. Kind of tastes like a funky honey wheat.

I like it. It's a decent twist on a pils, and in my opinion their best so far.

Snake River Brewing Company's Zonker Stout

I have no idea where I got this beer. But it's one of about 45 that are in the cellar that I've never tried, adn I thought it would be good to follow the barleywine I just had with a big beer like a stout.

Pours an opaque black with a nice light tan head. Looks right.

Nice roasted smell, with a tobacco undertone that I like every time I smell it in a stout. This is looking up.

Good feel to it. Not really heavy, and the carbonation keeps it light as it goes down. Roasted taste picks up and is prevalent. Fades to the tobacco taste a bit, but mostly it's still roasted grain. Mild hoppiness that gets you on the back of the tongue but never comes out in the taste.

Good stout. Nothing sexy in any category, but solid and drinkable.

Brooklyn Brewery's Monster Ale

Looking forward to a bigger beer from Brooklyn. They do lagers and lighter styles well, so this should be interesting.

Pours nice and heavy, with a great deep amber color and decent tan head that stays well.

Smells sweet. It will taste hoppy too, but in the smell it's primarily the huge sweet malt.

Nice. Big feel that goes down smoothly, with a good solid bitterness that's not really grassy or piney, it just is. It has a bit of a lager taste to it (whatever that means), mostly because the carbonation gives it an added zip after a second. Not nearly as sweet as I thought it would be from the smell. Moderate alcohol bite, which is nice for a beer with 10.1% ABV.

Not the best barleywine. But, not too bad, either. I'll stick to others if I want a beer this big.

Front Porch Pub

I was headed out of downtown today, and thought I'd stop in for a burger and to see what beers they have on tap. Sure, it's not a "real" beer bar, but what the hell.

First of all--hot bartender. 24-ish, former college soccer player with soccer player legs. Nice.

Food seemed to be the regular pub grub, no surprise there. They had a small tap-wall with a lot of the Budweiser/Heineken types, but they had a decent selection of St. Arnold and Real Ale that made it worth the visit.

St. Arnold Stout: This is the first time I've had it on draft except at a brew tour. For some reason, it's a little richer, little smoother, little heavier, little nuttier. All around it's better on draft. The nut-brown taste was a surprise, but didn't take it out of the type.

Real Ale's Rio Blanco Pale Ale: This was also better on draft. Still crisp and light, it's got a good zip to it. Nice pale, and I'll have to get it more regularly.

Real Ale's Fireman's #4: This one was not as good as I remember it being in the bottle. It seemed a bit flat, a bit hollow. Seemed like it was a bit old, probably because it's not a terribly fast mover.

Southern Star Brewing Company's Buried Hatchet Stout

Sweet, I've been looking forward to this one. I'm lame and never get out to good beer bars, so I was glad to see it in cans at Spec's. I've often bemoaned the lack of a year-round stout in Texas that was readily available, so this will give Southern Star a leg up over St. A's in Houston in this category. At least until St. A's decides to make theirs year-round, which I hope they do.

This one pours deep black with a hint of brown, with a nice small-celled head. It pours soft, smooth.

Smells very nice. Deeper and more substantial than a standard stout, it has a fairly heavy roasted coffee smell. Nice malt to it, but overall the coffee stands out.

The feel is a little lighter than the appearance would indicate, more in like with a standard stout. Moderate bitterness that still doesn't compete with the roasted coffee taste except in the aftertaste, where the roasted coffee and grain flavors fade off quickly.

Very good beer. I'll have to try it on draft, I bet it picks up even more.

Snake River Brewing Company's Pale Ale

This better be good. I can't remember the last beer I had, and I don't want to start it off with a bad one.

Pours a hazy yellowish amber, with an empty glow that I never like to see. Nice almost white head though, which stays well due to fairly string carbonation.

Nice hoppy smell to it. Some malt to it, but mostly a sort of grassy cleanness that seems right on type.

Good grassy punch up front. Malt is still less than an IPA, which keeps the body light like a pale should be. It has a bit of a cardboard harshness to it though, which is the only thing that takes points away. Overall a good beer.

Anchor Brewing Company's Our Special Ale 2009

I thought the in-laws would never leave.

Finally found the 2009 offering of Anchor's winter warmer. This is traditionally one of the smoothest, silkiest, most complex of the winter warmers. I know that sounds goofy, but this is always a great beer. Different every year, it's always somewhat similar, and always great.

This year appears to be no exception. It pours the usual deep coppery brown with a nice but smallish dark tan head. It looks like a dopplebock.

Smells like a warm, dark bread.

Nice and smooth, with probably the lowest bitterness of any warmer I've had. Slightly nutty, still mostly bready, and a great body that feels like a medium-sized stout. It keeps the bready smell and taste, but as the glass gets empty and it gets warmer it takes on a deep ripe fruit smell that is kind of indistinct but sweet and deep.

Very good beer. I have a sixer held back to see how it ages, and I bet it keeps getting better.