You know what I like less than a beer that foams out? Nothing. Not a damn thing. It ruins the beer, strips the body, and in a beer already listed as mild there;s simply no room for this sort of thing.
Poured about 1/8 of an inch of beer, and several inches of foam. When that settled down, the beer was a coppery brown like a bock, with a head that would never go away. Which is usually a good thing, but not now.
Smells like a light Belgian beer. Like I could like it, if not for the weird yeast esters that Belgians put off.
There's something wrong with this beer. The empty taste and feel have to be because it foamed out. The cardboard bitterness, however, is most likely where it should be. But it really shouldn't be here. And it's awful bitter for a dark mild, or any mild. Like they're monkeying with the style as much as someone monkeyed with their stupid labels.
I'll probably try it again sometime just because I question whether or not something happened to this batch or this bottle. I think it was stored ok for the small amount fo time it was out of the store, but it cannot be this way on purpose.
Despite the stupid brewery name, label art and dumb beer names I've always wanted to like this brewery. They make it hard.
Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Taylor Cafe
This is Vencil Mares:
I didn't know it when I first walked in. I even took the photo before I knew it. I just liked being back in a small town where you can go to a place like this and see regulars and locals, which I thought he was. And the conversation started up easily enough--we were the only two people in the place except for two waitresses and from the sounds in the back one person cutting the meat with an electric knife. He asked where I was from, and I told him. Asked what I was doing in town, and I told him. I asked if he'd always been from Taylor, and he said just since '46, when he moved from Cistern, Texas. Turns out he left out a few things that the conversation turned up, like being a medic in WWII. If you're not familiar with medics, especially back then, they're the ones who go into combat without guns. They're there to pull people out, and can't fire back, thought they were frequent and favorite targets of the other side. Shooting a medic meant wounded soldiers would continue to draw resources in order to get them off the field, or even more frequently, die before another medic could get to them. So if anyone has earned the right to have a long life in a quiet sleepy town doing what he loves in a way that makes him a legend at it, it's Vencil. And it's a bit funny that one of the best BBQ places in town is hidden damn near under a bridge behind this door:
But if you're coming from the north, be careful to divert to the right just before the bridge (you'll know it when you see it), or else this is all you'll see:
I guess he's content to be hidden, seeing as how people seek his BBQ out without so much as a website, although others put his store on theirs. Vencil's been doing it his own way for a while--he's 87, you see, and has an air of being proud of what he does without the need to glorify it. Although if you ask him about being one of the best BBQ joints in Texas he'll probably get up and walk behind the counter to get you an autographed copy of the September 26, 2010 Taylor Daily Press, in which he was featured.
I noticed the banner and asked when his birthday was, thinking I'd missed it by a day or so because the banner was still up. "Back in November." I guess if I live that long and anyone prints me a banner, I'll leave it up and slap a new number over the old one every year, too.
As for the food, well, I reached a sort of an epiphany. Not because of the food, but because of the man. I've tried, and think I have largely succeeded, in being constructive on this blog. Except where those have billed themselves as something they're not, I've gone fairly easy. And most of those are brewers, especially those who brew something ridiculous or make claims like being a craft brewer when they are clearly not. And even those guys won't see so much as a blip because of something I've written. Nobody reads this and nothing results from it. It truly is more of a journal, intended to suffice where my memory cannot, I've just left it public.
But it has become so easy to criticize the life's work of another person. To sit back and take shots at certain things that you presume to know more about. Vencil has been doing it for decades, and no criticism of mine will compare to his life's work. 64 years in Taylor, and someone who hasn't been alive hardly half that time can criticize him? No way.
But these are my notes, and I will make them.
I ordered my standard three meat plate of sausage, ribs, and brisket, with a half chicken as well. There were only two sides--potato salad and pinto beans, so that's what I had. The potato salad was pretty good. I'm not a huge potato salad fan, but it wasn't mushy and gooey like many are, and was a little zippy. The beans seemed a little ranchy at first, but settled down and were well-cooked and got more peppery the more I had. I was a bit surprised to see the meat come out with sauce on it. The sauce was a little tomatoey, with a slight vinegar zip. Not too spicy, but otherwise a good compliment to the food.
The brisket was good, but had a ton of fat on it. It trimmed easily, but if you're buying something by the pound it would be better of it was leaner. Otherwise, it was well smoked and tender. The ribs were outstanding. Again, I wish they had been leaner, but the rub was great and they pulled away from the bone nicely. The chicken was also outstanding, well smoked by not dry. And the sausage was probably my favorite of the Hill Country sausages. All beef and lean but not dry, and also not chunky like summer sausage, it was nice and peppery and as good as everything else was, this was far better.
There are very few days where you go to eat and feel like you can come away with a sense of what Texas and BBQ should be all about, but go early and sit by Vencil. You'll get that feeling too.
I didn't know it when I first walked in. I even took the photo before I knew it. I just liked being back in a small town where you can go to a place like this and see regulars and locals, which I thought he was. And the conversation started up easily enough--we were the only two people in the place except for two waitresses and from the sounds in the back one person cutting the meat with an electric knife. He asked where I was from, and I told him. Asked what I was doing in town, and I told him. I asked if he'd always been from Taylor, and he said just since '46, when he moved from Cistern, Texas. Turns out he left out a few things that the conversation turned up, like being a medic in WWII. If you're not familiar with medics, especially back then, they're the ones who go into combat without guns. They're there to pull people out, and can't fire back, thought they were frequent and favorite targets of the other side. Shooting a medic meant wounded soldiers would continue to draw resources in order to get them off the field, or even more frequently, die before another medic could get to them. So if anyone has earned the right to have a long life in a quiet sleepy town doing what he loves in a way that makes him a legend at it, it's Vencil. And it's a bit funny that one of the best BBQ places in town is hidden damn near under a bridge behind this door:
But if you're coming from the north, be careful to divert to the right just before the bridge (you'll know it when you see it), or else this is all you'll see:
I guess he's content to be hidden, seeing as how people seek his BBQ out without so much as a website, although others put his store on theirs. Vencil's been doing it his own way for a while--he's 87, you see, and has an air of being proud of what he does without the need to glorify it. Although if you ask him about being one of the best BBQ joints in Texas he'll probably get up and walk behind the counter to get you an autographed copy of the September 26, 2010 Taylor Daily Press, in which he was featured.
I noticed the banner and asked when his birthday was, thinking I'd missed it by a day or so because the banner was still up. "Back in November." I guess if I live that long and anyone prints me a banner, I'll leave it up and slap a new number over the old one every year, too.
As for the food, well, I reached a sort of an epiphany. Not because of the food, but because of the man. I've tried, and think I have largely succeeded, in being constructive on this blog. Except where those have billed themselves as something they're not, I've gone fairly easy. And most of those are brewers, especially those who brew something ridiculous or make claims like being a craft brewer when they are clearly not. And even those guys won't see so much as a blip because of something I've written. Nobody reads this and nothing results from it. It truly is more of a journal, intended to suffice where my memory cannot, I've just left it public.
But it has become so easy to criticize the life's work of another person. To sit back and take shots at certain things that you presume to know more about. Vencil has been doing it for decades, and no criticism of mine will compare to his life's work. 64 years in Taylor, and someone who hasn't been alive hardly half that time can criticize him? No way.
But these are my notes, and I will make them.
I ordered my standard three meat plate of sausage, ribs, and brisket, with a half chicken as well. There were only two sides--potato salad and pinto beans, so that's what I had. The potato salad was pretty good. I'm not a huge potato salad fan, but it wasn't mushy and gooey like many are, and was a little zippy. The beans seemed a little ranchy at first, but settled down and were well-cooked and got more peppery the more I had. I was a bit surprised to see the meat come out with sauce on it. The sauce was a little tomatoey, with a slight vinegar zip. Not too spicy, but otherwise a good compliment to the food.
The brisket was good, but had a ton of fat on it. It trimmed easily, but if you're buying something by the pound it would be better of it was leaner. Otherwise, it was well smoked and tender. The ribs were outstanding. Again, I wish they had been leaner, but the rub was great and they pulled away from the bone nicely. The chicken was also outstanding, well smoked by not dry. And the sausage was probably my favorite of the Hill Country sausages. All beef and lean but not dry, and also not chunky like summer sausage, it was nice and peppery and as good as everything else was, this was far better.
There are very few days where you go to eat and feel like you can come away with a sense of what Texas and BBQ should be all about, but go early and sit by Vencil. You'll get that feeling too.
Billy Joe Shaver
If you're a country music fan, and I mean real country music and not that faggotty long-haired untucked-shirt boy band fake country bullshit like half the crap on the country stations today, you need to catch Billy Joe Shaver at one of his current concerts. Or even if you're not.
He's written songs that have been sung by Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson, among others, and continues to write songs that tell great stories.
In addition to some of his standards, he tells stories that are rambling accounts of dead wives and a dead son, religion, a struggle to live, addiction, and salvation. Some are clearly better than others, but all are good and all can cause some serious introspection if you're listening to the words.
My particular favorite--his new song about shooting a man in the head when a bar fight got out of hand. When you look at this guy, you have to wonder with as frail as he looks (he may not be around too much longer folks, so go see him while you can), why in the hell was he fighting anyone at all? When he was asked by the prosecutor--on the stand--why he didn't retreat when the fight escalated, he responded "Ma'am, if I was chickenshit I would have. But this is Texas. And I'm not." And he was acquitted anyway.
One of the strangest things about the night was that I counted at least four songs with strong allusions to God, or Jesus, if not being completely about Christianity, and sandwiched right in the middle of them was the song about shooting a man in the head. And he sang every one of them without a hint of irony. Without a single inclination that the songs might be the least bit conflicting. God bless Texas, I guess.
Go see this guy.
He's written songs that have been sung by Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson, among others, and continues to write songs that tell great stories.
In addition to some of his standards, he tells stories that are rambling accounts of dead wives and a dead son, religion, a struggle to live, addiction, and salvation. Some are clearly better than others, but all are good and all can cause some serious introspection if you're listening to the words.
My particular favorite--his new song about shooting a man in the head when a bar fight got out of hand. When you look at this guy, you have to wonder with as frail as he looks (he may not be around too much longer folks, so go see him while you can), why in the hell was he fighting anyone at all? When he was asked by the prosecutor--on the stand--why he didn't retreat when the fight escalated, he responded "Ma'am, if I was chickenshit I would have. But this is Texas. And I'm not." And he was acquitted anyway.
One of the strangest things about the night was that I counted at least four songs with strong allusions to God, or Jesus, if not being completely about Christianity, and sandwiched right in the middle of them was the song about shooting a man in the head. And he sang every one of them without a hint of irony. Without a single inclination that the songs might be the least bit conflicting. God bless Texas, I guess.
Go see this guy.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Saint Arnold Brewing Company's Divine Reserve No. 11
Hey--y'all wouldn't happen to know where there's a local beer store that has a few bottles of DR 11 squirreled away for sale, would you?
I do. Suck it.
I'm glad to buy a few singles of this, since the DR 6 was a complete disaster in my opinion. I know it wasn't in your opinion. Feel free to write your opinions down somewhere. And yes, I know 6 was a barley wine and 11 is an imperial IPA. But you'll be hard pressed to point out any substantive differences in the two styles.
This one, however, is sitting next to me in a glass smelling much better than DR 6. It seems to be malt-forward so far, with a bigger, sweeter malt profile in the smell than you could ever get through the pine sap in a glass that they called DR 6. Big body with a nice solid bitterness that doesn't drown out everything else. Great malt backbone in what I would call a malt-forward barleywine or IIPA.
Probably the best beer St. A's has ever made. Much better than their standards, and with increased capacity I look forward to bigger batches and maybe even bombers of their bigger beers like this.
/relieved
I do. Suck it.
I'm glad to buy a few singles of this, since the DR 6 was a complete disaster in my opinion. I know it wasn't in your opinion. Feel free to write your opinions down somewhere. And yes, I know 6 was a barley wine and 11 is an imperial IPA. But you'll be hard pressed to point out any substantive differences in the two styles.
This one, however, is sitting next to me in a glass smelling much better than DR 6. It seems to be malt-forward so far, with a bigger, sweeter malt profile in the smell than you could ever get through the pine sap in a glass that they called DR 6. Big body with a nice solid bitterness that doesn't drown out everything else. Great malt backbone in what I would call a malt-forward barleywine or IIPA.
Probably the best beer St. A's has ever made. Much better than their standards, and with increased capacity I look forward to bigger batches and maybe even bombers of their bigger beers like this.
/relieved
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Live Oak Brewing Company's Primus Weizenbock
Had to google this to make sure the bartender gave me the correct style, and she was off by a touch. She said it was an eisbock, which probably would have made it a bit stronger. No big deal, and the only thing I''m a little pissed about is the "banana and cloves" description on the website. That is the faggiest beer description ever, and I hate it every time I see it.
Pours a loosely or even unfiltered brownish red, with a nice dark-ish tan head. Nice bready smell with floral hops.
It's a bit yeasty, which is where they get their banana and cloves BS. Seems almost more like a Belgian strong ale than a weisbock, because it has more body and is much smoother in the feel than any type of bock. It has the Belgian flavors in the yeast that I mostly don't like, but Live Oak makes easy to drink by making it subordinate to the malt.
Very nice beer. One of the few that I like that is this yeasty.
Pours a loosely or even unfiltered brownish red, with a nice dark-ish tan head. Nice bready smell with floral hops.
It's a bit yeasty, which is where they get their banana and cloves BS. Seems almost more like a Belgian strong ale than a weisbock, because it has more body and is much smoother in the feel than any type of bock. It has the Belgian flavors in the yeast that I mostly don't like, but Live Oak makes easy to drink by making it subordinate to the malt.
Very nice beer. One of the few that I like that is this yeasty.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Spoetzel Brewery's Shiner Old Time Alt
Pours a clear coppery brown with a nice tan head. Very malty smell, with a hint of the standard Shiner smell that most of their beers have. Still nice.
Nice punch to it. But, as I mentioned, it tastes like a shiner Bock version of an alt. Good beer and very drinkable, just comes across as a lighter version of their bock. Glad to see them trying so many different styles in recent years though.
Nice punch to it. But, as I mentioned, it tastes like a shiner Bock version of an alt. Good beer and very drinkable, just comes across as a lighter version of their bock. Glad to see them trying so many different styles in recent years though.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Jester King Brewery's Black Metal Imperial Stout
Alright, this is what made me think of posting again. I recently had this beer at lunch in a pretty nice restaurant in Houston, and thought I should start putting things down here again. I remember when this brewery just announced that it was opening, and I thought it was a stupid name. Still do. Like someone couldn't let go of the Renaissance Festival or something. Then I looked up the website, and their artwork is the same. A mix of Renaissance Fair and goth, with a little steam punk thrown in on one logo. Whatever it is, I don't like it.
But this is a damn good beer. And who am I to criticize someone else's work and creativity, anyway. Especially when they're doing it right where it counts.
This one pours an inky black with a thin, dark tan head head. Very low carbonation, which I think is just fine in this style.
Great smell. Deep roasted and coffee flavors. Website says "aggressive bitterness," but at 60 IBU the bitterness isn't so aggressive in a RIS. That's OK too, I hate Victory beers and overly hopped styles remind me of them. This one is just right though. Despite the 10.4% ABV, the alcohol is virtually imperceptible. Perfect.
Excellent beer. I hope it makes it to Spec's soon, because it will compete with any RIS out there. Maybe they can ramp up production and distribute more widely so I can try the rest.
Or maybe I'll have to make a beer trip to Austin.
But this is a damn good beer. And who am I to criticize someone else's work and creativity, anyway. Especially when they're doing it right where it counts.
This one pours an inky black with a thin, dark tan head head. Very low carbonation, which I think is just fine in this style.
Great smell. Deep roasted and coffee flavors. Website says "aggressive bitterness," but at 60 IBU the bitterness isn't so aggressive in a RIS. That's OK too, I hate Victory beers and overly hopped styles remind me of them. This one is just right though. Despite the 10.4% ABV, the alcohol is virtually imperceptible. Perfect.
Excellent beer. I hope it makes it to Spec's soon, because it will compete with any RIS out there. Maybe they can ramp up production and distribute more widely so I can try the rest.
Or maybe I'll have to make a beer trip to Austin.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
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.
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.
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