Austin, Texas has an allure than no other city in Texas has. Live music as far as the ear can hear; fantastic blend of Texas food mixed with bits of styles from all over the globe; a care for the outdoors that all that live here seem to enjoy. Austin has that California meets Colorado meets Texas feel to it. The best of many influences. Folks seem to always be outside enjoying the weather, the multitude of running and biking trails, art and music that makes Austin an all around great town.

I decided to make the trek from San Antonio up to Austin today to attend ,what is well known to the locals and  those who live in South Texas, as the 1st Saturday Brewery Tour and Beer tasting at Independence Brewing Co in Austin. Austin has grown quite a reputation in the beer world as a very up and coming, free thinking town when it comes to craft beer. Independence started back in 2004 with the thought to “brew flavorful, deliciously easy-drinking beers for the people of Austin..”, but now distribute throughout central and south Texas.

1st Saturday is quite the event. I have come to the brewery before, but during the week and was given a solo tour of the brewery and some tastings. Never though had I attended the festivities of 1st Saturday at Independence. Well worth effort if you enjoy handcrafted beers, a little live music and the camaraderie  of your fellow humans.

The great thing about this event. is that it truly is for everyone. You don’t even have to like beer (although that helps). Owners Rob and Amy Cartwright have seemingly re-created their own family oriented outlook on life by not just opening up the brewery to tastings for the public, but turning it into a true community event. Kids and dogs are welcome. Folks are encouraged to bring and set their lawn chairs both inside and outside the brewery and hang out.

They make it easy on you. Simply show up, grab a brew, take a tour, have some catered cuisine and kick back with the masses as you enjoy some live Texas music. You get 3 tastings while your their and they have tours of the brewery twice during event. Let me tell yo, the best part of a brewery tour in Texas is the cold room!

It was a great 2 hours today. My kids came a long and had a blast. As we walked in, one of the event volunteers handed the boys and I some dog biscuits for the brewery dogs. Let me tell you, the brewery dogs loved it and the boys got a kick out of seeing dogs at a brewery. There was such a great vibe at this place with everyone talking, kids running around playing and of course the beer. Amy and Rob have always been accommodating when I’ve met them, but with an event like this, they’re opening their second home to everyone and you end up meeting many new friends, as well as their dogs.

This truly is a must experience event, whether your a local or visiting Austin for business or some much needed time off. Visit the Capital building; see the Mexican Freetail Bats fly out from under the Congress Ave bridge and definitely catch some live music, but make some time for the folks at Independence. you won’t regret it.

We all have been through a lot in our lives, many adventures, both good and bad. I’m no different. After considering all I’ve I’ve been through, growing up in Colorado, living in Vegas and Hawaii, finally getting my degree and all other events in between, all I seem to really care about these days is my family and friends, my boys in particular.

As corny as this sounds, they truly are all of the best parts of me. If I do nothing else right in my life, I want my boys to be the only achievement I have.

I will not digress, so thank you everyone, for being a part of me.

Pennsylvania Press Release

Texas is a big place. I know.. you are shocked. So would it be any surprise to find that their is a little town tucked away in the Texas Hill Country, known as Wimberley? I thought not. Although Wimberley, Texas was home to many Native American tribes over the last several thousand years, it wasn’t until the mid 1800’s after Texas won it’s independence and received statehood in 1845 that we first see a written record. Wimberley has remained small over the last 150 years or so and certainly not lost it’s Hill Country charm. Located within a two hour drive of both San Antonio and Austin, Texas, it has quite a lot to see and enjoy. For the spring and summer, you can enjoy their market days; head over to nearby Cypress Swimming Hole in Woodcreek. Much of the area remains unchanged over the years from its humble origins.

A sign of the times however is the recent addition of the Wimberley Brewing Company. The self proclaimed smallest micro-brewery in Texas has a down home feel, hand-crafted ales and pure Texas hospitality.

The Wimberly Brewing Co

I was on my way to to a nearby camping area when I happened to drive through Wimberley. As I drove through this very small town, I saw the new location for the Wimberley Brewing Company. This was always a place I’d wanted to visit and just never had the chance. With an hour to spare, I decided to stop in. What’s interesting, is that the last time I drove by, it was all alone. A stand alone production brewery. This time around, I found it inside Brewster’s Pizza. Needless to say, I was intrigued. As I approached the building I saw the writing on the window “Home of the Wimberley Brewing Company”.

The writing is on the 'Window'

I walked in and was greeted by a nice young lady who quickly told me I was in the right place. After inquiring about a tour, she explained that I was looking at the tour! The inside is small enough, that they would fill up quickly with only a few small groups coming in. She did however introduce me to owner and brewmaster Bruce Collie. Bruce walked up right away and introduced himself. said he’d be glad to sit and talk for a bit. I ordered a flight of their beers and grabbed a table in this very quaint brewpub.

A few minutes later, the server brought me my flight. A selection of seven of their ales. As I looked around the place, I noticed empty pizza boxes stacked up waiting to be filled. I asked Bruce what was up. He explained that when they first opened, it was as a brewery only. They closed for a short period in order to make new accommodations and re-opened as a brewpub. Specializing in hand-crafted pizzas, this seemed a perfect combination. Pizza and craft beer.

Just the right size for good times.

I asked Bruce how he got his start. He stated that unlike many commercial and craft brewers, he didn’t start out as a homebrewer. he’d had the restaurant already, but had always wanted to brew. So, his foray into craft beer was with commercial brewing. As a brewer myself (albeit a homebrewer), we quickly struck up a conversation about different brewing methods, beer styles and pizza. Let me tell you, when you have place where the owner is also the brewer, the chef and the host, you’ve got something. I love places where the cook or brewer take the time to sit with you and get to know YOU.

After consuming my flight, I talked with Bruce a little more. He even invited me back to brew with him outside next month, as he always does the first Saturday of each month. I do believe I will take him up on that offer.

Wimberley, Texas and the Wimberley Brewing Company are must stops, whether you from out of state or would like a day trip if you live near by.

RALEIGH, N.C. • The very soul of beer, the ingredient responsible for its wonderful bitterness, is now being grown in North Carolina.

Hoping to build on the craft-brewing and localfood movements, N.C. State University researchers in Raleigh and a handful of farmers in the mountains are growing experimental plots of hops, the coneshaped flower clusters that brewers add to beer for bitterness, aroma and as a natural preservative.

Rob Austin, Deanna Osmond and Jeanine Davis at NCSU got a $28,000, oneyear grant this year from the Golden LEAF Foundation to investigate the commercial viability of growing hops here. In March, a couple of volunteers from a soon-to-open Durham brewery called Fullsteam came to help researchers plant a small plot of about 200 plants at a university field laboratory near Lake Wheeler, south of Raleigh.

Davis, an extension agent, had already been working with four farms in the mountains that are trying to grow hops. The goals, Austin said, are to test the plants’ ability to grow in North Carolina and to monitor potential diseases, particularly mold, which drove hops production out of the eastern United States and Midwest in the 1920s. Now most hops grown in the United States come from arid parts of the Pacific Northwest.

A couple of years ago, though, farmers in the western part of the state decided to plant hops. They were spurred by a spike in hops prices and the rise of Asheville as a craft-brewing center. This year, some hope to reap their first significant harvest.

Brewers are watching keenly, said Brooks Hamaker of Fullsteam. The brewery is expected to start selling beer in mid-June and to open an adjacent tavern later in the summer.

Fullsteam plans to emphasize locally grown ingredients such as sweet potatoes, scuppernong grapes and persimmons. The notion of North Carolina hops was so exciting that, despite being in the middle of hectic opening preparations, he and the two other senior employees at Fullsteam stopped work and came to Raleigh to help Austin with planting.

“We’d be interested in about as much as we could get our hands on,” Hamaker said.

Hops’ almost mystical role in creating beer is drawing an outsized amount of attention for the farmers, given the modest size and early stage of their experiments.

“It’s unbelievable how much interest this has generated ,” said Black Mountain farmer Van Burnette, who has planted a plot of about a fifth of an acre. “I’ve had more than 100 people here on one tour alone, and I get calls all the time from people who are thinking about growing it.”

Hops are labor intensive to grow, particularly in smallscale farms that can’t afford expensive equipment such as harvesting machines.

The bines, as the plants are called, must be encouraged to grow up strings or wires on elaborate trellis systems. They require careful pruning, and the harvest is laborious, too, said Julie Jensen, who is growing the largest plot so far, a two-acre hops yard on her Weaverville farm.

She’s even building a drying shed for the flowers.

Jensen, who is growing on land once used for tobacco, said it’s a huge amount of work but one of the few crops that, on paper at least, could bring in decent income for farmers, which is what led her to try it. Hops can sell for more than $10 a pound in small quantities, and it’s not unusual for an acre to yield more than 2,000 pounds.

Burnette was getting out of the cattle business and looking for a drought-resistant crop last year when he decided to plant a tiny plot of hops, about 35 plants each of four varieties.

If the farmers can figure out how to grow good hops in quantity, he said there is a ready market, given the dozens of brewing operations that have sprung up in recent years, including nearly 150 within 200 miles of his farm.

As part of their grant work, NCSU scientists plan to perform chemical analysis of the North Carolina-grown hops. Austin said that he hopes they will show unique regional characteristics, something that could add distinction to beers made with them.

The farmers and scientists say there is still much to learn about even the most basic parts of growing hops here. Some hazards are already clear though. Last year, Burnette sent some fresh hops to a skilled home brewer who crafted a beer to serve at a group harvest. On the appointed day, though, they made the mistake of letting everyone “sample” a brew or two before the picking.

“That didn’t work out too well,” he said. “Next time it will be pick first, drink second.”

BEER IN THEM THAR MOUNTAINS

The four farms working with N.C. State University to explore the possibility of commercial hops growing are all clustered around Asheville, and that’s no coincidence: The mountain city is gaining national attention as an attraction for craft-beer lovers, and would be an obvious market for the bitter flowers.

Last year Asheville was voted “Beer City USA” in an online poll, sharing the top honor with a much betterknown brewing city, Portland, Ore.

Also in 2009, eight brewing operations in the city and four nearby formed the Asheville Brewers Alliance.

“Any day of the week, you can have your choice of probably 80 Asheville-made beers,” said Tony Kiss, who covers beer like a sport for the Asheville Citizen-Times.

A tour called the Brews Cruise takes tourists on a circuit of local brewing operations and the city now boasts five annual beer festivals. All 3,500 tickets for the fall Brewgrass Festival were snapped up in less than a day when they went on sale Wednesday.

With all this beer action, Black Mountain farmer Van Burnette said that hops growers like himself not only could supply local brewers with their most crucial ingredient, but also become part of a critical mass of attractions for beer-related tourism.

These days San Antonio, Texas is quite the vacation destination for many people. We’ve hosted both the men’s and Women’s NCAA Final Four; tear up the town each year with Fiesta; and then there’s the world famous Riverwalk. When traveling, I think most of us look to hit the tourist spots, see as much as we can of what we think we are supposed to when visiting a new city. While I love that philosophy, you really can’t go to Rome and not see the Vatican, I firmly believe in living like a local when on vacation.

San Antonio, Texas has many historical areas of town, many dating back two to three hundred years: The Missions, San Fernando Cathedral and of course The Alamo. Not quite as well known outside of San Antonio, but just as historic, is the King William District. The  area started as farmland, getting it’s water from the San Antonio River, owned by the 1718 Mission San Antonio de Valero. In the  the 1800′s each of the missions were controlled by the Catholic Church. One of the missions, Mission Concepcion, was divided into various pieces in the mid-1800′s, creating what became the King William District.  Although not around quite as long yet, the King William District is now home to a restaurant that everyone can call their own; The Friendly Spot.

San Antonio is a bit of a dry spot in Texas and the United States when it comes to Craft beer and restaurants that will carry a good selection of it. Exceptions include The Freetail Brewing Co, Blue Star Brewing Co and few others in town. Well, last September The Friendly Spot Ice House moved into the King William District and livened up what was already a great art and music section of town. As you dry by you best be careful, as you will almost certainly miss it tucked away in the midst of many historic homes an businesses. It’s worth the search though.

As I approached, I instantly noticed the Alamo motif on the roof and tiki style bar that greet you with a warm hug. Yes, I said hug. The area is adorned with a lot of outdoor seating. Heck it seems that it’s mostly outdoor seating in fact. What a concept, a place is all outdoors. In Texas! But wait, in the back they boast another building with indoor seating and another  area to serve your food and libations.

I stopped by on a Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago when it was still nice enough to pull up a chair outside. In looking around I quickly noticed this was definitely an establishment geared to families. Behind me was a nice little play area for kids, fenced in and right near everyone else. Already I was enjoying being here and so were my kids, who headed over to the play area. It was great, we were all enjoying the sunny day, nice breeze and atmosphere.

Thirsty and a little hungry as well, I bellied up to the tiki bar and ordered a little something to eat. I did have to double take, as they had quite the selection of food to choose from, their own takes on traditional Tex-Mex. There definitely was something for everyone! What’s nice about The Friendly Spot, is that owner Steve Newman is really trying to make this a place where one can get a great Craft Beer , enjoy a little something to eat and enjoy friends and family. Oh, and he does have quite the selection of Craft Beer.

A quick look behind the bar, one notices a six section cooler chock full of beer. Steve does have many of your usual brews, but also seems to be focusing on Craft Beer. With selections from Stone Brewing Co, New Belgium, Oskar Blues, Deschutes, Chimay, Brooklyn Brewing Co and many others, I was easily able to find something I liked. Steve even sat down for a few minutes to say hello. It’s not often the owner takes the time to make sure his customers are doing well, let alone sit down for a few minutes! After talking for several minutes, Steve indicated a desire to increase the selection of American Craft beer in the coolers, as well as bring in breweries for Craft Beer dinners.

Needless to say, this is a place not just for locals, craft beer aficionados , but also for those who have come to the Alamo City for a little rest and relaxation. A definite must stop when in San Antonio and a great place to spend a few hours Memorial Day weekend!

More thoughts to come…I’ll also be re-posting an article on The Tap Exchange I wrote for UpTake.com recently about Jimmie’s place before new ownership and management came in…

The Southern Hemisphere is classified as an APA, or American Pale Ale. Pale Ales are originally of British origin, the style often uses a  ingredients both local and imported. This gives the style differences in its personality, depending on the where the pieces were obtained.  usually a good balance of malt and hops. Fruity notes  vary from a little to a lot. Bitterness is most often present and typically has a can  lightl floral aroma. The American version of which this represents, tends to be more crisp and hoppier.

Appearance: A nice medium golden yellow that brought to mind a crisp summer morning sunrise. Poured into a pint glass, this produced wonderful carbonation that led to a medium one finger head which stuck around producing a B-E-A-U-tiful lacing on the glass.

Aroma was definately smelling of hops. Not suprising, considering it contains Pacific Hallertau, New Zealand Motueka and New Zealand Southern Cross hops from New Zealand. Very floral in their aromas these hops. A hint of citrus, something tart perhaps? The hop aroma has a nice balanced malt to it as well..shall we see what it tastes like?

Upon first sip, the floral hops come on out. Bitter to the last, these New Zealand hops are determined to prove they are worthy of an American Pale Ale. The hop bitterness was just enough with the strength to make me consider this a mild IPA..almost. The malt had a definite caramel character and really served to balanced out this hopped up ale.

Mouthfeel was crisp, as I would expect this one to be with the hops, but the malt balance serves to bring a medium body to this one.

As the name indicates, I expect that this was a wet hopped ale and overall, a very enjoyable everyday pale ale that beckons for more in the fridge. It won’t kill you at around 6.7 ABV and really goes nice with a cheese and meat plate, with some grapes perhaps and sourdough bread.

Brought again to us by the Freetail Brewing Co. This is one unique brewpub, determined to change your perception of beer and of Texas craft brews (Yes, we have very good craft brews here in Texas)!  Born out of inspiration in 2005 while at Chama River Brewing Co., in Albuquerque, NM, owner Scott Metzger and brewer Jason Davis have created a very unique brewpub that has paid homage to Texas and its inhabitants.

Appearance was that of a clear light gold, almost as if the sun was shining through. Poured into a pint glass straight off the the tap at Freetail Brewing, a nice amount of carbanation produced a small, but sustainable head with nice lacing.

The Simivoe hops hit you as soon as you take a whiff of this one. Wow, a nice surprise. They even smell bitter! Balanced out by a modest amount of malt and citrus, this was heaven to my nose.

As it should, bitter hops hit you immediately. Nice wonderful hops..a great malt character does balance out the hops and still retains the bite of an IPA. A faint hint of citrus, but what grabs you are the Simcoe hops. Simcoe hops are a relatively new type of hop, a hybrid similar to cascade hops, but with more bitterness. It’s the Simcoe hops that give this one the bite!

Mouthfeel is very crisp. Goes down easy, but beware! The more you have, the more the alcohol content hits you!

Overall, I was impressed. It had a bite, it was crisp, it was smooth. At around 8% ABV, you can have another. Went well with the meatball sub and chips I had.