The Big Texas Beer Fest was definitely a success in my book. Got to taste a bunch of stuff on my wishlist, and some stuff I hadn't planned on. The VIP tickets were worth it for sure. The first hour when it was just VIP ticket holders was the best part of the day. No lines anywhere. Next time, I'll be sure to get to the limited releases that I want to try during that hour, as I missed out on a few that I had wanted to try. Some of my favorites (going from memory and my Untappd app) were:
Armadillo Ale Works Brunch Money
Deep Elum Neato Bandito
Founder's Kentucky Breakfast Stout
Lakewood Bourbon Barrel Temptress
Ayinger Celebrator
Peticolas Sit Down or I'll Sit You Down (dry-hopped with Cascade)
Real Ale Blakkr
Brunch Money is supposed to be available this week in bottles around the Metroplex, so I might have to try to find some.
I also managed to knock a few beers off of my bucket list recently, including Ommegang Three Philosophers and New Belgium La Folie (2014). Three Philosophers I had at the BTBF and was pretty good. The La Folie I picked up this week at the Flower Mound Whip In and it was excellent. I wasn't disappointed in either of them.
Now, to get back to homebrewing....It's been about a month and a half or so since I bottled the Magic Hat #9 clone that I brewed up. My parents were in town a few weekends ago, and they came by the house to see the new hardwood floors we had put in. I pulled out a bottle of my #9 clone and a store-bought bottle of #9 and poured them into solo cups marked "A" and "B" and gave one of each to each of my parents and my wife. It wasn't a totally fair comparison, because the store-bought stuff was a bit older, so it wasn't all that fresh, but all three people thought that my version was much better! How about that?
My ESB, named Enzo English Ale in honor of our English Springer Spaniel, should be just about ready to drink. I put a bottle in the fridge last night to try out this weekend. Really hoping it turns out good, as I love a good ESB.
The old beer fridge is starting to get pretty full, so my next brew day is still a little ways off. I might try to go for something longer fermenting here soon, though, so I've at least got something going. Thinking about doing a saison with the Dupoint yeast strain. It likes higher temperatures, which will be perfect for the upcoming Texas summer heat. After that, I need to do another batch of the Charge 8 Imperial IPA. It's extremely tasty, and I'm afraid I'm going to start running low soon!! Can't have that.
Happy drinking!
Kyle
