I tried two DIPA today. Karbachs Rodeo Clown and St Arnolds Endeavor. Both were awesome. These beers are very similar. The St Arnolds was out of a cask. the Rodeo Clown was from a tap. I think the Rodeo Clown did a better job of hiding its 9.5 ABV, but both are solid. You can't go wrong with either. Look for both to have a slight citrus, maybe peach, piney, and a creamy malt. Very good afternoon beers.

Attention CO Beer Threaders. I'm seeing some cans from Eddyline Brewing pop up these days. They're a small brewery out of Buena Vista. I highly recommend their Crank Yanker IPA. If you see it, it should be fresh, so give it a try!

[This message has been edited by NColoradoAG (edited 3/18/2013 7:12p).]

Did anyone pick up DR13 today? I picked up a bomber, but I'm not a big fan of Quads. I'd love to hear some reviews.

I also got two bombers of Hellfighter. This is a tasty beer.

A neighbor and I cracked a bomber out of curiosity tonight... Not bad but real sweet & boozy. I'm gonna throw the bomber I picked up in the beer fridge for a while

I need to get a few hellfighters for the stash... Still holdin onto the BBA Hellfighter for a while, will be good to get a few of the regular version to enjoy

Any reviews on DR13????????

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A neighbor and I cracked a bomber out of curiosity tonight... Not bad but real sweet & boozy. I'm gonna throw the bomber I picked up in the beer fridge for a while

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quads tend to do better with age. Mine was super sweet and boozy for quite a while. It is now a year and a half old and it is fantastic. The boozy flavor mellowed around 7 months or so. I still have about 8-10 750s aging.

dp...

i picked up a Pepe Nero tonight. Probably crack it this weekend.

[This message has been edited by AggieOO (edited 3/18/2013 11:14p).]

I tried mine. It was way too sweet for my liking.

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quads tend to do better with age. Mine was super sweet and boozy for quite a while. It is now a year and a half old and it is fantastic. The boozy flavor mellowed around 7 months or so. I still have about 8-10 750s aging.

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Yeah that's what I expect too

went to heb over lunch break to grab groceries and ran across lagunitas sucks...... woo-hoo!

I grabbed a 6 pack of the DR13. I will probably have one and put the rest to age.

uh oh, daddys back in Kansas for the week. Figured id pick up some ol' standbys on the way to the hotel

The girlfriend picked up a stash of DR 13 in CS today. She's a keeper

Nice Jetch.

I'm digging those 8 Bit cans!

Fiance called me to let me know she's bringing home DR13 and Hellfighter. Happy dance!

That's what's known as a keeper!

I left TX in '99 after graduating. While in school, aside from Shiner Bock, my first crossover beer was Breckenridge Avalanche while on a ski trip in CO.

Then I moved to San Diego summer of '00. Was blissfully clueless about craft beer until '02 when a friend and I both had Friday's off and started our own BeerTours. At that time there weren't a ton of options be the world opened up.

In '04 (I believe) I started homebrewing and that's when the beer explosion happened.

Throughout that time I continue to travel back to Houston to visit the parents and the TX beer scene continues to disappoint. While it's leaps and bounds better than it was I've come to discover the reason the TX scene hasn't erupted: breweries are hamstrung by the 3 tier law and cannot sell direct to customers.

In SD newer breweries are making 50 to 60% profits out of their tasting rooms alone, some are barely even distributing (and these are 15bbl brewhouses)and are making bucks. I cannot wait for the day that TX changes their laws and breaks the chains from the BMCs.

Since I'm not tuned into state's issues, I have heard that Jester King is leading the charge on this front...what's the status?

Jester King and Peticolas (along with a few others I know of in the DFW area) stay pretty apprised of all of these laws/bills/BS. I get facebook updates from the breweries that post about it, and it doesn't sound great. I haven't personally researched very much about it, but I'm starting to realize just how crappy Texas breweries have it. I saw Beer Wars a few weeks ago, and up to that point I didn't realize just how pigeon-holed a start-up brewing company is.

This interests me a lot, so I'm going to do some research in my spare time, maybe talk to some folks at each brewery and see how it affects them all personally.

EDIT: Talk to jockitch about it, he is in the process of starting a brewery in the Houston area (B52 Brewing, has its own thread as well)

And for the sake of traditional posts on this thread, I knocked off a few SA Spring Bocks last night while I was making some beef stew. Is it just me or do all Saint Arnold beers taste better out of the bottle rather than poured into a glass?

[This message has been edited by WorkBoots09 (edited 3/20/2013 11:45a).]

Just picked up a DIPA and Black Rye from Firestone Walker and a DR 13...not a bad beer run.

An associate of mine is the lawyer for jester king, etc. It is interesting to chat with him about all that stuff. He also owns a liquor importing company here in Austin, so he knows the tabc well. When they sued the tabc, he said that even some of the tabc folks agree with the craft brewers, but the red tape to change things is thick.

if the legislation that has been drafted is passed as is, taprooms will be allowed(up to 5K BBL/year). That said, to-go sales will still not be allowed(think growler fills and 6-packs to go during the day and after tours).

Though beer drinkers may think this is a huge win, for many of the breweries, a taproom is akin to opening a full-time bar, which is not necessarily something they are fully interested in. I can see many brewers doing limited hours for their taprooms, especially since many of the breweries were not opened in areas that are necessarily part of any "bar scene". Ultimately, I would not forecast a brewery getting rich off of on-site business, but it is perhaps a step in the right direction to allowing to-go sales.

The biggest blow to the craft brewery scene is losing the ability to sell distribution rights to the distributors. A small brewery can make several million dollars by doing this, which can be a crucial cash event in the growth phase. Additionally, building the network and marketing out to self-distribute is expensive. To take away a brewery's right to monetize that is criminal.

As a consumer the new law does not sound that great. If karbach opens a tap room i'm guessing it is going to cost more than the $7 for four pints that they charge for the 'tour' now.

Having a Green Flash anniversary 'green bullet' imperial IPA on draught tonight. 100+ IBU and 10.1% yet very drinkable

Once again, I must ask that everyone who enjoys good beer to consider joining the Open the Taps movement. Any and all support we can get to rid Texas of these archaic and prohibitive laws is appreciated!!!

Jetch, did you already polish off those Odell's?

nah, gonna get into some of the Choc milk later, still chippin away on them over the next day or so

Jetch- Are you still thinking you might ship a box back anytime?

yeah tomorrows gig between appointments is trying to iron that out. will keep yall posted.

Tonight's haul. Finally found a bottle of enjoy by. **** is even hard to find here on the central coast. Good **** though

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As a consumer the new law does not sound that great. If karbach opens a tap room i'm guessing it is going to cost more than the $7 for four pints that they charge for the 'tour' now.

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yeh of course it would, but you can't expect to pay $1 and change for a pint. There are a couple tasting rooms near me in denver burbs, and they are about $4 a pint which is what I expect to pay for them to stay in business. They are generally pretty full with people. One of them doesnt even distribute and I'm sure they are content with that. It's the local tap room for nearby residents; their version of cheers.

It's very short sighted to not want those laws to pass in Texas because you like 4 beers for $7. If you want craft beer to grow in texas those changes must be made.

Taproom sales are a must for any startup brewery, IMO. First off, the margins are great. Second, you must build up some sort of reputation before you will be able to sell a product consistently. Bottle shop coolers are tough territory, especially when talking about garnering repeat customers.

taproom sales are certainly not a must. Sales to bars(kegs) is the must for a startup brewery in Texas. Expanding into bottling/canning follows.

DR13 was pretty good, just kind of rough around the edges. The Whole Foods by me had St. Bernardus Abt 12 on tap a couple of weeks ago, now that's a top notch quad! The bombers are fairly common at HEB and Specs, i suggest you give it a try if you haven't had many quads.

I'm going to save the rest of my DR13 for a while to see how the tastes develop.

On a related note, had one of my DR12 last week, and I was really impressed with how it had changed. I was skeptical about aging beer, since this was really my first one to save. But I'm a firm believer now, as long as the style allows it.