What is the beer that could finally put us on the map (Texas)

Egg ...zactly!

Heh, I remember when Tomme Arthur made a guest appearance in the main forum. Talk about a shitstorm.

I agree with you 100%. Brewery participation on this site is very welcome and appreciated and it's ultimately good for the beer community as a whole, but it definitely provides potential for a few cars to be added to the hype train as well.

At least someone has reading comprehension (even if some, me, have no grammar skills)

You also have to consider the fact that MI has had a more established craft beer scene for longer then TX. Which is why it was easier for those breweries to invest in barrel aging. The demand was there whereas it has just been getting started in TX.

If you make the Rare Beer Tasting at GABF, I'd say you're on the map.

Additionally, 512 DPP, Freetail sours, SA Pumpkinator have all created buzz at GABF.

You don't have to have the lineups of CO, MI, OR, or CA to be on the map.

All I'm reading so far is I need to go to New Orleans and buy a bunch of cantillon.

Meaning no Berliner weisse?

I'll give you some cash, pick me up some shelf aged goodness as well.

I'm so grateful for what your experiments into styles and tastes leads to. I'm sure for every release, you all must have dozens of attempts at new and evolving beers that don't meet your standards. It's been great to be in the fledgling years of my craft experience having an accessible local brewer committed to expanding our horizons a bit and producing something fun. I know a great number of BA's and craft lovers who have been thankful for a similar experience across the US.

Not to single out one many, but come on guys we are lucky...just like the West Coast guys have the Abbey folks attending shares we are very lucky to have active member/brewers in our midst.

Unmentioned in this thread is the dopeness coming out of Tejas' hat, AKA Oklahoma. Prairie Ales is going to rock the craft world and us North Texans are going to be be so fortunate with yet another in a growing line of excellent local craft brewers

We'll still make Bonnie the Rare, it's just likely to be a barrel aged Berliner Weisse going forward.

- Jeff

...with fruit, eh?

That's exactly what I said a couple of times.

Live Oak Hefe

I just had Real Ale Devil's Backbone Tripel again... that's a great beer.. stands up to beers from all over the USA in my opinion.

Hah! Tripels are terrible, you can't trade them for anything rare!

Which is ok, because I don't trade..

Right on the money.

It's good, but not great. Tripels aren't a popular enough style to be likely to put anyone on the map. I think the 512 Three is much better than DB anyway.

Haven't had the 512, but now I want to try it.. but I disagree. I think RADB is pretty great... though I don't care if Texas is ever on the map for craft beer.. we know what we have here..and there are plenty of us here to drink it!

Agree with Ford. If you want to try 512 3, Cottonwood has it on tap right now. I don't know which one I like better, 3 or DB. Both excellent.

I'm content with what we have, just don't think a tripel is going to put Texas "on the map" unless the Belgians claim it the greatest themselves.

For what it's worth, Jester King is the Texas brewery whose name I notice most often in the daily Beerpulse email and other beer news feeds. That, together with the fact they bottle (too many TX - especially Austin - breweries don't which makes distribution and trading - and therefore exposure - less likely), they have some very cool labels (thanks Josh) which give them a strong identity (sorry for the corporate speak), they've already dipped their toe in the waters of collaboration, they have a vision and a purpose (farmhouse brewing), plus sour is currently the new black, all has me looking in their direction.

The number of breweries who don't bottle, or only bottle a handful of limited releases, is a big factor here. It's been mentioned a couple of times in this thread and plenty of times in others - Live Oak Hefeweizen. I reckon we all wish Chip would build that new brewery and start bottling or canning.

Ultimately though, in my opinion, it doesn't really matter. If it happens it happens. The breweries we've got in Texas right now are kind of like the bands that you go to see at a small club and who not many people know about. You love them and what they do and you think how great it'd be for them to break, but you kinda don't want that to happen because then you'll have to mortgage your house to get a ticket whenever they tour and you won't get to hang out with them at the bar after a gig. Make what you will of that analogy - I kinda stole it from John Peel.

I couldn't care less about trade value. Both are great beers, maybe some of the best American made tripel's, made by Texas breweries.

Larry Slezak and Thomas Helton are two of the best musicians that I have ever heard, both live in Houston. They aren't going to put Houston or Texas jazz on the map. Doesn't make them any less impressive.

No Texas Tripel can even stand in the same building as a Belgian Tripel.

When every state can get something like Westmalle, who is really gonna care?

I do agree that Texas should bottle more. But I'm sure that's on the way.

Sorry for the overreaction. I got a little bent out of shape by the implication that the lag time between the Bonnie the Rare announcement and release was a conscious decision on our part to drive hype. We anticipated Bonnie being released a lot sooner than it was. Actually, I'm not even sure there was an implication that we were just trying to drive hype, so I apologize if that wasn't the case.

Jeff

I bet they said something similar about American Hefe's.

Beer is made with relatively few ingredients hopefully under replicable conditions. If the recipe is good, the location doesn't matter much. (Obviously some styles and recipes rely on local flora and fauna and could not be replicated elsewhere).

I think a lot of it depends on the yeast(for German and Belgian styles). Of course assuming they can keep all the basics under control. I'd like to see more brewers seek out older overseas yeast strains. Obviously they're good brewers, but I think the yeast is what really helps brewers like westy, Schneider, chimay, etc...

I'd say no harm no foul. We know you're a bunch of passionate bastards when it comes to beer. That passion is what's bringing some really good beers to us. Especially for a style that's really untapped in Texas.

I'd really like to see another Berliner weisse from jester king.