Even in a pretty miserable year—and let’s not kid ourselves: this has been, by any measure, a pretty miserable year on the global scale—I’ve got a lot to be thankful for. Most of all, of course, there’s my beautiful fiancée lady snow, to whom I became formally engaged this past April. I’ve also got two wonderful parents, a cool-as-hell sister (now with almost-as-cool brother-in-law!), and three mostly-wild animals roaming my apartment and amusing me daily with their wacky hijinks. And then there’s beer. Specifically, there’s the downright miracle of the local brewery.

When I moved back to Austin after college, you could come pretty close to counting the breweries and brewpubs in town on one hand, and thanks to restrictive and outdated laws, most production breweries didn’t have tap rooms or even regular touring hours. Today, in large part to effective lobbying and litigation by the local craft brew industry but also because the demand is seemingly inexhaustible, you can’t swing a yard glass without hitting a fermentation tank. This is great! The best beer is frequently the freshest beer—within reason, of course. If you drink it before it comes out of the brite tank, it’s flat, and if you drink it before it goes into the fermenter, well, that’s not even beer, that’s just wort, and it won’t get you drunk but it will give you one hell of a sugar hangover. But if you drink beer shortly after it comes out of the brite tank, that’s awesome, and it’s a thing you can often do at your local brewery. So this holiday weekend, I wanted to let the other Commentists tell us all about the local breweries they’re thankful for.

For my part, I considered writing about a few different breweries here: pillars of the Northwest Austin beer community like Austin Beerworks, or Adelbert’s, or perhaps the brand new place up in Cedar Park, Whitestone Brewing, which is already making some really great beer. In the end, though, I settled on Cedar Park’s Red Horn Brewing Company, in large part because they’re the brewers of the best new Texas beer of 2016, the current crown jewel of their Hardwood Series, a little something called Bourbon Barrel Aged Suburban Ninja With Vanilla. It starts with their Suburban Ninja, already an imperial stout easily on par with heavy hitters like Oskar Blues Ten FIDY and North Coast Old Rasputin. And then, well, you guessed it: They age it in bourbon barrels, with vanilla added, resulting in a (noun) that makes Southern Tier’s (in)famous dessert beer, Crème Brûlée, taste like Guinness in comparison. Back in (when?) I was lucky enough to wander into the brewpub on a day when they had this and a number of other variations of Suburban Ninja on tap, all nearly as brilliant as the vanilla, including a straight barrel-aged version and one aged in red wine barrels with orange peel and habanero, a one-of-a-kind beverage that I compared at the time to “a Tootsie Roll soaked in ceviche.” That may or may not be your thing; turns out it’s definitely mine.

I wanted to review Red Horn as a whole experience, not just as a collection of beers. This meant, in addition to the libations, a chocolate chip banana muffin (scratch-made by the nearby Russell’s Bakery, and one damn delicious sponge for all that beer), a meat plate (courtesy of Antonelli’s Cheese Shop, with few different of meats that complemented the house brews nicely), and an iced cold-brew coffee.

And if you’ll indulge me for a moment in some coffeenerdness—sorry! I’m sorry! Please don’t throw that!—Red Horn’s coffee is absolutely outstanding. I’m not a coffee drinker by any normal meaning of the term save that I have, on occasion, been known to drink coffee. I don’t drink it to kickstart my day, and there’s no way I drink more than two dozen cups annually, but a visit to Red Horn calls for the iced cold-brew every single time. It’s like they’ve managed to wring every last bit of flavor out of, like, the concept, the essence, of what it is to be coffee. In short, it’s absolutely mandatory.

Red Horn’s filled in what I imagine started out as a pretty nondescript industrial-type space with attractive brick and wood features, a stage for live music, and even a few couches. It’s a friendly, casual setting, nice and quiet, and above all it feels like a place where no one will judge you for having a beer or four with breakfast. So,what the hell, I had four beers with breakfast.

I started off with The ALTimate Warrior, a pleasant and highly quaffable copper-colored ale and a joint effort of Red Horn and the now 20-year-old Real Ale Brewing Company of Blanco, TX. (Which, good God, remind me to do a Real Ale review sometime soon, because those guys are terrific.) The one thing I felt was missing here was the well-defined bitter-sweet contrast I’m used to in an altbier; this one’s more mellow in terms of both sweetness and bitterness. Next up was Grizz, an extra special bitter. ESBs are one of my favorite styles, and I’ve completely neglected them in the Beer Barrel to this point. Grizz is full-flavored and malty, capped with an appropriately mild bitterness—appropriate because, as I never tire of explaining to bored bystanders, “bitter” is just another word for English pale ale, a much more balanced style than the IPAs that usually come to mind when we think of “bitter beer.”

The real standout on this visit was ATX Brewpub Collusion. A little while back during Austin Beer Week, a whole bunch of Austin brewpubs made versions of this beer from the same basic recipe. I never did try any other version of this beer, but the one Red Horn put out is a fresh, fruity pale ale featuring Mosaic hops. It’s clean and expansively flavorful without being heavy or filling, and would be a great beer to pick up a growler of (or share a pitcher, if Red Horn sold their beer by the pitcher).

I wrapped up my survey of the house beers by revisiting one of their year-round selections, House United, a coffee stout so named for fairly obvious reasons. It doesn’t have the big up-front coffee flavor I usually look for in this kind of beer. Instead, it’s first and foremost a good, rich, roasty stout. It’s a bit of an oddball beer in that it doesn’t start like coffee, but rather finishes like coffee. I don’t know exactly how Red Horn accomplished this reversal of the normal order of things, but it might actually be the most effective way to show off both their coffee and their beer brewing acumen.

lady snow was there too! She got a turkey pesto panini and Red Horn’s raspberry lemon Berliner weisse, Pure Faith.

lady snow says: It’s really good.

make it snow says: I’ve tried it before, and I don’t remember there being much lemon.

lady snow says: Here, try it again.

make it snow says: Oh, yep, that’s a lot of lemon!

Good show, Red Horn! We’ll be back soon.

But enough out of me! Here’s Horatio Cornblower to tell us about Willimantic Brewing Company. (I’m not cool enough to call it Main Street.)

The Willimantic Brewing Company or, as those of us in the know call it, “Main Street” is the best bar in Willimantic, CT, the Best Beer Bar in AMERICA, (2010), according to something called Nightclub & Bar Magazine, (have you renewedyour subscription yet?), the Best Bar in Windham County in 2009 and 2011, (the only surprising thing about this is that there’s more than one contender), per Connecticut Magazine, and in general one of my favorite places to get a drink.  It helps that my brother is basically the Mayor of the place and that I’ve been boozing it up there since roughly 1998, well before they became so goddamn popular that it is hell to get a seat there Thursday–Sunday, unless you come in very late or very early.

Main Street, (we’ll pretend all of you are as cool and hip as me, but don’t get any ideas), is a bar/restaurant.  It is located in the old Willimantic Post Office, which is a gorgeous limestone building.  The restaurant is a nondescript room with huge ceilings and slightly more charm than your average Olive Garden.  The food is good, but not great.  I noticed during tonight’s field trip that the food prices seem to have jumped a couple of bucks per entrée.  The nachos are, by some accounts, the best in the state, but you should not believe that.  They’re good mind you, but enormous, (which they goddamn well better be at $15 per), and unless you’ve got 6-8 people teeing off on them you will eventually be left with a mass of cold and soggy chips and no desire to eat nachos for the next few months.  And with the amount of cheese you did eat, you won’t be going to the bathroom for a good three days.  The rib-eye is excellent, the pizzas are good and reasonably priced, (but not the chicken one), and their specials are generally worth a shot.  Just don’t expect to  be blown away by the food.  If you want excellent food go across the street to Cafemantic, which has phenomenal food.  As a bonus, if you have drinks at Main Street and dinner at Cafemantic, congratulations!  You’ve just interacted with the only two functioning, (legal), businesses in Willimantic!

Moving away from the  restaurant we enter the bar.  The bar is gorgeous.  It was originally the public area of the Post Office; the restaurant area is the area where they handled all the mail, hence it’s relative dull appearance.  There is a long wooden bar with a lot of fantastic woodwork.  They make their own beer and if you’re there on the right day you’ll smell it.  Not for everyone but personally I like the smell of brewing beer.  The available beers rotate as they’re made.  The flagship, which is always available, is Willibrew Certified Gold.  It’s good, people love it and I honestly can’t remember the last time I ordered it.  I was going to tonight, for research you understand, but they happened to have their Six Shooter Oyster Stout and that stuff is too fanatastic not to order, so the Stout it was.

Main Street, however, is secure enough in their beer-making skills that they don’t just offer their own beers, they offer an extensive list of guest beers.  And on Mondays they’re $2 off per pint.  In order to fully report on the Main Street experience I, your valiant reporter, decided to order at least one of these.  Tonight’s was Knee Deep Brewing Co’s Breaking Bud, a 6.7% ABV 50 IBU American IPA, (hooray for acronyms!), out of Auburn, CA.  It is damn good, and a very nice companion to the LA Smog Pizza, (spinach, mushroom, onions & garlic); I highly recommend several, particularly if you were smart enough to bring your son with you who knows how to drive stick.

Next time you’re in Willimantic give me a call and I’ll take you down for a drink or three.

And here’s Balls of Steel from Eagle Rock Brewery, where he also had the good sense to get the meat plate.

Eagle Rock Brewery is located right next door to my home city of Pasadena, CA. About two years ago, they opened up a restaurant (Eagle Rock Public House) with a chef that had been a sous-chef at a very famous LA place. They offer flights of beer, so I was able to sample all of their beers that they had on tap as well as some of the food. Here are my findings:

Counter-clockwise from the top left is the first batch of beers: Manifesto, Ümläüt, Solidarity, and Equinox.

Manifesto: Belgian-style witbier – Light and citrusy in the front with a little bite in the back. It’s very refreshing and tickles the tongue. It also has very light carbonation. I could see this as a great summer drink.

Ümläüt: Pilsneresque ale – This is very interesting. It tastes like a regular pilsner style like most commonly-sold beers, but with a little more depth. This one would probably go great with a Michelada as it has a little spice at the end. I see that a Michelada is offered in the menu and I ask Brian the bartender which beer they use for it. Turns out it’s this one. Makes perfect sense.

Solidarity: Black mild ale – I’m biased on this one as it’s my favorite beer they make. You get coffee right away and a little chocolate at the end. It has very low carbonation and low alcohol so it’s a perfect session beer. I can drink this all day. Unfortunately, they’ve gone seasonal with this one, only offering it in winter. It’s a shame because it’s a perfect all-season beer.

Equinox: Barrel-aged sour blonde – This one is sweet with a little sour kicked in. It’s very citrusy but in a good way like a nice tart lemonade with oranges. It has low carbonation, which makes it addicting. At over 6% ABV, I could pass out on these.

LUNCH BREAK

This was the country ham plate. Those are cornmeal biscuits and the little dollop is mustard butter. Holy shitsnacks was that good! The biscuits were freshly made and warm so that when you spread the butter it melted instantly. Combined with the ham, it made for a delightful combination.

On to the next batch!

Counterclockwise from the top left, the beers are Mikkeler, Döömläüt, Revolution, and a Highland Park Brewery beer called Slow Internet. Turns out they were out of the last ERB selection, so they gave me this one.

Mikkeler: Berliner-weisse with prickly pear – This was by far the most interesting and surprising beer of the day. Brian told me it has basil in it and I picked it up right away. It’s slightly sweet in the front, but the basil balances it out and it is crisp and refreshing in the back. It was a perfect palate cleanser. It’s more than that, though, as I found myself wanting more of it. It’s perfectly balanced and not overly sweet. I will definitely go back to this one and recommend it to anyone.

Döömläüt: faux schwarzbier – First off, I commend anyone that has the balls to put that many umlauts in the name of their beer. Second, this was a different from other schwarzbiers I’ve had before. Most of them are very sweet with low carbonation. This one has slightly higher carbonation and was not as sweet. It’s also made with ale yeast, hence the “faux”, which gives it a different mouthfeel. It’s very good, but I may not be able to drink too many.

Revolution: Dry-hopped pale ale – This one is not extremely hoppy but you can still taste the hops. They do not overwhelm the beer, which I think is a good thing. I am not a fan of pale ales or IPAs, but I could easily see myself ordering this. It has good balance with lots of flavors coming through. I could see it as the pale ale version of a session beer as it’s easy drinking.

Highland Park Brewing Slow Internet: IPA – A little bitter in the front with some citrus in the back. Turns out it’s made with lemongrass and you can tell. As I said before, this is not my favorite style, but I could see people enjoying it on a warm summer day.

For dessert, I had an amazing coconut panna cota with fried beignet strings and dark chocolate slivers, peanut pieces, and mint on top. I ate it so quickly that I forgot to take a picture. It was GOOD!

There you have it. If you are ever in the greater Eagle Rock area, I highly suggest a visit not just for the beer, but also for the food.

BrettFavresColonoscopy, meanwhile, enjoyed a taste of Boulder at Mountain Sun Brewery.

Well, hello fellow beer drinkers. This is your intrepid itinerant imbiber, BrettFavresColonoscopy, reporting and drinking from Boulder, Colorado’s Mountain Sun Brewery. Mountain Sun has several creatively named tasting rooms (Southern Sun, Under the Sun, House of the Rising Sun, wait that’s not right…), but this one here is the original and flag ship. I started off my evening with this Crimson Mist Belgo-American Imperial Red pictured right here alongside the oft-changing beer menu:

There’s no mist, I see no Belgians (or waffles), but it’s definitely red and the 9.6% abv confirms the imperial part. Not a lot of head (just like marriage, amirite?!) but a good, rich flavor. A little more syrupy than I usually care for with a slightly bitter finish, but generally a well balanced strong af beer. I enjoyed it and would drink it again on a night I don’t mind wobbling back from the bar.

But let’s talk about the brewery. It is VERY Boulder. And by that I don’t just mean white and convinced that the DNC screwed Bernie (though it is also that). Just check out the walls.

The kitchen staff is constantly screaming (in good spirits, not terror). It’s cash only. There are board games and uno on loan for patrons.  They give you a discount for wearing the brewery’s shirt on Tuesday. They’re generous with tasters and offer half beers for the driver, omnivore, or lightweight. The facial hair is terrible. Good times.

Here’s a terrible picture of their gleaming brewing equipment you walk past (on the other side of glass, thank goodness) on your way to the bathroom:

They brew up to 1200 barrels per year right here and 5000-7500 at their other sites. And naturally, the second beer I had was the maybe-we-can-call-it-a-flagship-but-I’m-not-qualified-to-declare-it-so-but-it-was-at-least-the-first-beer-they-ever-brewed Colorado Kind Ale. It’s a gentler 5.6% abv but definitely has the dank nose the name suggests. Much frothier head and a sharp bitterness that is different than an IPA (and that makes sense for an ESB). It’s not the best beer in the world, but it’s very good and very Boulder.

Then I was going to go home and do work until the waitress asked me if I’d tried their “Dank Nugget,” which apparently was not on the menu but being put on to replace a kicked keg. She brought me a taster of that and the “Rick Vaughn” India Black Ale:

Left to right, Dank Nugget, Rick Vaughn, Colorado Kind

My waitress pressured me into ordering a full pint of the dank nugget. I have to say, that was the right call (despite my opinion when I woke up wishing I’d had another hour of sleep before work). The nose is similarly dank (fuck you, Sweetwater influenced my lexicon), but the taste is much smoother and more floral than the Colorado Kind. This might be my favorite beer here.

Conclusion: Don’t butt chug it, but feel free to chug it with a half order of nachos that can feed two people for dinner.

Official DFO chef yeah right dropped in on a by-God GABF gold medal winner at “Mayberry’s Finest Brewery.”

I’m a resident of El Segundo, Ca or “The Second” in Spanish. Rumor has it that when Chevron built their second oil refinery here was when the name was adopted. Yes, Chevron and the Aerospace industries basically run this town. We’re not a large town with a census total of just over 16,500 on the last census and there is a great deal of community pride. The town is bordered on the North by LAX on the West by the Pacific Ocean and on the South by the Chevron refinery and on the East? Let’s just say the demographic changes pretty dramatically when you cross the 405 Freeway.

One very cool thing about our hidden little town is it has a very “Mid-America” vibe going on. Which explains the town nickname of “Mayberry.” At the Tavern on Main you can order an “Opie” which is a grilled cheese sandwich. But we’re not here to talk about food or the town. We are here to talk about my favorite local brewery El Segundo Brewing Company.

Located right on Main Street, ESBC was one of the earliest breweries in the L.A. area to produce what is known as “West Coast Craft” beers. The West Coast scene as many of you know produces VERY hop forward beers and ESBC is no exception. If you love IPA’s boy do we have a place for you. Owner and head brewer Rob started out as an Aerospace engineer who took up home brewing. He loved it so much he quit his day job and started ESBC. He lives in a two story blue house right around the corner and the first 2 beers he produced were Blue House Pale Ale and Blue House IPA. Both are still produced but the beer list has grown exponentially. Citra Pale Ale is even on tap at Dodger Stadium which is all kids of badass but there is one more recent claim to fame.

They just won the Gold Medal at the 2016 Great American Beer Fest for best American Style lager or dark lager.

A gold fucking medal.

What’s more, it was for a damn lager and they hadn’t even started MAKING lagers until a year ago.

The beer is called Casa Azul which of course means “Blue House” in Spanish and is very reminiscent of an Amber Mexican style lager such as a Dos Equis amber only much, much fresher.

So next time you layover at LAX, hop in an Uber, hit the brewery up and say hi to Rob and Tommy for me. They’ve got a very cool taproom and will be happy to talk about the various beer styles and techniques. I love this place.

Old School Zero enjoyed the time-honored combination of fresh beer and hot pizza at the Double Mountain taproom.

Went to the Double Mountain taproom and pub today, which is just under two miles away from my residence. It just opened there in August—the home base brewpub is over in scenic Hood River, Oregon, and the Portland pub is the first one outside of there—and back then it had waiting times of an hour and half, which is crazy because this neighborhood is not the trendiest. Tonight the wait was fifteen minutes. We all split a pizza, which is very good as it comes from a 700 degree brick oven, and I had a five beer sampler to try out a variety, and probably half of my girlfriend’s imperial stout, which was excellent. Of the sampler, I’d have to say the highlights were the fresh hop red (Killer Red) and a very citrus-y, herbal-y IPA (Gypsy Stumper). I’ve had their Peche Mode peach beer before, which is quite good, and I have a Devil’s Cuvee Kriek in my “cellar” boxes (which reside in my closet) for a time more appropriate to break it out, and I’m looking forward to it. Overall, a great place to take a mixed crowd of people and drinkers—good food, a good variety of styles, and definitely a strong pine and herbal IPA presence for those looking for a true to NW style.

Here’s Low Commander of the Super Soldiers with a dispatch from the Southern California beer country.

Aztec Brewery is located in Vista, CA, in the heart of the North County San Diego Craft Beer scene, just off of the 78, somewhat obnoxiously referred to as “The Hop Highway” since you will find so many breweries nearby. In fact, there are at least 10 other breweries within 10 minutes of Aztec, and it can lead to some difficult (which ones do I go to?) or potentially problematic (which one do I go to first?!?) choices. Aztec opened its doors in 2011, shortly before I moved back to San Diego from Northern California, and like many of the breweries in the area, you’ll find Aztec hidden away in an industrial park, with not much else around it. It’s one of the original smaller sized breweries in the area that really pushed my love of quality beer through experimentation, and I have recently been somewhat neglectful to their wares. This is largely due to the fact that they often have live music and open mic nights later in the week, and it makes it nearly impossible to talk to your god damn friends directly across a barrel from you. We decided to go on Tuesday to avoid that issue.

The layout is pretty basic and simple: 2 TVs for sports games, a long bar, some tables, barrels and chairs, with a backroom that they’ve recently opened up, which is where you will usually find me if there are more than 20 people inside. On weekends, they often have food trucks, but also offer unlimited pretzels and occasionally will just have free hot dogs or other food for patrons, which is nice and somewhat uncommon. Most importantly, their beer is quite fantastic.

They were unfortunately out of their main staple today, the Sacrifice Red IPA, which is one of my favorites. That being said, it is hard to wrong with much here, unless you specifically don’t like a certainly style. If you’re visiting for the first time, get a flight and get your hands on whatever catches your fancy! I ordered a pint of the Macaroon Nut Brown on my first pass.

Good glavin, this beer in fantastic. I first had it at a beer festival this summer, and it was one of the two best I had all day. It is a sweeter take on the typical English style Nut Brown’s that you will find everywhere, and the macaroon makes for an almost fluffier feel than you would expect from a beer this dark. And at only 5.5%, you can have quite a few and still be good to drive! The coconut is present without being overpowering, and the vanilla lingers cleanly on the end of each sip. I prefer this beer on nitro myself, but it is hard to beat either way.

Next up is their Amber Ale, which has been around as long as I’ve been visiting. It looks a bit darker than most ambers that I’ve seen, but is slightly rather light in ABV at 5.7%. You won’t find much hop flavor or bitterness in this beer, but that’s not what it’s about. I get a lot of caramel out of it and it is extremely malty with a touch of citris on the end. I’d say it’s one of the better ambers available in the area, and worth your time.

I ended my night with a bang, and went with the Noche de los Muertos, an Imperial Stout that will put you on your ass in a hurry if you’re not careful, hence the “Day of the Dead” translation. At over 10%, this beer is a complex and thick as motor oil. Hoo boy, I hope you like chocolate, cinnamon and some coffee. It is by no means sickeningly sweet like you might expect from a beer this high in ABV, as there is a lot going on here that seems to mask that. Get a nice bottle of this and enjoy it on a cold night when you don’t have anywhere to go.

And finally, WhyEaglesWhy—who I assume is celebrating Australian Thanksgiving this weekend—brings us home with a visit to Adelaide’s best beer spot.

When my girlfriend and I were buying a house last year, we found a great one with almost everything we wanted. It satisfied her desire for heritage art deco features, and my desire for a house where all the old shit she likes actually works. But to be honest, the feature that sold me in the end was the fact that our new house is within walking distance of the Wheatsheaf Hotel.

Australian craft beer, like most other ideas copied from America, is a few years behind. It was just starting to hit its stride when I moved here three years ago. Right around then, the Wheaty was bought by some employees and transformed from a grubby local to a craft beer haven that soon started brewing its own. It’s now recognized as the best beer bar in Adelaide, and one of the best in Australia.

The beers are uniformly excellent, especially for a brewery so new to the game. You can check them all out here. They’re also wildly varied in style, and there is always something interesting to try. My favorites so far have been:

Wheaty-Bix: A breakfast stout meant to taste a bit like Weetbix cereal. It does. My favorite stout.
Tripoli: A rosewater & chamomile tripel. Not as heavy as a tripel normally feels. It’s refreshing in the way tonic is, very clean with those floral flavors.
Blood Oats: A red ale packed with flavor and a little toffee kick.
Honey Baltic Porter: A substantial porter with chocolate and honeycomb flavors.

There are 12 taps plus an old English handpump and something called a Glasshopper, which lets you pour the beer through a flavoring agent like fruit, flowers, or hops. At least eight of the taps are always pouring a Wheaty Brewing Corps beer. Australian tap beer is served in a variety of sizes, including a “butcher”, which is only 7 ounces and comes in handy when you want to try four or five new beers at a sitting.

There is a pool table, a dart board, a pile of board games, two fireplaces, an outdoor patio, comfy couches strewn about, and local art on the walls. There is also NOT a television, aside from a small 13-inch behind the bar so one of the owners can keep an eye on cricket matches. It’s homey, it’s comfortable, it’s full of people who care about beer, and I’m happy to call it my local.