Southern Star Pinebelt Pale Ale

I have sent this beer out on a few trades now, as both main trading material and as an extra, and I have gotten the same response by all that have tried it; from New York to Washington State... 'Wow!'

Many of the people have responded to me with statements such as- I didn't know Texans knew Pale Ale like this! If you have a chance to try it, go get some!

Here is what one BeerAdvocate member had to say about this brew:

Cracked open a Pine Belt Pale Ale after your recommendation.
Man this beer is crazy GOOD! (kinda smells and tastes like Gumballhead if you've
ever tried that) I'm definitely gonna be burning through this stuff pretty quick
and will be wanting more! Hopefully we can setup some kind of trade in the
future. Good night dude and thanks again!

Click on the image to go to Southern Star's website.

Ommegang Ommegeddon

I picked up 6 bottles of this beer from LiquidSolutions this weekend. Probably didn't need to spend more $$$ on beer- but I couldn't pass up the opportunity! I can't wait for it to get here! Here is a BA page discussing this wild ale:

Hello, Ms. Vaughn... Do you like anyone from class?

I have one bottle of Fantome left in the house, and it has been begging for me to drink it for a while now. I think I am going to try and resist, so I can share it with Rick and Randy... For some reason, I feel like downing an entire 750 full of great beer is wrong...?

Seawall Boulevard Bier De Guarde

The title of this post is the name of my most recent creation. Seawall Blvd is a street in our old home town of Galveston. This brew is a partial mash Bier De Guarde that on top of your normal Bier De Guarde boil, had local (grown on my land) Texas figs, and some lemon zest. Its still in the fermenter now. This brew clocked in with an O.G. of 1.080... I took a hydrometer reading today and found that its now at 1.011. I think I am going to transfer to secondary, add some priming sugar and roasted live oak, and then re-pitch with a whitelabs sour lambic yeast strain. I will then have a secondary fermentation going that I hope will generate some earthy, sour tones for this ale. More info as its becomes available!

Southern Tier Un-Earthly

Wow- this is a great DIPA. Solid earthy / floraly hops on the front end, balanced by a roasted barley / biscuity malt profile to balance. At 11% abv this brew is deceivingly dangerous!

Rob's Hopped Up Saison

Saison is one of our favorite styles. Fantome's Saison in particular goes on my list of top three beers I have ever had the privilege to drink. Accordingly, Rob and I decided to brew an extract saison two months ago. The brew day was full of fun, including a tasting that brought out half a dozen different Saison's from Rob's recent LiquidSolutions order plus several bombers of my 12% abv cider that tastes like an apple champagne. Thus, it was no surprise that we threw in the aroma hops (cascade), bittering hops (saaz) and lemon zest with an hour left for boil.... Well, train wreck right? No, not exactly. The end result is something quite interesting. Pours a vibrant amber blond orange with a minimal head that resides to a beautiful pattern of film across the top of the beer. The smell is dominated by a very pleasant earthy, bready aroma, befriended with hints of lemon, orange zest, slight metallic notes (most likely the over hopped notes) and some floral, earthy yeast. Taste follows suite, dominated by the fresh cut grass, hay, floral hops with vibrant notes of fresh baked bread and balanced by fruity flavors of fresh red apples, pine apple and some tropical hints of mango. Well done Rob.

Belgian IPA's

Recently, Texas has had an influx of fun, interesting new beers. One emerging style that has hit our state is Belgian IPA's. The style has actually been accepted as a whole new style by BeerAdvocate and certainly has been accepted with open arms by beer lovers world wide.


I had the opportunity to try Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel.

Tasting notes:
Pours an effervescent golden hue with a pillowy cream white head that mountains up to the top of the snifter. As the head recedes it leaves thin tiny bubbles, thickly laced in spotty patterns across the walls of the glass. Smell is intense! Ripe pear, green apple, orange juice, banana, white pepper, and clove. Taste isn't quite as intense as the nose, however it is very balanced and very unique in a good way! Begins with sweet caramel banana bread and transitions into a citrus orange zest with a tongue tingle-ing, peppery finish. The alcohol slowly warms the back of the throat but is never overbearing. Everything seems to balance out with no overbearing flavors. No doubt there is a lot going on in this glass, however the champaign like mouthfeel certainly helps meld it all together and allows the flavors to dance across the taste buds.


Yesterday I picked up a bottle of Urthel HopIt, another Belgian IPA and plan on comparing the two beers to see how this style shapes up. Look for a homebrew update this weekend.

-Rick

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog! Who are we? We are Rick and Rob, two twin brothers who share a passion for craft beer and home brewing. We have created this blog as a means for our friends and anyone interested to follow our adventures. Look for updates soon.

-Rick & Rob