Interesting medium-bodied Russian Imperial Stout hybridized with delicate bone-dry Belgian yeast given heightened 9.6% ABV. Creamy dark chocolate syruping, milk-sugared black coffee richness, cocoa-powdered Baker’s chocolate souring and wood-burnt hop char consume less prominent dark fruiting. Bruised black cherry, black grape, raspberry, prune and fig undertones create a minor skirmish until dry bourbon spell picks up steam.
BUFFALO BAYOU BUFFALO SUNSET
Enchanting French-roasted Amaya coffee beans provide bitterswseet anchor for expressive tan-headed mahogany-bodied dark ale. Aggressive roasted hop char contrasts sweet hazelnut-pecan-almond conflux. Raw molasses bittering and thick anise oiling increase intensity at the midst while tropical citric wisp nips at the prominent mocha richness.
BUFFALO BAYOU MEER KOEBEL BELGIAN DOUBLE IPA
Despite bold 9% ABV and hefty 118 IBU hop measure, hybridized Belgian-styled Imperial IPA features mildly embittered lemon-pitted yellow grapefruit tang above lightly pined florality. Gentle clementine, tangerine, lemon meringue, apple and pear illusions vie for ancillary space alongside wafting rose hips, rosebud, lilac and wildflower subtleties. Soft doughy biscuit breading provides delicate bottom.
KARBACH RODEO CLOWN DOUBLE IPA – 2014
By heightening the toasted caramel malt profile and honeyed cereal malting against stylish piney fruiting and resinous hop oiling, spunky Imperial IPA proves to be one step beyond usual fare. Bruised orange, candied pineapple, yellow grapefruit, red apple, tangerine, peach, pear and mango tones allow sugary spruce swagger to gain prominence. Cookie dough richness befits sweet helles lager instead of a hop-embittered IPA, perhaps. High alcohol concentration adds boozy astringency to contrast lustful caramelized fruiting.
KARBACH HOPADILLO IPA
Amplified dry-hopped India Pale Ale (in a can) retains well-balanced profile. Sugary pineapple-grapefruit-orange juicing rides above grassy hops and resinous pine. Toasted cereal graining deepens resolve.
KARBACH WEEKEND WARRIOR PALE ALE
Summery canned pale ale with sunny citric crisping and minor piney resin adding brisk India Pale Ale-like fruiting. Orange-peeled grapefruit rind bittering brightened by clementine, melon, grape and sugared spices as well as wafting floral nip. Caramel-malted white bread spine lightens overall tone.
KARBACH LOVE STREET SUMMER SEASONAL KOLSCH
Underdeveloped soft-toned ’14 summer seasonal in a can lacks appropriate Bavarian kolsch fruiting. Pleasant lemony orange mist picks up light peppery spicing, subtle hop bittering and mild corn syruping over biscuit-y sourdough base.
KARBACH WEISSE VERSA WHEAT
Busy hybridized hefeweizen/ witbier in a can offers sour lemon-peeled orange rot and sugary coriander spicing to ascending banana-clove sweetness. Honeyed wheat malting and light vanilla sprinkling gain footing against contrasted white-peppered herbage and terse lemon-pitted bittering. Minor aspirin astringency negates some enjoyment.
KARBACH SYMPATHY FOR THE LAGER
Muddled pale lager with comic moniker spoofing lager’s declining stylistic interest while parodying Rolling Stones decadent “Sympathy For The Devil” lyrics on side of can. Navel orange-dried grapefruit-pineapple-lemon fruiting diminishes above white-breaded Vienna malting, toasted hop stead and floral-herbal nip.
LAGUNITAS NIGHT TIME ALE
Magnificent full-bodied black ale bests stylistic competition with its richly creamed mocha theme and sublime floral-bound fruited nature. Dark-roasted black chocolate malting allows nutty coffee, cocoa nibs and molasses tones to flourish above ashen piney hop acridity (and fresh evergreen aromatics). Orange-peeled grapefruit rind bittering affects subtler pineapple-papaya-mango-kiwi tropicalia as well as laidback black cherry, tangerine and navel orange smidge. “Fear the Dark,” indeed!
GALVESTON ISLAND BREWING
GALVESTON, TEXAS
In a freestanding garage-like edifice near the beach, GALVESTON ISLAND BREWING got off to a good start with its June ’14 Grand Opening. Featuring outback ‘Sunset Bleachers’ that overlook the island, this concrete-floored brewpub (with epoxied bottle caps) promises a huge amount of future expansion. A 12-seat yellow wood bar with six-plus taps distributes homemade beers emulating from rear brew tanks. Its sportsbar atmosphere gets reinforced by the 10 TV’s showing baseball, basketball and hockey games.
On tap are four diverse offerings and the small cask room readies barrel-aged ‘big beers’ aged in Four Roses whiskey and Makers Mark bourbon. On the light side, sessionable soft-toned pilsner-like Ze German Ale brought bread-crusted cereal graining to yellow-fruited niceties, picking up a dankly dewy rye malt splurge.
Piney Simcoe-hopped acridity seeped into citric-spiced Excelsior IPA, a wood-lacquered medium body offering clean-watered briskness to dry grapefruit, pineapple, navel orange, tangerine and lemon zest as well as minor floral-wafted white peppering.
Dewy earthen peat draped The Scotsman Scottish Ale, a caramel-malted moderation allowing a dash of Scotch, a hint of caraway-seeded pumpernickel, and a daub of dark nuttiness to outdo its desiccated orange fruiting.
Like an instant brown coffee, Predido Porter placed smoky mocha malts in a cocoa-beaned dark chocolate setting with hazelnut, walnut and peanut illusions.
www.galvestonislandbrewing.com
BEERFOOT BREWERY
GALVESTON, TEXAS
Open for business in springtime 2014, Galveston-based BEERFOOT BREWERY, plans expansion beyond its one flagship offering. Right near the pier ‘looking out at Seawall Boulevard,’ this beachfront sportsbar/ taproom not only crafts its own brews but also provides 100-plus selections in a large cooler. At its L-shaped and V-shaped bars, several worthy Texas brews get served alongside Beerfoot’s own homemade offerings.
My friend Dennis was kind enough to bring back to New York a half-gallon sample of the soft-toned Beerfoot Island Kolsch. A sessionable moderation, its lemon-soured grapefruit, navel orange and lime tartness received a dry grassy-hopped mildness.
FYI: Grocery store chain H.E.B., with many Texas locations, features goodly Build-A-Six-Pack deals and high-profile bombers.
www.galveston.com/beerfoot/