Good Grief Fruited Strong Ale

Great things can happen when great minds come together.  At least that's the case with Good Grief, a fruited strong ale made in collaboration with 5 different Texas breweries to benefit first responders.  Coming to us from the good folks at Roughhouse Brewing (San Marcos), Jester King (Austin), Lazarus (Austin), Oddwood Ales (Austin), and True Anomaly Brewing (Houston), the 11% ABV brew pours a dark burgundy brown and smells of molasses, dark fruit, and a hint of oak.  The flavor is a complex mix of dark and stone fruits, tart black currants, oak and booze, and some nice hints of chocolate that starts sweet and finishes dry.  Delicious, and a damn good collaboration i must say.

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Lazarus Samuel

Still running through my Christmas beer lineup, and fondly remembering my dinner selection with Samuel, an American wild ale from Lazarus Brewing.  The 7.1% ABV beer was brewed with Texas Satsuma oranges, grains of paradise, and some Brettannomyces, and pours a wonderful gold color with a white head.  Aromas of orange abound with some added notes of funkiness.  The flavor is a slightly tart and funky mix of orange and other fruit notes that finishes crisp and dry, a great dinner beer.

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Lazarus First Noel

I'm almost done working my way through my holiday line up of beer that i've been saving, and now i've got brews to write about for weeks.  I was lucky enough to snag a bottle of Lazarus Brewing's 2018 version of First Noel, a winter wild ale brewed with 2 strands of Brettanomyces and refermented with figs, and it was delicious.  The 8.5% brew pours gold with a minimal and quickly dissipating head and smells of apple, oak, fig, and a little bit of funk.  The flavor is similar to the aroma, fruit notes and funky sour notes abounding.  It made for an excellent Christmas Eve wind down.

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Lazarus Jacob's Ladder

I dig a complex beer, and Jacob's Ladder, a Tepache style wild ale from Lazarus Brewing, is certainly a complex beer.  The beer is brewed with pineapple, peppercorn, ginger, and more, fermented with two different strains of Brettanomyces, and aged in tequila barrels.  Pouring a clear gold, the 8.5% beer smells of pineapple, spices, oak, and funk.  The flavor is similar to the aroma and pleasantly tart with a dry finish.  Gonna need more of this one.

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Lazarus Desperate Measures

Small brewers all over the country have done everything they can to stay afloat during this stupid pandemic, to keep the lights on and keep wetting our whistles.  Mainly that's meant online beer-to-go sales and plenty of new brews.  Lazarus Brewing in collaboration with the soon to open Meanwhile Brewing and Charles Faram Inc.'s Hop Breeding Program have created a new beer for our consumption pleasure during these difficult times.  The first of four, Desperate Measures is a 7% ABV brew in what they're calling an Austin-style IPA featuring a proprietary hop named "Harlequin."  The beer pours gold with a white head and smells of hops, spices, and tropical fruit.  The flavor is mix of pineapple and peach notes along with hints of pine and drinkable, hoppy bitterness.  It's kind of a mutant style of IPA, but i am here for it.

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Lazarus Blushing Bride

I wish i could do more.  I wish i could go to every brewery in Central Texas every week and buy beer to go.  I wish i could help keep the lights on indefinitely.  I'll do what i can, but we've already lost at least one brewer to the virus (RIP NXNW).  Just try and stay afloat.  Anyway, Lazarus Brewing is doing what they can too, beginning to can some of the beers for easier access as well as setting up some collaborative brews that we will hopefully be sipping very soon.  They've also got bottles of their Blushing Bride, a delicious, 10% ABV Belgian Tripel with orange blossom honey and aged in white wine barrels.  The beer pours a nice straw color with a white head and smells of orange, fruit, and white wine.  The flavor is dominated by the white wine notes but with hints of orange and pear and a dry finish.  It's a wonderful beer, and i'll have to procure some more of it soon.

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