Vista Seeking Sakura

I had a pretty excellent weekend the last couple of days full of records, breweries, bad movies, crawfish, and more.  And, after our last few attempts were struck down by rain or cold, the wife and kids and i finally made it out to Vista Brewing to sample their wares, eat some food, and enjoy the beautiful scenery in the hill country.  I tried several beers, but top marks have to go the Seeking Sakura, a wine barrel aged brett ale with cherries.  The 6.3% ABV beer pours a pink amber with a white and bubbly head and smells of cherries and tart fruit.  The flavor is tart, but not too sour, with a kind of lacy mouthfeel, lots of cherries, and slight funk.  It was a lovely brew for a sunny Saturday afternoon, and i made sure to bring a bottle home.

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Brieux Carré Phuk Boi

Another beer from my New Orleans trip last weekend, the naughtily named Phuk Boi from Brieux Carré Brewing Co. was the perfect kind of decadent yet easy drinking libation a crawl through the Crescent City calls for.  The brewery was also only 4 blocks or so from the house we were staying in.  A 6.1% ABV sour raspberry milkshake IPA, the beer pours a hazy gold with just the slightest of pink tints and smells of raspberries, citrus, and a hint of dankness.  The flavor is sweet and tart with the raspberries hitting on the front end, culminating in a lightly bitter, yet still tart, full-bodied milkshake feel on the back.  Tasty and easy to drink, seek out a Phuk Boi next time you're bumming around or near the French Quarter.

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Parleaux Beer Lab Berry Curie

I just got back from a lovely weekend in New Orleans, and as i was only there about 48 hours, just barely skimmed the surface of the city's craft beer scene.  I did make it to a couple of places though, and one of those was the Parleaux Beer Lab in the Bywater neighborhood.  A wonderful selection of beers to choose from, i started with the Berry Curie, a boysenberry/blueberry sour gose.  The brew pours a reddish pink with a light white head and smells of fruit, citrus, flowers, and sugar.  The beer is sweet from the added berries with a pleasant all around tartness with maybe just a hint of salt.  And at 3.8% ABV, this is one of those springtime day drinkers that goes great with backyards and sunshine.  I will have to get back there someday.

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Adelbert's Darkness Comes Alive Porter

Though they're generally way more known for their Belgian-inspired wares, the good folks at Adelbert's Brewery in Austin have concocted a damn, fine coffee milk porter called Darkness Comes Alive.  And aside from the excellent name, the beer is great too.  Pouring a dark brownish black with a light tan head, the 6% ABV brew smells of roasted malt, coffee, and notes of cocoa, vanilla, and cream.  The flavor is a smooth, medium mouthfeel mix of said roasted malt, coffee, and cocoa notes with some hints of spice and an overall creamy finish.  I very much enjoyed this beer and intend to drink more of it.  You should too.

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Spindletap Houston Haze IPA

I do love me some hazy IPAs, and i love how prevalent the style has become, popping up in each and every brewery across the country.  Not to be left out, Houston's Spindletap Brewery offers up their excellent Houston Haze IPA, a 6.5% ABV brew that pours a hazy (naturally), orange and gold with a white head.  The beer smells tropical, notes of orange, mango, pineapple, and more hitting the nose along with some light floral hints.  The flavor is sweet and fruity, said tropical notes hitting the tongue first before giving way to some bitter hop notes and a slight bite on the back end.  It's a great addition to the style.

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Oddwood Ales Green Hill Zone IPA

I started my vacation officially at 5PM on Saturday, and the first thing i did was make my way over to Austin's Oddwood Ales for the first time to meet some friends from out of town and enjoy a beer.  The place was pretty cool, and the beer was great.  The 6% ABV Green Hill Zone IPA really hit the spot too.  Pouring a hazy gold with decent white head, the beer smelled of citrus, orange, and pineapple, with those same notes at the forefront on the tongue with just a hint of bitterness.  A smooth, easy drinking IPA i'm sure i will want to enjoy once it starts getting hot around here.

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Hamburg Hoppenstance Double IPA

My wife sometimes does this cool thing where she signs me up for a beer-of-the-month kind of thing, usually as a gift for Valentine's Day or Father's Day or something, and then i reap the rewards.  From my latest delivery, i got the Hoppenstance Double IPA from New York's Hamburg Brewing.  The 8% ABV brew pours a light gold with a white head and smells of tropical fruit, grass, and some light dank notes.  The flavor is a smooth (especially for a double IPA) mix of citrus, grass, lemon peel, and some peppery spice.  This is a great brew to start the springtime with, even if it is abnormally cold in Austin today.

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