Anthem Golden One

I spent the last few days in Oklahoma visiting my sister, and aside from visiting the zoo, swimming with my sons and my nieces, watching some thunder storms roll in on the patio, and splashing around in the puddles that ensued, i managed to have a couple of beers.  And the Golden One, a Belgian-style blonde ale from Oklahoma City's Anthem Brewing was the perfect accompaniment.  The beer pours a hazy gold with a foamy, but quickly dissipating white head and smells of grains, yeast, and fruit, with a subtle hint of hops.  The flavor is light and sweet with notes of banana, pineapple, and a subtle punch of spice, and the whole thing comes in at 7% ABV.  What a wonderful patio beer.

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Community Silly Gose

Gose style brews are pretty much a perfect kind of beverage for summertime...if you're into saltiness and tartness and all of that good stuff.  Over the weekend, i had some Silly Gose, a salty and tart wheat beer brewed with tangerines and apricots from Dallas's Community Beer Co.  Pouring gold with a white head, the 5% ABV brew smells of tropical fruit and bread with some hints of overall sourness.  The taste is tart, but never overly so, the fruit notes meshing well with the sour and salt, and with a light bodied and crisp finish.  It's a great backyard brew.

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Saint Arnold Not A Collaboration IPA

Is it a collaboration with Brash Brewing Company?  Is it not?  I don't know for sure, but the Not A Collaboration IPA from Saint Arnold Brewing is a pretty tasty, double dry hopped New England IPA.  Pouring a hazy straw color, the 7.1% ABV beer smells of citrus, pine, and spice, with those same notes combining with hints of fruit to round out the flavor, all finishing with a dank, bitter bite.  Bring on the haze.

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Nine Band Cactus Cat Kolsch

It's summertime, and that means The Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff are back on the stereo (for every summer for all time) and that refreshing, sessionable beers begin flocking to my refrigerator for heat wave consumption.  And the Cactus Cat Kolsch from Dallas/Fort Worth area Nine Band Brewing is up to bat.  The beer pours gold with a frothy white head and smells of grass, wheat, and hints of sweet fruit.  The flavor is mildly sweet with some biscuit notes and a malty finish, a little bit different from your standard Kolsch, but tasty nonetheless.  And weighing in at 5.2% ABV, it's a lovely little brew for a hot day.

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Real Ale ZWEIUNDZWANZIG 22nd Anniversary Berliner Weisse

It's HOT in Central Texas today, a fact more than adequately discovered trekking about in the woods south east of Austin at a dinosaur park for the boy's 5th birthday.  And in a few moments, i'll be manning the grill...with an assortment of beer, but certainly starting things off with the 22nd Anniversary brew from Real Ale, the ZWEIUNDZWANZIG Berliner Weisse.  This refreshing, 3.5% ABV beer is meant for days like these, pouring a nice transparent gold with a frothy white head and smelling of grain and lemon.  The beer is light bodied with subtle notes of banana, lemon, and salt, all with relaxed tartness.  It's almost like a classic Berliner Weisse crossed with a Gose.  Good stuff.  Here's to 22 more years.

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Dogfish Head Dragons & YumYums Pale Ale

I love that over the last several years, more and more musicians and bands are teaming up with breweries to release collaborations of sorts.  I'm sure the artists are just lending their names or aesthetics, but it's produced some interesting brews.  Off of the top of my head, i've tried beers from Guided By Voices, NOFX, The Sword, and Iron Maiden, and i've been trying to locate some Run The Jewels libations here in Central Texas but to no avail.  Anyway, in conjunction with the band's 7" release for Record Store Day last month, The Flaming Lips have partnered with Delaware mainstay Dogfish Head Brewery to release Dragons & YumYums, and a quirky, fruity, and colorful pale ale.  Pouring a pinkish hue with a bubbly white head, the 6.5% ABV beer smells of fruit, sugar, citrus, malt, and bubblegum with some hints of hops.  The flavor is a mix of tropical fruit, citrus, and some balanced hoppy bitterness, all with a medium body and a dry finish.  All in all, a very enjoyable spring/summer brew.

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Whitestone Quadrivium Series #4

With all of the ups and downs that 2018 has provided us so far, a veritable roller coaster of awfulness, one constant good note (in Central Texas anyway) has been the Quadrivium Series, a string of barrel-aged Belgian Quads released by Whitestone Brewery over the last few months.  The Quad is one of my favorite styles of beer, and these bottles have been delightful, aged in bourbon barrels, rum barrels, or a combination of the two for three months.  The fourth and final bottle in this series was aged for six months in Madeira wine barrels, and is a wonderful way to finish things off.  Pouring a dark, dark brown with an off white head, this 10% ABV darling has an aroma of oak, brown sugar, and hints of fruit and wine.  The flavor is a strong mix of the aforementioned oak and sugar with some dark fruit notes and an underlying sweetness that never overwhelms.  I need more of these, and i'll be making sure to procure them for as long as they last.

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