Roughhouse Ona Farmhouse Amber

With so many different breweries continuing to pop up in Austin and the surrounding hill country, it's hard to get around to sampling all of them.  But i try.  From San Marcos comes Roughhouse Brewing and their delicious Farmhouse Amber called Ona.  Pouring a nice amber (naturally) with a dissipating white head, the 6.3% ABV brew, refermented with dried Montmorency cherries, smells of grains, spice, and said cherries.  The flavor is one with the aroma, the cherries having a very balanced feel throughout, and some hints of tartness.  All in all, a lovely beer to close out the summer with.

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Bell Springs Extra Special Bitter

A couple of weeks ago when my wife and i spent a day and night out in the Central Texas Hill Country to celebrate our anniversary, one of the places we visited was the Bell Springs Winery in Dripping Springs, as it was next door to where we were staying AND they had recently added a brewery to their business as well.  And so i spent a lot of that Saturday with their Extra Special Bitter in hand.  Pouring a nice brown with a white, quickly dissipating head, the 6.16% ABV brew smells of malts, grains, and notes of chocolate and caramel.  The flavor is a wonderfully balanced mix of said malt and chocolate notes, light bodied and easy to drink, perfect for a weekend jaunt into the country.

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Southern Star Cygourd

I feel like there are not a lot of Texas breweries that do pumpkin ales, so when i find one that does, i tend to jump on it.  And so i enjoyed some libations from Southern Star Brewing out in Conroe, Texas over the weekend with their delicious Cygourd.  The 6.3% ABV pumpkin ale pours an amberish brown with a white, quickly dissipating head and smells of the usual suspects: nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, clove, allspice, and pumpkin of course.  Some pumpkin ales go heavy on the pumpkin and some go heavy on the spices.  Cygourd splits it right down the middle, an even smattering of both pumpkin and pumpkin spices in light bodied and easy drinking brew, with the spice lingering a bit on the tongue.  Great stuff and just in time for the season.

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Acopon Old Pounder

Over the weekend, my wife and i celebrated 11 years of marriage by ditching the kids with their grandparents and venturing out into the Central Texas hill country to take in some breweries we'd not been to before.  Out of the bunch, my favorite was the relatively new (2 years old) Acopon Brewing in Dripping Springs.  Country meets goth in the best way possible.  I enjoyed everything i tried, but the brew that hit me in all the right spots was the Old Pounder, a 5.4% ABV old style ale and variation of an ESB.  Pouring a copperish brown with a white head, the beer smells of malts and notes of toffee and chocolate.  The flavor combines said malt with some biscuit notes and some subtle chocolate vibes.  Delicious.  I'm going to have make the drive back out there again and soon.

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NXNW Iron Mermaiden

So yesterday, i completed my goal of hitting 40 (which later became 50) breweries/brewpubs over the summer of 2019, kicking things off Memorial Day Weekend and closing them out this Labor Day Weekend.  Magic number 50 ended up being Austin's NXNW Restaurant and Brewery who happened to be celebrating their 20th anniversary.  To celebrate, they were offering up a batch of their Iron Mermaiden, a sour, barrel-aged Irish stout brewed with tart cherries.  Pouring black with tan and foamy head, the 6.5% ABV beer smells of malt, oak, cherries, and a whole lot of sour funk.  The flavor is sour and malty, but with the sweetness of the cherries taking over a little bit more on the back end.  Overall, a pretty well balanced brew, and a great way to end my summer quest.  Good job everybody!

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Southern Heights Este Lager

As my summer brewery tour comes to its eventual close next weekend, i managed to knock off 3 more over the weekend, one of which was Austin's Southern Heights Brewing.  The place had a cool and relaxed vibe and some tasty brews.  One i enjoyed in particular, especially in this 100+ degree weather we've been struggling through of late, is the Este Lager, a 5.25% ABV Mexican style lager brewed with corn...or i guess maize if we're gonna be legit.  Light, refreshing, and summery, the beer pours a nice, clear straw color with a quickly dissipating white head.  A slightly sweet aroma of malt and grain prevails, with those same notes hitting the tongue.  Basically, it smells and tastes like a great beer, and it's a perfect brew for summertime.

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Brewtorium Barrel-Aged Little Ivan McGregor

My wife's been gone all weekend on a girls' trip to Vegas, leaving me as a de facto single dad over the weekend, but on Friday before she left the following morning, she and the kids accompanied me to The Brewtorium in Austin for dinner and beer.  She's nice like that.  Anyway, their Barrel-Aged Little Ivan McGregor, a combo Scotch ale/imperial stout was delightful.  Pouring a dark, deep brown with an off white head, the 11.5% ABV beer smells of toffee, vanilla, chocolate, and booze, those same flavors prevailing throughout.  Rich.  Complex.  Delicious.

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