The Surprising Happenstance in Discovering the Bear Republic Texas Brown Ale

My esteemed parental units came into town and we set off as we often do in search of the finer things in life: alcohol. We left this behind -

- to revel in a grape soaked weekend in Sonoma that looked a little like this:

Duck with mascarpone mashed potatoes (I believe)

Saturday we hit up 7 wineries and Sunday tasted 28 different wines, including 18 from DuMol. While Sonoma is well known for wine drinkers but not to me, it quickly gained my affection. The scenery differs from Napa but is as beautiful. Their Pinot Noir is quite different from the peppery Santa Barbara Pinot's and they have some fantastic Syrah and Zinfandel.

There's a famous winemaker's proverb that goes, "it takes a lot of beer to make good wine." I have yet to partake in the grueling grape harvest that occurs every fall, but after a weekend of grapes I was ready for a beer. In Healdsburg Sunday night, we headed to a wine bar for a pre-dinner glass but the bar was closed. Amidst the signs pointing tourists to local jewelry, bakeries, and nic nac stores, I saw the logo for Bear Republic Brewery. Tucked away from the main st thoroughfare was the actual Beer Republic brewery/brew pub!

For reasons I can't explain, I thought Bear Republic was located in Tahoe, but blind luck led me to their location. I think this makes 13+ breweries visited in the last 20 months.

Bear Republic brews some gems. Their IPA Racer 5 is a fantastic West Coast IPA, and I'm especially fond of their Hop Rod Rye and Red Rocket hoppy red ale. The brewpub has a number of specialty beers they only keg for that location, including several single IPA brews. I normally would order one of those, but being from Texas, a collaboration beer caught my eye.

The Texas Brown Ale was released two months ago by Stone. The recipe was collaboration between Stone, Bear Republic, and Fathead, a brewpub/brewery in Cleveland which has won several awards at GABT (Great American Beer Festival). The TBA is not only a relatively unknown beer style, but it's also a mistitled one. According to Stone's website:

This particular beer pays homage to a relatively little–known beer style called Texas Brown Ale, which, strangely enough, has its roots in California. It originated as a hopped up version of a brown ale recipe. While delicious, these beers failed to fare well in homebrew competitions, since there was no recognized category they could be entered in. They were far too hoppy and bitter to be considered a traditional brown ale. But when a competition in Houston, TX, accepted entries for what they named the “California Dark” category, the American Homebrewers Association followed suit soon after, though they perplexingly changed the name to Texas Brown Ale.

Kinda bizarre really. This article from a local liquor shop in Houston (where I grew up) goes into greater detail about the style's creation Specs article on Texas Brown Ale. Anywho, unless you're planning an extremely geeky trivia night around beer styles, it's basically a hoppy brown ale. It says so at the bottom of the label. However, the collaboration offers a unique twist, and it's why I'm a passionate fan of collabs - good brewers come together and create something out of the ordinary. Craft Breweries are technically in competition with each other, but they're more so committed to making unique and high quality beer. The result is usually delicious, if not extraordinary.

Stone in its 15 years existence never used Cascade hops, a mild but spicy and fruity hop grown in Oregon, and similar to the English Fuggles hop and a distant cousin once removed from the Czech Saaz hop used in pilseners. After the collaboration, Stone used Cascade again in their latest Barleywine. The TBA also is also brewed with molasses and brown sugar, which gives the body a very distinctive taste. 

Overall, the TBA is heavier and hoppier than your average brown ale. Molasses is an interesting ingredient to use because yeast has hard time breaking down the type of sugar used in molasses. Instead of fermenting out most of the flavors like yeast does with Candi Sugar, a greater amount of the molasses flavor is left in the brew. I also believe this results in the heaviness of the TBA, to the beer's benefit. Another fun factoid is the brown sugar tends to caramelize in the brewpot, especially when the boil is 90+ minutes. For the TBA, the result is an initially malty beer with biscuit and roast flavors (like your average brown ale) that ends with bits of sweetness, caramel and fruit. The four different hops used in combination with the unique sugars creates a complex brown ale and inspired me to savor each sip. If you like hoppy barleywines or intense stouts like Great Divide's Yeti, you will probably enjoy this collaborative delight. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Rogue John John Hazenult Ale isn't double the fun

I'm home from dinner at Manchego, a BYOB tapas joint on Main Street, and full off of cheese and bacon wrapped dates. David is hard at work on another one of his projects and keeping in theme, we're pouring an experiment from Rogue. Rogue took their Hazelnut Brown Nectar and aged it in spiced rum barrels. How will this compare to the hazelnut ale we had last week?

I spy a Star Destroyer...

John John, thanks to the barrel aging, has really mellowed out hazel nut character and the rum makes the brew seem boozier than the abv says. The regular hazelnut was the first brown ale I have actually enjoyed this year, but the aging has taken a hazelnut ale and made it much similar to a brown ale. Boo. Give me that Original Gangster stuff! THE ISLAND rating

Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar is no ordinary brown ale

Nick G is in the house and loving the smell of this brew. Brown ale is my least favorite style of ale, but something tells me the Hazelnut Brown Nectar is different. Is it because Nutella is made out of hazelnut? Could it be the intense aroma? Perhaps it's the odd looking hippie on the front?

It tastes like it smells! Yayyy. Toasted malts up front and some great sweetness and subtle nuttiness.  The label conveys Rogue won some big awards for this beer and I can believe it. Hazelnut makes a brown ale taste great. TRANSFORMERS rating.

San Diego Beer Tour Saturday and AleSmith's English Nut Brown

I'm titillated for the beer cornucopia we're about to experience just north of San Diego. David and I have been planning a San Diego trip since the first several weeks of this blog and we have been foiled twice, the second time we were on the launch pad but had to scuttle the mission at the last moment when David was offered an all expenses paid trip to Oktoberfest 3 days before the weekend. My parents wanting to visit me in California made this weekend's trip possible, and I'm very happy they've become willing and enthusiastic supporters of beer. Or maybe the truth is they're terrific lushes and make my drinking escapades look like a scene from Sister Act 2. We shall see...

Just kidding, they're lovely and responsible

And drink we did. David and I counted our tallies and we actually sampled 40 different beers. Now, we didn't drink 40 different beers, but between the different samplers we and my parents drank, we drunk and/or sipped 40 various brews.

Here's the actual beer/drunk talley for the weekend: Samplers - 4 from Ballast Point, AleSmith 6, Hess 3, Irotn Fist 4, Stone 5, Lost Abbey 5. 27 tastings each 4 oz  = 108 oz, or 9 beers. But most of the beers were between 6 and 10%, so double that roughly and we drank 18 'coors light' worth of beer after two days of sampling. Plus we had 4 beers at Pizza Port, 1 Karl Strauss and 1 at Stone and we split a growler Sunday night. Also, two shots of Fernet and several whiskeys Saturday night. Party.

I'm surprised my body hasn't revolted against me. Accordingly, if you see Nicholas Cage, let him know I need the exact same shot he injected into his heart at the end of THE ROCK and I plan to stab this into my liver, post haste.

The craft brewing scene in San Diego is a Mecca. This trip's purpose is to not just see where the magic is made, but it's also a pilgrimage to experience a beer soaked culture. People in San Diego love their craft brew and I can't wait to dive into a tank brimming with fervor for barley and hop.

Momma Davis exhibits a book that ****

Because we tasted so many beers (and took so many pics), my tasting notes are going to be brief. Our first stop was Ballast Point.

Ballast began well over a decade ago and they an air conditioned building to show for it. The other breweries around LA are much new and don't have proper tasting rooms. It was nice but kinda odd to visit a brewery that actually felt like a bar.

Because we've tasted their first five beers, David and I sampled the bottom 4 beers on the chart above.

The beer names and decor are aquatic themed. This is either a tail or a mythological serpent

Nitro Sextant Oatmeal Stout - oatmeal helps create a more subtle stout that isn't very complex but is balanced.

She seems like she'd have a nice personality

Even Keel - is about as even as a drunk sailor walking the poopdeck during a raging Nor'easter. It's simply hops with some body thrown in as an after thought. I would...keelhaul this one. Zing

Dorado Double IPA - the first DIPA I've tasted that has more malt than hops. Here, hops are simply an afterthought and the result is a malt which tastes like bubble gum or hard cider. David says it's a case of shooting for the moon on alcohol content and coming up short. It's a cautionary tale - a lot of homebrewers who want to make a dank, alcoholic beer because they're interested in getting drunk. To them I say stick to the hard alcohol or Four Loko for getting pissed. 

Sculpin IPA - I've tasted before; it's award winning and fantastic with tasty herbal hops. When I see this on tap, I get excited about it.

We walked in just after it opened at 11am and the crowd was minimal. In half an hour 4 Beer Tour vans had dumped their thirsty cargo into the tasting room and it was packed, at least 40 people in a really small space, the size of my living room. At one point, David saw the two women tending the bar go back to the brewer in the back and basically freak out. He saw the number of people and freaked out. Apparently this wasn't your normal Saturday. Right before 12pm we decided to get the hell outta Dodge and beat the groups to our next destination, AleSmith.

AleSmith was one of two breweries we absolutely had to hit. David's mom two years ago sent him 8 bottles of the stuff for Christmas. They make some incredible stuff - rich and dank beer.

They have more on tap than I knew they produced and super stoked!

It begins:

Lil Devil - made with coriander and is 5.8% alcohol. The smell and taste reflect a very light and refreshing beer. The spices are tasty but I'm under the suspicion they might overhwlem me if I were drinking a full pint.

Nautical Nut Brown - not a huge brown ale fan, but this is not overwhelming and crisp. It's decent, and that's praise coming from my keystrokes.

Wee Heavy Scotch Ale - 10% alcohol, which I believe is strong for this style. I love this malt base and I'm becoming a big advocate of the style, however, the alcohol here is prevalent and overwhelms the brew's other characteristics. I like it a lot, but would appreciate a mellower alcohol profile.

Old Numbskull - 11% barleywine and I love the name. Sweet caramel malt and hoppy bitterness, it's tasty but not delicious. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing how this is after it ages.

English Nut Brown - *Our beer of the day* We chose this out of all the other because it's a seasonal brew, and it must be pretty new because it's not on BeerAdvocate. It's smooth and the English yeast leaves a very indelible mark, especially compared to the Nautical Nut. Because I enjoyed the Nautical Nut more than this, I bestow an ARMAGEDDON rating on the English Nut Brown .

Check out the Obama Tap they have. I also had a taster of Speedway Stout but because it's one of the most phenomenal beers I've ever tasted and I got really excited about it, there is no picture. Maybe I drank it too fast. If you like Stouts and have never tried this, it's an absolute must. Plus it's 12% alcohol, so you know, party time.

Sears catalog models on their day off

David has a Horny Devil bottle from two years ago left and he bought a newer vintage so we could to a side-by-side comparison. We're also bringing home a bottle of Speedway Stout, YESSS.

Next up is a brewer I know nothing about, but why shouldn't we try something completely new? Plus it's super close by to AleSmith. Hess Brewing, welcome to Beereveryday.com.

I'm not sure how long Mike Hess has been brewing professionally, but he recently upgraded from a 20 gallon to a 50 gallon brewery equipment. He's a small brewer trying to do big things.

This is the first time I've actually seen the nut and bolts of a brewing operation. And it looks like they swept everything under the couch just before the brew tasting guests arrived.  I feel like this is just how it is when you first start a company.

3 very unique beers to try.

Grazias Vienna Cream Ale - inspired by the classic Vienna Lagers brought to Mexica from Austria in the 1800's but with a Hess Brewing twist. I'm very unfamiliar with this style. It's well made and unique but the style makes for an odd malt.  

Intrepidus IPA - not a great nose and has a very piney and mixed malt. An intermediate beer that I would drink if someone had at a party. Mom pointed out that it smells different than tastes. David responds by noting, that's the trick in brewing - you can't confuse the two. Smell and taste are too intrinsically tied. Maybe he used the wrong hop combination in the boil and dry hopping.

Ex Umbris Rye Imperial Stout -  9.8% alcohol. He said it was 15%-20% rye. There is a lot of chocolate mal t in here. This is a great beer and my favorite of the three amigos. Ex Umbris = Steve Martin.

Love, love the style of the growlers. The woman far left is giving the funniest face. 

Our last stop was Port Brewing's brew pub, Pizza Port in Solana Beach. They have a bunch of locations and are spoken well of. I'm really needing some pizza by this point.

Pizza Port - I'm stoked to dig into this Shrimp and Clam pizza. My parents get a pint of California Honey and David and I try the Shark Bite, a red ale. We do love our red ales. 

While we wait for our pizzas, David decides to spend the time telling my parents about the time earlier this week that I made three trips to the freezer to get bowls filled with three different types of ice cream. Luckily, this isn't my parents first rodeo with their fat kid son and they are amused rather than appalled. 

The Shark bite is a solid tasting Irish Red with a great caramel flavor. Great stuff. The atmosphere in the Pizza Port is pretty odd - half the customers are families and meat head drinking parties, the other half or cyclists in spandex with pitchers full of beer and pizza. Randomly funny.

For Dessert, the Booya Staz IPA- bitter with piney hops piney, a very good ipa.

We took a break for a nap (I watched History Channel, which had an awesome episode about Pirates. I practically received an honorary degree from the University of Phoenix after watching that) and then headed to La Jolla for dinner at George's Ocean Terrace. Amazing views complimented the food, as we dined on halibut ceviche and mahi mahi over pan fried gnocchi. Amazeballs.

 

This was an amazing day, if you couldn't tell from the happy pictures and plethora of beer that we drank. Tomorrow looks like it could even be better. A huge thank you for my parents for making this happen!

For glancing through the article, here's a bonus picture from a license plate found in parking lot of our hotel. How could I resist?

I'm super mature

Big Sky Moose Drool makes me want to french kiss some Moosen

Hello Utah, I'm in Park City! Me, the parentals and friends the Veselka's arrived hopping to chow down on grub and delicious local brew at The Wasatch Brew Pub but were confronted with a 45 minute wait so we headed next door to an Italian restaurant for a Carne pizza (italian meat lovers) and a beer from Missiula, Montana: Moose Drool.

Love a good beer name

Such a sexy name, Moose Drooool is a brown ale that pours a dark hue and has high carbonation. He drools nutty with a tinge of coffee as you finish tasting the saliva. Overall, it's very similar to english brown ales, and I don't know if it's the carbonation or the smooth malts, but I actually prefer this over Newcastle. Bold words I know, but it's uniqueness made an impression. If you encounter this moose, drink his milkshake. TRANSFORMERS rating.

So what's the plural of Moose - Mooses, Moosen or Meesen? It's a fun and legendary debate, but how often do you encounter multiple Moose in the wild? I actually did encounter a pair, Mom and Calf, one college summer at a Sigma Chi leadership course out in the god forsaken woods and the above question never entered my mind. My only reaction was, "Shards, that's a big f*cking Moose." And then I ran away like a girl scout because getting between a 1,000 pound mother and calf was not how my fortune teller told me I would die.

Lagunitas Brown Shugga', more like Mashugana

Tomorrow is David's Christmas office party and as his esteemed +1, I will be attending as well. My plan is to walk the delicate line between dance floor drinking and not making David regret his generosity. Unfortunately, these parties don't typically have carry quality craft beer, so we're having our Friday beer at 12:01am (Thursday night/morning) while watching the 30 Rock Christmas Special, which isn't meeting expectations.

Tina Fey is Awesome

I took a couple sips of the Brown Shugga' and turned to David, "Weird stuff huh?" he nodded tersely. Agreed. It's a brown ale that is both sweet and bitter with hints of vanilla, but neither element mix well together.On a positive note, I'm also eating the biggest damn pistachios I ever laid fingertips on. Enormously delicious, the beer, not so much. TRANSFORMERS 2 rating.

Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale makes me a happy camper in Washington D.C.

 

 Out of LA for the weekend and excited to be in Washington D.C. visiting Sarah E!

I am surrounded by unfamiliar local brews but can't resist the awesomeness that is Dogfish Head. The Indian Brown Ale is something I've never seen available for purchase in LaLa land. It's a brown ale with caramelized brown sugar and two kinds of whole leaf hops.

I can't remember what show I was watching or who's mug and it's killing me, but that beer is gorgeous!

Excellent chocolate and nut aroma. It pours a really dark brown, closer to a porter. The brown ale body is changed substantially by the caramelized sugar, which takes the bite out. Whole leaf hops are a subtle touch to this unique take on brownie ale. It's a very drinkable beer and would go great with food or afternoon football game. I drank a bunch of it and wish it grew on trees in California. Lov'n it. THE ROCK rating.

I'd Set Sail with the Red Hook 8-4-1 Expedition

I really only know Red Hook from their excellent ESB but this specialty beer 'Expedition' made a very indelible mark. 

Watermelon not included

It's a brown ale with a honey, like a pub beer turbocharged with sweetness. This is a great sipping beer and something to enjoy on THE ROCK.


And WIPEOUT is the most hilarious TV show ever. Nothing is funnier than people constantly falling on their face. It's science.