Life's Too Short....

Nosybear

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So here we are in Amarillo, Texas. There's one microbrewery in the whole damned city so we went there. Don't. Buy yourself a Shiner Bock at a Texas Roadhouse. Do. Not. Go. To. This. Brewery. It's called "Long Wooden Spoon." Best use I can think of for said spoon would be to paddle the brewer, before sending him back to brew school. We had a flight, first up a Witbier. Don't know what was going on, it was thin and rather weak flavored but unfortunately the best of the bunch. Next up was an ESB. I have no idea what happened the poor yeast but they were too shocked by it to finish their job, and it tasted like the guy used crystal 60 as his base malt. Then the Dunkelweizen. I really thought they had used dark candi syrup in the beer, it tasted that much like burnt sugar. There was some high lovibond crystal working in there! Chocolate and black malt, I believe the surly dude behind the counter said. And then their red rye, black as Texas crude and sweet, dang it was sweet....

Bottom line, there are times when a decent commercial brew trumps a craft beer, and this town is the place for that.
 
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Sorry to hear that Nosy. Hopefully you are able to score a nice steak or some great Texas bbq on the trip.
 
There's a local taproom near me that, bless their hearts, manages to sell a lot of beer that's really, really not very good. And this is Austin where there are dozens of really good breweries and taprooms. I think it just doesn't take much to sell beer in Texas, when it comes right down to it. And when you think about it, the only game in town in a place like Amarillo has a captive market. I'm not surprised that the beers not good. Shame all it takes to open a "brewery" is money. :D :D
 
Bummer dude, we have like 6-8 craft breweries in town right now and another 15-20 within a short 3 hour drive from here.
 
Well did you try the Amarillo pale ale?:confused:
Youd think a town named after a hop would get its craft on:).
 
Well did you try the Amarillo pale ale?:confused:
Youd think a town named after a hop would get its craft on:).
No kidding! Sounds like a smash with Amarillo would be a great house beer for them. They couldn't mess it up.
 
While my experiences at local craft brewies has not been as bad as yours Nosy, I have noticed that it doesn't take much to sell craft beer these days. I have found quite a few mediocre establishments: hazy kolsch beer, watery wit beers, burnt tasting Porter's and even brown ales, hoppy every style of beer. It seems in New England, all you have to do is pump out pale ales and IPAs and "they will come". Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing breweries up here! However, new ones are opening every day it seems and they aren't always very good.

I admit I don't care for pale ales and IPAs (at all) so maybe that sways my judgement.

I was out in St. Loius recently though and was very impressed by what I found out there!
 
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Nosy, you're just spoiled! haha
Honestly though, the Denver area and numerous others have a very good craft beer scene.
I say we all contribute and name some strong craft beer areas.
I'll start with Cleveland. Home of Great Lakes, Fat Heads, Market Garden and too many more to list.
Cheers,
Brian
 
Sorry to hear that Nosy. Hopefully you are able to score a nice steak or some great Texas bbq on the trip.
Found the greatest little dive called the Coyote Bluffs Diner, ate about 4,000 calories worth of burger, fries and washed it down with a Texas beer called "Revolver." It's a 7% "Imperial" witbier with blood orange peel, coriander and honey. May have to see if I can make that one!
 
Revolver stopped being a "craft" beer when it was bought out. It's an alright brewery but there are rows of beer in the cooler that are actually still locally owned and for the most part better. Karbach is another one that's been bought out. It's okay.
You should be able to find Real Ale beers just about anywhere in Texas. Consistently great beer and still independent.
St. Arnold's is another big craft brewery that hasn't sold out yet. The Cellis name was bought back and is once again a local brewery after starting the whole craft beer thing off here in Austin and selling out to Miller in 2000...they might have decent distribution.
Live Oak and 512 here in Austin probably distribute state-wide and maybe Austin Beer Works (consistently the best beer around), Thirsty Planet or Adelberts (top notch Belgians). Rahr and Sons from Ft. Worth might show up there...meh.
There may be more commercial-sized independent breweries that distribute state-wide, but most are going to have a fairly local foot print and Amarillo is just too far away from anything.
Play it safe...have a Lone Star. :D
 
I know Real Ale, St. Arnold, a few others down here. Will be in Houston this afternoon.
 
I know Real Ale, St. Arnold, a few others down here. Will be in Houston this afternoon.
Too bad you couldn't stop in Austin for lunch. :)
 
Austin's a bit out of the way. Houston, at least southeast Houston, is a wasteland when it comes to craft beer!
 
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