tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1959316051982928142024-03-13T11:09:11.772-05:00[An Avenue]Smarter than an idiot.Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.comBlogger149125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-12211835637241323102018-12-30T09:57:00.002-06:002018-12-30T10:05:33.005-06:00Best Tracks of 2018 | Vol. 14<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "elizabethserif" , "georgia" , serif;">Hey, hi! Its my one BLOG POST of the year where I put out my annual edition of [AA]'s TOP TRACKS OF THE YEAR! and remind everyone that I should "just stick to beer", and when I do that, the beer people say, "just stick to dadding", and when I do that, my kids tell me that mom does everything better. That's probably true. Bloggers aren't even real people.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "elizabethserif" , "georgia" , serif;">So, with every last ounce of creative energy and physical strength just to hold my shit together in 2018, </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "elizabethserif" , "georgia" , serif;">I am ready to plunge you, loyal Avenueling, headlong into a very tepid year of music, with an overall sheen of desperation for humanity. You know its dark times when I considered putting both Florida Georgia Line and Maroon 5 on this list just to have enough songs to populate it. And while that last sentence isn't even the slightest bit true, if either one had put out something reasonably catchy this year, they probably would have parlayed it into a Super Bowl gig. Hell, maybe they did, I don't know. Lemme check. Well, fuck. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "elizabethserif" , "georgia" , serif;">Anyway, the point is, it wasn't a banner year for indie-rock, -pop, -country, or -rap (save for Kasey Musgraves doing her usual kickassery). But even that wasn't enough to make anyone feel all groovy during a government shutdown and baby-jailing crisis. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "elizabethserif" , "georgia" , serif;">Anyway, I bet all of this sunshine REALLY makes you want to listen to my TOP TRACKS OF 2018, but I'll reasonably assure that you'll enjoy it a bit more than this miserable prose. Plus, it's a good re-calibration for an undoubtedly amazing 2019. I mean, there's </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "elizabethserif" , "georgia" , serif;">nowhere to go but up, right?</span><br />
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Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-86933101516653034862017-12-29T18:49:00.002-06:002017-12-29T19:12:14.619-06:00Best Tracks of 2017 | Vol. 13<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Not to imply that I ever give this blog any less than my full attention, but its been a busy year and also a very comically stupid year. For anyone doing a 2017 year-end recap, STOP. It's a folly to document ANYTHING with the stench of this year on it, so let's just try to keep this bath salts buzz rolling as long as we can, yeah? You know who I blame? The fucking Patriots. No, not the MAGA dipshits you'll find in the dregs of your Facebook feed with bedazzled American flag trucker hats and Crocs yelling at peaceful protesters on SportsCenter. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The <i>football</i> Patriots. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After their 87 point comeback in 12 seconds during UFC 51 against the big dumb freedom-hating Falcons, the whole country basically went to a deep, dark place with every bad thing that happened in this country after that emanating from there. Hell, the Pats even gave the rotted pork loin sitting his fat ass in the oval office an actual Super Bowl ring. How about that? Doesn't that just make you want to die? </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And its a good thing if so, because we're all on Hyperloop One headed towards nuclear winter, anyway. Get used to sustaining off kombucha and Ed Sheeran records because the end of days is nigh. Anyway, here's what I listened to this year while wishing for even someone as punchable as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRzNpAoRrlw" target="_blank">Jake Paul</a> to be our new Dear Leader. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Enjoy!</span></span><br />
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Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-22998856592646995702016-12-31T17:07:00.001-06:002016-12-31T17:14:18.892-06:002016's Best Tracks | Vol. 12<br />
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Typically, this is the time of year where I get to do my pro bono publico writing; some charity print to dust off the pages of this hastily graying website, which originally (and goofily) was founded to register the thoughts of an aspiring music blogger. Instead, it got re-dedicated somewhere along the line to a different topic entirely, leading to some other rad things; some big opportunities that felt (and still do!) like the crest of the mountain. <br />
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But charity in this age seems like a chore, it being the very eve of Trump's America. And I'm weary of traveling for the holidays. And this list becomes obsolete in seven hours or thereabouts, so I'm on a strict deadline. But its mostly because I just want to dad-out and drunkenly listen to vinyl with my beautiful and interesting wife when my kids finally fall into their temporary comas for the night. So I'm busy. But not so busy that I can't present the Best 101 Songs of the Year for the 12th time.<br />
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I hope you enjoy.<br />
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Happy New Year.Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-90735782509850116712015-12-31T10:03:00.000-06:002015-12-31T10:03:07.320-06:00The Best Tracks of 2015: Vol. 11<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sure, I could parse every moment of 2015 and compartmentalize them into sections of the year that played out in my favor, while others did not. Then thoughtfully prose on about why certain events, whether positive or negative, rocketed a song's cachet into the top 50 or the top 25 or even the top 10. But that would be recapitulation of the last 10 years since the alpha list of the Top 101 began in 2005 -- and also take up a shit load of time like it did last year when I was still only mono-offsprung and duties like this were kept to kill the spare time between an actual career and a hopeful one instead of recent dad duties like reprogramming my four year old to stop being a hater and coddling the next ultra-entitled mecha-millennial two-month-old.<br />
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In other words, creativity <i>has got to be</i> preserved within this limited-functioning brain of mine, as the imminent exhaustion of A1 dadding and B-minus husband'ing creeps, my residual imagination is now reserved only for paying gigs. For that, you can read a proper list here in the <a href="http://www.austinchronicle.com/food/2016-01-01/the-year-in-food-top-10-beer-things-to-look-forward-to-in-2016/" target="_blank">Austin Chronicle</a>. <br />
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Thusly, here is [AA]'s Top 101 of 2015 without the stale practice of any kind of introduction, a vainglorious portion of personal reflection, or bombastic self-promotion to read [AA] in the form of print journalism. Enjoy, yeah?<br />
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Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-46314718152002257742014-12-30T15:54:00.004-06:002014-12-30T15:54:59.229-06:00[AA]'s 10th Annual: Best 101 Tracks of 2014 | PART IV of IV | The Top 25<a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2014/12/aas-10th-annual-best-101-tracks-of-2014.html" style="background-color: white; color: #199f00; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part I (101 - 76)</span></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2014/12/aas-10th-annual-best-101-tracks-of-2014_27.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part II (75 - 51)</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2014/12/aas-10th-annual-best-101-tracks-of-2014_29.html" target="_blank">Part III (50 - 26)</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">… So this brings us to the Top 25, which is all anyone who's a list-hound like I am cares about. Maybe you clicked a few of the artists with familiar names just to see if something escaped your radar, but otherwise, this is the cream of the cream. Everything below is clickable and none of it contains the word/s 'Broken' or 'Bells'.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But a bit of advertising before I let you drown in the narrative of 2014's melody:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Expect more brewery profiles on [AA] -- not an Iliad of work, mind you -- but some stuff to rouse the overgrown toddler that is the Austin beer scene. Things are in the works for profiles on <a href="http://jesterkingbrewery.com/" target="_blank">Jester King</a>, <a href="http://theabgb.com/" target="_blank">The ABGB</a>, and <a href="http://www.oddwoodales.com/home.html" target="_blank">Oddwood Ales</a>, along with our disclosure of the "Official Beer of Austin". If you don't see something you like on [AA], do not be discouraged, as the piece may have been elevated to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AustinChronicle" target="_blank">The Austin Chronicle</a>, which we've begun contributing to infrequently. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, [AA] is still our pet project -- the secondary fermenter if you must. But if you're really interested in smelling the boil, listen to <a href="http://www.thedraughtpunk.com/" target="_blank">Draught Punk</a>, and follow <a href="https://twitter.com/anavenueblog" target="_blank">[AA] on Twitter</a>.</span><br />
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<b style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">PART IV of IV | The Top 25 of 2014</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">25 - <b>Slow Club | Tears of Joy </b><i>from Complete Surrender: </i>No Slow Club after 9PM iffin you want to stay a person without triplets. Its that sexy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>24 -<b> Hamilton Leithauser | I Don't Need Anyone </b><i>from Black Hours: </i>Thats right Hamilton, you <i>don't need anyone</i> to help you make an unofficial Walkmen album. Indefinite hiatus, sure, but definitely awesome.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>23 -<b> Damon Albarn | The Selfish Giant </b><i>from Everyday Robots: </i>Hard to imagine that critics were harsh on Damon Albarn's solo effort, but I thought he aced it. The imagery with the song title, piano, voice, and lyrics is truly heroic.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>22 -<b> BØRNS | Electric Love </b><i>from Candy: </i>LA-based Electro-rock by way of Michigan, this shockingly solo (<i>because of the density</i>) act came from so far outside our sonic scanner, we were forced to recalibrate our music mediums.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>21 -<b> Timber Timbre | Hot Dreams </b><i>from s/t: </i>Huge tip-o-the-hat to our friend Matthew at <a href="https://twitter.com/SongbyToad" target="_blank">Song, By Toad</a> for presenting this song on one of his Toadcasts this year. If you are looking to subscribe to something awesome, witty, and musically vanguard, you should adhere to his podcast on iTunes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>20 -<b> Father John Misty | Bored In The USA </b><i>from s/t: </i>Man, we thought this song was a huge joke at first, but when we had the time to properly dissect it, we realized its misunderstood genius, because, frankly we can relate. The Billy Joel homage is subtle and classy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>19 -<b> Twin Shadow | To The Top </b><i>from s/t: </i>Uplifting, gospel-y music, which to us, means its a good song to drink a beer in the shower to.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>18 -<b> Phantogram | Black Out Days </b><i>from Voices: </i>Absolutely floored us during this year's SXSW on a meager two-song set. <i>Black Out Days</i> at 9am is like a double Monster Energy injection.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>17 -<b> Lykke Li | Never Gonna Love Again </b><i>from I Never Learn: </i>Lykke Li continues to expose our weakness as sensitive pussies who absolutely adore beautiful arias about love.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>16 -<b> Morrissey | Staircase At The University </b><i>from World Peace is None Of Your Business: </i>The thing about Morrissey is that he is so hatable like Jamies Winston, and yet so fucking excellent like Jamies Winston. We just don't even … yet, we continue to pledge our unencumbered devotion to Him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>15 -<b> Damon Albarn | Heavy Seas Of Love </b><i>from Everyday Robots: </i>One of our favorite pseudo-subgenres of music is something called Northern Soul, which is essentially just underground 1960s Detroit Soul that was embraced by Englanders. This song, though not true to Northern Soul form, is a cool bluesy tribute.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>14 -<b> Interpol | All The Rage Back Home </b><i>from El Pintor:</i> El Pintor didn't absolutely jump out at us as a stellar record, but this leaked single sure as fuck did. Wowow.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>13 - <b>Real Estate | Talking Backwards </b><i>from Atlas: </i>This song is so simply arranged and so smartly self-aware, that it is 2014s '<i>most perfect</i>' song. Its the same formula that makes something equally simple, yet perfect -- like a pale ale -- top Best Of lists by simply holding form.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>12 -<b> Warpaint | Disco//very </b><i>from Warpaint: </i>Our stripper song, if we were ever to be in desperate financial need for lawyerin' school. Dibs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>11 -<b> The Rural Alberta Advantage | On the Rocks </b><i>from Mended with Gold: </i>Canadians, man -- when they're neglected, they can write a tune like a burr in the loins.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>10 -<b> Wild Cub | Shapeless </b><i>from Youth: </i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;">When [AA] are the executive producers of a John Hughes reboot, like Ferriss Bueller or Sixteen Candles, this will be our lede.</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>09 -<b> Phantogram | Celebrating Nothing </b><i>from Voices: </i>This will make your sex mix that is one song long.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>08 -<b> Sun Kil Moon | Ben's My Friend </b><i>from Benji: </i>The most limp-dicked, whitest song ever created, which makes it a fantastic narrative that is entirely lovable because we love blue crab cakes and The Postal Service too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>07 -<b> Run The Jewels | Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) ft. Zack De La Rocha </b><i>from Run the Jewels 2: </i>Good thing for RtJ they released their amazing album when they did because they almost didn't make this prestigious list. Forever h/t to John <a href="https://twitter.com/partyends" target="_blank">@partyends</a> for championing them since the beginning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>06 -<b> Spoon | Rent I Pay</b><i> </i><i>from They Want My Soul: </i>Album of the year? Yeah, probably. But the tease of this song in the run-up to <i>They Want My Soul</i> was the best 10 seconds of audio this year. Damn, that was seriously infectious.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />05 -<b> Tokyo Police Club | Argentina (Parts I, II, III) </b><i>from Forcefield: </i>An eight-and-a-half minute TPC song sounds like the worst gag ever, but man, if you can take it seriously, it really becomes a clever song. We were VERY serious about it at the [AA] offices in 2014.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>04 - <b>FKA twigs | Two Weeks </b><i>from LP1: </i>Without question, the one song on the entire list that will make you feel cooler having heard it. Lyrically and musically, the gem of 2014.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>03 -<b> The Orwells | Who Needs You </b><i>from Disgraceland: </i>Despite the depressing act of business waged on fans of this song, its has massive cultural cognizance that is truly genius when one considers it was written by 17-19 year olds. Its an amazing record on an amazing album. Lets just hope Apple doesn't abuse it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>02 -<b> Future Islands | Seasons (Waiting On You) </b><i>from Singles: </i>There was just no truly discerning diagnostic measurement between track #2 and track #1 in 2014. This was on heavy and frequent rotation all throughout our year, and nary was there a moment when once started, it didn't have the opportunity to finish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which brings us to [AA]'s #1 song of the year, an enormous honor shared with the following tracks since 2005: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2013: Daft Punk | Doin' it Right </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2012: Beach House | Myth</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2011: Wu Lyf | We Bros</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2010: LCD Soundsystem | Dance Yrself Clean</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2009: Fanfarlo | The Walls are Coming Down</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2008: MGMT | Time to Pretend</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2007: Radiohead | Videotape</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2006: Phoenix | Consolation Prizes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2005: Sigur Ros | Hoppipolla</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">… which is ...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>01 -<b> Taylor Swift | Shake It Off </b><i>from 1989: </i>Holy shit, right? We totes know! Nothing is gonna make you mooove like this chorus, and above everything else at the music branch of [AA], we value musical kinetics. Truly, Taylor Swift adheres to the indie-approved style craved by the scene kids and the guilty-pleasure awkwardness of beer dads alike; Swift has earned herself the distinction of a true crossover artist. Haters gon' hate, hate, hate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Happy new year, happy listening in 2015. Drink everything.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Fin.</i></span><br />
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Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-47419886751311206502014-12-29T14:17:00.001-06:002014-12-29T14:23:30.669-06:00[AA]'s 10th Annual: Best 101 Tracks of 2014 | PART III of IV | #50 - #26<a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2014/12/aas-10th-annual-best-101-tracks-of-2014.html" style="background-color: white; color: #199f00; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part I (101 - 76)</span></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2014/12/aas-10th-annual-best-101-tracks-of-2014_27.html" target="_blank">Part II (75 - 51)</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Three posts in four days seems like a flurry of activity and it is for a guy on vacation … but this is really important shit and I wanted to make sure this year-end best-of list got to you in time to salvage your entire year. You're welcome!</span></div>
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First bit of business in this episode is a spoiler alert. No where on this list will you find anything by Jack White because Jack White is fucking incessant. In fact, Jack White hasn't made a worthwhile piece of music since people were still doing internet searches on Alta Vista. In short, fuck Jack White. You can't be on my list. </span><br />
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But on a more relevant tip, you know what other artist also sucks, but whom also seems to be on a shitload of worthy year-end lists? Sylvan Esso. I literally can't think of a single situation where I would prefer to listen to Hey Mami over any other piece of music, and that includes Jack White. I would actually prefer to listen to Jack White over Sylvan Esso, thats how bad it is.</span><br />
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And if you haven't heard either of these albums this year, feel free to take my word on both of em. It's like when your mothers warned you not to stare at the sun or drink poison. Sometimes at the behest of curiosity, its better to just take them at their word.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />At least there wasn't an Avett Brothers release this year. There wasn't was there?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Anyway, now onto the meaty part of [AA]'s Top 101 of 2014</span><br />
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<b style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">PART III of IV | #50 - #26</span></b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">50 - </span><b style="text-align: left;">Broods | Mother & Father </b><i style="text-align: left;">from Evergreen: </i><span style="text-align: left;">Kiwi pop that very fortunately wasn't buried by American satellite radio.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">49 - <b>Little Boots | Taste It</b> <i>from Business Pleasure EP: </i>Female electroclash is our weakness.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">48 - <b>The New
Pornographers | Champions Of Red Wine</b> <i>from Brill Bruisers: </i>Great effort by the Canadian indie legends, in large part because most of this album sounds like it was recorded drunk, which is how the greatest artists should always do it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">47 - <b>Future
Islands | Back in the Tall Grass</b> <i>from Singles: </i>Underrated band, underrated dance moves.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">46 - <b>Tennis | I'm
Callin'</b> <i>from Ritual in Repeat: </i>Saccharine sweet female indie pop is our weakness. An [AA] gig favorite from 2014.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">45 - <b>Strand of
Oaks | Goshen '97</b> <i>from</i> HEAL: Our pal <a href="https://twitter.com/BeerTownAustin" target="_blank">BeertownAustin</a> would smash his computer into bits if we didn't give him credit for introducing us to Strands of Oak. Fine, dude, they're really good, mkay? Go brood about something else now.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">44 - <b>Fat White
Family | Is It Raining in Your Mouth?</b> <i>from Champagne Holocaust: </i>One of the white hot artists of SXSW 2014. These dudes appear to be certifiably nuts. Makes us miss Wu Lyf.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">43 - <b>We Were
Promised Jetpacks | Bright Minds</b> </span></span><i>from Unravelling: </i>The second selection from <i>WWPJP </i>on our list. In our top 3 favorite acts at SXSW 2014. These Scots do music very well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">42 - <b>Kevin Drew | And That's All I Know</b> <i>from Darlings: </i>Yep, this list is strewn with Canadians. Beautiful Canadians.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">41 - <b>St. Vincent | Birth In Reverse</b> </span></span><i>from St. Vincent: </i>We could be the only folks in the indieverse who are not an unapologetic St. Vincent extremist, she's just okay -- however, this song is a totes jam and should be played liberally.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">40 - <b>The New
Pornographers | War on the East Coast </b><i>from Brill Bruisers: </i>We didn't say this was gonna be a diverse list, but The Pornos just made a solid album and its our duty to let you know it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">39 - <b>Chromeo | Old
45's</b> <i>from White Women: </i>No srsly tho. We haven't seen this many Cunucks on a list since You Can't Do That On Television was sweeping the Kids Choice Awards in 1983. Chromeo's album was our hidden gem this year.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">38 - <b>PHOX | Slow
Motion</b> <i>from PHOX: </i>Well, no. Maybe this one was. This whole album deserved so much more attention.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">37 - <b>The War On
Drugs | Red Eyes</b> </span></span><i>from Lost in the Dream: </i>On a lot of lists for album of the year. We won't take it that far, but this was definitely a noteworthy song. They lose a bunch of cred points though, for being Mark Kozeleks bottom bitches in '14.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">36 - <b>Kishi Bashi | Manchester</b> </span></span><i>from 151a: </i>A touring member of the band, of Montreal, his music has a ton of depth and lyrical embedding. Good stuff. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">35 - <b>Owl John | Stupid Boy</b> </span></span><i>from Owl John: </i>Owl John is the side project of Frightened Rabbit's guitarist/vocalist Scott Hutchison, and its aces. The Scots typically win indie music, and when these are <i>just</i> the side projects, its easy to see why.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">34 - <b>Lo-Fang | When We're Fire</b> </span></span><i>from Blue Film: </i>We felt like we were some of the first people out there in the blogosphere to blow up Lo-Fang in 2013 (he even made our top 101 last year). His debut album in 2014 was good, but didn't have as much lasting power as we first thought.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">33 - <b>The Antlers | Intruders</b> </span></span><i>from Familiars: </i>Another candidate for Top 3 gigs in 2014, a list that spans 20 acts. Familiars is genuinely in our Top 3 albums of 2014, though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">32 - <b>Young Ejecta | Welcome to Love</b> </span></span><i>from The Planet: </i>Wowzers, we fell immediately in love with Leanne Macomber, one half of Young Ejecta, which is a side project of hers when not recording with Neon Indian.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">31 - <b>TV On The
Radio | Careful You</b> </span></span><i>from Seeds: </i>Our most anticipated album of 2014, which held expectations for us that couldn't be possibly lived up to. Nonetheless, the album is pocked with nifty little songs like this one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">30 - <b>Tennis | Never Work</b> <b>for Free</b> </span></span><i>from Ritual in Repeat: </i>Sweet, delicious, upper crust, female-lead, indie pop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">29 - <b>Pixies | Greens and Blues</b> </span></span><i>from Indie Cindy: </i>Shite album, which again, could never meet our anticipatory demands, but this is an amazing song reminiscent of the Bossanova era.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">28 - <b>Delta Spirit | Language Of The Dead</b> </span></span><i>from Into the Wide: </i>Our drunkest show of 2014, we don't even remember if they played this song before we hailed an Uber, but we wanna say we did and it was killer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">27 - <b>The Antlers | Parade</b> </span></span><i>from Familiars: </i>Gospel music for the Church of Chillwave.</span></div>
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<i>… to be continued.</i></span><br />
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Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-26669100003411492832014-12-27T16:12:00.002-06:002014-12-27T16:12:51.372-06:00[AA]'s 10th Annual: Best 101 Tracks of 2014 | PART II of IV | #75 - #51<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Read Part I of IV <a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2014/12/aas-10th-annual-best-101-tracks-of-2014.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This year, Weezer came back reincarnated as … Weezer, which my some of my buddies thinks is awesome, despite all of the schlock they've released since The Green Album -- which in of itself is still pretty debatable as properly vintage Weezer album (I say, "sorta"). Regardless, its hard to deny that they've gave it a "good job, good effort" Los Angeles try. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">That is the basic premise of Part II. Here are a number of</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> decent Tuesday afternoon office jams, and a smattering of Friday night boozing ones. We are confident that you will be able to tell the difference between the two. We hope you like it, although you have to understand that sometimes we make a <i>Pinkerton</i>, and sometimes we make a <i>Hurley</i></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">.</i><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: medium;">PART II of IV | #75 - #51</span></b></div>
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75 - <b>Weezer | Go Away </b><i>from Everything Will Be Alright in the End: </i>Heavy guitars, griping lyrics, and love themes. We'll take it.<br />
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74 - <b>Kasabian | Eez-Eh </b><i>from 48:13: </i>Some of the lyrics are trite, but its anthem-y and British and makes you want to take your shirt off like you're in 1996 Ibiza.<br />
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73 - <b>Work Drugs | Time </b><i>from Insurgents</i><b style="font-style: italic;">: </b>Is retro-synth still a genre? Dunno, we think it is, so it made our list.<br />
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72 - <b>Generationals | Gold Silver Diamond </b><i>from Alix:</i> Retro-synth with added drum track.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">71 - </span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Sam Smith | Money On My Mind</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from In the Lonely Hour: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> Took me a long time to accept that people on Facebook were crazy about Sam Smith because literally nothing breaks on Facebook.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">70 - </span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The Drums | I Can't Pretend</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from Encyclopedia: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Still waiting for another jam like "Money", but we've always dug their sound nonetheless.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">69 - </span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Tokyo Police Club | Hot Tonight</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from Forcefield: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This album wasn't TPC's tightest effort, but there are some great songs on there that sound like [AA] guilty pleasure '</span><i style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">3rd Eye Blind'</i><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> if they were a junior high band.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">68 - </span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Spoon | They Want My Soul</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from They Want My Soul: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Finally getting into some serious face music. The whole list is littered with Spoon, but we wouldn't allow more than three on it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">67 - </span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The Fresh & Onlys | Who Let the Devil</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from House of Spirits: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">In a year without a BRMC album, this filled the gap nicely.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">66 - </span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Foxygen | How Can You Really</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><i style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from … And Star Power: </i><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Honestly, we're shocked that Foxygen still were on friendly enough terms with one another to even record a second album. Even though its mostly a complete mess of a record, there are still some interesting songs like this one.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">65 - </span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Kendrick Lamar | i</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from i: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">We</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> must have been in a weird mood when making this list, as this is the most likely track on the list to have a Santana credit -- who is also on our list of Top 3 most overrated things ever, along with Reggie Bush and Tex Mex.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">64 - </span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Sharon Van Etten | Every Time the Sun Comes Up</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from Are We There:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> This track would be a nice theme song for a writer on a port wine bender.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">63 - <b>Bishop Allen</b></span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> | Start Again </b><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from Lights Out: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Every damn year, there is an album that we are immediately giddy about, then come to our senses. That was Biship Allen's 2014 effort. Still, its a nice Brooklyn-y sounding track that we're sure someone in their early 20s relates to.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">62 - </span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Fanfarlo | Cell Song </b><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from Let's Go Extinct: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Each time we re-listen to this song, we are </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">reminded how 1) disappointing Fanfarlo's latest album was, and 2) how we've disrespected this song by being low on the list because its pretty great.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">61 - </span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Wild Cub | Thunder Clatter</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from Youth: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This year w</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">e saw Wild Cub open for Vampire Weekend at Stubb's and they were literally the most appreciative band in history. The band acts exactly like their music, and so we think its genuine. And good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">60 - </span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Wye Oak | Before</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><i>from Shriek: </i>The first band with a multiple spot on our list. This album surprised us with how intense it was. Definitely one of those drinking songs were were talking about.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">59 - </span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Paws | Erreur Humaine</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from Youth Culture Forever: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">One of my pals in Scotland produced this track and it is fucking excellent, as one in Scotland might say.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">58 - </span></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Sisyphus | Rhythm of Devotion</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from S/t: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">A Draught Punk selection from <a href="http://thedraughtpunk.com/podcast/Draught_Punk_11b.mp3" target="_blank">Episode 11</a> with our friend Jacob of <a href="http://www.austinsessions.com/" target="_blank">Austin Sessions</a>; its a strangely addictive hip hop collab by Sufjan Stevens, Serengeti, and Son Lux.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">57 - </span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Dum Dum Girls | Too True to Be Good</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from Too True: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">One of the indelible hits of SXSW 2014. We fell in love many, many times during this gig at Mellow Johnny's.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">56 - </span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Robert Schwartzman | It's You</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from Palo Alto OST: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Robert Schwartzman is the former lead singer of Rooney, which is a band with close ties to both Sofia Coppola and The O.C., which is everything this blog wants to be about. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">55 - <b>Ages and Ages</b> | <b>Divisionary (Do The Right Thing)</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from Divisionary: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Draws the fine line between naively monotonous and overwhelmingly cheerful. Why not both?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">54 - </span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Jamie T | Limits Lie</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from Carry on the Grudge: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Jamie T sure does sound different than the last time we heard 'im!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">53 - <b>Stars</b></span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> | Turn it Up</b><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> from No One is Lost: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Every single album Stars makes is crappy except for one song.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">52 - <b>Los Angeles Police Department </b></span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">| Cave</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from S/t: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">We don't know who this band is either, but just try to resist the gravitas of this song. Us too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><i><br /></i>51 - <b>Alvvays</b></span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> | Adult Diversion</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">from S/t: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Totally</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Camera Obscura-lite, but their themes, melodies, and vox are completely on-point.</span></span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">... to be continued.</i></div>
Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-53933294656668098242014-12-26T17:08:00.005-06:002014-12-26T19:41:24.714-06:00[AA]'s 10th Annual: Best 101 Tracks of 2014 | PART I of IV | #101 - #76<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YnYfQXZuxnA/VJ3pXVBiAFI/AAAAAAAAIjk/T7wDVKguZHQ/s1600/Tdkc60cassette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YnYfQXZuxnA/VJ3pXVBiAFI/AAAAAAAAIjk/T7wDVKguZHQ/s1600/Tdkc60cassette.jpg" /></a></div>
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As is tradition for [An Avenue] going on a full decade now, we here at company headquarters have compiled our list of the 101 Best Tracks of 2014 between remnants of the shittiest office party treats and room temp bites of leftover Christmas Eve prime rib. There has also been much beer consumed over the course of re-engaging all 400 songs of the master list, which, for the most part, has been utter shit, so several dozens gallons of Stout and winter IPAs were a requisite. <br />
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Nope, it was not a great year in music, at least comparative to the last several years, where long awaited albums by perennially engaging artists were total triumphs. But this year -- a year in which legendary acts like The Pixies, Morrissey, The Black Keys and about a dozen others promoted feckless albums that registered absolutely no amplitude on the musical magnitude scale. Other recently alluring artists like Fanfarlo, Alt-J, and Foxygen for example were equally stodgy. <br />
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Look, the ass-end of this list isn't a musical masterpiece, but we at [AA] invite you to check in over the next four posts to see if there is at least a little bit of musical litter for you to scavenge from 2014. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">PART I of IV | #101 - #76</span></b></div>
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101 - <b>Sleeper Agent | Waves </b><i>from About Last Night:</i> decent <i>edge-of-Alt-radio-but-mostly-Mix-radio</i> artist who gave the boys at <a href="https://twitter.com/draught_punk" target="_blank">Draught Punk</a> a nice tweener show during Friday of SXSW.<br />
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100 - <b>Charlie XCX | Boom Clap </b><i>from SUCKER:</i> Charlie XCX slayed at SXSW, this being her show closer despite "You - Ha Ha Ha" still in her back pocket (where it remained). We gave her benefit of the doubt here.<br />
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99 - <b>Jenny Lewis | Slippery Slopes </b><i>from The Voyager<b>:</b></i> A legacy pick, but its not totally horrible.<br />
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98 - <b>Eagulls | Possessed </b><i>from s/t:</i> A Draught Punk favorite from <a href="http://thedraughtpunk.com/podcast/Draught_Punk_10.mp3" target="_blank">our March show</a> with Matthew Young of <a href="https://twitter.com/songbytoad" target="_blank">Song, By Toad</a><br />
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97 - <b>Saint Pepsi | Fiona Coyne</b> <i>from Fiona Coyne: </i> Summer anthem, inescapable on XMU<br />
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96 - <b>Avery Tare's Slasher Flicks | Little Fang</b> <i>from Enter the Slasher House: </i>In the same vein as of Montreal and Ariel Pink, so mood music.<br />
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95 - <b>Alt-J | Every Other Freckle</b> <i>from This is All Yours: </i>Least offensive song from the sewage that was their 2014 album.<br />
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94 - <b>Grimes | Go ft. Blood Diamonds</b> <i>from Go: </i>Grimes is the shit. And Canadian. Which slid her up our scales.<br />
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93 - <b>Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks | Lariat</b> <i>from Wig Out at Jagbags: </i>Quite a very Pavement-y jam; plus he's a dad that drinks craft beer. Relatable. A Draught Punk fav from our February show.<br />
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92 - <b>Chromeo | Hard to Say No</b> <i>from White Women: </i>Goofy, schlocky electro-funk from Montreal. How is this not #1?<br />
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91 - <b>Wye Oak | Schools of Eyes</b> <i>from Shriek: </i>Folksy-indie isn't exactly our thing except when it sounds like how Wye Oak does. Entrancing.<br />
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90 - <b>Blood Orange | Champagne Coast</b> <i>from Palo Alto OST:</i> We missed the Blood Orange bandwagon last year, but making amends as best we can with this pick.<br />
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89 - <b>BRONCHO | Class Historian </b><i>from Just Enough Hip to Be Woman: </i>A total latecomer to the list, and it still hasn't registered whether this would have been higher if heard earlier in the year, or fell off the list altogether for monotony? A Top 90 slot, it'll likely stay.<br />
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88 - <b>We Were Promised Jetpacks | Peace of Mind </b><i>from Unravelling: </i>When [AA] are the executive producers of a network TV drama about Texas high school football, this will be its theme song.<br />
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87 - <b>Mac Demarco | Let Her Go</b> <i>from Salad Days: </i>People lost their minds over this shit, but this was the best it got for us.<br />
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86 - <b>HAERTS | Hemiplegia</b> <i>from s/t: </i>Nothing pioneering, but its less aggravating than CHVRCHES.<br />
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85 - <b>You'll Never Get to Heaven | Caught in Time So Far Away</b> <i>from Adorn: </i>The lone nod to our emo readers. We swear that there is a Supremes song embedded in there somewhere, but we can't put our finger on it.<br />
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84 - <b>Courtney Barnett | History Eraser</b> <i>from A Sea of Split Peas*: </i>Another song that pinged our radars too late to move up significantly. Her next album might likely be in our Top 10s at this rate. <i>*note: This '13 release hit America in '14 so it totally counts.</i><br />
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83 - <b>The Notwist - Kong</b> <i>from Close to the Glass: </i>Now and then, there is a fantastic song from a band who've you gave less than a half a shit about before. We expect that trend will continue, but very nice melody reminiscent of when The Postal Service and Dashboard were listenable.<br />
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82 - <b>Shakey Graves | Only Son</b> <i>from And the War Came: </i>Its folksy, but its hipster folksy and sung an Austinite so that makes it awesome.<br />
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81 - <b>Fyfe | For You</b> <i>from For You: </i>Submitted for our enjoyment by our great pal Carlos, who is a very chillwave kind of soul and has an ear for this sad shit.<br />
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80 - <b>Lykke Li | Love Me Like I'm Not Made of Stone</b> <i>from I Never Learn: </i>Admittedly this dropped further than we thought because we didn't want you to think we were slipping on the surly scale. We are tender at times.<br />
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79 - <b>Elbow | This Blue World</b><i> from The Take Off and Landing of Everything: </i>The best song from the <a href="http://www.thedraughtpunk.com/post/82693383391/hear-no-evil-drink-no-evil-elbows-the-take" target="_blank">perfect album for pairing Blakkr</a> by Real Ale.<br />
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78 - <b>Kevin Drew | Mexican Aftershow Party</b> <i>from Darlings: </i>Kevin Drew would probably be our singer-songwriter role model if we were into that sort of thing. We are. So he is. These are the themes we would sing about too.<br />
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77 - <b>Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. | James Dean</b> <i>from James Dean: </i>Auto-tune our hearts.<br />
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76 - <b>Hamilton Leithauser | Alexandra</b> <i>from Black Hours: </i>The worst is that The Walkmen are on extreme hiatus, but then, if Leithauser is releasing solo stuff that sounds like The Walkmen anyway, we don't mind too much at all.<br />
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<i>... to be continued.</i><br />
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<i><br /></i><!--3-->Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-4755854940419118102014-10-29T09:05:00.002-05:002014-10-29T15:07:22.665-05:00EPISODE 1 | HOPS & GRAIN BREWERY | AUSTIN<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><i>This is CHAPTER 1 of a MULTI-PART SERIES entitled "Tell Me How My Craft Taste", which features extensive profiles of Texas craft breweries. </i></span><i style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can read more about the premise <a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2014/10/ayyy-austin-tell-me-how-my-craft-taste.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></i></div>
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<i style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[Ep. 1]</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyone can build a brewery these days. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyone can draw up artwork and a t-shirt and put a weird spin on an ale and deliver it in a can that opens all the way on top. It can all be done. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But in this expeditiously exploding craft beer market, having a gimmick only allows for enough inertia that persuades people to give you a chance, but not nearly enough to</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> force them to like your stuff. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the end, a brewery needs two qualities to push through the imminent decline of hype: good beer and a genuine personality. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The charm of <b><a href="http://www.hopsandgrain.com/" target="_blank">Hops & Grain</a></b> started with the founding of the brewery itself in 2011, a classic DIY enterprise from veteran backyard brewer, <b>Josh Hare</b>, who ostensibly started Hops & Grain to placate the alt-folk carousers of Austin's emergent brewing scene.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hops & Grain was built from the rustic and modest beginnings of a typical start up brewery, whose stories are familiarly exalted in </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">trade circulars and weekly press mags, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but ballooned to soaring popularity </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">on the strength of two handsome flagship brews, <i>Pale Dog Pale Ale</i> and </span><a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2012/07/beer-day-alt-eration-hops-grain-brewing.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>Alt-eration</i></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i> Altbier</i>, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the latter of which </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">captured the gold medal at the 2012 <b>World Beer Cup</b> in their very first fiscal year of production.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just like that, Hops & Grain had great beer to match their charming wit; a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"<i>How the jolly old fuck have you been, mate?</i>" meeting of the two essential characteristics of brewery survival. A</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">fter all, that is the general precept of Hops & Grain as a brewery, anyway -- friendly, approachable, accomplished -- <i>d</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>oing beer simply, but doing it very well -- </i>which, in the end,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is actually a pretty difficult thing to achieve. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the reputation that Hops & Grain has carved for itself in the Austin craft beer community: the propensity to hew these clever little mainstay beers that allow the drinker to habitualize into routines of well-balanced, full-bodied ales and lagers. You don't choose their beer so much as it chooses you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is clear that Hops & Grain's long-term goals are guided by simplicity and merit, with a nasty streak for experimentation (for those hatin' ass hipsters), after all, they are one of just a handful of craft breweries to host their own beer lab on premise, a measure that ensures nearly spotless quality control for the brewhouse. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The result is crisp and clean beers with the most compelling ingredient being the absolute care and precision that goes into each can. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And yet, while <a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2012/04/beer-day-pale-dog-pale-ale-hops-grain.html"><i>Pale Dog</i></a> and <i>Alt-eration</i> kept the lights on and the brewery sustainable throughout the initial years, Hops & Grain truly came to the forefront of the Austin beer scene with the canning of their American Pale Lager, <i>The One They Call Zoe</i>, which, after extensive field research, <i>[AA]</i> dubbed "<a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2013/04/hops-grains-one-they-call-zoe-austins.html"><b>Austin's most important beer</b></a>" in 2013 due to its pervasive gateway capabilities for the nescient macro-guzzling Austin crowd. Well, the few that were left, anyway.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still yet, despite the smash-hit success of their original repertoire as well as <i>Zoe</i>, Hops & Grain found the courage of eagles and the strength of black tigers to release their fourth mainstay beer -- <i>Porter Culture</i> -- a roasty, chocolately Baltic Porter that drives Ferraris and bangs 11s.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Look, we're not in the habit of acting like some sort of product placement service for any brewery, but damn it all to hell, Hops & Grain seems to have got their shit all figured out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then, when Hops & Grain feels the tickle to press every single tank in the whole damn place into service, there is the matter of their small-batch rotational IPA project called <i>Greenhouse IPA</i>, which utilizes a broadly similar base beer for each batch brewed (several weeks apart), but through a polygamous <b>Big Love</b> hop marriage, utilizes different hop varietals each go-round, characterizing each finished product with its own unique kiss. It is like having a new seasonal every other month, right about the time when the human brain persuades itself that it needs a change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <i>Greenhouse</i> project also signals that Hops & Grain is fully adept at arranging some rather interesting side projects, primarily for showcasing in their taproom and during special events. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the best beer I've tasted in 2014, <i>Vino Weisse</i>, is a wine barrel-aged cherry berliner weisse that chills me to the bone with glee. Their not-oft Kolsch has inspired a twitter campaign to <b>#CanTheKolsch</b>. And actually, Both <i>Zoe</i> and <a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2012/12/a-beer-day-bourbon-barrel-aged-baltic.html"><i>Porter Culture</i></a> were originally showcase-only beers, so hope remains for some of Hops & Grain's more pervasive one-offs to see the canning line at some point.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But perhaps [AA]'s favorite Hops & Grain seasonal was their <a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2013/01/horchata-milk-stout-hops-grain-brewing.html"><i>Horchata Milk Stout</i></a>, which if you had tried it, Avenuelings, would agree that it was aces. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">#BrewTheHorchata</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">This is also the benefit of visiting Hops & Grain's taproom, the accessibility to their most special beers and seasonals. For a boorish sum of </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">$10</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">, one can get a brewery glass to keep, and with it, six drink tickets that will grant a person a half-pint per. And going only off of an often-fuzzy memory, one can also combine two tickets together for a full 16oz pour. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Thats just plain ol great economics for the consumer right there. Hatin' Hipster or not.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday brewery tours are offered at 1PM, 3PM, and 5PM, which last approximately 45 minutes, and, according to the Hops & Grain website, "sometimes include special samples not available in the tap room". It's true, we've tasted it with our own eyes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Tip: there is also a food truck on premise for Saturday patrons who like to keep running on digital, and not analogue.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, it needs to be mentioned that Hops & Grain defers their entire production of beer to ecological sustainability -- or at least as much as one brewery can under the limitations of expenditure and need.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The average brewhouse averages <b>six to eight gallons</b> of water per gallon of beer produced. Hops & Grain currently dips below that at five to one. The brewery's target goal for water usage is to reach 3.5 gallons of water per one gallon of beer. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hops & Grain allocates 1% of its annual revenue to local environmental non-profits and supports local community growers and producers. The brewery recycles spent brewing grains into <a href="http://www.hopsandgrain.com/brew-biscuits/" target="_blank">Brew Biscuit dog treats</a> and it packages beer in aluminum, which is the most efficient vessel for recycling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Combined with their outstanding quality of product, if ever a brewery perfectly encapsulated the character of Austin's beer scene and Austin's ethos overall, this is the one that would be emblazoned on the capitol dome.</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Hops & Grain Brewery</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit;">507 Calles St</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.hopsandgrain.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit;">www.hopsandgrain.com</a></address>
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Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-45751805171641156312014-10-10T13:49:00.002-05:002014-10-21T15:26:49.067-05:00PROLOGUE: Ayyy, Austin … Tell Me How My Craft Taste.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feel free to let your jaw drop. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am firing up this old internet machine again because, well, there is something called the <i>Blogger's Conundrum, </i>which goes something like, </span><br />
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A discrepant notion of dwindling significance </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">+ </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The bellyaching of a half-dozen other projects</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><b>÷</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lack of free time</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And if the answer to all that algebra = <b>Residual Interest in Subject at Hand, </b>then, yeah, you go ahead and unretire the ol' blog to do some scribing, because one cannot succumb to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the peaceful recreation of middle-class alcohol abuse while </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">being the Daddest motherfucker of all time in a post-Pitchfork era all alone. I guess I missed you too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This site is gonna look a bit different content-wise, and what I mean is that there will no longer be those clever audits on a singular brew that everyone reads and forgets the moment they click away, but instead, analysis on individual breweries as a whole. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Brewery profiles</b>. That's what you'll read here; </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">mainly because my approach to craft beer drinking has dramatically changed in the last year or so, from whale slaying .750s to scanning the overstock catalogues of my favorite breweries, buying the shit out of all their mainstays and flagship beers. I suppose I'm kind-of over beers brewed in batches so small, its measured with the metric system, because, that simply not the by-God American way. (Am I right, my fellow American fatties?)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll tell you what, being a flagship-only craft beer guy has been fucking awesome. Its been stress free. My dick retracts to normal lengths on Divine Reserve day. Can you fucking imagine that buying beer used to be so stressful?</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5vijyw8kCb0/VBH8fWED26I/AAAAAAAAF9U/8Nt7Mdejc3s/s1600/ABWPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5vijyw8kCb0/VBH8fWED26I/AAAAAAAAF9U/8Nt7Mdejc3s/s1600/ABWPM.jpg" height="638" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The focus will primarily be on local Austin breweries, because fuck you, Austin is awesome, and because we as a city have the economic luxury of hosting vacationing immigrants from the other 30-or-so US states all the time (if not 30, then make up your own number, genius, this is America, land of the oblivious, home of the drunk!) -- and most of those kids on holiday become transplanted hipsters who've decided that Austin was awesome and THANKFULLY moved here! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So maybe (just maybe) there are a few of those newly-minted Austinites (and all of the holiday hipsters they'll be hosting, encouraging to move here, too!) out there who just need a brewery primer, something to let em know whats up. Where one can be seen. Bottles or cans and shit? LCD Soundsystem cover band or String Cheese? T</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hats EXACTLY what we'll be doing here on [AA]. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We hope to hit every brewery with such an in-depth vantage point that we'll be able to tell you if they use corn starch or gold bond on their privates.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So then, what's this beer e</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xposé</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> gonna be called, in the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">inebriant sense of the word, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">e</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xposé</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"<i>Tell Me How My Craft Taste</i>"</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yep.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which is about the best we could come up with using a beer pun. <a href="https://twitter.com/BitchBeerBlog" target="_blank">These ladies</a> wanted "Hop Cock", but that just sounded gross, and the ability to use a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Big Aristotle, aka, Diesel, aka, Shaq Fu, aka The Shaqtus, aka Superman, aka Shaquille O'Neal reference just sounded right given the enormity of this whole project.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The abundance of material for this series downright encouraging, as Texas is as healthy of a brewing state as there is anywhere else on the planet -- especially coming off sixteen (SIXTEEN!) medals at GABF. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sustainability of the small beer industry into the distant future is very palpable to both hardcore and casual beer fans, so much so, that craft beer has become the common vernacular for drinkers in Austin, and Texas as a whole. Try to remember the last time some tanktop jerkoff was walking around flaunting his Miller Lite at you. Maybe its not so hard to remember, but you did have to think about it a little bit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of the things we'll be examining in our brewery profiles are:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The flagship beers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some rotational beers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Packaging</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taproom</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and most importantly:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>THE OVERALL EFFUSIVE JOY THE BREWERY BRINGS ME</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">… which is the only thing we'll really be talking about anyway.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And finally, finally … this is a pet project to <a href="http://www.thedraughtpunk.com/" target="_blank">this one</a>, and so don't be guilting us into regular articles because this shit is really cutting into our drinking time, dig? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, enough of this stupid blog post about a blog post, anyone got any suggestions for the first brewery, then?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note: h/t to <a href="https://twitter.com/CraftBearden" target="_blank">William</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/BeerTownAustin" target="_blank">Chris</a> for encouraging me to get off my ass, even though I hate em for it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-38766286513561862582013-12-31T15:41:00.004-06:002013-12-31T15:54:19.648-06:00The End.This is it. This is the end. The glorious fucking end of [An Avenue]. <br />
<br />
As my good pal Steven Morrissey likes to advise, <i>'Every proper band should have the decency to split'</i> -- and I have always taken that to mean that every successful run should meet its sudden, yet permanent demise; requiring far more backbone to be undeterred by the unfinished dissection of the grand illusion and exit smiling.<br />
<br />
Yes, I am off to do just that. These are the metaphoric last bars of the closing anthem, a vow to extreme hiatus because, well, its the decent thing to do. This place has done all that it can.<br />
<br />
Leaving is really very easy. The site's original intent was to help build awareness for small, local beer, and perhaps it has done just that. The ancillary effect, however, is what made [An Avenue] great: The support of the local brewing industry for <i>it</i>. Writing this blog has revealed the radiant insight into the culture of craft beer and those who proliferate it. Talent abounds at all stages, from production to publication, but even more notably, talent is supported. Enthusiastically. And for a state as enormous as this one, it still feels as if there is so much room for <i>even more </i>imagination. The saturation perimeter is still so very, very far from being breached. <br />
<br />
Craft beer's narrative has gone from the libatious outlier, to the unfriendly beer snob, to the consumer standard. Its nearly infeasible that an establishment who cares anything about its clients wouldn't offer something artisinally crafted regionally or nationally -- often times strictly locally. That is not a fad at all, <i>that </i>is a trend. And trends tend to become habits. One that we will all happily hang on to.<br />
<br />
Financially, small beer in Austin -- and as a whole nationally -- appears to be entirely sustainable, which makes the silliness of writing a dinky blog about it a bit like the tail wagging the dog. We had our fun here, our disagreements, our public grievances, our linguistic triumphs. Most importantly, we've developed our friendships with people we will end up caring about for the rest of our lives. T<span style="font-family: inherit;">here are so many to recognize, and so whenever I see you again, I will have to shake your hand to let you know how much I appreciated the time you invested in what has happened here. Without being too much of a loin-licker, sincerely, thank-you.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I do, however, have to single out my wife, Mrs. [An Avenue], because she was my dearest supporter and best research assistant, which is just one of the trillions of reasons why I am head over feet about her. People always mention how she "let me do this", but she never saw it that way. She was unbridled with encouragement, and that kept this place going for two years. Almost to the day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, yeah, this blog is leaving me in
a better place than it found me 24 months ago. It improved me. It
didn't help me fulfill an immediate dream to write professionally, but I
discovered that such a thing doesn't even matter anyway. What did
matter were the millions of tiny triumphs along the way. Like craft
beer, I too am in a good place. Perhaps the writing industry isn't as
keen on small beer as the rest of us. That remains to be seen. They
certainly aren't paying close enough attention to it, and they most
certainly aren't paying many people to adhere. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And with that, Avenuelings, I leave you all with a few unresolved items on the way out:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">1) This is, in fact, <u>NOT</u> the end. If you haven't braved an episode of <a href="http://draught-punk.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Draught Punk</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/Draught_Punk" target="_blank">Twitter</a>) yet, you might be surprised how enraptured you might be by a depraved ind</span>ie music + indie beer podcast. It is where I will be for the foreseeable future. We think it kicks ass. We have almost no restraint, and we can show you the proof if needed. <br />
<br />
2) In fact, [AA] began as an indie music + indie beer blog. If you poke around the site, you will still see remnants of that. As such, we are publishing our 9th Annual Top 101 (of 2013) at the bottom of this post. Music is the lubricant that drives our desire to go next-level on getting breaded on great beer.<br />
<br />
3) Will [AA] ever come back? Bitch, it might.<br />
<br />
4) Yes,
I do consider Goose Island to still make craft beer. At least what
they do on Fulton Street. Its still made with artisinal commodities by
people versed in small batch. They've just got major funding to protect
from insolvency, like that one team from little league who wore the
pro-style New Era jams. Yeah, fuck that team, but they were still 9-year-olds just like the rest of us. You want to beat em at their game? Do it better.<br />
<br />
5) 2014 just <i>might </i>be better than 2013 in regards to statewide distribution of beer -- as well as the influx of nationally fapped-to brands reaching Texas. <br />
<br />
6) Thank-you for reading right now and in the past. Do enjoy the music. And drink what you want.<br />
<br />
7) Yes, it is indeed celebration time. Now I'm going to get fucking drunk, as one does. Sounds like a pretty can't miss plan.<br />
<br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify:user:eric.puga:playlist:5dPxGP4vQ94RxtnpI8AivN" width="300"></iframe> </div>
<br />Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-79636091110554036572013-12-27T11:46:00.000-06:002014-09-23T12:53:43.402-05:00Where to Watch Football (World) and Drink Beer (Local) in Austin, Texas for the 2014 World Cup<div class="MsoNormal">
So, um, fuck yeah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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In less than a week’s time, everybody on the planet will be giving out exactly zero shits to work obligations, and instead, actively seeking out a nice, cozy pub in which
to drink their burdensome nerves under the table, all the while, meshing curse words into superlatives and urging his favorite football hero to <i>save this fucking country or else</i>!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here in The States, the tension is a bit more muted, but only
just!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Lately – at least over the last several years dating back
two Cups now – has the broad valley of American ethnocentrism and cultural
indifference been bridged by the curious marvel and metered patriotism for The
Beautiful Game – just as the rest of the world does for one month out of every 48.</div>
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Further still, this year's tournament is a merciful two hours time
difference between where we stand right at this moment, and where the games will be played; a veritable reprieve from the unholy wake up calls when the World Cup
was held in South Korea/Japan and South Africa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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But this year we, and many others like us, will take full advantage of our geographic fortune and proceed to get shitfaced during normal business hours!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And because of this regional advantage, bars (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">actual</i> fucking bars!) will be
in full operation to help us be participant in our personal pursuit to massacre our vital organs and unreasonable stresses with alcohol. Namely beer. Good beer. (Because what kind of asshole would drink a gin and tonic during a football match?).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Because of these integral conditions of having world football on the television and good beer for consumption, we cannot entrust just any old bar to meet our (typically low, but for just this once) high standards, now could we?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a very rare event after all, and all of the macro american lagers in the country won't do it a lick of justice. No not at all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What we are requiring is a pub that will heed the gravity of The World Cup. Bars with beer choices that compliment the importance of animate art. But also bars that, while holding the form of good potables, also allow for the pledging of allegiances to the men of Argentina, or Cameroon, or by God, the USA. And besides, do any of us really need
more of reason to say fuck it when it comes to work than sports and beer?<o:p></o:p></div>
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So here are a hand-selected grouping of bars who meet the caveats of maximal World Cup viewing, which are 1) good beer, and 2) sound amplification of the televisions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And while bar s</span>pecials are nice, bar specials are merely fluff as long as they meet our first two stipulations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://ww.thebrewandbrew.com/" target="_blank">The Brew & Brew</a> </b>[500
San Marcos St. | 512.493.0963]<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #1f2327; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">A craft beer bar (and café!) will head this list because it hits
on all the proper elements like an upper-90 golazo from the top of the 18.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that sentence is literally gibberish to
you than know this, B&B serves 38 craft beers on draft to make you talk
like a cleft-arsed English supporter by the 60<sup>th</sup> minute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if this paragraph still means nothing to
you, then go and have yourself a latte, sit in the corner, and watch how the
self-loathing Brits do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>B&B
promises projection for all matches <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">with</i>
sound, a blackened viewing area for maximal viewing of Wayne Rooney’s poor
touch, and Hops & Grain specials for every game!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Smashing!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Projector on all matches, sound, windows covered. H&G specials every game. MT <a href="https://twitter.com/anavenueblog">@anavenueblog</a>: <a href="https://twitter.com/TheBrewAndBrew">@TheBrewAndBrew</a> what’s yr set up for WC games?<br />
— The Brew and Brew (@TheBrewAndBrew) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheBrewAndBrew/statuses/476030529217638400">June 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://bdrileys.com/" target="_blank">B.D. Riley's Irish Pub</a> </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[</span><span style="color: #1f2327; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">204 East 6<sup>th</sup> | </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">512.494.1335]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1f2327; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">B.D. Riley’s also caters to the craft savvy, but functions far more
as a sports bar in the rad-est part of downtown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We won’t hold the fact that they typically operate
as a Notre Dame and New England Patriots bar against them, because in doing so, they seem to both love
and loathe America at the same time, </span><span style="color: #1f2327;">which is essentially what the whole rest of the
world does everyday.</span><span style="color: #1f2327;"> </span><span style="color: #1f2327;">To us, that is <i>very</i>
World Cuppish.</span><span style="color: #1f2327;"> </span><span style="color: #1f2327;">B.D.’s promises to show
all matches with sound on their big 70” screen.</span><span style="color: #1f2327;">
</span><span style="color: #1f2327;">They will have pint specials on semi-local, sorta-craft Shiner beers and others.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.haymakeraustin.com/" target="_blank">Haymaker</a> </b>[<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">2310 Manor Rd | 512.243-6702]</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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NEVERMIND. AVOID AT ALL COST. Mismanagement on crowd control and short pours on pints. We gave them enough chances.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://hopfieldsaustin.com/" target="_blank">Hopfields</a> </b>[3110
Guadalupe St | <span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">512)
537-0467<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1f2327; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Apart from being one of our favorite every-day pubs, Hopfield's also assured that ...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://twitter.com/anavenueblog">@anavenueblog</a>
Yep. Specials and Sound. All Matches. WE care about football.</b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">—
Hopfields (@hopfieldsaustin) <a href="https://twitter.com/hopfieldsaustin/statuses/476147863341518849">June
9, 2014</a></b></blockquote>
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<o:p>which is pretty much all the convincing we need to take in a few matches at this campus area joint. </o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://holymountainaustin.com/" target="_blank">Holy Mountain</a> </b>[<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">617 E 7th St] <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">In every
World Cup, there is always a breakout star whom sets the place ablaze with flair and aplomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">José Mourinho senses are telling me that
Holy Mountain is this year’s Diego Forlan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just listen to their self-promo from their website: </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">World
Cup Watch Parties are happening on the Mountain starting on June 12<sup>th</sup>!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will be open for all other matches, from
those fabled early (long) lunch breaks (11am kickoff) and the “leave work a
little before 5” efforts. Special guests will be joining our host Adi Anand to
discuss all the action. Trivia before the matches and at halftime with chances
to win drink tickets and more! We’ve got drink specials from Jim Beam, Thrilled
Cheese food truck to ensure we stay the course, DJ sets & live bands, and
plenty more fun and games!”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">They’ve done so
much of the writing work for me, that I can’t help to give them one of those above-head, post-game hand clap addressed to the supporters section.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, and this: </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Ghana vs USA</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"> at
5pm. Happy Hour prices all night AND complimentary Jim Beam shots for everyone
(21+) at the bar for EVERY US Goal.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">USA! USA! USA!</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://mistertramps.com/" target="_blank">Mr. Tramps</a> </b>[<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">8565 Research Blvd |
512.837.3500]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">If
Holy Mountain is the young upstart, then Mr. Tramps is the Zinedine Zidane of
Austin soccer pubs; not flashy, but makes those around it better and has an
excellent work rate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A real winner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">They
must be so busy being awesome over there that no one answered the phones to
update us on their Cup specials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But does it really matter anyway?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> You are going here while your wife shops at SuperTarget.</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://mohawkaustin.com/" target="_blank">The Mohawk</a> [</b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">912 Red River St | 512.666.0877]</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Will the best music venue in Austin become the best place to catch
a footy match in Austin?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">We can’t say
for sure just yet, but the idea of Mohawk displaying The World Cup in all of its glory to supporters fixed atop their concrete
vistas is a supremely romantic and lets face it </span>– engagingly European – way to show the games, what with the backdrop of
downtown and plaza-style viewing. We're in.</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Mohawk promises signature cocktails, “bubbles for ladies” (<i>ed: how
WAG</i>), IPAs lagers, stouts, and ales in the holy trinity of draft, bottle,
and can. There will be craft hot dogs by Frank, and of course, multiple
screens (indoor and out) with surround sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please note, however, 21+.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://bar96austin.com/" target="_blank">Bar 96</a> </b>[<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">96 Rainey Street | 512.433.6604]</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Bar 96 is probably our favorite “dedicated” sports bar in
Austin because it is so unapologetically <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i>
a sports bar, but your step-father-in-law’s beach bungalow that has been
lent out for the summer to his Jaycees frat mates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its old and new in many, many ways, with a
few dozen TVs and a first rate garden area for lounging in the remorseful summer
twilight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Bar 96 is also the unofficial
(future MLS franchise – we hope) <a href="https://www.facebook.com/austinfcsoccer" target="_blank">Austin FC</a> World Cup viewing area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their beer is craft, but we would be remiss
if we didn’t add that their very reasonably priced Lone Star Lite is a sometimes
treat for us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.blacksheeplodge.com/" target="_blank">Black Sheep Lodge</a> </b>[<span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">2108 S Lamar Blvd |
512.707.2744]</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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The (older) sister restaurant to Haymaker is not as perky as her sibling,
but she gets by very well on congeniality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are very ample swaths of viewing areas and a superior food menu to Haymaker, but sometimes Black Sheep slips up when it comes to providing sound for lesser matches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, they do promise sound-on for bigger matches, a wide selection of craft beer, $1 off for wearing a team jersey, and a buck off any beer from the
countries of origin who are currently competing on-screen. For those Amstel Light
meatheads, Holland takes the stage on Friday, June 13.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></b><b><o:p> </o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.tavernaustin.com/" target="_blank">The Tavern</a></b> [<span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">922 W 12th St | </span><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">512) 320-8377]</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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At a time not terribly long ago, The Tavern was a sports-veiwing dinosaur in terms of television quality, but dude, have they upgraded! The Tavern boasts 55 TVs and promise full sound upstairs. They report to have "beer bucket
specials", which sounds menacingly like macro beer to us, but whatever, they have loads of craft taps and a general electricity that has been privy to all of the greatest sporting moments of the television era. Oh, and they are also versed in dealing with the boisterous soccer crowd, as they host the Austin Aztex supporters group before every home match. Good enough for us.<b><o:p> </o:p></b></div>
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Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-58917288148942501582013-11-21T15:39:00.004-06:002013-11-22T11:33:36.268-06:00Right in the Stones: Camo Pale Stout by 5 Stones Craft BreweryOver the last several years its been compulsory for many start-up breweries to inaugurate the chalk-boards above their freshly-printed tap handles resting behind their gorgeously repurposed bartops with an impotent India Pale Ale of sorts, maybe an inoffensive version of the brewmaster's collegiate go-to *Amber Ale (cloned from the 90's-alt-glamor of Fat Tire), and if the brewery is particularly plucky, perhaps a Belgian Blonde Ale, so that the company can deliver its most insipid pun to the bourgeois on the other side of the counter.<br />
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For pedantic beer jerks like myself, we often require a huge reminder that all of that is completely and totally acceptable. Utterly and positively okay; encouraged, in fact. These operations are dependent on the tit of sustainability throughout infancy -- especially considering that a brewery's distant success is gauged on the the immediate impact of angel investors, a motivated staff, and the dousing of the community's desirous thirst. I'm cool with that.<br />
<br />
As 'Ye informs, '<i>Ya gotta crawl before you ball</i>'; and for those
breweries shooting for preservation and survival before their desire for beer nerd rep -- a totally useless currency by any measure -- self-gratification comes in the form of the little things, like paying employees a consistent wage and, you know, avoiding total insolvency.<br />
<br />
Eventually, sure, the expectation of most beer zealots like myself, i guess, is for the brewery to progressively impress us and help us vent our livers during the nights and weekends. Perhaps even surprise us with something hypeable or flashy or imperial or cellarable or something aged in a European hornets nest fermented with 100% Brettanomyces. Nobody desires that surge of hype more than the brewers
themselves. It just takes a bit of patience from everyone, is all.<br />
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But every now and again comes a real non-conformist brewhouse who is sneaking illicit materials into the Freshman dorms and enduring to brag about it; a brewhouse whose creativity bypasses skepticism because our boundaries of doubt are breached by their compass of imagination.<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/5StonesBrewing" target="_blank">5 Stones</a> is a brewery located in the gray area of Pre-San Antonio, where one has to ease on the accelerator of the Honda or risk cavity spelunking by one of Texas' infamous highway patrol outfits. It is also a geographical oddity for having produced turbo-boss runningback Malcolm Brown, right there in the middle of goddam nowhere. Its one of life's big mysteries -- like how poor people all own iPhones -- that Cibolo has churned out both an exceptional football player and an exceptional brewery in 5 Stones.<br />
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5 Stones originally debuted with a wise little saison -- a very clear departure from the average amber ale -- cleverly named "0 Anniversary" to denote the fact that they intend to tear up your back 7 with the Power-I for many, many years to come. That was their warning shot.<br />
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Since <i>0 Anny</i>, 5 Stones has maintained its resistance to the IPA seduction, and has instead formulated a red ale, a quadruplet of Autumnal fruit beers, and the beer I am talking about specifically in this piece: <i>Camo</i> Pale Stout.<br />
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<span class="st">¿</span>Pale wat?<br />
<br />
Exactly. <br />
<br />
For a brewery with its head down and focused -- so much so, that their website is painfully neglected of good info about their beer (how many people do they have over there, exactly?) -- 5 Stones has the worldly awareness of similarly insular artists, like a Francisco Goya or maybe a Win Butler. <br />
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Camo is indeed as white as a Montreal hipster, but because it was brewed with the traditional characters of a properly-pigmented stout, cocoa nibs, and espresso beans, it catches you off guard like a fucking butt slap. Upon first pour, the beer is an open throttle of bombast: heavy aromatics, grounded bitters, and sweet carbohydrates. It begins as a crazy foreign chocolate, may even a crazy foreign coffee. It was really impressive. Fucked up in the brain, but impressive.<br />
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But as I climbed through it, and examined its elevations and volumes and layers and valleys, it becomes a bit fat-tongued and a little clumsy. Carbonation continues to be a fickle old fucking bastard, too. Perfectly acceptable given the explanation on its window dressing - "Batch Number 1" and the presumed chemistry that had to be laid out to make it all possible. Fuck. This is really impressing me -- but in the way that you can see the depth of this brewery and the potential for its excellence despite its inexperience; squeaky laminate butting up to the groaning ancient floorboards, contemporary ideas in brewing meeting the wise old narrative of beer.<br />
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Camo is bursting with optimism, novelty without kitchiness, interesting and culturally satisfying. I'm assuming that beyond impressing me with a developed amber ale from college, they'll instead impress me by improving a ridiculously fun beer.<br />
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And I'm down with that too.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/anavenueblog" target="_blank">[AA] on twitter</a> and listen to <a href="https://twitter.com/draught_punk" target="_blank">Draught Punk</a>. </span><br />
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<br />
<b>ABV </b>7.8o%<br />
<b>Acquired </b>East 1st Grocery<b> </b><br />
<b>Can I Find This in Austin? </b>Not widely, best bet is the place mentioned above.<br />
<b>Album Pairing </b><a href="http://open.spotify.com/album/5COXoP5kj2DWfCDg0vxi4F" target="_blank">Neutral Milk Hotel | In the Aeroplane Over the Sea</a> (1998)<br />
<span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">☆</span><span class="st">☆</span><span class="st">☆ (in 2013)</span><br />
<span class="st" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span class="st"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*dibs on calling my start-up's first beer "<i>You Remember Amber. From College.</i>" Too wordy?</span></span><br />
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Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-53903457531338620302013-10-22T11:06:00.002-05:002013-10-23T08:04:33.554-05:00What the Hell Happened at GABF?<div dir="ltr">
Yeah, the title of this post is a bit misleading because it implies a singular event that might have dominated the interests of those who were in Denver for the <a href="http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/" target="_blank">Great American Beer Festival</a>, when, in actuality, it was a compound of mind-melting events and zany antics for sure -- a <i>festival</i>, in the truest interpretation of the word: a feast of celebrations honoring saints and gods in which the liturgical calendar of everyone in attendance is (mostly) based, and partook by in every angle of the city: convention halls, nationally esteemed beer bars, <a href="https://twitter.com/TheBeerliner" target="_blank">Beerliners</a>, bottle shops, and extraordinarily enough, ancillary pop-up festivals within the festival. <br />
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GABF is like Christian Mingle for fat, bearded, drunky louts, iffin you can affiliate something like Rio Carnival as something religiously-based at all, which is to say that here, in the center of this country's beer Mecca, amongst the gassy cool dads making their annual retreats and turbo-millennials with at least three others from their Facebook, stand the Monsters of Brewing; the Gods of Fermentation, if you will.<br />
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In the center of the Great Hall, amongst the constant droning of its besotted human mass and against the complexions of 3,100 individually imagined beers, resembles the circus of repentant sin before the season of Last Suppers and enlightened reformations -- at least whatever tame mess a Space Shuttle hangar worth of drunks geeking out to something called "Sparkleberry" can get themselves in to. The enthusiasm is both sweetly infectious and slightly disturbing. But that is GABF. It should be their fucking motto.<br />
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One of my favorite little occurrences in life -- and I don't want to misrepresent myself here as a person who desperately achieves lumps in the throat from simple, daily routines -- but one of my favorite little occurrences in life is when a beer glass can't take the girth of my 12 fluid ounces, and so to achieve maximum value from the beer purchase, I just kinda slam the final 1oz sip right out of the bottle. Fresh. Cold. <br />
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Its like tricking a life rule -- final sips from their respective vessels are supposed to be sickly warm, not bright and biting, indicative of the beer's pasts and present. Its a fucking glorious phenomenon.<br />
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That too, is GABF.<br />
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One ounce samples of greatness, one after the next, as many as your skill for breathing involuntarily allows. Brisk and tricking life. Its a world class experience. Try it at home, then go ahead and book your flight to Denver for 2014.<br />
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My absolute favorite thing about GABF this year was the massive and proud representation we had from The Great State. Texas represented 37 of the festival's 624 breweries, which, according to fuzzy Google calculations, is more than half of the state's active breweries, and like, a shitload more than many other states had there in this massive chamber of dreams.<br />
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In that, nine of those Texas breweries took home a grand total of 10 medals, including favorite sons, Austin Beerworks & StepCrew (<i>see reference above</i>) for their Black Thunder Schwarzbier. A fucking gold medal beer, available right in your living room. <i>And they're bringing it all the way back to Awstin, Texas, baybee.</i> -- Vince Young.</div>
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Beyond that, five other Austin-area breweries took home impressive hardware for their prodigious efforts, especially amazing in the fact that five of the six medal breweries of Austin are in their infancy.<br />
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Gold to <a href="http://namastebrewing.com/" target="_blank">Namaste Brewing</a> for Bitterama in the Herb & Spice Beer category<br />
Silver to <a href="http://realalebrewing.com/" target="_blank">Real Ale</a>* for Brewers Cut Altbier in the German-Style Altbier category<br />
Bronze to <a href="http://www.blackstar.coop/" target="_blank">Black Star Co-Op</a> for Elba in the Herb & Spice Beer category <br />
Bronze to <a href="http://jesterkingbrewery.com/" target="_blank">Jester King</a> for Atrial Rubicite in the Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale category<br />
Bronze to <a href="http://pinthousepizza.com/" target="_blank">Pinthouse Pizza</a> for Blind Jake in the Brown Porter category<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">* old ass, Texas flagship brewery</span><br />
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It is clear that Texas is improving their ability to compete, and above that, <i>expecting </i>to compete. There was a clear and significant buzz around the Southwest Midway -- which in the past several years has expanded from a blinking stoplight town to a megalopolis of beer -- largely on the strength of Texas brewing. Texas Brewing. I like the way that sounds.<br />
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And it was pretty awesome to witness the enthusiasm surrounding Texas' preferable positioning at this year's festival, which was probably not coincidental based on its 2013 hype. I think everyone there probably delivered on that promise of something special.<br />
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I've mentioned it before, but Texas Row, including its satellite branch of free 12oz pours at the Beerliner -- a mobile beer bar driven from Austin, over the mountains, and planted in front of the venerable <a href="http://fallingrocktaphouse.com/" target="_blank">Falling Rock Taphouse</a> -- resembles more of a Senior Trip than a Beer Fest. We won't say we are sorry.</div>
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And with 5,000 total beer submission for judging between all the competing breweries, it appears that there is a ton -- I mean a fucking ton -- of confidence in craft brewing at the moment, not only with experimental beer, but with, as my pal Mike likes to say, "<i>Keep the Lights On Beer</i>", just as Black Thunder exists so that seasonals and exploratories like <a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2012/12/a-beer-day-sputnik-russian-imperial.html" target="_blank">Sputnik </a>and <a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2012/06/beer-day-einhorn-berliner-weisse-austin.html" target="_blank">Einhorn</a> can go all the way with me. Oh, and along the way, why don't they just pick up a Gold Medal while they're at it?<br />
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And while there were only a sippycup's worth of flops -- Odell Fernet Barrel Aged Porter stand out as the biggest offender -- there were gallons upon gallons of liquid salve that stopped the hemorrhaging from such a brain beating (Mikey liked it. No he did. He brought a bottle home to kill wasps with, presumably.).<br />
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An thus, the collaborate effort of mining GABF's best beers between two dudes on a 9am flight back to Texas with every other brewer and enthusiast and blogger hiding behind their Audio-Technica headphones ignoring hangovers. Happily feeling shitty. Knowing that we'd do it all over again.<br />
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10. Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale | <a href="http://www.cigarcitybrewing.com/" target="_blank">Cigar City Brewing</a> | Tampa, FL<br />
09. White Chocolate Wheatwine | <a href="http://www.thebruery.com/" target="_blank">The Bruery</a> | Orange County, CA<br />
08. Raspberry Russian Imperial Stout | <a href="http://mothersbrewing.com/" target="_blank">Mother's Brewing</a> | Springfield, MO<br />
07. Gone Commando Vienna Lager with Currants | <a href="http://www.shortsbrewing.com/" target="_blank">Short's Brewing</a> | Bellaire, MI<br />
06. Lobster Stout | <a href="http://www.dogfish.com/" target="_blank">Dogfish Head Brewing</a> | Milton, DE<br />
05. Empire Spear Beer Asparagus Ale | <a href="http://www.rightbrainbrewery.com/" target="_blank">Right Brain Brewing</a> | Traverse City, MI<br />
04. Black Note Imperial Stout | <a href="http://bellsbeer.com/" target="_blank">Bell's Brewing</a> | Kalamazoo, MI<br />
03. Duck Duck Goze | <a href="http://lostabbey.com/" target="_blank">The Lost Abbey</a> | San Marcos, CA<br />
02. Mosaic IPA | <a href="http://www.communitybeer.com/" target="_blank">Community Beer Company</a> | Dallas, TX<br />
01. Mexican Chocolate Siberius Maximus Russian Imperial Stout* | <a href="http://www.wreckingbarbrewpub.com/" target="_blank">Wrecking Bar Brewpub</a> | Atlanta, GA<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(*Major HT to @carlosarellano for pointing us into the brewpub pavilion)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>(follow [AA] on twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/anavenueblog" target="_blank">@anavenueblog</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/Draught_Punk" target="_blank">@draught_punk</a> for best in life podcast)</i></span> </div>
Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-62149314733936765172013-10-02T10:04:00.001-05:002013-10-14T16:43:54.727-05:00The Symphony of Craft Beer and Football<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-04339db2-bd2c-d4a3-863b-1364380c7ff0" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This country yearns for the razzle-dazzle of sports entertainment, feasting on spectacular step overs and end zone tumbles with recreational hunger, chomping on the hot guts of point aggregation and victory with the unbridled emotion of unburied zombies buffeting at a senior living center.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We feast our faces on </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">the spoils of breads and grilled meats, natural bedfellows to this nation's primary pastime potable: BEER -- and unless you are reading this article from Kiev or Krakow -- we, as Americans rely mainly on beer to take us from compliant office drone on Friday to defiant middle finger wagger by Saturday. Its science.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And yet, the single-most confounding abnormality about sports culture in the United States is the propensity to demonstrate all of this courageous backbone and undeniable intensity -- pounding fists to stone in hopeless despair, barking with spirituous celebration in glory, and enduring subzero climates in shirtless solidarity -- but then choose to drink a light beer with absolutely no fucking balls at all.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It just makes no sense. Its like ordering a double bacon burger with a couple of veggie patties.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The collective sports enthusiast -- most notably 'football fan' -- appears to willfully endorse a spectacularly bland version of boiled lettuce as a means to invoke home team mania, and, of course helping along any social barriers one might experience with opposing fans in the parking lot of some shitty, back-road wilderness like Manhattan, Kansas or Ames, Iowa. The protocol for survival is typically a 24-count case of American corn lager, a Styrofoam cooler from the party store, and $1.49 bag of ice. Now just what in the ....</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[<i>Oh, hey! Did you like that so far? Do yer wanna read more about how perfectly craft beer pairs with football season? Be sure to pick up an <a href="https://twitter.com/AustinBeerGuide" target="_blank">Austin Beer Guide</a> during its release party tomorrow, October 3rd, at <a href="https://twitter.com/CraftPride" target="_blank">Craft Pride</a> on Rainey Street and read the rest of this insightful shit. Beyond that, you're on your own to scavenge the Fall 2013 issue from the Draught House crapper.</i>] ... or just keep reading below if yr not in Austin ...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">... fuck?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">By all means, if tradition is your flavor, far be it from me as a horribly superstitious sports fan to alter your team's good fortune with the suggestion of alternative beer brands. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But if economics is your barrier, or quality your question, or laziness your impedance, or even intimidation your fear, allow us at the Austin Beer Guide to try to take your pre-game to the next level. After all, this is Autumn; the season of receiving sweets and giving thanks, cooling off despite the sun shining brightly through depleted branches, raging benders on the patio. And football. Some might even call it "The Best Season".</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fortunately for many, living in Austin entitles its townspeople to good football and great beer. And while the city's brewing tradition isn't as legendary as its gridiron past, it is made up for with the talent and speed of a youthful upstart turning heads across the land.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One way for Austin to immediately impart its brewing cachet on locals, was to create historically relevant and regionally appropriate beer. This is where many feel the local brew scene excels, and they are probably right in this sense; sessionable, yet flavorful beers that pair suitably with our unmerciful subjective temperatures -- the summer-into-fall weather that appears to be every Austinite's pet-hate. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Here are a few of our recommendations to get you through the residual hot months before transitioning into the briskness of late Fall and early Winter. Most of these beers are easy on the alcohol percentage for sustainability, but remain bold on the palate for quality. But sometimes -- just sometimes -- you have to break out the big guns to get you through the tenuous moments. We included those too, because in incidents of high emotion, craft beer is almost as serious as football.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Almost.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Kickoff (August - September)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Austin is quickly becoming a city that is easily out-drinking its provisions in beer, and this is because local brewers are absolutely nailing it with mild-bodied American style ales and lagers. What is abandoning shelves city-wide are spruced-up version of classic American styles that once defined the country's beer culture -- sessionable swills like PBR and Bud Light, for example -- and empowering them with quality ingredients like hops and all-malt profiles. This leads to approachable, palatable, and flavorful beers that allow for daylong imbibing without too much concern for falling out of your chair by game time.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">These are the Arial fonts of beer: simple layout, nice packaging, not too fussy, but imparting plenty of impact on your social game. These are best enjoyed during the hot-Fall, which, in geographic anomalies like Austin, extends well into the football season's first rivalry week.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Austin Beerworks Peacemaker</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Style: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Extra Pale Ale</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ABV: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5.0%</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Available: In cans, on draught.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Peacemaker Extra Pale Ale is as bright and merciful as an Adele/Taylor Swift duet. It has long washes of citrus and crystal clear notes of flavoring hops.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hops & Grain The One They Call Zoe</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Style: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Pale American Lager</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ABV: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5.2% </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Available: In cans, infrequently on draught.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Austin's defacto gateway beer, Zoe is considered a pale lager -- the same style as a Bud or a Coors -- but as similar technically as Toby Keith is to Keith Jackson. Try this robust homage to badassery.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Real Ale Hans Pils</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Style: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Pilsner</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ABV: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5.3%</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Available: In cans, on draught.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hans Pils is the 2012 Great American Beer Festival Silver Medalist in a very difficult category. If Texas is to become as synonymous with Czech and German Pilsners as fried chicken is to Kentucky, then Hans Pils is the hearth that bears that flame.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Live Oak HefeWeizen</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Style: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wheat beer</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ABV:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> 5.2%</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Available: Draught only.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Considered Austin's first (and as of yet, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">only</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">) "World Class" beer, Live Oak HefeWeizen is the cornerstone of north campus pre-gaming at places like Crown & Anchor and Posse East.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Second Half (October - November)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Late Autumn in Austin is not the unremitting gray drizzle of football hotbeds like the Northwest or the blustery mix of the Midwest, however, this time of year delivers to our city the sweet relief of cooler temperatures. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We can feel thankful that our mild Falls allow for us to be outside much more than our northern counterparts because of the lack of moisture, however, we still need to find something weighty to dig our heels into as the subjective temperature dips all the way into the frosty 70s. Beer selection at this juncture is typically less bittered and more malt-driven with a slightly higher ABV to cushion against local hypothermia.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Independence Oklahoma Suks</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Style: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Amber</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ABV: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4.8%</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Available: Very limited in bottles seasonally. (Austin Amber available year-round in bottles, draught)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Oklahoma Suks is just Independence's Austin Amber dressed in Texas gear ahead of the Red River Rivalry in early October, but with a mild, roasted finish and low ABV, its a beer that will pal around with you through the emotional ebb-and-flow of a typical Texas-ou match up like a familiar friend.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hops & Grain Alt-eration</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Style: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Altbier</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ABV: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5.1%</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Available: In Cans, draught</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Alt-eration was the 2012 World Beer Cup gold medalist for its category, which at that time, made it the best Altbier one could buy, anywhere, after only a few months in production. With that kind of hardware and credibility, its an safe bet to draft this one for your weekend plans.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Austin Beerworks Black Thunder</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Style: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">German Schwarzbier</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ABV: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5.3% </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Available</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">: In Cans, draught</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Grainy and malty, chocolatey and nutty -- none of that matters because Black Thunder sound football-y as fuck. Just buy it. Its a perfect fall beer. Actually, its perfect any time.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Overtime (December - January)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ah, yes, finally you have to wear a hoodie to get your mail, and you begin driving to work while its still dark outside. Your team has either struggled mightily and its time to cash-in on caring -- OR -- you're team is thriving and its whats keeping your pumping heart from rude health, despite overindulgence on holiday office party lamb and the trendy macarons your kid left for Santa in hopes of a Robo Fish. All this while your size 34 belt mimicks a tourniquet to your lower extremities. All of them.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">These are demonstrative times, and demonstrative times call for bolder beers. Its time to go big.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(512) Pecan Porter</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Style: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Porter</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ABV: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">6.5%</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Available</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">: Draught only.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Besides Live Oak HefeWeizen, (512)'s Pecan Porter might be Austin's most iconic beer. If you got on your knees and licked Zilker Park's earth, I don't know if you could get a better sense of how Austin might literally taste. This should be it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Independence Convict Hill</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Style: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Oatmeal Stout</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ABV: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">8.0%</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Available: In bottles, on draught.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Lovely, and chocolatey and smooth and boozy before swirling back to lovely. The kind of beer that makes it nearly impossible for your bottom-dweller team to harsh the mellow.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jester King Black Metal</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Style:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> English Imperial Stout</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ABV: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9.3%</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Available: In bottles, draught rarely.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Well, now we're talking about a ball-bustin' beer beast. Drinking a Black Metal during the BCS Championship or Super Bowl would be like driving a Testarossa to Senior Prom. If you want to be a badass, you've gotta drink the badass. </span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span>Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-28313770885096050232013-09-24T15:02:00.003-05:002013-10-02T16:02:29.136-05:00Say Yes! To Beer Fest Season!As a community of beer enthusiasts, I think we need to be pretty fucking proud of ourselves
at how vulnerable we've made Big Beer. How easily we've managed to turn the worm on itself where desperation and pandemonium seem to be actual marketing techniques for the men and women inside the corporate boxes at Busch Stadium and Miller Park.<br />
<br />
Wherein MillerCoors LLC is willing to shave profits to the slimmest of margins at Wal fucking Mart and Costco for the sole reason of skewing unit sales for a more attractive position on the worldwide market share chart.<br />
<br />
Wherein Big Beer's naughty little parody of genuine craft beer, Blue Moon, begins howling about the "lack of respect" from the now, better-informed beer drinking proletariat, like a Facebook-defriended pre-teen -- yet continue attempts to fleece their target market by publishing "Brewed by Tenth & Blake" on their packaging as if to substitute misrepresentation with integrity.<br />
<br />
Wherein, one of America's largest music festivals -- Austin City Limits -- has decreed market space for the vending of small beer under the shadow of mega-sponsors Budweiser, a homegrown dual-fingered salute to corporate trespassing and the overall dilution of Austin as a whole.<br />
<br />
And, wherein the competitiveness of craft beer's volume and dollars compared to the big boys has rocketed from absurdly-small way up to only shamefully-small. But this is okay, because craft beer's perception has surpassed the flame-out of "fad", and progressing to "trend".<br />
<br />
The overall message sent to Milwaukee, and Golden, and St. Louis, is that Americans<i> -- at the very least</i> -- are open to exploring new ranges of experimentalism, an ideal that has been stripped from the American psyche since 60's modernism. Not only do we as a society just fucking love an underdog, but tend to become apocalyptic when we know deep inside, that the longshot is actually the superior product: The '68 Jets, Harry Truman, Bueller vs. Rooney. In the historical context of this country, it is the very philosophical and cultural foundation in which it was established.<br />
<br />
And yet still, with many American microbreweries deprived of important little marketing details, like say, advertising budgets and distribution range, the primary source of sales and popularity still rely primarily on old fashioned word-of-mouth.<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>(and technological word-of-mouth ... so, hey! follow me on twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/anavenueblog" target="_blank">@anavenueblog</a>, and oh, <a href="https://twitter.com/Draught_Punk" target="_blank">@draught_punk</a> for our podcast).</i></span><br />
<br />
So, what would be the best way to gather these eager, enthusiastic, and thrill-seeking Americans for the opportunity to coalesce with some of the country's best brewers?<br />
<br />
Craft beer FUCKING festival season. That's how.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>September 28 | </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Texas Craft Brewers Festival </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span><br />
<br />
But I mean, seriously, can you really just picture in your head the thought of InBevMillerCoors trying to throw some sort of beer fest? The mental image of curiously similar straw-colored pale lager being poured into two ounce vessels, as patrons discern its tint by the sunlight, while Silverchair plays a reunion gig on the Heineken stage just cracks my shit up.<br />
<br />
Coincidentally, Austin host EXACTLY the opposite of that festival, called the Texas Craft Brewers Festival, held ceremoniously in Fiesta Gardens at the foothills of the city's gorgeous downtown skyline.<br />
<br />
It is completely devoid of light lagers and "Frogstomp".<br />
<br />
But what the <a href="http://www.texascraftbrewersfestival.org/" target="_blank">Texas Craft Brewers Festival</a> does offer, is 39 breweries pouring 132 beers made right here in the Great State, ensuring that TCBF is the Daytona 500 of Texas Beer Festivals -- local beer's grandest stage, right there on week one.<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RfaTCtTP5xg/Ujm8ikuYsLI/AAAAAAAAB-g/G2sM8anKDkA/s1600/TCBF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RfaTCtTP5xg/Ujm8ikuYsLI/AAAAAAAAB-g/G2sM8anKDkA/s400/TCBF.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
We here at the [AA] offices polled our opinions and decided that the following are the most anticipated pours from the festival:<br />
<br />
<b>Karbach</b>: Cherries of Fire<br />
<b>5 Stone</b>: Rhubarb Cherrylicious<br />
<b>*Buffalo Bayou</b>: Watermelon Wit<br />
<b>Circle</b>: Smokin' Beech<br />
<b>Real Ale</b>: Scots Gone Wild<br />
<b>Hops & Grain</b>: Volumes of Funk<br />
<b>Jester King</b>: Atrial Rubicite<br />
<b>Saint Arnold</b>: 2012 Pumpkinator (<i>right</i>) <br />
<br />
... and of course,<br />
<b>Austin Beerworks</b>: Einhorn <br />
<br />
<b>*</b> [AA] 2013 Rated Rookie<br />
<br />
Rubbin's racin'. Better get your extra drink tickets before I buy them all.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>October 3 | </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Austin Beer Guide Release Party</b></span><br />
<br />
In the cutthroat world of Austin beer bloggin', the dudes at ABG cut the deepest, and leave only a scattered assemblage of skanky beer groupies for the rest of us, like breadcrumbs for pigeons.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U3eDsTFGTck/UkHcx8it0YI/AAAAAAAAB_E/b1Hdb288tbw/s1600/austinbeerguide.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U3eDsTFGTck/UkHcx8it0YI/AAAAAAAAB_E/b1Hdb288tbw/s320/austinbeerguide.png" width="213" /></a>But they've earned their elevated reputation by making craft beer important enough to burn most of their free time just so you can have something to flip through on Black Sheep Lodge's shitter. The content is unique and deliberate, and depending on how much respect for my opinion you have, by far the best beer guide in Austin.<br />
<br />
But such myths are only confirmed by reading one, and this quarterly publication appears to be an excuse to host Austin's most consistent beer event: the Austin Beer Guide Release Party. This time, the guys slum it for once below the Capitol Corridor and into the catacombs of the Central Austin's Rainey Street District. And if you've ever been to Craft Pride, you'll undoubtedly know that they will have something local and something special to commemorate this work of literature.<br />
<br />
And be sure to ask any one of these very helpful Austin Beer Guide guys for a release. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Oct 10 - 12 | </span></b><b><span style="font-size: large;">Great American Beer Festival</span></b><br />
<br />
Hey, you like bright
sunshine without the nastiness of summer heat? Like dabbling in
barrel aged barley wines to keep hydrated? Do you believe that #EverySeasonIsStoutSeason?<br />
<br />
Well, I hope that you've booked your October flight to Denver, and found a companion you are only mildly repulsed to bunk with during craft beer's version of SXSW. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-acLJGtcSMcc/Ujm8sOdryhI/AAAAAAAAB-o/-sp4yUy7cp4/s1600/GABF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-acLJGtcSMcc/Ujm8sOdryhI/AAAAAAAAB-o/-sp4yUy7cp4/s320/GABF.jpg" width="320" /></a>And really, I couldn't think of a better venue for the masterpiece that is <a href="http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/" target="_blank">GABF </a>than Denver, particularly because of the city's indigenous mentality of embracing artisinal goods and disseminating positive vibes. It feels so damn great to be in the freshest air any one of us will breath all year, in a walkable city, with like-minded enthusiasts. Its has a perpetual senior-vacation affect in that you will run into your favorite local brewers, a thousand miles from home, and have an instantaneous desire to shout shit like "YeeHAW!" "Fucking TEXAS!" and "How many fucking Plineys should I order this round, bros?!". It is a pretty amazing experience. And I couldn't imagine engaging in social media for weeks out of depression if I missed it. <span class="st"> </span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">And as of yet, GABF is still remarkably chaste and NOT a
carnival of commercialism,
despite the obvious SXSW comparisons. The glory of this
festival is celebrating small-enterprise, which, for the most part has
kept the really big sponsors at bay as much as they would just really
fucking LOVE to be
involved (and guess who doesn't miss out on a booth despite the built up
vitriol: Budweiser, Shock Top, and Blue Moon -- erm, Tenth &
Blake Brewing Co). I know the end of craft socialism might be in the
mail, but
in the meantime come enjoy it like its the OLD Black Keys.</span><br />
<br />
But that said, I am also trying hard not to go with ambitions to work -- because that would be a fruitless endeavor, like trying to wank to math. Like the rest of the GABF media, [AA] will be there to support our friends and local brewers, and let the stories all write themselves during the hangover moments -- over some more pints, of course. You can read about [AA]'s GABF 2012 experience <a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2012/10/a-hundred-beers-day-great-american-beer.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Plus, I'm pretty sure its like $200 to fly there from any corner of the planet. Denver is cheap and it is fucking boss. If you can't make it this year, really try to do it at some point in your short life.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>October 19 | Flying Saucer's </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>BeerFeast</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">This will be my maiden voyage to <a href="http://www.beerfeast2013.com/austin" target="_blank">BeerFeast</a>, which is hosted by Flying Saucer Austin, and will be one of four around the country. The event features 40 breweries pouring over 60 beers, plus, you know, austin-style grub from food trucks because EVERYTHING is better with street meat -- most especially, craft beer.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ticket purchase includes admission to the festival, a tasting card that
is good for choice of 12 samples of any of the 60 festival beers, and a
2013 commemorative BeerFeast tasting glass.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">VIP ticket holders will also receive the taster glass and sampling session, as well as early admission to the festival at noon and access to the VIP-only line for rare tappings. In addition, VIPs will get food vouchers
redeemable at any of the festival food trucks, a 2013 BeerFeast T-shirt
and a pair of<span style="font-size: small;"> BeerFeast sunglasses.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Oct 25 - Nov 3 | </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Austin Beer Week</b></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wUfF5_E2OdI/Ujm9F5LnoeI/AAAAAAAAB-w/wsyl6qzLdNI/s1600/DH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wUfF5_E2OdI/Ujm9F5LnoeI/AAAAAAAAB-w/wsyl6qzLdNI/s320/DH.jpg" width="320" /></a>In addition to killing you all month with various liver disorders, Austin delivers the death blow with an entire week to beer festivities across a number of platforms and venues in the city.<br />
<br />
<span class="st">Now, during Austin Beer Week, there <i>really is </i>something for everyone -- like Amsterdam or bath salts</span> -- but undoubtedly, our favorite festivity is Draught House's Anniversary -- its 45th this year -- which is truly remarkable because literally nothing in Austin is 45 years old, Draught House excluded.<br />
<br />
This is no place for amateurs.<br />
<br />
Here is the <a href="http://www.austinbeerweek.com/2013/calendar" target="_blank">full lineup</a> of Austin Beer Week events. <br />
----<br />
<br />
So, in conclusion, it can be said that sure, a lot of these Big Beer types have worked hard to get rich, despite the privilege of major budgets and lineage and thousands of employees, et cetera, et cetera.<br />
<br />
But the majority of
people in beer won't get rich no matter how hard they work, and I think the idea of a craft beer festival embraces that fascinating notion, while helping to stabilize an industry in its infancy. These festivals support some of the hardest working individuals whose
executives-in-charge crack less than a teacher's salary. And I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to depreciate small business and/or education. <br />
<br />
Consider that
when you're deciding between a Chilada and a Pearl Snap.Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-41763913735425871822013-09-13T18:36:00.005-05:002013-09-13T18:36:44.636-05:00Austin's Jester King Celebrates Zwanze Day 2013Apart from the nonstop luxury flights into other exotic international ports, what do the following worldwide alpha-cities have in common with our modest, southwestern hamlet of Austin, Texas: San Francisco, Brooklyn, Chicago, Seattle, D.C., Montreal, Tokyo, Rome, Brussels, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Paris, and London?<br />
<br />
Zwanze Day.<br />
<br />
Zwa-wat?<br />
<br />
Zwanze Day: a perfectly imaginative mandate that designates a singular afternoon across the world to drinking a very rare, very desired, one-off beer made by Belgian brewing demi-gods Brasserie Cantillon. Of these 46 global cities, which appear to be scattered indiscriminately across the face of the Earth, Austin's Jester King Brewery will host a single 30-liter keg shipped directly from Brussels to be distributed at their will to Central Texas beer fans on Saturday, September 14th. That beer is called Zwanze.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BaG0tN3ar8k/Ui-LWvqaSzI/AAAAAAAAB-Q/dU9p-SgEMWY/s1600/zwanze-day-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BaG0tN3ar8k/Ui-LWvqaSzI/AAAAAAAAB-Q/dU9p-SgEMWY/s400/zwanze-day-13.jpg" width="310" /></a></div>
<br />
Apart from a complimentary keg of Brasserie Cantillon's Fou Foune handed out at Jester King's 1st anniversary celebration, this will be only the second time that Austin has witnessed the brewery's very limited distribution to the state, and the first keg of Zwanze in Texas overall since its inception in 2008. Its kind of a big deal.<br />
<br />
Although Zwanze is typically a pure lambic beer, this year, Brasserie Cantillon concocted a Tripel in an 'abbey style', blending inoculated natural yeast from the brewery and 10% lambic at different stages of fermentation. <br />
<br />
Because interest for a taste of the beer outweighed Jester King's actual
supply, the Texas brewery held random lottery for individuals to win
the opportunity for a free, four-ounce sampling (comped because
Brasserie Cantillon does not hold a license to be sold in the Lone Star
State). So, check all your email accounts and spam folders, because
those who have won the opportunity should hold their golden ticket by
now. According to Jester King, the keg will be tapped at 2PM and will
be available until their tasting room closes at 6PM.<br />
<br />
If you are not one of the 150 selected for sampling, Jester King stresses that Zwanze Day is not a private event for the brewery, and they will be open for any beer fan wanting to celebrate on their grounds with Jester King beers. Commemorative Zwanze 2013 glassware and t-shirts will be available
for purchase to all.Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-40998196138491964622013-07-03T16:51:00.003-05:002013-07-04T00:01:10.938-05:00Founder's Rübæus Pure Raspberry Ale: The Official Beer of Drunk Dialing and Sexting.Its foolishly hot outside now and the outlook is rather dismal for any climate changes between now and late October. Its such joyless drama school with the oppressive Texas weather, that all there is to lean on psychologically is the prospect of finding a reliable summer beer that will treat you very well until the great reprieve of Autumn. This post is about one of those beers. Founder's Rübæus Pure Raspberry Ale.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gy727gpvAT8/Uc3eCM1gLiI/AAAAAAAAB8k/5ONxOKAjF8E/s612/Founders+Rubaeus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gy727gpvAT8/Uc3eCM1gLiI/AAAAAAAAB8k/5ONxOKAjF8E/s640/Founders+Rubaeus.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
Being forthright, [AA] has never been a scoop-whore blog. Never an, '<i>Oh, we doubt you've ever heard of it</i>' hipster-kind-of website.<br />
<br />
We like to take our time with criticism because we're usually pacified by an aggregate of '<i>too many new beers</i>', '<i>so little time</i>', and '<i>life better spent drinking it, than writing about it</i>'. There is also the tumor of laziness that metastasizes and cripples cleverness and wit all the time. The pile of discarded posts tend to look creatively like the rejected song list of any Bloc Party project after 2004. Just terrible. Plus, we enjoy liquifying our insides enough to tranquilize a stag moose and, everyone knows, drunk writing tends to end up reading like the lyrics to Gangnam Style.<br />
<br />
But never has it been the case, whereupon the doorstep of the [AA] offices rests a gift delivered from one of the country's best brewhouses. And never has it been from the blog's favorite brewery in the entire country, perhaps the entire planet.<br />
<br />
Even more so, it has never has been the pre-release of one of summer's most anticipated seasonal beer releases.<br />
<br />
All of this was reason enough to access the pause button on Wendy Williams or Dr. Oz, or whichever terrible soul-destroying fucking daytime bullshit it was just to see what was playing out with the postal guy fiddling about with something on my lawn. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GyNsH6CFzas/UdHMuKWqnPI/AAAAAAAAB80/NA4PWSFx8a0/s612/FoundersRubaeus2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GyNsH6CFzas/UdHMuKWqnPI/AAAAAAAAB80/NA4PWSFx8a0/s640/FoundersRubaeus2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
A fucking score. <br />
<br />
So, as quickly this gorgeous trio would cool in the frigidity
of a 45 degree beer fridge, would it be pitched down the 45 degree
angle of my craned throat, happily internalizing the hype and imminent promotion that
Founder's Rübæus deserved. I was gonna help sell fucking loads of this
stuff. Right?<br />
<br />
Whether by legitimate journalists or amateur hacks like myself, most criticism about beer is fully emo'd out to the extent that its pretty stupid to suggest converting anyone based on your lame opinion.<br />
<br />
Conclusions are even more skewed when the term <i><b>FREE</b> </i>is bandied. The ability to remain totally unbiased is spoiled by the sudden appearance of factory-direct, donated summer badassery, especially since Founder's is like my forever jam, guys, like drinking the brewery equivalent of Neutral Milk Hotel's <i>'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea</i>'. The only way to show proper gratitude was to drink the shit out of it and nod energetically and maybe offhandedly mentioning how sipping this from Alison Brie's belly button wouldn't improve Rübæus in the least. But, erm, not really.<br />
<br />
Sipping Rübæus is actually a lot like watching old people Facebook. As in, '<i>oh, its just sooo frustratingly fucking close to getting it ... No, I don't think you're doing it right ... Nuh-uh, don't do searches in the status bo-.' </i>Ah, fuck it.<br />
<br />
As gracious as I am regarding Founder's massive generosity, and as ingenious I believed their fruit beers of prior years to be -- Blushing Monk Belgian Raspberry and Cerise Cherry -- I feel like Rübæus uses 2013's fruit du jour the way any freeway exit Chinese buffet uses MSG to assault the palate. Rübæus is sharply alcoholic at its spectral ends with a patchy wavelength of sweetness that echos in the center.<br />
<br />
Yes, this raspberry ale tastes good. It <b>IS </b>good. Real fucking tasty. So are fortified flavored wines. Rübæus has the clanky delivery of an MD 20/20 face slap, sweetly covered up with a hard kiss of saccharine. Its like drinking a pint of your high school ex. Fun and wild and probably very dangerous. Also, totally unsuited for longevity, lest you're eager for the cops to show up, making you scatter around in the dark for your belonging.<br />
<br />
Actually, it sounds like I <i>was </i>right to be excited about this. <br />
<br />
<b>ABV </b>5.7%<br />
<b>Acquired </b>Beer Mail<br />
<b>Can I Find This in Austin?</b> Yes, look for it starting in early July<br />
<b>Album Pairing </b>Coldplay | A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)<br />
<span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">☆</span><span class="st">☆</span><span class="st">☆</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>And look for more [An Avenue] beer + music opinions on the new collaborative side-project <a href="https://twitter.com/Draught_Punk" target="_blank">Draught Punk</a>! A podcast!</i></span></span>Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-55583929993605657132013-06-14T10:37:00.002-05:002013-06-30T13:04:28.211-05:00Queen takes Bishop: How Saint Arnold's Barrel Aged Imperial Stout #3 Can Help You On Karaoke NightBarrel-aging is a beer genre having a bit of a crisis at the moment. This is only according to me, of course, but at a certain measure of volume hitting the market (that being the very scientific metric of <i>one </i>shitload<i>), </i>at what point is it where no one gives a damn about drinking a barrel aged beer anymore?<br />
<br />
Whereas having a carefully and masterfully structured bourbon barrel aged beer used to be the libatious equivalent of hearing 'Hey Ya' on the car stereo in the very early solstices of 2003, by August of the same year, everyone was generally just tired of its infinity times infinity omnipresence. <br />
<br />
While barrel aging hasn't quite attained the banality of Top 40 radio, it seems like more than a few breweries are scrawling sappy best-sellers for the sake of improving their chart position with the beer dorks, while becoming less engaged with the actual stuff that helped purchase the kettles in the first place.<br />
<br />
Let me be clear. I don't think that Saint Arnold is guilty of this, necessarily. I think they brew a very respectable recurrent lineup, and I happily order their stuff from time to time. The sense I do get with breweries similar in size to Saint Arnold's as they accrue the momentum for 100% sustainability and expansion, is that their side projects tend to be wildly inconsistent from one to the next, clich<span id="hotword"><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="color: #333333; cursor: default;">éd</span></span> even. In the case of Saint Arnold, sometimes both will occur within the same series.<br />
<br />
Before I get into Bishop's Barrel #3, here are my thoughts on <a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2012/11/a-beer-day-bishops-barrel-1-bourbon.html" target="_blank">Bishop's Barrel #1</a> and <a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2013/03/bishops-barrel-2-chardonnay-barrel-aged.html" target="_blank">Bishop's Barrel #2</a>, which are mostly favorable. In fact, I maintain that BB1 was probably the best bourbon barrel stout ever brewed and aged in the Southwest.<br />
<br />
For that, Saint Arnold gets a guy's-weekend-in-Cabo-style hall pass to live out their Bishop's Barrel dreams for as long as necessary; a series that will consist entirely of barrel-aged beers for its duration. I'm certainly okay with that given that Saint Arnold is reliably good-to-great in most things, except that the point of reference for this series begins with perhaps an insurmountable baseline for quality. And lately the tenor of the Bishop's Barrel series is beginning to mimic André 3000's signature opening lyric "<i>1,2,3,4 ...</i>". How long is it before we switch the station?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xXtu5pnD_90/UZ5smL84eXI/AAAAAAAAB7E/QRkIdilCXz4/s1600/SaintArnoldBB3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xXtu5pnD_90/UZ5smL84eXI/AAAAAAAAB7E/QRkIdilCXz4/s640/SaintArnoldBB3.jpg" width="640" /></a>Saint Arnold noted a few differences between BB1 and BB3, which basically utilizes the same base beer but with different finishing techniques, for example, Saint Arnold fermented this version of the imperial stout with their house yeast, which is supposed to add a touch of creaminess, 2) BB3 was aged
slightly longer -- 12 months versus 10 months, and finally, 3) there is a '3' on the neck label instead of a '1', which is to say that there is so little variance between one of the best stouts ever brewed in Texas and this version, that any nuances should theoretically improve the beer with one already under their belt. Third verse, same as the first, right?<br />
<br />
Truthfully, it tasted like a Crown & Coke.<br />
<br />
Yep, as special as karaoke night 10 minutes before your stage debut of '<i>Killer Queen</i>' and the barbaric attempt to catch a fast buzz for $3. It has the demeanor of Brett Favre trying to make himself into a luxury brand. It drifts
so far from Houston-y beer into a lattice of country cousins at a BYOB wedding who've delved into the Canadian elitism of all-denim outfits and velvet bag booze. <br />
<br />
I'll state that I do respect a brewery for evolving in a <i>Radiohead</i> kind of way, and <i>Kid A</i> is right about where I see Saint Arnold idling. But with this series at least, there is a precarious pathway between recording <i>Amnesiac </i>and recording a carnival of laughs like <i>El Camino</i> from a formerly-evolving, presently digressing band like <i>The Black Keys</i>.<br />
<br />
Admittedly, there are notes at the bookends of BB3 that are really fantastic -- like the creaminess they were going for, it certainly features that. Also, the open-mouthed, wet kiss of booze at the end is very clever for an 11-and-a-half percent beer that leaves no heat. But that is as much talent as this beer shows with its strumming. And I really hate when people mistake effort for talent. I call it the Tim Tebow effect. This beer exemplifies the Tim Tebow effect.<br />
<br />
It seems 12 months in the wood was asking BB3 to do more than it really could, or should, or really needed to -- like using a kiln to make cinnamon toast -- a bit of an overkill. No worries these things happen from time to time. I'll still be scrambling around for #4.<br />
<br />
<b>ABV </b>11.5%<br />
<b>Acquired </b>Craft Pride [Austin]<br />
<b>Can I Find This in Austin?</b> You'll need a Twitter account.<br />
<b>Album Pairing </b>Oasis | Heathen Chemistry (2002)<br />
<span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">☆</span><span class="st"></span><span class="st">☆</span><span class="st">☆</span><span class="st">☆</span> Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-30806660600857372072013-06-07T13:55:00.002-05:002013-06-11T13:30:34.676-05:00The State of the Texas Craft Beer Scene Part 3: Capitol Gains in AustinWell, its been a pretty interesting week hasn't it?<br />
<br />
While this post didn't intend to start out with emotional catatonia, I think it is appropriate to take a moment to pause on the passing of Walt Powell, a guy whose influence was felt beyond the silliness of beer drinking, but into something more profound; the personal friendships he developed as a <i>result</i> of beer drinking. I didn't know Walt well in person, having only shared a few mutual drinks at whatever event had collected the beer community that day, but I felt like I knew him well digitally. We interacted online quite a bit because I think we shared a mutual sense of what humor should rightly be, and that is snark with a good amount of browbeating, all tied together with a loose beer-related theme. He was cool.<br />
<br />
I only recently learned that before his gig at Flix, Walt was a beer writer. And having accumulated cachet doing that, landed him in a place where he thought he could probably be even more influential to the local and statewide craft community. He was.<br />
<br />
I think it would please him to learn that his demise brought forth shock and bewilderment in the beer community the same way as Joe Johnson going out in the 2006 NBA playoffs against the Spurs or Michael Owen withdrawing from the English squad in the '06 Cup. Total bewilderment, everyone scrambling to make sense of it. Over beers of course. That went without saying. <br />
<br />
Walt left an irreplaceable gap in the landscape of possibility, not only for him as a very decent dude, but as a leader in the craft beer movement. We've lost our target man. Our sharp shooter. And the immediacy of its circumstance makes it weird as we attempt to maintain the house. As humans, we are conditioned to tell somebody goodbye while they are still within earshot. But to people like my son, for example, who hasn't quite grasped that social premise yet, it feels weird to send someone off without letting them know we meant to say <i>goodbye</i>. Its good to know that some of his wit has preserved him in script somewhere on the internet.<br />
<br />
As beer people, we like to travel in packs -- bar
crawls, bottle shares, brewery releases, and so on. I think we like the assurance that we're a community. It preserves the delicate nature of altruistic relationships necessary in the craft world. The consumer is as important as the brewer. The retailer is as vital as the distributor. I think it denotes that, for the most part, we've all got each others backs and it makes us less-panicky animals without being set free on our own too much. If you want an example of how inane we get, see how we respond as individuals to rare beer releases left to our own devices.<br />
<br />
This notable herd mentality, however, sets the true pioneers of beer in Austin apart from the mass; individuals like Pinthouse Joe, Josh Hare, Jake Maddox, and yes, Walt -- who engage their own loyalties and devotions and grassroots innovative resonance. People who can make good ideas survive meetings and have minds like boxes of marbles spilled onto granite countertops. We scramble around trying to aggregate their cognizance.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M6m1Hmtjidw/UYAEElh2PvI/AAAAAAAAB5o/MQC6Kd1xXRk/s1600/PHP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M6m1Hmtjidw/UYAEElh2PvI/AAAAAAAAB5o/MQC6Kd1xXRk/s640/PHP.jpg" width="640" /></a>Beer culture in Austin is healthy as all fuck. Beer is a huge, uncontrollable threat to our spare time and vital organs. Beer culture in Austin is not histrionic in the same way something like craft cocktail culture has blossomed and died on its stem, accidentally poisoned by its own caretakers.<br />
<br />
Beer culture in Austin, is something that wants to stick, particularly given two circumstances: One, is that this is the second -- possibly even <i>third </i>-- iteration of the craft beer boom in Austin after the rise and fall of both Copper Tank and Waterloo brewing, and the ancillary passing wave of The (original) Ginger Man and Celis Brewing. With more than a few failures and consequential frustration under its belt, Austin most certainly <i>feels </i>like its got its master plan. The second circumstance is the crucial system of check-and-balances between brewers, media, and consumers. <br />
<br />
And through chance, luck, skill and achievement, we are now witness to a developing <i>Rat Pack</i> of Austin breweries who are treating this deluged town like its own personal <i>Oceans 11</i> casting call. It's as good as we're gonna feel all day.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ej0k59zEsjQ/UbEzRNicf0I/AAAAAAAAB8E/XOkg_60x0aA/s1600/ABWHeavyMachinery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ej0k59zEsjQ/UbEzRNicf0I/AAAAAAAAB8E/XOkg_60x0aA/s640/ABWHeavyMachinery.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
And above all that, the shit that is really about to make this situation get <i>real-real</i> is the impending act-of-congress (quite literally) that had to happen in order for craft beer in Austin to be completely sustainable. With the passing of recent legislation, (given the refusal of veto powers by Texas' Aggie-in-Cheif) the Jester King Brewery and Hops & Grain Tasting Room will be full-fledged brewpubs (<i>, but with a license to distribute!</i>). What this means is, while one can still visit whatever booze depot of his/her choosing to stock beer for personal use, breweries will be allowed direct sales to its customers at its source through a confounding system of product-for-currency exchange! Right there in the brewhouse! Yes, quite on the cuttingest of edges by the Texas lege.<br />
<br />
When this moment comes upon its much anticipated threshold, Texas will have officially arrived into the premier leagues of beer along with California, Oregon, Michigan, etc with a door kicking entrance. And the same way it would be baffling for state residents of these beer giants to not spend locally on craft, it would be equally as inappropriate for resident Austinites, or Houstonians, or Dallasites to venture too far out of the vicinity. Otherwise, take your yankee asses back to Kentucky. A simple fiver -- and often less than than that -- will get you something great and local in an Austin pub.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ebo2468lrHI/UaEDpMSmX_I/AAAAAAAAB7U/FLLYgUX3LUE/s1600/hopsandgrain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ebo2468lrHI/UaEDpMSmX_I/AAAAAAAAB7U/FLLYgUX3LUE/s640/hopsandgrain.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of Josh Hare, Hops & Grain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But in Austin, popularity + growth means one impenetrable force: <i>lines</i>.<br />
<br />
Shit, someone should do a study of how long the average Austinite waits in line. We do it for everything. Well, anything worth doing at least.<br />
<br />
During this past SXSW -- while waiting in line, of course -- I mentioned to whoever happened to be in my immediate vicinity that we should start the next internet meme craze like Planking or Harlem Shake called <i>Queuing</i>. Just line right the fuck up, doesn't matter to what. Car wash? Queue. Furbies Live? Get in line, motherfucker. Random door entrance? Behind me, <i>sister</i>. Been here all day.<br />
<br />
It will be a hit. Hurry up and wait, <i>err' one</i>.<br />
<br />
The thing is, good beer and demand are very coincident pals. Who can blame the public for wanting to be participant in something that takes so much time and care? Aaron Franklin has built an empire on it, and soon, so will the micros of Austin. Hurry up and wait, indeed.<br />
<br />
Good for them. Like BBQ, breweries operate on razor thin margins and no industry on the planet deserves more income than does the craft industry. I suspect you'll have to wake up pretty early to beat me to the front of the line of all these new tap rooms.<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VV-1V9SEkOk/UbEzJ53UTgI/AAAAAAAAB78/68PW979zyCE/s1600/JesterKingAtrialRubicite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VV-1V9SEkOk/UbEzJ53UTgI/AAAAAAAAB78/68PW979zyCE/s640/JesterKingAtrialRubicite.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Finally, as summer begins to vex us with sun-frowns and devastating thirsts, Austin brewers find that this is typically their time to shine (pun, ugh.). This summer in particular will likely finalize Austin's spot on future top-beer-cities lists -- and then get <i>REALLY </i>ready to stand around.<br />
<br />
In high anticipation to the folks here at [AA], we expect the following to rip our pants in the front: <br />
<ul>
<li>Austin Beerworks' Heavy Machinery Pt. II The DIPA & <a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2012/06/beer-day-einhorn-berliner-weisse-austin.html" target="_blank">Einhorn Berliner Weisse</a>, which stays in our heads persistently. </li>
<li>Hops & Grain's Greenhouse Series making quiet waves right now, but just you wait. Fucking wait.</li>
<li>Pinthouse Pizza's continuing expansion into experimental batches, including the Fallen Cask series.</li>
<li>The impending debut of <a href="https://twitter.com/theabgb" target="_blank">Austin Beer Garden Brewery</a>.</li>
<li>Jester King's <a href="http://jesterkingbrewery.com/introducing-jester-king-atrial-rubicite" target="_blank">Atrial Rubicite</a> Raspberry Wild Ale <i>(pictured above)</i></li>
</ul>
What more is there to say to really register the point that the craft beer scene in Austin is as healthy and promising as was its musical culture in the 70s and its barbeque outlook in the 90s? We're at the front steps of another revolution that makes Austin appear like the cultural center of the planet for people with these interests. The house is in order and now she's picking throw pillows. These are the giddy days. Why don't you stop waiting and chip in?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2013/05/the-state-of-texas-craft-beer-scene.html" target="_blank">The State of the Texas Craft Beer Scene Part 1: Fort Worth</a><br />
<a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2013/05/the-state-of-texas-craft-beer-scene_13.html" target="_blank">The State of the Texas Craft Beer Scene Part 2: Houston</a>Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-29710036888108289342013-05-13T12:50:00.001-05:002013-05-23T07:15:54.814-05:00The State of the Texas Craft Beer Scene Part 2 - The Bayou Complex: Houston vs. The Fringe Movement<i>In what is hoped to become a semi-regular feature of [AA], the writers
(that's "writers" without the 's') of this spotty publication will
attempt to occasionally examine the current state of affairs regarding
the craft beer scene in this Great State; it being a reeaaally long limb
to step out onto, given that nothing else appears to be as healthy
economically, socially, and culturally within the last 28 months than
small beer -- and thusly, becomes a pretty goddam easy thing to babble
on and on about. </i><br />
<br />
<i>You can read <b>The State of the Texas Craft Beer Scene Part 1: Fort Worth <a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2013/05/the-state-of-texas-craft-beer-scene.html" target="_blank">here</a></b></i>.<br />
<br />
Part 2: Houston, Texas<br />
<br />
It used to be Houston was just a good place to do some crimes and easy heckle-bait when scraping the bottom of the barrel for roomie trolling.<br />
<br />
Myself, I had been pretty casual about engaging with Houston at all, apart from a Cure gig in late-college, where during the 9 PM encore, Robert Smith more closely resembled a black-cloaked receptacle of gelato left out to render in the courtyard of the Uffizi than a British icon. The other time was to catch a Gold Cup match between two <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsg3ODBUae4&safe=active" target="_blank">largely uninspired national football teams</a> with my then-pregnant wife. Fun times.<br />
<br />
Because of those adrenalizing adventures, I was able to see upfront 'why' Houston was considered the <a href="http://www.complex.com/city-guide/.../reasons-why-houston-is-better-austin" target="_blank">most cultured city</a> in Texas by<i> not-at-all</i> link baiting publications like the venerable Complex Magazine (Who? Mike Jones.).<br />
<br />
So, when Buick sends something to one's inbox about an opportunity to experience H-TIZZOWN in a supplied loaner Encore, the only real decision is, how the fuck would I choose a lucky companion?<br />
<br />
Who I did pick was, in fact, a native of Houston. A dude who served as the beneficiary of decades-long hometown ribbing at the benefaction of me and fellow mates. A guy who would prove to be a worthy apostle for the <i>new </i>Houston -- because he has forever deemed it as a city that has become progressively cooler and more invigorated than it was at any point before this very moment. An <i>agent provocateur</i> of great taste in booze and beer and overall atmosphere (and friends?); and finally, one who would lead us both in a venturesome direction. Yep, a perfect ambassador for interpreting the mass of concrete and humanity that is Texas' largest and most derided city, but leading us into the underbelly of all that is cool and current. Along with, of course, that Buick.<br />
<br />
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<br />
For the entertainment of you bastards, I'll spare the details of the 100%-dry Buick Discovery Tour in which we partook, but then ventured off to find a safe parking for the Encore for the rest of the evening so that we could cab the shit out of the rest of our time there. <br />
<br />
First stop on the Houston Re-Discovery Tour: The Hay Merchant.<br />
<br />
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<br />
What I discovered almost immediately about a city still bewildered by the news of the Oilers bouncing to a shithole like Nashville,<i> </i>and the total failure of the 1996 NBA season led by the newly acquired Sir Charles, was that the population feels like it has a reason to get fucked up. Its this general mood that permeates every drinking establishment we would later visit. Good for them. I like to drink the pain away as well, so I fit right in. <br />
<br />
The second thing I learned is that it took but a single man with an glamorous vision to provide all of the necessary counsel for Houston to gain back its civic pride -- and to work towards a more positive approach to drinking. But it was gonna take a fuckload of taps.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Mononyminity is the honor bestowed upon the ubiquitous, and like "Magic" at the The Forum or "Pele" at The <span class="st">Maracanã</span>, "Bobby" is the dude that maneuvered the correct angles and set up an offensive strategy. Out of the <i>six </i>establishments we visited while drinking across Houston that night, Bobby had influence over <i>five </i>of them (-- and if you're counting the next morning's breakfast, then it was six). By no means was a pub crawl of this sort our intention, but in Houston's current iteration, almost impossible to avoid.<br />
<br />
The Hay Merchant was a solid place to have a pint. Its exactly the experience one expects to have out of a beer bar: choices and a nice chair, with 'fair prices' being a nice bonus characteristic. Its got the trinity. And so, the opportunity to lay waste to a Karbach Bourbon Barrel Aged Hellfighter felt like a great way to begin a night of drinking.<br />
<br />
Its also, however, a very quick way to end one as well, with one's head stuck down a bowl. <br />
<br />
But what kind of adventure would this be if I didn't allow this beer to lay it on me thick with a blanket of digression and fuzz. Besides, we don't get anything from <a href="http://www.karbachbrewing.com/" target="_blank">Karbach Brewing</a> in Austin, and I wasn't gonna let irreverent math like 10.8% and 12 ounces get in my way of a long evening.<br />
<br />
After the Hellfighter, was the customary visit to Bobby's first born, <a href="http://anvilhouston.com/" target="_blank">Anvil</a>, which if this was a craft cocktail blog and I had a cleft asshole like so many cocktailians assume from having a pestle so far up their asses, I'd go on endlessly about how fucking brilliant it is. It is. It is a brilliant place. Though I'm a beer guy, I understand the value of a great drink and the importance of a good time. A real good time* (*Pit Bull). And so, with three cocktails massaging my insides -- including a very clever Nitro'd Cuba Libre that approximated a creamy imperial porter -- we headed off to the next gig in town: <a href="http://mongooseversuscobra.com/" target="_blank">Mongoose vs. Cobra</a>.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Look, with a name like Mongoose vs. Cobra there is almost no fucking way it could live up to anyone's expectations, like Wolf Blitzer or my deadbeat cousin Tyrannosaurus Rex Munoz.<br />
<br />
In places like that, most of the creativity stops at the entry, hoping to capitalize on themes and the general fuckery of its clientele.<br />
<br />
But as we enter through its gorgeous cedar paneling ...<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amazing Larry gonna amaze. (which, BTW, should be the name of MvC's expansion bar)</td></tr>
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...We're like, '<i>is there something you'd like to share with the rest of us, Houston</i>'?<br />
<br />
Jesus fuck. This place is a beer drinker's dream: long, handsome community tables, 1800's UK sweatshop architecture, an <b>expertly </b>curated beer selection -- tight and tidy, fucking Jester King's RU-55 ON CASK! The shit? Where is the satellite branch in Austin? This place immediately becomes my newest favorite bar on earth.<br />
<br />
As Austinites I know that we find it difficult not to exhale the bored and jaded sigh
of those who have seen it all before, but <i>srsly-to-death</i>,
Houston, I'm impressed. I want to drink beer with you.<br />
<br />
And it continued like this onward, to several other Bobby-influenced establishments; <a href="https://twitter.com/GoroNGun" target="_blank">Goro & Gun</a> (for <span id="xjs">tonkotsu pork belly </span>ramen and Lone Stars), <a href="http://www.friedokra.org/" target="_blank">OKRA Charity Saloon</a> with its majestic wooden bar, and finally at <a href="https://twitter.com/BadNewsBar" target="_blank">Captain Foxheart's Bad News Bar</a>, which i proceed to immediately declare as my <i>new</i>-newest favorite bar on earth.<br />
<br />
Past the fellow on the street wearing the <i>'Fuck You, Houston is Awesome</i>' tee, behind a darkened door with Lawyer-ly fonts, up a long and narrow stairwell, and between the narrowest of railcar confines hides the gem of the night; a bar as sharp as it is smudged.<br />
<br />
Barmen, here, are differing to the palates of the customers selections -- and so, it was my obligation to order something from my limited cocktail memory. On one of the meteorologically wettest nights I'd experienced in a long time, I ordered a Dark & Stormy, which I guzzle with approval. I keep eying their small, but inspired beer offerings.<br />
<br />
The barmen are also differing to the auditory preferences of their customers, and so someone has donated something more obscure than Youth Lagoon b-sides to the interior, and they are fine songs, wafting through the bar at just the right decibels for a place that doesn't take too many to make it feel full. It's a poignant moment.<br />
<br />
If only the day was 30 hours long. Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-56672589481672102672013-05-01T13:30:00.004-05:002013-05-01T13:30:50.538-05:00The State of the Texas Craft Beer Scene Part 1: 'A Fort Night' ft. Martin House BrewingIn what is hoped to become a semi-regular feature of [AA], the writers (that's "writers" without the 's') of this spotty publication will attempt to occasionally examine the current state of affairs regarding the craft beer scene in this Great State; it being a reeaaally long limb to step out onto, given that nothing else appears to be as healthy economically, socially, and culturally within the last 28 months than small beer -- and thusly, becomes a pretty goddam easy thing to babble on and on about.<br />
<br />
Whenever there is a flourishing industry in which success is measured by a precarious equation of two-parts popularity and one-part quality, competitors often view the achievements of others as a personal affront, as if being robbed of something that is rightfully theirs. You see it all the time in various enterprises of retail or consumables -- two areas in which craft beer uniquely operates under a single umbrella -- yet remains the example of the one, single, resolute outlier without industry cannibalism.<br />
<br />
As it stands at <i>this </i>moment, brewers, investors, capitalists, politicians, and the general collective of craft fans appear to be at the height of satisfaction with small beer's state of affairs, given its cultural and economic impact on communities all over Texas -- and in large part, the entire country.<br />
<br />
Recently, I had the opportunity to broaden my exposure to the hyper-local craft beer scenes in other Texas cities beyond my beer-sopped interests of Travis County -- and so, with Mrs. [AA] as my forever companion in kickassery, we went looking for raucous piss-ups in Fort Worth for a night of exploring and matrimonial bonding through the medium of hopped-and-malted fermentables. <br />
<br />
BEER, is there anything it can't do?<br />
<br />
<b>PART 1: FORT WORTH, TEXAS</b><br />
<br />
In civic terms, there appears to be a bit of a wince from the Fort Worth populace when packaging the 'FW' into the equation of 'D' as part of the running Metroplexial summation. This is to say that a bit of escapism is practiced by the local Fort Worth demographic from the banalities of being Dallas' little sister -- and with no disrespect to Dallas -- I don't blame them for it. <br />
<br />
Fort Worth, on its own, is such a magnificent city that it appears a total injustice for it to be packaged as the salsa to Dallas' tortilla chip -- as if Big D is the only vehicle in which Fort Worth can be properly enjoyed, an axiom found by the [AA]'s to be wholly untrue.<br />
<br />
Instead, Fort Worth is bacon. And Dallas is eggs. And though they are dependable companions, each can be thoroughly enjoyed without the help of its geographical ally. <br />
<br />
And so this is what we did. A full porcine helping of Fort Worth's belly meat -- first stop, Panther Island Pavilion.<br />
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<br />
Excuse me while I plagiarize a bit of my own work, but in another publication about the Fort Worth's Untapped Music and Beer Festival, I wrote about how at some point in time, someone, somewhere opined, "<i>whatever happens in indie music happens in craft beer</i>".<br />
<br />
Truthfully, nobody has <i>actually </i>ever said that -- but if someone had, the theory
would hold up well: quality collaborations, mashups, harshly palatable grimecore, revivalism, and, ultimately, the showy-showy showcases of talent in the form of a festival circuit.<br />
<br />
To me, its seems positively mad that these two mediums -- craft beer and indie music -- have never been aligned in a completely determined way, being that they are so analogous on so many levels. Here, in Fort Worth (and in Dallas at the later half of 2012), the two were masterfully allowed to cross-pollinate on a rather gorgeous Saturday in the spring.<br />
<br />
Apart from the gorgeous weather and clever musical narration, what made this festival a relevant example of Fort Worth's emergent beer scene was: 1) The impressively visible representation of North Texas' breweries who were proudly serving their new, yet fully gratifying line-up of beers, and 2) The very appreciative and prescient crowd who expertly gravitated to the beer tents like old ladies to multiple-play bingo. There was a definitive air of knowledge on the festival grounds that day, and left me with the impression that the people of Fort Worth are serious-to-fuck about great beer. For its size, I would be hard-pressed to think of a more well-organized and better-curated beer event than Fort Worth's Untapped.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vYWVtK6oYlU/UXlNyOXkZ4I/AAAAAAAAB4I/O7FZUccrnO0/s1600/RahrCheechChong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vYWVtK6oYlU/UXlNyOXkZ4I/AAAAAAAAB4I/O7FZUccrnO0/s640/RahrCheechChong.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Beside the obvious treasures of [AA] family-favorite Founder's Kentucky Breakfast Stout and Firestone Walker's hot-tag of Parabola and §ucaba, one could find limited treasures from Fort Worth's <a href="http://www.rahrbrewing.com/" target="_blank">Rahr & Sons Brewing</a> in the form of two casks named Cheech (Imperial Red dry hopped with Galaxy and aged on Spanish cedar) and Chong (IPA with hemp seed and jalapeno), a not-so-subtle head nod to the event's coincidental calendar date.<br />
<br />
For a community of beerists who tend to become very pretentious over time in rather unfair fashion -- and who often say unspeakable shit like, "<i>OK, now fucking impress me</i>" the beer vendors at Untapped had the attention of every single person in attendance, including us reprobates from [AA], who continued throughout the day to shoot flirty eye-boners at the tent handling Fort Worth's <i>newest </i>brewery, <a href="http://martinhousebrewing.com/" target="_blank">Martin House</a>.<br />
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The thing with beer festivals in general is that its a bit like being in the Beer ICU, where one is on a steady drip of booze and pharmaceuticals all day and its veeery fucking easy to get inadvertently ruined. Sometimes, you need a break from the 2oz sampling -- and strangely enough, the best way to do this is to get a proper pour of single beer to recalibrate the system. <br />
<br />
Brilliantly, Untapped made it simple to achieve this typically-impossible beer festival task by offering pours for a measly five skins.<br />
<br />
And as a result, we elected Martin House's River House Saison to transition us from an afternoon of boozing in Fort worth to an evening of boozing in Fort Worth. Congratulations to us.<br />
<br />
River House Saison was the jaunty banjo of foot tapping Americana -- an excellent interpretation of a Wallonian, but not distinctly Belgian at all. Instead it reflected on the heritage of the old-world while maintaining the ambiance of mid-century, mid-American brewing, then juxtaposed with a modern lo-fidelity texture, like Justin Vernon recording in the summer kitchen of a small stone house by some fucking woods or whatever.<br />
<br />
River House maintained steady cohesion and great control from its brewers, who despite brevity in business, appear to be expert in skill. River House was citrusy with foraging wheat and underlying fruit spices. It really impressed with its refreshing and bright complexity, but understated composites.<br />
<br />
It set us in a good direction<b>.</b><br />
<br />
<b>ABV </b>~5.o%<br />
<b>Acquired </b><a href="https://twitter.com/Untapped_Fest" target="_blank">Untapped Festival</a> [Ft. Worth]<br />
<b>Can I Find This in Austin?</b> Not yet, but canning is forthcoming and I'm feeling lucky.<br />
<b>Album Pairing </b><a href="http://open.spotify.com/album/6CdkH0tnm2hsk07nL5AKTW" target="_blank">Volcano Choir | Unmap</a> (2009)<br />
<span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">☆</span><span class="st">☆</span><br />
<br />
And thus, after a light dinner we gathered ourselves again, because the enjoyment of beer is not something that we ever run out of.<br />
<br />
We drifted on to two of many highly recommended beer bars in the approximate areas of downtown and the Mockingbird area -- <a href="http://www.eightobar.com/" target="_blank">The OG Saucer</a> and <a href="http://theliveoak.com/" target="_blank">The Live Oak Music Hall and Lounge</a>. I'm a bit envious that 1) Their Saucer actually does NOT suck like the Austin one does, which is shameful because the Austin Saucer has proximal advantages that many other Austin beer bars don't, and has the corporate backing to bring in heavy hitters, like the aforementioned Founder's KBS, and 2) Fort Worth has a very legitimate, very permanent, very seamless venue for craft beer and live music in the form of The Live Oak, which beyond the badassedness of that alone, is curated and portered by the venerable <a href="https://twitter.com/BeerPedaler" target="_blank">Tony Drewry</a> of Tony Drewry fame. The melting of minds caused us to bail on our final destination, <a href="http://www.gr8ale.com/" target="_blank">Zio Carlo Brewpub</a>.<br />
<br />
But, we left ourselves a reason to return.<br />
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Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-91393633883778284362013-04-08T10:59:00.003-05:002013-04-08T11:14:43.323-05:00Hops & Grain's 'The One They Call Zoe': Austin's (new) Most Important BeerPale lagers are the world's most pervasive beer style, and any one of you reading this has undoubtedly drank your age in kegs of it. <br />
<br />
Budweiser is a pale lager. Yep, the King of Beers. So is the 'ol Silver Bullet. And all the scenester standards -- them too: Old Style, Hamm's, Pabst, Lone Star, Schlitz, you name it. Even [AA] grad-school-staple Michelob (in the lava lamp bottle -- fuck, can we bring those back yet?) is a pale lager. Its easy drinking stuff and as genetically ingrained in American conventionalism as the 2nd Amendment and loving Taco Bell at 3AM. Simply put, pale lagers are safe and agreeable in almost every way: mild in flavor, low alcohol, and a disarming color that prevents people from perioding down the front of their pants. <br />
<br />
The problem is, is that these <i>'beers'</i> are dependent on mass-producing technology and cheap ingredients, like corn and rice fillers to mimic an all-malt bill. But what those additives impart, is a sickly sweet (corn), abnormally dry (rice), apparition of a true pale lager. Essentially, Anheuser-Busch and its ilk have castrated the balls of a traditionally round and robust beer style in favor of a gimmick called <i>"drinkability"</i>. What in the entire hell does that even mean? Well, I'll tell you what it means: it means that the product is inoffensive. <i>'Drinkability'</i> is basically the equivalent of boneless fucking buffalo wings. <br />
<br />
This city, Austin, -- and any of Hops & Grain's reachable market -- is about to be turned on to something called<i> 'Affability'</i>, the central thesis of the most approachable, good-natured, and transcendent beer to approach the city in a decade. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-42khBo_4UNw/UVwxvTe8YTI/AAAAAAAAB3g/VXUgZQxcPFg/s1600/HopsandGrainZoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-42khBo_4UNw/UVwxvTe8YTI/AAAAAAAAB3g/VXUgZQxcPFg/s640/HopsandGrainZoe.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Hops & Grain's <i>The One They Call Zoe</i> will take over the long-vacated position of Austin's 'gateway beer', where Real Ale's Fireman's #4 left a gaping hole when trained palates became too enduring for a light, golden ale. It will responsibly be tasked to herald in the next generation of the craft-curious, the same way Austinites were escorted through the desolation of the 1990s by Celis Pale Bock and the open experimentation of the early-aughts by Fireman's #4.<br />
<br />
Zoe clears the smokescreen of what is considered seasonal beer drinking by the general beer populace,
but a term itself under scrutiny by Austinites because of our weak temperature transitions. Zoe provides the relaxed spirit of a medium-bodied, appropriately pigmented, slightly sweet, and brightly gratifying beer one would expect to find in the spring and summer, yet, roundly robust, with a clever hop finish that would also be appropriate to drink in the autumn months along with the two days in February called winter. This beer has year-long endurance. A game changer.<br />
<br />
Immediately, I associated Zoe with a kolsch beer -- a criminally
underrepresented style in the Central Texas, provided our heavily influential German roots, reckless summers, and mild ancillary seasons. Kolsch beers are designed for a place like Austin, given its clean, uncomplicated, and refreshing composition, but also its textured and bold flavor disposition -- like Natalie Portman's navel: tender with a light peach fuzz. Zoe is a fresh white
girl. Its amazing how great something can taste when care is used.<br />
<br />
Here is the final stroke of genius with<i> Zoe as a kolsch</i>: It is a natural rival of Hops & Grain's own <a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2012/07/beer-day-alt-eration-hops-grain-brewing.html" target="_blank">Altbier</a> -- essentially the <a href="http://beersnsuch.com/?p=188" target="_blank">Texas-ou rivalry of German beer folklore</a>.
Fortunately, we are not forced to take a side in that battle and we can enjoy the fruits of competition. <br />
<br />
So, for a measly $2 more per-pack than any other corn-and-rice pale lager at any local grocery chain (thats <span class="st">¢33.3 more per can, for you Fine Arts grads), </span>one can procure a beer that uses proper ingredients, brewed with sustainable practice in mind, and crafted by an actual human person. Its one hell of a deal that will get you by on a year-round basis. Besides, we can't be expect to get passed these bastards-for-summers with only Pearl Snap and Hans Pils at our disposal, now can we?<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>ABV </b>5.1%<br />
<b>Acquired </b><a href="https://twitter.com/HancockBeer" target="_blank">HEB Hancock</a><br />
<b>Can I Find This in Austin?</b> You bet. Also, H&G is shipping some stuff to Houston now. Excite!<br />
<b>Album Pairing </b>Josh Ritter | The Beast In Its Tracks (2013)<br />
<span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st"></span>Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-55279546412429262892013-03-21T12:30:00.002-05:002013-03-22T11:38:34.222-05:00Sunday Hombre Funday Pt 2: No Cruza Enfrente del Autobus! (The #3 Pub Crawl)<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9376347733769216" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Twitternet has a habit of making pals out of strangers and because of some general common interests, like beer and music and America's war on sarcasm, the gents at the <a href="http://www.austinbeerguide.com/" target="_blank">Austin Beer Guide</a> have had ourselves some pretty hilarious online banter. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9376347733769216" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Online affairs between social media dweebs, however, only keep their pretty sheen for so long before things wears off into perilous awkwardness. Reflecting back, the ABG fellas </span><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9376347733769216" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">are the kind of dudes who will only passingly acknowledge my massive brilliance in 140 character micro blogging, so</span><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9376347733769216" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, we did as chaps do, and that was to meet for beers IRL (In Real Life, Twitternoobs).</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9376347733769216" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The plan was to entrust our Sunday to Capitol Metro and its <a href="https://twitter.com/the3bus" target="_blank">#3 bus</a>, and rely on our vital organs to see us through the madness to Monday morning. And because I put a ton of value on </span>professional development from those who allege beer-drinking-and-beer-writing as their forte, I was down for some continuing education from the ambassadors of Austin's beer scene. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">These are the lessons I learned on <b>Sunday Hombre Funday Pt 2: </b><b>No Cruza Enfrente del <span class="highlight">Autobus</span></b>, or<b> How to Crawl Pubs on the</b><b> #3 with Two Bucks and a Debit Card</b>. (Read Hombre Sunday Funday Pt 1, <a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2012/05/beer-day-hombre-sunday-funday-hops.html" target="_blank">here</a>)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>[note: names have been withheld to protect the guilty. -- AA] </i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>10 AM</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Its early as shit for a beer crawl, but thats cos we are living in the wilds of wives and kids. As a pittance, we offer said wives/kids the opportunity to send us off on our voyage with a last-supper-like brunch, where a balloon man makes a solid bid for the gig of 'foul entertainment/talent' for the ABG Spring Release party. Things are off to a great start.<span id="internal-source-marker_0.9376347733769216" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9376347733769216" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">After we feast on light fare like fucking warriors, we dismiss the progeny and balloon talent away from the restaurant so that we may focus on our mission of conquering the bar portion of <b><a href="http://nxnwbrew.com/" target="_blank">NX</a></b><b><a href="http://nxnwbrew.com/" target="_blank">NW</a></b> (Stop 1). In a toast to men's </span>liberation, we all drain a tulip of something barrel-aged like a murder of bosses. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9376347733769216" style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Lesson 1: When </b></span></i></span></span><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9376347733769216" style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">on a pub crawl with unfamiliars, always order the barrel-aged option to establish dominance, or else order something low-alcohol. Its like the unwritten, but mutually acknowledged prison rule of either kicking the baddest dude's ass right away, or offer to becom<span style="font-size: small;">e</span> someone's bitch. You want to let everyone know right away where you stand.</span></b></span></b><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9376347733769216" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9376347733769216" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We set out in Austin's northern wasteland suburbia in search of the most elusive fucking bus stop on Cap Metros entire map. One would suspect given the ocean of surface parking and low-rise apartment complexes, these things would be easy to find. Shit, there it is. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Lesson 2: Catch an early buzz because you're going to need it on the #3 Bus Pub Crawl. This ties in with rule #1. The first bus hunt is a bitch. We're not telling where it is.</b></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>11:15 AM</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_I_1LPzlsVM/UUp2zfSx1mI/AAAAAAAAB3E/V-natiQkaVU/s1600/forrest-gump.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_I_1LPzlsVM/UUp2zfSx1mI/AAAAAAAAB3E/V-natiQkaVU/s640/forrest-gump.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>11:45 AM</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The main expectation of any bar tour that the first <i>real </i>stop will be something pretty damn special. If you do it right and follow this guide, this is absolutely the case for this crawl. <b><a href="http://www.buddysplaceatx.com/" target="_blank">Buddy's Place</a></b> (Stop 2) is the oft-forgotten fourth stop on the overrated Burnet dive bar tour, we're saving it today from pub crawl exile.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">We stroll into the limo-dark bar the way five lardy idiots from the internet would ...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ffJM7atrMGU/UUp2mMzu0_I/AAAAAAAAB28/m0jp0idRfN0/s1600/Bonjour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ffJM7atrMGU/UUp2mMzu0_I/AAAAAAAAB28/m0jp0idRfN0/s400/Bonjour.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Every time I stumble into a dive, I get the feeling that I'm fucking up some foreign-war townie's day as a result of my enthusiasm towards their favorite joint. As a sign of humility and recognition of this, five beer nerds order five Lone Stars, ignoring Buddy's singular craft beer choice -- Boulevard's Single Wide IPA (I'm imagining Buddy on a Wild Turkey bender with the Keg One rep, being convinced that this is what would bring the jerks on a pub crawl into this bar. Wrong, Buddy. It's Lone Star.). None of us are into vintage IPAs, anyway, so we pass and head over to the jukebox to load it with a shitload of Bob Seger. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eventually, between shuffle board games and Night Moves, someone notices that we should hustle to catch the next bus -- but urgency will not be in the cards today with this group. We go back to our Seger and Lone Stars.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Lesson 3: Always bring a roll of quarters for the occasional chance of lifting a townie's spirit through the magic of heartland rock. </b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">12:20 PM</span></span></i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">Balls. Missed the bus. We think. Some of us keep staring up Burnet Road like passengers waiting to de-plane in row 55, while others try to figure out Cap Metro's QR code (which is surprisingly accurate, come to discover). We need this guy to attract our ride ...</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kwIe2hEFpmA/UUp28-ZAViI/AAAAAAAAB3M/NUjF6xO-6Ag/s1600/Bus+Stop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kwIe2hEFpmA/UUp28-ZAViI/AAAAAAAAB3M/NUjF6xO-6Ag/s640/Bus+Stop.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">We think we have 20 minutes until the next pick up, which in crawl-years, is like two decades -- so we have some time to kill in any place in the vicinity serving anything stronger than Snapple. <b> </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Lesson 4: Technology. Use it or lose it. </span></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>12:25 PM</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://www.waterlooicehouse.com/" target="_blank">Waterloo Ice House</a></b> (Stop 2.5) smells like a fucking glazed donut inside. Someone in the group mentions how depressing the place is. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">No shit. How can you call a bar Waterloo Ice House, and then give it absolutely no balls at all?</span> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Although there is a wall-length beer fridge and several taps facing us with what seem like pretty decent selection of craft beer, no one wants to really hang out too long in Waterloo effen Ice House as the next #3 wheezes past us with that cock</span>strain buses seem to use when ambling around town. We are more uncertain about the ordering protocol here than we were at Buddy's Place, so we just order a pitcher of something benign and dwell upon our thoughts quietly. All this glazed donut odor make me wish we'd been stranded at the Applebee's instead, so I could drink one of those signature frothy cocktails. What are those things called? Mud Slide<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st">s®?<b> </b></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><b>Lesson 5: A well-timed pitcher can prevent over-ordering in a pub crawl time pinch. These are called Pinchers</b></span></span></span><b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><span style="color: #cc0000;">®</span>.</span></span></span></span></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>1:10 PM</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st">Finally on the dang bus again and we're headed to <b><a href="http://www.hopdoddy.com/" target="_blank">Hop</a></b><b><a href="http://www.hopdoddy.com/" target="_blank">do</a></b><b><a href="http://www.hopdoddy.com/" target="_blank">ddy Burger Bar</a></b> (Stop 3) for reasons I'm unwilling to accept, because Hopdoddy on a Saturday afternoon in a <i>starter-home, two-kid</i> Austin district is like walking up to the Fader Fort during a Fleet Foxes set. I pause at the entrance because I'm not sure if I needed to RSVP for this shit. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EHu9V3nMWAA/UUn2GFQJLLI/AAAAAAAAB2U/IZs6AcwiudY/s1600/fader+fort.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="444" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EHu9V3nMWAA/UUn2GFQJLLI/AAAAAAAAB2U/IZs6AcwiudY/s640/fader+fort.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st">Luckily, we've got people on the inside. They wave us through the swath of scene-dads, to where they are seated. Two of the 48 members of the <a href="http://bitchbeer.org/2013/03/20/3-bus-crawl-public-transportation-public-intoxication-public-urination/" target="_blank">Bitch Beer Blog</a> have real estate at the bar. Ok, fine. I'm humming <i>Helplessness Blues</i> out loud.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st">Aside from the fact that it looks like Hopdoddy is </span></span></span></span>giving away free MacBooks, we feel comfortable enough to order some really good shit from the bartender, though he is slammed with pouring enormous goblets of beer to meat-choked daddies. Fortunately, the ABG crew has no conscience and orders everyone a round of drinks. Then another. While most of us decide on something crafty, like Austin Beerworks Pearl Snap and <a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2012/07/beer-day-alt-eration-hops-grain-brewing.html" target="_blank">Hops & Grain Alt-eration</a>, one master-level crawler (male) in the group actually orders a bombastic drink that looks like this:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rT7tbHGJ-gQ/UUn2wisSmDI/AAAAAAAAB2c/A8OFQmJoWJI/s1600/idrinkacoronadrink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rT7tbHGJ-gQ/UUn2wisSmDI/AAAAAAAAB2c/A8OFQmJoWJI/s640/idrinkacoronadrink.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><b>Lesson 6: Ironic drinks are the new ironic hats. </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st">Finally, my brain is treading in its own cerebrospinal fluid a little bit. Goodness, yes, a buzz. Who's ready to fucking party? But wait -- the familiar stab of fear as we gather ourselves to leave ... more folding of the arms, more northward gazing up Burnet for our public carriage. I order </span></span></span></span>one more for the road. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Lesson 7: Between the decision of yes and no, <u>a</u><u>lways</u> order another.</span> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><i>2:15 PM</i><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="st">We're on the porch of <a href="http://billysonburnet.com/" target="_blank"><b>Billy's on Burnet</b></a></span></span></span></span> (Stop 4), which is frankly one of the best beer bars in all of Austin. Its also a place where, individually, we've all spent an immeasurable hours enjoying sunshine and fantastic pints of local brews. Everyone is cool and collected and knows all the words to the song. Billy's isn't a challenge. Billy's isn't difficult. Billy's is home. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Lesson 8: Pub crawls are pointless so long as Billy's still exists.</b></span></span></span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>3:30 PM</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mercifully, we ditch the bus and hoof it over to <b><a href="http://pinthousepizza.com/" target="_blank">Pinthouse Pizza</a></b> (Stop 5). I'm starting to feel whatever pint it was that I ordered at Billy's that I actually had two of. Everything is great. I browse the beer board and notice that Pinthouse still has the barrel-aged imperial stout magic that is <i>Jaguar Shark</i> on tap. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><!------><!------> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J7MDNGa--yo/UUp2cnsN6uI/AAAAAAAAB20/ysOv9iBd0BQ/s1600/Wargames_Computer_Screenshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J7MDNGa--yo/UUp2cnsN6uI/AAAAAAAAB20/ysOv9iBd0BQ/s640/Wargames_Computer_Screenshot.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Pinthouse Pizza Beer Board:</b> <i>Shall we play a game?</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>An Avenue:</b> Love to. How about Jaguar Shark?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>PHPBB:</b> <i>Wouldn't you prefer a good session beer?</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>AA: </b>Later. Let's play Jaguar Shark.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>PHPBB:</b> <i>Fine. </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jaguar Shark is the anesthetic on my face that I'd been waiting for all afternoon. Now my mouth is flapping away and my tongue moves like it has fur on it. This is the salve of a barrel-aged imperial stout. A great one. This is fun. I am having fun.<i> </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm pretty buzzed.<i> </i></span></span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Lesson 9: Lesson 1 is bullshit. Never order a barrel-aged beer while on a pub tour. The winning move is ... not to play.</b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">I think I'm getting fucked up. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>4:30 PM</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">If Billy's is our home, then <b><a href="http://www.draughthouse.com/" target="_blank">The Draught House</a> </b>(Stop 6) is our church -- the place where we all congregate and worship and gossip and speak in tongues. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The guys discuss the possiblility of beginning an online Kickstarter for money towards a ride back to our houses. Why did we turn this hobby into a job? ...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>5:30 PM</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">... but through the shrubbery of the pub's trough gardens, our wives! Our children! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rides home! Salvation!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Lesson 10: The enduring truth? Get married. Its a ride home from the #3 pub crawl.</b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b90uUUYREB4/UUp1-0vDPOI/AAAAAAAAB2s/EM5XlHHj5lM/s1600/friends-tv-show.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b90uUUYREB4/UUp1-0vDPOI/AAAAAAAAB2s/EM5XlHHj5lM/s640/friends-tv-show.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><span style="color: black;">Note: I stole all of these pictures off of the internet. I know its hard to believe they weren't from the actual crawl. Bonus lesson: bring a camera.</span></i><b> </b></span></span></span> Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195931605198292814.post-19009410842221844792013-03-07T11:23:00.000-06:002013-03-07T11:57:32.441-06:00Bishop's Barrel #2 Chardonnay Barrel-Aged Old Ale on Cherries | Saint Arnold Brewing | Houston, TX<span style="font-family: inherit;">I only recently realized that t<span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">he
way I've been buying beer over the course of the last two years is just absolutely horrifying to me. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I'm not necessarily referring to the financial angle of my beer buying habits, no -- though that it is equally retch inducing. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I'm speaking of matters a bit more emotive in terms of <i>how </i>I'm buying beer lately. I suspect that the natural evolution of beer nerdery is the progressive hunt for a better hit than the previous one. The last whiskey barrel aged beer gave a four hour erection? Super. Then the next one better be a heart-arresting thrill ride to Boys Town. I suspect that similar to <i>actual </i>junkies, beer hounds are looking for quality grade drugs in an ocean of Okie-caliber meth. Well, okay, that's not entirely fair to the craft industry who makes very agreeable, sessionable, school-night beers -- however the theory still remains: </span><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I'm an abject street cat who has savored the taste of </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ōtoro and is experiencing difficulty going back to a diet of StarKist on the weekdays. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My beer buying habits reflect this.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Almost dissolved in the [AA] household is the dependable joy of committing to a 12-pack of microbrew for the explicit duty of getting us through the work week, for welcoming friends over to the porch, lining up the small infantry of recyclable musketeers on the rail like the skins of a hunt. A 12-pack of fresh, grocery store bottles cramming the top shelf of the house fridge like a stack of Kinks or Otis Redding albums on the turntable denoting very imminent sensory pleasure. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">At some point during the crossover from enjoying beer, to fussing over beer, the idea to stock the fridge with reliable friends goes away, and the focus shifts to the next great hit from the beer cellar. Fuck all that. Drinking craft used to be about the atmosphere and the company and the stack of records serenading us through the open window. I'm gonna get back to that. I'm going to leave all that slapdickery about "shelf beer" to the micropenises on Beer Advocate. Because that's the kind of misery someone too involved with being a beer junkie should have to deal with.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">---- </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I started drinking handsomely crafted ales in the pub mentioned at the bottom of this piece many years before I should have been legally able to; long before admission into Local State University -- possibly around the time many of you reading were still fapping to Six from Blossom, admiring your neighbor's Ford Probe, and talking shit on Netscape. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Back then, craft beer came from England, and Belgium, and Germany -- but instead of craft beer, we called them '<i>imports</i>' to denote our acquaintance with a higher class of beer. These early beer bars were more like English- or Irish-style pubs, filled to the rafters with pre-conglomerate draws of aristocratic shit like Newcastle and Bass and Hoegaarden. There were so few American microbrews represented, it almost seems comical to refer back to them now as the harbingers of Texas craft: A single variety of Shiner, Celis Pale Bock, Celis Raspberry, and Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blonde. </span></span>Breweries which, at the time, just kind of flitted around making less beer than the big guys spilled. <br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And though The Ginger Man was where I went to get my Tetley's and Half & Halfs and Carlsbergs, </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> not many Americans ever really seemed to quite connect with them as well as we do their later American counterparts, like interpreting Aussie Rules Football to the NFL.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">----</span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am thankful to have had cool and interesting parents who, during our youths, thought the idea of taking their kids to lunch at a brewpub or a tour through a production brewery was solid vacation entertainment. If nothing else, I owe it to them to get back to the true nature of enjoying craft beer, without all the fuss of looking for that final hit. I try to explain it to them now, but I can see that it bores them. They aren't even really drinkers, so to speak. To them, craft beer it was all about atmosphere and culture -- like the 1990s version of the Ginger Man vibe or a 12-pack between friends. </span><br />
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<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-akbyknZUm60/USzL78XwATI/AAAAAAAABx4/tszlq1fH4oU/s1600/SaintArnoldBB2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-akbyknZUm60/USzL78XwATI/AAAAAAAABx4/tszlq1fH4oU/s640/SaintArnoldBB2.jpg" width="382" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Only recently did I return to The Ginger Man to remember what all that fuss was about two decades ago. And although the location is different, it was nice to reflect on all that budding nostalgia from my school days, which I've carried with me for a long time now. </span></span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8994792198606147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Its really spectacular to see the G-Man beer-wall evolve like the palate of some youthful punter into an honorable gentleman -- from flouty imports, to casually dabbling in national microbrews, to a nearly-exclusive local culling of craft beer. In my opinion, this is the proper way to handle the hobby -- a solid selection of perennials with a <i>sometimes </i>treat from their limited release selection. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On this night, the Ginger Man was offering something pretty interesting: Bishop's Barrel #2 by Saint Arnold Brewery, the successive iteration of an [AA] favorite, </span><a href="http://www.craftisbetter.com/2012/11/a-beer-day-bishops-barrel-1-bourbon.html" target="_blank">Bishop's Barrel #1</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. And so, after a round of workday regulars, we ordered one, though, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">in a move towards declassifying beer as <i>special</i> or <i>necessary</i>, this one was casually ordered and parsed between friends. </span><span class="st">This was to be my <i>final </i>hit, but let's be clear about this. There's final hits and <i>final hits</i>. What kind was this to be?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bishop's Barrel #2 is the result of taking Saint Arnold's Christmas Ale, adding sour cherries, and aging in Chardonnay barrels over the course of 14 months. The brewery only released a few more than 1,100 cases of it, and a few of them reached Austin, intended to be sold exclusively in bars and restaurants around town. Naturally, this caused a bit of a stir with the beer community who began heavy pursuit of the few out there for public-only consumption. </span><br />
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What I found interesting about this beer that had been put away for 14 months to ferment and gain specific characteristics, is that it really started strong and faded quickly, like nickel bubble gum or a Daniel Johnston gig. There is a definitive sherry note, which is really capable of directing the beer, yet it dissolves into a sloppy finish of slick white wine. I must have missed the oak entirely. Like, in every sip it takes to finish twelve ounces.<br />
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I suppose I expected something that had aged for 14 months and carried a very respectable 8% ABV to be a bit more muscular and mature. Overall, it was a nice beer, just not spectacular as was BB1. It was like a really good band's third album, leaving me just a bit underwhelmed and anticipatory.<br />
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But that is okay, you see: I'm choosing life, I'm choosing a job, I'm choosing a big fucking television, washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers. And I'm choosing a future of Lawnmowers on the porch. Twelve of them. Just between me and my mates.<br />
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<b>ABV </b>7.8%<br />
<b>Acquired </b>The Ginger Man [Austin]<br />
<b>Can I Find This in Austin?</b> It will likely pop up here-and-there over the next few months.<br />
<b>Album Pairing </b>Third Eye Blind | Out of the Vein (2003)<br />
<span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">★</span><span class="st">☆</span><span class="st">☆</span><span class="st">☆</span>Mo G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09879208749124584739noreply@blogger.com0