Texas Brewers at 2012 World Beer Cup

More Texas breweries won medals at the 2012 Brewers Association World Beer Cup. The winners were announced May 5th at the conclusion of the annual Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego, California.

Recognized Texas brewers include:

• Düsseldorf-style Altbier: Gold for Alt-eration from Hops & Grain
• Pumpkin Beer: Silver for Pumpkinator from Saint Arnold
• Imperial IPA: Silver for Endeavour from Saint Arnold
• Weizenbock: Silver for Primus from Live Oak
• American-style Dark Lager: Silver for Shiner Bock from Spoetzl
• American-style Dark Lager: Bronze for Santo from Saint Arnold

The World Beer Cup is a judged competition held every two years and sponsored by the Brewers Association, the craft beer industry's professional organization. This year's competition included more than 3900 beers from 799 brewers in 54 countries.

Awards are given in 95 different style categories of beer, with the top three beers recognized with gold, silver and bronze medals.

Austin Microbreweries in Daily Texan

BREWERS IN THE NEWS

A short guide to the Austin microbreweries appeared in the University of Texas' The Daily Texan as "Beer me: Mandy's guide to Austin microbrews." The piece includes brief profiles of Live Oak, Independence and (512) Brewing.

Live Oak Plans New Facilities

Live Oak announced that it has acquired 20 acres on the Colorado River north of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport with an intent to construct new brewing facilities. Current plans to install a bottling operation were stalled due to lack of space in their current facilities east of I-35. The new location will provide ample room for expanded production and a long-awaited bottling line.

According to owner and brewer Chip McElroy,"Don’t start holding your breath for bottles yet. Keep looking for our beers on tap. It will take us a couple of years to get the new brewery completed.”

Live Oak Primus Weizenbock

Live Oak announced the release of a new winter seasonal named Primus Weizenbock. Celebrating their one-thousandth batch brewed, this new weizenbock will join their other current products in seasonal rotation. It is named after Jan Primus, the thirteenth-century Duke of Brabant, known today as the legendary royal patron of brewing, Gambrinus.

Primus is brewed using a decoction mash and will have a final strength of 8% ABV. It will be available on tap in December.

Ginger Man Hosts "Texas Breweries" Tasting

The Ginger Man will host a "Texas Breweries" tasting at its Austin location on Monday, August 4th.

The tasting will include selections from five different Texas breweries such as Real Ale, Live Oak and Saint Arnold, as well as a few surprise guests as yet unannounced. Head brewers from the Austin-local breweries will also be present to lead the tasting and field questions.

Update: One of the unannounced breweries will be (512) Brewing, with owner and brewer Kevin Brand attending.

Live Oak at the Smithsonian

Live Oak Brewing has been invited to the Smithsonian Institute's Beer Gazetteer 2008 series next week. The invitation includes a tasting of Live Oak beers at the famous Brickskeller pub in Washington, DC, as well as a lecture by owner and brewer Chip McElroy.

The Smithsonian Resident Associate Program presents their Beer Gazetteer series each summer. For six weeks, various microbrewers from around the United States and Canada are invited to present their beers and short lectures for the public. Invited breweries this year include Live Oak, Capital Brewing of Wisconsin, Southampton Publick House of New York, Full Sail Brewing of Oregon and the Canadian brewery Unibroue.

McElroy and Live Oak will be featured on Monday, July 14, from 7pm to 10pm. Availability of event tickets is questionable, as the series has already started.

Live Oak Anniversary Party

The Live Oak Brewery in Austin is holding its 11th anniversary party today, April 12th. An annual event, the anniversary party is held on-site at the brewery and includes tours, tastings, food and music. The businesses surrounding the brewery also usually join in with food and treats.

The event is free and runs from noon to 6 p.m.

Texas Brewers in the News

A snapshot summary of the 2008 Texas craft brewery scene entitled "Beer mugs runneth over" appeared in Tuesday's edition of the San Antonio Express-News.

Written by Travis Poling, reporter and beer columnist for the Express-News, the article touches on the status of new breweries such as (512) Brewing, Southern Star and Franconia, as well as the upcoming Freetail Brewing brewpub in San Antonio. Also mentioned is the recent Ben E. Keith acquisition as well as a number of out-of-state craft beers likely to appear here soon.

Additionally, a report by Lee Nichols appeared in the Austin Chronicle last Friday entitled "A Disaster Brewing," recounting the origins of the drastic current hop shortages and how local Austin brewers such as Live Oak, Uncle Billy's, North by Northwest and Real Ale have been impacted.

Ginger Man Hosts "Taste of Texas"

The Ginger Man hosted its first "Taste of Texas" beer tasting at its newest Fort Worth location yesterday, February 16th. A similar event is planned for its Dallas location next Saturday, February 23rd.

This tasting featured a selection of beers from various Texas brewers, including Real Ale, Live Oak, Saint Arnold and Rahr & Sons. Presenting their beers and fielding questions were Kendra Harrell (North Texas Sales, Saint Arnold), Chip McElroy (Brewer and Owner, Live Oak) and various staff members from the local Rahr & Sons brewery. Representatives from Real Ale were scheduled but unable to attend.

Points of note from the tasting include:

• Real Ale's next planned commercial beer will be called Real Heavy, a Scottish-style wee heavy due out later this year.
• Due to the recent hop shortage, Live Oak's Liberation IPA will be cut back to a seasonal offering. To compensate for customer demand, their year-round Pale Ale recipe will be modified slightly to near IPA strength and flavor.
• The next edition of Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve will depend on expected new equipment recieved at the brewery, both for timing and for style. Early delivery will mean added capacity for the next release of an in-house recipe this summer; late delivery will mean the next release will be taken from the winner of the Big Batch Brew Bash in May.
• Rahr & Sons featured a keg of their End of Winter Warmer, a limited release of their standard Winter Warmer aged in Maker's Mark bourbon barrels.

This "Taste of Texas" beer tasting is an annual event with the North Texas Ginger Man locations.