Texas Beer

[rtmguy]

Hi,

I live just South of Chicago and was on another board asking where I could find Lone Star beer near me. Ive had it a few times liked it and went to there site and got the impression it was the only beer down in Texas that people drank lol.. I got allot of kidding and questions why I would want to drink this stuff.

So anyone here have any comments on it and what other beers are popular in Texas and Oklahoma??

Thanks,
rtmguy

[Sladek]

Shiner, of course. Everyone drank Shiner Bock when I lived in Denton. I didn't dig it.

When I visited Austin, I always went to the Waterloo brewpub, now sadly closed. The Gingerman had some fantastic beers from Live Oak, including a wonderful Rye. And, of course, Celis was still around then. But generally, Texas is Bud country.

[Seymour]

Beg to differ. There are some great brews here in The Republic. Real Ale in Blanco brews some delicious beers. Their Full Moon Rye Pale Ale is a knockout. The Rio Blanco Pale Ale is good as well. Their Brewhouse Brown is good--for a brown. I don't really care for them. Their Fourhouse No. 4 Ale is also known as Alamo Beer, and is a solid brew. Down in Houston is St. Arnold's. They have a brown, an amber, and an IPA (Elissa, and it's fantastic). They also offer a pilsner, a kolsch, and a wheat, depending on the time of year. Up in Ft. Worth is Rahr Brothers. I can't vouch for their beer, but have heard good things. There are brewpubs in Houston, San Antone, Austin, Fort Worth, Dallas, Fredricksburg...I could go on and on, but this is not the beer wasteland one might think. Shiner and Lone Star are but the tip of the iceberg.

[HarkJohnny]

Shiner Bock was the worst beer I had last year, save for the Miller Lite at my bro's bachelor party.

[chazwicke]

[i]Originally posted by HarkJohnny Miller Lite at my bro's bachelor party. [/B]

:eek:

Shame on you!

[Xadoor]

After Bud, Miller, Coors... Shiner (owned by the Gambrinus Company) is probably the next most popular. Compared to the big macros though, Lone Star is actually pretty good.

Austin has a great beer culture, but quite a few brewpubs have closed recently or about to close. Independence Brewing is a new micro brewery that opened in the fall of 2004 and brewing some very good beers, including the house beer for Alamo Drafthouse Theatres.

Houston, unfortunately, has only one brewpub left, Two Rows, but it is home to St. Arnold's brewery. St Arnold's brews some pretty solid beers and can be found at most places in Houston. I would certainly recommend their brew over Shiner.

Dallas/Fort Worth has a couple of more brewpubs and home to the Rahr microbrewery.

There are a sprinkling of brewpubs around the state and there are some excellent beers being brewed here, but I would have to agree, Texas is a Bud drinking state.

[chazwicke]

Welcome to the board Xadoor
.

[I'mRocketMan]

Welcome Xadoor!

I can vouch for the St. Arnolds flight - All great beers! Real Ale's lineup is also very good! Try the Phoenix Double ESB! or the Shade-Grown Coffe Porter!! Simply excellent! Live Oak's flight is great too! So don't worry have a great brew!

I *have* been drinking Shiner Bock (and the used to be Premium) since 1977 or so... It's not too bad on draught! A buddy used to only get Shiner Bock in kegs for his annual O'fest party (11 yrs now?) I finally convinced him to set up a chest freezer and CO2 system to have cold beer at the casa! The latest keg is New Belguim's 1554 Brussel's style Black ale! He's learning ( almost a hop head LOL!)


Cheers! Rocket

[Sladek]

Originally posted by Seymour
Beg to differ. There are some great brews here in The Republic. Real Ale in Blanco brews some delicious beers. Their Full Moon Rye Pale Ale is a knockout. The Rio Blanco Pale Ale is good as well. Their Brewhouse Brown is good--for a brown. I don't really care for them. Their Fourhouse No. 4 Ale is also known as Alamo Beer, and is a solid brew. Down in Houston is St. Arnold's. They have a brown, an amber, and an IPA (Elissa, and it's fantastic). They also offer a pilsner, a kolsch, and a wheat, depending on the time of year. Up in Ft. Worth is Rahr Brothers. I can't vouch for their beer, but have heard good things. There are brewpubs in Houston, San Antone, Austin, Fort Worth, Dallas, Fredricksburg...I could go on and on, but this is not the beer wasteland one might think. Shiner and Lone Star are but the tip of the iceberg.
Full Moon Rye--that's what I was thinking of. That kicked ass. I also liked St. Arnold's.

I still think, compared to other places I've been and/or lived, like WI, Seattle, CA, TX was a hard place for good beer. Everyone I knew drank Shiner or Bud.

[HarkJohnny]

Originally posted by chazwicke
:eek:

Shame on you!

well i also had a sixlet of Goose Island Octoberfest.

but the nudie bar we went to later allowed you to bring your own beer in. how cool is that! the keg of ML was on the bus and we carried in whatever we wanted (bottles or cans). I drank good stuff until I ran out and then a few "cups" of ML on the bus. needless to say, at that point, I wasn't tasting much! lol

[Seymour]

Originally posted by Sladek
Full Moon Rye--that's what I was thinking of. That kicked ass. I also liked St. Arnold's.

I still think, compared to other places I've been and/or lived, like WI, Seattle, CA, TX was a hard place for good beer. Everyone I knew drank Shiner or Bud.

Now THAT'S true. Most stores locally have an immense cooler, stuffed to the gills with Bud and its clones. The better stores have Shiner's offerings (the winter dunkel and the summer kolsch actually aren't near bad), but the tiny token "premium" section usually has such ghastly offerings as Heineken, Grolsch, and Becks. And don't even get me started on those "malternatives". Blech. One has to know where to look to find good beer in Texas--with the exception, to a certain extent, of Austin.

[I'mRocketMan]

Check the newer/bigger HEB grocery stores...

Yesterday (2/10) I picked up:

Pyramid Snow Cap
Youngs Dirty Dick Ale
Rogue XS Impy IPA
Sierra Nevada Porter and Stout
Unibroue Don De Dieu
Bayhawk Chocolate Porter
Old Growler Porter ("Supreme Champion of G.B.)
Victory Hop Devil
Fuller's 1845
SN Bigfoot 2006

...among others!

[Beermaker]

I am a member of the St Arnolds Army, and I attend every Pub crawl when they bring out the seasonal stuff. I really like the Winter Bock, and the Spring Bock just hit too. Chrismas Ale is great. They just expanded to a new huge fermemntor. They have a thing on E-Bay where you can bid on naming the new fermentor anything you want to call it......in good taste.

[BREWERDLUX]

Texas does have some great beers. Real Ale, Live Oaks, St. Arnolds are several of the ones that bottle. Allot of good draft only brews.

[Sladek]

Originally posted by BREWERDLUX
Texas does have some great beers. Real Ale, Live Oaks, St. Arnolds are several of the ones that bottle. Allot of good draft only brews.
All good breweries; I was blown away by the Full Moon Rye, and St. Arnold's was good. That was the only of these breweries I could get in Denton at the time. Nothing in the area had anything good on draught.

[cluckk]

I live just South of Chicago and was on another board asking where I could find Lone Star beer near me. Ive had it a few times liked it and went to there site and got the impression it was the only beer down in Texas that people drank lol

I am originally from Ft Worth TX and to my recollection, the one beer not usually consumed in Texas is Lone Star. Yuck!!

The funniest thing is that it is not even made in Texas. It's made by Rainier in Washington State. I guess that why they have to try so hard to make you think its the drink of Texans.

[Seymour]

Once again, beg to differ. Lone Star, and now my beloved Rainier (alas) are both owned by Pabst, who has a ton of regional labels, all contract-brewed as I understand it. Rainier's still brewed in Washington, and Lone Star still in Texas, just not necessarily in the original breweries. Actually, currently Lone Star is indeed brewed IN Fort Worth.

And FWIW, even though I'm fully aware it's garbage, I still gleefully swill Lone Star. 'Course, I'm not a Texas native, and there's no accounting for taste...:D

[cluckk]

I'm sad to hear that Lone Star is being made in Texas. I figured tha state had better taste than that. I guess when its 110 degrees outside you just want something cold even if its wizz water.

[gwbeer242]

Other Beers Oringinally brewed in texas

-all Shiner lines, bock, light blonde(Shiner, Tx)
-Lone Star(San Antonio, Tx)
-Pearl & Pear Light (San Antonio, Tx)
-Ziegen Bock (Houston, Tx) by Anhaiser Busch

I enjoy them, Pearl is my least fav. Shiner Bock & Ziegenbock !! great

Never heard of Ziegenbock?? wouldnt be surpised. Ziegenbock is "an American bock with a clean finishin', full bodied tasted, that's brewed in Houston and available only in Texas."

^ another great reason for being Texan

-wes

[5pound_bass]

the Real Ale Brewery in Blanco is a great operation. Real down-home guys.

St. Arnolds makes some wonderful beers. (Lawnmower is a good beer also) they have a fun tour.

I really miss the Celis Brewery. IMO they made some of the most solid beers in the state. Celis Pale Bock was a great beer.

[Seymour]

Originally posted by 5pound_bass
the Real Ale Brewery in Blanco is a great operation. Real down-home guys.

St. Arnolds makes some wonderful beers. (Lawnmower is a good beer also) they have a fun tour.

I really miss the Celis Brewery. IMO they made some of the most solid beers in the state. Celis Pale Bock was a great beer.


Welcome. If you didn't see this before, it might interest you:

http://www.realbeer.com/news/articles/news-002902.php

[5pound_bass]

thanks seymour that sounds really interesting. I can't wait to see the results.