Greetings

Dallas has few diversions other than eating, drinking and shopping.....and shopping does not interest us.
So we spend our time hopping from restaurant to restaurant and to every pub that we can find in search of the perfect meal and the perfect beer.

We randomly review restaurants and bars, dishes and beers at whim and give our brutally honest opinions of our findings. And while we concentrate on Dallas, we travel far and wide to sample cuisine from all regions of the country and beyond.



Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Oscar Blues Pre-Austin Opening Events

OSKAR BLUES ANNOUNCES AUSTIN BURNING CAN (notjusta) BEER FEST & 4/20 SMOKE OUT IN ADVANCE OF THEIR TEXAS OPENING 

The Burning Can (notjusta) Beer Fest is an outdoor music-soaked celebration of craft beer in a can, featuring beer sampling, spectator sports, The Beer Relay race, and live music by the Drive-By Truckers with all proceeds benefitting CAN'd Aid Foundation 

Longmont, CO -- Oskar Blues Brewery, which announced plans to open a third brewery in Austin later this year, will host a pair of gritty, down-home music soaked experiences for Austinite's next month. The Colorado-based brewery's music roots run deep and their passion for all things outdoors paired with their obsessively crafted big brews are a perfect fit for the culture and lifestyle in Austin. OnWednesday, April 20th the anti-corporate genre-busting CAN-centric brewery will take over the Scoot Inn for a 4/20 "Smoke Out" followed by the Oskar Blue's signature celebration of craft beer in-a-can, Burning Can (notjusta) Beer Fest, onSaturday, 4/23 at Walter E. Long Park headlined by the Drive-By Truckers. 


The SCOOT INN SMOKE OUT - 4/20

Oskar Blues, in advance of their mid-May Texas launch, will host THE SCOOT INN SMOKE OUT on 4/20, featuring live music by J Roddy Walston and the Business, Nashville songstress Nikki Lane and a late night session with Austin's own Eagle Eye Williamson. Serving up The Scoot's famed smoked pork shoulder and authentic Texas BBQ, rare Oskar Blues brews and a stellar line-up of music, all proceeds from The Smoke Out will benefit the CAN'd Aid Foundation.

Oskar Blues Brewery's award-winning celebration of canned craft beer, Burning Can (notjusta) Beer fest (http://burningcan.com/) debuts in Austin on April 23, 2016. More than 30 craft breweries from around the country will be on hand to sample their canned brews and take part in the country's first active beer festival with live music, sport competitions, and a concert by Austin favorites Tameca JonesWhiskey Shivers and the Drive-by Truckers.

Burning Can also features participant and spectator sport competitions including 
The Beer Relay, a team trail running and beer drinking event. This four-hour competition is run in teams of two or four. Runners will complete as many 5k laps as possible within the four-hour time period. If they choose to drink Oskar Blues beer prior to their lap, they get two-minutes deducted from their lap time. The team with the most laps wins. 

Those who'd rather spectate than participate can watch legendary mountain bike freeriding and trials rider, Jeff Lenosky, perform jaw-dropping, not-to-be-missed demos at 2:30PM4:00PM and 5:30PM. Lenosky is a three-time National Champion and World Record Holder for the highest bunny hop on a mountain bike (45.5 inches).

This celebration of craft beer-in-a-can raises money for Can'd Aid Foundation. The CAN'd Aid Foundation is all about diggin' in and makin' a difference with their "do-goodery" program areas: Towns, Tunes, Treads + Trails and Love Yur Mama. The two-year-old public charity has raised nearly $2 million and has recently provided disaster relief assistance to South Carolina, North Texas and Flint, MI with fresh drinking water and rebuilding efforts through its "Towns" program. Look for additional events highlighting Can'd Aid Foundation's community do-goodery to surround their April events, including bike builds & giveaways and free music workshops and instrument donations. 

Burning Can in CO and NC were called "7 don't miss US beer fests" by CNN.


Check out Oskar Blues Brewery's website at www.oskarblues.com and the Oskar Blues Austin Facebook page / @OskarBluesATX twitter for additional details. #OBAustin #OskarBluesATX

About Oskar Blues Brewery 
Founded by Dale Katechis in 1997 in Lyons, Colorado, Oskar Blues Brewery launched the craft beer-in-a-can apocalypse with hand-canned, flagship brew Dale's Pale Ale. Today, Oskar Blues is one of the fastest growing breweries in the country and operates breweries in Longmont, Colorado and Brevard, North Carolina, while producing 192,000 barrels in 2015. The original canned craft brewery continues push innovation with the announcement of an Austin, TX brewery in April of 2016 and creations like The Crowler while it distributes to 49 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., as well as parts of Canada, Sweden, and the U.K.  

In 2013, Oskar Blues founded the CAN'd Aid Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity that offers grassroots grants to those making a difference in the areas of community, the environment, music, and more. In 2015 alone, CAN'd Aid partnered with 52 organizations and provided nearly $400,000 in charitable contributions, bringing the total amount raised $1.9 million to date. CAN'd Aid's "do-goodery" efforts include: 
  • Towns - building strong communities
  • Tunes - for your eyeholes and earholes
  • Treads + Trails - get outside and get after it
  • Love Yur Mama - save the blue marble
To keep up with all things Oskar Blues, visit http://www.oskarblues.com.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Beer Styles 101

Sometimes we forget that no everyone has had years of beer drinking experience when we are talking to them about craft beer.  Often we can see the glazed over eyes and blank stare that means they are clueless about the obscure beer fact that you are droning on about (beer snobs are FULL of obscure, boring beer facts).  So here is a simple infographic to help along the neophyte who is yearning to be a zymurgyologist, just like you.  Keep at it, young Skywalker, and you too may be a beer Jedi some day.


New Bishop Cidery Opening


Come and see Bishop Cider's new digs.


BISHOP CIDER HAS EXPANDED AND 
ADDED A NEW CIDERY IN THE DESIGN 
DISTRICT. 
Time to party.








The Grand Opening Bash is on 2/27/16 at 
2777 Irving Blvd, Ste 200, Dallas, TX 75207.
The party will have a lineup of some of Dallas' top 
bands, food trucks will be on site, and we'll have four 
bars setup with 18 different ciders! One of the bars 
will provide a preview of ciders we'll be releasing 
later this year.
The event runs from 12pm-6pm. And YES! 
We will have Cinnamango.

Tickets will most likely not be available at the door 
and tickets are limited so get them while you can.

Go here to learn more.
This is the regular newsletter from the Bishop Cider Company in the Bishop Arts District.
Copyright © 2014 Bishop Cider Co., All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
509 N Bishop Ave Ste C, Dallas, TX 75208

Martin House Brewing Archeron Stout Beer Release

Whiskey barrel aged Imperial Stout?  Count us in!

Acheron 

Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Stout


In Dante's Inferno, the Acheron river forms the border of Hell.  At MHBC, Acheron is our deeply dark and ravishing imperial stout.

Aged six months in whiskey barrels and unblendedfor maximum barrel flavor, this 12% abv stout will satiate your sinuous desires for something bold, burly, boozy, and barbarous.

Acheron is brewed with black malts, black barley, chocolate malts, Crystal malts and oats.  Its finished with brown sugar and Columbus hops to balance its leviathan body.  Drinking this beer will help Charon determine your fate.

Get a sneak preview of Acheron this Friday, Feb 19th at our barrel aged pop up dinner featuring food from LUCK.

If you can't make that, we are having the official launch on Thursday Feb 25th in Dallas at the Blackfriar on Mckinney Ave. 
For Tickets: https://www.facebook.com/events/230487900616678/ 
© 2016 Martin House Brewing Co. All rights reserved.

Flying Saucer FW Barley Wine Event

Howdy Snobs.  Here is an event you may wish to put on your schedule. - Bon

Hey Bob! (Bon, Bob, whatever)

I wanted to let you know about an event Flying Saucer is having later this month that would be great to include in a post on Dallas Beer Snobs blog. Below are the details.

When:            
Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016
11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Where:            
111 E Third St @ Commerce
Fort Worth, TX 76102 

Background:

Flying Saucer Fort Worth is hosting their annual tapping of more than 15 barleywines from as many breweries later this month! A selection that has curated for an entire year will be released as part of Saturday's festivities, accompanied by all the sausage, ribs and loins you can eat. The swine will be divine, so it's an event you won't want to miss!

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Beer Review - Barbe Ruby

Brouwerij Verhaeghe Barbe Ruby Fruit Beer - 7.7% ABV

Here is a special treat for you to try from Brewery Verhaeghe in Vichte, Belgium.  Does this brewery sound familiar?  No?  What if I said Duchesse de Bourgogne?  Ring a bell?  Ah, those guys.  Any lover of Belgian sour beers has tried 'The Duchesse'.  This small, family owned and operated brewery (since 1885) in West Flanders produces some of the most intersting sours that we have ever tried, the Barbe Ruby is no exception.

The Ruby is actually 1of 4 on the 'Barbe' line of beers.  Barbe d'Or, Barbe Rouge and Barbe Black are included in the series, and even though we haven't tried any of them, after trying this gem we will surely seek them out.  Brouwerij Barbe d'Or was a medieval brewery in the old town of Leige and belonged to the family 'de Romsee', an ancient Liege family whose coat of arms adorns the logo of the 'Barbe' beers.



Barbe Ruby is a top fermenting beer and has an interesting opaque 'ruby' color
(duh).  The nose is of cherries and almonds, a bit sour but so darn interesting that we spent quite a bit of time passing the glass around so everyone could have a sniff.  The flavor is every bit as interesting with the sweet hitting you right at the front but with the fruit sliding right in behind, leaving a tartness lingering on your tongue.  Complex, complex, complex.  Take your time and sip this one, allowing the beer to rest on the tongue for a bit.  Highly recommended.

Banana Nut Beer Bread

Hey, what say we continue on with the beer/food/porn track?  Oops, forget the porn part (or not, just don't get anything in the cake). This easy to make holiday treat will be a hit with the beer geeks in your circle.


Ingredients:
1 - Butter Pecan cake mix
3 - eggs
1 - cup brown honey ale (or nut brown ale)
1/4 cup of melted butter
3 - large, very ripe bananas (lots of black showing on the skin), mashed
1 - package (3 oz.) instant banana pudding
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF
- Dump ALL of the ingredients into a large bowl
- Mix for about 3 minutes
- Pour igredients into 2 greased (or cooking spray) loaf pans.
- Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes or until knife inserted into the bread come out clean.  The bread will be slightly browned.
- Eat that shit