On the beer update front the only beer new to Austin I have purchased and consumed in the past week is Decadence DIPA by Ska Brewing.
Not too much to say about this beer. The hops were a weird mix of grassy citrus and pine. The malt base was fairly strong and a fair amount of caramel seemed to overwhelm the hops. It had a kind of Imperial Amber quality that I tend to like...but not when I'm looking for a DIPA to melt my face off. Given the fact that I purchased it looking for that face-melting hop quality...I was a little disappointed. I think this beer rang in around 6 bucks, which made it taste better than if it were say 10 bucks, but I'm not sure it's worth a repeat purchase. I have had this beer before at a tasting and don't remember it standing out then either. Ska brewing has continued to underwhelm. DO NOT waste your time with the Ska Blonde and the Pinstripe Amber is definitely a middle of the road amber at best. We recently added the Amber to our beer line-up at work and I have expressed my disappointment to the bar manager. Alas I am still a lowly intern/line cook so my opinion means very little. Such is life. Verdict is that the Decadence IPA is certainly worth a try at the price point.Speaking of price point, is it bad that I am so excited that Grapevine on Anderson is closing? The deals there are definitely worth getting excited about and the beer selection there has been dwindling seriously over the past few months. This used to be my favorite store but given some management changes the prime real estate in the store has replaced brand new TX brews with a cooler full of malternatives and Sweet Tea Vodka from Firefly.
Firefly vodka started in Wadmalaw Island, SC while I went to college in not too far away Charleston, SC. The Firefly flagship vodka was a vodka distilled with/flavored with muscadine grapes. It is delicious and if you can ever find any I highly recommend trying it, even as a non-vodka drinker. It's very smooth and has just a hint of the muscadine grapes that I remember eating off of the vine at my uncles house in VA as a kid. In a brilliant move Firefly decided to start a sweet tea flavored vodka. I hate sweet tea, but tried the flavored vodka anyways. It actually tasted like sweet tea and was not overly sweet, which was impressive, but I still hated it due to my dislike of sweet tea. Since then Firefly has sourced the production of this flavored vodka to (I beleive) Florida, and has since added too many different flavor choices to recall. To this day Firefly has yet to send it's original vodka to TX and many other states that carry the sweet tea variety. This is a move I view as lame and the sweet tea vodka, while originally kind of gimmicky has just become a brand of overly sweet worthless vodkas meant only for making the lamest of Arnold Palmers and responsible for at least a few of the drunk, puking chicks being carted away by ambulances while I walk back to my car from my job on 6th street. I have been craving the original Firefly and have held out contacting SC buddies for it hoping it would make it's way to TX but it would appear it is not distributed my the same means as the sweet tea flavored variety.
In happier news Grapevine is offering 30% off wine, 25% off liquor, and 15% off beer. I have faith that the beer % will increase over the coming weeks, and given that their beer selection isn't insanely good any more, I opted to hold out on buying too much beer on my first sale run. I did pick of some liquor and am happy with all of my purchases. I grabbed some Clontarf Single Malt Irish whiskey and am pleased to announce that Clontarf is still my favorite bargain-ish brand Irish whiskey. It blows the pants off of the Jamesons that most people grab for their Irish whiskey fix and for 10-20 bucks less even the two blended versions make the purchase taste better than my favorite Irish whiskey, Redbreast 12, which is not even available at Grapevine.
I also grabbed my first Anejo tequila in the form of Milagro Anejo. This stuff is good. Much better than the silver tequila's I have had in the past and it kind of worries me that I will be seeking out solid Anejos even after this sale as they are always too pricey for me. At 30 bucks this bottle was a steal. When I got to the counter the checkout guy remarked that anyone not buying Anejo tequila was missing out at these prices, and I tend to agree.
My best purchase though was a bottle of Treaty Oaks Rum made right here in Austin, TX. I've seen it before and at 15 bucks is was tough to pass up. It has some flavors atypical of most lighter rums. I can pick up on some nutmeg and you can definitely taste some sweeter juniper and anise as well as a melange of citrus flavors. As a gin guy this stuff appealed to me though it may not appeal to some. I typically hate rum that is not barrel aged but this bottle really surprised me.
I also grabbed a few bottles of my favorite wine as a beer drinker, Mondavi Fume Blanc 07. In culinary school we had this wine during one of our wine tasting days in wine class. I was skeptical during most of this wine class but this wine opened up my eyes with it's distinct light smokiness. If you love beer and hate wine, grab a bottle...close your eyes...and think fruity barreled tripel. Just don't expect the bourbon rush from Allagash Curieux. Also be amazed at the fact that this 14.5% wine goes down cleaner than some of the 5% brews in the local market. It's a great deal for my favorite wine.
On the beer front I opted for a few lower priced bottles as I had just blown my budget on the afforementioned bottles. I did grab some Weihenstephaner VITUS and Kristalweizen. These are 2 of my favorite beers of all time. While usually 3 bucks these ran 2.50 and are case worthy in my opinion.
Next post I promise to cook something and take more pictures. This has been a bad work week and I'm hoping it will slow down a bit soon. Not to mention I should be getting in a care package from a buddy in Alaska (MIDNIGHT SUN!!!!) sometime in the coming weeks.
I wont bother posting about the awesome beer events in Austin this weekend as I can't attend any of them and they have been blogged about in great detail already by plenty of more established bloggers. I hope you guys have fun and come hell or high water (or temporary unemployment) I will see you all at the Draught House 41st anniversary celebration.
