Capt Keith's Beer Blog

Today is the second annual Stout Day, (or Tempranillo Day, for the oenophile) and people all over the country have their smart phone in one hand and their pint glass in the other.  Just like IPA Day, Stout Day is a social media driven beer holiday and is focused on not only drinking a stout, but celebrating the stout and spreading its good word.  We have teamed up with Untappd to produce a special badge for those that use their great beer tracking app.  All you have to do is check into the Saucer and a Stout Beer and the badge is yours.  Our Saucers and Moth are all celebrating in different ways, and some are taking it to the next level by celebrating Stout Week and even Stout Month.  Check in with your local spot, everyone has great things planned.

Many people are getting fed up with these “National” holidays (eg. Talk Like a Pirate Day, National Cheeseburger Day, and plenty other even more rediculous made up holidays) but since our little Craft Beer thing represents barely over 5% of the national market, it is up to us to spread the word and get “Lite” Beer drinkers to drop their Macro products and pick up a craft beer.  The stout and the IPA are two of the most misunderstood styles, so to me it makes sense for these two styles to be the first to earn their own day.  How many times have you heard someone say “I don’t like dark beers” only to find out they have never even tried one?  So many people are too quick to judge books by their cover and don’t understand the versatility the stout can have.  Watching someones eyes light up the first time they sip a Milk Stout sweetened with unfermentable lactose, or even a thick and chewy Imperial Stout, perhaps aged in bourbon barrels or on a bed of cocoa nibs never gets old to me. That’s half the fun of craft beer.  Sharing our knowledge and understanding of this craft along with a couple ounces of our favorite beer we might have smuggled back from a vacation wrapped in a sweater we took to the beach simply for the padding.  There are so many people out there who do not understand what we hold so dear, and in some cases take for granted.

Remember, today is not only about the stout (or generating web traffic for the various websites built around capitalizing on this opportunity, most of which I think are spreading the good word for the greater cause) but is also about sharing.  Invite someone from your office who doesn’t drink good beer to your favorite beer joint for Happy Hour today.  Spread the word through your social media outlets that you live the good life and enjoy beer made by hands and not machines.  Proudly exclaim what you’re drinking, who your drinking it with, and where. Open the door for another to become as enlightened as you are.  Help those who are drinking rice/corn beer loaded with chemicals to find out there is more out there.  And as always, tip your server well for letting you have all the fun.

Last year we had some great success with a few #IPAday celebrations and this year we are getting behind it full force.  Every Saucer will be having some really great, and unique, IPA day experiences.  Tons of special tappings, casks, and of course discounts on India Pale Ales on draught and in bottle.  Come out and see us today and help celebrate the India Pale Ale.

We are also teaming up with Untappd, a web based social beer app that helps you track and share your beers with your friends.  Last year the Austin Flying Saucer had the most Untappd IPA Check Ins of any #IPAday celebration in the world and this year we want to fill up the top ten with Flying Saucers!  If you use Untappd, help us accomplish our goals by checking in a getting a special “IPADay: Saucer Style” badge as well as your IPA Day 2012 badge.

Time flies in the craft beer business. I can’t believe that the Charlotte Saucer is already 9 years old. We’ve seen some big changes in North Carolina over the past 9 years. With the help of Daniel Bradford,  Sean Wilson and a posse of Beerknurds we Popped the Cap August 13, 2005.  Since that time, great breweries have been flooding the state. Avery, Stone, Bells, Ska, Founders, Dogfish Head, and so many more. A few local breweries have popped up since those early days too. I can’t go to Charlotte without sharing a few pints of Foothills brews with Erik.  Seeing Double is a favorite of mine. Duck-Rabbit, specializing in dark beer makes some killer beers too. Try their fine Baltic Porter next chance you get. I also heard good things about a recent Bourbon Barrel Aged People’s Porter……..

Erik Hodgeman has been at the helm for the past few years now and we’ve seen some great things there. Join him and his team for some fun times and great beers this Saturday.

Check this out – action starts at 2 PM!

’tis the Season to have fun with friends. The boys in Charlotte have arranged for a fine dinner with Great Divide beers. Join us Thursday 12 – 23 for this food and beer experience.

Some special treats include: Flanders Red & Old Ruffian Barleywine! Buy your tickets today before they are GONE.

Cheers,

Keith

Finally heard back from the boys that went up to Denver for the fest and it sounds like they had a blast.  Sam put together quite a weekend for our beerknruds.  They all met up on Friday morning to head on out to Avery Brewing in Colorado.  Ted Whitney, Avery Sales Manager and friend of the Saucer, set us up with a party bus to get everyone to Boulder and back safely.  They call this mythical bus “Hop 1″.

Stretching their legs after climbing out of Hop 1

From there they began a VIP tour of the brewery that started things off in the Barrel Room where the wildest of Avery’s brews spend most of their time.  Whiskey, Wine and Rum barrels from all over the flock to this room and wait patiently to be filled with tasty beer.

Beautiful barrels

Augustus raises his glass...

Whats a barrel room without drinkable beer?

From there the tour proceeded to the rest of the brewery where the beer is actually made.  Avery is growing so fast they are about to bust out of their building.  Fermenters have taken up alot of the parking and more parking is going to be cannibalized soon to add even more.

Glycol jacketed fermenters

New canning line

They have started to can beers for Colorado, hopefully we will see them in our neck of the woods soon.

Tanks squeezed in everywhere there is a spot

Then on to the taproom tor drink more beer!  I’ve heard about lots of exciting brewpub-only releases, the highlights being Beast from the Wood (Oak Aged Beast), Missionary Man (Reverend Quadrupel with Guava Puree) and a Brettanomyces finished IPA.  There were lots of beers to choose from and some of the happiest bartenders alive.

Back on Hop 1 to get back to Denver for the fest.

Party on the bus!

All the cool kids sat in the back on the floor

After the day trip to Boulder it was time for the fest!

Austin, Charlotte, and Memphis/Cordova ready for the fest!

1oz Tasting glasses ready to be filled

People with beer as far as the eye can see

There were many beer celebrities pouring brews and taking pictures and Sam was lucky enough to snap some pics with some of my favorite beer folks.

Sam Wynne in the front and Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head) in the back

Steve Grossman (Sierra Nevada) and Matt from Raleigh

Garrett Oliver (Brooklyn) with the traveling beer bandit Augustus

Charlie Papazian, founder of GABF and American Homebrew Association

Matt with Kevin Brand, brewmaster of Austin's (512) Brewery

Cheers!

That's Amos in the middle, assistant brewmaster for Texas' only Gold Medal winning brewery in 2009, Uncle Billy's - Austin, TX

The bear left his wallet inside the fest

The next morning, still alive, the gang made its way to see  Todd Usry at Breckenridge by the ball park where he hosts his annual Saturday Brewers’ Breakfast.  Just great food made with Breckenridge beer, and best of all, free beer!

Saturday morning at Breckenridge Brewers Breakfast

Today GABF kicks off in Denver.  This fest has come along way since its inception in 1982 in Boulder with only 22 breweries representing a mere 40 beers.  (reminds me of our upcoming Austin Beer Festival 10/16) Ten years later 7,000 fans of craft beer descended upon the Denver Merchandise Mart with 150 breweries and 500 beers.  Over the next few days an expected 49,000 people will be able to sample from 455 breweries.

Look for this big blue bear peering into the window and you will know you’re there. Also look for Sam Wynne – he’s my Flying Saucer Ambassador. 

Look for Sam Wynne (photo taken in Bruges enjoying some Moule Frites & Westmalle Tripel)

This year Flying Saucer began a new reward program for our faithful BeerKnurds who make multiple trips around the Ring of Honor and we are sending 19 of them with 10 plates or more (and a friend) to Denver to choose from over 2,200 beers at the festival, the largest selection of American Craft Beer ever assembled.  Sam Wynne, my assistant Beer Guru and Certified Cicerone, will be traveling with BeerKnurds from Fort Worth, Raleigh, Memphis, Charlotte, Addison, Columbia and his home store Austin while they attend the king of beer festivals.

Not only can you visit massive beer festival, but Denver Beer Week has a host of special events that began September 10th and will continue to continue until Sunday the 19th. Why can’t all beer weeks last 10 days?  There is an open house at Great Divide and Sam also set up a brewery tour at the Avery Brewery in Boulder on Friday to warm up for the fest that night. On Saturday Breckenridge Brewery’s Blake Street location opens their doors for their famous Brewers Breakfast that is always a blast.  It will be a fun filled weekend for all 40 of these faithful BeerKnurds , and I look forward to hearing their stories. (SAM – take pictures!!)

I raise my glass to Charlie Papazian, creator of GABF,  and to all those who have paved the way for the advancement of craft beer. Every day, those of you who chose to drink better beer help us carry the torch for the craft beer movement and for that – I thank you.

The Beerknurds in Charlotte, NC are lucky to have Erik Hodgeman at the helm.

He took over our location as GM about one year ago after putting in 5 or more years in Raleigh. He is one dedicated beer warrior. He carries the torch proudly for the beer movement and has been aggressively changing up the tap wall line-up for the last 12 months.

Go see him and check out the new arrival board.

Here he is educating the locals on beer and food pairings.

Tap Night or Rare Beer Night begins Thursday – October 8th at 7 PM at the Flying Saucer in Charlotte.

Each week we will release a rare, very limited, hard-to-find beer at 7 pm. For the very first release, Erik has chosen a cask of Foothills Double IPA aged in Pappy Van Winkle barrels. These are 23 year old Kentucky Bourbon barrels. This will be an interesting release and you’ll have a chance to get your chalice next Thursday. Beerknurds unite!

Oscar Wong, owner of Highland Brewing Company will be on hand Thrusday, February 19th to host a tutored tasting and food pairing.

We will feature six Highland beers including the Imperial Black Mocha Stout. Each beer will be paired with various cheeses and meats. The final beer will be paired with chocolate truffles and the match works incredibly well.

In 2006, Highland began a tradition of releasing an imperial version of one of their brews each September at Asheville’s Brewgrass Festival.   First was Imperial Gaelic followed by Imperial Kashmir IPA.  This year’s offering was Imperial Black Mocha Stout,  rich with coffee and chocolate notes.

Most of you know Highland’s story but to hear it from the man himself should be a good time. Make reservations NOW as space is limited. The tasting will begin at 6:30 PM .

Ticket Price: $25 for Members and $30 for non-members.