Capt Keith's Beer Blog

Houston is home of the ever popular Saint Arnold Brewing Company owned by Brock Wagner. Their beers have grown in popularity over the years and we’ve found many that we just cannot live without. One of my personal favorites is the Elissa IPA, which is a common find at most grocery stores that are in the know. Whole Foods, HEB and Central Market will have most of their line-up on any given day.

When it comes to their Divine series, it can be more of a challenge to get your hands on the juice. This year’s style is a Scotch Ale that comes in just above 9% abv. To read more about it, check out this link sent in by Jake Rainey of our Houston Saucer – Divine Reserve No. 8.

He’ll be tapping the keg at 4 pm this Sunday, which of course is appropriate since that his our day of tribute to the Local Breweries. The weather is supposed to be fine and the big screen will be down for some NFL. Hussle down and get some fresh draught while it lasts.

We are proudly serving cask-conditioned ale in Houston, thanks to our friend Adam with Avery Brewing Company www.averybrewing.com.

Our first offering is their India Pale Ale. If you like the draught version, you are going love this! It pours a nice dark cloudy orange with a full bouquet of floral hoppiness. The head is amazing – pillowy white and it lasts awhile. I think the unfiltered version has more flavor and would be my first choice if I were craving a hoppy American IPA.

Our system is fairly simple and we use CO2 (1# of pressure only – just to keep the oxygen out) to operate this cylinderless hand pump. Ideally, we would have firkins with old school hand pumps, but that would limit us to only a few breweries. Another issue would possibly be spoilage. A cask will only last a few days with a vacuum pump.  Most European pubs that I have visited sell primarily cask-conditioned ales. With limited offerings, they can really move through them quickly. The Flying Saucer has 80 plus taps and would be hard pressed to move a firkin every 2 – 3 days. We should be able to keep a keg for up to a week. So far, the beer has been well received and we will be seeking other breweries to participate.

Austin and Fort Worth will have Cask Ale at their Fall Beer Festivals in early October. Live Oak dry-hopped IPA and Real Ale Shade Grown Coffee Porter will both be on cask for each event. We will kick off the festivals with either a Cask of Dunkel Roggen or Oaktoberfest.