San Antonio Beer Week came and went and unfortunately I did not get to attend every event to give a full report, but I will comment on the events I did attend. Even though they were few and far between, I had a blast, and I can not wait until next year.
Even though the official “Opening Ceremonies” were held on Monday, May 13th, events that took place on May 10-12 were promoted as Beer Week events as Pre-SA Beer Week Events. I went to one of the Pre-Week events, which was the first day of a week-long (or until they run out) event held at Freetail Brewing Company known as “Tower of Sour.” During this week-long event, they showcased a few of their own special barrel-aged sour beers along with some guest brews which included New Belgium’s La Folie and Cuvee de Jacobins among others.
Now I am not going to lie here and say I am a huge fan of sour beers, but recently they have become tolerable to me. During my visit there, I had three excellent beers. First up was Freetail’s Otoño Añejo Sour Beer. This monster of a beer started off as a fall season farmhouse saison brewed with fresh pumpkins, which was known as Otono Bienvenido from 2011. This beer was then aged in used wine barrels for 16 months. Next I had another Freetail beer, which was a barrel-aged Schoppe’s Lichtenhainer, which is their lightly sour smoky Lichtenhainer styled beer which was then aged for 11 months in a wine barrel. The last beer I had was a guest tap there at the brewpub. I enjoyed myself a glass of a Whiskey Barrel Aged Double Pecan Porter by Austin brewery, (512). That was an amazing beer, and a good way to end my drinking session at this event. Since this was a week long event held at the brewpub, until their sour beers ran out, it didn’t have an “event” feel to it, as it was just like any normal day thee at Freetail, they just happened to have some sour beers on their menu.
My next attended event was the actual opening ceremonies for Beer Week. This event took place at Branchline Brewing Company, and was handled like they would a normal brewery tour/tasting event there. $10 got you a glass, plus some drink tickets to taste a line of Branchline beers, including a collaboration beer with Freetail Brewing Co. which was released just for Beer Week, Mielito, a Belgian Strong Ale brewed with Honey. They also had a good amount of guest taps flowing which included beers from Blue Star Brewing Company, Ranger Creek Brewing Company, Freetail Brewing Company, Guadalupe Brewing Company, 5 Stones Brewing Company, The Granary, Alamo Brewing Company, and New Braunfels Brewing Company.
Considering this was a Monday event, San Antonio proved to me that they like their craft beer. There was a very good crowd in attendance, and as far as I could see, there were no incidents involving stupid drunks. I guess that only happen at the bars serving the cheap beer. As many beers flowed through my body, I would like to point out the highlights…
- 5 Stones Brewing Company Aloha Pina, a golden ale brewed with pineapple and roasted jalapeno. A very excellent beer.
- New Braunfels Brewing Company FeurWeiss, a German-style wheat ale brewed with jalapeno.
- Branchline Brewing Company Mielito, their version of the San Antonio Beer week Belgian specialty beer
- The Granary Coffee Brown Ale, I didn’t get a lot of info on this beer, but I’m sure it is their normal house Brown Ale brewed with coffee for this specialty beer.
My apologies for a huge lack of photos. I was so busy concentrating on the beer, that I never actually used my camera.
I was definitely staying thirsty during these events. Enjoy some Tankard while you read this post! Cheers!
part 2 of S.A. Beer Week Review coming soon…..
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