Kris’ Favorite Craft Beers From The Greater Houston Area
Kris Stivers has created a list of his favorite craft beers in the Houston Area. If you haven’t gotten a chance, check out Kris’ column “Craft beer vs. commercial beer: taste the difference.”
Karbach Rodeo Clown
Style: Double IPA
ABV: 9.5%
Brewery Description:
It’s a job! And a hazardous one at that. Benefits, you ask? I hardly think so. But the show must go on. So, it’s with bravado that the Rodeo Clown takes his place in the arena lights. Whether or not he’s insane is not important right now. It’s with grit and intensity that the Clown steps in the path of almost certain destruction.
Saint Arnold Endeavour
Style: Double IPA
ABV: 8.9%
Brewery Description:
Endeavour is a double IPA. The color is deep amber with a light, creamy head. The nose starts off with a touch of citrus but then turns decidedly into peaches. The taste starts off with creamy malt resulting from the pale 2 row and caramel malts and Saint Arnold yeast. The hop bitter starts low then builds to a crescendo, but always maintains a balance even in its big finish. The hop flavor continues to be peaches, an interesting manifestation of the Columbus, Simcoe and Centennial hops.
Buffalo Bayou Gingerbread Stout
Style: American Double/Imperial Stout
ABV: 10%
Brewery Description:
Texas is hot, but beer shouldn’t be. For the holidays, we’ve created a beer bouquet that tastes like a crisp and zingy exclamation point, brisk as the wind off a lake against the pitch-black backdrop of a Russian imperial stout. Festive, hearty and an inoculant against a pretend winter chill, expect our Christmas in a glass to have a little extra “ho, ho, ho.”
Karbach Weisse Versa Wheat
Style: Hefeweizen
ABV: 5.20%
Brewery description:
Sometimes, the obvious is ingenious. It might also settle the argument…the fantastic flavors found in a Bavarian hefeweizen? Or, the intriguing spices that a Belgian white embodies? Which is better? Turns out, both. At the same time.
Buffalo Bayou Smoke On The Bayou
Style: Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy
ABV: 9%
Brewery description:
We smoked our malt at Beaver’s, Goode Company and Rockwell’s Tavern up in Cypress, and blended those malts as the base for a strong scotch ale. Houston’s BBQ scene is literally infused in the malt of this beer.
Saint Arnold Spring Bock
Style: Bock
ABV: 6.4%
Brewery Description:
An authentic, German-style Bock, celebrating the coming of spring. This big, deeply flavored lager has been aged to create a smooth, malty taste with a hint of sweetness. A light addition of German hops balances the malt flavor.
Southern Star Bombshell Blonde
Style: American Blonde Ale
ABV: 5.25%
Brewery Description:
Brewed with American Pale and Vienna malt that combine to give this ale its distinctive smooth, creamy body. Just enough hops are added to this rich, golden colored ale to perfectly balance its bready finish. Fermented at a cool temperature to give a clean finish.
Saint Arnold Pumpkinator
Style: American Double/Imperial Stout
ABV: 10%
Brewery Description:
Pumpkinator is a big, black, full of spice, full of flavor beer. Originally released in 2009 as Divine Reserve No. 9, it is an imperial pumpkin stout and our answer to how a pumpkin beer ought to taste. This year’s version comes in at 10% ABV. It is brewed with a combination of pale two row, caramel and black malts, Cascade and Liberty hops for a background hop flavor, pumpkin for a rich mouth feel, molasses and brown sugar, and spiced and dry-spiced to make it feel like you just walked into your mom’s kitchen while she was cooking 37 pumpkin pies. It is the most expensive beer we have brewed.
Lone Pint Yellow Rose
Style: Single Malt and Single Hop (SMaSH) IPA
ABV: 6.8%
Brewery Description:
A SMaSH, Single Malt and Single Hop, IPA using a caboodle (technical term for a large amount of malt) of malt and a new hop released in 2012 called Mosaic (HBC 369). It is a daughter of Simcoe (YCR 14), one of our favorite hops. Whole cone Mosaic is used for bittering, flavoring, and aroma in the kettle; it is also massively dry hopped. The beer is named after a Texas Heroine.
Lone Pint 667 Neighbor of the Beast
Style: American IPA
ABV: 6.6%
Brewery Description:
Our American India Pale Ale uses bountiful amounts of American two row malted barley and a sprinkle of Maris Otter in combination with three bold whole cone American hops. The hops are individually transitioned throughout the boil to highlight each hop’s bittering and flavoring characteristics. Post-fermentation, 667 is dry hopped with vast amounts of the same three hops. The beer is named after a phrase someone scrawled into the wall of our favorite college watering hole.
Bonus
If you’re feeling a little adventurous, look for Karbach’s F.U.N. Series or Saint Arnold’s Divine Reserve. These limited production brews vary from release to release and are usually hard to find, but they taste fantastic.
