Beers to get in Texas?

+1 on the Buried Hatchet...and Pine Belt Pale Ale is Southern Star's 2nd best offering IMO. Great, hoppy session beer and for a good price...

 

Hello. Well if you feel like buying some beers while in Dallas you can try Whole Foods or Specs in North Dallas (Central Expressway and Park area) or the Bottle Shop in lower Greenville. Those have good selections and fair prices. Whole Foods and the Bottle Shop have the advantage of also selling growlers of tap beers.

If you feel like having a meal in Dallas your best bets are the Meddlesome Moth and the Common Table. Both will have great craft beer taps and bottles and very good food.

As for what kind of Texas beers to get you have a wide selection with Jester King and Saint Arnold being the top two I can think of. 512, Southern Star, Buffalo Bayou and Karbach all make at least one or two good beers. And now that Deep Ellum and Peticolas are off and running, you may be able to snag a bottle of DEBC somewhere or a growler somewhere. They are very good. Good luck.

 

I gotta disagree on the Pine Belt. If you like Pale Ale this is a good one to try. Saint Arnold is meh, I wouldn't go out of your way to get anything from there. Live Oak and Independence out of Austin make some good brews. Karbach's Rodeo Clown DIPA or Weisse Versa Wheat would be my suggestions, too, if you can find em.

 

I should have worded differently. Pine Belt lacks what many IPA enthusiasts look for in pale ale. The citrus lacks, there is no balance, and it is piney and dry as can be on the finish. If you like those things, and not looking for something full of citrus and balanced, give it a go! I absolutely love Southern Star, just not that particular offering.

 

Endeavor is just the Divine Reserve 11 right?

 

I hear you. Isn't it an APA, though, not an IPA? I am not a particularly huge fan of it, just know a couple of beer geeks that really like it. To each his own, I guess. Cheers!

 

As I understand it is. Although it's a fair assumption (one that might be corrected by others) that they had to adjust some things to make it a year round.

 

Is not an IPA, classified as a Pale Ale. I suppose you could say "American", but it isn't labeled that. I wasn't trying to say it was an IPA, but I see how it could be read that way. IPA and APA are just different categories of one broader style; Pale Ale. I should have referred to Hop Heads rather than IPA enthusiasts..I seem unable to get my words right today for what I mean.

I would love to know what the distinct difference is between a Pale Ale, and American Pale Ale, and an Indian Pale Ale. They never seem to share clear different profiles, even more so than other beer styles.

 

From what I understand, and I am a novice with alot to learn, is that in general, the other pales are a little less hoppy than an Indian Pale Ale?

 

I originally thought that, but I have had some ridiculously hoppy Pales, and American Pales are often referred to as the "double" ipa. Maybe one day I will figure it out. I thought maybe it has to do with process of hopping the beer. I know there are multiple ways to do it. Or maybe different hops varieties? Where is a hops expert when you need one!?

 

There is no clear distinction. Breweries can classify beer however they want

 

That explains why they all seem to be the same thing at times then.

 

APAs are generally less hoppy than IPAs. However, the definition of "hoppy" varies by region. An East Coast IPA could be considered an APA by Cali standards, and a Cali APA could be considered an IPA back East. In my opinion, Pine Belt is an APA due to its large malt backbone.

 

Apparent hoppiness can also be different from measured hoppiness. Two beers with the same number of IBUs (the measurement of hop bitterness in beer) can have different apparent hoppiness due to the size of the malt backbone. A Pale Ale at 40 IBU could seem more bitter than an IPA at 65 IBU if it has a sufficiently smaller malt backbone.

That said, most distinctions are set at the discretion of the brewer.

EDIT: Also, one more vote for Endeavour. It's just plain tasty.

 

If you dont mind the drive to Austin, Austin Beerworks has four good beers.

 

We get them canned here in Houston. I know Spec's midtown has 'em (or did...).

 

Agreed. Pine Belt is the best non-Freetail pale ale from Texas that I've had.

 

Live Oak Liberation, (512) IPA, and Karbach Rodeo Clown...and the Endeavor, are my favorites from TX. No Label's Pale Horse is good as well, However I remember it being not as hop forward as others....The recent batch of Freetail's Velocihoptor was darn tasty as well.
Not sure about the super malty sweet backbone of the pale tail.

 

Hopefully you found us at 1117 Speight Ave. We carry most of the brands discussed here.