I saw that FW 18 was included in the posted list of December TABC label approvals. Anyone have any insider info as to when this will hit TX and Austin in particular? Thanks!
If anyone in Austin wants to get me a WW Twin I'll get you an 18. Figured it would be a fun present for when my actual Twins turn 18. Should I have the will power for that long.
Or, as always, find a guy that lives in central coast Cali and go shelf $4$ with something like Bomb or BCBS or PayPal him. Hunting FW in Texas is for the foolish.
Yeah, I know it would be somewhat easy to trade for. I was able to snag a FW 17 last year at Spec's Arbor Walk with not too much trouble, thought I might try to do it again this year when it came out. Can always reach out to a trading partner for a bottle if I strike out.
I know that. ;-) I think the Houston scene is more ridiculous than the Austin scene so your sentiment is understandable.
So is this the same, generally, every year? Or do they try to achieve different things with the blend each time?
Different. Before XV, they were more stout-heavy, then shifted to more barleywine-heavy, I think tequila barrel aged component was introduced at some point, etc. This is just from memory so values, dates, and the like may be off, but they're always just having fun blending, not trying to go for a consistent anniversary beer.
They had a lottery for 6 bottles at my WFM about 50 people where their ready to celebrate their number being pulled like Icky Woods. Not my kind of odds.
My understanding is that every year they have a small competition amongst the brewers and nearby winemakers. They pair up into a handful of teams and each team comes up with whatever blend they like. They then vote on all the teams blends and the highest vote getter becomes the anniversary beer.
ATX folks...hit up Whole Foods Domain tomorrow as early as you can. They still have 18, Stickee, and Agrestic as of closing tonight.
