American Beer Timeline

A couple of dates for San Antonio on that timeline:

• 1855 - German brewer William Menger starts a lager beer brewery in San Antonio, Texas. This is the first brewery in that city.
• 1884 - Adolphus Busch of St. Louis and Otto Koehler establish the Lone Star Brewing Co. in San Antonio, Texas.

Freetail's Otoño Bienvenido

A quick article about Freetail's Otoño Bienvenido -- a pumpkin Saison.

Shiner Fröst

I've never been a real fan of Shiner. I don't know if it's the water they brew with (Artesian well water) or what, but it's always had a distinct and unappetizing taste. Still, the new seasonal Shiner Fröst, a Dortmunder Style beer (similar to a Pilsner, it's a pale lager), will be worth a try. According to the Texas Beer Blog, it will be available from January to March next year and I'll pick up a six pack.

Yard House at the Shops at La Cantera

My dad and I tried out the new Yard House at La Cantera on Black Friday. It was busy, yes, but not packed and there were more waitstaff than customers, it seemed (the place was crawling with them). Ritzie menu with $10+ burgers, but I was pleasantly surprised by the beer prices (no dining for us) at $4 a pop. You can't go anywhere for much cheaper than that and with 113 beers or so on tap, it's a beer lovers Elysian Fields. I'm still disappointed that they didn't have more Texas beers and their sampler platter was a little strange (each day the staff choose which beers will be included -- only six out of the 113, so you don't have any choice in the matter).

I had a pint of Rogue's Hazelnut Brown Nectar, Left Hand's Milk Stout (a lovely thick, smooth stout) & Green Flash Brewing Company's West Coast I.P.A. (very hoppy on the first mouthful, in fact, one of the hoppiest I've had outside of Hypothesis A at Freetail, but it mellowed the more I drank it).

The ambiance was lacking as far as I'm concerned. Industrial, but dimly lit, with recess lighting spotlighting the tables and booths. The black walls made it that much darker. Yuppiedom, really.

The keg system was interesting. A windowed back room held all the kegs. The lines ran up into large shiny aluminum pipes (probably six or seven lines in a pipe) which came down into the middle of the oblong bar. The taps ran around the ellipses in the middle of the bar -- a very efficient use of space.

All said and done, if I'm back up in that area, I'd stop in for a pint or two, but I wouldn't go up just for the place.

Choose local: Choose Freetail.

St. Arnold Reserve No. 9

According to a blog called I Love Beer ("a place for the unrepentant beer snob"), St. Arnold's Reserve No. 9: Imperial Pumpkin Stout will be intermittently available in stores, restaurants and bars locally, but they're asking that the stores as well as the customers show restraint (two six-packs a person). On of the comments at the bottom of the page says that on consumer has yet to find a place here in San Anto selling the brew.

I'll keep an eye out myself and report any activity...