Voting continues in Beer Championship Series
We had another great day of voting yesterday in the first round of the Beer Championship Series. Eight more beers (Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, Choc Signature Dubbel, Jolly Pumpkin La Roja, Marshall McNellie’s Pub Ale, Boulevard 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat, Ayinger Celebrator and Unibroue La Fin Du Monde) won their match-ups to secure spots in the round of 32.
Today we’ll have eight first-round match-ups in the Yeast Regional. As usual, you can vote up to 10 times for any one beer each day.
Beer Championship Series voting resumes today
Welcome to day two of the 2012 Beer Championship Series. Eight beers (Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale, Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout, Unibroue Trois Pistoles, Marshall Big Jamoke Porter, Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza, North Coast Old Rasputin, Redbud Pale Ale and St. Bernardus Abt 12) won their match-ups yesterday in the Grains Regional to advance to the second round.
You can see the updated bracket right here.
We’ll move over to the Water Regional today for the next round of voting. You can vote for any one beer up to 10 times a day.
Voting begins today in 5th annual Beer Championship Series
Happy Monday beer fans, and welcome to the opening day of the 2012 Thirsty Beagle Beer Championship Series! Voting is now open in the battle to determine which brew will claim the Golden Taphandle Trophy and the title as Oklahoma’s favorite beer.
Before we get to the ground rules, I have to announce a minor tweak to the bracket. It seems even the best Beer Selection Committee can make a mistake, and we did that by placing a beer in the bracket that isn’t quite in circulation yet. Needless to say, the error has been corrected and a new beer is in place.
Moving on, the rules for voting are simple: You can vote for any one beer up to 10 times per day. Voting will close for the day at 9 p.m. Easy enough, right? Now, let’s get on with the competition! You can see the bracket right here, and the polls are below.
Prairie Artisan Ales to take on ‘new’ brewmaster
Prairie Artisan Ales and its brewer/owner Colin Healey announced today that he is bringing on a new — yet very familiar — partner.
Former COOP and Redbud brewmaster Chase Healey — Colin’s brother — will join Prairie effective immediately and assume the role of brewmaster and co-founder.
Colin will continue in his role as director of marketing and branding, as well as co-founder.
Here’s a statement from Colin:
With recent changes to Prairie’s production outlook, we found it necessary for (Chase) to come on board in order to help direct Prairie, so that it can meet its full potential. In light of this change, Prairie Artisan Ales will have more big news next week.
I recently interviewed Colin, just days before his first beer hit the market. You can read that interview here.
Stay tuned for more news.
Frozen beer available at Disney World
If you know me, you know I love talking about beer. And Disney World. Talking about beer and Disney World at the same time? That’s a winner!
So that’s why I loved a link the wonderful Mrs. Beagle sent me.
Disney World announced recently that they have unveiled a frozen-beer drink at the Japan Pavilion in Epcot:
The beer is actually a Kirin, and the foam-like topping is described like this:
“…a light frozen topping made of beer that keeps the draft nice ‘n cold for about 30 minutes. The topping looks a little like ice cream – but it’s actually beer and tastes like beer.”
Well, it’s good to know that it takes like beer, since it’s “actually” beer, right?
You can read more about it by clicking on this link.
Beer Championship Series bracket unveiled!
It’s that time of year again — time to unveil the bracket for the fifth annual Thirsty Beagle Beer Championship Series! What is the BCS, you ask? It’s my annual competition to let Oklahoma’s beer fans select Oklahoma’s favorite beer. And how do we do that? With a good old-fashioned 64-beer bracket. In collaboration with the Beer Selection Committee, I have pitted the beers in match-ups that will be decided by your votes. It’s your basic survive-and-advance format. The winner will be crowned Oklahoma’s favorite beer and have its name engraved on the coveted Golden Taphandle Trophy.
Before I unveil the bracket, let’s answer some basic questions.
Q: How were the beers picked?
A: Oklahoma’s brewers were allowed to submit the beers they preferred to be included in the bracket. Then the Beer Selection Committee selected the remainder of the candidates — about 90 beers in all, all of which are generally available in Oklahoma — and ranked them to decide who would make the top 64 and where they would fall in the bracket.
Q: Who is on the Beer Selection Committee?
A: The Beer Selection Committee is comprised of an elite group of beer experts/enthusiasts. It consists of myself and:
-Freddy Lamport, owner/operator of Biegarten Wine & Spirits in Jenks.
-Greg Powell, manager of TapWerks Ale House and Cafe in Bricktown.
-Wes Glinsmann, president of Red Earth Brewers homebrew club
-John Elkins, homebrewer extraordinaire
Q: Which beers have won previous Beer Championship Series titles?
A: The Golden Taphandle Trophy is in the possession of COOP Ale Works right now, as Native Amber claimed the 2011 title. Previous winners are Marshall McNellie’s Pub Ale (2010, 2009) and Flying Dog Tire Bite (2008).
Q: When will the competition start?
A: Voting will be begin Monday and continue through the next two-and-a-half weeks until a champion is declared.
Q: How do I vote?
A: Polls will be posted on The Thirsty Beagle blog. You can vote for any one beer up to 10 times per day. Please, let’s not rig this election and improperly stuff the ballot box!
That about covers everything, so how about we get a look at the bracket…
Announcing, the 2012 Beer Championship Series 64-beer bracket!
Come on back on Monday to cast your votes and help crown Oklahoma’s favorite beer!
TTB Podcast Episode 6: Choc Beer Co.
Choc Beer Co. President Zach Prichard sat down with me this week at the podcast studio.
We talked about Choc’s silver medal award at the Great American Beer Festival, new varieties of Choc’s OPA and we even broke some news about a new line of beer Choc will unveil at Pete’s Place.
Check it out!
Get to know Roughtail Brewing
The latest in the ever-growing list of craft brewers in the state — Roughtail Brewing — took some time this week to answer some questions about their start-up. Here’s my conversation with Roughtail’s Tony Tielli and Blaine Stansel:
The Thirsty Beagle: Let’s talk about the name Roughtail. What is the origin of the name? Also, you shared some logo concepts; have you settled on a final logo?
Blaine Stansel: Our original goal was to start in Dallas, and we were trying to think of some names of animals that were in the area. Tony kind of stumbled upon this gecko that isn’t really indigenous, some might say invasive, to the area. The name really caught our attention and the images kind of sealed the deal. When people think of gecko’s they don’t normally picture a tough critter, but I would say this gecko’s the exception. The name really sold it though, as it exemplifies our style and approach. We are rough compared to the mass marketed light lagers and we view ourselves as invasive to the brewing industrial complex. When we decided to stay in OKC we felt pretty strongly about the name and just kept it. It really had no ties to Dallas, the gecko actually lives around Galveston.
We have settled on a final logo. We went with something that was rough of course, and a little throwback to the olden times of shields on breweries, but still had an updated look to it. We tried going to various colors, but at the end of the day black and white just really appealed to us. When we start rolling out the taphandles and individual logos, we will incorporate more color, but for now we are keeping it simple.
TTB: Your biggest news recently was the announcement of your building (near Broadway Extension and NW 13) lease. With the less-expensive options of contract brewing or gypsy brewing, why was it important for you guys to have your own brewery facility/setup?
Tony Tielli: This is a great question. There are two main reasons that we decided to open our own facility with our own brewing equipment. First, our goal is to provide perfection in a pint glass, every single time to every single customer… and we think it’s vital to have direct control over the entire brewing process and production facility in order to make this a reality. In a contract-brewing scenario, you basically hand off your recipe to another brewer, give them a range of tolerances that the finished product must fall within, and let them do everything else. This just isn’t a viable option for us. Roughtail beer is about putting our local craft, our art, into our kegs and cans… not paying someone else to do the hard work. We decided against the “gypsy brewing” or alternating-proprietorship setup for sheer logistics. We plan to brew a lot, and to brew often, and we’re just unwilling to schedule that around anybody but us and our customers. The second main reason is production capacity, from both a volume and assortment standpoint. We not only plan to see our brand become successful in Oklahoma, but across the country in time. We wanted the ability to grow into that from day one. I also intend to brew as many seasonals, special releases, firkins, one-off batches, and experimental beers as humanly possible… having our own place affords us the freedom to do this.
TTB: What’s the timeline for getting set up and getting started in your new facility, and then ultimately getting beer on the market?
B.S.: We still anticipate getting started in early January of 2013. Things are ongoing even as we speak to get us going. We just received shipment of our kegs, which is exciting, and we are working on securing a walk-in cooler. The brewing equipment should be here early December and the technician should have it set up fairly quickly. We are still waiting to file our state permits, which should happen by early November. Still have our health department inspection to do, city permit and some demo and construction, but I think we’re still on schedule.
TTB: Let’s talk about your beers. What should beer fans expect to see in terms of your initial releases? Any other styles you’re looking at producing down the road?
T.T.: We make beers with tons of character. No 18 packs of flavorless fizzy water here. We’re releasing three beers at grand opening. First up is our red ale. This beer comes in at around 5.7% abv, has a complex, slightly caramely malt presence to support a whole whole lot of fresh Cascade hops. Some might even call it an IPA… but those people haven’t tried OUR IPA. Which brings us to our next beer, Roughtail IPA. This is a big one. Coming in at 7% abv and 80 IBU, it’s a pallet shredder in the best possible way. Pine, earth, citrus, and resin aromas basically leap out of the glass at you. Finally, our third release is our take on an American strong ale. 7.6% abv, this one is malty, with a strong toastiness and a big dose of hops to balance things out (toward the bitter side at 70 IBU!).
We have big plans for seasonals and special releases. There have been talks about a spring Saison, a brown IPA, and a big, bad-ass American stout (among other things), but we’ll have to get to those later. We’d love to have some of our beer available in the grocery stores and gas stations… 3.2% abw IPA in a 12 oz. can, anyone? Also, our building has a basement that is just itching to be filled up with bourbon barrels, wine barrels, and rum barrels for aging beers… oh and did I mention how much I love wild, sour beer? Expect a steady supply of big, flavorful year-round offerings, plus as much of that other wacky stuff as we can put into kegs, casks, bottles, and cans.
TTB: You shared on your blog that you hoped to be based in the Dallas area, but the economics of that market didn’t quite work out. Are you at peace with being in Oklahoma City? Are you guys Oklahoma natives?
B.S.: We are totally at peace with OKC. I am from Norman and Tony has lived here for the past four years. At the time we tried to do something in Dallas the market was wide open. That was very appealing to us. In the OKC area at that time you already had COOP, Redbud, Mustang, Battered Boar and Huebert’s. Within the past year, Dallas has had an explosion of breweries, and that market, while still attractive, is not nearly as attractive as it once was. Think Heidi Montag.
There you have it, folks. And what a sense of humor, too! So stay tuned for early 2013 for the release of these new additions to the state’s craft lineup.
COOP/Rococo beer dinner planned
It’s short notice, but a COOP Ale Works beer dinner with a pretty killer menu is set for 6 p.m. this Thursday (Oct. 25) at Rococo. Tickets are $55, and can be reserved by calling Rococo and booking with a credit card. Here’s the menu:
Beer news report: Oct. 18
Plenty happening on the Oklahoma beer scene…
-The annual Tulsa Oktoberfest is today through Sunday. More details can be found here.
-The eighth annual First Draft beer tasting event is set for Nov. 2 in Tulsa. Tickets are $45 in advance. More details here.
-TapWerks has announced the date for its second annual International Stout Day celebration. It is set for Nov. 8 and it will feature special stout firkins and stout-infused food. Good times!
-Mustang Brewing released its latest news letter. You can read it right here. The most noteworthy takeaway: the new Route 66 American Lager — a reformulation of last year’s Winter Lager — is set for six-pack release on Nov. 1.
-Choc Beer’s first OPA spin-off, Black OPA, is set to start shipping out of Krebs on Nov. 5, Choc reports.
-In other dark beer news, Marshall Brewing is working on its yearly batch of El CuCuy. If you’ve not had El CuCuy, you better watch out, because El CuCuy might come get you.
-Nice to know that a three-day event could have a $7 million impact on a city. The power of the Great American Beer Festival.
