Big Brew IQ Challenge

IN ADVANCE OF BIG BREW, HAY MERCHANT BREW BRAIN HELPS HONE CRAFT BEER KNOWLEDGE

HOUSTON (July 7, 2014)…The craft beer industry in Houston continues to heat up. In an effort to help expand craft beer knowledge in advance of the new destination craft beer celebration scheduled for this fall at the George R. Brown Convention Center, the producers of Big Brew joined forces with beer nerd Kevin Floyd of Hay Merchant, creating an interactive craft beer challenge. BigBrewIQ.com is a fun way to see how much you know about craft beer.  Are you a novice or a master?  Log on today and find out for yourself.  All players compete for a range of BIG prizes, including a private dinner for 6 at Hay Merchant and 6 all access passes to attend Big Brew in October.  Round two of the BigBrewIQ Challenge will pit players who score 19 out of 19 against each other for additional grand prizes.

               Considered one of Houston’s craft beer experts, Floyd is dedicated to his craft and loves sharing his knowledge of craft beer with others.  In fact, Hay Merchant was named one of the top 100 beer bars in the country by Draft Magazine.  Those attending Big Brew will get a chance to hear more from Floyd during his Craft Beer 101seminars to be held during the Grand Tasting sessions on October 25.

               Big Brew kicks off October 20, 2014 with events around the city, followed by larger events October 23-25at the GRB.  Designed for beer lovers in Houston and across the nation, participants will enjoy more than 1,000 featured beers, meet the best and brightest brewers in the craft beer industry, and quench their thirst on never-before-tasted brews and rare finds. 

               Offerings for the week-long event include VIP experiences, pub crawls, craft beer dinners, food and beer pairings, beer education seminars, intimate meet-and-greet opportunities, a Best in Texas event focused on Texas offerings only and two grand tasting sessions. The festival is sponsored by Spec’s Wine, Spirits and Finer Foods and presented by Silver Eagle Distributing.  Big Brew is produced by Food & Vine Time Productions, Inc. in conjunction with Houston First and the GRB.

               Tickets for Big Brew are now on sale and start at $45.  For events, tickets and all things Big Brew visitwww.bigbrewhouston.com. Big Brew benefits the University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College, a leader in hospitality education.

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About Houston First Corporation:

Houston First Corporation operates the city’s finest convention and arts facilities to position Houston as a world-class destination.  Houston First manages more than 10 city-owned buildings, plazas and parking facilities, including Hilton Americas-Houston, George R. Brown Convention Center, Miller Outdoor Theatre, Wortham Center and Jones Hall.  For more information, please visit www.HoustonFirst.com.

About the George R. Brown Convention Center:

The George R. Brown Convention Center ranks among the 10 largest facilities in the United States with nearly 1.2 million sq. ft. of exhibition, meeting and registration space.  For more information, please visitwww.HoustonConventionCtr.com.

About Food & Vine Time Productions, Inc.:

Food & Vine Time Productions, Inc. is a brand leader in finely crafted consumer culinary, wine and craft beer lifestyle events.  Launched in 2002, Food & Vine Time Productions, Inc. focuses on a shared passion for food, wine and craft beer celebrating all the many benefits these pleasures contribute to personal and business relationships.  It currently produces 10 events across the Houston-area, including its signature Wine & Food Week, which celebrates 10 years in 2014; BrewMasters Craft Beer Festival; Haute Wheels Houston, THE Food Truck Festival; Zest in the West; Katy Sip ‘n Stroll; CyFair Wine Fair; FROSTED and the first ever BIG BREW at the GRB fall 2014.

Photo Caption:   Kevin Floyd, owner of Hay Merchant, developed the BigBrewIQ quiz to help test basic knowledge of craft beer.  Floyd is considered one of Houston’s top craft beer experts.   Hay Merchant has racked up many national accolades including being called one of the top 100 beer bars in the country by Draft Magazine.

The Village at Fairview Beer Walk - Tomorrow!

Join The Village at Fairview for the 1st Beer Walk of 2012 featuring local hand crafted beers from Franconia Brewing Co. tomorrow from 5 to 8 pm.

You can sample a variety of beers at tasting stations inside select stores.

Check-ins will be set up near the Guest Service kiosk where you will receive a free beer stein and 3 drink

vouchers.

Select stores/restaurants will have special promotions for Beer Walk participants.

Like The Village at Allen and Fairview on Facebook and follow on Twitter @villageshopping to be "in the know" of giveaways and secret stops during the night.

Make sure to use the #tvfBeerWalk

Cactus Jack at Fredericksburg Brewing Company

A prickly pear wheat ale brewed by Fredericksburg Brewing Company for their "Beer for Boobs" event, which will raise money for Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation. They are having a special event on Friday night

Not bad. Reminds me of Cap'n Crunch Crunch Berries.

I stopped by on Monday on my usual visit. The first one was for Aunt Ann P. who kicked breast cancer's ass. Next one was in memory of Aunt Ann T. (Satan's Mom), gone 13 months. Third one was for Grandma Claudia, gone oh so long ago, back when Satan's and my parents were kids.

Who said drinking beer was bad?

The Dancing Bear Pub’s Texas Craft Beer Festival - 5/22

The Dancing Bear Pub is presenting their First Annual Texas Craft Beer Festival to celebrate American Craft Beer Week Saturday, May 22nd. Join the festivities from 5 pm to 1 am at 1117 Speight Ave. Waco, Texas.

American Craft Beer Week is celebrated throughout the country from May 17-23. The "Mother of All Beer Weeks" recognizes small and independent craft brewers. It’s a fantastic opportunity to emphasize craft beer, which Texans love.

The Dancing Bear Pub will highlight seven Texas Craft Breweries with the tasting event on our beer garden. (512) Brewing Company, Live Oak Brewing Company, Saint Arnold Brewing Company, Shiner, Southern Star Brewing Company, Rahr & Sons Brewing Company and Real Ale Brewing Company. There will be live music and food will be available from Terry and Jo’s Food for Thought. This event will take the place of the monthly Beer Tasting.

Tickets will be $30 per person. This includes the tasting and a chance to win swag. The Dancing Bear Pub will donate half of the proceeds to Fuzzy Friends Rescue.

The Dancing Bear Pub will also donate 300 Free Beer coupons to be used for the Stroll Patrol. The Stroll Patrol is for volunteers who help walk and play with the animals at Fuzzy Friends. Call 254.754.9444 and say, “I want to go for a walk”.

Hops & Props 2010

On April 24, I headed out to Midland to visit Satan and go to The Commemorative Air Force's Hops & Props 2010. Last year Satan and his brew club, the Basin Brewers, attended and they think they had a good time. As best they can remember, anyway.

We arrived at the CAF hanger about 6:30, and went inside. Hops and Props is sponsored by Glazer's Distributing, one of the largest liquor, wine, and beer distributors in the state, and thus a member of the Forces of Darkness. They provided 20 imported beers, including Pyramid and Saint Arnold. (Sigh. More on that later.)

As we entered the hanger, the silent auction items were on our left along the back wall, commemorative t-shirts were sold to the right of the door, and next to them a stand selling Brian Milson & The Short Road Band,the the music for the evening, and next to that, in the corner, the sound board. And apparently, they like their Brian Milson & The Short Road Band deafeningly loud. (Warning! The site plays music when it loads. Web designers, please stop doing that!) Along the right wall of the hanger was a large silver twin engine plane, and in front of that, the buffet and four tables where volunteers poured two beers off of each table. Along the right wall of the hanger were two planes, and in front of them 6 tables each with 2 beers. Along the far wall was the stage where Brian Milson and band were tuning up.

Thirsty, Satan and I went off to get beer before meeting up with the Basin Brewers. There was a nice selection, for only 20 choices. Sapporo (I'm an Asahi man, myself, but still it was good), Piretti, Saint Arnold Amber, Bitberger, Warsteiner (premium and dunkel), Guinness, and a French beer in a flip top bottle I had never heard of before. I ordered a glass of French Beer and the volunteer poured me a quarter glass.

A quarter glass? WTF?

Look, I understand that you want to maximize your beer purchase. I understand that you have to pay for what the Forces of Darkness drop off and set on the floor. I can even understand trying to limit what the customers consume to prevent drunkeness. But a quarter cup? I would have been happy for a half glass, but then why did you give me a pint glass with my paid admission? So I could admire the logo when there is no beer behind it?

Sigh.

We met up with the Basin Brewers and chatted until the band started playing. Then we had to stop. Brian Milson plays Country music, and he's pretty good. Nice voice, great fiddle player, and danceable. From the music on his site, he writes pretty well, too. But his sound guy had the volume cranked up for a crowd twice as large as was there. To carry on a conversation, we were shouting at each other. It's one of the many times that I wish we all were fluent in American Sign Language, so we could communicate. I yelled to Tom, one of the Basin Brewers, they could back the sound down to 4, and he yelled back, in an English accent, "But it goes to 11! That's one more that 10!"

After a couple more Spinal Tap quotes, I wandered over to table serving Pyramid Hefewiezen. The guy in front of me asked the server about the beer. "It's a German Beer," she said. He didn't look around when I slapped my forehead. After I drank that quarter pint, I went to the Warsteiner table (It was a short walk.) and asked for a dunkel. The blonde hottie behind the table pointed to the NewCastle Brown Ale and asked, "That one?" She was hot. I forgave her.

Another complaint was that there was only one distributor. Before stopping at Satan's house, I had stopped by The Wine Rack, probably the best beer store in Midland. Most Midland liquor stores have large displays of Budweiser. The Wine Rack doesn't carry BMC. It's one of the best selections of imported beer I have seen, and even has twenty or thirty Belgian beers, including three from Mikkeller, who I have come to love. They also carry four Ommegang beers. Obviously, Glazer's Distributors doesn't carry those brands, because there was nothing like that at Hops & Props. That's the danger of a one distributor event.

So, except for the volume of the band, and the quarter pours, I had a good time at Hops & Props. But I walked away feeling like the CAF was a little cheap. Now, excuse me, I have to download some Brian Milson tunes.

Trappist Ale Tasting at San Antonio Flying Saucer 2/17

The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium, 11255 Huebner Road, #212, in San Antonio, will present a Trappist Ale Tasting on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. The event will be hosted by Luc “Bobo” Van Mechelen, regional sales manager at Manneken-Brussel Imports, Inc.

Five Trappist ales will be paired with four selected courses. Featured pairings include Chimay Triple paired with Waterzooi soup; Orval as a stand-alone feature; Chimay Red with a pheasant and poblano quesadilla; Chimay Blue paired with Chimay Blue cupcakes with vanilla ice cream and raspberry drizzle; and Koningshoeven Quadrupel paired with rum balls made with Koningshoeven Quadrupel. An appetizer of venison salami and Chimay cheeses will be available before the tasting begins.

Authentic Trappist beer is brewed within a Trappist monastery, under the control and responsibility of the monastic community. Only seven breweries carry the Trappist distinction – Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, Westvleteren and Achel in Belgium and Koningshoeven in The Netherlands.

Tickets for the event can be purchased at The Flying Saucer and are $35 for U.F.O. Club members and $40 for non-members. Reservations are required as tickets are limited. For more information about the event, please call (210) 696-5080.