stay tuned...

I've been swamped with work, but I've been keeping up on my projects. I'll have my last few weeks posted soon!

Here's a Great Lakes Brewing Co. Eliot Ness, a tasty amber ale from Clevo.

Little Woodrow's on the Drag / 512 IPA / Week #14

About the beer: The 512 Brewing Company is a small brewery located here in Austin TX. I'm always down for supporting local businesses, breweries especially. The 512 IPA is an American IPA. Although most IPA's are known for their hoppy flavor the 512 IPA is surprisingly mellow in regards to the hops. You can taste hops but it's relatively subtle.

More noticeable is the fruit and citrus overtone with a distinct malty flavor. The 512 IPA has a very distinct dark coloring closer to an amber ale. Truth be told if I had tasted this without knowing what it was I'd be hard pressed to classify it as an IPA.

All in all it's a very tasty brew. I recommend it.

About the bar: This is Little Woodrow's fourth location. Its situated on campus near Guadalupe and 24th. Originally this was the legendary Texas Showdown Saloon, a very friendly, kinda dirty, local joint that had a whole slew of different types of characters; intellectuals, drunks, dope heads, frat rats, and sorostitutes. You can see the old Showdown sign in the background of the picture. The Showdown was used to shoot a scene from Tarantino's Death Proof (which was on the TV at the bar oddly enough).

Little Woodrow's tends to attract more jocky frat types and that's pretty much what was there along with a giggling gaggle of drunk middle eastern sorority girls (?).

They've cleaned the place up, but the ambience is still there which is cool. The bar is bigger and cleaner and they have a better selection of beers, but no booze. Parking is quite limited especially on busier nights. They have a patio which I imagine is dog-friendly, but I can't say for sure.

It's an OK place. The odd cast of characters being gone doesn't make the place quite as interesting as it used to be, but they have decent drink prices and Thursday night is 1/2 price all drinks which pretty much rocks no matter how you look at it.

Casino el Camino / PBR / week #13

About the beer: Ah yes... PBR. What can you say about Pabst Blue Ribbon? It's cheap. It's American. It's a lager. It's tasty...

I've been drinking PBR for years and I love it. Before the hipsters discovered it it was the poor man's drink of choice at the Penguin Pub.

About the bar: Casino el Camino... There is no better place on earth as far as I'm concerned. This is the first bar I went to when I moved to Austin. The same bartenders work there now. That's what I love about Casino. It's my hometown bar. When SXSW comes around I can show up and be sure that the bartenders know I'm a local. The most awesome bartender is Mr. Lifto. How many of you can say that your bartender lifts things with his wiener?

Casino has the best burgers on the planet. Bar None. You NEED to eat here. The END.

Weeks 10, 11, & 12

As promised I'm catching up. Here we go...

Uncle Billy's Brew & Que / Back 40 Blonde Ale /Week #10



About the beer: Back 40 Blonde Ale. This is a tasty middle of the road brew. It's a nice and refreshing, great for a hot day. Not too hoppy, just right. (Don't let the glass fool you, this isn't brewed by 512, more on that later...)

About the bar: Uncle Billy’s Brew & Que. While not technically a bar they brew their own beer and it’s pretty good. They have quite a few of their own beers on tap all of them quite tasty, The beers range from IPA's to porters to heffeweizens. They pretty much have a brew for everyone's taste. They also have some of the tastiest burgers ever. The burger meat is made from ground brisket and it's the juiciest damn burger I ever had (and the bacon is freaking awesome). I would venture to say that next to Casino el Camino this place has the best tasting burgers in Austin (a bold statement). They have a dog friendly patio which is always a plus in my book.



Billy's on Burnet / Blue Moon Belgian White / Week #11



About the beer: This is a super-flavorful Belgian style wheat ale. It's unfiltered so it appears a little cloudy which may put some people off. It's brewed with coriander and orange peel which gives it a slightly spicy and fruity taste. It's supposed to be garnished with an orange to fully bring out the flavor. I guess they didn't have any orange slices so mine came with a lemon and it was actually good. The orange adds a little too much sweetness for my taste, but the lemon is just right. This is another great beer on a hot day. Find out more about Blue Moon by clicking here.

About the bar: This is just your standard everyday bar. It's got your standard bar food and it also has quite a few vegetarian dishes. I hadn't gone there for awhile and since I was last there the beer selection has grown exponentially. They have 25 beers on tap and a lot of bottled beers as well. The crowd is diverse from rockers to jocks to hipsters. They also have a dog-friendly patio.

Rio Rita Lounge / Fireman's 4 Blonde Ale / Week #12



About the beer: Once again another good beer for the hot Texas weather (or wherever you may be). I'm a big fan of blonde ales and this is one of my favorites. Made by the Real Ale Brewing company (see week #7 for more Real Ale) this beer is slightly fruity with a citrusy undertone. The coolest part is that the beer is named for a local Austin BMX cruiser bike company. Anybody that supports BMX is tops in my book. Check out the Fireman's Texas Cruzer by clicking here.

About the bar: The Rio Rita is part coffee shop, part bar and all cool. It's a bit of a hipster place, but if you can ignore the ironic moustaches you'll be OK. I used to know all the bartenders, but they have moved on leaving a new crop. They seemed nice and helpful (which can be rare in hipster joints). The Rio Rita is the second establishment opened by Randall who also operates Beerland and the Shangri-La and formerly operated Austin's scuzziest punk rock dive bar, the long defunct Bates Motel. I'm all about supporting local businesses especially when they're owned by a friend. The beer selection is slim, but they do offer some good choices from your basic Lone Star to the high end Trois Pistoles. They also serve East Side Pies pizzas, definitely the best pizza in Austin which is another local business owned by another of my friends Noah. Once again we have a dog friendly patio with some interesting decorating (it's walled in by old time radiators, not car radiators, but the kind you find in old houses up north). Next time you're on the east side of Austin stop on in and get your caffeine fix or your beer buzz on. Oh yeah, they also have liquor...

stay tuned...

I've been shooting my beer shots, but with SXSW I haven't had the time to write them up.

I'll get on it ASAP! I promise...

To tide you over here's an exclusive shot of Jane's Addiction at the Playboy "Rock the Bunny" Party in Austin TX for SXSW.

the Hole in the Wall / Austin Amber / Week #9

Yeah, OK. I missed week #8. I was BUSY! I shot G. Love, the Jonas Brothers, & Slipknot all in one week. That's a pretty wide variety of stuff, not to mention A LOT of editing.

I usually start with the bar, but the beer is so freaking GOOD that I'm starting with that.

So...

About the beer: I'm here at week #9 with one GODDAMN fantastic beer. Austin's own Independence Breweing Company's Austin Amber Ale. Independence is a true local brewery. They've always been a part of the scene. When I worked for Obsolete Industries Amy was always there dropping off free kegs for our parties.



Independence Brewery has the best hand-crafted beer Austin has to offer. Austin Amber is slightly toasty with a nice mild citrus taste. It's just about perfect. It's not too dark, not too sweet, not too bitter, not too hoppy. It's a great blend of all things good. Just like Austin, it's perfect.

About the bar: Oh... the Hole in the Wall. When I first moved to Austin I was told about this bar. There were a lot of differing opinions. I heard "stay away from that place, it's full of coke-heads", I also heard, "the Hole has the best bands...".

Well, I lived real close to the Hole and I quickly became a regular and for a short time I actually worked there. I was the door guy for awhile when I had a broken leg. I couldn't work my regular job and Mike and Debbie let me work there for $30 and a 6 pack a night. The Hole was a great place then (back in the late '90s early ought's), but I'm not gonna lie. The Hole now is a different place.

The Hole in the Wall looks similar, but all of the old intellectuals are gone (the Hole is right across from the campus and attracted quite a few drunken intellectuals). For the most part the crowd is lame college kids and wannabe alt-country fuckers who never saw Courtney Love smoke crack with Lawrence (this is an old school Hole story in which I played a lead role, and NO, I didn't smoke any crack).

I recently moved back into my old neighborhood so the Hole is back on the radar. I went there tonight to do my beer shot. There was a band going on and being my usual cranky self I was skeptical. Well... I'll be dipped in shit! They were good. Damn good. I'm gonna do something here that I NEVER do. I'm gonna plug a band. A band I don't even KNOW. That should tell you something.

The band is called Clyde and Clem's Whiskey Business These guys are a kinda drunken bluegrass mess, with a sophistication that's similar to a crackhouse jazz quintet. It's a beautiful cacophany. Holy crap! I sound like a record reviewer!



Well, here's the deal. Tuesday Nights. Clyde and Clem's Whiskey Business. Be there. I will.

Stubb's BBQ / Real Ale Full Moon Pale Rye Ale / Week #7

About the bar: Stubb's BBQ is an Austin icon. It's got some good BBQ and they have the biggest outdoor venue in the city. This is where most of the "big names" play. I've seen a lot of cool shows here Everyone from Willie Nelson to the Butthole Surfers have graced the stage of the Waller Creek Amphitheater. They also have a smaller inside stage where they mostly showcase local talent. In the past I've seen such bands as Sloppy Seconds and the Queers there, but those kind of shows are few and far between these days.

The tickets (and the food and beer) are kinda pricey. They don't have an extensive drink selection, but they do have all of the staples and a few local micros such as Real Ale and Independence.

Stubb's isn't the kind of place that's conducive to a "regular" crowd. It's more of a destination place. The crowd is going to differ depending on who's playing. All in all Stubb's serves its purpose as being Austin's only remaining outdoor venue (RIP Southpark Meadows).

About the beer: Real Ale is a small brewery right outside of Austin in Blanco. They produce some mighty fine beers. The Full Moon Pale Rye Ale is no exception. It's hoppy yet it retains a very mild aftertaste. It's the kind of pale ale that hoppy beer haters could enojy (if they bothered to try it).

It's got quite a complex taste with hints of spices that aren't overwhelming, just enough to add to the flavor without distracting. The color is a nice fiery caramel wth a nice head.

(This part is just for Ben. It's got a great mouthfeel. It's got a good amount of carbonation without feeling too sharp.)

Real Ale Full Moon Pale Rye Ale isn't the kind of beer I could drink all night, but it's a good beer to start the night off with.