Checked out the co-op brewery, Black Star Co-Op, nearby my place last night. Turns out it was the first such co-op brewery in the U.S.
I went there with a pretty low threshold for what it would take to make me love the place. I figured as long as their beers are drinkable, I'd probably like the place and want to go there at least once a week.
The place ended up surpassing that bar by a wide margin.
I'll start with their brews. They currently have five in-house brews on tap. I did two different flights of four beers so I could try all five of them plus three others that they had on tap that caught my eye.
All four of those are in-house brews. From left to right:
High Esteem - This one blew me away. It's a pale ale with a bit of rye and honey added to the batch. As drinkable of a beer as I've ever had. Very refreshing. Awesome session beer. If and when they start selling kegs, I would give strong consideration to just buying a keg of this to keep around the house for whenever I want a drinkable but not that strong or filling beer.
Verdict: Awesome, will have lots more of these
Vulcan - A rye ale made with a boatload of hops. Very, very hoppy beer. There are hoppy beers that are great when you're in the mood for a hoppy beer and there are hoppy beers that are just amazing all the time (Ruination, DFH 60 Min). This one falls into the former category.
Verdict: Perfectly delicious if you're looking for a hopped-the-fuck-out beer.
Recalcitrant Dockhand - This was on a nitro tap which might be evident by looking at the head. Unfortunately, this one looks a lot better than it tasted. Brewed with a lot of molasses and vanilla, it just didn't quite do it for me. Kind of lacked a certain punch in terms of flavor. It was like it wants to be good but it just isn't.
Verdict: Not awful by any means but my least favorite of the four and not one I'll make it a point to drink terribly often.
Moontower - This was by far the best of the four in terms of just sheer impressiveness. 10% ABV, the Moontower is made only during the winter season. Rich in taste full of roasted malts, every sip of this was gd delicious and warmed you to the core.
Verdict: Awesome. I will be having quite a few more of these while I still can before they move onto the spring seasonal.
Next flight (foreground bonus: burger with fried egg that I had which was one of the top 20 burgers I've had in my life. All of their food we tried was AMAZING!).
From left to right. The beer on the left was the last of the five in-house brews. The other three are all Texas beers they have on tap. Their selection was amazing. 15-20 beers on tap, another 25-30 in bottles. 80% of them brewed in the U.S., 40% of those brewed in Texas. Only about 25% of which I had heard of and only about 15% of which I had tried, so there's a lot to check out.
Double Dee - Delicious. A lot like the High Esteem only a bit more maltier. Had a nice herbal sweetness to it.
Verdict: A solid year-round brew with a nice bit of sweetness to compliment maybe a spicyish food dish.
Ranger Creek's Mesquite Smoked Porter - This... this was a fucking treat. I had never heard of Ranger Creek before last night. They're a San Antonio-based brewery. Based on this and another brew of theirs I tried (see below), I am really, REALLY impressed and intrigued with what else they've got going on. This beer was an absolute treat. The mesquite barbecue flavor came through really strong. There was nothing subtle about this beer. You didn't have to try to find the mesquite flavor. It was right in your god damned face as soon as you put the beer to your lips. Mesquite makes me believe there may be a God. A God who created this delicious tree and instructed us to use its wood to cook food and brew beer with. Amazing. Simply awesome.
Verdict: I'm in love. Mesquite porter!! WOW!!
(512)'s Cascabel Cream Stout - I talked about this one a few posts ago. It's a milk stout (meaning lactose is added in the fermentation process) that's brewed with cascabel peppers for spiciness. This was the only one of the eight beers I had tried prior to last night. What I decided about this beer is that it gets an A+ for being intriguing/interesting (it's a spicy milk beer for Christ's sake) but is more like a B- on taste. I'd encourage anyone to try one if they got the chance, but only because it's such a unique taste, not necessarily because it's all that great of a beer.
Verdict: Remains as unique of a beer as I've had, but just isn't my favorite.
Ranger Creek's La Bestia Aimable - This is a Belgian Strong Ale, a type of beer that is generally among my favorite. 9.5 ABV, this did not disappoint. I was getting fairly drunk by the time I got through this one. It was absolutely delicious. Had a rich, caramely malted taste to it. This is a fucking meal in a glass. I was very impressed. I'd like to try it again sometime to start off my evening to see what I think when the palate hasn't already been bombarded with a bunch of other brews, a hamburger, and some mac-and-cheese, but I think what we have here is an absolutely delicious Belgian Strong Ale brewed in Texas which puts it all over my radar as a potential huge favorite.
Verdict: Probably amazing, but I should try it again to be sure.
I "liked" the brewpub on Facebook today and found out a bit of information that is going to make it pretty impossible not to go back there tonight. They are putting the first tap on their House Brown 660, a beer dedicated to Texas House Bill 660 that would allow brewpubs such as they to sell their beer to wholesalers and distributors. Lots of brewpubs in Texas are participating in this by creating their own House Brown 660. The requirements are only that it be a robust brown ale with 6.60% ABV and 66.0 IBUs. Seems like a worthy excuse to go have a beer, not that one is really needed beyond it being the first tap.