903 Brewers hosting Galentine's to benefit local women's shelters

Image courtesy of 903 Brewers
(click to enlarge).

Looking to raise awareness about local women's shelters and to empower women throughout the community, 903 Brewers will host a special series of events over the next two weeks at establishments all across North Texas.

Galentine's, as it's being called, combines a run of pint nights with a Valentine's Day card signing drive. Regarding the latter, the goal is to have guests sign cards with encouraging and uplifting messages, which will then be delivered to women being served by domestic violence shelters. Of course, there will be beer too, with brews like Birthday Sasquatch, The Sour One with Raspberries and Wonderland of Milk and Honey expected to be tapped (selections vary by location).

Dates and times for scheduled events are given below, and take note that while each is designed to be a ladies' night out, gentlemen are welcome to attend as well.


Wednesday, February 1 - 6-9 p.m. - The Bearded Lady, Fort Worth

• Beneficiary: Safe Haven of Tarrant County
• Donations sought: Adult flip flops, reusable grocery bags, totes, umbrellas and children's Valentine's Day cards.

Tuesday, February 7 - 6-9 p.m. - Dot's Hop House, Dallas

• Details being finalized.

Wednesday, February 8 - 6-9 p.m. - Intrinsic Smokehouse & Brewery, Garland

• Attractions include live music, arts and crafts and a smoked lamb dinner special.

Thursday, February 9 - 6-9 p.m. - The Thirsty Growler, The Colony

• Beneficiary: Hope's Door

Friday, February 10 - 7-10 p.m. - Oak St. Draft House, Denton

• Beneficiary: Denton County Friends of the Family
• Donations sought: Toiletries, paper towels, toilet paper and coloring books for adults.

Saturday, February 10 - 12-5 p.m. - 903 Brewers, Sherman

• Benificiary: Grayson Crisis Center
• Attractions include a Girl Scout cookie and beer pairing flight.

Rahr & Sons rolls out redesigned packaging, preps Dadgum IPA

Image courtesy of Rahr & Sons Brewing Co.

Calling it the next natural step in an ongoing effort to shift the company's packaging focus from bottles to cans, Rahr & Sons Brewing Co. of Fort Worth has revealed an updated look for its year-round beers and select seasonal offerings.

The new design will be familiar to fans of the brewery, since it was first used on cans of Pride of Texas Pale Ale. The packaging for that beer, which was initially released in 2014, features a shield as the primary graphic.

In crafting the design, Rahr & Sons' creative director Jeff Wood drew inspiration from classic can designs of the '60s and '70s to create a crisp, clean and eye-catching design that would help streamline the company's branding. He kept each beer's signature color so the transition from bottles to cans would be as seamless as possible for consumers.

"The nice thing about designing cans over bottles is the full 360-degree template. You can wrap the entire package into your design," says Wood. "I also like the way the ink pops off the curved, metallic aluminum surface of cans, making them jump off the shelf."

Iron Thistle, the brewery's seasonal Scotch ale is already sporting the new design, and it won't be long before it appears on the brewery's newest product, Dadgum IPA. Coming in April, Dadgum IPA will be the brewery's first commercial release of a West Coast-inspired IPA. Brewed with Citra and Lemondrop hops, a press release describes the beer as having a "lively bitterness, with intense notes of fresh-cut pine and tropical fruit."

Rabbit Hole unleashing JabberBock, January 20

Image courtesy of Rabbit Hole Brewing.

Starting the new year with a new beer, Rabbit Hole Brewing of Justin has announced an upcoming seasonal offering brewed in the style of a German maibock.

The JabberBock, as the beer will be called, brings to mind the fictional Jabberwock character from Lewis Carrol's nonsense poem, Jabberwocky. The work appeared in the novel Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There, a sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Fans of the brewery will no doubt recall that beers like Tweedleyum and Off With Your Red found inspiration in the same book, based on the appearances of the characters Tweedledum and the Red Queen.

As for JabberBock, a press release describes the beer as a "malty maibock that sports a clean and smooth mouthfeel, with a gentle warming and a subtle hop character lurking beneath a bready German malt base." It's designed to be rich and somewhat strong, but not overbearing, being the type of beer best enjoyed during the spring transition from the cold of winter to the warmth of summer.

Look for JabberBock to be available on draft, and only for a limited time, with deliveries beginning on January 20.

JabberBock

Style: Maibock

ABV: 6.9%

IBU: 30

Malts: Pilsner, Munich and Vienna
Hops: Perle, Tettnang

Harvest becomes first brewpub in McKinney

Image courtesy of Harvest Seasonal Kitchen.

Just over two years after first opening its doors, Harvest Seasonal Kitchen has begun brewing beer in house at its location on the square in Historic Downtown McKinney.

Harvest, owned by Don Day and Rick Wells of Rick's Chophouse at the city's Grand Hotel, debuted in September 2014. Billed as a farm-to-table restaurant with a Texas flair, Harvest's primary mission has since been to promote community agriculture and sustainability. That approach will guide the newly-instituted brewing operations as well, which will be overseen by general manager and resident brewmaster Toby Thomason.

"Our goal is to make farmhouse-style ales, brewed in the Belgian tradition, utilizing local ingredients and sustainable practices," says Thomason. "When it came to beer and how we run our beverage program, it just makes sense. We have plenty of farmers to provide us with different grains for brewing, and plenty of farmers who will take our spent grains."

One of the project's ambitions is a prime example of how the restaurant intends to apply its local focus to making beer, as Harvest hopes to one day produce a naturally-fermented cask-aged ale made with all Texas ingredients.

"Right now we are sourcing malt from Blacklands Malt in Leander, and the barrels we are using are from local wineries and distilleries. The hops are being grown at our farm, Water Boy Farms in Lucas, which yields very little, but eventually the crop will give us enough to make an all-Texas farmhouse ale."

Locally-sourced oak barrels will be used by Harvest to age beers like Old Leathercoat, a whiskey barrel porter,
as well as a variety of naturally-fermented cask ales (Image credit: Harvest Seasonal Kitchen). 

Sourcing local will also involve fermenting with naturally-occurring yeast strains, which along with the use of varying seasonal ingredients suggests patrons can expect to experience something different each time they step through the restaurant's door.

"We are brewing on a small-batch system, with a maximum output of 50 gallons," says Thomason. "Doing small batches will allow us to experiment with blends and aggressive yeast strains that we otherwise would not be able to use. Over time, we will develop standard recipes, but for the most part we are going to let the native yeast strains take over. On top of that, we plan to use whatever ingredients are in season, both on our organic farm and from other farmers in the area, to create something we feel is unique."

Along those lines, a few of the beers currently in development at Harvest include a honey and juniper ale (brewed with honey from the farm), and a sour IPA that will rest in tequila barrels prior to being reactivated with prickly pear.

Up first, though, will be a beer named for James Webb Throckmorton, a former Texas governor and U.S. Congressman. Old Leathercoat, which recalls a nickname given to Throckmorton by Indians he negotiated with on the frontier, is a barrel-aged porter set to be refermented with orange peel and Luxardo cherries.

As for when Old Leathercoat will available, it's all a matter of maturation, so keep an eye on the restaurant's Facebook page for updates as to when the first batch will be released. In addition, stay tuned for details on collaborations Harvest has in the works with its McKinney counterparts, Franconia Brewing Co. and Tupps Brewery.