Dinner recap.

Okay, I did not get the menu quite right :
We did have Smoked chicken quesadillas paired with the Back 40 Blonde

The tomato bisque was not smoked - it had hickory seared scallops & basil paired with the Bitchin' Camaro

The salad had blue cheese dressing with apple wood smoked bacon, and Roma tomatoes paired with the Heystack Hefe

The smoked bone in pork chop came with Ancho Sweet Potato paired with the Atomic '55 IPA

Chocolate breed pudding, cream anglaise & caramel sauce paired with the Insomniac Coffee Stout or Whiskey Wee Heavy (I have no knowledge of where this came from ;-)

All said it was a wonderful dinner! The food was great as was the beer! Kudos to Brian and the staff at Uncle Billy's for putting this dinner together!

Menu for Brewer's Dinner

The menu for the brewer's dinner looks pretty good. This is what I can remember:
Smoked Chicken Quesadillas
Smoked Tomato Bisque
Salad with Fried Goat Cheese -
Bone-In Pork Chop with a Ancho Chile Sauce
Bread Pudding
Brian has some great pairings planed including a very special beer for the dessert course.
Sounds great to me.

Brewer's Dinner and Stuff

As already reported by Lee on his blog I love beer Uncle Billy's is having a brewer's dinner this Sunday January 27th. There will be 5 courses and 5 beers including a welcome beer for $45. It starts at 7PM but if you get there a little early you can get your welcome beer and hang out. I'll be down at Uncle Billy's today brewing with Brian so I will find out what the menu is and post it later today.
Also, there is going to be a cask beer at North by Northwest next Wednesday at 8PM. I don''t know yet what flavor it will be but I will call Ty to find out and post it.

That is all for now. I'm heading down to Uncle Billy's right now to help Brian brew a smoked porter.

First post of the year!

Okay, so it's been almost a full month since my last post. I have a lot of material that I've gathered in that time. Some pictures from a couple of the 3 beer tastings I've attended and a some other stuff...  More later on that.

But now some bad news... This is from the Probrewer interactive fourm:

Major Three-Tier Decision in Texas
Judge allows out-of-state shipments; but ruling supports wholesalers

In a major decision affecting the very basis of the three-tier system, Judge Sidney Fitzwater of the U.S. District Court of Northern Texas ruled yesterday that allows out-of-state retailers to ship beer and wine directly to consumers. The catch is, out-of-state retailers must purchase only from Texas-licensed wholesalers, making the decision a major victory for wholesalers and three-tier advocates.

The decision, which suggests in the ruling that wholesalers are an imperative component to alcoholic beverage regulation, is a benefit to craft and specialty brands, who rely on a diverse and abundant wholesale network to get brands to retail.

Although hailed as a victory by both sides, if the ruling stands that out-of-state retailers must first buy the brands from a licensed wholesaler within the state of Texas before shipping directly to the consumer, this would imply a solid affirmation of wholesalers rights, providing strong legal ground for distributors in future cases legal challenges.

This news is a little disturbing. It shows Texas is going in the wrong direction as far as beer laws are concerned. 

More posts as I have time...