When the lovely Jennifer of Texas Girls’ Pint Out posted about a private, behind-the-scenes, ladies only tour of Ranger Creek in San Antonio, I was excited to take a little road trip out there and see what they’re up to at Ranger Creek. We caravaned up to San Antonio Friday night, and the tour was Saturday morning. Obviously the first stop was Freetail Brewing, as I have never been there and have heard so much about the special releases and their year-round selections. I plan on going next Saturday for the La Muerta bottle release as well. There were 10 beers on tap, with their signature beer, the Freetail Ale, being sold out. So, why not try all of them? I asked the waitress to bring me a flight (5 at a time, per rules) and let the tasting begin! We ordered the “Alotta Heart” pizza that has: hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, chicken and asparagus (it was supposed to have a basil pesto sauce, but was somehow not on there- then we got charged for getting a side of it!) which was a great combination, once we got the sauce.
Freetail Brewing Co Flights
The Beers:
1. La Rubia
ABV: 4.9%
Style: Blonde Ale
2. Rye Wit
ABV: 4.9%
Style: Belgian White Ale
3. Broken Vow
ABV: 4.6%
Style: English Summer Ale
4. Keepin’ It Lame
ABV: 5.8%
Style: IPA
5. Tail Yanker
ABV: 7.1%
Style: Fresh Hop’d American Strong Ale
6. Witicus
ABV: 7.6%
Style: Dub’l Rye Wit
7. Rubio Fumando
ABV: 4.4%
Style: Smoked Belgian Blonde Ale
8. Oktober Fiesta
ABV: 5.3%
Style: Oktoberfestbier
9. Pirate Tail Ale
ABV: 5.4%
Style: American Pale Ale
10. 4Shadow
ABV: 4.4%
Style: Belgian Smoked Stout
My Favorite(s):
Witicus was my favorite of the line-up by far, a very fruity aroma as well as taste, along with heavy wheat flavor. It was full-bodied yet very drinkable. Would love to have this on hand by the pool during the summer; it was so light, crisp and refreshing.
The Tail Yanker, an American Strong Ale, poured a medium dark brown color with a tan head, and had a smooth, malty taste. It wasn’t outstanding, but I liked how drinkable it was for the ABV and style.
My Least-Favorite(s):
Both of the smoked beers, the 4Shadow and Rubio Fumando, tasted like drinking liquid ashes from a barbecue pit. It was way too much smoke flavor and not enough other elements to the beer, or if they were there they were masked by the burnt wood taste.
The rest weren’t apparently memorable ;)
After a slight detour at Yardhouse, we ended up raiding Jennifer’s private stash of Ananke, released by Freetail just a few weeks ago. Ananke is an ale aged in wine barrels, I would say white by smell and taste, but I could be wrong. There’s not much information available on the bottle or at their website, but I tasted a very sour/tart wine and barely any “typical” beer flavor. It had a powerful alcoholic, white wine aroma and had a yogurt flavor in there too as well as the wood barrel taste (oak?). I didn’t know what to even expect, so I was surely intrigued by the flavor. I do not like white wines, maybe it’s the acidic taste or fruit juice flavor, so this beer is not a new favorite or anything. It reminded me of that Welch’s white grape peach juice. I am very thankful to Jennifer for letting me have some, and glad to have tried this special release. People stand in line for this stuff, and there is a purchase limit, so I am a lucky girl!
That was definitely an interesting end to a great night out in San Antonio.
In the 2nd part of my San Antonio fling (read it here), I visited the Ranger Creek Brewery and Distillery for their first tour!
Check out all my pictures here on Flickr!
October 30, 2010
Beer