independence brewing

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

drengel

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2005
Messages
576
Reaction score
1
Location
durango, CO
all you guys from texas---i had never heard of this until a couple days ago when i was looking to see if i could do any brewery tours when i go to austin. is this stuff any good? its the old brewer from the copper tank? just wondering if i should bother buying some or seeing if i can do a brewery tour. i never went to the copper tank much (its closed down right), and perhaps i picked the wrong beers the couple times i went for pint night, but i thought they were all a little strange tasting.
 
Independence makes a few good beers. :) I got introduced to them at a beer festival we had over the last summer.

I've never done any beer tours in austin. If I was going to visit anything in the vicinity it would be Shiner. They're about 2 hours south/east.
 
homebrewer_99 said:
When are you going to Austin?

I'll be there the weekend of 10-11 Dec. :D

18th-end of month. when you go check out the gingerman, great beer selection but a little overly swanky for my tastes, but i like to go there with my dad and his friend from belgium who are both very knowledgeable about beers and like to buy me brews :p the draughthouse, in north central austin is more my style, they brew their own and most are pretty good, good neighborhood pub sort of atmosphere, and theres free food almost every night of the week. have fun.

edit- mindlux- which of their beers are good? shiner tour would be cool, ive got a big soft spot for shiner. i want to go to real ale in blanco too, but i havent checked if they do tours or have a tasting room. BTW is firemans #4 being bottled yet? thats a great blonde ale.
 
independence beer, to me, was weak. even the labels are weak! check 'em out. www.independencebrewing.com we laugh our ass' off at the Freestyle Wheat one. dig the mullet on the dude too!

drengel, Fireman's #4 is not bottled under that name. they contract brew a beer for a guy in San Antonio under Alamo Ale. same beer, different label. got it first hand from the guy's at Real Ale. one of the brewers is from Beaumont, TX (10 miles away from me). it is a good golden ale.

Real Ale in Blanco is only about an hour away, but they don't brew on Saturday. but you can take a tour and drink a brew or two. nice drive to, and the Salt Lick is on the way in Driftwood. Plus, there is a nice little winery in Driftwood, called Driftwood Winery!
 
DB- so was that real ales recipe or the san antonio guys? seems like a srange contract brew situation if its the exact same beer as what they used to have for the firemans #4
 
it's the Fireman's #4 in a bottle, with a different name. i know, sounds funny, but that's the agreement between Real Ale and this Alamo Golden Ale guy. check the link
http://www.alamobeer.com/ he kinda tell's you where it's brewed at. real ale still brew's both, just bottled under Alamo, draft is under Real Ale Firemans #4. i promise! :~)

it's Real Ale's recipe.
 
thats the most incredibly strange contract brew agreement ive ever heard of. gotta say that having real ale contract brew their own recipe for you is probably better than the san antonio guy having pabst doing it for him, or some other large regional. i looked at the website the other day and he does pretty much say that its brewed in blanco at their place. i think it would be a selling point for him to just say its the firemans #4, ive sat up at bars during pint nights in austin in the summer and seen that be ordered 2 or 3 fold more than anything else. like i said its a pretty damn good golden/blonde ale. anyone tried the clone kit from AHS? i'd like to try it but this isnt the time of year when a blonde ale appeals to me.
 
i didn't know AHS had one? my wife loves it ( i like it too). when we went to Real Ale the 1st time, they had a keg fridge set up in the brewery w/ 4 taps. they had the #4/alamo, rye pale ale, brown, and IPA(draft only). we stayed for 2 hours bs'n, drinking, and she got hooked on the #4. i need to get that one for her.........they are real cool guy's. have you been to the brewery?
 
no i havent been to the brewery, but i think i'll go when i get down there. haven't had theit IPA, id like to try that. AHS has a clone kit for the #4, they came out with a few months ago. i'd like to try it but its just to cold here in colorado this time of year for a blonde ale, i need something heartier and darker. this summer though i'll be trying it. sounds like you need to try the kit for your wife.
 
yea, she be on me arse when she finds that out! i'd like to do the brewhouse brown too. that's me fav-o-rite!
i heard they moved into their new brewery? i'll miss the old one. under neath a antique store, in the basement. had character! hope it doesn't change the brews......
eat BBQ in the town square, or there's a sandwich shop down the highway that sells their brews on tap.
 
theyre still in blanco though right? ive spent a lot of time there cause my grandpa used to live out there, now he lives by canyon lake. didnt know they started out with such a small place. time to go check out the website.
 
yep still in Blanco, i think the new brewery is on the north side of town? they don't have much of a web site. i was hoping they'd add to it to go along with the new digs.
 
HOWDY, I am the "Alamo Beer Guy". Funny contract brew agreement, but very true. I am proud to say that ALAMO Golden Ale is brewed and bottled by the good folks at Real Ale Brewing Company of Blanco Texas. If you ever get a 6pak you will see it right there on the label. Now, the rest of the story.... A few years back I approached Real Ale about making a brew for me that I could market under the name ALAMO which I was lucky enough to trademark. The brewmeister/owner liked the idea and offered up several brews for me to taste. The #4 was selected because I was looking for something that would appeal to a great many beer drinker and would not scare away folks that where trying a microbrew for the first time. At the time #4 was only on draught in Austin. So, ALAMO Golden was born and enjoyed by tourist and locals alike in San Antonio. Well, that was a little over 2 years ago and ALAMO now is available in about 25 places plus 10 supermarkets. Many buy it for the first time just because of the name (us Texans love our Alamo) and I am proud to say that most buy it again because they like it. As you have found, ALAMO/#4 is one nice brew and easy to enjoy. Good news is that ALAMO will be going into over 200 supermarkets across South Texas in April 2006 and statewide by the end of 2006. Not to worry, the new Real Ale brewery (just a mile or so north of the old one) will be online soon and will have plenty of capacity to keep up with increasing product demand.

The goal here is to get folks to support (drink) microbrews and in the case of ALAMO to drink a Texas made microbrew. The sad fact is that most people are not drinking beer, they are consuming advertising. Case in point, on any visit to Flying Saucer with over a 100 beers on tap, you will always find some brainwashed morons drinking BudLight. So I am very glad that there are folks like you out there talking up the virtues of fine handcrafted beers. Three Cheers for microbeers....
 
AlamoBeerGuy said:
HOWDY, I am the "Alamo Beer Guy"....

...Three Cheers for microbeers....


VERY INTERESTING! Thanks for sharing the story! We certainly wouldn't mind your presence on the forum in the future either! :D

BTW...how about a recipe for the poor (geographically separated) folks who can't experience this fine brew, and would like to try a hand at brewing a clone? ;)
 
AlamoBeerGuy said:
HOWDY, I am the "Alamo Beer Guy". Funny contract brew agreement, but very true. I am proud to say that ALAMO Golden Ale is brewed and bottled by the good folks at Real Ale Brewing Company of Blanco Texas. If you ever get a 6pak you will see it right there on the label. Now, the rest of the story.... A few years back I approached Real Ale about making a brew for me that I could market under the name ALAMO which I was lucky enough to trademark. The brewmeister/owner liked the idea and offered up several brews for me to taste. The #4 was selected because I was looking for something that would appeal to a great many beer drinker and would not scare away folks that where trying a microbrew for the first time. At the time #4 was only on draught in Austin. So, ALAMO Golden was born and enjoyed by tourist and locals alike in San Antonio. Well, that was a little over 2 years ago and ALAMO now is available in about 25 places plus 10 supermarkets. Many buy it for the first time just because of the name (us Texans love our Alamo) and I am proud to say that most buy it again because they like it. As you have found, ALAMO/#4 is one nice brew and easy to enjoy. Good news is that ALAMO will be going into over 200 supermarkets across South Texas in April 2006 and statewide by the end of 2006. Not to worry, the new Real Ale brewery (just a mile or so north of the old one) will be online soon and will have plenty of capacity to keep up with increasing product demand.

The goal here is to get folks to support (drink) microbrews and in the case of ALAMO to drink a Texas made microbrew. The sad fact is that most people are not drinking beer, they are consuming advertising. Case in point, on any visit to Flying Saucer with over a 100 beers on tap, you will always find some brainwashed morons drinking BudLight. So I am very glad that there are folks like you out there talking up the virtues of fine handcrafted beers. Three Cheers for microbeers....

thanks AlamoBeerGuy! i have been to Real Ale several times for the "tour", but mainly for the beers! those guy's had told me the story, because my wife and i both dig the #4/Alamo Ale. we load up when in the hill country (like the past weekend) because we can't even get it in Houston any where.


orrelse, www.austinhomebrew.com has their version of the Real Ale Fireman's #4, but i think you have to order it to get the grain bill?
 
Back
Top