Alamo_Beer
Well-Known Member
I actually applied to this place but I'm glad I didn't take the job bc they aren't REALLY brewing....just adding yeast to wort that they are shipping in. PLUS, they are serving from the fermenters (after only 3-4days fermenting) how weird is that??
I got this email this morning from the local brew club with this post attatched:
And this follows:
I'll stop in for a beer at some point but its not looking good for them.......
I got this email this morning from the local brew club with this post attatched:
.Hey everyone, Hedy and Todd here. We haven't made it to a meeting for a while, but we're still brewing and hope to see you all sometime. And if you're out in Port A and looking for a good beer please stop by. But, please don't waste your gas money coming out here for the Port Aransas Brewing Company. They opened this week and Todd and I were anxious to give it a try. We went this evening and ordered a sampler of their five beers: a pilsner, a hefeweizen, a "red wheat," a "dark bock," and a stout. Five little three-oz glasses and between the two of us we couldn't finish any of them. All five had the same off-flavors, dominated by lactobacillus I think. In my twelve years of brewing I've made three beers that bad. One I poured into the compost bin.... Enough said?
Now to back up a little. We'd been wanting to try the place and had made plans to go tonight, but in the interim (this morning) a friend of mine at work said that her husband and a friend had gone last night and that the beer was terrible. She told me that they apparently "didn't really brew, just used a mix." It sounded like those old "Make your own beer, just add tap water!" kit promos. So tonight, as we sipped at the sample glasses and thought about what the BASH score sheets would say, it occurred to me -- they're probably just mixing extract with the local tap water and not boiling it. The first brewing lesson I learned when I moved to Port Aransas was to never use the tap water without boiling it and to switch to a no-rinse sanitizer. (That lesson was the result of one of those three batches I mentioned above.)
When we came home, Todd Googled "brew pub brewing systems" and the first hit is the exact system they have lined up behind the bar. Unbelievable. "No grains, no brewmaster!!" If you click on installation and pricing you'll even find the exact five beers we had tonight.
So, what to do? The brewer wasn't in the house tonight. Should we go back during a slow period and try to give him some tips? Warn him not to serve any more of that stout? Is it possible that with really careful attention to sanitation this system could produce a good beer? Or at least a non-offensive one?
On the up side, the food was fine, they had the Red Sox game on, and they have a very good selection of bottled beers (best I've seen in the Coastal Bend outside of B&J's).
And this follows:
It's a sad thing. Each of the first four beers we tried was off to a greater or lesser degree. But the STOUT is truly awful -- right down to the bad mouthfeel. Woe is the beer lover who orders a whole pint.
Just like Hedy, I'm really curious to know what's involved in their brewing process, and where they are going wrong. If I'm correct that they've bought the Specialty Products "system," then they are probably limited to extract kit brewing. So is it the infamous Port A water, or some other lapse in sanitation?
I'd be interested in others' impressions if you are brave enough to give it a try. Maybe we should schedule a club meeting there just to do an "intervention" with the owner. For the love of brewing, please stop!
I'll stop in for a beer at some point but its not looking good for them.......