Aging IPA's and the Bud Light Saga

We drink two of the best sours in Texas, Atrial Rubacite from Jester King and Sea of Waves from True Anomaly, all while sharing our opinions and detailed instructions on how to perform the biggest faux pas when visiting breweries.  Ryan brings it home with some beer news and Drew shares his toddler woes on airplanes.

Featured Beers:

Atrial Rubacite.  Jester King Brewery, Austin, TX. 5.8% ABV.

Sea of Waves. True Anomaly Brewing, Houston, TX. 8.5% ABV.
 

Other Shout-Outs:

GABF

Texas Craft Brewers Conference

Houston Beer Guide

Houston Beer Month

Elder Son

Southern Yankee

Yelp

4J Brewing

Texas Roadhouse

Home Alone / Kevin McAllister

Draught Queens

Idaho Springs, CO

Westbound and Down Brewing

Lion King

Spindletap

Keyboard cat

PETA

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We back? It’s been a minute since our last episode, so we pay penance to the beer gods by drinking weird beers while we bring you up-to-speed with the state of affairs in craft beer and in our hoods.  Tarot cards, anonymous Facebook posts, and Troy Aikman branded beer, all in the same episode?

Featured Beers:

Slice Sipper.  Sixpoint Brewery, Brooklyn, New York. 5% ABV.

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier-Marzen. Schlenkerla (“heller-Brau” Trum), Bamberg, Bayern Germany.  5.1% ABV

Evan’s 5 Year Beer. Eureka Heights Brew Co., Houston, TX. 3.5% ABV.

Buckle Bunny. Eureka Heights Brew Co, Houston, TX. 4.5% ABV
 

Other Shout-Outs:

Mike’s Hot Honey

Ingenious Brewing

Black Page Brewing

H-Town Brewing

Astral Brewing

North Shepherd Brewing

Vallenson’s

Misfit Outpost

Equal Parts Brewing

Location Six Brewing

Project Halo Brewing

Galveston Bay Brewing

Great Heights Brewing

Holler Brewing

Bad Astronaut Brewing

Nook Brewing Company

Nextdoor

Shell Houston Open

Swag Brewery Hoppy IPA Craft Beer Candle

Texas Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M

Bill O’Brien

Houston Texans

Jumbo Fischer

Nick Saban

Bill Belicheck

Troy Aikman’s 8 Beer

Ace Ventura

Dan Marino

Pineapples on Pizza

LL Cool J

Love Guru

HTOWN Brewery Challenge Tracker - See how we’re doing on our challenge to visit all breweries within 50 miles of Houston!

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It has been well established on our Podcast that host Ryan likes his beers (and other drinks) unadulterated.  So what did we do to him?  We made him face his fears and drink a wide range of beer mixed drinks for the first time ever, tournament style!  And let him talk about more conspiracy theories.
 

Featured Beer Mixed Drinks:

Michelada: Spicy Michelada Mix by Space City Snax.  Maracas Mexican Lager by Nook Brewing Company, Broken, Arrow, OK (or Zeno’s if you are Ryan).

Black and Tan: Guinness and Zeno’s Pale Ale by Lone Pint Brewing Company, Magnolia, TX.

Black Velvet: Guinness and La Vostra Prosecco

Shandy:  Zeno’s Pale Ale and Lemonade

Other Shout-Outs:

Joe Rogan

Fear Factor

Harp

Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy

Goose Island Summer Shandy

Sierra Nevada

Left Hand Milk Stout

Craft Culture X:  Ovinnik and For the Culture Brewing

Anchor Brewing / Sapporo

Houston Beer Block Party

Squats and Hops

Is it Cake?

Mini Boss / Eureka Heights
 

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Ryan and Drew crack into some of the best beers from Belgium and Germany while sitting outside on the edge of the Austin, TX wilderness.  In an episode rife with bad accents and pronunciations, your hosts discuss why Euro beers have fallen down so far on the Beer Advocate ratings while paying homage to these classic styles.  Will Ryan learn to appreciate the Belgian quad?   Will we be able to finish the episode without being interrupted by coyotes?  Tune in and find out.
 

Featured Euro Beers     

Duvel. Duvel Moortgat. Puurs, Vlaanderen Belgium. 8.5% ABV.

Ayinger Celebrator. Ayinger Privatbraurei. Aying, Bayern Germany. 6.7% ABV.

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier. Bayerische Staatsbraurei Weihenstephan. Freising, Bayern Germany. 5.4% ABV.

Abt 12. Brouwerij St. Bernardus. Watou, Vlaanderen Belgium. 10% ABV.

Trappistes Rochefort 10. Abbaye Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy.  Rochefort, Wallonie Belgium.  11.3% ABV.
 

Other Shout-Outs:

Beer Advocate

Asa Hanrahan - Flying Saucer Houston

Toppling Goliath

AB InBev - Breckinridge, Shock Top

Kid Rock - Bud Lite

Karbach Brewing

Surly Brewing (MN)

Spindletap (HOU Hobby Airport)

King’s Bierhaus

Chimay

Cool Runnings

The Trappist - Oakland, CA

Kloster Kreuzberg Dunkel

Side Project

Guiness

Trappist Westvleteren 12

Jester King

Fat Tire
 

Epic One Water Brew (recycled water beer by Devil’s Canyon Brewing)

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/may/02/recycled-wastewater-beer-epic-cleantec-san-francisco-drought-california
 

Beer Advocate Rankings from 2010

https://web.archive.org/web/20100828090327/http://beeradvocate.com/lists/top

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In this episode, we do what we love best - beer news and blind tastings - but also answer some pretty important questions.  Mexican Lagers are often considered basic beers, but are craft Mexican lagers an exception?  And more importantly, could you pick them out of a lineup?  And while we’re at it, where do you stand on putting fruit in your beer?  It's time to take a stand.

Featured Mexican Lagers:     

Scout.  True Anomaly Brewing,  Houston, TX.  7.6% ABV.

Dos Equis Lager.  Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma S.A. de C.V.  4.2% ABV

Modelo Especial.  Grupo Modelo, Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico.  4.4% ABV.

Pacifico Clara. Grupo Modelo, Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico.  4.5% ABV.

Tecate Light. Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma S.A. de C.V.  3.9% ABV

Houston Beer Block Party on Aug 19th

https://houstonbeerguide.com/houstonbeerblockparty/
 

Other Shout-Outs:

Anchor Brewing (Christmas Ale, Liberty Ale, Anchor Steam)

Sapporo

Black Page Brewing.  Houston, TX

Spindletap Brewing

Laser Brewing

Corona

Bacardi Limon

Micheladas

Total Wine

Anita Brewing

Space City Snacks

White Oak Music Hall

Dumb & Dumber

Wayne’s World

Chuck Norris

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The Beering Ain’t Easy podcast has evolved into a new form fueled by Chat GPT and Artificial Intelligence, or in short, Beer GPT.   We test out the capabilities of current AI and whether it poses a risk to white collar jobs, the writer’s guild, or at a minimum the low-grade humor you come to love on our podcast.  We play around with AI generated beer descriptions, movie descriptions, and even generate and record a Beering Ain’t Easy rap!'

Featured Beers:     
Dry Hopped Kolsch.  New Magnolia Brewing, Houston, TX.  4% ABV.

One Very Important Thought.  Lua Brewing, Des Moines, IA. 6.4% ABV.
 

Referenced Insane AI Beer Commercial link:

https://youtu.be/Geja6NCjgWY

Other Shout-Outs:

Saloon Door West

Trill Burgers / Bun B

Pink Boot Society

Miller Lite Ice Cubes

Bell’s Two Hearted Ale

Belching Beaver / Deftones

Anchor Brewing/ Anchor Christmas

Constellation Brands Discussion:  Funky Buddha, Four Corners Brewing, Cycle Brewing, Ballast Point

Art Car/Hipster Sauce

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

DMX

Hot Ones / John Mulvaney

Reddit

Open AI

Dall-E

Skynet/Terminator

Adam Sandler

South Park / Awesome-O

Law and Order

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One of the earliest US craft beer icons from New Belgium, the one and only Fat Tire, has gone through a major overhaul.  New recipe, new logo, and new branding with sustainability at the forefront.   We pull out our last batch of the old recipe and drink it side by side with the new and debate which tastes better, what does it mean to be a carbon neutral beer, and whether sustainability actually sells.  And in true podcast fashion we’ll go off track with trivia about the brewery, pop culture from Fat Tire’s original release in 1991, and popular songs that were hijacked by movies.

Featured Beer:     

Fat Tire (old vs. new recipe).  New Belgium Brewing Company, Fort Collins, CO.  Amber / Blonde Ales. 5.2% ABV.

Other Beer Related Shout-Outs:

Voodoo Ranger Juice Force IPA

Torched Earth

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Paulaner Oktoberfest

Kirin

Michelob Ultra

Shiner Bock

Referenced Good Beer Hunting Article

https://www.goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines/2023/1/12/new-belgium-fat-tire-gets-full-makeover-after-sales-tumble

Pop Culture References

Bryan Adams “Everything I Do”

McRib

Harry Belafonte (RIP)

Beetlejuice

Leslie Nielson

Zoolander (Wham Wake Me Up)

Martin House

Reservoir Dogs "Stuck in the Middle with You"

Kenny Loggins

Forrest Gump "Fortunate Son"

Office Space "Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta"

Wayne's World "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Top 5 Movies of 1991

Terminator 2:  Judgement Day

Robin Hood:  Prince of Thieves

Home Alone

Silence of the Lambs

City Slickers

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So, you’re supposed to drink IPA’s fresh, right?  Well it may be common sense to you but we’re going to test it in an experiment anyway as is tradition.  We sample three Saint Arnold Art Car IPA’s at varying levels of freshness and answer why do IPA’s degrade, how do they degrade, and what are the best and worst types of beers to age?  And just in case proving common sense beer facts is not your thing, we also provide a meticulous and entertaining recap of the Bud Light Culture War Saga from the month of April!

Beers We’re Drinking:     

Art Car.  Saint Arnold Brewing Company, Houston, TX.  1 month old, 4 months old, 6 months old
 

The Bud Light Saga

Dylan Mulvaney

Easy Carry Contest

Big Kettle Brewing

Kid Rock

Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene

Coors Light

Rep Dan Crenshaw

Ultra Right Beer
 

Other Shout-Outs:

Eureka Heights Brewing

Flying Saucer

Topo Chico

Karbach

Crush City IPA

Dos Equis

Beer Advocate

Untappd

hazeboiz

Parish Brewing Company.  DDH Ghost in the Machine.

Saloon Door Brewing

Bakfish
 

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Asa Hanrahan, General Manager of the Houston Flying Saucer, joins the podcast to share his experiences spanning 16 years at the cornerstone beer bar and landmark of Downtown Houston!  We discuss the craft beer evolution in Texas, Houston new downtown patio space along Main Street, the staying power of the franchise, and the resurgence of Euro beers.  You’ll even find out the most famous people to step foot in the Houston Saucer!  And if that’s not enough, Drew finally joins the Ring of Honor after 18 years!

Beers We Mentioned:     

New Belgium Sunshine Wheat

Green Flash West Coast IPA

Arrogant Bastard Ale

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Celebration

Live Oak Pilz

Shiner Blonde

Euro Beers:  Duvel, Paulaner Hefeweizen, Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen, Guiness
 

Other Shout-Outs:

The First Five Texas Breweries:  Shiner, Saint Arnold, Rahr, Real Ale, and Live Oak

Rodeo Goat

Paradigm Brewing

Bad Astronaut Brewing

Great Heights Brewing

Altstadt Brewing

Petrol Station & Hay Merchant

Treehouse

Doug Flutie

Adrian Peterson

Ken Grossman

Dallas Keuchel

Paul Val

Christina Hendricks

Frank the Tank
 

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This week we talk about the one topic Ryan enjoys more than beer… conspiracy theories.  We go through a series of wacky beer-related conspiracy theories and make up a few unsubstantiated theories of our own. Plus Ryan runs down Birds Aren’t Real and his favorite conspiracy theories of all time and Drew explains the myth of the Sumerian beer goddess Ninkasi.  As Shania Twain might have said: Man, hops make me feel like a woman!

Featured Beers:     

Banger IPA.  Saint Arnold Brewing.  Houston, TX.  Imperial Hazy IPA. 8.4% ABV.

Houston Haze.  Spindletap Brewing.  Houston, TX.  Hazy IPA. 7% ABV.

HTX IPA. Urban South HTX.  Houston, TX.  Hazy IPA. 6.2% ABV.

Tetraplex.  Grimm Artisanal Ales. Brooklyn, NY.  Triple IPA. 10% ABV.

Other Shout-Outs:

Ninkasi Brewing. Eugene, OR

Star Sailor (Houston, TX)

Paradigm Brewing.  Houston, TX

Bad Astronaut Brewing.  Houston, TX

Karbach Brewing.  Houston, TX

Belching Beaver Brewing.  San Diego, CA.

Corona

Bill Gates / Heineken

Hazeboiz

Busch Light

Southern Star. Conspiracy Theory IPA.

Great Heights Brewing.  Houston, TX
 

Conspiracies:

Phytoestrogen

JFK

Mount Rushmore

John Connor / Terminator

Roswell, New Mexico

Richie Rich

X-Files

Area 51

Fake Moon Landing

Birds Aren’t Real

HEB > Total Wine > Specs

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NEW WEBSITE and MERCH PAGE!  Check out all the great podcasts that are a part of Cross the Streams media!

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Follow @beeringainteasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube, email us at beeringainteasy@gmail.com, or follow our beer quest on Untappd, usernames BeeringAintEasyAdam and BeeringAintEasyDrew.