Editor’s Note: Thank you Andrew for taking the time to put this together on your holiday!
On most weeks, TABC releases what labels have been approved for sale in Texas. Every beer that is sold in Texas has to go through this process before you can see it on store shelves. It is a way to see what will be coming into the Texas market before it shows up at your local bottle shop. The time frame between showing up on the label approval list and hitting the shelves could be anywhere from a day to a couple of months out.
The same can be said for breweries. The brewery approvals tend to be even further out. Every brewery sold in Texas has to go through the same process to get approved by the TABC. Once they do this, they can then get labels approved.
I only include craft beer labels that have been approved.
After each label, I have indicated what they have been approved to sell in. They are as follows:
K = Keg
B = Large format bottle
b = Small format bottle
c = Small format (12oz) can
C = Larger format cans
Here are this week’s releases:
Abita – Bourbon Street Coffee Stout (K)
Abita – Bourbon Street Rye Pale (K)
Boulevard – Last Splash Wet Hopped Ale (b)
Boulevard – Imperial Stout aged in Whiskey Barrels (B, K)
Bridgeport – Conviction Pale Ale (b, B, K)
Brooklyn – Quadraceratops Ale (K)
BS Brewing – Pumpkin Pecan Ale (K)
Buffalo Bayou – Sam’s Daily Ale (K)
Epic – Lil Brainless Raspberries (b, K)
Firestone – XVIII Anniversary Ale (K)
Firewheel – F’ing Rye – Cascadian Dark Rye (K)
Firewheel – Blonde Ale (K)
Firewheel – Bulls IPA (K)
Firewheel – Das Achtzenh Amberweizen (K)
Firewheel – Redneck Redemption Imperial Red Ale (K)
Firewheel – Rowlett Red Ale (K)
Firewheel – Slow PItch Wheat Ale (K)
Firewheel – A-Sake-Son Sake Ale (K)
Founders – Big Lushious Stout Brewed w/ Chocolate & Raspberries (B, K)
Founders – Black Rye Dry Hopped Dark Ale (b, K)
Freetail – 6th Anniversary Imperial Red (B, K)
Full Sail – Powder Stash Pale Ale (B, K)
Full Sail – Session Cream Premium Summer Ale (b, K)
Green Flash – Jibe Session IPA (K)
Green Flash – Silva Stout Black Ale aged in Bourbon Barrels (K)
Green Flash – Soul Style IPA (K)
Green Flash – Symposium IPA (B, K)
Konig Ludwig – Weissbier Dunkel (B, K)
Konig Ludwig – Weissbier Hell (B)
Magic Hat – Single Chair Golden Ale (b, K)
Magic Hat – HIPA IPA (b, K)
Pyramid – Irish Stout (b, K)
Pyramid – Pale Ale w/ Noble Hops (b, B, K)
Rogness – Iapetus (K)
Smuttynose – Really Old Brown Dog (b, K)
Smuttynose – Zinneke Belgian Style Stout (B, K)
Stone – Mixtape Ale Vol 10 Blend from Another Planet (K)
Stone – Delicious IPA (b, K)
Twin Peaks – Dirty Blonde American White Ale (C)
Widmer Brothers – Upheaval IPA (b, B, K)
TABC Brewery Approvals:
Cold Spring Brewing – Minnesota
A couple things to take from these releases:
1) Firestone Walker XVIII – While only kegs were approved this week, we are at least getting closer to seeing the bottles getting released here. We, for whatever reason, seem to take some time to get bottles of Firestone’s special releases on our shelves. And, as most people know, when these are released, they are a pain to find since we get such a limited amount of them. Either way, I am sure this beer will be great when we do get to see it.
2) Founders – Big Lushious – This is an example of a beer that took a while to show up on this list. It has apparently been approved for quite some time since the bottles have already been sold in stores, it has been on tap for a couple of weeks around Austin, and it is just now showing up on the list. So, this list usually shows what is coming in, but you sometimes get ones that have been out for some time.
3) Twin Peaks – Yes, that Twin Peaks as in the “breastaurant” chain. They are now apparently canning their line of beer that they make. Some people may go after this chain for doing so, but I am quite content with a chain like that trying to introduce people into craft beer. I much rather have their taps at their restaurants taken up by some small batch beers as oppose to the Bud Lights that one might normally see there. It can only help the industry in the future.
4) Now, I normally do not comment on big beer, but Bud Light seems to be getting some lovely new labels. They approved around 150 new labels this week. All of which included some cheesy catch phrase starting with “The Perfect Beer For” and then saying something about planning global domination or acting improve in front of security cameras. Now, I would assume this is going to be part of a new campaign for them saying their beer is perfect for a whole bunch of random situations. Personally, a perfect beer for any situation is one that just tastes good which they do not deliver on.
I hope everyone had some great holidays. I am going to get back to mine now.
