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.
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:
5 Stones – Frederick Berg (B)
5 Stones – Lightning Bug (B)
8th Wonder – Dream Shake Ale (K)
8th Wonder – Imagin8ion (K)
8th Wonder – Premium Goods Ale (K)
Avery – Gored, Ale brewed with Pumpkin (K)
Ayinger – Maibock (K)
Bayou Teche – Acadie Biere de Garde (b, K)
Bayou Teche – Cocodrie Ale (b, K)
Bayou Teche – LA-31 Biere Noire Dark Roast (b)
Bayou Teche – LA 31 Biere Pale Ale (b, K)
Bayou Teche – LA 31 Boucanee Smoked Wheat (b)
Bayou Teche – Miel Salvage Honey Ale (B)
Clown Shoes – Reindeer Games (B)
Clown Shoes – The Peace That Money Can’t Buy (B)
Cobra Brewing – Best Mistake Stout (B)
Cobra Brewing – Cobra Drunkin Pumkin (B)
Corsendonk – Christmas Ale (B, b)
Fish Brewing – Wild Thing Wheat Ale (K)
Fish Brewing – Sledgehammer IPA (K)
Fish Brewing – Rock Steady Red Ale (K)
Galveston Island – Tiki Wheat Ale (K)
Galveston Island – Perdido Porter (K)
Galveston Island – Excelciori IPA (K)
Galveston Island – Citra Mellow Ale (K)
Goose Island – Vanilla Rye Bourbon County (B, K)
Infamous – Sweep the Leg Peanut Butter Stout (B)
Leinenkugel’s – Big Butt Doppelbock (b, c, K)
Lakewood – Bourbon Barrel Temptress 2014 (B, K)
Lakewood – Dovetail Hybrid Ale (K)
Lakewood – Hopochondriac Session IPA (K)
New Holland – Mat Hatter IPA (b, K)
New Holland – Hopivore Harvest Ale (b, K)
New Holland – White Hatter Belgian Style White Pale Ale (b, K)
New Holland – Monkey King Ale (b, K)
Ommegang – Rare Vos (b)
Ommegang – Scythe & Sickle (b)
Ommegang – Three Philosophers (B, b)
Ommegang – Witte (b)
Ommegang – Abbye Ale (B, b)
Ommegang – Cooperstown Ale (b)
Ommegang – Fleur de Houblon (b)
Ommegang – Gnomegang (B, b, K)
Ommegang – Hennepin (B, b)
Ommegang – Hop House (b)
Oskar Blues – Reeb Rye’d Ale (K)
Redhook – KCCO Gold Lager (b)
Shiner – Haymaker Extra Pale Ale (b, B, K)
Stone – Stochasticity Project Master of Disguise (B, K)
Strange Land – Alemannia Alt (K)
Uncle Billy’s – Gypsy Dubbel Coffee Porter (K)
Wasatch – First One Down Winter Warmer Ale (b, K)
TABC Brewery Approvals
Fireman’s Brew – California
A couple things to take from these releases:
1) New Holland – This blog is supposed to be about the Austin craft beer scene, and I think everyone in Austin would love to see New Holland on our shelves. But, we will have to wait a bit longer. New Holland IS coming into Texas, which is great, but, they are not coming to Austin for the time being. They will begin their distribution in the DFW region. The last that I had heard is that they do eventually plan on expanding to other cities, but we will have to wait a bit for that.
With that said, if you make it up to DFW, do yourself a favor and buy their Dragon’s Milk if you see it in bottles.
2) Bayou Teche – Is a new brewery coming into Texas as well. They are based out of Louisiana and currently only have distribution to the Deep South and New York. Texas is a logical next step for expansion just due to our location. Most of their beers that they make are meant to compliment Cajun cooking. Either way, we should be seeing them in bottles and kegs in the near future.
3) Uncle Billy’s – Looks like their first collaboration with Celis should be hitting bars around town this week. It is a Dubbel Coffee Porter which they also partnered with Austin Java for (nice to have neighbors right next to you for that). It should be in cans as well, but this approval is just for kegs.
4) Infamous – One of their most popular beers is back and this time in bomber form. Sweep the Leg is their peanut butter stout that is probably one of the best ones that I have had in that style (for the record, I have had multiple in this style. A lot of them can be bad, but this one is far from bad). Give it a shot if you see it on shelves.
5) Goose Island – Vanilla Rye Bourbon County – Need I say more? I expect people to rush to stores to get their hands on this. Bourbon County should be releasing all over Texas in the next couple of weeks. If you want a bottle of this, be prepared to follow twitter to find it.
