TABC Label & Brewery Approvals Oct 07 2014

This is a guest post by Andrew Schwab.

TABC Label & Brewery Approvals Oct 07 2014:

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.

Here are this week’s releases:

Austin Beerworks – Chocolate Leche Choco
Austin Beerworks – Czech Yo’ Self Brohemian Pilsner
Austin Beerworks – Montcore Oktoberfest
Austin Beerworks – Pinagria Sour Ale Wit
Austin Beerowrks – Rye Curious Roggenbier
Austin Beerworks – Summetime Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
Ballast Point – Even Keel Session IPA
Ballast Point – Grapefruit Sculpin
Ballast Point – Steamboat Black Lager
Black Star Co-op – Vulcan Ale
Black Star Co-op – Waterloo Sour-wort Beer
Branchline – White Cap Cream Ale (bombers)
Fort Bend – Imperial Pumkin Porter
Fort Bend – Texas Backyard Blonde Ale (can)
Fort Bend – Texas Farmhouse Ale (can)
Fort Bend – Texas Phat DJ IPA (can)
Fort Bend – Texas Thunder Stout (can)
Goose Island – Bourbon County Brand Barleywine (12 oz and kegs)
Grapevine – Hopfest IPA
Grapevine – La Saison Des Festivals
Grapevine – Nightwatch Wood-Aged Oatmeal Stout
Maui Brewing – Lorenzini Double IPA
Nebraska Brewing – EOS Hefeweizen Ale
Nebraska Brewing – Wick for Brains, Pumpkin Ale
Nebraska Brewing – Cardinal Pale Ale
Nebraska Brewing – IPA
New Belgium – Hop Kitchen Super IPA Ale
New Braunfels – Luftweiss
New Braunfels – Oktooberfest
New Braunfels – Sangre de Shiva, Red Wine Weizenbock
Odell – Brazzle Sour Golden Raspberry
Odell – Comes and Gose
Perdernales – Lobo Lager (12 oz cans)
Save the World – Sanguis Barleywine Ale
Sierra Nevada – Boomerang
Sierra Nevada – Coffee Stout
Smuttynose – Clusters Last Stand Ale
Stone – Passion Project
Texas Big Beer – 2nd Base Cream Ale
Thirsty Planet – Thirsty Goat Amber (12 oz bottle)
Twisted X – Tex Mex Lager (16 oz cans)

Brewery Approvals:

Alamo Beer – San Antonio (guessing their own production brewery)
Foolproof Brewing – Rhode Island
Champion Brewing – Virginia

A couple things to take from these releases:

1) Nebraska Brewing Company has already started showing up in stores. Favorite Brands did a great job getting the label approvals last week and having them on the shelves the following day. With that said, all of the approvals so far have been for their six packs. I am working my way through trying all of them, and so far, I am happy to see them on the shelves. Hopefully we start to see their 750ml bottles getting approvals in the near future. Those include their Melange a Tois (Strong Belgian-Style Blonde Ale aged in French Oak Chardonnay Wine Barrels), Black Betty (Russian Imperial Stout aged in Stranahan’s Whiskey barrels), and Fathead Barleywine, among others.

2) Ballast Point is sending us Grapefruit Sculpin. If you have not already had regular Sculpin, do yourself a favor and buy the six pack of it. It is one of the best IPAs we get in Texas. The Grapefruit Sculpin has a great rating on Beer Advocate, coming in at 95 out of 100. The grapefruit addition to this beer gives it some tartness that pairs well with the IPA.

3) For those who are keeping track, this is the second label approval for a Bourbon County Brand beer by Goose Island this year. This time around, it is their Barleywine. Both this, and Bourbon County Brand Stout, have been approved for only 12 oz bottles and kegs. So, I do not know if we will see bombers of these beers, but at least we should see them around town.

4) Austin Beerworks is at it again with names. If you swing by Austin Beerworks (at least as of Sunday when I was last there), they had their Choco Leche on tap. If you want a sweet milk stout with some strong chocolate flavors, then you will like this beer. Even though it was 90 degrees outside, it still went down easy. All of the beers that were approved by them were in kegs only, so do not expect any cans.

5) Another local brewery/brewpub, Black Star Co-op, is getting more beers for label approval. For those new to this, a brewpub (think Black Star, NXNW, Uncle Billy’s, etc) does not need to get label approvals for beers they sell on site. They only need to get label approvals for beers they plan on distributing to other bars/stores. So, with Black Star getting more label approvals, it means they plan on putting more of their beers in bars. Needless to say, I am happy to have it available in more places. As for now, they are not going to be bottling any for distribution, but they are looking in to that.