The Texas Craft Brewers Guild Liquid Bake Sale brewing fundraiser is now in full swing. This exciting and innovative initiative, modeled around a traditional community bake sale, gives Texas breweries the opportunity to support the TCBG by brewing a beer of their choosing with local malt from Fort Worth’s TexMalt. Twenty-eight breweries from across the state have already signed up, and our own Central Texas region is strongly represented with some fantastic beers from some of our most popular and creative breweries. Here are some that you don’t want to miss!
Blue Owl Brewing – Gramma Jeff’s Sour Peach Cobbler Fruited Gose, 3.4%ABV
Blue Owl Brewing is the undoubted doyennes of kettle-soured beer in Central Texas, and arguably across the country, so it’s no surprise that they came up with something pretty special for their Liquid Bake Sale offering. Gramma Jeff’s Sour Peach Cobbler is a ridiculously moreish creation, sporting cinnamon-biscuit crunch and fresh tingly-tart peach that bounces off the palate absolutely begging for another sip. With a brilliantly smashable-low ABV of just 3.4%, this Gose-with-the-mostest proves finitely that dessert-beers do not have to be sweet or heavy to fully convey the essence of their flavor-sake pudding. Here’s hoping Blue Owl decides to make this beer an annual feature!
Red Horn Brewing – Peanut Butter Glow Imperial Stout, 10% ABV
Inspired by that classic American sweet treat, the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Red Horn’s Liquid Bake Sale offering is rich, bold, and boozy, yet successfully resists the temptation to fall into over-sweetness. Brewed – to quote their Untappd descriptor – with ‘gobs of peanut butter and dark chocolate’, this full, intense Imperial Stout boasts rich, authentic flavors on a smooth, firm body. Those ‘gobs’ have paid off nicely, as the beer retains their essence without a hint of the artificial, synthetic unpleasantness that plagues a lot of peanut butter beers, making this surprisingly easy-drinking, almost dangerously so. A happily indulgent bake sale goodie.
Nomadic Beerworks – Blackberry Sage Farmhouse Ale, 6.5%
The fine folks at Nomadic Beerworks took a different spin on the Liquid Bake Sale concept, mixing sweet and savory with aplomb in their Blackberry Sage Farmhouse Ale. The tart, fruity-funked Belgian base allows the two flavors to play elegantly off one another, with the juicy-ripe fresh blackberry offsetting the earthy, herbaceous sage so successfully that if this isn’t already a pudding it really should be. The lovely light body allows it to slip happily down the throat at pace, despite one’s best instincts to savor this superb flavor combination. I doubt these will last long.
Roughhouse Brewing – Hoppy Modern Dry-Hopped Farmhouse Witbier, 5.5%ABV
Roughhouse brings their customary mixed-culture elegance to the Liquid Bake Sale project with this bright, aromatic Farmhouse Witbier. The zingy body supports the delicate balance of chamomile and coriander flavors, underpinned by hints of gently dry, funky yeast. The smooth Citra dry-hop adds additional bite and a long, subtly herbaceous finish. Every good bake sale needs quality fare for those without a sweet tooth, and this sophisticated yet approachable beer adds deliciously satisfying savory-spiced texture to the Liquid Bake Sale selection that will leave you going back for more.
Humble Pint Brewing – Starlight Traveler Vanilla Porter, 6.2%ABV
Humble Pint braved the Herculean task of opening during Austin’s full Covid shutdown, but this has not held them back from making some fantastic beer, and their Liquid Bake Sale contribution is a velvety-smooth Starlight Traveler Vanilla Porter. Porters are often underrated, especially next to their bolder, noisier big brother Stout, but Humble Pint has cleverly played to the style’s advantage to create a brew that’s well-matched to the rapidly-increasing Central Texas temperature. With a suitably light body and firm but not overpowering authentic vanilla flavor, this is an excellent summer-drinking dark beer that veers just into dessert-beer territory while remaining balanced and quaffable. There would certainly be a queue at the Humble Pint bake sale stand.
With releases staggered throughout spring and summer, you can keep up to date with the latest Liquid Bake Sale brews on the TCBG website, where you can also support the project further by picking up some of their stylish branded merch, designed by local artist Lauren Dickens. Look out for the second episode of Best Central Texas Liquid Bake Sale releases next month!
