So continuing on my recent vein of needing to write more (you need to write more, damnit), I set out on an adventure to go find somewhere nice and comfortable to write. Guard duty is threatening an impending doom upon my weekend plans for the next couple of weeks. Thankfully, my first shift wasn’t until 10am on Sunday, so that left me plenty of room to get out and do stuff on Saturday! It’s also looking like next weekend I work Friday night and then Monday morning, so I’ll have plenty of time to run around next weekend too. So what goals did I set out for this past weekend?
- Buy the rest of the vacuum tubes I need to theoretically complete my Steampunk costume (I really need to start working on this thing!)
- Delicious eats and beer at Austin Beer Garden Brewing Company
- Find coffee shop to sit and write in for a while
- Wait for my friend Carly to get off of work, so I could venture out to the middle of nowhere to sit around a fire with a bunch of people and just chill for an evening
Cherry limeade in hand, I head down to Austin!
1) Return Visit to Top Drawer Thrift
A couple posts ago I ran around to a bunch of thrift stores and found this little gem in Austin. The owner loves old electronics so they have tons and tons of old radio and television parts (including complete radios from the 1920-1930’s that just need a little lovin’). Most importantly (for me and my project), they have restock vacuum tubes. Never been used, never been sold, fresh in their original box (NRFB!) vacuum tubes. I need 5 for what I envision, so I now have a collection of 5. All 6V tubes, two different lengths of tube too. It’s for the final aesthetic, we’ll see if it works.
Vintage tubes in vintage boxes in a vintage tube-box holder. Original 1970’s prices on a few of them too. None of these would likely sound very good in any sort of guitar amplifier, thankfully I’m only planning to use them as highly inefficient, somewhat expensive lightbulbs!
More on this in a future post!
2) Austin Beer Garden Brewing Company
A big, semi-unassuming warehouse in Austin hides a fully functioning brewery and a pizza-oriented restaurant.
Part of the outdoor beer garden. When I got there, there was practically no one there.
When I left, this whole area, and that first one (which is located down on the left side of that shack) were completely full of people and kids and dogs.
An interesting take on bike racks. Big welded things to lock your bike to.
The lighting inside is weird, especially when someone opens the door. It’s pretty dark and cosy at the big long tables. You can see the bar on the left here and brewery equipment in the back. That big gap in the closest table (where the light is shining) is where I was sitting. On with the beer!
Unfortunately, ABGB had 8 beers on tap and their samplers only come with 5 beers. So I took one for the team and ordered 2 flights! Here’s flight #1:
Clockwise from the top:
- Hell Yes Helles (4.5% ABV, 18 IBU)
- Industry Pils (4.9% ABV, 40 IBU)
- Day Trip Pale Ale (5.5% ABV, 39 IBU)
- Superliner IPA (6.8% ABV, 60 IBU)
- Gretchen’s Brown Ale (5.6% ABV, 40 IBU)
Hell Yes Helles – Not quite sure what to make of the Helles style of beer yet. My only examples of it have really been these little brewpubs in Austin and their interpretations of it. It’s like a less hoppy and smoother Pils. Not bad on the whole, surprisingly a LOT better the second time around, but we’ll get to that.
Industry Pils – I’ve come to the conclusion that a lot of the Austin brewpubs and their brewing teams wish they could make every beer into an IPA. This is a slightly piney (they’d probably describe it as being crisp) pils. Kind of middle of the road when it comes to pils. Nothing outstanding here in my opinion.
Day Trip Pale Ale – Only slightly more hoppy than the Pils (wait, what? that’s not how this is supposed to work), it was far more refreshing and more of a spring/summer style beer than the Pils was. It would make the cut for something I’d potentially order a pitcher of from this place.
Superliner IPA – You know me and IPAs… well, for some reason, this is not a completely offensive IPA. It might actually be a bit mild for you IPA fans out there. Like I’ll say for any IPA though, I’m not a great judge here, as this style is a general turnoff for me flavor-wise. Your mileage may vary!
Gretchen’s Brown Ale – You know how I said earlier that I’ve come to the conclusion that Austin Brewpubs just want to make IPAs? This is probably the most IPA-like Brown Ale I’ve ever had. Despite the fact that it’s 20 IBU’s lower than the Superliner, it was right there side by side with it flavor-wise. Not personally a fan, but you IPA people out there might dig it.
So I ordered some food to snack on and cleanse my pallet between beers, as one should when they’re drinking beer. This place is kind of funny, instead of giving you a number to put on your table so they know where to bring the food, they give you a fake polaroid of a celebrity. So who did I get with my food order?
Damn right, Meatloaf. Bring on the food, damnit!
Charcuterie plate. A couple different cuts of meat, a couple cheeses, some walnuts (which were pretty awesome with the honey), some dried cranberries, crackers, and spicy mustard. Pretty good on the whole, the larger cut of meat was really tasty. They don’t really tell you what the meat is on the menu, but like a lot of Austin restaurants, they keep it local. All of the ingredients for their food is either made in the Austin area, or produced in Texas. (The exception being perhaps hops and yeast for the beer.)
Speaking of beer.
Flight #2! Starting from the top right, going clockwise:
- Hell Yes Helles (4.5% ABV, 18 IBU) – Since there were 3 beers left I hadn’t tried, I got to pick 2 repeats, Helles made the cut.
- Day Trip Pale Ale (5.5% ABV, 39 IBU) – The other repeat, for a reason (which you’ll see later!).
- Field Trip Belgo Pale Ale (5.5% ABV, 39 IBU)
- Muscles from Brussels Belgo IPA (7.0% ABV, 74 IBU)
- Hop Dead Gorgeous CDA (6.8% ABV, 80 IBU)
Let’s start with the new guys, but a little out of order (in the order I drank them, you’ll see why in a minute).
Muscles from Brussels Belgo IPA – A Belgian-style interpretation of an IPA. If that doesn’t make you go “what in the world is that supposed to taste like?” I don’t know what will. It had a pretty complex flavor too, which you’d expect from such a mashup of styles. They didn’t get in the way of one another and despite the trademark IPA pineyness, the malt character of the Belgian lineage managed to balance it out into a decent beer. Though not one I’d go running off to buy a growler or pitcher of. But you might like it, especially if you like complex tasting IPAs.
Hop Dead Gorgeous CDA – Billed as a “Cascadian Dark Ale” I have no idea what this means as a style. If you break it down I suppose it means it’s a Dark Ale made with Cascade hops. So basically it’s a weird mix of a dark beer/stout with all the tell-tale signs of the signature Cascade IPA back end. I’d consider drinking a larger offering of this, but would have to do it with food to help balance out the IPA-ness.
Field Trip Belgo Pale Ale – Here’s the brewers description of this beer: “Day Trip’s Belgian cousin. We took the Day Trip recipe and fermented it with Belgian yeast.” So now you at least have a hint as to why I picked the Day Trip for its reappearance in round 2. So here’s a unique opportunity for a beer drinker. You have two beers made with the exact same recipe, but using different yeast. By sampling both beers, you can get a feel for how yeast effects the flavor of a beer. I highly recommend you doing this kind of side-by-side if you ever get the chance. So what does Belgian yeast bring to the Day Trip Pale Ale table? A much more rounded and better tasting beer. More complexity, brought out more of the malt flavor, and made this by far the best beer of the day. This beer I would order pitchers of. If I had a bar at home, I’d put it on tap for a while. Worth the visit.
Day Trip Pale Ale – For the A-B comparison against it’s cousin Field Trip. Still a good beer, would probably be #2 on the list for me if it weren’t for what happened next.
Hell Yes Helles – This one was kind of only above average in the first flight. It stood out because it’s flavor profile is something more akin to what I prefer in a beer. But the second time around, for some reason (I credit the alcohol from all the other beers), there was a HUGE note of honey in the finish of this beer. It was absolutely delicious. Putting this beer as a conditional #2 on the list for this fine establishment.
My beer recommendation? If you can do it, order some samplers of the Day/Field Trip to do the side-by-side yeast comparison. Then order up a pitcher of the Field Trip and enjoy it with your meal. Then order up a pint of the Hell Yes to enjoy the honey flavor. At least that’s how my pallet handled things. Oh yeah, I forgot about the rest of the food.
This time I got Alfred E. Neuman for my order. First up for the food was another appetizer:
Deviled Eggs with Bacon. I’ll say that again. Deviled Eggs with Bacon. Bacon. Deviled Eggs. A shame there was way, way too many scallions in it. REALLY oniony, kind of overpowered what could have been awesomeness. Make your own at home! (Add Sriracha while you’re at it!)
A slice of their “Calabrese” Pizza. A cut of a sausage similar to pepperoni, but with a different spice profile. A few different types of cheeses. At the end of the day, a decent slice of pizza. I can totally see the appeal of coming to this place, ordering a couple pitchers of beer and a pizza or two, and chilling outside in the beer garden with friends. I’d totally do it. Anyone up for it? Just let me know.
A last little tidbit about ABGB, in the window of the door they had a little sticker on display saying that their music for the restaurant was powered by Pandora. Which was kind of cool to see. During my visit the Ramones got played (a Cure song made an appearance too), so definitely can’t complain here.
A nice little quiet spot tucked away in a shopping center in Austin. There’s a “lounge” next door where they hold live music events on the weekends, and since it’s a 24 hour place, it’s available for use by you insomniacs too. Furniture inside was kind of sparse, but I had no problem getting a seat where I could write. I was pretty productive. Got through another 5 scenes or so while waiting for my friend to get off of work.
I’m still pleased with out the writing is going. I’m not sure how the ending I’ve planned for is going to resolve itself, but we’ll find out, won’t we?
While there, I had this delicious drink:
Frozen Chai Tea. Pretty delicious. Hit the spot while I was writing and getting organized. I also found myself with some time so I ordered myself a sweat tea later to go with it.
Obviously not made in-house. Pretty good for a mass-produced, bottled sweat-tea. Made in Texas. (They like that kind of stuff around here for some reason.)
Finally I get the text from my friend Carly that she’s off of work and headed home to grab some things before leaving. So I tell her to let me know when she’s leaving and finish working on the scene I was on. I get a second scene finished before I get a text saying she’s leaving. So, feeling accomplished for the day, I start driving out to the middle of nowhere Texas. It’s an hour away from Austin to nowhere in particular. How in the middle of nowhere? Here’s a view from the front gate while I’m getting ready to get back into my car and drive through the gate.
4) Middle of nowhere Texas – This is the access road to the land. The land is owned by a local pagan group the CMA. This is the second time I’ve been out to their land (the first being an Easter/Beltane celebration where my wife and I nearly froze to death at night because Texas is weird and likes to go from 90 degrees during the day down into the 30’s at night and then back into the 90’s the next day for no reason when it hasn’t done this every for the whole month beforehand – needless to say, my wife has sworn off camping as a result), and it was a pretty good evening for a visit. It was in the low-80’s, the burn ban for the area had been lifted earlier that weekend. So they set up a nice little fire, we all just sat around and talked and hung out for the majority of the evening.
The highlight of the evening was getting to see my friend Carly spin fire with her poi. What exactly is poi, you ask? Why Poi is traditionally a Maori performance art (akin to the Hula) that had a nice little following now. I hadn’t seen Carly spin actually burning poi since sometime around 2003, so needless to say, she’s become quite a bit more skilled since the last time I saw her do it. Which just makes it even more impressive than it already was.
If you want a good example of what a poi performance looks like, here’s one from someone who calls himself “Master Ong” (a technical note: the slower and more controlled the movements are, the more difficult it is to do. This dude does some crazy-difficult stuff in this video, it’s worth the watch). Unfortunately there’s no video of Carly’s performance, but there was no backing music for it either. So it was just the awesome whoosh whoosh noises of burning things flying through the air.
So somewhere around midnight, everyone else decided to pile into their tents and RVs and I piled back into my car. Nice and relaxed for my drive back. Accomplished for the day and ready for the next day’s guard shift.
Tune in next week when I get down on seriously working on this costume (for real this time), and maybe take some time to venture down to Austin to hit up the last of the brewpubs on my list (egads! what are we going to do after that?). We’ll see how things go.
Until next time.
DS Boggs 