All Roads Lead to Twisted X...
Always Drink Upstream of the Herd
Always Drink Upstream of the Herd
 |
| All roads lead to Twisted X Brewing, Dripping Springs, TX |
Words of inarguable wisdom, true enough. And for the gentlemen at Twisted X Brewing Company, in Dripping Springs, Texas (just outside of Austin), these are words
to live and brew by. Jim Sampson and Shane Bordeau founded the brewery in 2009
to explore an interesting new frontier: Mexican style beers brewed in Texas by
Texans. Tex-Mex beers are mostly lagers, with an ale here and there, and I
sampled some great stuff on a recent visit, including:
Twisted X Tex Mex
Premium Lager
The flagship beer uses local yellow corn from Richardson
Farms. It’s balanced, smooth, and crisp. You can actually pick out hints of corn
flavor.
Fuego Tex Mex Pilsner
Probably the best jalapeno-flavored beer I’ve had. The reason? A solid lager beer base. A bit fuller on the palate, with slightly more
alcohol than the flagship, it finishes strong with subtle jalapeno heat.
 |
| Black Lager being racked into oak... soon to be Senor Viejo? |
Full disclosure: this is my favorite. It starts life as a
fantastic Imperial Black Lager, but then, just to up the ante, it’s aged in whisky
and tequila oak barrels. You’ll notice hints of vanilla sweetness in the aroma
and agave sweetness on the palate. High
alcohol content (8.2 % ABV), so this is a session beer. Sadly, I was disappointed but not surprised, to
learn that Senor Viejo was out of stock when we visited. Just another reason to
return.
 |
| "The Other Aggies": Russ Heissner & Brian Bush, U.C. Davis, Class of 1986 |
At Twisted X, owners Jim and Shane were joined by Ted Stewart in 2012 to balance out the team and build out the new brewery in Dripping Springs. Earlier this year, they hired UC Davis (“The Other Aggies”) grad Brian Bush. Brian brings Anheuser Busch and craft brewing experience with him to Twisted X and he is well poised to help Twisted X with their impressive growth.
The brewery is located about half hour outside of Austin on Howard Ranch, a property being developed by former NFL All-Pro Erik Howard of the NY Giants. And since you asked, yes, Erik’s brother is also a U.C. Davis (“The Other Aggies”) grad, and both went to my HS Alma Mater: Bellarmine in San Jose, CA...just had to work that in somehow...:)
 |
| Erik Howard, Shane Bordeau, & yours truly |
Stay Thirsty. Drink Upstream of the Herd.
No comments:
Post a Comment