Texas - The Beer Thrillers https://thebeerthrillers.com Central PA beer enthusiasts and beer bloggers. Homebrewers, brewery workers, and all around beer lovers. Mon, 14 Aug 2023 13:13:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 https://i0.wp.com/thebeerthrillers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/cropped-The-Beer-Thrillers-December-2022-Logo.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Texas - The Beer Thrillers https://thebeerthrillers.com 32 32 187558884 Beer Review: Fing-longer (Turning Point Beer) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2023/08/14/beer-review-fing-longer-turning-point-beer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-fing-longer-turning-point-beer Mon, 14 Aug 2023 13:13:10 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=12239
Fing-Longer by Turning Point Beer

Futurama Monday

Ahh…. what if every Monday was Futurama Monday? …A man can dream…. a Man can Dream.

But, since I am already in my pajamas, and its 8:30 AM, lets just dive into it all shall we? No need to wait around. I’m 40% beer anyway.

And don’t worry about the video reviews of the episodes – they are coming. Started my new job, and with that means my schedule has changed / shifted a bit, so I’m going to be doing last week’s video essay review on Wednesday, and this week’s episode review on Thursday. So be sure to check out our YouTube channel page to stay updated and informed of those.

Futurama Monday Articles

Thus far, these are the Futurama Monday articles:

Beer Review: Fing-Longer by Turning Point Beer

Fing-Longer by Turning Point Beer

Beer: Fing-Longer
Brewery: Turning Point Beer
Style: Brown Ale – Other
ABV: 5.9%
IBU: N / A
Untappd Description: Brown Ale brewed with tons of Butterfinger candies.

Firstly, I’d love to say I enjoy the subtle can art. The Professor’s lab coat on his fing-longer invention is great. Its subtle, not much to the can, and doesn’t lean too hard into the “stealing the IP” category that some beers and beer can art do.

I do love brown ales, and I love Futurama, so this beer was one hundred and thirteen percent up my alley and had me getting it off Tavour right away. And I don’t regret that decision one bit. This was a fantastic beer.

Pours wonderfully and looks beautifully in the glass. It has a nice brown hue, with a good carbonated soft pillowy head. It left wonderful lacing on the glass. It looks exactly like what a brown ale should look like – simply put – it looks brown, it has good carbonation, good head retention, no sediment, not hazy but not completely translucent due to the coloring, a simple beautiful looking beer.

Aroma is whoooo boy, this is a fun one to sniff. Big notes of deep malt, you get the peanut butter, you get caramel malt, you get some chocolate notes, but the malt is very present in the aroma, and so is the peanut butter. I love it. This just smells incredible, I can’t wait to dive into it.

Oh this is bliss on first sip. I love it. Strong strong strong peanut butter, strong “chocolate bar” notes, strong deep malt taste. It’s almost like drinking a Butterfinger directly from a can (could this be a nod to Bart Simpson always shilling Butterfinger – Bart being another creation of Matt Groening?), and this is wonderful for it. This is a brown ale with a lot of dressing up, its got all the strong qualities you look for in a brown ale, malt, mouth feel, full, etc, with the added bonus of the tastes of chocolate, peanut butter, and even more malt with caramel malt. Its really just a great all around beer. Wish I had gotten a four pack of this rather than a single off of Tavour, but this is just an incredible beer all around. Firstly, I already love brown ales, then to tell me theres basically a Butterfinger melted into the beer, and then add on to it that its a Futurama themed beer, and you have me sold a thousand times over. Such a solid beer all around, if you are able to find this or get ahold of it – please do so, you won’t regret it.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.85 (as of 8.14.23)

Parasites Regained

I do love that Hulu puts the episodes on at midnight EST. So I got to catch the episode last night, and again this morning before finishing up the review here. Quick thoughts on the episode…. I didn’t hate it / didn’t love it. (Seems to be the theme of the Hulu run so far for me.) I think there was a fair bit of missed opportunities in this episode, and that also seems to be a running theme with the show during this “Hulu era”. Jokes are crammed in at times when they don’t need to be, or just don’t 100% stick the landing. I was a little disappointed that instead of a deeper episode like the original Parasites Lost, we got pretty much an extended Dune parody episode. Not to say there wasn’t funny gags and lines in it, or that it wasn’t a great story, but I kind of just was hoping for more out of this than what we got.

Some of Bender’s lines also felt somewhat crammed in, and I wonder why, if the writing was keeping Bender in limbo in case of DiMaggio not coming back or what. There’s also just a few bits here where I think they could have used him more, but they didn’t.

I do enjoy that once this Hulu season is over, it does look like there will be a consistent feel to each era. You will know a Fox era episode versus a movie era episode, versus a Comedy Central era episode, versus a Hulu era episode just from the “feel” of the episode – the look, the style, the jokes, etc.

All of Our Nerd Content

Here’s all of our nerd content, served up best in one single place. Enjoy!

I know ya’ll here for the nerd reviews. So check out our other nerd reviews below:

Star Wars:

Futurama

Lord of the Rings:

Magic the Gathering:

Zelda:

Rick and Morty:

Space Balls:

Game of Thrones:

The Simpsons:

Back to the Future:

Scrooged:

Groundhog Day:

A Christmas Story:

The Peanuts:

Pro Wrestling:

Soccer:

World Cup:

Phillies:

Matrix:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

HP Lovecraft / Cthulhu:

Seinfeld:

Other:

Thank You For Reading

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(Thank you for reading. The opinions, thoughts, and expressions of each article posted on The Beer Thrillers represents the author of the content and only themselves. It does not express the opinions, beliefs, or ideas held by The Beer Thrillers or any company in which the author themselves work for. Each piece of written content is written by the creator(s) listed in the authorial section on each article unless otherwise noted. Their opinions, comments, and words on screen do not represent any company in which they work for and / or are affiliated with or any non – profits that they contribute to. Thank you.)

]]> 12239 Yuengling Looks to Go West – Into Texas https://thebeerthrillers.com/2021/01/14/yuengling-looks-to-go-west-into-texas/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=yuengling-looks-to-go-west-into-texas Thu, 14 Jan 2021 18:12:42 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=7040
Yuengling’s Hershey Chocolate Porter – poured at Boneshire Brew Works in 2019

“Go West, young man, and grow up with the country.”

Horace Greeley (Hints Toward Reforms) [1850]

Go west ‘young Yuengling’ and grow up the brewery. In news today, America’s oldest active brewery, Pennsylvania native from Pottsville Pennsylvania, D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc. is expanding westward – into Texas. The aim is for the expansion to be completed by year’s end of 2021.

Currently Yuengling has a 22 state shipment and footprint, mostly along the East Coast of the United States. They have production facilities in Pennsylvania (Pottsville) and Florida (Tampa Bay area). This move would ensure they expand their reach, with the millions that live in Texas and neighboring areas.

“We have heard from consumers all over the country who are excited to enjoy our beer, which is why we’re proud to announce that Texas will be the first western state we’ll be expanding to,” said Wendy Yuengling, Chief Administrative Officer and 6th generation family member, D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc. “We are working hard to ensure our recipes and brewing traditions will be followed to our high-quality standards. We have passionate Yuengling fans in Texas, so we are excited to finally bring them the goods.”

ABC27 News

Yuengling Is Growing

Yuengling Traditional Lager (photo courtesy of Yuengling’s Website)

In 2020 D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc. and Molson Coors launched a joint long-term brewing relationship – The Yuengling Company. (September, 2020). This is their first expansion since this relationship was announced. In 2019, Yuengling first released their collaboration with Hershey’s Chocolate Company – the Hershey’s Chocolate Porter (Yuengling). It was first released draft only to select bars, restaurants, and breweries in 2019, and then released in bottles and draft in 2020; it has come to some acclaim among many beer drinkers, Hershey’s fans, and Yuengling fans, although those in the craft beer industry have stated that the beer comes up a bit short of most craft brewery offerings, but have said they still enjoyed the beer ‘for what it is’.

(SEE OUR BEER REVIEW OF THE YUENGLING HERSHEY’S CHOCOLATE PORTER)

The beer will be brewed locally, in Fort Worth, at the Molson Coors brewery located there. The brewery opened on September 26th, 1969. Its located at 7001 South Fwy, Fort Worth Texas, 76134. And this will be the third production facility or Yuengling Brewing.

Gavin Hattersley, the President and CEO of Molson Coors said: ““We are excited to take the first step in our long-brewing partnership, a step that will provide tremendous growth opportunity for Yuengling and Molson Coors. By brewing Yuengling’s iconic beer at our world-class Ft. Worth facility, we are going to make a lot of Texans happy.”

No word on what all brands and beers and styles will be brewed at the location. Most likely the Traditional Lager will be brewed there. Amongst more than likely others of their celebrated list (such as their Black and Tan, Oktoberfest, and numerous other offerings).

Check Out Our Related Brewery News and Articles

Yuengling Beer Reviews:

Brewery Openings:

Brewery Closings:

Brewery Tours:

Thank you for reading everyone, and I hope you stick around, make sure you check out our numerous articles on brewery openings, closings, as well as brewery news in general. You can find the brewery news section on the right hand sidebar. Also make sure to check out our beer reviews (like the Yuengling Hershey’s Beer) as well as many others.

As always, stay safe during these tough times with COVID-19 and everything. There is good news as we are nearing the end, so let’s stay safe, mask up and wash our hands, and help our local breweries by not contaminating and making their jobs even harder.

Cheers Everyone!

-B. Kline

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

]]> 7040 Beer Review: Virtually Inseparable (Celestial Beerworks and Turning Point Beer) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/05/10/beer-review-virtually-inseparable-celestial-beerworks-and-turning-point-beer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-virtually-inseparable-celestial-beerworks-and-turning-point-beer Sun, 10 May 2020 19:00:24 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=3129
Virtually Inseparable by Celestial Beerworks and Turning Point Beer

This was a juicy, big, bold, IPA that was sent to me as part of that Texas beer mail package. I’ve done a few other reviews from the beers sent to me – Road Trip Snacks, Thursday (2016), Islla en el Cielo, $#!+ Ton, Daebak, Chocolate Confidential, Sunshine and Opportunity, Azathoth, Citraquench’l, Paradise Lost, Irish Table, Athena, Vanilla Ice Cream Stout, Reve Coffee Stout, and Ghost in the Machine. (In short, I love getting beer mail; and love doing beer reviews of them!)

This is another gem from a beer mail / beer trade. Haven’t had too many misses on my beer mail and beer trades (thank the maker). While we’re all stuck inside due to the snow squalls and cold May weather here in Central PA; lets check this out.

Virtually Inseparable (a quarantine collaboration between Celestial Beerworks and Turning Point Beer)

Beer: Virtually Inseparable
Brewery: Celestial Beerworks
Collaborator: Turning Point Beer
Style: IPA – Triple New England
ABV: 10%
IBU: None listed
Untappd Description: A “virtual collaboration” with our cyber pals at Turning Point Beer. It’s a triple IPA brewed with Citra, Strata and Sabro. It has aromas of passionfruit and pineapple, and is jam packed with flavors of coconut, mango, taffy, and melon. It has a soft and fluffy mouthfeel and is the absolute brightest 10% glass of juice.

Interesting hops for this – Citra, Strata, and Sabro. People seem to be on the fence with sabro hops (some love it, some hate it).

This looks pure orange juice. Bright, beautiful golden orange color. Little foam to the head, not crazy head to it, but enough to be good. The bubbles are interspersed and varied. This is certainly hazy, with a few ‘floaters’ but nothing egregious.

Aroma is strong, super strong hoppyness. As obvious as the appearance of the beer is, the aroma kicks in as soon as you crack the can and lets you know right away that this is a Triple IPA. You get immediate notes of coconut, passionfruit, mango, pineapple, and a bit of melon.

Lets take this opportunity to look at the hops involved in this delicious triple IPA:
* Sabro – Sabro is an aroma hop that is notable for its complexity of fruity and citrus flavors. It imparts distinct tangerine, coconut, tropical fruit, and stone fruit aromas, with hints of cedar, mint, and cream. Sabro’s pedigree is the result of a unique cross pollination of a female neomexicanus hop.
* Citra – Citra hops are now one of the most coveted aroma hops in the US and have a strong citrusy profile with elements of grapefruit, lime and tropical fruit.
* Strata – Bittering with Strata brings a nice balanced bitterness. Flavor and aroma additions bring out the fruity side with tropical fruit and fresh berry brightness. Brewers say that dry hopping deepens the grapefruit and dank/herbal/cannabis elements.
(Information comes from Yakima Valley Hops, Hopslist, and Learn.Kegerator; respectively for all three.)

This has a soft mouthfeel. Its very juicy, very dank, but extremely drinkable and no booze or strong bite despite its 10% ABV. The flavor this is fantastic. You get notes of coconut, passionfruit, mango, slight berry notes, a bit of citrus poking through at points (primarily in a tangerine or orange taste), a little bit of pineapple. I think the biggest hop fruit flavor is mango, which explains why I enjoy it so much, thats always one of my favorite hop or fruit flavors in beers. (Funny because I don’t eat mangos as actual food, but love the flavor of them in beer.) There is little bits of floaters in this, but nothing you actually taste or detect as you drink. There is no dryness to this, and very little bitter or hop burn as well, its just genuinely a smooth beer, with a decently heavy mouthfeel but overall it tastes light and airy but still juicy. It goes down relatively quickly too, especially for a 10% beer. Having multiples of this around could be a danger that’s for sure.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4.46 (as of 5.10.20)

This was a wonderful beer to have at home, sitting relaxing, after I did a 10+ mile walk with my dog (Leela) walking the Conewago Recreational Trail. I walked it from the start on Rt. 230 near where Elizabethtown begins, and took it all the way to the Lebanon County line (where it becomes the Lebanon Valley Rails and Trails) and, went a bit further, than turned around. After the walk, stopped at Moo-Duck to support local breweries. I got a taco flatbread pizza, and a crowler of Hades Chocolate Rye (which I drank later that night with my friend and was delicious).

We’re rolling through May everyone, its now May 10th, which means we’re 1/3rd of the way through the month. I hope everyone is having a wonderful May, and is enjoying the blog, hopefully also, everyone is staying safe, staying (primarily) home, helping local small businesses and breweries, and doing their part to beat this virus. We’re all in this together.

Would love to give a shout out to all the hard working nurses, doctors, people who are volunteering for their communities by handing out lunches at schools, taking care of elderly, or doing whatever they can for their fellow neighbors and people. And a big thank you to people still working at some of the ‘centers’ of this; grocery store workers, cashiers, hospital employees, medical professionals, firefighters, etc. Thank you to all of you!

We’ll get through this. We’ll get back out there to life, and we’ll all sit down for some beers together! Until then, cheers from afar!

-B. Kline

]]> 3129 Beer Review: Road Trip Snacks (Panther Island Brewing) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/05/08/beer-review-road-trip-snacks-panther-island-brewing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-road-trip-snacks-panther-island-brewing Fri, 08 May 2020 17:05:00 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=3101
Road Trip Snacks by Panther Island Brewing

I’ m not sure what beaver nuggets are…. but I like them (at least in beer). Never heard of them, have no idea of them, but this was a damn tasty fine beer, so I’m all for them. This was in the beer mail package from Texas, and made for a great grilling beer. (Dinner for breakfast was made.)

So, did a quick search (Google search) for beaver nuggets. (Just typed in beaver nuggets). First thing up is an Amazon item, for Beaver Nuggets (r) by Buc-ee’s. The description for the item says: “Buc-ee’s Beaver Nuggets are the number one snack item in the Buc-ee’s store! These beaver nuggets are a delicious caramel coated corn pop snack. Great treat for Buc-ee’s fans.” (Amazon)

Buc-ee’s Beaver Nuggets (on sale on Amazon.com)

Not gonna lie, tempted to order a bag of these, just to see if their as good as the beer is. Tempted. (Read: not really gonna do it, but I am tempted / thinking about it).

Texas Beer Mail Package

One of the several beers I got from Texas; Road Trip Snacks is brewed by Panther Island Brewing. Panther Island Brewing is a microbrewery from Fort Worth Texas. Untappd lists them with 132 unique beers and a global average rating of 3.7 (as of 5.8.20). Their description reads: “We are local to Fort Worth. Born and raised. Texas through and through. We offer beer that is brewed by people that give a crap about what beer tastes like. We have 4 core beers available year round and brew specialty beer every season. We also have small batch unique beers that we pour in-house only. We open to the public on Thursday and Friday from 4pm – 10pm and Saturday and Sunday from 12pm – 10pm. We love live music and often have local artists play when we are open. The selection of food trucks we have on site for our tours is always different and unique. We are available for private bookings for corporate events, fundraisers, weddings, birthdays, receptions, etc. Contact us at amber@PantherIslandBrewing.com for more information.”.

Road Trip Snacks by Panther Island Brewing

Beer: Road Trip Snacks
Brewery: Panther Island Brewing
Style: Brown Ale – English
ABV: 6%
IBU: None
Untappd Description:

Brown Ale brewed with Buc-ee’s Famous Beaver Nuggets.

*Buc-ee’s, Ltd. is the owner of the Beaver Nuggets mark, and that Buc-ee’s, Ltd. is not affiliated with, nor does it endorse or sponsor, the beer.

This lives up to its style’s namesake – it is a brown beauty. Very thin, (barely there) head. Few bubbles. But thick, pouring, heavy looking beer. Appearance there isn’t a whole lot to say about this beer, its unassuming.

Cracking the tab, you get super rich maple aroma right away. Some deep complex caramel malts get mixed in, but this is extremely maple, like maple bacon candy, like maple syrup, a very good, rich, dense maple flavor. It smells extremely delicious right from the opening of the can, especially if you love maple syrup (or at least the smell of it).

I found this very delicious. I could see it going the other way for people, but I personally really liked it. The reason is that it is like a maple syrup and caramel malt bomb exploding in your mouth. It has a very thick mouthfeel, almost a little cloying, but it is very rich (sets off ‘diabeeeeeetus’ alarm bells), very sweet, very maple, very caramel malt. There isn’t really a massive amount of other flavors or complexities, but there is a lot of maple, (a LOT), and an underbody to this of caramel malt that supports all that maple flavor. There is a slight ‘nut’ flavoring to this, either imparted from this being a brown ale or from the Beaver Nuggets; not sure. Like I said, these combinations either work for you, or they don’t. It did for me, it might not for others (or you).

My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.84 (as of 5.8.20).

Cheers everyone. Remember two days til mother’s day. Get your mom something nice!

-B. Kline

]]> 3101 Beer Review: $#!+ Ton (Turning Point Beer) https://thebeerthrillers.com/2020/04/23/beer-review-ton-turning-point-beer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beer-review-ton-turning-point-beer Thu, 23 Apr 2020 16:38:55 +0000 https://thebeerthrillers.com/?p=2919
$#!+ Ton by Turning Point Beer, a barleywine from Bedford, Texas.

Yesterday, I received my Texas beer mail package. It was packed full of goodies from breweries like Turning Point Beer, Martin House, Celestial Beer Works, Panther Brewing, HopFusion Ale Works, etc. Yesterday saw me already dive into three of the beers (the barleywine, the spicey pickle beer, and then the Fur Slipper milk stout to wash that down).

My Texas Beer Mail Package from Spencer. Thanks Spencer!

I came up with a plan during this lockdown to both help local breweries and get to try new breweries that I can’t travel to. So I set up a few ‘local for local’ trades with some guys online (I have a box coming from South Florida shortly). I went around to local breweries – Boneshire Brew Works, Pizza Boy Brewing, Tattered Flag, and Ever Grain Brewing and grab some four-packs, broke them down to make mixed packs to send off. Its a win for everyone. My local breweries get patronage, their local breweries get patronage, and we both get to try beers we most likely never would get to try otherwise. Plus it also gives me some unique beers to review here for the blog which further spreads the word.

So lets check out the first one I tried out.

Beer: $#!+ Ton
Brewery: Turning Point Beer
Style: Barleywine – English
ABV: 11.8%
IBU: None
Untappd Description: Our first English Barley Wine, made entirely with English ingredients.

This beer comes from the Turning Point Beer (brewery) – Bedford Texas. Untappd lists it as a Brew Pub, with 153 unique beers and a global average rating of 4.1 (as of 4.23.20). Their Untappd description reads: “We make cool beers for cool people. 1307 Brown Trail Bedford Texas 76022.” You can find their Untappd page here: Turning Point Beer.

After a long day of ….quarantining … and walking the dog for a long walk, and doing things for three young people under my care, and finishing Module Five (Yeast), I needed this. It was just a barleywine kinda night. Slight chill, almost sunset time, about 7PM…. I’m halfway through my glass when my youngest asks to go for a bike ride. I don’t ride bike, so that meant I had to jog along with her while we did about a mile (+) bike loop. With half of a 11.8% barleywine sloshing around my gut. Do. Not. Recommend.

Anway… onto the actual review.

This poured a lovely caramel brown color, with a very frothy full foamy head. The head is a nice off-white (slightly brown) creamy looking head with great bubbles, varied sizes and disperse. It left nice lacing on the glass. It was a sweet looking brown with a hint of amber, clear, and well carbonated.

Aroma is malty, bready, with a bit of a banana smell. It has a slight sweet odor, but not vanilla. Slight spices smell but all very subtle, the predominant aroma was the malty bready biscuity backbone to this beer with everything else being subdued and subtle.

This was a delicious barleywine, one of my favorite styles. It had a very nice kick, but was very easy drinking, and like a good barleywine. Unlike some (most) barleywines you don’t even take notice of the 11.8% on this bad boy. It is definitely malty, and it has a slight appropriate bitterness to it. You get your dose of ‘English’ ingredients in this that rounds things out nicely. Some spices, some herbal elements. As with the aroma, there is a fine feint hint of banana. Nothing too ripe, but it might be where some of the sweetness comes from. This does go back and forth on being ‘sweet’ to ‘not sweet’ as you drink it down, which is interesting how it bounces back and forth between the two so much. There is a nice breadyness and biscuit flavor profile that goes with the high malt on this, giving it a full thick mouthfeel. Its not cloying, nice mouthfeel but not too heavy, no off flavors, just all around a well made barleywine that is amazingly easy sipper.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.92 (as of 4.23.20)

After this, I ended up meeting up with Drew and finishing part two of our run through of Zelda – A Link to the Past. Once we get the YouTube channel up and running, you’ll be able to see it on there. (Coming shortly). I poured myself a sampler (like half a shot) of the Spicy Pickle Beer, and gave Drew the rest of the pint. It took me some courage to even drink that shot. Not. A. Fan. D. Scott loved his glass of it though. I washed it down with HopFusion’s Fur Slipper (Imperial Milk Stout).

Still working through my online beer course, you can check the series out by starting at the beginning and working your way through it here: Beer Education: The Series. Also, look for a post about the grand opening of Hemauer Brewing, that should probably be posted tomorrow.

Stay safe, take it easy, be kind, and cheers everyone!

-B. Kline

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