Sorry for the long absence, kids. Been kind of crazy with work/ culinary school/ 8 month pregnant wife. Anyhow, enough apologies. My creative juices that have been flowing big time, and I've got some exciting stuff on the docket for the summer 2011.
First is Saison DeGrace, an American Farmhouse ale that I brewed last week. The malt bill includes barley, wheat, oats and rye and should have a ton of depth and complexity. It was fermented at 76F to maximize the yeasty effects, and I chose Wyeast 3711 French Saison because of it's ninja- fast attenuation and complex flavor. This batch will be bottle conditioned for at least a month, so look for it in mid August.
Next up, my Imperil Pilz. This is a monster lager, OG around 1.080 and heavily hopped w/ noble cones. Nothing fancy, just wanted a BIG beer that would be warm weather friendly. Should be ready in a month or so.
Lastly is a creation that I am super excited to try. It's an American-style Rye Ale that I'm going to age for 2 months on toasted French Oak. It's going to be hard to wait, but this beer should be AWESOME. Bottle conditioned only.
Taking requests as well. What LeGrue's brew would you like to see?
Cheers!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Letter to TX House Committee
Mike Hamilton (R), District 19
Chairman- House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee
Dear Representative Hamilton,
As a lifelong resident of Missouri City, TX, I am deeply interested in the growth and vitality of our City as well as Texas as a whole. We all agree that it is in our state’s best interest to find constructive ways of addressing our budgetary challenges while still fostering a positive environment for small businesses to flourish.
That brings me to the reason for my letter. I am writing you today regarding House Bill 660, relating to the sale of malt liquor, ale, and beer by the holder of a brewpub license, filed by Representative Mike Villarreal of San Antonio. This bill would allow Texas brewpubs the right to make their products available for sale off-premise, a right that out-of-state brewpubs already enjoy within the borders of Texas. It is unfathomable that in this economic climate that our statutes would so greatly restrict local small businesses; the very businesses that will help us out of this recession.
Opponents of this bill say that it would open the doors for the unregulated sale of alcoholic products in dry counties, to minors, and other such “sky-is-falling” nonsense. Let’s address these arguments so their lack of logic can come out. The sale of alcoholic beverages in dry counties or to minors would be impossible because the brewers sell to either distributers or direct to retailers. That means that the wholesaler and/or retailer would have to be complicit in the illegal sale to the public. Why would a wholesaler or retailer purchase a product that they can’t sell to the end user or endanger their ability to sell at all by selling to minors? The answer is that they would not.
HB 660 would help Texas brewpubs, most of which are privately owned, grow and remain competitive in a rapidly growing industry. The benefits don’t stop there, however. This bill would allow Texas wholesale permit and distributor's license holders meet the exploding local demand for craft beer, enable retailers by allowing them to highlight local products, give Texas consumers greater access to the products they want, and help the state by creating new jobs and increasing tax revenues. In fact, an Economic Impact study conducted by the Texas Craft Brewers Guild found that statutory reforms like HB 660 could result in $680 Million of new annual economic activity, 6,800 new jobs created, and an estimated $57 million of tax revenue generated annually. Can we really afford to miss out on these benefits given the current job market, economic climate and budget deficit in Texas?
Our laws must not prevent our own small businesses from having the tools they need to be leaders in this industry– especially to the benefit of out-of-state businesses who are currently able to do what our own breweries cannot.
I trust you will vote Yes for HB 660 when given the opportunity in committee or on the house floor.
Thank you for your time and service to our great state.
Sincerely,
Mason D. LeGrue
PS: see this letter in The Loop Scoop
Chairman- House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee
Dear Representative Hamilton,
As a lifelong resident of Missouri City, TX, I am deeply interested in the growth and vitality of our City as well as Texas as a whole. We all agree that it is in our state’s best interest to find constructive ways of addressing our budgetary challenges while still fostering a positive environment for small businesses to flourish.
That brings me to the reason for my letter. I am writing you today regarding House Bill 660, relating to the sale of malt liquor, ale, and beer by the holder of a brewpub license, filed by Representative Mike Villarreal of San Antonio. This bill would allow Texas brewpubs the right to make their products available for sale off-premise, a right that out-of-state brewpubs already enjoy within the borders of Texas. It is unfathomable that in this economic climate that our statutes would so greatly restrict local small businesses; the very businesses that will help us out of this recession.
The craft brewing industry in the US is booming, showing double digit growth annually despite the country’s economic trouble. Even in light of the current repressive laws, Texas craft brewers are beginning to garner national attention and acclaim. Just imagine what Texas brewers could accomplish with laws that enable new brewers to more competitively sell their products! One needs only to look at Oregon or Colorado to see the potential in job opportunities and tax revenues. Oregon has permits for “Brewery public houses” that allows brewpubs to sell to distributors and/or self-distribute up to 200,000 barrels per year, and their industry has flourished. Oregon produces over 1 million barrels of beer per year, employs over 5,000 people in breweries, and generates an estimated $2.2 billion per year for the local economy.
In Texas, the wine industry experienced extraordinary growth after the legislature loosened restrictions preventing wineries from selling to consumers on-site. In 2003, the Texas Legislature changed the law to allow wineries to sell to consumers in addition to the previously allowed activity of selling to distributors; much like what HB 660 attempts to do (though from the opposite direction – brewpubs can already sell to consumers but seek the ability to sell to wholesalers and distributors). Since then, the number of wineries in Texas have increased from 46 in 2001 to 181 in 2009, jobs increased from 1,800 to over 9,000, and the economic impact has increased from $132 million per year to $1.35 billion in 2009 making Texas the 5th largest wine producing state in the US.
Opponents of this bill say that it would open the doors for the unregulated sale of alcoholic products in dry counties, to minors, and other such “sky-is-falling” nonsense. Let’s address these arguments so their lack of logic can come out. The sale of alcoholic beverages in dry counties or to minors would be impossible because the brewers sell to either distributers or direct to retailers. That means that the wholesaler and/or retailer would have to be complicit in the illegal sale to the public. Why would a wholesaler or retailer purchase a product that they can’t sell to the end user or endanger their ability to sell at all by selling to minors? The answer is that they would not.
HB 660 would help Texas brewpubs, most of which are privately owned, grow and remain competitive in a rapidly growing industry. The benefits don’t stop there, however. This bill would allow Texas wholesale permit and distributor's license holders meet the exploding local demand for craft beer, enable retailers by allowing them to highlight local products, give Texas consumers greater access to the products they want, and help the state by creating new jobs and increasing tax revenues. In fact, an Economic Impact study conducted by the Texas Craft Brewers Guild found that statutory reforms like HB 660 could result in $680 Million of new annual economic activity, 6,800 new jobs created, and an estimated $57 million of tax revenue generated annually. Can we really afford to miss out on these benefits given the current job market, economic climate and budget deficit in Texas?
Our laws must not prevent our own small businesses from having the tools they need to be leaders in this industry– especially to the benefit of out-of-state businesses who are currently able to do what our own breweries cannot.
I trust you will vote Yes for HB 660 when given the opportunity in committee or on the house floor.
Thank you for your time and service to our great state.
Sincerely,
Mason D. LeGrue
PS: see this letter in The Loop Scoop
Thursday, February 24, 2011
History of Beer
Here's a pretty cool timeline I found on the history of my favorite beverage. Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
AHA Rally Feb 27th at St. Arnold Brewing Co.
To all the LeGrue's Brew faithful,
Join me and our malted barley compatriots for the Houston area American Homebrewer's Association Rally. Details below:
Saint Arnold Brewing Co. AHA Rally
Sunday, February 27 , 2011
Sunday, February 27 , 2011
Time: 1:00-3:00 pm
Address: 2000 Lyons Ave, Houston, TX
Web: http://www.saintarnold.com/
Space is limited, please RSVP.
Address: 2000 Lyons Ave, Houston, TX
Web: http://www.saintarnold.com/
Space is limited, please RSVP.
Non-members can join now or sign up at a discounted rate at the door.
Learn more about AHA Membership Benefits.
Entrance includes:
• VIP brewery tour!
• Meet and greet with Brock Wagner, owner, and Gary Glass, AHA Director.
• An opportunity to mingle with other Texas homebrewers.
• A chance to win great prizes from the AHA and Saint Arnold Brewing Company!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Chai Spice Ale- Soon for the tap
For those of you who are new to my malted misadventures, my favorite way to push the bounds of gastro- brewing is to deconstruct my favorite flavors of food and drink and reinterpret them in beer form. My latest experiment in,Chai Spice Ale, will be ready for consumption in a few day and I can't wait to see how it turned out. I used the spices you see in the picture, as well as Ginger and Orange Peel. I added a little Lactose (milk sugar) as an homage to the traditional way the beverage is served, and finished with honey after the boil.
Stats are as follows:
OG 1.064; FG 1.014
ABV= 6.7%
Definite cinnamon on the nose, not too much of the cardamom is perceptible but that could be due to the temperature. Honey flavor is light as well, might need to add some now that fermentation is complete.
However it turns out, it was a neat experiment!
Cheers
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Beer Laws in TX need to change!!
Texas House Bill 660, filed by Representative Mike Villarreal in the 82nd Regular Session of the Texas Legislature, would be a game changer for Texas Craft Beer.
Currently Texas brewpubs are not allowed to sell to wholesalers, distributors or retailers for resale. That means you can't find beer from any of Texas' amazing brewpubs at your local grocery store, restaurant or bar. Meanwhile, out-of-state brewpubs are free to have their beer distributed all over the state.
*Would allow Texas brewpubs to sell to wholesalers and distributors for resale
*Change the existing 5,000 barrel/year limit to apply only to on-premise sales to the ultimate consumer
*Lift the overall production limit to 75,000 barrels/year
*Allow brewpubs to self-distribute to retailers so long as their total annual production is less than 10,000 barrels.
The law will not only help our state's brewpubs (which are almost all independently owned small businesses), but it would give distributors incremental sales volume, allow retailers to highlight local products, and give consumers access to the products they desire. Facing a $27 billion budget shortfall, HB 660 also benefits our State by increasing the tax base as breweries grow.
Please pass HB 660 and support our state's small businesses. Click the link below to sign the petition in FAVOR of HB 660!
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?TXHB660
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