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Pass the Pint: Ladies of Craft Beer, Part I

by Nicole Ferweda
Think beer is a man's drink? Think again. Houston Ladies of Craft Beer know their brews and are happy to share advice on the subject.

Beer is often considered a man’s drink, with the view that women steer towards wine or cocktails. But ask any of the Ladies of Craft Beer and they will tell you that sometimes, stereotypes just don’t hold up. This global organization brings together women who not only enjoy a good beer with dinner, but also get together for events and discussions that focus entirely on craft beer and occasionally, even homebrew.

This week, I find some of the Houston women doing their best to shape the local beer scene through their love of craft brews, and get their advice on shaping my own palate.

Leah Rodgers – who runs the Twitter account CraftBeerGal and writes for the aforementioned Ladies of Craft Beer site and Leslie Sprague - who runs a beer blog called Lushtastic first weighed in on their favorite places to try new beers.

Both agree that the Flying Saucer downtown is an excellent place to start, especially since their tap wall consists of close to 90 different selections of draught beer.

“They rotate the taps regularly and are very knowledgeable of the styles and they encourage trying something new, “ said Leah.

Also high on their lists - Petrol Station and Anvil Bar & Refuge - because of their constantly rotating and varied selections. Petrol may be tiny in size, but they are mighty in their selection of taps, often featuring unusual casks and rare beers.

Next up: specific breweries. Both Leah and Leslie have their picks for Texas craft brews.

“[Ranger Creek is] making great beer and the brewer, Rob Landerman, is extremely personable and seeks feedback from the consumers, and he is also happy to help educate others about the brewing process,” Leah explained.

Leslie is also impressed with the variety of local beers and told me, “From the huge and tasty Black Metal Imperial Stout from Jester King to the interesting barrel-aged combinations from Rob at Ranger Creek and, to indulge my new beer interest, sours, we have the ‘Texas Wild Ale’ program from Scott at Freetail [in San Antonio].”

Personally, when I am introducing a friend to craft beers, I usually to start off with one of my favorites - the Asahi Black or Shiner Black since they are both lighter beers that won’t scare people off with a strong profile of intense malt or hops.

Both Leslie and Leah suggest a similar tactic and say hefeweizen is one of the best for newbies, since it’s a light refreshing beer with a lot of flavor. But mostly, they encourage people to try everything until they find what works best for them.

It took me a year of drinking craft beer and homebrew to realize I am a dark beer lover and my choice is usually a simple stout or porter, nothing too complicated, like bourbon-aged or heavily spiced ales, so I know their advice rings true. But the only way to know what kind of beer you like is to try as many styles as you can before settling into a preference.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part II, where I’ll get Leah and Leslie’s thoughts on the differences between men and women’s palates and homebrewing 101.

in Alcohol

« Amuse-bouche: tantalizing taste of Houston food news | Main | Steve Marques no longer a Burger Guy »

Our hearts go out to Sylvia Casares of Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen as we hope she will make a quick and speedy recovery after a tragic incident this week concerning her business partner and boyfriend.

March 21 and Houston committee members and local artists will demonstrate their crafts and sell bowls at the Whole Foods Market on Kirby. Benefiting the Houston Food Bank in conjunction with the Empty Bowls Houston event. Whole Foods plans to donate 5 percent of the day’s sales from all four area locations to the Houston Food Bank.

Oxheart opened this week. Among the Uchi’s and Underbellys of the culinary scene Oxheart is right up there with them. Be sure to put it on your to-try list for March.

This Monday, March 19th The Last Chef Standing Restaurant Challenge will kick off at The Tasting Room from 6 - 8 p.m. The competition will have local restaurants compete against in each other in a bracket-style competition to determine a People’s Choice Winner over the course of five rounds.

Be sure to check out Eater Houston’s Amber Ambrose’s interview with Lyle Lovett on growing up in Klein, Texas and some of his favorite restaurants in Houston like Ninfa’s on Navigation, RDG Cafe Annie and the like.

Over the weekend a favorite local restaurant, Haven experienced a honey heist. That’s right - someone stole Haven’s beehive right out of their backyard garden. Oh Houston, you never cease to amaze us.

Da Marco gets an almost perfect Zagat rating for 2012 with a 29/30 .

Surprise, surprise, Houston leads the country in most meals eaten outside of the home at an average of 4.1 per week. The survey released March 6 also stated that the national average to-go mean intake is 3.1. That’s not that bad

America’s Favorite Cookie turns 100 years old this week. That’s right we’re talking about you - Oreo.

Underbelly is officially open at 1100 Westheimer Rd. We’ve got reservations.

Paul Qui of Uchiko a sister restaurant to Tyson Cole’s Uchi wins Top Chef Texas.

Underbelly is now accepting reservations. Make yours here.

Another month, another list. Check out Culture Map’s Top 10 restaurants to try out right now. Including Roost, Artisans and Hay Merchant.

Crawfish Season can be confusing. Where to get tail is something that is on everyone’s mind. Thankfully our friends at Eater Houston have solved that problem with the Boiled Crawfish Map.

Eatsie Boys the food truck, will be food truck no more. As they expand their franchise they will lose their wheels. Expected to open somewhere in Montrose hopefully this summer.

Liberty Station’s annual Chili Cookoff will be March 10th. The cookoff will benefit Young Texans Against Cancer. Team Entry is $25 per team get more info here.

Houston may have just been ranked the #1 most overweight city, but at least we’re not the most obese. We’ll leave that spot for our friends in Dallas.

James Beard Award Semi-Finalist Nominees were released this week. This year, Houston has six chefs in the running, that’s one more than last year.

Sprinkles Cupcakes is featuring a limited edition cupcake to honor the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s opening of the Japan Gallery. The special cupcake features Cherry Blossoms and will be available until March 20.

Johnny Mandola named General Manager of Damian’s Cucina Italiana, located at 3011 Smith St., Houston, TX 77006.

From Chicken and Waffles to Meat Chips to a Crispy Lamb Sweetbread Po’boy Hay Merchant is open and we’re excited.

Trader Joes is said to open in The Woodlands first, then Montrose as originally expected in the Alabama Theatre but now we’re hearing Memorial too on S. Voss near San Felipe.

Uchi opened February 2nd and now a month later, Katsuya schedules to open it’s doors March 2nd. Must be something in the water.

Cinq Chef Jeramie Robinson is leaving Houston for Austin as Chef Tyson Cole offers him a job with Uchi Austin.

Acclaimed Mexican chef Aquiles Chávez opens his upscale Mexican and seafood restaurant this Saturday — La Fisheria. Filming for the new show Aquiles in Houston begins soon.

Come celebrate Fat Tuesday at BB’s. Festivities start at 5:30 p.m. with live music from Keyun & They Zydeco Masters. Expect Abita beer specials, King Cake and of course Crawfish. 2701 White Oak.

Guadalajara Bakery will close it’s doors February 29th after 45 years in business. The new building owners have decided to turn the well-loved taco-spot into a bar. The Chavez family has no plans to reopen their doors elsewhere.

We walked you through Uchi step by step. Now, it’s Katsuya’s turn. CultureMap gives us a first look at Philllipe Starck’s latest concept expected to open it’s door in Houston this spring in the West Ave shopping center.

Next up on HOUSTON CULINARY TOURS - Chef Bryan Caswell of Reef, Stella Sola and El Real along with cookbook author Robb Walsh explore all-things oyster. The tour is Sunday, March 18, 2012. Tickets on sale now.

Doug Kurz and Matt Taormina of RICHMOND CHILL are rumored to be opening a new establishment sometime this year named Oak Forest Chill, located on the corner of Oak Forest and Judiway.

BRC GASTROPUB has released their spring menus. BRC Gastropub now has a brunch, lunch and dinner menu available. We can’t wait to get in and try out the Infamous Coop-Style Burger, Eggs Queso.

Eater Houston takes the cliche that we eat with our eyes to the next level by hosting the HOTTEST CHEF OF 2012 contest this month. Check out who's the most delicious.

The much anticipated UCHI has opened. When you get there, we suggest the Shag Roll.

Jonathan Jones steps down from XUCO XICANA.

New York City’s famous restaurant LE CIRQUE launches a series of pop-up restaurants, with one of them in Houston. New executive chefOlivier Reginensi hosts the pop-ups; he started his culinary career with Le Cirque in 1993 and is excited to be back.

EATSIE BOYS food truck sits down for an interview with Eater Houston on their one year anniversary.

THE RAILYARD, a River Oaks bar, is a finalist in the 2012 Nightclub & Bar Awards for “Small Wonder Bar of the Year,” only one of two Texas bars to reach the finals. The other nominee is STATS SPORTS BAR AND GRILL of Tomball, TX as a finalist for “Sports Bar of the Year.”

GEORGIA'S MARKET opens a downtown store January 27th. With four distinct sections, is there anything Georgia’s doesn’t have? Complete with the famous all-day buffet, an organic grocery store, a second-floor area meant to be a reading loft and last? The cellar soon to start serving up local microbrews and sustainable wines that can also be found up stairs in the grocery.

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