As I'd hoped, the need to feed my family happily coincided with an opportunity to sample more Texas beers. I visited the awesome Gabriel's Liquor Superstore on Blanco Rd. and received excellent advice from the resident beer aficionado; after recommending Real Ale (which I'd tried the day before) and Shiner (meh), he suggested I try either Houston-based Saint Arnold or Austin-based Independence Brewing Company. Not knowing when I'd be in Texas again, I did the responsible thing and picked up six of each.
I started with the Saint Arnold Elissa IPA, and I had high hopes. I was decently satisfied—only Cascade hops are used, and the body was malty enough, but there was a slight metallic tang at the finish that didn't thrill me. Maybe my expectations were too high, because it wasn't a bad beer at all.
That said, my expectations were suitably dampened enough that I found the Independence Pale Ale to be a delightful session beer, dry-hopped with Cascade and Saaz hops to provide a subtle hoppiness—it is, after all, a pale, less hoppy than my standard go-to faves Odell 5-Barrel Pale Ale or Sierra Nevada Pale Ale but a nice effort nonetheless. I look forward to sampling more of Independence Brewing Company's offerings (especially their seasonal Stash IPA, hopped FIVE TIMES. Ay caramba!) in the future.
