If you’re a regular reader here, you probably recall that Oktoberfest, or marzen style, beers are some of my favorites. They’ve been on the shelves since basically the end of July, which is weird and a little annoying to the purist in me, since they’re a fall-time cool weather beer. If you’re not familiar with South Texas, fall and cool weather are a couple things we’re in short supply of around here.
So I’ve walked past the Oktoberfest beer displays in HEB each time I went to the store for over a month now and I’ve been holding out for fall. Well we got a little cloud cover and a south wind this evening that cooled things off a bit and I used that as my justification for buying a six pack of St. Arnold Brewery’s Oktoberfest. I felt a little guilty about buying some before September, which is when I told my neighbor was the earliest I’d be okay with it, so I added a second excuse.
I bought this beer because I’m going to do a series on the different marzen style beers from some of my favorite local breweries, which means I need to start early. Like today early. Glad we cleared that up.
Some time passed between starting this write up and now…
It’s been a busy week, with lots of stuff to keep me away from the blog, but I’m back at it.
Saint Arnold Brewing Company’s Oktoberfest is one of my favorites. It has a dark amber hue and pours with a medium white head. Taking a sip of one gives me a little bit of sensory recall to the cool autumn evenings my wife and I spent on our honeymoon in Boston last year. If you’re a fan of marzen style beers, this one has a lot of malty flavor and above average sweetness that make it a must try.
Not to mention that Saint Arnold’s is one of my top 3 favorite Texas breweries and puts out some incredible beers. They’re the oldest craft brewery in the state and their mascot/namesake is the patron saint of brewing, so they’ve got no excuse not to produce some high quality stuff. They’ve also got a really cool facility and brand new beer garden that’s a must visit if you’re ever in Houston with time to kill.
“It Had to Happen”
When I started on this first portion of the Oktoberfest B&T challenge, I decided to do a little throwback and write about my favorite James McMurtry album.
The album title just seems a little bit too appropriate because this is one record I know inside and out. Released in ’97, I remember listening to it on road trips with my dad as a kid. I remember interning in New Jersey and being stuck on the East Coast for four months, longing for mesquite trees and Texas sunsets, when it turned up in a CD stack and gave me a little piece of home. I remember working in the oil patch and feeling like I had a better understanding, as a young man trying to find my way, of the gritty themes McMurtry sings about.
So I guess you could say that “It Had to Happen”, in regards to a write up about this record.
James McMurtry’s father is legendary Texas writer Larry McMurtry, the author of Lonesome Dove, so it’s no surprise that in “It Had to Happen” we find a set of masterfully written songs. The themes throughout this album cover everything from receiving an inheritance that wasn’t what you thought it’d be, to meeting a role model who turns out not to be much of anything, to the slowly disappearing ways of the west.
Favorite 3 Tracks
No More Buffalo
Sixty Acres
Jaws of Life
McMurtry doesn’t do much touring these days but he does live in Austin and, more often than not, you can find him playing at the Continental Club on Wednesday nights. He’s got a ton of albums out there, so if you ever stumble across any I recommend you grab them.
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