Southern Yankee Grand Opening Round-Up
Todd@HoustonBeerScene
The entire Houston Beer Scene team enjoyed Southern Yankee’s Grand Opening party this past weekend. We had some excellent food from The Southern Stand food truck, checked out the swag from Babe and The Beard, enjoyed a stein holding contest, played around in sumo suits, and enjoyed listening to Joel’s Garage cover classic rock favorites. As always, it was fun getting to meet local craft beer enthusiasts, including a few lucky ones who won free Houston Beer Scene t-shirts. Be sure to look for us to be out at future events around town.
I’m always trying new beers, so naturally, I spent plenty of time at the Grand Opening sampling the additional beers Southern Yankee has released in the few weeks since our First Look, including one brew released especially for the Grand Opening, ‘Muricca Pants. Of the new beers, this one was my favorite. It’s a quality, West Coast style American Pale Ale with appropriate bitterness and balance. A nice touch of caramel malt takes it up a notch. This is the type of Pale Ale I could come back to again and again.
Jester’s Black Stout, an entry in their R&D series, was my other favorite. They nailed the Stout style with an excellent roasted flavor, and bitterness punctuated with coffee notes. It’s only 5.4% ABV, but tastes a lot bigger; they really coaxed a lot out of the malt. Another R&D series brew, Moscow Drool, was an unexpected surprise, as you don’t often see a brewery produce a Ginger Beer. Southern Yankee’s version is a 5.0% brew that’s dry, refreshing and packed with ginger flavor.
Fuzzy Bastard, a Cream Ale, has an appealing, grainy malt flavor and the feel is dead-on for the style. Aggressive Sunscreen is a great, balanced Belgian Pale Ale. It features a rounded malt body paired with spicy yeast. At 5.0% there’s a lot of flavor and complexity, but it’s also an easy drinker. Finally, for those who want something big and hoppy, there’s Hopsack, a 10.3% Triple IPA brewed with seven types of hops and includes wheat in the grain bill. Considering the size of Hopsack, it surprised me with its level of balance.
These six beers were part of a total of 15 available at the Grand Opening representing a well-balanced menu of quality beers. Houston Beer Scene is excited to see what the future holds for Southern Yankee and will be sure to be back to sample future beer releases. Check back with us for some drone footage of the Grand Opening from Bryce@HoustonBeerScene and a food truck review on The Southern Stand from Ryan@HoustonBeerScene. Cheers!
Here are a few more pictures from the party! Also, a gif of Ryan losing his sumo wrestling match!
Address: 930 FM 1960, Ste G, Houston, Texas, 77073
Phone: (832) 596-9681
Website: <www.southernyankeebeer.com
Hours: Wed-Thu: 4p-10a, Fri-Sat: 12p-12a, Sun:12p-10p