On most weeks, TABC releases what labels have been approved for sale in Texas. Every beer that is sold in Texas has to go through this process before you can see it on store shelves. It is a way to see what will be coming into the Texas market before it shows up at your local bottle shop. The time frame between showing up on the label approval list and hitting the shelves could be anywhere from a day to a couple of months out.
The same can be said for breweries. The brewery approvals tend to be even further out. Every brewery sold in Texas has to go through the same process to get approved by the TABC. Once they do this, they can then get labels approved.
I only include craft beer labels that have been approved.
After each label, I have indicated what they have been approved to sell in. They are as follows:
K = Keg
B = Large format bottle
b = Small format bottle
c = Small format (12oz) can
C = Larger format cans
Here are this week’s releases:
Abita – Bourbon Street Baltic Porter (B)
Avery – Tweak Stout with Coffee Added Aged in Bourbon Barrels (b, K)
Ballast Point – Bourbon Barrel Aged Indra Kunindra (K)
Ballast Point – Whiskey Barrel Aged Victory at Sea (K)
Beerfoot Beach Bar – Blacktip Shark Pale Ale (K)
Bluebonnet – Smoked Porter (K)
Full Sail – English Style Pale Ale (K)
Galveston Island – Barrel Aged Samson’s Stout (K)
Galveston Island – Samson’s Imperial Stout (K)
Grapevine – Stocking Stuffer Winter Warmer (K)
Guadalupe Brewing – Apple Pie Texas Honey Ale (B)
Guadalupe Brewing – Rye IPA (B)
Hops and Grain – Ampersand & Ale (K)
Hops and Grain – Belgian Style Dubbel Ale (K)
Hops and Grain – Hops & Indie Experimental Hop Ale (K)
Hops and Grain – Winoweisse Ale (K)
Jester King – Snorkel (B)
Jester King – Barrel Aged Beer Refermented with Peaches (aka Fen Tao) (B)
Jester King – Colour Five (B)
Jester King – Estival Dichotomous (B)
Jester King – Figlet (B)
Jester King – Kollaboreationsbiermittschechischemhopfenund (B)
Ranger Creek – Small Batch No. 10 (b, K)
Redhook – KCCO White Wheat Ale (b)
Rogue – Rogue Farms Fresh Roast Ale (K)
Saint Arnold – Committed Double IPA (K)
Shannon – Winter Stout (K)
Sierra Madre – Ocho Reales Porter (b, c)
Sierra Nevada – Nooner Pilsner (b, c, K)
Sierra Nevada – Hop Hunter IPA (b, K)
Sierra Nevada – More than a Peelin’ (K)
Sierra Nevada – Harvest Wild Hop IPA (B, K)
Spencer – Trappist Ale (b, B, K)
Texas Ale Project – Somethin’ Shady Ale (K)
Texas Big Beer – Local Brew Ale (K)
Victory – Hop Ticket Belgian Style Blonde (K)
Victory – Hop Ticket Dry Hopped Saison (K)
Victory – Hop Ticket Black IPA (K)
Victory – Hop Ticket Rye IPA (K)
TABC Brewery Approvals:
Nothing new since the last article.
A couple things to take from these releases:
1) Jester King – So, as many of you already know, all of the Jester King beers have already been sold at the brewery before these approvals went through. Pretty much all that the approvals will do is allow them to sell these beers through stores/bars. Now, I am not expecting to actually see this in the near future. I am fully expecting this to be label approvals solely for them to be able to serve these beers at festivals and beer pairing dinners. I hope to be wrong. I think anyone here would like to be able to buy Fen Tao or Colour 5 from your local beer store.
2) Ballast Point – They are bringing in two new barrel aged beers to the market. These approvals are solely for kegs, so do not expect to see them on the shelves. The Indra Kunindra definitely sounds more interesting aged in Bourbon Barrels. It was a very divisive beer on whether people liked it or not.
3) Avery – Tweak is finally approved. This one has been on the shelves in other states for quite some time. It is the next in line for their 12 oz barrel aged bottle series. Hopefully, they will hit shelves quickly now.
4) Sierra Madre – A somewhat oddity on this list, a brewery out of Mexico that seems to be a craft brewery. I know next to nothing about them, but I could find nothing linking them to any of the big beer companies down there. I will be curious on how this one is.
Bonus Bit:
Apparently, I am not the only one waiting on label approvals to go through. Prairie seems to have gotten after TABC last week since only bottles of Christmas Bomb were approved and not kegs:
Who knows when we will see that come through.
