Surviving ACL: The Drinks @ the Fancy Beer Hall [EDIT with official new list]

Edit - the new list of beers for 2015 is appended at the end.
 
Like the food options at Zilker, the options for drinks have multiplied and improved vastly. No longer do you simply get the choice of bad macro or bad foreign, but now the ACL folks also offer an array of local and craft beers to enjoy.

I don't know if you are a BBQ nerd or not, but there is a guy who does a top notch blog on food, called Fed Man Walking, who does a great job of eating his way through the Austin BBQ scene and creating a legit list about it.  Way more useful than the list Texas Monthly does every decade or so.  Anyway, he has a good post with photos of last year's beer menus, which I am going to use for this since the ACL page about their beer hall is missing from their website.  Lame.

Before I start, a comment on the local-ness of the craft beer list.  Austin (and the surrounding area) is now home to about 78 million breweries.  I think another one just opened as I typed.  I think it would be imminently cool if this entire list was made up of local offerings so that all of the people coming to Austin could enjoy a well-curated list of the best Austin has to offer.  We've got every major style represented well.  Real Ale is great - that is an O.G. local brewery that has been doing good things for a long time - but we have so much more to offer.  Austin Beerworks, Black Star, Hops & Grain, Adelbert's, Jester King, Circle, Thirsty Goat, 512, Independence, Oasis.  Heck, a new one named Zilker just opened, which would be poetic to serve in the park.  And that's not even mentioning the great restaurant brewery options like Pinthouse Pizza or ABGB.  We are so rich with options, there is no real reason to bring the non-Austin options to town.  (Well, unless you have an exclusive contract with a particular distributor who doesn't carry any locals except for Real Ale, which may be the issue).

Rant over, beer thoughts now.  I'll get to the regular BAR tents later, here are thoughts about the fancy craft beers in the Barton Springs Beer Hall.  This all assumes that nothing changes, which could be incorrect, but ACL isn't listing facts about the drinks on their site. All are $8, although they don't provide serving size on that menu.  I will be assuming a 16 ounce plastic pint cup like last year.

• Real Ale Devil's Backbone (8%), Real Ale Hans Pils (5%), Real Ale Four Squared (6%).  Here are your three local options as of last year.  I like Hans Pils the best out of the group, but all three of these are pretty strong hop beers, which is too bad, because it would be nice to get more variety.  Devil's is the strongest for sure, but I always dislike it by the end of a pint because of the heavy hops shredding my tongue.
• Odell 90 Shilling (5%) and Odell IPA (7%).  Fort Collins, CO.  That 90 Shilling is excellent beer.  About two years ago it popped up all over town, from Cedar Door to Pinthouse, and I think it is a really great beer.  Super smooth and not too malty or too hopped up.  Their IPA is a good one too, but (as you might see in here) I'm lukewarm about the mega hop explosion that won't die in the craft brew movement.
• Stone IPA (6.9%).  California.  I feel like I've had this one before.  Obviously really left an impression on me.
• Lagunitas IPA (6.2%).  California.  I just has this one last week through pure happenstance. Meh.  After the first sip I wished I had gone with another choice.
• Victory Prima Pils (5.3%).  Pennsylvania.  Not sure if I've had this one.  The ACL menu says "Refreshing herbal bite," which makes this sound terrible.
• Left Hand Milk Stout (6%).  Colorado.  Awesome beer, but you need to be in the right mood and frame of mind.  This thing is sweet and creamy, like a melted milkshake.  I think they are great, but the thought of ordering one to sip in a hot and dusty park sounds terrible.
• Alaskan White (5.3%) and Alaskan Freeride APA (5.3%).  Alaska.  The White is a wheat beer, and I find the weird spices in it to be offputting.  A little cloying.  The Freeride is an American Pale Ale, which I generally like, but I don't think I've tried that one.  I might like that option if they have it again.
• Harpoon UFO White (4.8%).  Massachusetts.  Another unfiltered wheat beer with spices that are not my thing.  I can see the allure of a light, sweet beer like this for the festival, but its just too much for me.  I dig Harpoon - their Octoberfest is awesome - but this one is a no for me.
• Brooklyn Lager (5.2%).  New York.  Great beer.  This brewery makes one called Black Ops that is ridiculously good, and their Brown is excellent, and the Pennant Ale is really good too, so I have a soft spot for them.
• Breckenridge Agave Wheat (4.2%).  Colorado.  I do not like this beer.  I have tried it a time or two because a bar up in my neighborhood carries it, but it is just too sweet.
• Ciders.  Don't drink these.

2014 WINNERS:

Actual best beer Category: 90 Shilling.

Best local beer of the only three offered all from the same brewery Category:  Hans Pils.

Beer on the list I'd like to try Category: Alaskan Freeride APA.

Best bang for your buck Category:  Devil's Backbone for sure at 8%, but Odell and Stone's IPAs are right there at about 7%.

If they announce the real deal beer line-up for the year, I'll adjust accordingly.  Until then, enjoy trying a few of these to prep for the big weekend!

 
2015 Beer list has been announced!

• Ace Pineapple Cider.  Haven't tried it.  Sounds gross.
• Alaskan White (5.3%) and Alaskan Amber (5.3%).  Of course, I say I'd be interested in trying the Freeride APA from this brewery, and ACL drops it.  I think I've had that Amber before, but it didn't leave much of an impression.
• Breckenridge Agave Wheat (4.2%).  See last year, too sweet for my taste.
• Deep Ellum Easy Peasy IPA (5.2%).  Dallas.  Beer Advocate calls it sessionable and mentions tangerine and lemon peel.  Sounds kind of good.  And while it ain't Austin-made, we're getting closer by going with Big D.
• Founders Mosaic Promise (5.5%).  Michigan.  Apparently an "American IPA." Not sure if that is the same as an APA.  Haven't tried it before.
• Harpoon UFO White (4.8%).  Massachusetts.  See last year
• Lagunitas IPA.  (6.2%).  California.  See last year.
• Left Hand Milk Stout.  (6%).  Colorado. See last year.
• Miller Lite.  One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just isn't the same!
• Odell 90 Shilling (5%) and Odell IPA (7%).  Colorado.  See last year.
• Real Ale Devil’s Backbone (8%), Real Ale Fireman’s #4 (5.1%), Real Ale Hans Pils (5%), Real Ale Oktoberfest (5.7%).  AUSTIN-area.  Hooray!  One more local beer added to the list!  And it is a good one - I like Oktoberfest beers in general, and Real Ale does a fine malty marzen-style one.  If making them wasn't such a hassle, I'd make this style all year long.  Oh, but wait, we lost the Four Squared.  So we actually don't end up with more local options, just slightly different local options.  Next year, I expect more local action!
• Stone Delicious IPA.  (7.7%) California.  Uh oh, Stone's IPA went and got delicious since last year!  And added in about another point of alcohol.  Trying to challenge the Devil for the throne!  I haven't tried this one before, but would be up for it.
• Woodchuck Gumption Cider.  Blurg.  All I can think of is the huge gums that a woodchuck probably has to hold those huge teeth in its mouth.  This cider comes from squeezing those gums.

2015 WINNERS:

• Actual best beer Category: For me, it is still 90 Shilling for sure.
• Best local beer of the only four offered, all from the same brewery, Category:  Oktoberfest, although I still dig the Hans Pils.
• Beer on the list I'd like to try Category: Deep Ellum Easy Peasy IPA.
• Best bang for your buck Category:  Devil's Backbone is still the king at 8%, but Stone stepped up to a 7.7 percenter.  

Enjoy yourself some tasty beer!  Less than two weeks away!