Friday, September 27, 2013

Ranger Creek Brewing and Distilling out of San Antonio Texas. Small Batch Series #2. This is a Texas Farmhouse Ale. I really like the taste of the Ale. We tried it at a local texas bar that had Texas beer night.It was usually 11 dolars a beer, but this night it was only 3 dollars. It is 7.7% ABV . It was a nice burgundy color. The top of the bottle is cover in wax. I have never seen this before on a beer bottle. This Ale is is marketed as “a traditional Wallonian-style saison brewed with spelt that has been smoked over 4 Texas fruit woods. The use of peach, apricot, apple and plum woods add a subtle smokiness” It has a nice underlining smokey fruit taste. It is a nice summer type ale. Small Batch Series No. 2 was recognized in DRAFT magazine as one of the Top 25 Beers of 2012! Their website explains “Small Batch Series releases are meant to age well over time, so drink a bottle now and save others to enjoy later. They will cellar best in a dark place around 50 degrees. Each batch is brewed and bottled by hand and undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle. Pour carefully so as not to rouse the yeast.” Like I said before I really liked this Ale and recommend it to Anyone that wants to try a really unique Texas farmhouse ale and has a little more money to spend on a Great tasting Ale. Rated 4.9 out of 5-D

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Texas Texas Salsa. ”Perfect Hot” style. This salsa company is owned by Sanderson Foods out of Austin Texas They started making salsa in 1997.. This salsa was ok. It wasn’t hot enough for my taste. The label says perfect hot, but it wanst. It does have nice sized chunks out tomatoes, onions and peppers. They use all natural ingredients. It had an average taste and low medium heat to it. I would rate it somewhere in the middle of my favorite Salsa’s. It wasn’t bad but didn’t stand out either. Rated 3 out of 5-D

Monday, September 16, 2013

Revolver Brewing out of Granbury Texas. Sidewinder Ale. This Pale ale was great tasting. One of my favorite Texan pale ales. It had a nice citrus smell and citrus taste to it. It had a light golden color. It is made with regional flavors like Agave nectar. Maize, citrus hops, spices and citrus. It was very smooth and refreshing. The agave nectar gave it a nice slightly sweet taste. It has a 6% abv and doesn’t weigh you down after drinking it. I cant stress how much I like this Ale. Rated 5 out of 5-D Revolver Brewing from Granbury, Texas Sidewinder Ale. We first got a taste of this company at the Fort Worth Untapped Beer Festival earlier in the year and we liked what we tasted. We look forward to everything this Brewery puts out. The Sidewinder Ale is delicious pale ale that was definitely pleasing to the palate. Hints of citrus really jumped out to me with a bit of a salty, herby taste. A good salty herby taste. It was a beautiful light golden color and had a wonderful citrus/herb smell. I recommend giving this beer a try. It’s definitely one of my go to beers for an all-around great tasting beer. Rated 4.95 out of 5 -A

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Blue Bell Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream. This ice cream is heaven. I’m all for anything blueberry and Blue Bell does this spin on blueberry cheesecake perfectly. It has cheesecake flavored ice cream that is of course is very smooth, rich and creamy. Generous amounts of cheesecake pieces with graham cracker crust attached (yum). And copious amounts of the sweet blueberry swirl sauce. Every bite had some of the delicious elements to it. It is very rich, so it can get filling very fast. Blue Bell always does such an awesome job on cheesecake flavored ice cream (and pretty much everything they make). Give it a try and if you already enjoy this flavor, let us know what you thought of it! Rated 5 out of 5. -A

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Spoetzl Brewery out of Shiner Texas. Shiner Bock. It dawned on me that I have been drinking Shiner for years and haven’t done a review on it. So here it goes. I really like the taste of Shiner Bock. It has a nice light and refreshing taste. It has a medium malty taste and a slightly smokey flavor. It pairs well with any type of BBQ or on its own. It is one of the popular Texas beers. Spoetzl was founded in 1909, and is the oldest independent brewery in Texas. Rated 4.85 out of 5-D
Hill Country Fare Texas Ranch Style Beans. This company is owned by Texas’ own HEB. These ranch style beans were great. I like them a lot better than the Ranch Style Beans made by ConAgra foods. They had a nice amount of spice and the pinto beans were cooked perfectly, not to soft or hard. The can also was filled with beans and a little sauce unlike some other company’s that cheat and give you more sauce than beans. These Texas style beans also cost less than other canned beans. Better taste and less expensive is always good in my book. Id recommend if you want a good Texas style canned beans give them a try at your local HEB. Rated 4.8 out of 5 -D

Monday, September 9, 2013

Oliver’s Fine Foods out of Fort Worth Texas. The Gyro Sandwich. I really like the look and the taste of this gyro. It had lots of meat and Greek gyro flavor to the meat. It also had a generous amount of feta cheese. The tzatziki sauce tasted great. It was topped with fresh diced tomatoes and cucumbers. I also like the warm pita bread. Oliver’s is a great place to eat at a great price when you find yourself in downtown Fort Worth. Rated 4.9 out of 5-D

Sunday, September 8, 2013

American Spice and Seasoning Inc. out of Midlothian Texas. Adkins Western Style Barbecue Rub. This is a good rub. I wish it had more pepper in it. It did taste good on the brisket we smoked. It’s ingredients are sugar, salt, paprika, chili pepper, celery salt, comino, and garlic. I like the celery salt taste. It brought out the flavor of the beef nicely. Like I mentioned before it needed more pepper for my taste. I did like the taste when I used it on my baked potato. It would make a good rub for pork and chicken too I imagine. Rated 4 out of 5-D

Friday, September 6, 2013

Dublin Bottling Works Texas Sweet Peach Soda. The newest flavor to come out of our beloved Dublin Bottling Works! We were both extremely excited and anxious to get our hands on this flavor! Who doesn’t love peach flavored things, it is Texas after all! We found this soda at the Fort Worth Stockyards while we were enjoying our Friday afternoon. The bottle design and the bright colored soda caught our eye. Once we popped open the bottle cap we noticed the sweet, peachy fragrance of the soda. First sip was perfect and each sip after was better than the last! It had a strong peach taste with the perfect amount of carbonation that fizzed on your tongue. They also use pure cane sugar so it never has that fake, syrupy taste that seems to coat your mouth. Definitely another hit for Dublin Soda Works. Our new favorite. Rated 5 out of 5 by both A and D.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Texas Tamale Company out of Houston Texas. Gourmet Beef Tamales. These tamales were great. They came in a money bag style sack. They had a great beef taste and a nice medium spiciness to them. The tamales are wrapped in corn husks and the masa was perfect texture. In each bag was a dozen tamales. My only problem with them was they were kinda small. Other than that id recommend you give them a try.Rated 4.5 out of 5-D
Texas Tamale Company out of Houston, Texas. Gourmet Beef Tamales. They came in a quirky little cotton bag that reminded me of a money bag like D said above. These were surprising great tasting, as we are a little weary about frozen tamales. Finely ground beef with just the perfect amount of chili pepper added. They were slightly moist compared to other tamales we’ve had, so they kept their shape after steaming. I’d recommend y’all give it a try and let us know what you think! Rated 4.4 out of 5. -A