Brewer’s Blog

This Spring/Summer, we’ll be re-releasing our pair of Irrational beers–Nemesis and Narcissus. To start with, Narcissus follows the “Ego Series” (High Esteem, Hubris, Narcissus) to it’s natural conclusion. This beautifully hoppy beer, proudly boasts 30 lbs of Cascade, citra, and Nelson Sauvin hops. Twice dry-hopped with a clean, malty body to help balance the aggressive [...]

Our Spring Irrational beer embodies all that is springy.  Rover is golden Belgian ale made with LOTS of Goodflow Honey Co’s local wildflower honey.  How much is “lots?”  It’s easy just to put a weight measurement to the amount…but it’s far more interesting to spend a day in the life of the little worker bees [...]

You never know what Austin’s weather will be in February–snow, beautiful 70F days, or dreariness.  However, we plan on having the perfect beer compromises in February to deal with the fickleness that is our weather.  We’re going to be rounding out the “winter” months with two of our most popular Irrational beers–Rebellious Dockhand and Vector. [...]

December will see the releases of our two biggest, baddest beers–Triple Dee and Mobius. If you’re following our “Beer Series Chart,” you’ll see that Triple Dee is the terminus of the Dee Series and Mobius is the newest Infinite Series beer (following Epsilon).
Triple Dee may seem familiar to some of you. Last year we released [...]

The 201 class is for intermediate and advanced homebrewers and beer aficionados. Attendees will get a deeper understanding of mashing, lautering, hop additions, water treatment, and recipe design. We will be using one of the house beer recipes as a case study during the information and demonstrations. Additionally, we’ll have a small tasting after the [...]

The 101 class is for beginner/intermediate homebrewers and beer appreciators. We will discuss basic theory and practice of brewing. Looking at raw ingredients and overall process, attendees will get an understanding of how beer is made and how they can make it at home. At the end of the class, we’ll have a small tasting [...]

Recalcitrant Dockhand [5.9% abv, 31.8 IBU]
The Dockhand that started it all!  Dark, roasty, complex, this robust ale features a medley of roasted and caramel malts.  Further enhanced by a healthy dose of Grandma’s Molasses, Recalcitrant Dockhand has the body and depth to be enjoyed on cool evenings.
For a bit of trivia, this was the first [...]

Brewing and Flavor Analysis Class!
We are happy to announce that we will be holding more Brewing and Flavor Analysis Classes!  There are two levels of the classes, 101 and 201, both led by Black Star Co-op brewer, Jeff Young.
The 101 class is for beginner homebrewers and beer appreciators. We will discuss basic theory and practice [...]

October 20th through 28th is the third annual Austin Beer Week, a celebration of the wonderful craft brewing scene we’re proud to be a part of. Throughout the week there will be over 100 events at over 40 venues, and here at Black Star we’ve got our calendar fully booked up.
Monday We’re going to start of the week [...]

This is truly an exciting time of year if you love the delicate, fresh, aromatic properties of hops.  It’s the annual harvest all throughout the Northwest!  Once the harvest begins, the individual hop farmers will be picking special cones, dropping them in a box, and shipping them overnight to us breweries.  Once we get these [...]