Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
While I was at the West Alabama Ice House, I learned that one of the most popular brands
of beer they sell is Saint Arnold. So I decided to check out one of their weekly brewery tours.
And this is what I found when I got there. Saint Arnold Brewery is the oldest microbrewery
in Texas. It was founded by two old friends, Brock Wagner and Kevin Bartol, after they
worked in the real world for a few years and decided that brewing beer was a much better
way to live.
As I was waiting for the tour to begin I talked to a few eager guests. This is actually my
first and I had to buy one. So you're a Saint Arnold ***. I am a ***. Popping a cherry
today. And it feels great! It feels great!
Now what really struck me about this was the number of people that started streaming in.
They told me that they actually have to turn people away - it gets so crowded.
We're getting started to do the beer tour. You can see that there's a whole lot of people
coming in here. And there's probably going to be about 700 people alone today. And everyone
brings in their own food, coming in with their friends, their family. Kids are welcome and
it's gonna be a really good time.
Did I mention it's hot in Houston? Up on the podium was Lennie Ambrose - one of the brewery's
17 employees extolling the virtues of their beer. And he talked really fast. Probably
because he knew why everyone was there. Alright, let's drink some beer, peeps! Taps are open!
Cheers, everyone! Enjoy yourselves!
For five bucks you get a souvenir glass and five tokens with which you can sample whatever
they have on tap. But here's where it gets really cool: I'll let her explain.
The secret is if you get like the big steins or the pint glasses, they only fill them up
halfway - and that is just a lie. They fill it up all the way to like the rim. That is
awesome!
So, what makes Saint Arnold so special? One of the brewery volunteers offered to walk
me through and try and explain the process, and, you guessed it, it's made much like any
other beer; hops, barley, malt, water, yeast, cold storage. Hold on. Cold storage? Yeah!
It's freakin' hot in Houston! It honestly doesn't matter what you show me right now
because it feels so good in here. Yeah, this is a favorite place.
And the beer has one heck of a following - obviously. For example, these two hot ladies come here
every week when they can. It's a cool environment. We've been coming here for a long time. For
like five years now. So, we like to meet new people and just hang out. The one on the left
just returned from Iraq. She probably thinks it's cool here.
And this woman is a nurse. A pediatric nurse to be exact. I called in sick to work. You
called in sick to work? Okay... But to be fair, I've been there a year and I haven't
taken any vacation, never called in sick. And so my PTO is just accumulating and I'm
maxed out, so I have to start using it. Wow! She'd rather let sick children suffer than
miss out on this beer.
And then there's this guy. We'll call him the evangelist. What makes Saint Arnold unique
is not just that is comes from a couple Rice guys, you know from the local university,
but more that they get involved in the community. They're out numerous times of the year, and
they release certain beers called the 'Divine Series.' And they welcome people into their
brewery. They care about distinguishing between different types of beers. They care about
allowing you to taste unique flavors. They'll allow you to private events. Now when did
you fill out your application for the job?
And I guess it's no wonder you'd have such a religious following when your company logo
is an actual saint. And who was Saint Arnold? He was the patron saint of brewers. And how
did he achieve sainthood? Well, quoting the brewery itself, "a year after he died, the
citizens of Metz, in France requested that Saint Arnold's body be exhumed and ceremoniously
carried to their home town for reburial in the Church of the Holy Apostle. During this
voyage a miracle came to pass when the tired porters and followers stopped for a rest and
walked into a tavern for a drink of their favorite beverage. Regretfully, there was
only one mug of beer to be shared. But that mug never ran dry and all of the thirsty pilgrims
were satisfied."
And Saint Arnold did something else too. He helped make beer popular by extolling it's
virtues. See, in the Middle Ages, drinking water could be unhealthy - even lethal. But
because part of the beer making process involves boiling water it was much safer to drink.
Plus, the fermentation process gave the beer an added side effect...as you can see here.
So what makes Saint Arnold so good? Maybe it's the passion of their customers, or the
dedication of their employees. Maybe it's their sense of humor, or that they use City
water. Thank God for the filtering and boiling process! In the end, I guess it's a mixture
of all of that and a dedication to making a great tasting beer. And for me, it was time
to see if one of these might qualify as the 'greatest beer in the world.' So Lennie poured
a sampling of everything they had on tap and we went to work.