I had a great weekend, the highlight of which was the Austin ZEALOTS annual Xmas party and chili cookoff. (The Austin ZEALOTS are the Austin, Texas homebrew club I belong to.) The party is hosted every year by Corey and Angela Martin and is always one of the highlights of the ZEALOTS calendar.

This year, we had 25 kegs of homebrew at the party, and lots of bottled beer -- both homebrewed and commercial -- was passed around as well. There were a lot of great beers there, ranging from a nicely-balanced Helles (Corey) to all manner of big and/or hoppy beers. I could go on and on about the homebrews there, but I realize that a long list of beers you can't taste, brewed by people you likely don't know, doesn't make for terrifically exciting reading. [So, I'll just give the short list instead: Black Forest Imperial Stout (way to go Will), smoked porter (yummy, thanks Joe), "Finnish porter" (awesome Jim), Octoberfest (killer as always Kerry), Xmas IPA (hop-a-licious Corey) and a bunch of others.]

As far as commercial beers went, JB from Austin Homebrew brought Saint Arnolds Divine Reserve numbers 3 through 8. (Saint Arnold is a Houston brewery; their Divine Reserve is brewed annually.) The Dewberrys (longtime ZEALOTS) brought a whole bunch of old Sierra Nevada Bigfoot's. I can't recall all of the years that were represented, but I remember enjoying the 2002. My wife and I brought a magnum of 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 Anchor Christmas beer. Another ZEALOT, Jonathan, brought a magnum from 1999. (I liked the 2006 and 2008 the best.)

There were also 25 chilis in the chili cookoff and a lot of people, including myself, were sweating as they made their way through the entries.

Marc Martin, former Primary Fermenter for the ZEALOTS and current Replicator for BYO, came down from the Pacific Northwest for the party with his wife, Janet. Charles and Teresa Culp also made the journey. (Austin homebrewers will remember Charles from AHS -- and if you've ever seen a guy with a big red beard that looks like a Viking at any NHC or GABF, that's Charles.)

I also learned about some new breweries coming to Austin. Jeffrey Stuffings (AHS employee and fellow Dethklok enthusiast) is opening the Jester King Brewery this summer. Another brewery -- whose name I forget, Capital? -- is rumored to be in the works and, of course, the Black Star Co-op recently announced that they had found a location in Austin.

I also made it to a couple other homebrew events this year -- the San Antonio Cervesafest and the Houston Foam Ranger's Dixie Cup. I met one of the brewers from Blanco Texas' Real Ale (who turned out to be a fellow Amon Amarth fan) in San Antonio and, as always, had a great time in Houston. 

Over the holidays, My wife and I will be stopping by a party thrown by the Big Sioux Brewing Society (the homebrew club in Sioux Falls). We had a great time at least year's event (and I hope some of the IPA we brewed is left). 

Before the holidays, though, I hope to crank out a couple batches of beer. If I do, I'll put up a blog entry.