Winter seems largely to have given Houston a miss, though the Rodeo is about to kick off for the next 3 weeks, and one can usually count on a frigid night or two. Regardless, if you’re a traditionalist, while the meteorological winter may be nearly over, the astronomical winter doesn’t end until March 21, so you’ve still got time to enjoy those stout beers you’ve got on hand.
Ska Brewing out of Colorado makes a number of great beers, like their particularly good, hoppy IPA called Modus Hoperandi. I enjoy those with a huge burger at Hubcap. On the darker side, they also make Ten Pin Porter, which employs a complex array of malts, and, typical of a US microbrewery, they up the ante with a special, wax-sealed imperial version called Nefarious Ten Pin. Originally, a “stout” was simply a stronger version of a “porter,” but by the time you make it “imperial,” i.e. “stronger,” the distinctions start to blur. In any event, this is certainly stronger at 8% ABV than the 5.5% Ten Pin, and it’s dark, but I also detected some ruby perhaps betraying the lighter, if only slightly, body of its porter classification. Still rich, the chocolatey body builds upon the complex Ten Pin with its 6 malts, typical coffee notes, though setting it apart was some subtle fruitiness as of fig. It’s a good warming stout, though definitely not on par with the likes of Deschutes The Abyss.
I make no secret of my affinity for the Petrol Station, and I always make it a point to stop by any of their special events, but unfortunately I was out of town for their recent “Once You Go Black” Party tapping a slew of great dark beers. I nevertheless swung by the following Tuesday, and they still had some of the Nefarious Oxtail Soup they had made for the event. Not only did it taste as though they had braised the tender oxtail in the Nefarious, they had also cooked some down in the pot, really making it more of a stew than a soup, with readily apparent, though balanced, stout chocolate flavors which called to mind a rich mole sauce in the soft pulled meat, carrots, potatoes, and other vegetables. I just wish they had more room in that kitchen to do special stuff like this more often.
While the oxtail stew isn’t around any longer, the Nefarious Ten Pin makes regular appearances at Petrol Station, and is currently on tap. You can also find it on tap at the newly opened Hay Merchant, where oxtail is an incredible regular menu item – though not braised in Nefarious. I have no doubt, however, that one needn’t wait long before either establishment creates some other equally diabolical dish.
