Beer of the Weekend #703: Heart O' Texas
It is time to start making a dent in my Texas beer bounty, so I have decided to work my way through it one beer each night. Having a lot more room in the fridge would be much appreciated.
The beer tonight is Heart O’ Texas, brewed by the Four Corners Brewing Company of Dallas, Texas.
The color is ruddy amber. Two fingers of eggshell-colored head leaves patches of lacing, spots of foam, and a frothy ring around the edge. Ooooo — it smells good! Toasted malt, candy caramel, a touch of cocoa, cherry licorice, a little malt astringency, and hints of citrus and fruit. The flavor is metallic and a little bitter at first. Hopefully it is an intended effect and not a byproduct of the can. (I’m not sure why it would be the can but I’ll get to that in a moment). Perhaps it is malt astringency. Either way, the bitterness is prominent at first but not over the top. There are flavors of toasted malt, caramel, cherry syrup, licorice, dark fruit, cocoa, and a touch of citrus. The bitterness fades in prominence a hair and leaves a nice, lasting aftertaste on the taste buds.
Fun facts about Heart O’ Texas:
• Style: Red ale.
• Price: $1.88 per 12-ounce can at the Spec’s Wine, Spirits & Finer Foods store on Texas State Highway 121 in The Colony, Texas.
• Alcohol content: 6.3 percent ABV.
• IBU: 35.
• Color: 16º Plato.
• Heart O’ Texas features a “360º top,” something I have never seen on a beer can before. Instead of having the usual push-tab opening, the entire top of the can peels off much like it does on some soup cans.
I obviously did not drink this single of Heart O’ Texas from the can, but I will need to drink part of an upcoming Four Corners sixer from the can. I’m sure the experience will be different. My fear, much like with soup cans, is cutting myself on the metal edge. It does not happen with the push-tabs, but there is a hell of a lot more edge on these 360º tops.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B.
The beer tonight is Heart O’ Texas, brewed by the Four Corners Brewing Company of Dallas, Texas.
The color is ruddy amber. Two fingers of eggshell-colored head leaves patches of lacing, spots of foam, and a frothy ring around the edge. Ooooo — it smells good! Toasted malt, candy caramel, a touch of cocoa, cherry licorice, a little malt astringency, and hints of citrus and fruit. The flavor is metallic and a little bitter at first. Hopefully it is an intended effect and not a byproduct of the can. (I’m not sure why it would be the can but I’ll get to that in a moment). Perhaps it is malt astringency. Either way, the bitterness is prominent at first but not over the top. There are flavors of toasted malt, caramel, cherry syrup, licorice, dark fruit, cocoa, and a touch of citrus. The bitterness fades in prominence a hair and leaves a nice, lasting aftertaste on the taste buds.
Fun facts about Heart O’ Texas:
• Style: Red ale.
• Price: $1.88 per 12-ounce can at the Spec’s Wine, Spirits & Finer Foods store on Texas State Highway 121 in The Colony, Texas.
• Alcohol content: 6.3 percent ABV.
• IBU: 35.
• Color: 16º Plato.
• Heart O’ Texas features a “360º top,” something I have never seen on a beer can before. Instead of having the usual push-tab opening, the entire top of the can peels off much like it does on some soup cans.
I obviously did not drink this single of Heart O’ Texas from the can, but I will need to drink part of an upcoming Four Corners sixer from the can. I’m sure the experience will be different. My fear, much like with soup cans, is cutting myself on the metal edge. It does not happen with the push-tabs, but there is a hell of a lot more edge on these 360º tops.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B.
