The Top 10 Texas Beers of 2012

The Temptress from Lakewood in Dallas.

Photo by Katharine Shilcutt

6. Lakewood Temptress

This beer shot onto the scene with a bang recently and considering we can't get The Temptress here in Houston just yet, we still hear a lot of buzz about it. Velvety and smooth as silk, it reminds us of our very first Southern Star Buried Hatchet. This one is bound for bottles very soon, so you should see it at bottle shares soon, we imagine. Or just have someone from Dallas ship you some; it's worth it.

5. 512 Pecan Porter

The once and future king of Texas craft beer -- first one to explain that reference in the comments wins a cookie. It's rare to find a beer drinker who doesn't enjoy Pecan Porter. If you do come across one, it's more likely they've simply never had it. Famous for offering myriad one-off variants of their beers, 512 produces a bourbon barrel-aged double pecan porter that is not to be missed.

We can't get past our love affair with Velvet Hammer.

Photo by Katharine Shilcutt

4. Peticolas Velvet Hammer

Royal Scandal is the beer that earned fledgling brewery Peticolas their gold medal at GABF this year, but we can't get past our love affair with Velvet Hammer. There is nothing quite like it in Texas right now. Plus, everyone loves a good phallic reference. Look out for big things from these guys in 2013.

3. Karbach Bourbon Barrel-Aged Hellfighter

The first keg we had of this beer was a muddled mess, so its turnaround in later kegs is a drastic improvement. Subsequent pints of Barrel-Aged Hellfighter were far more composed and despite our qualms over Karbach's style issues -- this beer isn't a porter by most definitions -- it's hard to deny this is a fantastic barrel-aged beer.

Photo by Lynn Fennel

2. Southern Star Buried Hatchet

One might think the four-year-old brewery in Conroe -- you can find an early mention of them in the Robb Walsh article above -- is resting on their laurels, but that's not the case. Instead of rolling out seven or eight new beers a year, the brewery has been content to slowly add seasonals and to release its popular Pro-Am series yearly. When you make a beer as good as Buried Hatchet, you don't have to get wild. On that note, look for Southern Star to unleash some crazy in 2013...you've been warned.

1. Jester King Beer Geek Rodeo

Jester King made waves early in its existence by collaborating with gypsy brewing legend Mikkel Borg Bjergsø in 2011 to produce Drink'in the Sunbelt. For their second stint with Mikkeller, the guys out in Austin produced three variations of this Imperial Oatmeal Stout with coffee and pepper notes: Beer Geek Rodeo, Weasel Rodeo (brewed with Kopi Luwak) and Whiskey Barrel Rodeo, which -- you guessed it -- is a whiskey-aged variation. The "original" version is our favorite, as there is really no need to mess with a beer this good.