Texas Leaguer Brewing - Knuckle Bock

This bock from TXL is one of the original beers that launched the brewery back in 2017. It presents quite a rich mahogany brown hue with some orange and red flashes, topped with a head of light beige foam. On the nose, this is a very expressive brew, offering up notes of cocoa powder and rich caramel, with secondary hints of toasted bread along with herbal, lightly minty, hay-like, and mildly spicy hop overtones. On the palate, this is a very smooth operator; look for creamy notes of both milk and dark chocolate to jump out prominently, as deep-down caramel with a hint of sweetness contrasts with a dash of ash and mild hop bitterness. Well-balanced, super smooth, and very flavorful, all while retaining an easy-drinking, laid-back attitude, Knuckle Bock is tasty on its own, but pairing options abound. Stews, roasted meats and veggies, grilled brats or other sausages, cedar plank salmon, or a plate of nutty and earthy cheeses are among the many, many options. Cheers!

Located in Missouri City in Fort Bend County, towards the southwest of the Houston metro area, is Texas Leaguer Brewing. Founded in 2017, the brewery (often just called TXL, for short) is the brainchild of Houston native Nathan Rees, who began toying around with the idea of starting a local brewery while homebrewing with friends about four years prior. Nathan and his wife Elise ultimately made the dream into a reality, and their hometown of Missouri City was a natural spot for the brewery as there were no others within many miles. After much planning and perfecting of recipes with brewer Doc Rebeck, the brewery launched with four beers in the fall of 2017.

With a massive love of both beer and baseball – passions which bring communities together – it was natural for Nathan to choose a baseball theme for the brewery, as the enterprise was designed around a brewery-taproom concept to serve as a local watering hole and hangout spot for the local community. Their 12,000 sq. ft. facility boasts a 25-barrel system and a large open-air warehouse taproom area known as TXL Beerpark, featuring rotating food trucks, live music, Sunday crawfish boils, Farm System Fridays for small batch releases, Little Leaguer Root Beer for the kids, cornhole and board games, and, of course, a big screen to watch the Astros and sports in general.

In addition to their canned beers for retail distribution, TXL currently offers over two dozen beers and a couple of hard seltzers on tap at the brewery. For more info on the brewery and upcoming events, visit them at txleaguer.com.