Saturday was a fun day. We started it off by hitting the morning session at COOP Ale Work’s 7th Anniversary party. We drank some tiny beers, ate some Kaiteki Ramen, and talked to some good people. Then it was Tulsa time.

Travis, owner and brewer at Nothing’s Left Brewing Co., was nice enough to invite us to a private tasting of some of his brews. The event featured 4 beers, and each participant was provided a sheet in which they were allowed to rate the aroma and taste of each, provide notes, and vote for their favorite. The 4 beers consisted of 2 variations of a Strawberry Blonde recipe, Tropicale , and Dethrone Pale Ale.

Travis is still dialing in some recipes and used this event to get feedback on some test batches in order to guide his decisions once he starts scaling up production. The two Strawberry Blonde recipes were going head to head, one being made with strawberry puree, and the other brewed with strawberry pie filling. On paper I would have immediately thrown preference to the puree, but the pie filling took the cake (yikes, that was terrible wordplay). The pie filling actually tasted much less vegetal and natural, where the puree had more of an artificial, candy-like vibe. Both were good, but like I said, the pie filling won for us, and most others seemed to agree.

The Tropicale was an interesting beer. Travis said it actually started out as a farmhouse as he was researching specific yeasts and recipes, but the funky yeast he chose with the grain bill ended up resulting in a fruity ale with some tropical undertones. We just sampled the base beer itself, but he mentioned playing with adding fruit to it (starfruit and other tropical things) which we agreed would be a great idea. Hopefully this one gets worked out as we would love to sip on it while its 100 degrees outside in July.

The Dethrone Pale Ale was my personal favorite (Kate’s was the Strawberry Blonde). It’s a smooth and juicy pale with Galaxy hops which should eventually become the base for the first retail release from Nothing’s Left. Travis stated that this beer was a slightly lighter version of the recipe he’s been playing with, and that the real deal will be more hop forward and will be dry hopped with Galaxy as well. We can’t wait for this one. He’s hoping to get it out in 6-packs of 12oz cans once he gets ramped up.

Speaking of ramping up, Travis has inked a deal with Anthem Brewing Company in Oklahoma City where he’ll be contract brewing. This will allow him to finish nailing down each recipe and learn even more in the process from the great guys over at Anthem. He has already put in his first grain and hop orders, and should be starting to have his recipes on the Anthem system next month.

Thanks to Travis and his wife Lacy for inviting us out to sample some beer and provide feedback. We love seeing more and more people taking their passion for beer to the next level, and we wish Nothing’s Left all the best and look forward to seeing their beer on some shelves and on some taps!