Preview Tasting at Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co.

Every great modern city needs bronze hero statues and delicious local beer. While government officials work on that first one, Houston's newest brewery Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. is starting to get off the ground and opened its warehouse doors for a preview tasting last night.

Founder Rassul Zarinfar and brewer Ryan Robertson shared details about their upcoming beers while the likes of T'afia's Dawn Burrell, Revival Market's Ryan Pera, Rebecca Masson of Fluff Bake Bar and Matt Schlabach of City Acre Brewing prepared beer-inspired snacks. The warehouse is still under construction, but two shiny beer vats were already installed and twinkling Christmas lights and candles hinted at the hominess potential of a future community gathering place.

Since the tanks are so small, Robertson explained, the brew crew has the ability to experiment with peculiar ideas. Their approach is to take traditional beer styles and add untraditional elements. "Belgian pale with cumin?" said Rassul, "I've never seen cumin in a beer but we'll run at it!"

For now, Buff Brew will be self-distributing their own kegs. That means greater control over temperature and line cleanliness and therefore the quality of the final product. Zarinfar was practically rubbing his hands together in delight over donning work boots and gloves to scrub out beer lines.

Buffalo Brewing should be open for public tastings with their product in bars as early as the last week of December and as late as the second week of January. Beer highlights below.

1836: Named after Houston's founding year, this is their bread and butter. While Buff Brew will constantly be experimenting and putting out new beers, this copper ale will remain constant.

Hibiscus Wit: This pink-tinged beer is planned for a February or March debut.

Belgian Dubbel with brettanomyces: Robertson described the smell as a mix of "dirty socks and floral notes." It tasted a lot better than that sounds.

Belgian IPA: Rather than a hop bomb, this IPA should be bright, peppery and fruity.

Gingerbread Stout: Thick and the color of black coffee, it's exactly what it sounds like.

--Nikki Metzgar

· Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. [Official Site]
· All coverage of Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. on Eater Houston [EHOU]