FROM THE EDITORS The internet is a wonderful thing—a portal for ultimate knowledge and a festering hole of ultimate time suckage. My favorite weblog is a little bit of each, more of the latter truthfully. The blog is run by a South Austin family that for now will remain unnamed (Google my quote below if you really want to know). It is filled with the frivolous banalities of ever day life. It’s not well written. There is no cynicism, nor irony. Totally bland, beautifully bland. Good bloggers know to use keywords with their posts. This family is no different, they use a billion keywords. (In fact, I first stumbled across this blog searching for “bagels austin.”). Each keyword in the sidebar shows number of posts related with said keyword. Some of my favorites: appointment (16), bacon wrapped pork tenderloin (4), eggs (5), mini vans (2), rocks (2) . . . You get the point. Your probably thinking, “this is a beer mag, get to the beer!” OK, relax. They have a keyword for beer too. Let’s here what this family of bloggers has to say about our favorite beverage:
Contents
I was trying to find a bread recipe and then saw one that used beer. I thought that was great. We have a bunch of beer left over in the fridge from my birthday party in July. We never drink beer so it is a great way to use it up. For the beer bread I used whole wheat flour instead and also added some flax seed meal as one person suggested on the site. We had the beer bread with dinner tonight and Morry said he liked it too. Come to think of it, the internet sucks. Too easy to get lost in the chaos of it. Here, in the ABG, you are safe. Wander as far as you want within these pages and you will read about nothing but beer (mas o menos). Like Pilsners? Good, turn to page 6 and hear what area brewers think about them. Have you noticed all these popular out-of-sate breweries coming to Texas? We have and we wrote about it (p. 18). Anxious to see the latest Superman movie? Find out where you can watch it and drink a tasty brew (p. 26). Stay off the internet. #PRINTORDIE –AC Chris Troutman Aaron Chamberlain Josh Spradling Shawn Phillips
NEWS & BREWMORS .......................................02
SEASON’S DRINKING .......................................06
OVER A PINT .......................................10 BREWER’S BRAIN .......................................14
TX BEER RUSH .......................................18 MOVIES AND BEER .......................................26
BEER & LOATHING .......................................32
CENTRAL AUSTIN .......................................37 SOUTH AUSTIN .......................................45 NORTH AUSTIN .......................................57 GREATER AUSTIN .......................................71
PODCAST .......................................88 BONUS STAFF PROOFREADERS ... Sofia, Sarah, and Kim
Cover design: John Rubio rubio@johnrubio.com
NEWS & BREWMORS
This is the News LEGALIZE IT Some major laws passed in the Texas legislative session that will mean some great big changes for Texas brewers present and future. Davis Tucker, owner of North by Northwest and Red’s Porch, was a key player in the success of the bills and graciously shared his experience and thoughts on them.
For the first time ever a small brewer can take advantage of every opportunity to get his beer to the consumer; when they visit the brewery and in the market. If you sell only your own beer you can sell a pint to your customer, sell a keg or case for take home and sell 1,000 barrels into the market without using a distributor. This lets all new small brewers build their brand and gives beer tourism a chance to flourish.
“SB 515-518 passed the Texas House to applause, hoots and hollers. Representative Smith who carried the bills in the House said, ‘I was surprised—pleasantly surprised. I’ve passed a lot of legislation and this is the first time I have ever heard applause.’ The applause was not just in the gallery but on the floor of the House where many members were glad to see craft brewers get a break in Texas.
In addition, all small breweries will be able to sell you a beer right in their tasting room and brew pubs will find their way to market through the distribution network. So stop in to Real Ale or Saint Arnold for a cold one soon and, very shortly, you could see NXNW Green Menace Double IPA in a bar near you.”
It’s huge, really huge. I don’t think they (the legislature) really even know how big.
Summer ain’t that long. Mark your calenders and prepare your livers. The Texas
SAVE THE DATE
. . . TURN PAGE, MORE NEWS!Å3
Brewmors
(brew·mor [broo-mer]: 1. a beer related story or statement in general circulation without confirmation or certainty as to facts. 2. brewing gossip; hearsay) ●
Josh and Meg Hare of Hops & Grain looking to grow their family with a new dog, also seeking inspiration for a new year round beer.
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Black Star brewer Jeff Young reveals newest beer in sour mash series, Dr. Vainglory to much aplomb. Says Young, “You’re so vain, you probably think this beer is about you.”
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In another effort to align with the popular 1970’s New York punk movement, all Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co. founders reportedly legally changing last names to “Swifty,” says brewer/founder “Swifty” Swifty and corroborated by brewer/founder Amos Swifty.
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Unnamed sources reveal actual success to Texas beer legislation due to Gov. Perry stepping in after learning of the new contract brewer Guns & Oil’s launch hold up. Perry staff reports, “Now that’s a brand the Governor can get behind.” Legislation for the bold.
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Bitch Beer blog(hers) to pen book chronicling Austin’s brewing history. Everything before they turned 21 (2011?) subject to suspect.
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In reaction to the new beer legislation passing, South Austin Brewing is changing their license status to brew pub. In addition to their two year round beers, diners can expect to find a steak and a pork chop on their menu. That’s all.
NEWS CONTINUED . . .
or so options for beer. They’ll bring you up and bring you down. We can’t wait.
Craft Brewers Festival is happening on September 28. How will the new bills affect the fest? Google it. About a month later Austin Beer Week will be upon us, October 25–November 3.
SO ALMOST OPEN A TREE FALLS IN AUSTIN Uncle Billy’s had an old ass tree next to their brew pub/bbq joint. Not anymore. The 350 year old (we are calling bullshit) pecan tree got drunk and tripped over a dog. Don’t worry, no beer was harmed.
PHOTO: UNCLE BILLY’S
Maybe you are reading this at the bar of Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co. If not, you could be soon. They are close, very close. Check out the last page (Podcast) of this issue for more info.
Strange Land Brewery to open in West Lake Hills using the Hat Creek warehouse for brewing operations. Not only will Hat Creek now have fresh brew, but they’ll have a constant supply of spent grain for their veggie burgers.
BIGGER CANS
Guns & Oil Brewing Co. were supposed to open by now, but something happened on the way to the first tapping at Chicago House. None of their beer (which will be contract brewed) is flowing quite yet, but their truck is all over town and highly instagrammable.
You knew it was happening. We talked about it before; it’s been all over social media; nerds were murmuring in the streets. And now it is really happening. Austin Beerworks’ Heavy Machinery 16 oz. cans are on the shelf.
FACEBOOK SPOTTING
Wright Brothers Brew & Brew are planning to open this fall, occupying the current Progress Coffee location at 500 San Marcos Street. They will be serving up coffee and beer. Forty
PHOTO: LIVE OAK
Live Oak recently took hold a bunch of tanks. Check out their Facebook page for more photos. In other FB and brewery news, Circle Brewing posted a photo of their new bottling lines. No ETA yet on when Smokin’ Beech will hit the shelves.
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SEASON’S DRINKING
Poppin’ Pils IF I AM BEING PERFECTLY HONEST, DURING the summer I’d prefer to drink something as light as possible. For example: Einhorn, Petite Prince, or maybe a Peacemaker. Or how about a blonde ale. Those are usually good summer quaffs, light and fresh. But for Season’s Drinking >[ ndj bV`Z dcZ! l]ViÉh ndjg VeegdVX] id WgZl^c\ V e^ahcZg4 MICHAEL GRAHAM Austin Beerworks Our approach with PearlSnap is to give beer drinkers spontaneous orgasms. It works on us, and we hope it works on you as well. CHIP MCELROY Live Oak Brewing Co. We want Pilz to taste like a European pils—preferably Czech. Michael Jackson likened Pilz to a north German pils, like Jever which has a sharper bitterness. It is because our water is pretty hard in Austin. I don’t like the idea of totally stripping down the water and building it back up; “we dance with who brung us.” Everyone thinks of hops generally and specifically Saaz hops when they think of pils beer. But, it really relies on a good malt character to support that healthy dose of hops. I have heard that barley malt experts believe a region in the Czech Republic (Hana) is the first place that barley was grown for the expressed purpose of malting. The malt there is fantastic, a wonderful flavor. We import our malt from there—under-modified, floor
we need something a bit more ubiquitous. Someone has to answer these questions. Austin is a pretty outstanding pilsner town (right?). That’s why we picked pilsners. Lightish, crispy hops, sessionable. Summer is for wheat beers . . . and pilsners too. —AC
malted, heirloom barley variety. A decoction is good for a pils. We do a single decoction for a 15 minute boil and get caramelization that looks like a chocolate swirl mixing back in with the main mash. Well, maybe not chocolate, but darker anyway. JOE MOHRFELD Pinthouse Pizza Haven’t made one yet, but I am planning to make a Bohemian Pils next Spring. I enjoy the slightly richer malt character in a Bohemian along with some nice spicy Czech hops. ERIK OGERSHOK Real Ale Brewing Co. Since ours is a German inspired beer, our approach is to be true to that tradition. We use all German ingredients, yeast, as well as German brewing and fermentation practices. MICHAEL WATERS Uncle Billy’s Simple and authentic. L]Vi ^h ndjg [Vkdg^iZ VheZXi d[ e^ahcZgh4 9ZhXg^WZ V eZg[ZXi e^ahcZg# MICHAEL GRAHAM Austin Beerworks Pilsners hit the sweet spot between interesting and ses-
sionable. They’ve got enough going on to really savor, and are light and clean enough to enjoy repeatedly. The perfect pilsner was made recently and locally (Blanco totally counts). JOSH HARE Hops & Grain The romance in its history, dating back to 1838 and the tragedy in the Radbuza River. And, well, the alcohol. CHIP MCELROY Live Oak Brewing Co. I love the fact that you can drink a few and can drink them when it is really hot out. They are so crisp and clean and tasty and refreshing. It needs a nice firm maltiness without being sweet. Not too dry either because then you can’t hop it up as much and still balance. JOE MOHRFELD Pinthouse Pizza Spicy and herbal with a slightly sweet malt character in the nose. Rich and malty in the middle with a dry crisp finish. A pilsner should be dry and hoppy yet refreshing. ERIK OGERSHOK Real Ale Brewing Co. We like a pils to be crisp, dry, spicy, and hop forward. It has just enough malt to support a massive amount of
hops. The aroma should be so enticing that you cannot wait to taste it. MICHAEL WATERS Uncle Billy’s Drinkability. Crisp, clean, dry and a bit hoppy. 7Zhi [ddY id eV^g l^i] V \ddY e^ahcZg4 MICHAEL GRAHAM Austin Beerworks German festival food. Brats and sauerkraut, pretzels and mustard, turkey legs. You know, stuff they serve at Wurstfest. JOSH HARE Hops & Grain I’ve always preferred drinking pilsner on an empty stomach. CHIP MCELROY Live Oak Brewing Co. Absolutely anything—well, maybe not a really sweet dessert. JOE MOHRFELD Pinthouse Pizza I don’t understand why people always want to fill up on food when they drink beer. ERIK OGERSHOK Real Ale Brewing Co. It is my opinion that pilsner is a popular beer style due to it’s ability to pair with almost any food. Asian, check. Hamburgers and pizza, check. Mexican, check. My favorite pairing would be sushi. Mmmmm sushi. L]ViÉh ndjg [Vkdg^iZ XdbbZgX^Va e^ahcZg4 MICHAEL GRAHAM Austin Beerworks Prima Pils from Victory was the one that got me hooked. Between Live Oak Pils, Hans’ from Real Ale, and anything
by Swifty and Amos of the soon-to-be-famous ABGB, I think Austin might be the best pilsner city in the country. But, Pearl-Snap is my favorite. There’s nothing I don’t like about it and I never get tired of it. JOSH HARE Hops & Grain Our friends and neighbors over at Live Oak are doing a pretty damn good job. And while I think it’s completely silly to name a beer after a dog, I really like Hans’ Pils as well. CHIP MCELROY Live Oak Brewing Co. Well, first off it has to be enjoyed in its country of origin, right? In that case I like Pilsner Urquell, Regent, Rothaus Tannenzäpfle, Schonramer Pils, Live Oak Pilz (we’re commercial aren’t we?). JOE MOHRFELD Pinthouse Pizza Double Pilsner from Odell . . . well that’s the one I have been intoxicated the most on which should say something about my relationship with it. ERIK OGERSHOK Real Ale Brewing Co. Jever, Trumer, Prima, Pearl Snap, Pilsner Urquell, Live Oak. We like pils! 7Zhi kZgh^dc d[ i]Z hinaZ/ <ZgbVc! 8oZX]! di]Zg4 MICHAEL GRAHAM Austin Beerworks Texas German. JOSH HARE Hops & Grain I try not to judge by origin but I prefer the kind that go after your central nervous system. Show me that and you’ll find a happy pils fan.
CHIP MCELROY Live Oak Brewing Co. Czech. ERIK OGERSHOK Real Ale Brewing Co. There are awesome examples of both, but the nod goes to Germany. MICHAEL WATERS Uncle Billy’s I enjoy German and Czech pilsners. The Dutch are brewing some great ones as well. L]Vi VgZ ndjg i]dj\]ih dc ^beZg^Va e^ahcZgh4 MICHAEL GRAHAM Austin Beerworks I’d rather have 2 regular pilsners. JOSH HARE Hops & Grain We brewed an imperial pilsner one time and called it Enlargement Pils. We were seeing a steady drop in our over 70 year old consumer base so we thought the name would be a catchy marketing move. It failed miserably. It’s still a sore subject. CHIP MCELROY Live Oak Brewing Co. About the same as my thoughts on an imperial mild. JOE MOHRFELD Pinthouse Pizza They are what the original pilsner was meant to be! ERIK OGERSHOK Real Ale Brewing Co. I like them if they are executed with a similar profile to a normal pils. It is easy to drift into Maibock. Boulevard makes a good one. MICHAEL WATERS Uncle Billy’s No need to fuck with perfection.
OVER A PINT
Michael Waters of Uncle Billy’s ON A COOL SPRING EVENING WE MET WITH UNCLE BILLY’S BREWER AND BEARD EXTRAORDINAIRE, MICHAEL WATERS OVER A PINT (OR A FEW). WATERS TOOK OVER THE REINS AT THE BARTON SPRINGS WATERING HOLE LAST YEAR WHEN BREWER AMOS LOWE AND BRIAN (SWIFTY) PETERS DEPARTED TO START AUSTIN BEER GARDEN BREWING CO. PREVIOUSLY, WATERS MANNED THE BREWHOUSE AT INDEPENDENCE AND DEVELOPED MANY OF THEIR MOST POPULAR BREWLUMINATI RELEASES. WATERS HAS A PENCHANT FOR HOPPY AND ENGLISH STYLE ALES AND LAGERS. ABG: Tell me, what are you drinking? MW: I am drinking the dry hopped pilsner, which is a German style pilsner that has been dry hopped after fermentation, which is usually frowned upon but something I’ve always wanted to do; so against my better judgment I did it and it’s pretty nice. It’s really, really extra spicy. Yeah, it worked out. Yeah, it’s tasty. It reminds me of Hans’ Pils a little bit from Real Ale but dry hopped. Yeah, they are kind of the same vein. Very aggressive North German style pilsner. Yeah, it’s really good. Have you gotten any kind of feedback, like some German guy coming in and like, “The fuck! You dry hopped my pilsner!” No, no. Not yet. I don’t know that I’ll do it again. Maybe. But no, I haven’t had that happen yet. Alright. Well, let us know if it does, cause it’s a good story. I will. I’m imagining the Sound of Music dad coming in and. . . anyway, I’m drinking the Green Room IPA. It’s really good. Tell me about this.
Uh, yeah, the Green Room IPA. That’s just everything I’m kind of looking for in an IPA: bright, clean, dry, a lot of hop flavor, citrus and tropical fruit and there’s even kind of a wild note in it, a little danky note from the large amount of Summit hops in there. So it gives it that kind of extra element, but still just really clean and crisp and really refreshing IPA. Yeah, it’s good. I like it. Definitely, yeah, dank. It’s also a much lighter color, I think, than I would expect from an IPA with this kind of flavor. What’s going on with that? Well, I think that there’s still confusion about IPAs in general, but for my money, there’s never much crystal malt in an IPA. I feel like it gets in the flavor of the hops, so I add it in very small increments. So what are you going for in your hoppy beers by aiming them that direction? Just to really let the hops shine. I mean, an IPA for me is all about the hops. I wanted the malt flavor as clean and light as possible to carry the amount of hops that I put in there. That’s what I’m going for. You’ve taken over the reins here in Austin for Uncle Billy’s, you are almost going on a year now, what do you have going on with your taps and what direction are your taking them right now? Well, I’m mainly trying to fill it with beers I would drink. And you know, for me, hoppy beers have always been kind of a mainstay here and that was just fine with me and I have no trouble continuing that. That’s one of my favorite things. And right now, I’m also trying to always keep a lager on of some kind; whether it be a pilsner or a helles. To me, that just kind of encompasses the perfect beer and it’s what I drink when I’m not at the brewery or if I’m not drinking an IPA, I usually, my go to beer is a pilsner or a helles. It’s a good reset beer. Like, it’s nice and refreshing, but it’s also, when you are drinking a lot of IPAs or stronger flavored beers, it’s nice to kind of recalibrate with a solid pilsner. Yeah, and for me, a beer like that is more of a companion. What can that person who has not been here since Amos and Swifty left expect as far as the lineup right now? Well, I think they can expect just a continuation of what Swifty and Amos were doing. It may not be the same exact beer
that they had when they came in before, but I guarantee it’s comparable and just as enjoyable and something that they will have every bit of ease with latching on to the same way they did with any of the other beers. Tell me about what’s happening with the previous Uncle Billy’s menu, the legacy house beers that Brian and Amos created. A lot of people kind of ask me that and they’re wondering if there’s going to be drastic changes, but I don’t see it as drastic changes, I see it as a continuation of what they were already doing. Me, Brian and Amos share the same philosophies on beer and how they should be brewed and I just see this as the natural progression that they would have taken if they were still here as far as the beers are still going to be in the same style and vein, it’s just a little more selection based now. So to the guy coming in looking for the Bitchin Camero, or the Agave Wit, what do you tell him is up with the classic lineup? Well, that’s it. It’s classic. Things are different now, and I do believe personally, and I think the feedback from the customers and employees and people in general has been positive. The entry level into craft beer has changed. I really don’t think you can get away with having a brew pub and having the same small selection of beers on all the time. I don’t think it’s going to really motivate interest. That makes sense, cause I guess those beers are brewed for 2006 entry level palate. Exactly. And the Axe Handle’s still around; the Axe Handle is a beer with a history. It has a history with Tim Schwarz, it has a history with Swifty and Amos, and now it has a history with me, so I thought that was important to carry on. It has an Austin story to it. But like I said, there’s not much drastic difference. If anything, I think it’s only gotten better, because of those guys and what they’ve instilled in me. I said, we’ve been keeping the lagers on, so that’s really important and I think a valuable thing and I think people are really enjoying them. You came from Independence, brewing the Independence lineup and also doing the Brewluminati, the monthly experimental beer. Now that you are at the helm and you can be more creative, what kind of beers are you making? What do you like brewing? Well, honestly, it’s kind of ironic, I’ve kind of ventured away more to not so much creative, but just to the more traditional lager brewing, which is where I’m really finding my most gratifying brewing experiences so far. There’s
just something so simple and perfect about it, and there’s a precision to it and they’re just beautiful. It’s like a finesse beer. It’s just a beautiful thing to me. There are a lot of people that don’t know what a nice, fresh lager should taste like or could taste like and that’s kind of been a gateway beer here, honestly. It’s like I was saying earlier, the helles is like a companion. It’s kind of that common thread between maybe a non-craft beer drinker and a craft beer drinker. It’s a simple beer that is fundamental quality with quality ingredients. German malt, German hops, noble hops, European ingredients, whatever. It’s just a beautiful thing. That’s cool. Tell me, what kind of beer drinking environment are you hoping to create here at Uncle Billy’s now that you’re at the helm? Well, I would hope that we would just solidify ourselves as a craft beer destination and that the environment will, in as many ways as possible, reflect the direction and the quality of the beer. And hopefully we can get beer drinkers, not only from Austin and surrounding areas, but all over the country that would come here because they know the beer is quality. Is there anything you want to add? The only thing I would add about the lager beer is that I do really owe it to Brian, to
SAMPLING OF MICHAEL’S BEER
Swifty. I don’t know how you would word that in there, but . . . So I guess, you kind of stepped into some pretty big shoes here. I mean, Brian’s got a reputation and national awards as far as his lager beers go. How do you feel about coming in? You have this corpse of Brian hanging there in the brewery, watching you almost all the time. How do you feel about that? I was nervous at first, but I will say that he taught me well. So there’s only a bloodline now. Did you have to take some sort of oath or something? He sliced your palm and then poured a little lager yeast on it. . . It was certainly an unspoken oath. There are certain things in life that you just don’t give away to everyone because it’s important. You wait for deserving people. And I think that’s what I feel I find my confidence in, that he found me a worthy pupil to lager brewing. So, that’s all I need to know. Must be a good feeling. Yeah, it is a good feeling. It’s a great feeling and I think it’s taken me to a whole new level of brewing. Yeah, well you’re making great beers. I always liked what you did at Independence and I think this is a cool new step in your career. It’s fun to taste what you are doing now. Yeah, thanks man.
BAY’S
BREWER’S BRAIN
WHEN I WAS ASKED BY THE GENTS AT ABG if I was interested in contributing to this issue’s Brewer’s Brain I was sure they were mistaken about my brewing prowess. I have none, and I am pretty sure that I hadn’t represented that I did. But they made it clear that they wanted a different view of the craft beer mind: the brain of a tap wall curator. For those of you who don’t know about me, a brief history can get you to where I am now. I started as a wee tiny hippie born into the thick of the movement in the Haight-Ashbury area of SF 42 years ago. Four hippie communes and 10 or so states later my family settled in scary hat/boot/ gun tote’n/tumble weed-rolling Texas. At least that was what I thought at the ripe old age of 12. I fell in love with craft beer at Whip In 15 years ago. That little bottle shop on my way home, where I could try different singles every time, really changed it all for me. Twenty years in tech industry and many brews later, my wife (the brains behind the whole thing) and I decide to open a craft beer spot, Hopfields. It has been a great ride and I have loved every minute of it. I learned a lot from my eclectic upbringing and have used it to make an eclectic wall of beer, hopefully for an eclectic demographic who likes it. Enough about how I got here, let’s talk shop. My staff and I spend many hours of, how do I say this, um, “discussing” what to buy, when to buy it, and when to put it on the wall. We really do love beer so finding what is coming up is usually the easy part. Getting it is a little harder. Distributors have their needs, brewers have their needs, and customers have their needs. Balancing
all of those needs is sometimes controversial, yet a very enjoyable job. We at Hopfields really do want that wall to represent our passions about good beer and good people. Deciding by committee is a good way to ensure pleasing more than just one’s personal taste in beer. We all have different tastes and try to get others to appreciate our favorites. There are some moments where it seems to come together easily. Other times where the wall will have 10 stouts and 10 barley wines on in August. We take pride in knowing how the brewer wants
PHOTO: CASEY MOORE
From the Mind of Bay Anthon of Hopfields
Bay Anthon is the owner of Hopfields.
PHOTO: CASEY MOORE
their beer represented. Brewers are the sci-artist (yeah I made that word up). We really are curating their creations and attempting to get the public to appreciate and purchase it. But keeping a rotating wall has its issues. We all have to be experts on cleaning, knowing when a beer is “off” and understanding how to fix it if it is wrong. Just like art we have to present it how the artist wants it presented. Clean glasses, proper carbonation proper head, proper description, and being able and willing to discuss to the ends of the Earth with all patrons. From the “I can’t believe you don’t have
Lone Star” to “I can’t believe you don’t have Cantillon” they all have a place in the heart of a tap wall curator. Because at the end of the day the one thing that really matters is the beer and the people who love drinking it. Our job is to bring the two together without making it look too hard. I could go on for way too long about the geeky technical side of what has to happen behind the wall to make sure it tastes proper, but that wouldn’t be that fun. Heck if that is your cup of tea then just head into Hopfields one slow day and ask one of our wall curators. They get pretty flattered when someone wants to know how much they have to do to make sure it is so pretty on the outside. Thanks to ABG for letting me ramble on.
D\_Q` Of 05?6@ A?<BA:.; =U\a\` Of @5.D; =56996=@ IN 2011 JESTER KING BREWERY AND CO-PLAINTIFFS AUTHENTIC BEVERAGE Company and Zax Restaurant & Bar broke the dam with their lawsuit victory over TABC removing the ridiculous beer v. ale label notations, one of the major (but not only) hurdles out-of-state breweries must jump to sell beer in one of the country’s hottest young markets. Now Texas is as ripe for breweries as America’s west coast was for gold diggers in 1848, as we’re being rushed by prestigious, long-sought-after, “white whale” brands that are salivating to get their beer in our guts. And much like the Oklahoma land rush (you didn’t know you were getting a history lesson here?) tap walls and shelf space are becoming an even hotter commodity than they already were in Austin’s own quickly growing market. So in an already competitive market, these new heavyweight brands are entering our scene much like a fat man getting in an already full bath. We think we know some things, but we can’t pretend to predict what this shift in good beer will do to our beautiful budding beer landscape. Overall, we want to say this will be better for you, the consumer. But will it? We’re unapologetic cheerleaders of the local scene, and that’s for good reason. Well-made beer (not all styles) is meant to be drunk fresh and like any product, we love knowing where it came
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from and the motives and practices of the makers. And we understand that crafting a great beer takes time. The monks didn’t brew the trappist beers after a few batches then sit on their asses and drink. Our beer town is relatively young, and up until recently, the breweries we champion were working against a beer-business-unfriendly set of laws. But despite our relative immaturity and past “handicap,” Austin is making some fucking great beer. Of course better beer in the market should mean better beer in the market. But what about these young breweries still learning the ropes that may drown in this flood of great new beer? Is what’s good for the consumer now, actually good for the whole scene in the future? Do we shuck outsider beers, despite the quality and craft, in order to keep an “incubator” climate for fledgling young breweries? These are not questions we can or want to answer, but hopefully some of the folks we talked to can shed some light on the discussion. /2AA2? /22? 6; A2E.@ 6@ /2AA2? 3<? /22? 6; A2E.@, When we started picking brains, the first thing most folks told us came as a bit of a surprise. Where we expected hesitancy and possibly some territorial wariness, we found optimism and even some open arms for new big brand craft beer. “Overall it’s a pretty cool thing, cause it’s showing how the Texas beer market is maturing,” says Real Ale head brewer, Tim Schwartz. “We hit a tipping point somewhere in the past several years where there’s a lot of room for local and national players. Obviously, there will be more competition, but bringing in more good craft beer from out-ofstate will keep the momentum going in the market. Getting more excited about craft beer is going to help everybody.” Black Star Co-op bar manager, Brian Meola agrees. “In regard to local breweries, I think the influx of high quality craft beer from other states is a good thing for the consumer. I think there are some breweries in Austin that initially got by on being local without having to jump over the bar set by some of the national brands we’re starting to see available now,” says Meola. “Anything that sets the bar higher is good for the consumer. I’m still a firm believer in supporting local breweries first, but I’m glad to see more options on the shelves when I want something new.” Pinthouse Pizza head brewer, Joe Mohrfeld, formerly of Odell brewing in Fort Collins, CO, offers a unique perspective as he hails from a more mature beer scene. “We are a young market with a lot of room for growth, both for local and regional brands, and we will continue to see more local breweries open as well as more out-of-state breweries come to Texas and the ecosystem will continue to grow and evolve as long as we continue to
support it,” says Mohrfeld. “In short I think it will change the landscape but I think it will only help this landscape grow and evolve into a destination beer town!” An influx of top-notch brews sounds like it’s a good thing for craft beer in general, but in regards to tap and retail space, it gets a little sticky. Josh Wilson, Draught House brewer and manager says, “From my perspective, just being at the Draught House, and then being in Austin in particular, it’s fucking thick around here. You know, there’s only so much shelf space, there’s only so many faucets.” And the thickness is not only coming from out-of-state. “Already you see so many breweries coming up, not only out-of-state, but in state. And there’s competition everywhere right now,” says Schwartz. “And that’s going to be an interesting thing—what happens to the Texas industry over the next five years. And it’s good to be involved in it, but who knows what’s going to happen.” Schwartz continues, “Everyone can step their game up and having more competition keeps everyone on their toes.” Even though new competition is eventually good for the whole scene, competition is still competition. ?.6@6;4 A52 /.? With the stakes higher, and more options for the consumer, there is more on the line now than ever before. Of course it’s good for the local scene to have a higher beer profile, but that also brings competition for consumer dollars and retail space. Where in the past a brewery (young or otherwise) would be cut some slack on a myriad of sins ranging from low fill kegs, inconsistency in flavor/quality, undependability in supply, and even poor branding, now the tolerance for such things may be less, as more quality options become available to consumers and retailers. Schwartz warns that things will probably get harder for budding breweries. “I think the one thing is everybody’s got to step up their game. There’s a lot of quality beer coming in here and you can’t just be on the fringe and have issues. Everybody’s got to tighten their shit up and make the best beer they can.” Schwartz continues, “If you’re going to get into the market you can’t just jump in and throw something that’s kind of half there, and I’m not saying that anyone’s doing that, but you got to get your shit up. You have to have really good beer. The whole thing. Good looking packaging and the whole thing. It is a business and you have to be prepared.” “You’re more likely to support something local if it’s the same price, same quality, than you are out-of-state,” says Wilson. “And so, the local brewers that are coming in
doing something that’s subpar or too expensive, it’s just going to be harder for them. The room for error is smaller, you have to be savvier. You have to be savvier with your branding and marketing, and you see people coming to market now that hire companies where in the past you didn’t see that really. Hops and Grain’s a good example, Austin Beer Works too. You don’t have much room to make beer that isn’t quality because there’s so many choices out there. You better know the marketplace. You can’t just go in there and drop some products without knowing what you are competing against, you know? You have to really pay attention to what’s going on. Yeah, there’s not as much room for error.” In essence, the shallow end of the pool is getting deeper. Ultimately, the “slack” we extend new and local breweries is in the hands’ of the consumer. To support and foster a budding beer culture or by the laws of free market, let your dollar do the talking? /BA D5.A ./<BA ´1?6;8 9<0.9,µ As Austinites, we live day in and day out under the weight of the “support local” mantra chewing away at our consciousness. And for the most part, we’re lucky. Choosing local and the best quality are usually a synonymous choice, but let’s be honest—that’s not always the case. So what is a socially conscious beer drinker to do? “What I hope will happen is that local people will get over the hype of some of these brands and realize that our local beers are as good, if not better,” says Black Star Co-op brewer, Jeff Young. “I’m more of a ‘drink locally’ kind of guy. Not only are you supporting local businesses and craftsmen, but in general very few national breweries, in my opinion, are able to keep up the same level of quality and freshness that they can in their native areas.” Young continues, “I’m very protective and proud of what we’re achieving here in the Texas beer scene. I support all craft breweries, but I support ours the most! My fear would be that there could be a dilution of local craft brands at a time where some breweries are still in a sensitive state of business and might not be robust enough to deal with it.” If you’ve lived in Austin more than a few years, your gut and probably your “Keep Austin Weird” t-shirt agree with this, but it’s not always so black and white, right? Schwartz concedes that the influx will initially affect local sales, but in the long run he believes the consumer will come back around to their local options. “There are a lot of states that have tons of beer out there, its not something to panic or be weird about, it’s all going to be fine. Different breweries coming are going to have a
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certain level of sales in Texas and the local guys are going to have certain sales too,” says Schwartz. “And their level is going up and the excitement is going to go up and it raises awareness over all and that’s great. Over the long term it’s going to be a very positive thing. There might be some shakeout here and there, but everybody is going to have a Founders and then a local IPA and as more people become aware of their options they’re going to get turned on to those too.” D2·?2 .99 4<6;4 A< /2 <8 Everyone take a deep breath, relax, keep calm and carry on. This is not the first time our market has seen such high caliber brewers enter our ecosystem. The ratio of beers to wolves to bison has fluxed before, and we’ve always turned out alright, sans the beer version of shooting coyotes via helicopter. “I remember when Oskar Blues first came to Texas. I swore I couldn’t see myself drinking anything other than Dale’s Pale Ale once I could get it again (I previously had access in Florida),” says Meola. “I probably haven’t had a Dale’s in three years.” He’s not the only one. Remember when Brooklyn Lager hit? We all lost our shit over it. And it’s still as great a beer, but can you recall the last time you had one and it wasn’t because it was the best Stubb’s or Mohawk had to offer? Same could be said for Maui Coconut Porter, Bear Republic Racer 5, and Sixpoint’s Resin—all great beers, but after the initial excitement to get them, we mostly fell back on our local mainstays. Mohrfeld explains that “there is always a lot of noise and excitement when a new brewery shows up in a market, city, or state it has never existed in before, but that excitement does not last forever. These ‘big’ established brewers, many of which are or will be distributed throughout the state of Texas, will still likely sell less volume of beer then most of our local breweries sell here in Austin.” Schwartz agrees, “We’ve seen in the past, breweries come in and we might have seen a little slow down, but it’s usually a temporary thing, like the new thing’s coming and everybody focuses on that a little bit, but craft beer is fresh and local and that is sort of the whole deal about that. People get over the newness of the new guys and go back to some of the local guys.” So if everyone is going to be OK but we’re in the midst of a flood of new breweries, where does all this new beer go? “There is a finite amount of retail space but the whole thing is dynamic,” says Wilson. “You see Pinthouse opening up a year ago, Banger’s, and Work Horse, . . . and Hopfields. You see all these places opening up and they’re all doing quite well, so there is obviously a lot more room for growth.” With new product comes new tap real estate. The 78756 tap population has nearly tripled, if not more, since 2008 (not an actual fact). .;<A52? :.; ·@ @5<2@ Hopefully our tone and framing have not cast the out-of-state brewer in a bad light. They, like our own brewers, are mostly made up of good folk looking to make the best craft beer they can. And they are at a point where they can make enough for their
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thirsty cities (a place many Austin brewers are not, which is not a bad thing) and are able to bring their fine products to our market. And it wouldn’t be here if there were not demand from consumers and retailers. Craft beer is at the popularity point where your father-in-law has a New Belgium Trippel shirt in his weekend wardrobe. It’s at kids’ birthday parties (for the parents), tailgates, major chain restaurants, bulk membership stores, and even sort of, kind of at some major music festivals (ahem, ACL). So we cannot blame larger craft breweries for coming to our market when we in fact asked them to. “We started off in Dallas in the state of Texas a little over a year ago. We would not have spread beyond Dallas if there was not a demand for our beer in other parts of the state. We have added distributors in Austin, Houston, and Galveston at all relatively the same time, I believe about a little over 3 months ago,” says Ballast Point Austin sales rep Chris Marin. “We are kind of all over the map, but we only send our beer where there is a demand for it.” So far all the local stewards have expressed nothing but goodwill and open arms for the new kids in school, but what has it actually been like being the new kid? “The reception has been absolutely incredible beyond belief. I feel so lucky everyday to get up and move halfway across the country and have a following and buzz attached to Ballast Point beers. Having people working in the industry and consumers alike tell you that they are excited you are here makes me grin ear to ear,” Marin explains. “I can honestly say every single experience I’ve had with local brewers has been so flipping positive. It reminds me of San Diego in the fact that the beer community is just so stoked on good beer we all get along and drink great beer together, whether it’s in your brewery, or the brewery down the road.” When new predatory species enter an ecosystem’s food chain, they are not aware that their presence could possibly throw off a delicate balance fine tuned from years of evolutionary potshotting. No. The dumb beasts just think, “Fuck, I’m hungry. What’s there to eat around here?” Fortunately breweries are not run by Chinese black sleeper Snakehead fish, and the folks entering our market are aware of the potential impact their presence makes and are sensitive to the years of labor the local brewers have poured into our market. Marin explains, “We don’t want to go to every store or bar out there and try to steal space away from the local breweries. We effectively would want to try to make more space for everyone including Ballast Point. The consumers that want to go try something new or go pick up their favorite every once in a while will know where they can go to seek it out.” “I don’t think we are under the impression that our brand will change the current environment as much as it will just provide another option for someone to fall in love with the world of craft beer,” says Marin. “We as craft brewers have so much room to grow that I believe the more options for great craft beer, the better.” Time will tell, but as history shows, most folks entering our market find their niche and adjust, or move on. For the consumers’ sake, we hope this latest batch stick around.
A52 :<?2 A52 :2??62? Where some folks may be a bit timid around the new kids in school and some are accepting but hoping to keep the status quo, a few are embracing it and complaining that there are not more new kids to play with. “There’s going to be a lot of craft beer growth in Texas over the next few years, and breweries recognize this. As a result, you see larger out-of-state craft breweries that have the volume and resources to do so entering the Texas market,” says Jeff Stuffings founder and brewer of Jester King. “The common denominator however is that the new breweries entering our market are large ones. There’s nothing wrong with that in and of itself. For instance, I really enjoy the beer from Sierra Nevada, and they’re huge. The fact that the new breweries entering the Texas market are large ones is symptomatic of a major problem with our beer laws that significantly reduces consumer choice. The way Texas licensing fees are constructed creates the message that if you are a large craft brewer, you’re welcome here. But if you’re a very small brewery that isn’t poised to sell thousands of cases per year in our state, you have no business being here.” Essentially, Stuffings and the JK crew believe the party isn’t big enough yet. Sure, we can get on board with that. It’s like when your party is rocking pretty hard and then suddenly 50 folks from a party that got shut down across town crash yours. It may be a little reckless at first, but in the end it’s that much better. Stuffings continues, “We’re in favor of seeing Texas licensing fees being on par with what you see in most other states, which is anywhere from zero to a few hundred dollars. Again, Texas charges around $7k to sell both ‘beer’ and ‘ale’. We’d also like to see the extensive level of paperwork required for a Texas Brewer’s Permit and/or Manufacturer’s License decreased. Finally, we’d like to see an exception made for beer festivals so that out-of-state brewers can sample their beer at our festivals without having to purchase expensive licenses, undergo extensive paperwork and having to submit each beer they’re sending to the festival for lab analysis.” Stuffings elaborates on how this scenario could look for the future of Texas beer, “This would make for a better beer environment and culture for Texas beer drinkers. There would be greater diversity of beer available from a much greater number of breweries, many of them being small, artisan producers. Festivals would be a showcase of rare offerings from breweries you may have never even heard of before.” 8B:/.F. Like we said in the beginning, we’re not here to answer these questions or tell you as a consumer how you should spend your dollars. We hope we fairly spread out the issues and presented a knowledgeable and experienced assortment of perspectives for you to build your own opinion. So whether you land in the “it’s just beer,
drink itâ&#x20AC;? camp or the â&#x20AC;&#x153;you can all go to Hell . . . I will go to Texasâ&#x20AC;? side or somewhere in between, at least you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not informed (assuming you made it this far in our longest feature to date). In closing weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to leave you with some pretty inspiring words to sum up this whole discussion. Think of it like the last night of camp. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re sitting in a circle, wearing your pajama pants, rocking that new friendship bracelet or shaved head your parents are going to ďŹ&#x201A;ip out about when they pick you up in the morning. But this time with cold beer in hand. Schwartz succinctly puts it, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We respect the new breweries and they have great beer and its nice to be able to buy it down the street and at the bar and I think everything will just balance out in the long run.â&#x20AC;? Wilson closes thoughtfully with: â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think that most of the pressure is on the producers. I think that the retailers have it the best â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;cause you have the choices. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a competitive marketplace in the bar business now too with so many choices, but I think for the producers, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more competitive than it is for the retailers. And the consumers are goddamn spoiled.â&#x20AC;? StufďŹ ngs passionately stumps, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We see it as an enrichment of our beer culture that will only serve to grow the overall market for good beer. In order for Texas to truly be a world-class place for beer, the laws that keep so many small breweries out of our state must be changed.â&#x20AC;? Marin, the new guy, gleams, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love the Austin beer scene, it is booming with no sign of slowing down.â&#x20AC;? Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hope not.
A BEER LINE-UP THAT KNOCKS IT OUT OF THE PARK.
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MoVIEs & BEER The following THEATERS have been approved for BEER DRINKERS by the Austin Beer Guide
Words by CHRIS TROUTMAN
Photos Photos by by SHAWN SHAWN PHILLIPS PHILLIPS
SUMMERTIME MEANS BASEBALL, TUBING, FIREWORKS, LONG EVENINGS on the porch, grilling out, and big ridiculous summer movies—all of which pair well with tasty brews. And if you’re in the middle of a 100 day streak of 100 plus degree days in Central Texas, you’ll most likely gravitate to those dark AIR CONDITIONED theaters before some of those other summer pastimes. And in Austin we’re lucky enough to have a plethora of malt beverage friendly film houses . . . fields . . . retired runways . . . So whether you’re ready or not for a sixth (fucking seriously?!?) Fast and the Furious, another Superman reboot, Monsters University, Whitehouse Down, or the Smurfs 2 . . . we’re sure you’ll find a place to enjoy [read: endure] these films with a few tasty bevies at least.
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Alamo DrafthOuse Ritz (320 East 6th Street), Village (2700 West Anderson Lane), Lake Creek (13729 Research Blvd), Slaughter Lane ( 5701 West Slaughter Lane), South Lamar (1120 South Lamar Boulevard) (currently under construction) l drafthouse.com/austin l Draught and bottles
The original Alamo is an Austin institution. Sure they have the movies and beer thing down, pretty much hold the patent on that card, but they go above and beyond. The nerds running the Almo show fucking know their shit. Under one roof they could just as easy show the latest Ang Lee joint on one screen and Annie Hall on another. Yeah, and you could pick from a beer list chock full of local and national craft selections on draft(house) and bottle as long as the Christopher Walken monologue in Pulp Fiction (yeah, we tried pretty hard for that one) to enhance your air conditioned movie pleasure.
Blue starlite Drive-In 1901 East 51st Street, Austin l bluestarlitedrivein.com l BYOB
Blue Starlight is located on an abandoned runway behind Austin Studios, their third location at time of print. It is an “urban drive-in,” meaning you can come in your car or just show up and camp out in front of the cars on a blanket or other outdoor furniture. They show a mix of camp, classic, and indie films and mostly double features with loosely witty connections. With a modest concession stand, Blue Starlite is BYOB friendly. So pack that cooler with all your favorite cans, bottles, growlers, and kegs if you dare, and set in for some solid nostalgia (be it drive-ins if you’re old enough or just the 80’s heavy film picks) under the stars. Just remember, it’s a drive-in, so someone will need to drive out.
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Violet CroWN Cinema 434 West 2nd Street, Austin l violetcrowncinema.com l Draft and bottle
Violet Crown is located in the 2nd Street district downtown and primarily shows “art house” fare and documentaries. The VC is more of a date cinema than a take-the-kids multiplex, with small intimate theaters, a hip but not too hip lounge, a well curated seasonal menu, and a modest but calculated tap and bottle/can selection. There is no theater service, so be sure to show up early enough to order and eat in the lounge or take it into the film, and if you get lucky enough to snag one, this is one of few theaters where the best seats are in the front row. It’s pretty swanky, but very accessible—like the Oceans Eleven of Austin film houses (yeah, I’m sure they’re on board with that description).
Central Market 101X summer Cinema Outdoor MovieS 4001 North Lamar Blvd, Austin l 101x.com/summercinema l Draft and bottle
Every summer Central Market and 101X team up with Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow to show some great big old movies in their great big old park on the south side of the store behind the playground. Movies kick off at sunset and the cafe serves Blue Moon drafts on special, and if that doesn’t float your boat (and if it does you’ve got some splainin’ to do . . . ) you’re more than welcome to choose from hundreds of better beers in CM’s well occupied beer section. Come early and bring your camping chairs and don’t be that loudmouth dickhole who repeats all the funny lines as loud as the actual film to try to garner secondary runoff laughs from your other dickhole friends.
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Top Notch Hamburgers Drive-In Summer Movie nights 7525 Burnet Road, Austin l topnotchaustin.com l BYOB
Top Notch once starred in a movie, now it’s showing movies. Good for them. So nice to see a former star use their former celebrity for good, and not just discounts at strip clubs. That said, every Friday at 8pm this summer Top Notch will be showing some kitsch classics from the 80s and 90s to compliment their tasty charcoal burgers and it’s totes BYOB. So channel your inner David Wooderson and plan on taking down some tasty burgers, “classic” films and whatever beers you feel up for bringing on your own. And if you’re wondering if you should bring that second growler, it would be a lot cooler if you did.
FliX brewhouSe 2200 South IH-35, Round Rock l flixbrewhouse.com l House beers, draught, and bottles
Flix is similar in format to Alamo, but they turned it up to eleven by throwing a brewhouse into the mix. Yeah, movies, beer/bar, and brewhouse. So you can get your Pacific Rim (OH FUCK!) on here with a some incredible beer brewed especially for you by head brewer Justin Rizza. From solid hop delivery vehicles to barrel aged and buggy sours, Rizza holds a treasure trove of fermented gems rival only to One Eye’d Willie’s Pacific northwestern stash. Slightly north of honest Austin, Flix is more than worth the excursion. Show up early to pregame at the lobby bar and beat the I-35 traffic.
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Beers for BlockbusterS Fast and the Furious Six/Real Ale Four Squared It’s a sequel of sorts, has a number in the name, and is like a tank driving through a 747 in your mouth. Also Erik Ogershok could easily pass as the Rock’s metal loving cousin. Maybe. No offense, Erik. Now You See Me/Austin Beerworks Super Awesome Lager It has some quality folks involved, an air of the fantastic, and is made to be quickly enjoyed and consumed without much lingering after taste (good for the beer, not so much for the film . . . ). And if history repeats itself, you better grab that Super Awesome Lager while you can because it did not stick around long last summer. Pacific Rim/Jester King El Cedro Both bad ass, and deal in the arena of human engineering intellect and monsters. Courage, cunning, guts, animal instinct, Spanish cedar, wild yeast and aging over time make both the beer and film sit on the edge of your seat worthy. World War Z/The One They Call Zoe Both Zeds, epic and sexy.
The spradling Method aka The Dad Method Best place for a movie and a beer? My couch. For the price of a movie ticket I can get a good six pack and vending machine rental. Plus, I get to pause This is 40 for the inevitable bathroom breaks.
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BEER & LOATHING
Boat-trippin’ Downtown by CHRIS TROUTMAN
Photos by SHAWN PHILLIPS
DÜ-TĒ
SO WE USUALLY DON’T LIKE TO DO TWO IN-TOWN Beer and Loathing trips in a row, but we made an exception for this one. Our blogger friend, bloiend, frogger, Matt of the always fantastic You Stay Hoppy Austin had offered us an open invitation for his popular Bats & Beers event for a while now, and as luck would have it, the stars aligned that all four of us were free (we really don’t have a lot going on, actually). But it was oh so much more than Bats & Beer, it was Shawn’s birthday. So you know we meant it that night. Fucking meant it. For the uninitiated, the Bats & Beers concept centers around watching bats while drinking beers. And you’re on a boat. That’s an important part. It will play a major role in our story later. Each Bats & Beers & Boat incorporates a brewery. Bats & Beers & Boat & Brewery. And there is also a food pairing with the beer. Bats & Beers & Boat & Brewery & thesarus.com let me down. This cruise combined the quirky powers of Hops & Grain (perhaps due to shared similarities in nomenclature?) and Pinthouse Pizza (AKA Pinthouse & Pizza for the remainder of this story). The creative Frodos of each group (I did that for you, Matt), Josh Hare and Joe Mohrfeld combined to create a Fellowship of the Bats & Beers (again, it’s all for you, Matt). And this manifested in a Wes Anderson themed hodge podge of character homages (kudos to Bob for his stellar Max Fischer) somehow tied to the beer and pizza selections for the evening. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Our evening began on the southern tip of Rainey Street at the freshly christened Craft Pride. In ABG fashion, we unfashionably showed up kids in-tow, occupied an outside octagon table and plowed through a moderate enough amount of beers. We were debating the alcohol absorbing ability of fries with gravy versus fries with chili cheese, when suddenly we were gifted free samples of Dude (dü-tē, like doo-dee) Wipes, you know, for your ass. Gross. At a bar. Yeah, I don’t want to think about needing wet wipes for my ass while enjoying a tasty beer. Get the fuck
out. So per our nature, we Instagramed it and made some lazy snide joke. Of course the Dude (dü-tē) owner was in the immediate area, was notified when our dü-tē joke hit the Internet, and found us to perform some ad hoc focus grouping. Instakarma. Families parted ways and with beer and fries (both gravy and chili cheese variety) in our bellies we made our way to the Hyatt hotel dock. We were early, and it was Shawn’s birthday, so we took the liberty of knocking back a few in the hotel bar. Oh yeah, we meant to go to ZAX first, but Aaron drove by and said it looked closed. It was never confirmed, so we possibly missed out, but we’ll never know. The hotel selection was weak, but we were pleasantly surprised with some Independence Stash pints and enjoyed those while sharing stories of times we’d stayed in fancy hotels. Afterall, it was Shawn’s birthday. After a few potty trips and scattering some guides around the Hyatt bar, we made our way to the dock. So for future Bats & Beerers, get in line early. We thought we were early, but we were maybe 50 folks back at the end of the line. Luckily the spring guides Matt had requested were able to skip the line and get on the boat, but we still had to wait. It wasn’t long and by the time we got on, most of the strangers had already started socially lubricating so it was all good. I’m not sure how this came about, but there was a box with a few Hops & Grain and
YOU STAY HOPPY MATT
Pinthouse glasses left in it. Four glasses, four of us. We were the last on board, so of course those were all that were left. We grabbed them and quickly filled with beer because it was Shawn’s birthday, and we were dry about 30 minutes from hotel bar to boat. Pinthouse was slinging some of their tasty Bahn Mi pies. The downstairs bar was serving the mystery H&G Del Roble while upstairs showcased a firkin variety of an IPA collaboration between Frodo Hare and Frodo Mohrfeld with three pins, each featuring Mosaic, Nugget, and Simcoe hops. Fuck the bats, this boat ride was about drinking some great beers. Each of the firkins was mighty tasty with the Simcoe being my personal favorite. We ran into Matt, shared our gratitude for the invite and cool glasses, and were told those “last” four cool glasses were the raffle prizes. So uh, sorry for using your glasses, raffle winners. You can take two koozies at our next release party, no questions asked. I don’t know if it was planned or intentional, but a good portion of the folks on this boat were either of the brewing community, or the brewing press community. So there ended up being lots of familiar faces, which is fine. We have a great community of drinkers in Austin, and it’s nice to know you can go to an event and easily run into someone you know. But most of these relationships are built upon “What are you drinking? Yeah, it’s solid. Did you try the other new one? Yeah, me too. It’s also good.” That doesn’t play so well on a two
plus hour boat ride so it oddly turned into a microcosm high school where you sort of know everyone, but don’t feel obliged to get out of your own clique. And the presence of Bob’s spot-on Max Fischer only made it more so. Hmm. In retrospect I’m not exactly sure how Wes Anderson got in the mix. This is purely speculation, but I think it originated with the Pinthouse Pizza bros’ Life Aquatic boners and the always ready to party H&G boys jumped in with some yellow jumpsuits and Rushmore formal wear. Either way, it made for a surreal boat ride. And there were bats, to boot. Maybe we just got lucky on this one, but I’m ready to call Bats & Beers the trippiest beer event. . . ever. And you can quote us on that, Matt. The firkins drained first, then the mystery Del Roble, and then some pies (as in dessert, not pizza) showed up. I guess they were there the whole time, as I doubt boats get pies delivered on Sunday evenings often enough that someone would do that. Pushing hour three, pizza a distant memory, all were slamming cold cans of Alt and Zoe feebly attempting to ID buildings of the Austin skyline. And then, just as quickly we boarded this floating Bats & Beers circus, we were docking. Clamoring for cans, we all had one more as the boat deboarded and planned our next stop. Our night wasn’t over—it was Shawn’s birthday. Josh used his jedi mind tricks (that one’s for me, Matt) to avoid the Hyatt parking fee and we made our way to the Ginger Man. In one fell swoop, Spradling had us perfectly parallel the curb on 5th and we hoofed it to the G-Man. For old time’s sake, we ordered a round of Maredsous 8 for Shawn’s birthday and dumped this heavy Belgian beer on top of the various hoppy beers, Bahn Mi, and pies. Thank god those gravy and/or chili cheese fries were down there to keep things civil. Not exactly ready to camp in one spot, especially one within a stone’s throw of the ghost of their superior past (we know, it’s not their fault, but it still stings), we trod north to 6th/Lavaca to check out the seminew Austin Ale House. Somehow these guys avoided our magnifying glass when we were sleuthing around town for new bars to feature in the Spring guide, so we walked in not knowing what to expect. Cause afterall, it was Shawn’s birthday. After immediately solving the mystery of all the missing fucking Edison bulbs in
AUSTIN ALEHOUSE Austin, we bellied up to their copper bar to order our last beers of the evening. The tap’s were populated by a mix of local and national craft brands. Nothing to raise eyebrows, but very very nice for a place so close to dirty 6th. We got a little silly here, and if anyone from Austin Ale House is reading, we’re sorry. Aaron licked the copper bar on a very weak bet. I’m not sure how, but I’d imagine it was due to some type of mineral deficiency from his “Vegan Before 6” diet. Austin Ale House was a well executed bar, with a better than average craft beer lineup, but it was obviously new as they kept an unprotected drum kit with sticks in proximity in the back beside the bathroom. It was Shawn’s birthday, and he’s a drummer. None of us are in any position to say who was right and who was wrong in the situation, but regardless, our time at Austin Ale House was cut short. Guess they’re a bring your own drums joint. No Beer and Loathing is complete without some infighting and empty threats to quit, and this one is no exception. That night the quarreling centered around Whataburger and whether or not to spend extra minutes to get a B.O.B. or two. It was Shawn’s birthday, so his side won and we went straight home to bed. Thanks to Matt & Bats & Beers for their hospitality, Dude Wipes for clean asses, BACON bus for fries with gravy and chili cheese, Craft Pride for being cool downtown, Hyatt for free parking, G-man for the memories, . . . and apologies to Austin Ale House.
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&(# 8dci^\d 2027 Anchor Lane &)# =djhZ E^ooZg^V 5111 Airport Boulevard &*# :Vhn I^\Zg 7V`Z H]de VcY 7ZZg <VgYZc 709 East 6th Street &+# I]Z 7gZl :mX]Vc\Z 706 West 6th Street &,# 7Vc\ZgĂ&#x2030;h HVjhV\Z =djhZ 7ZZg <VgYZc 79 Rainey Street &-# ?VX`VadeZ 404 East 6th Street &.# HiVg 7Vg 600 West 6th Street '%# <djgbVcYh 2316 Webberville Road '&# 6jhi^c 6aZ =djhZ 301 West 6th Street ''# CVhinĂ&#x2030;h 606 Maiden Lane '(# He^YZg =djhZ 2908 Fruth Street ')# I]jcYZgW^gY 8d[[ZZ " BVcdg 2200 Manor Road '*# K^daZi 8gdlc HdX^Va 8ajW 1111 East 6th Street
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'+# I]Z <gVX`aZ 1700 East 6th Street ',# I]Z L]^iZ =dghZ 500 Comal Street '-# 8]ZggnlddY 8d[[ZZ]djhZ 1400 38 1/2 Street '.# Hl^[iĂ&#x2030;h 6ii^X 315 Congress Avenue (%# =^ =Vi EjWa^X =djhZ 2121 East 6th Street (&# 8gV[i Eg^YZ 61 Rainey Street ('# HVai I^bZ 1912 East 7th Street ((# ^c#\gZY^Zcih 2610 Manor Road ()# =daZ ^c i]Z LVaa$:Vhi H^YZ @^c\ 2538 Guadalupe Street
BREW PUBS (*# 9gVj\]i =djhZ EjW 7gZlZgn 4112 Medical Parkway
BREWERIES (+# =deh <gV^c 7gZlZgn 507 Calles Street
(,# A^kZ DV` 7gZl^c\ 8d# 3301-B East 5th Street
STORES (-# 8ZcigVa BVg`Zi 4001 North Lamar Boulevard (.# =nYZ EVg` BVg`Zi 4429 Duval Street )%# L]daZ ;ddYh BVg`Zi 525 North Lamar Boulevard )&# 6cidcZaa^Ă&#x2030;h 8]ZZhZ H]de 4220 Duval Street )'# Il^c A^fjdgh " =VcXdX` 1000 East 41st Street )(# GdhZYVaZ BVg`Zi 1309 West 45th Street ))# L^\\nĂ&#x2030;h dc +i] 1130 West 6th Street )*# Fj^X`^Z E^X`^Z 1208 East 11th Street )+# :Vhi &hi <gdXZgn 1811 E Cesar Chavez Street
BREWERIES
Hops and Grain Brewery INFO BREWER/FOUNDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Josh Hare ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Winter 2011/12 TOURS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Friday 2-6pm Saturday 12-4pm URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.hopsandgrain.com
YEAR ROUND BEERS EVaZ 9d\ EVaZ 6aZ STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . American Pale Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.0% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Cans QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dry, hoppy, bitter FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fish tacos, salt and vinegar chips, gummy bears 6ai"ZgVi^dc 6aZ STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Düsseldorf-style Altbier ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Cans QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Malty, nutty, moody FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL. . . . . . . . . . . Grilled fish, any kind of meat on a stick
QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Crisp, slight citrus FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL. . . . . . .Asian/Mex fusion tacos, Asian/Mex fusion pizza, good times I]Z <gZZc]djhZ HZg^Zh STYLE . . . . . . . Rotating series of small batches IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taste the rainbow KdajbZh d[ DV` HZg^Zh STYLE . . . . . . . . . . Oak aged small batch series IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oak & booze 9Za GdWaZ HZg^Zh STYLE . . . . . . . . 100 % barrel fermented series IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Subtle
Note: Follow H&G on Twitter, Facebook, or their newsletter for the latest Greenhouse, Volumes of Oak, and Del Roble beers.
WE RECOMMEND Pale Dog, The One They Call Zoe, Greenhouse
I]Z DcZ I]Zn 8Vaa OdZ STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pale Lager ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Cans
Bringing his Colorado beer knowledge and inspiration to Austin, Josh Hare has opened one of Austin’s two East side breweries. With three year-round beers canned for easy use during your outdoor drinking endeavors, and a constantly rotating selection of Greenhouse beers, Hops & Grain has something for everyone. The ALT-eration took home gold at the 2012 World Beer Cup, and the Greenhouse lineup has grown to include a Baltic Porter, Belgian Porter, and the Volumes of Oak series of oak aged beers. They even collaborated on a beer with us called Night RYE-der. If that isn’t enough, Hops and Grain is an environmentally sustainable operation that uses up-cycled malted barley from brewing to make natural and wheat free dog treats called Brew Biscuits.
BREWERIES
Live Oak Brewing Co. INFO BREWER/FOUNDER . . . .Chip McElroy (owner, founder), Dusan Kwiatkowski (Brewer) ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1997 TOURS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Check website URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.liveoakbrewing.com
YEAR ROUND BEERS 7^\ 7Vg` 6bWZg AV\Zg STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amber Lager ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . Smooth, quenching, malty FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL. . . . . . . . . . .Fish and chips, meat in a cone =Z[ZLZ^oZc STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hefeweizen ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bananas, cloves, hazy, super refreshing FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL. . .Blue cheese!
E^ao STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Czech Pilsner ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hoppy, dry, refreshing FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . .Sausage, pizza, burgers, anything really
CURRENT SEASONAL Gd\\ZcW^Zg STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roggenbier ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . Smooth, fruity, drinkable FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . Pastries, mild cheeses, melon
WE RECOMMEND Pilz, HefeWeizen, Roggenbier
A^WZgVi^dc 6aZ STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . Hoppy, great malt balance FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . Tobacco, foie gras or other duck dishes
Built by hand by Chip McElroy in a small (and now worn) building on the east side of town, Live Oak has been an Austin staple since 1997. They use an old-world style of brewing mostly practiced throughout Germany and the Czech Republic and use techniques such as open fermentation and secondary lagering on some of their styles to give their beers a very distinct Live Oak taste. This is best reďŹ&#x201A;ected in their Pilz and much beloved HefeWeizen.
BREW PUBS
Draught House INFO LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4112 Medical Pkwy Austin, TX 78756 PHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .512-452-MALT HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mon-Thu 3pm–2am, Fri-Sun 1pm–2am URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.draughthouse.com
HOUSE BEER SAMPLING
Brewer Josh Wilson likes to keep his beers moving. Josh doesn’t adhere to the general brew pub rules that say you have to develop four solid recipes and keep those on year long while only reserving a few taps for experimentation and seasonals. After visiting Draught House for a few years, you may notice that Josh keeps a loose yearly brewing schedule with styles and specific brews mirroring the seasonal calender.
WE RECOMMEND Malt Ball, Red Planet (also Double Red Planet), Bombay IPA
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BREW PUB SNAPSHOT
512.478.8700
@HiHatph
HiHatPublicHouse
HiHatPublicHouse.com
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BREW PUBS &%# JcXaZ 7^aanĂ&#x2030;h 1530 Barton Springs Road &&# CVbVhiZ 7gZl^c\ $ L]^e >c 1950 South IH-35
BREWERIES &'# *&' 7gZl^c\ 8d# 407 Radam Lane, F200 &(# >cYZeZcYZcXZ 7gZl^c\ 8d# 3913 Todd Lane &)# Hdji] 6jhi^c 7gZl^c\ 8d# 415 E Saint Elmo Rd, Ste 1D
STORES &*# I]dbĂ&#x2030;h BVg`Zi 1418 Barton Springs Road &+# 8ZcigVa BVg`Zi 4477 South Lamar Boulevard &,# HeZXĂ&#x2030;h"7gdY^Z AVcZ 4978 West Hwy 290 &-# A^kZ DV` BVg`Zi 4410 Manchaca Road &.# Hdji] AVbVg L^cZ VcY He^g^ih 2418 South Lamar Blvd
BREWERIES
(512) Brewing Co. INFO BREWER/FOUNDER . . . .Kevin Brand (Owner), Nate Seale (Brewer) ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summer 2008 TOURS. . . . . . . . . . . Some Saturdays with RSVP URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.512brewing.com
YEAR ROUND BEERS *&' >E6 STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hoppy, citrusy, solid FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . Spicy Thai, Tex-Mex, Italian, ALL pizza, BBQ *&' EVaZ STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . American Pale Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . . . . . . .Drinkable, hoppy, quenching FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . Burgers, chiles rellenos, fish and chips *&' EZXVc EdgiZg STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Porter ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.8% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . .Full bodied, roasty, pecans FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . .Red meats, ice cream, chocolate
*&' L^i STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wit or white beer ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . .Light, semi-tart, hint of grapefruit FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . White pizza, light pastas, hummus, salads, seafood
CURRENT SEASONAL *&' 6AI STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Altbier ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.0% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . Draft (Late Spring) QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . .Roasty, nutty, slightly sweet FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . Grilled sausages, fish
Note: (512) ALT is technically a spring seasonal, but will probably be found on taps in June.
WE RECOMMEND ALT, IPA, Pale *See full listing of available beers at www.austinbeerguide.com
Kevin Brand moved back to Austin from California in early 2008 to start the brewery and began brewing beer that summer. Brand’s initial lineup was the Wit, Pale, and IPA, but quickly added the Pecan Porter to the year round line up after the enormous reception it received as the first winter seasonal. Currently (512)’s beers are only available on draft but they have released a limited number of bottles of Whiskey Barrel Aged Double Pecan Porter (along with Wild Bear and THREE) in the past and sprinkled them around town. This summer look for their annual release of anniversary beers, including their 5th Anniversary beer. This past winter they acquired two foeders to add to their barrel program. Only time will tell what sour and wild beers will start coming out of South Austin.
DOUBLE
Hand crafted American ales from the heart of Austin Over 80% organic ingredients in every pint Available on draft at the finest bars in Texas Family owned and 100% self-distributed Currently available: (512) Double IPA Next up: (512) TRIPEL
512brewing.com
IPA
BREWERIES
Independence Brewing Co. INFO BREWER/FOUNDER. . . .Rob & Amy Cartwright ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fall 2004 TOURS. . . . . . . . . . . First Saturday of the month URL . . . . . . . . .www.independencebrewing.com
YEAR ROUND BEERS 7ddiaZ\\Zg 7gdlc 6aZ STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . American Brown Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Big roasty malt flavor, caramel, nutty FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . Steak, roasted pork, Chinese takeout >cYZeZcYZcXZ EVaZ 6aZ STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . American Pale Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . Piney, hoppy, light malt FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . Reubens, sausage and peppers
QUICK SIP. . . . . Very hoppy, balanced malt body FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . Greasy-fatty Mexican, pizza 8dck^Xi =^aa DVibZVa Hidji STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oatmeal Stout ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.5% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cacao, licorice, roast FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . . . . Ice cream, chocolate, toffee
CURRENT SEASONAL Hjc\VoZg HV^hdc STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Saison ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 % IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Light, drinkable, refreshing, semi-yeasty FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . Salads, sandwiches, breads, poultry
WE RECOMMEND Stash IPA, Convict Hill, Sungazer Saison
HiVh] >E6 STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle
*See full listing of available beers at www.austinbeerguide.com
Husband and wife Rob and Amy Cartwright started Independence Brewing Co. in South Austin in 2004, but were active members of the ATX brewing community long before. Rob began brewing at Austin’s Copper Tank (RIP) in 1994 and after meeting Amy decided to open the brewery. Prior to opening the brewery the couple embedded themselves in the Austin beer community by putting on the Texas Craft Brewers Festival in 2004 and 2005. Since opening, Independence has created a local niche for themselves by packaging the OU Suks bottles every fall for the UT vs. OU game, supplying the Alamo Drafthouse house beer from 2004-2009, and hosting the largest monthly beer gathering at their first Saturday tasting and tours. They have been releasing one-off beers in their Brewluminati series. For latest info on this series stay tuned here: www.independencebrewing.com/our-beers/brewluminat
BREWERIES
South Austin Brewing Co. INFO BREWER/FOUNDER . . . . . . . . . . Jordan Weeks ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Winter 2012 TOURS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Check website URL . . . . . . . . . . .www.southaustinbrewing.com
YEAR ROUND BEERS 7Za\^Vc HinaZ <daYZc 6aZ STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Belgian Golden Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.8% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . .Fruity esters, quaffable, bright, smooth FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . . .Fish, fruits and honey, soft cheeses, frites HV^hdc 9É6jhi^c STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Belgian Saison ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . Sweet, spicy, peppery FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . Salads, chicken, pheasant, fruit
WE RECOMMEND Belgian Style Golden Ale, Saison D’Austin
SOUTH AUSTIN’S GRAND OPENING
Parked in the same neighborhood as Independence and (512) breweries, South Austin Brewing Co. have been chomping at the bit to get to brewing since 2010. Founder Jordan Weeks has a rich brewing history in Austin, and with his trusty 50-barrel Newlands brewhouse plans to supply the fine folks of South Austin and beyond with yummy Belgian inspired beers. Out of the gates, SABC are slinging beers both on draft and in 750 ml cork and cage bottles to be found at finer locations. They recently commemorated their one year anniversary with a party, complete with a performance by quintessential South Austin band the Gourds.
BREW PUBS
Namaste Brewing at the Whip In INFO
BREW PUB SNAPSHOT
LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1950 IH-35 Austin, TX 78704 PHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512-442-5337 HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10amâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;12am URL . . . . . . . . . . www.whipin.com/brewery.htm
Born a simple family owned convenience store on the side of I-35, Whip In was not content to live its days out that way. After becoming one of the top bottle shops in Austin, they slowly crept tap by delicious tap to becoming one of the largest draft and Texas brewed beer selections in town. And now, they are home to Namaste Brewing.
HOUSE BEER SAMPLING 7gV]bVaZ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA K^h]cVk^ig^eVaZ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tripel <VcZh]VaZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Belgian Quad @Va^Yjg\VaZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Barleywine AV`h]b^ =Z[Z . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spiced Wheat Ale
WE RECOMMEND Brahmale
BREW PUBS
Uncle Billy’s INFO
BREW PUB SNAPSHOT
LOCATION. . . . . . . . . 1530 Barton Springs Road Austin, TX 78704 PHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512-476-0100 HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sun–Thur: 11am–12am, Fri–Sat: 11am–11pm URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.unclebillysaustin.com
Texas is BBQ heaven. Austin is Texas Craft Beer heaven. Put them together and you get Uncle Billy’s Brew and Que. Uncle Billy’s is the ideal spot after a day of festival-ing at Zilker Park or cooling off at the springs. Brewer Michael Waters has kept on the Austin staple Ax Handle Pale Ale while mixing in a constant rotation of beers with an emphasis on hoppy ales and session-able lagers.
HOUSE BEER SAMPLING 6m =VcYaZ EVaZ 6aZ . . . . . . . American Pale Ale <gZZc Gddb >E6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA Hbd`ZY Dji Hidji . . . . . . . . . . . . Smoked Stout H\i# HiZYZc`d . . . . . . . . . . . . .American Red Ale
WE RECOMMEND Ax Handle, Green Room IPA
Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager 1988-2013
It’s been a long and, at times, bumpy road. But now more people than ever are able to enjoy Brooklyn beers all over the world. Throughout the years, some of the friends we’ve made have risen to artistic fame. We could think of no better way to celebrate our 25th anniversary than to partner with Fred Tomaselli, Roxy Paine, Joe Amrhein and Elizabeth Crawford, all of whom agreed to contribute art to grace the labels of a Silver Anniversary Lager. Our celebrated Brewmaster Garrett Oliver crafted a double bock version of our first beer, Brooklyn Lager, to commemorate the anniversary. This second label features Joe Amrhein’s piece, A Fallibility of Perception. We’ll be rolling out the next two throughout 2013. Cheers! Steve Hindy, co-founder and president
BREWERIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 58 BREW PUBS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 64 The Domain
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BREW PUBS &%# E^ci]djhZ E^ooV 4729 Burnet Road &&# Cdgi] 7n Cdgi]lZhi CMCL 10010 N Capital of TX Hwy &'# 7aVX` HiVg 8d"de 7020 Easy Wind Drive
BREWERIES &(# 8^gXaZ 7gZl^c\ 8d# 2340 West Braker Lane &)# 6jhi^c 7ZZgldg`h 3009 Industrial Terrace &*# 6YZaWZgiÉh 7gZlZgn 2314 Rutland Drive, Ste 100
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BREWERIES
Adelbert’s Brewery INFO BREWER/FOUNDER . . . . . . . . . . . . Scott Hovey ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Winter 2011/12 TOURS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saturday, 1-4pm URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.adelbertsbeer.com
YEAR ROUND BEERS 7VggZa"6\ZY CV`ZY Cjc STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Belgian-Style Witbier ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Corriander, soft, zesty FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . . .Fruit, salty and/or herb cheese
HXgViX]^cÉ =^eed STYLE . . . . . . . . . . Belgian Style Biere de Garde ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.8% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . Malty, earthy, semi-sweet FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . . . Thai, steak, spicy Italian
WE RECOMMEND Scratchin’ Hippo, Philosophizer
*See full listing of available beers at www.austinbeerguide.com
E]^adhde]^oZg STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Belgian-Style Saison ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.8% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . .Citrusy, spicy, balanced FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . Grilled chicken, rich fish dishes, prosciutto and brie Ig^eZa 7 STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Belgian Style Tripel Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cloudy, candy, fruity FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . Spinach salad, strawberries, lobster
In early 2010, Scott Hovey was ripe for a mid-life career change and when he looked for inspiration he found it in the eclectic and exciting life of his deceased older brother, Adelbert. Adelbert’s is a tribute to George Adelbert Hovey (1953-2000), Scott’s brother. Always a fan of Belgian style ales, Scott was introduced to the complexities and flavor possibilities in bottle conditioned aged Belgian beers at the 2010 Craft Brewers Conference. He returned and set out to start Austin’s first all Belgian style bottle and keg conditioned brewery, aptly named after his older brother. Of the six beers to be released in 2012, each one is named after an experience or story that his brother Adelbert loved to tell. Look for more barrel-aged ales to come out in 2013.
BREWERIES
Austin Beerworks INFO BREWER/FOUNDER . . . . . . . . Adam DeBower, Michael Graham, Mike McGovern and Will Golden ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summer 2011 TOURS. . . . . . . .Fridays, 5-8pm (RSVP required) URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.austinbeerworks.com
YEAR ROUND BEERS 7aVX` I]jcYZg <ZgbVc HX]lVgo STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Schwarzbier ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Cans QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Roasted, coffee, slightly hoppy, dry FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . S’mores, scones, beef jerkey ;^gZ :V\aZ 6bZg^XVc >E6 STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Cans QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hoppy, piney FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . . Thai, steak, spicy Italian EZVXZbV`Zg :migV EVaZ STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extra Pale Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.0% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Cans QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Drinkable, crisp
FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . Vegan hotdogs, pickles, Sidora’s homemade Chex mix EZVga HcVe <ZgbVc E^ah STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . German Pilsner ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Cans QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Light, hoppy, crisp FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . .Sausage, breads, mustard, burgers
CURRENT SEASONAL :^c]dgc STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Berliner Weisse ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . Draft (Early Summer) QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tart, effervescent FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . . Salty frites!, jalapeño and lime grilled chicken, Austin Beer Guide HjeZg 6lZhdbZ AV\Zg STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Premium Lager ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . Draft (Late Summer) QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crisp, light FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . Fish tacos, more beer, day time
WE RECOMMEND Fire Eagle, Pearl Snap, Einhorn
Austin Beerworks is a collection of four friends spanning from the East coast to Austin, united and “hell-bent on excellence” in beer making. The beerworkers, Michael, Will, Adam and Mike, have raised an impressive production brewery and cannery in the northwest sector of town since April 2011. With their regular lineup of four beers, including 2011 GABF silver medal winner Peacemaker Extra Pale, the four friends have come storming out of the gates and onto the Austin beer scene. The Austin Beerworks fellows aim to make super tasty, yet drinkable beers, perfect for our refined, but also often heat-parched Austin palates. Their new IPA series Heavy Machinery can now be found in cans, starting with their double IPA.
BREWERIES
Circle Brewing Co. INFO BREWER/FOUNDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ben Sabel and Jud Mulherin ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Winter 2010/11 TOURS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Quarterly open houses; check website URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.circlebrewing.com
YEAR ROUND BEERS 6a^W^ 7adcYZ STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blonde Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Crisp FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL. . . . . . . . . Chicken masala, hummus, sushi
QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Light hops, spicy, biscuity malt, crisp FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL. . . . . . . . . . .Grilled meats, chips and salsa, seafood C^\]ia^\]i 9gn >g^h] Hidji STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Irish Dry Stout ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roasty, dry, cocoa FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL. . . .Raw oysters, shepherd’s pie, stew
WE RECOMMEND Nightlight, Envy, Circle App
7ajg IZmVh =Z[Z STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hefeweizen ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . Bananas, light, gulpable FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . .Pizza, salad, crab legs :ckn 6bWZg 6aZ STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amber Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft
Ben Sabel and Jud Mulherin were childhood friends in Tennessee. As youngsters they shared a dream to open a “shop.” Like many young friends, as they grew up, their lives took different paths, but they never lost touch. And they never forgot their dream. As adults they both loved beer, so it was inevitable that their dream would morph into becoming brewery owners. Circle Brewing appeared on the internet beer rumor mill in the second half of 2008. Fast forward two years, Ben and Jud were brewing their first batches of beer for Austin. Envy Amber and Blur Texas Hefe were their first beers to be released. They followed those with their Nightlight Dry Irish Stout. Circle brews their beer following the Reinheitsgebot, the German purity law from 1516. Their basic philosophy: to make beer “with only the best ingredients and NONE of the other stuff.” If you can find Smokin’ Beech on tap somewhere, get it while you can.
BREW PUBS
Black Star Co-op INFO
BREW PUB SNAPSHOT
LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . .7020 Easy Wind Drive Midtown Commons, Suite 100 Austin, TX 78752 PHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512-452-BEER HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mon-Thu 4pm–12am, Fri-Sat 11am–1am, Sun 11am–12am URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.blackstar.coop
Black Star Co-op is the first known cooperatively run/owned brew pub in the world with members from across the globe. Monthly beer socials, starting in 2006, provided an outlet for recruiting new members and grew to host up to 500 members at each gathering. Black Star Co-op encapsulates everything Austin with an emphasis on local producers and community action, all through enjoyment of local beer.
HOUSE BEER SAMPLING =^\] :hiZZb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Golden Honey Ale :aWV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . American Wheat Ale KjaXVc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rye IPA LViZgadd . . . . . . . . . .Sour American Wheat Ale
WE RECOMMEND Elba, Vector
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BREW PUBS
North by Northwest INFO
BREW PUB SNAPSHOT
LOCATION. . . . . . . . . 10010 Capital of TX Hwy N Austin, TX 78759 PHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512-467-6969 HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Varied, check website URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.nxnwbrew.com
North by Northwest is Austin’s most upscale brew pub and offers a complete menu, with the restaurant itself driving many people to the establishment. Identifiable by the grain silo out front, the feel is very “Northwest lodge,” rounded out by stone, wood and a fireplace. The beers are solid and their monthly cask nights have a dedicated following.
HOUSE BEER SAMPLING Cdgi]Zgc A^\]i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pilsner 9jX`VWjh] 6bWZg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amber Ale En_^c\d EVaZ 6aZ . . . . . . . . . . American Pale Ale D`VcV\Vc 7aVX` 6aZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Black Ale 7Vgidc @g^Z` . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sour/Lambic
WE RECOMMEND Pyjingo Pale Ale, Barton Kriek
BREW PUBS
Pinthouse Pizza INFO
BREW PUB SNAPSHOT
LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4729 Burnet Road Austin, TX 78756 PHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512-436-9605 HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sun-Wed 11am-11pm, Thu-Sat 11am-12am URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.pinthousepizza.com
Pinthouse Pizza opened to much anticipation in the fall of 2012, on the cusp of Austin Beer Week. Following California’s Pizza Port model, the brew pub slings beers from the bar, and pizzas from the counter in the beer hall-esque atmosphere. Head brewer Joe Morfield brews a solid line up of staple beers, along with a series of special releases and his Fallen Cask IPA series. Go for the pizza, stay for the beer.
HOUSE BEER SAMPLING 8VabV BjZgiV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Session Ale >gdc <Zccn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pale Ale 7ZVgYZY HZVa . . . . . . . .Imperial Dry Irish Stout BVc DÉ LVg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA ;VaaZc 8Vh` . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .IPA Series
WE RECOMMEND Bearded Seal, Man O’ War
BREWERIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 72 BREW PUBS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 84
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BREW PUBS -# ;a^m 7gZl]djhZ $ =dbZ;^ZaY <g^aa 2000 S IH-35, Round Rock .# 7Vhigde 7gZl]djhZ 601 Chestnut Street, Bastrop &%# 9djWaZ =dgc 7gZl^c\ 8d# 208 Avenue H, Marble Falls &&# I]Z 7VgWZg H]de 207 Mercer Street, Dripping Springs &'# L^bWZgaZn 7gZl^c\ 8d# 9595 Ranch Road 12, Wimberley &(# B^YYaZidc 7gZl^c\ 9595 Ranch Road 12, Wimberley &)# EZXVc HigZZi 7gZl^c\ 106 East Pecan Drive, Johnson City
BREWERIES &*# ?ZhiZg @^c\ 8gV[i 7gZlZgn 13005 Fitzhugh Road
GREATER ATX
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&+# I]^ghin EaVcZi 7gZl^c\ 8d# 11160 Circle Drive &,# >c[Vbdjh 7gZl^c\ 8d# Hudson Bend, Austin &-# Il^hiZY M 7gZl^c\ 8d# 3200 West Whitestone Boulevard, Cedar Park &.# Gd\cZhh 7gZl^c\ 8d# 2400 Patterson Industrial Drive, PďŹ&#x201A;ugerville '%# GZVa 6aZ 7gZl^c\ 8d# 231 San Saba Court, Blanco
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BREWERIES
Infamous Brewing Co. INFO BREWER/FOUNDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zack Perry & Josh Horowitz ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spring 2013 URL . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.infamousbrewing.com
YEAR ROUND BEERS >E6 STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Malty, bitter, solid FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL. . . Salami, chili fries, gun powder
=^_VX` STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cream Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Cans QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . Cream soda, creamsicle, coolwhip, duh FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . .Coffee, strawberry short cakes, peaches, pants
WE RECOMMEND IPA
Zack Perry, Josh Horowitz and brewer Matt Bitsche left various career backgrounds to start Infamous Brewing Co. in Austin and got the wheels rolling for Infamous in June of 2012. In less than a they year got their brewhouse up and running. Infamous came on the scene this spring with their take on a cream ale and an IPA, with plans to release other seasonal and special releases.
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BREWERIES
Jester King Craft Brewery INFO BREWER/FOUNDER . . . . . . . . Jeffrey Stuffings and Michael Steffing ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fall 2010 TOURS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Most Saturdays, 1-4pm URL . . . . . . . . . . . . www.jesterkingbrewery.com
YEAR ROUND BEERS 7aVX` BZiVa STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . Farmhouse Imperial Stout ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Big roast, coffee, chocolate FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL. . .Cheesecake, roast beef and other bloody meats AZ EZi^i Eg^cXZ STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Farmhouse Table Beer ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Subtle hop spininess, yeast esters, wild flowers FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . Crackers and light cheeses, pears, grilled flaky white fish BVY BZ\ STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . .Provisional Farmhouse Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.6% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle
QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spicy, earthy, dry FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . Tomato salad, soft cheeses, sardines LniX]bV`Zg STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Farmhouse Rye IPA ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Drinkable, hoppy, quenching FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . Burgers, pizza, chips and salsa
CURRENT SEASONAL 9g^c`É^c i]Z HjcWZai STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Hoppy Wheat Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9% IMBIBING OPTIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hoppy, dry yet super drinkable FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL. . . Empanadas, sunsets
WE RECOMMEND Wytchmaker , Le Petit Prince, Drink’in the Sunbelt *See full listing of available beers at austinbeerguide.com
Ambitious from the start, the brothers made their commercial debut with a session beer, wearing the moniker Commercial Suicide. It was anything but. They have since transitioned this beer, along with their original lineup to farmhouse versions (Farmhouse Wytchmaker, Farmhouse Black Metal, etc.), brewed a second collaboration beer on the market with gypsy brewer, Mikkeller, called Beer Geek Rodeo / Whiskey Rodeo / Weasel Rodeo (you can still find these if you know the right places to look), and have most recently released a new round of their sour barrel aged creations (Buddha’s Brew, Funk Metal, Das Überkind, RU-55, and Ol’ Oi!). In mid-2012 they shifted their packaging efforts to focus mainly on bottles with just few naturally carbonated kegs and gravity casks available for bars. Their tasting room is open most Saturday afternoons at the brewery and is most often the best place to find and grab their latest beers.
BREWERIES
Real Ale Brewing Co. INFO BREWER/FOUNDER . . . . . . . . . . Philip & Diane Conner (Founders), Brad Farbstein (Owner), Tim Schwartz, Erik Ogershok (Head Brewers) ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1996 TOURS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fridays 2-5pm URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.realalebrewing.com
YEAR ROUND BEERS ;^gZbVch ) 7adcYZ 6aZ STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blonde Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle/Cans QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Light, bready malts FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . .Poultry, pizza, whatever’s on the grill =VchÉ E^ah STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . German Pilsner ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Cans QUICK SIP . . . . . . .Crisp, toasty, assertive hops FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . Smoked fish, pickles, schnitzel Adhi <daY >E6 STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.6% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle
QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Citrusy hops, strong malt background FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . . Fried chicken, gorgonzola, gumbo (spicy or otherwise) 7gZlZghÉ 8ji HZg^Zh STYLE . . . . .Rotating series of brewing projects IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle
CURRENT SEASONAL )"hfjVgZY STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Imperial Blonde ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Cans QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pleasantly hoppy, yet approachable FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . Classic burger and fries, fish and chips
WE RECOMMEND Hans’ Pils, Brewers’ Cut Series, 4-squared *See full listing of available beers at www.austinbeerguide.com
One of the longer running breweries in central Texas, Real Ale has been in operation since 1996. The brewery originally operated out of a basement of an antique shop in Blanco (50 minutes outside Austin). In 1998, current owner Brad Farbstein took over. Maxed out at 5,500 barrels a year, Real Ale moved just outside the downtown area in 2006 to a new facility that allowed them to produce 10-12 times that amount. In 2009 they started bottling their seasonal beers. In 2010, they began turning out a series of experimental Mysterium Verum (Real Mystery) beers, including seasonals aged in oak barrels or entirely new brews. They recently celebrated their 17th anniversary with the release of a belgian strong ale weighing in at a hefty 13%. This year they’ve also been rolling out their new Brewers’ Cut small batch series. Up next in the series: a Kolsch and a Maibock. Seek them out.
BREWERIES
Rogness Brewing Co. INFO FOUNDERS . . . . . . Forrest and Diane Rogness ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spring 2012 TOURS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Most Saturdays, 1pm URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.rognessbrewing.com
RECENT RELEASES 7ZVgYn <jVgY STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Biere de Garde ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slight spice, earthy FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . . .HEB rotisserie chicken (you know, the kind you get at HEB when you are too lazy to cook) 7ZaaV STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . Belgian-Style Golden Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fruity, smooth FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . . . Pad thai, macaroni and cheese 7ddbhaVc\ STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .India Pale Lager ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.0% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Crisp, citrusy, hoppy FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . .Tacos al pastor, tabouli, flan Dhi STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Porter
IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . .Smooth, cocoa, malty FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . Veggie burger, fried anything GViiaZg STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pale Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Citrusy hops, malty FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . .Ramen, pad see ew Gdd` STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scotch Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft/Bottle QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . Smoky, sweet, toffee FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . Smoked gouda, pork chop, brisket
CURRENT SEASONAL ?d^Z YÉ i STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Saison IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft
Note: Joie d’été unavailable for tasting at press time. WE RECOMMEND Bella, Boomslang, Rattler *See full listing (eventually) of available beers at www.austinbeerguide.com
Founders Forrest and Diane Rogness, along with Dave Heath and Dan Wheeler, have been pumping out beers in Pflugerville ever since this project was kickstarted in 2012. And they do it without too much concern over style guidelines or popular “safe bet” beers. With the ethos of a homebrewer, Rogness aims to change it up, and keep it interesting, while delivering high quality brewed beers. You can find year-round and seasonal beers on draft or in 22 oz bottles around town, but if you swing by their tours you’ll get to see that homebrew mentality in action and try out the latest small batch concoctions they’re testing.
BREWERIES
Thirsty Planet Brewing Co. INFO BREWER/FOUNDER . . .Brian & Tammy Smittle ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summer 2010 TOURS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Saturdays, 11am-3pm URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.thirstyplanet.net
YEAR ROUND BEERS
IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP . . . . . . . Crisp, refreshing, drinkable FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . .Sausage, crawfish
WE RECOMMEND
Buckethead IPA, Thirsty Goat Amber
7jX`Zi]ZVY >E6 STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.9% MBIBING OPTIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slightly sweet, bitter finish, hoppy nose FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . .Pâté, pizza, fish and chips I]^ghin <dVi 6bWZg STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amber Ale ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . .Malty, clean, drinkable FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL. . . Sandwiches, chips and queso NZaadl 6gbVY^aad L]ZVi STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American Wheat ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1%
Everyone remembers when they first really started falling in love with beer. For Brian Smittle it was while he was living in England studying British politics and experiencing true “real ale.” Following college graduation, Brian made the move to Colorado where he took his affection for beer one step further and volunteered at a brewery in Vail. He soon became a paid employee and full-time brewer (a.k.a. “living the dream”). Through his work there he met some college students who offered him an ownership piece of a brew pub in Oklahoma. They opened in 1993 and grew to include a brewery and four satellite stores. While successful, Brian wanted to get back to the brewing operations so he and his wife Tammy looked for a location to set up their own operation. They chose Austin and started putting their beers on the market in the summer of 2010 beginning with the Buckethead IPA.
BREWERIES
Twisted X Brewing Co. INFO BREWER/FOUNDER. . . . . . . . . . . .Jim Sampson and Shane Bordeau ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spring 2011 TOURS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Check website URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.texmexbeer.com
YEAR ROUND BEERS 8dl 8gZZ` EgZb^jb IZm BZm 9Vg` AV\Zg STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vienna (Dark) Lager ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . .Drinkable, slightly sweet FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . Gorditas, tostadas, tamales
QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sweet, agave, oak FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . . . Mole or by itself after a big meal of mole Il^hiZY M EgZb^jb IZm BZm AV\Zg STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Light Lager ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP . . . . . . . .Light, very drinkable, clean FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . . Elote, nachos, enchiladas
WE RECOMMEND Fuego, Señor Viejo
;jZ\d ?VaVeZ d >c[jhZY IZm BZm E^ahcZg STYLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chile Beer/Pilsner ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft QUICK SIP . . . . . . . . . . . . Crisp, slightly dry, hot FOOD IT CHASES DOWN WELL . . . . . . . . Steak, roasted pork, Chinese takeout HZ dg K^Z_d IZm BZm >beZg^Va 7aVX` AV\Zg STYLE . . . . . Barrel Aged Imperial Schwarzbier ABV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2% IMBIBING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Draft
Since our first issue in April 2011, Austin’s beer scene has changed (it seems to change and grow each month). One of those changes: Twisted X. It was started by Jim Sampson and Shane Bordeau in Cedar Park (though they have plans to move to a destination brewery in Dripping Springs in the future). They held their initial release party on Cinco de Mayo, where they introduced beer fans to the Fuego Jalapeño Infused Tex Mex Pilsner, Twisted X Premium Tex Mex Lager and then unnamed Premium Tex Mex Dark Lager. The dark lager has now been blessed with the moniker: Cow Creek. Also be on the look out for Siesta, a prickly pear lager. It is a summer seasonal that proved to be quite popular and could still pop up around town. With a Tex-Mex theme they are bound to quench the thirsts of a large swath of Austin beer drinkers. Austinites love Tex-Mex. Austinites love beer. Tex-Mex beer? Forget about it, a match made in heaven. Could a pico-de-gallo beer be in the works? Let’s hope so. Mole Porter—that’s the ticket!
BREW PUBS
Barber Shop
Bastrop Brewhouse
INFO
INFO
LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207 Mercer Street Dripping Springs, TX 78620 PHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512-829-4636 HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Varied, check website URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.barbershopbar.com
LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601 Chestnut Street Bastrop, TX 78602 PHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512-321-1144 HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Varied, check website URL . . . . . . . . . . . .www.bastropbrewhouse.com
BREW PUB SNAPSHOT
BREW PUB SNAPSHOT
Barber Shop is another testament to the iron will of homebrewers. With an emphasis on the “bar” in Barber Shop, they left the historical buildings name the same, while sprucing up the inside with a lush wood bar, rustic amenities and a strategically occupied tap wall. Brewer John McIntosh intends to focus on English pub ales.
About an hour west of Austin and picturesquely located on the banks of the Colorado River near charming downtown, Bastrop Brewhouse provide classic American craft styles and comfort food to compliment the river side atmosphere. Like summer camp with beers! They brew a solid lineup of house beers and keep a decent selection of rotating local taps.
Double Horn Brewing Co.
Middleton Brewing
INFO
INFO
LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208 Avenue H Marble Falls, TX 78654 PHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 830-693-5165 HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Varied, check website URL . . . . . . . . . . . www.doublehornbrewing.com
LOCATION. . . . . . . 9595 Ranch Road 12, Suite 4 Wimberley, TX 78676 PHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512-847-3435 HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Varied, check website URL . . . . . . . . . . www.middletonbrewingllc.com
BREW PUB SNAPSHOT
BREW PUB SNAPSHOT
Double Horn, the first and only brew pub in Burnet County, is seated right off 281 in Marble Falls. Frustrated by the lack of quality beer, food and atmosphere to enjoy it in, owner Dusty Knight opened Double Horn last May. Knight and head brewer Eric Casey have made it their mission to supply residents with quality house beers and local craft brews.
The owners, the Middleton’s, hail from the sunny state of California. They brought with them, like many other west coast brewers, a love for the HOP. In addition to hoppy monsters, they specialize in subtle Belgian style ales. They are housed in the same complex as Wimberley Brewing Company, a one stop pub crawl!
BREW PUBS
Flix Brewhouse
Pecan Street Brewing
INFO
INFO
LOCATION. . . . . . . . . 2200 South IH-35, Suite B1 Round Rock, TX 78681 PHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512-244-3549 HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lobby opens one hour before first show time (See website for show times) URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.flixbrewhouse.com
LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 East Pecan Drive Johnson City, TX 78636 PHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 830-868-2500 HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Varied, check website URL . . . . . . . . . . .www.pecanstreetbrewing.com
BREW PUB SNAPSHOT
Pecan Street resides in a space formerly occupied by the town hardware store, in Johnson City’s historic town square. Owners Tim and Patty Elliott, with their head brewer and son Sean, aim to make the brew pub the town gathering center that the hardware store once was. Their house beers and guest taps are complimented by head chef John Yachimski’s eclectic brick oven pizza, salad and burger menu.
How many movie theatres have a brewhouse in their front window? Not many. You might even catch brewmaster Justin Rizza brewing up something tasty as you rush in for the latest Hangover flick. Drink from their four regular and two seasonal house taps or one of many guest taps.
BREW PUB SNAPSHOT
Wimberley Brewing Co. INFO LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9595 Ranch Road 12 Wimberley, TX 78676 PHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512-847-3435 HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Varied, check website URL . . . . . . . . . . . .www.wimberleybrewing.com
BREW PUB SNAPSHOT Wimberley Brewing is housed in the same complex as Middleton Brewing (Wimberley was there first). As you walk into Wimberley you will notice there are a lot of kids running around. Actually, they are not running around, they are working. This is a true family business. The beers are good here and the pizza is surprisingly fantastic. Try the spinach pizza.
More Texas Breweries *
ALAMO BEER COMPANY LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . San Antonio URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.alamobeer.com BRANCHLINE BREWING COMPANY LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . San Antonio ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2013 URL . . . . . . . . . . . .www.branchlinebrewing.com DEEP ELLUM BREWING COMPANY LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dallas ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2011 URL . . . . . . . . . . . .www.deepellumbrewing.com FRANCONIA BREWING COMPANY LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . McKinney ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2008 URL . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.franconiabrewing.com GUADALUPE BREWING COMPANY LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . New Braunfels ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2012 URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.guadalupebrew.com LAKEWOOD BREWING COMPANY ** LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Garland ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2012 URL . . . . .www.lakewoodbrewingcompany.com LONE PINT BREWERY LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Magnolia ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2012 URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.lonepint.com NO LABEL BREWING COMPANY LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katy ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2011 URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.nolabelbrew.com PEDERNALES BREWING COMPANY LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fredericksburg
ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2012 URL . . . . . . . . . . . www.pedernalesbrewing.com PETICOLAS BREWING COMPANY ** LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dallas ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2011 URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.peticolasbrewing.com RAHR & SONS BREWING COMPANY LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fort Worth ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2004 URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.rahrbrewing.com RANGER CREEK BREWING & DISTILLING LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . San Antonio ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2010 URL . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.drinkrangercreek.com SAINT ARNOLD BREWING COMPANY LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Houston ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1994 URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.saintarnold.com SOUTHERN STAR BREWING COMPANY LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conroe ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2008 URL . . . . . . . . . .www.southernstarbrewery.com SPOETZL BREWERY (SHINER) LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shiner ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1909 URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.shiner.com WICKED BEAVER BREWING LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wolfforth ESTABLISHED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2012 URL . . . . . . . . .www.wickedbeaverbrewing.com *Texas breweries with beer currently available in Austin **Limited releases
ABG PODCAST
Austin Beer Garden Brewcast
Austin Beer Garden Brewing Company is probably one of the most highly anticipated brewing operations to open in the last 5 years. They were not quite open when we recorded these podcasts and may not be when you are first reading this, but we know one thing: you are excited. Excited for what Brian “Swifty” Peters and Amos Lowe are to release upon the Austin beer drinking public. This is the cheesiest thing I have ever written. Just listen. Just drink. You think that QR code over there works? Who knows, try it out. —AC
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