Austin Beer Guide - Spring/Summer 2015 by Austin Beer Guide

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Marina

Davenport

3601 S Congress Ave K100 Austin, TX 78704

Parmer Crossing 12709 N Mopac Expy Austin, TX 78727

Davenport Village 3801 N Capital of Texas Hwy #180 Austin, TX 78746

FROM THE EDITORS

Contents

When we started conceiving this ragtag rag in late 2010 it was so easy. Okay, maybe not as easy as a blog, but there were only a few players. We took our online credentials (see beertownaustin.com, craftaustin.blogspot.com), kissed ass to the oldtimers, buddied up to the newcomers (and offered a couch to them after one too many at Draught House) and did our best to guide our noble readers on the best of Austin beer. Here we are ﬁve years later and things have changed. Not to say that is bad, but we live in different times. Breweries are opening every month, from the urban core, to the burbs and out into the Hill Country (see back “guide”). There are new players (p.14) and fresh faces (p.20). Keeping up with it all is dizzying, especially for part-time “media” with full-time lives. Not only is the amount of beer overwhelming, but so is where you can ﬁnd it (p.38). Austin has come a long way, but many are unfamiliar with its origins. For this issue, we tackled our biggest feature yet to honor, revisit and throw back a few with those who paved the way for Austin’s current craft community (p.26). They toughed it out and are pioneers in a scene that’s become a “who’s who” of modern beer. We raise our collective glasses to them. As for us, we’ve seen a lot and tried to do our best to present it in a honest-to-cheeky fashion that keeps us grounded on what we really do. The dozen or so original advertisers that stuck with us until now and the other supporters that have indulged us through the years are what really kept this thing going. The community and scene are getting bigger but we can only do so much to keep spotlighting all of it. It’s not dark yet for us, but its getting there. We can’t thank enough those that brought us along for the ride and can’t wait to see where this will go. But for now, have fun, drink good beer and we’ll see you on the other side. –JS Chris Troutman Aaron Chamberlain Josh Spradling Shawn Phillips

NEWS & BREWMORS .......................................02

FIESTA .......................................08 SEASON’S DRINKING .......................................10

OVER A PINT .......................................14 BREWER’S BRAIN .......................................20 AUSTIN IN THE 90s .......................................26 KRAFT KONVENIENCE .......................................38

BEER & LOATHING .......................................44

CENTRAL AUSTIN .......................................51 SOUTH AUSTIN .......................................57 NORTH AUSTIN .......................................67 GREATER AUSTIN .......................................77

LAST CALL .......................................96 COVER DESIGN...................Denton Watts PROOFREADERS .............Soﬁa and Sarah

NEWS & BREWMORS

This is the News METAMORPHOSIS

SLOW RIDE, TAKE IT EASY

Real Ale Brewing Co. made a big splash this winter with the unveiling of their full rebrand, including new packaging, logos, and website. And that is not all. They also changed the recipe for Full Moon, from rye pale ale to rye IPA. Did you like that 18th Anniversary Gose? Good news, it is coming back as a summer seasonal. Oh and 22oz bombers are coming too. Times are a changing.

You’ve heard of Oasis Slow Ride pale ale. You’ve been drinking it since last May. You know we awarded it Best New Beer of 2014. It’s place in the Austin beer psyche is well cemented. New Belgium claims that they did “not know about Oasis Texas Brewing’s pale ale“ even after an “exhaustive trademark search.“ I guess they’ve never used BeerAdvocate. True, not a good place to search for trademarks, but a good place to search for beer names currently being used. They filed a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office and then came to Texas to “resolve the issue.” The issue could not be resolved and New Belgium filed a trademark complaint. There was a whirlwind of “he said, she said” and a fair amount of publicity spin in the Twitterverse. Oasis offered to brew a collaboration beer with New Belgium, but nothing came of it. Deliberations continue and for now New Belgium is selling their Slow Ride as Session IPA in Texas.

. . . TURN PAGE, MORE NEWS!—>

Brewmors

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Untapped Fest slapped with cease and desist letter from Untappd app, hastily renames popular music and beer festival to “Grinder Fest.”

Due to recent rise in craft beer popularity among C-stores, local hobos forced to ask for $9 instead of $3.

Jester King, running out of local collaborators, turns to Groovy Lube to create used oil barrel-aged beer. Status: remains untouched.

Due to backlash from parents’ groups over use of profanity on new delivery vehicle, Austin Beerworks to redesign truck to read “FAAAART.”

Newly minted Grinder Fest slapped with cease and desist letter from Grindr app, hastily renames popular music and beer festival to “Tumbler Fest.”

Fireman’s #4 fans accuse brewers of selling out after learning of acquisition by “macro” brewer Real Ale.

In wake of the Oasis/New Belgium Slow Ride naming ﬁght, Craft Pride vows they will never pour the New Belgium Session IPA, or any New Belgium beer, in the future.

Fuck it. Tumbler Fest is now “Words With Friends Fest.”

LAST STAND BREWING SO OPEN AND SO ALMOST OPEN At press time there were a few new breweries open and a few right on the cusp of opening. Last Stand, out on Fitzhugh Road (joining Jester King, Argus, and Revolution Spirits), are open for business, pouring beers and distributing to local watering holes. Looking for something a little closer to town? Ok, Strange Land in Westlake is slinging brews as we type this. Stop in for a taste or a full ﬂight of their year-round beers and specialty brews. Grab a burger and fries from Hat Creek on your way home. And all hell is breaking loose up north. Bluebonnet Beer Co. is living the homebrewer’s dream up in Round Rock. Serving up three yearround beers and at least one seasonal/specialty in their taproom, it makes a trip to IKEA seem like a very good idea. Right now, Bindlestick Brewing Co. is only serving beer at their brewery during weekend tours. But possibly by the time you are reading this, distribution will have started. A little farther north in Liberty Hill, you will ﬁnd Bull Creek Brewing Co. While not exactly new, they have totally revamped their brewery to accommodate a larger distribution area. Back in the big city of Cedar Park, Red

ZILKER BREWING

Horn Coffee House and Brewing Co. has opened their doors. Brewing has just begun. If you are holding this guide in your hand, chances are they are slinging fresh coffee and fresh beer. Zilker Brewing Co. should be open by now, at least that is what their ad says. Stop in for Session IPA. Just like you we are eagerly awaiting the opening of Blue Owl Brewing Co. Ok, just one more. The father and son team behind Georgetown’s Rentsch Brewery are not yet open, but have begun brewing. Keep your ojos focused on their social media channels for hot updates. While not a brewery, there is a new bar that just opened that we thought you might want to know about: World of Beer. They are located on South Lamar and boast 50ish rotating taps and hundreds of other beers in bottles and cans. Now back to breweries. Big Bend Brewing Co. (of Steve Anderson fame) out of Alpine, TX is not new, but this summer they are starting distribution to Austin. More cans=better summer.

WORLD OF BEER TAPROOM TANGO You just read about all those new breweries opening up. Well the old dogs gotta learn some new tricks to keep drinkers loyal. One sure way to do this is to build out a kick ass taproom/tasting room. Independence Brewing Co., as you know, went through a huge expansion last year. This year they are welcoming drinkers into their brand new taproom for new hours Thursday–Saturday. Hops & Grain gave their fairly new taproom a makeover and recently added Sunday hours. Also, in the near future they will be open in the mornings (til close), selling freshly roasted coffee—eventually moving to being open seven days a week. Oh and 20 taps! Canning brethren, Austin Beerworks, also have plans to take their tasting room to the next level: larger cooler/bar with 30 taps, more open hours, more pilot system offerings, and more barrel-aged offerings. They are looking to

World of Beer Photo: WOB’s Facebook

NEWS CONTINUED . . .

have all this ready by June. Remember all that new stuff going on with Real Ale? Well they also have a brand spanking new taproom to visit. And they have extended hours as well: Thursday–Saturday 11am–5pm.

LEGALIZE IT It is a legislative year, you might know. Two new bills are getting a lot of attention. The first, HB 3389 filed by Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston), is threatening to undo the progress made in the last few years for small brewers. Breweries like Live Oak Brewing Co. have been very vocal in opposition to the bill. In a post on Facebook they wrote that the bill would “effectively DECREASE the amount of beer a brewery could self-distribute from 40,000 barrels to 5,000 barrels . . . We anticipate selling 10,000 barrels this year. Which is twice the limit proposed in this bill. The reality of such a proposal would effectively halve our current distribution footprint.” On the bright side, Senate Bill 1386 filed by Texas State Senator Kevin Eltife (R-Tyler), “grants Texas craft brewery visitors the right to take home beer purchased at Texas craft breweries,” according to the Texas Craft Brewers Guild (TCBG). House Bill 3086, filed by Rep. Jim Keffer (R-Eastland) is the companion House bill. The TCBG stated, “The bills allow breweries that produce less than 225,000 barrels of beer per year (a barrel is equivalent to two kegs of beer) to sell beer directly to the ultimate consumer. The consumer can purchase up to 576 fluid ounces, or the equivalent of two cases of beer, once a month from a Texas brewery.”

BUILT BY BEER Remember in the news last year when we told you about The House That Beer Built? Well they built it. In collaboration with Habitat for Humanity, 14 area breweries, brew pubs, bars, bottle shops, and others raised $75K and four walls and a roof for one needy family in Austin last fall. No beers were harmed in the construction of this house.

UPCOMING

EVENTS

REAL ALE BREWING CO. 19TH ANNIVERSARY April 11 UNTAPPED FEST April 18 Carson Creek Ranch 8TH ANNUAL OFF-CENTERED FILM FEST April 23–25 AUSTIN BEERWORKS 4TH ANNIVERSARY May 2 2ND ANNUAL MANWAY OPEN May 3 Twin Parks Country Club in Dripping Springs. Info at texascraftbrewersguild.org

AUSTIN LAGER JAM June 27 Billy’s on Burnet

Lager Jam Photo: Tyler Malone; House That Beer Built photo: Courtesy of Joe Mohrfeld

NEWS CONTINUED . . .

FIESTA

Best of 2014 Awards WE HOPE YOU ARE BEING GOOD BOYS AND GIRLS. ONLY EIGHT MORE MONTHS UNTIL CRAFT Santa returns. He must have known we were nice in 2014 because he gifted us with a rocking party for our Best of 2014 Award Ceremony. The real thanks goes to ABGB for hosting the event and all the folks who came out to party. And thank you to Jake Maddux for hosting the award ceremony,Tony Drewry for reprising his role as Craft Santa, and DJ Grossyall for spinning the tunes. Photos by TYLER MALONE

2110 S. Lamar STE F /WHIChcRAFTATX /WHIChcRAFTAUstin

www.whichcraftbeerstore.com

SEASON’S DRINKING

A Time to Kill, a Time to Heal, a Time to Beer JUST LIKE THAT COUNTRY SINGER AND PARROT HEAD SAID, “IT’S FIVE O’CLOCK SOMEWHERE.” And if it’s ﬁve o’clock, it’s time for a beer, even if it’s only breakfast time. Take these answers with a grain of salt. We are sure these brewers are not drinking beer at breakfast . . . everyday. Best Breakfast Beer? BRIAN PETERS The ABGB Pils WILL GOLDEN Austin Beerworks I think wheat beers in the morning are the tops! Michelada made with a schwarzbier is also the kitties titties! JOSH HARE Hops & Grain Brewery Purely for the sake of calibrating my palate I like to start my drinking days with a 6 year old geuze. JOSH COCKRELL Jester King Brewery [Finish off any dregs and leftover beers from the night before]. . . Spezial Rauchbier

RON EXTRACT Jester King Brewery De la Senne Taras Boulba DUSAN KWIATKOWSKI Live Oak Brewing Co. Berliner Weisse JACOB PASSEY Pinthouse Pizza Hans’ Pils because it easily hides behind my coffee breath and it’s refreshing. ERIK OGERSHOK Real Ale Brewing Co. Hans’ Pils, it tastes great and it is an awesome palate cleanser. Wash, rinse, repeat. TYRELL ELLIOTT Thirsty Planet Rogness Yogi chai amber Best Lunch Beer?

DUSAN KWIATKOWSKI Live Oak Brewing Co. Hefe

BRIAN PETERS The ABGB Pils

DANIEL CONLEY Pinthouse Pizza Odell Lugene, because chocolate milk in the morning just makes sense.

WILL GOLDEN Austin Beerworks American pale ale!

ERIK OGERSHOK Real Ale Brewing Co. Schneider Weisse because if it is good enough for old German ladies, it’s good enough for me. Best Pre-Lunch Beer? BRIAN PETERS The ABGB Pils

JOSH HARE Hops & Grain Brewery Depends, are we talking about a liquid lunch or are we drinking with lunch? JOSH COCKRELL Jester King Brewery Timothy Taylor Landlord DUSAN KWIATKOWSKI Live Oak Brewing Co. Grodziskie

TREVOR KELLY Pinthouse Pizza Carbo load, it’s double IPA time. A Myrcenary or Fully Adrift usually takes care of my pesky mid-day lull. TYRELL ELLIOTT Thirsty Planet Saint Arnold Boiler Room berliner weisse Best Early Afternoon Beer? BRIAN PETERS The ABGB Pils WILL GOLDEN Austin Beerworks A nice blonde or something of that nature! JOSH HARE Hops & Grain Brewery Depends on #3. May have already moved on to bourbon. RON EXTRACT Jester King Brewery Löwenbräu Buttenheim Ungespundetes Lagerbier TREVOR KELLY Pinthouse Pizza Probably gonna end up being a Zoe. Shotgunned of course for the sake of being classy. ERIK OGERSHOK Real Ale Brewing Co. Celis White, not that outlander beer, the one made in Austin. Since I can’t get that I’ll have to say lambic or other acid forward beers. Benedictum anyone?

TYRELL ELLIOTT Thirsty Planet Real Ale 18th Anniversary Gose

RON EXTRACT Jester King Brewery Coniston Bluebird Bitter (on cask)

Best Post-Work Beer?

DUSAN KWIATKOWSKI Live Oak Brewing Co. Pilz

BRIAN PETERS The ABGB Pils WILL GOLDEN Austin Beerworks American IPA! JOSH HARE Hops & Grain Brewery Everyone knows that anyone worth their salt is drinking Budweiser at this point. It’s beechwood aged for crying out loud. #goldensuds DUSAN KWIATKOWSKI Live Oak Brewing Co. Pilz JACOB PASSEY Pinthouse Pizza Best post-work beer is the beer I have while I’m still working but of course that’s a Man O War. ERIK OGERSHOK Real Ale Brewing Co. Hans’ Pils TYRELL ELLIOTT Thirsty Planet Thirsty Planet Yellow Armadillo wheat Best Happy Hour Beer? BRIAN PETERS The ABGB Pils WILL GOLDEN Austin Beerworks Something on special! JOSH HARE Hops & Grain Brewery Happy Hour? Happy Hour is for millennials. And they obviously drink Budweiser.

my food choice so another American IPA. TYRELL ELLIOTT Thirsty Planet Thirsty Planet Thirsty Goat amber

DANIEL CONLEY Pinthouse Pizza Something light and easy I can crush—Hans’ Pils or Power and Light.

Best After Dinner Beer?

ERIK OGERSHOK Real Ale Brewing Co. American IPA

WILL GOLDEN Austin Beerworks Russian imperial stout!

TYRELL ELLIOTT Thirsty Planet Lone Pint Yellow Rose SMaSH IPA

JOSH HARE Hops & Grain Brewery Porter with a sidecar of tequila, no salt

Best Dinner Beer?

DUSAN KWIATKOWSKI Live Oak Brewing Co. Orval

BRIAN PETERS The ABGB Pils WILL GOLDEN Austin Beerworks Depends on the dinner, but you can always depend on pale ale and pilsner to be good dinner companions! JOSH HARE Hops & Grain Brewery Chicken + Wafﬂes + Porter JOSH COCKRELL Jester King Brewery Almanac Sourdough DUSAN KWIATKOWSKI Live Oak Brewing Co. Grodziskie DANIEL CONLEY Pinthouse Pizza Lone Star because it’s basically water and I don’t really like washing my food down with beer. ERIK OGERSHOK Real Ale Brewing Co. Once again it really depends upon the food, but I’ll say the happy hour beer inﬂuenced

BRIAN PETERS The ABGB Pils

ERIK OGERSHOK Real Ale Brewing Co. Imperial Stout is dessert in a glass. TYRELL ELLIOTT Thirsty Planet Twisted X Señor Viejo imperial black lager (on nitro) Best Nightcap Beer? WILL GOLDEN Austin Beerworks Belgian triple! JOSH HARE Hops & Grain Brewery Uber JOSH COCKRELL Jester King Brewery Taketsuru 21 JACOB PASSEY Pinthouse Pizza Jaguar Shark paired with a Dave’s Dreamsicle to ensure epic sleepy time adventures! ERIK OGERSHOK Real Ale Brewing Co. Westvleteren 12 is the stuff that dreams are made of.

OVER A PINT

Forrest and Marco of Zilker Brewing Co.

IN THE ON-AGAIN OFF-AGAIN FREEZE/ SPRING WEATHER OF LATE FEBRUARY, WE MET UP WITH THE ZILKER BOYS IN THE FRESHLY MINTED TAPROOM OF THEIR EAST 6TH STREET URBAN BREWERY TO TALK SHOP, BEERS, NAMES, AND BREWING PHILOSOPHIES OVER PRE-PRODUCTION SAMPLES OF THEIR SESSION IPA AND HONEY SAISON. HOPEFULLY BY THE TIME YOU’RE READING THIS, YOU’RE ENJOYING ONE OF THOSE BEERS YOURSELF, MAYBE EVEN IN THE TAPROOM. Chris Troutman: Okay. Alright, so we’re out here at Zilker Brewing Company on East 6th Street, and we are drinking the Session IPA. Why don’t you guys tell me a little about this? Forrest Clark: Yeah, so this is our Session IPA. It’s about 5% alcohol. It’s a little bit different than traditional IPAs in that we brew it with a very mild Trappist yeast so it’s got a very nice fruity ester proﬁle that accentuates the hop characters. It’s also brewed with Pilsner

malt, which is a little bit different, nice and smooth, makes it really drinkable. That’s kind of the goal of this beer, is to get your full hop experience but be able to drink quite a bit of it. So, that’s kind of this beer in a nutshell. Yeah. It’s really good. Nice and aromatic but has a nice, good yeast character to it. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So, tell me a little about the philosophy you guys come to the table with as far as brewing goes. What are you trying to accomplish? Yeah, so all of our beers, we shoot for three dimensions, which is high quality malts, real distinctive, you know, great yeast characteristics, and then, you know, some pretty delicious hops as well. So, we want . . . we don’t want it to be a one-dimensional beer. So, that’s kind of the essence of what we do, and also at the same time, you know, it’s kind of this hybrid style where we use a Belgian yeast but it’s not traditional. You’re still going to get a clean, bright beer that’s easy to drink but you’re going to have the complexity from

that yeast, and then also the high-quality malts and hops all come together to just a really great drinking experience.

good, we won a bunch of awards for. Maybe this summer we’ll do that. We also do a really good Coffee Milk Stout.

Are you guys planning . . . do you ﬁlter the beers or is there a-? No, we just . . . we prefer not to rush our beer. So, we’ll wait a little bit longer for everything to clear up. So, yeah, we don’t ﬁlter. We just kind of take our time with it. I think we get a better product that way.

Oh, nice. With local coffee . . .

So it’s just like clean, easy drinking beer but still pretty dynamic as far as the flavor goes because of the malt and the yeast. Yeah. Yeah, we don’t really even stick to one type of malt for our beers, either. We use, our darker beers we use all Maris Otter grain, which has got a little more robust characteristic than the standard American two-row, and then for our pale ales and IPAs, we use Pilsner malt, various kinds. So, yeah, definitely gives just a little bit more characteristics to the beer but still really clean, proper finish. And summer in Austin, our canned beer, you’re going to be drinking as many as you want. So, tell me about what people can expect out of the gate with your beers. What are you guys going to be delivering for the consumers? Yeah, so we’re going to launch with our Session IPA, which you’re tasting right now, which is pretty good, and then also our Pale Ale and our ESB, which is . . . I think there’s nothing really out there right now like that beer because it’s an ESB that we’ve made really well for a long time but now we make it with the Belgian Trappist yeast strain, which is, you know, still really clean and delicious but it’s got a characteristic that’s different from what anybody else is doing. So, those are our three core beers. And the pale ale will also have the Trappist yeast? Yes. All three of those beers will have the Trappist yeast. And then, this spring, we’ll also launch with our Honey Saison, which is the one that we tasted earlier. So, really dry, brewed a little bit higher, nice, really nice ester profile, easy drinking, under 5%. And then what else . . . I guess down the road, what else can people expect? There will be other seasonals coming out in addition to the three core beers? Yeah, absolutely. So, we also do a Marco IPA, which is a more traditional IPA which is really

Perfect for summer. Yeah, it’ll probably be later next year. I don’t know. Marco, what do you think, some other beers you want to make? Marco Rodriguez: We’ve got an Imperial Rye Belgian IPA that we plan on making, about 9% alcohol, maybe in the fall. It’s a good time for rye. Yeah. There’s some other ideas kind of brewing in my head, some stuff we’ve never brewed before. Maybe like, a Belgian, a Belgostyle pumpkin ale, something like that or whatever ideas kind of pop in our heads. And then the newer beers are going to be available, I guess in the taproom first? Yeah, exactly. So, our launch plan is essentially, open the taproom, and then we’ll serve four or five beers here initially for the first month or so. And then we’ll move from that point, maybe early summer to start moving kegs around town, doing some distribution, and then hopefully by late summer we’ll start doing some cans around town as well. Okay. So, it’s kind of a phased approach, and mostly with those beers that we just talked about initially, and then in the taproom we’ll probably have some pilot batches as well unique to just the taproom. So, maybe something we haven’t even made up yet, maybe just something we’ll think of. You know, now that we’re brewing full time we can actually brew more beers that we’ve been wanting to brew forever. Oh, cool. Move it out of construction back into what you like to do. Yeah, so we’re pretty excited about that. So, tell me more about the taproom. That’s where we are right now, and it’s a pretty cool space. Yeah, so we’ve traveled a lot to a couple hundred different breweries in different states, and what we’ve seen that we like the best was more of an urban brewery where people could walk to and ride their bike to, and just . . . we wanted this community with the surrounding neighborhood where we’re

part of it, and we help out, we give back, we’re a gathering place for the local community. And that’s where it all starts. And that’s where we’ll distribute to ﬁrst is our local neighborhood and then we’ll branch out from there. It’s all about where we are. So, what can people expect in the taproom? Tell me a little bit about the aesthetics of it, the experience. Yeah, so it’s architects at Dick Clark really wanted something where the process of brewing was out in the open. So, even from the street, all the glass garage doors, you can see the equipment very easily. Once you come in, you’re immersed by the process. There’s a window into the grain room. The brew kettle is right there, you know, right behind the bar. The tanks are right there, and even the ﬁnished product, the kegs under the bar you can see through glass windows, and then also the cold storage, you can see the tank as well. So, it’s really all about the brewing process. You know, the equipment is really cool and it’s great to see it, and that’s just something that we’ve seen at other breweries that we really liked, and we think that the architects have done a really good job of putting it all together. Yeah. Yeah, it has a good feel, and I think you said it has the big glass doors, so you can, in warmer weather, roll those up, right? Oh, yeah. Both garage doors open. One’s a custom one-off door that . . . it opens pivoting and slides up, which I think is a pretty neat feature of the building. Cool. Actually, we didn’t get to this earlier but tell me a little bit about y’all’s backstory, kind of like how you guys came together to start Zilker, maybe even a little bit of background on the name. So, my brother and I, Patrick, of course we’ve known each other forever because we’re brothers. Marco, we’ve known for 20 years, and he was born and raised in Austin. So, long-time friends, you know, we kind of started brewing about seven years ago in 2008 really out of necessity because there were only a few breweries, and even those really good breweries didn’t have a lot of distribution at that time. And so, we were traveling a lot at that time period as well and bringing back really great beers, and so we were just trying to experiment and make those same beers here to be able to have good beers available to us all the time. So, that’s kind of how we got started. Then it’s kind of evolved. You know, as we’ve traveled more and had more beers, met more people, kind of created our own style of

brewing. So, and then at some point, I think it was three or four years ago, we started being prompted by our friends to open a brewery. We didn’t really believe them but then we started doing homebrew competitions. We did really well at that. So, that kind of proved to us that we potentially had something going here, and started doing the business side. Tell me a little bit about the name. Where’d the name come from? Because I think initially a lot of people were expecting a brewery in Zilker, you know? Yeah, we just kind of wanted something that was Austiny without Austin in the name, essentially. It’s just what it boils down to, and we also wanted something that was simple. We had a spreadsheet of 500 different names . . . Oh, wow. Going through them and working with our branding guys on it, and those were a couple of the main criteria, was something recognizable as being from Austin, you know, being longtime residents, and then also something easy to remember. And then, our branding guys really kind of prompted us to use this name, and I don’t know why we didn’t see it before. It’s pretty obvious how good it was and it was available. So, we wrapped it up, and then they just killed it on the . . . in my opinion, I think they did a really good job with the branding and everything, kind of what we wanted to do there. So, that’s just pretty simple, like that. Cool. So, hopefully by the time people are reading this, they could literally be reading this in the taproom. I guess when you guys are kind of rolling things out, how can people get the most information, find out right away when things are available, when they can come out here and try your beers and find them on shelves in bars and whatnot? We’ll plan to let people know. Facebook, Twitter, social media will probably be our main method of letting people know we’re open. Yeah, so you can get everything from our website: zilkerbeer.com. Okay. Well, cool, thanks for sharing the beers and the time and, yeah, we’re real excited about seeing the final product. Yeah, I appreciate you guys coming out and looking forward to having you guys by once we’re open. Yeah. Cheers, guys! Cheers!

*clink*clink*clink*clink*clink*

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lunch. dinner. MUSIC. 1305 w. oltorf theabgb.com

BREWER’S BRAIN

IT CAME AS A SURPRISE WHEN I realized I was going to be a brewer. It shouldn’t have because, at the time, I was homebrewing with my brother every couple weeks, visiting breweries on the weekends, and taking vacations which were entirely focused on visiting out of state breweries. I had no agenda or goal in mind, I just really got a kick out of good beer and hanging out in breweries. On a trip to Denver, sitting in the Avery taproom, I realized that I was not only most happy when sitting in a tasting room trying new beers, but that everywhere I went the brewery employees were genuinely happy and excited to share their beer with me. That experience was an epiphany. I had thought that jobs were not something to be enjoyed, but just something to settle for, and just a means to pay for my hobbies and

possibly a family down the road. I started asking brewers what they did before brewing, and the answers were all over the place. The common theme, however, was that at some point they decided to quit their jobs and go for it. So I called my brother, told him I had thought about it and there was no reason we shouldn’t quit our jobs and become brewers. He literally just said, “OK” and we started applying all over the country. It’s funny that, now, every time I am approached by someone who wants to get into the brewing industry I end up giving the same response. It’s something along the lines of a Princess Bride quote, “You keep saying you want to be a brewer; I don’t think it means what you think it means . . .” Ben Lewellen told me that. He was the president of my class at the Bush School at A&M and

Photo: Uncle Billy’s

From the Mind of Uncle Billy’s Trevor Nearburg

is now the head of marketing for Good People Brewing in Alabama. This guy is insanely intelligent and had his pick of prestigious careers, yet he chose the beer industry. He warned me that I if I went into brewing, I would be dooming myself to a manual labor job with shit pay and a huge chance of never finding success. My brother and I proved him right by taking jobs stacking cases on the night shift at Real Ale for an hourly rate that literally made our mom cry. In her defense, I left a very high paying job working at the headquarter office of the largest accounting firm in the world in New York City and my brother was making bookoos as a chemical engineer for Baker Hughes. We both have Master’s degrees and have done a fair bit of world travelling. Without our education, travels, and lucrative, but horrible jobs, I don’t think we would have ever been able to make the jump into brewing. Those experiences helped make the difficult aspects of this job fairly easy to cope with. While I always end up warning people about those difficult parts, I absolutely love being a brewer. I often find myself giggling when I am drinking a glass of beer that I have made, or grinning from ear to ear when I see people enjoying my beer. (My brother is now the Buyer/Planner for Real Ale and our mom has since come around and is very proud of us.) My “brewing philosophy” has very little to do with the physical aspects of the beer, because having a high quality product really should be a given. I have never strived to be average at anything, so it doesn’t make sense to me to say that brewing high quality beer is a guiding principle. It is just something that you, the consumer, and I as the brewer expect when we walk in the door to a brewery. My goal is to make beers that inspire the same joy I felt on my trip to Colorado. To do that, I brew beers that have balance and harmony, even if the style calls for extremes, so that combined with a fun atmosphere leads to the drinker feeling content and enjoying life.

I don’t want to sound arrogant. I have a lot to learn, and that is what is exciting about this industry. I have yet to become a master of water chemistry, yeast microbiology, malting, or hop farming, and there are an endless number of styles with which to experiment. I continually work hard to master those aspects of brewing to make sure all of Uncle Billy’s beers exceed quality expectations and will hopefully mean we introduce unique and interesting new beers. Habeab’s Brewer’s Brain article a few issues back resonated with my outlook on the industry. I could introduce someone to the best beer in the world, but if I look down on that person for not having discovered it on their own, or ridicule the happiness they get from the beer they are currently drinking, then I have lost the whole point of making beer. I was inspired just as much by the people in this industry as I was from beer itself. I hope that I can inspire others with the happiness I have found and with what I hope are truly beautiful beers. None of this would matter without a brewing team that shares and supports each other’s goals. I work closely with Christine Celis on sales and brewery operations. Christine’s daughter, Daytona, is my Assistant Brewer and is extremely hard-working and passionate about carrying on her family’s legacy. Richard Everett, our brand manager, is a very well known and respected member of the Austin brewing community. Bert Van Hecke, the world-famous Belgian brewmaster who started New Belgium’s Lips of Faith line, is working with me to set up a barrel program. I also can’t speak highly enough about the management at Uncle Billy’s for creating an environment for innovation and their passion and support for the brew team.

Trevor Nearburg is Head Brewer at Uncle Billy’s Brewery and Smokehouse.

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ADVERTORIAL

Pregaming Untapped: A Guide to Brews, Tunes, and Good Time WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU COMBINE TWO OF humanity’s greatest pastimes into a singular event featuring some of our greatest modern takes on each? The World Series of Sex. But when you combine our second favorite two pastimes, you get the Untapped Fest; a most excellent sudsy union of music and beer and beer and music. Untapped Fest has been around since 2012, but it will finally cross our fair city limits on April 18 out at Carson Creek Ranch. Featuring both national and local music and beer, Untapped stands out as it compliments excellent beer with excellent music, and vice versa— unlike most experiences with each individually (apologies to your keg cleaner’s roommate’s band). This year the likes of Manchester Orchestra, Phosphorescent, and Black Joe Lewis will grace the stage while Alpine, Founders, Avery, Ballast Point, Jester King, Austin Beerworks, Hops & Grain, and Real Ale fill your cups. In addition, this will be the first festival appearance for brew pubs NXNW and Pinthouse Pizza. And while you’re busy quenching your brews’ and tunes’ appetite, you can also satisfy your actual appetite with a handful of local beer-centric food folks including Hopfields, Barley Swine, Easy Tiger, NXNW, and East Side King. Party on, Wayne.

The Dream of Brewing in the 90s is Alive in Austin

by Chris Troutman

Illustrations by Carlos Arellano

WE’RE CURRENTLY RIDING THE THIRD AND LARGEST SWELL OF BREWERY GROWTH IN AUSTIN (since the 1990s) and it’s hard to imagine that craft beer in this town has ever not been as prominent. We’re seeing breweries popping up all over the landscape from urban streets, to sleepy suburbs, to picturesque locations on the lake and in the Hill Country, all brewing challenging, award winning, nationally regarded and sought after beers. But brewing in Austin has not always been as alive and well as it is today. We’ve inherited this rich beer culture from several trailblazers who brewed day in and day out for a mostly unappreciative public. They brewed in this dark era, driven by passion and love for beer, to mostly see their lights go out. Luckily, they persevered, and the public’s taste eventually caught up with these pioneers’ visions. So we truly have a lot of folks to thank for this. In crafting this feature, we set out to interview, either in person or by email, as many of the still brewing pioneers from the 90s to capture the era in their own words. We took some editorial liberties to construct these hours of interviews into a cohesive narrative “conversation.” Of course with any project of this scope, it was impossible to incorporate each and every individual. And with each interview completed, we walked away with contacts for another three prospects. We did our best to include everyone we thought would give us the most comprehensive story and we thank our contributing historians so much for the generosity of their time and guidance, without which, this feature could not have been created.

THE HISTORIANS Billy Forrester: Texas Showdown Saloon, Dog & Duck, Crown & Anchor, Waterloo Brewing, Billy’s on Burnet (current) Steve Anderson: Texas Showdown Saloon, Waterloo Brewing, Live Oak, Big Bend Brewing (current) Don Thompson: Reinheitsgebot, Copper Tank, NXNW (current) Davis Tucker: Pecan Street Lager, Copper Tank, NXNW (current) Tim Schwartz: Bitter End, Real Ale (current) Brad Farbstein: Real Ale (current) Brian Peters: Live Oak, Bitter End, Uncle Billy’s, The ABGB (current) Chip McElroy: Live Oak (current) Christine Celis: Celis, Gypsy Collaboration (current) Josh Wilson: Bitter End, Draught House (current)

DAVIS TUCKER

BILLY FORRESTER

CHIP MCELROY

DON THOMPSON

PRE-1993 LANDSCAPE Forrester: Looking from the Dog & Duck point of view, a whole lot of out-of-the-country beers is what we sold back then and that made us itch even more to brew our own beer. So that’s kind of where we were moving. There were just a whole lot of imports and in fact with Dog & Duck we opened with no domestic beers. Nothing—it was all imported. Well I guess we started with, you know, Saint Arnold. Beers like that became available and we kind of started following them. There were so few at first because I remember I used to go to Houston and go and pick up Saint Arnolds myself. It wasn’t even being brought into this market yet and then finally Capitol Beverage picked it up and so that’s the way it kind of crept into our market. Celis: In the early 90s there was no craft beer scene in Austin. The ones that had some craft beer interest were familiar with Belgian, German & English imports. Anderson: During the 80s, very little was available in the form of alternatives to the big brands. It was mostly imported beers. Bob Leggett and Marshall McHone, who together owned Shiner of Austin, a beer distributor for Shiner, among others, began increasing their portfolio to include many imports and a few of the new American craft beers. I believe these two were instrumental in pushing quality beer into the mindset and mouth of the consumer. They later founded Hill Country Brewing and Bottling. About this time we were introduced to Texas beers such as those from Collin County Brewing owned by Don and Mary Thompson, later of Copper Tank and North by Northwest. There was also Pecan Street Lager, a beer contracted by Davis Tucker, also of Copper Tank and NXNW. Davis was also very involved in legislative efforts over the years to get the laws changed in Texas to allow for brew pubs to become legal. This was a challenge as the Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas were adamant about not allowing brew pubs to distribute, something that other parties were pushing for, resulting in killing any chance of a bill being moved forward. Back then, as it is today, the wholesalers had much deeper pockets to influence the legislators than did the “brewers.” After a while, one could find Samuel Adams, Anchor, Sierra Nevada, and New Amsterdam, among others, quite readily. But little in the way of Texas brands. The distributors were not interested in anything new and were often quite hostile to the notion of upstart breweries encroaching on shelf-space. But the tide was slowly beginning to turn. Farbstein: I was just getting to Austin in ‘89 from Houston and was only 18 years old and the beer landscape, like at most college campuses, was quantity over quality. We differentiated ourselves by drinking Shiner Bock and occasionally a keg of Balcones Fault Red Granite or Pale Malt on our first kegerator. We moved from Shiner and other local favorites to Anchor

Liberty Ale and Sierra Nevada, at one point in our lives, our group of friends were the largest off-premise Anchor account in the city or at least that’s what the guys at JR’s told us. Junior’s Beer & Wine was a hub of craft beer influence for sure . . . many beers were drunk & pontificated around the Live Oak tree that sat on their property line. Schwartz: Nineties for me was, early nineties was homebrewing, and, you know, there wasn’t a whole lot around. There was, I guess, Pecan Street and Shiner Bock and, ah, Lonestar Bock, which was actually pretty damned good beer for three bucks a six-pack for an all-malt bock. Yeah, early nineties drinking, Anchor Liberty at Dog & Duck. And Crown & Anchor, you know. Going to Crown & Anchor, and . . . When did Sam Adams start up? ‘Cause I know I was drinking Sam Adams at Crown & Anchor while I was still in college. That was before I started brewing. Used to go to Maggie Mae’s upstairs and drink Fuller’s ESB. Fuller’s ESB, that was, that was kind of like, “Ooh, I’m going to upstairs Maggie Mae’s, going to have some good beer. “ Tucker: Before 1993? Besides a barren wasteland? Let’s see there was . . . before 1993, so before brew pubs were legalized there was Pecan Street Lager, was still around—actually, yeah, yeah we soldiered on until 1995 or ‘96. There was Reinheitsgebot brewery, Don and Mary’s brewery. Thompson: Mary and I got into it because when we got back from Europe, you could not find any distinctive beers. The closest you could come to it was the Lowenbrau dark that was made in the Miller plant over in Fort Worth. We talked to the brew master there and he said when they undertook the contract to do that, they were provided with the exact recipe that they were using in Germany and he said, “we brewed it and the marketing guys said no, you’ve got to tone this down.” There were at least three reductions in the strength of it, if you will, and it was still better than anything you could get domestically and that was what got us interested in it was that we could make bread at home better than you can buy it in the store in most cases, we could try it with the beer. Tucker: I was working in D.C. and had been in Europe after college and just fell in love with the German-style beers. But, came back and there just wasn’t anything like that. But I had found a beer actually up in the Northeast, when I still was working in D.C. called New Amsterdam. And that was actually a contract brew. That was, I think, pretty much the original contract craft beer. And went out and found some and drank it and was like, “Oh, this is great. This is much more, you know, European than anything I’ve ever found here.” And literally just said, “Eh! That’s, that’s what I want to do,” and just didn’t know any better. So I moved back to Austin after the guy that I was working for on Capitol Hill ran for the governor’s office in Louisiana and won . . . I wasn’t moving to Louisiana. And I had

Thompson: It was a smart idea. Tucker: Right. I knew I didn’t want to build a brewery, so I actually called up Shiner and they said, “Oh, well, you need to come down and talk to the owners.” So anyway, I went down there and they needed, the truth really was, they needed the money. They were brewing very little beer back then. And so they had all this extra capacity. I worked with a guy called Danny Bernadette, who I actually met, he had been working at New Amsterdam, and then he went to work with Jim Koch at Sam Adams, and I tracked him down and said, “Hey, uh, I need somebody who can tell me whether what I’m trying to do will work on this kind of equipment. And so we sat down and, went down to Shiner, and worked with their guys. And the first several times, we would say, we’d want to raise the rakes on the, you know, on the, well we want to raise the rakes off of the bed of the floor of the mash tun. They were like, “Well, we never done it that way before.” “And, um but well, can, CAN it be done?” “Well, yeah. We just got this crank.” You know, and so anyway, we spent a lot of time working with them, and finally, got it to the point where we thought, “OK, we can make the beer we want to make.” And we started brewing down there. We had the first batch come off the line April 7th? Or April, somewhere right around April 7th of ‘87, and, cause we hit the market at Maggie Mae’s. We had a kick-off party at Maggie Mae’s on April 7th, which was the day before I turned 25. I don’t think we ever got over 1,000 barrels, if that, in total volume. We probably did like 400 our first year, and then I imagine we did probably 600 our second and then probably third or fourth, we probably got around 800, 900 barrels. And I remember both Don and Mary and myself, all three of us just thought if anybody ever does 5,000 barrels in Texas would be a miracle. Peters: It was pretty bleak. I moved to Austin in 1991 and there were no brew pubs because they were illegal. We had Pecan Street Lager as the only local craft beer. Davis Tucker owned that, it was a contract beer. Dallas Brewing Co. was making goofy beers in Dallas. But things were about to change. Billy [Forrester] was working hard on changing the law to allow brew pubs. People wanted change, there were brew pubs all over the country and none in Texas. We all had been to Gordon Biersch; the ground was rumbling for something similar.

BREAKING THE DAM (1993) Celis: My father, Pierre Celis was the first to start the craft beer scene in Texas starting in 1992 with Celis Brewery, however there were a few more people on the scene at that time. Everyone was eager and entrepreneurs were ready to grow the craft as well as the industry to start competing and catch up with the rest of the US. Anderson: At this time Celis had just opened its doors in 1992 and Billy was the first to carry Pierre’s beer at his Dog & Duck Pub. Celis took off with a bang, which probably influenced the success of so many brew pubs opening. McElroy: That was Billy Forester. And other people had tried before him, and were unsuccessful but Billy, he’s a, he’s a good guy. He’s a, you know, he’s a nice guy and a smooth guy. And a lot of people just tried to bully their way through, and that wasn’t the way to get it done and Billy finessed it through and it was successful. Farbstein: You know Billy Forrester, obviously, was the pinnacle person that was able to kind of . . . you know, Billy’s a connector so he pulled all the people together and got the right people talking to the right people at the legislature, and then finally were able to get it passed. Tucker: Well, in Texas brew pubs became legal because Billy Forrester wouldn’t let it go, thank goodness. George Mitchell out of Galveston. He wanted, finally what happened was George Mitchell wanted a brew pub in Galveston. You know, and some retail establishments on the Strand. He wanted a brew pub over there. George Mitchell, big oil and gas guy, developed the Woodlands. And so he had the money and the influence at the Capitol. And Billy got in tandem with him. And they got a hold of Mike McKinney during the Sunset Commission. And, so it would have probably been Sunset Commission of ’92 or ’93. Forrester: Okay, we worked on getting the law changed which we did in trying to get stuff in line to begin production, you know order brewing equipment because we didn’t know what we were doing really. We worked together at Texas Showdown Saloon and we actually sent Steve off to Siebel Institute. He was educated there and so he has all the basic brewer skills. Everybody was real receptive . . . uh yeah again we didn’t quite know. We were chasing a truck we didn’t quite know how to catch. Anderson: In 1991 I was working for Billy Forrester at the Texas Showdown Saloon on the drag. Billy had stocked much of the imports and new American beers that Shiner of Austin and a few others had to offer and was becoming knowledgeable about craft beer. I even met Michael Jackson for the first time in the late eighties in that bar. That year, Billy and I went to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver

Photo: Courtesy of Tim Schwartz

this idea for the beer company that I wanted to start. So I moved back here, and came across Don and Mary, and rather than just, you know, walking up and going, “Hey guys, I want to do a, you know, brewery, beer down in Austin. You know, what do, what do you guys think? ” I pretended I was doing an article for Texas Monthly. But, yeah, so unbeknownst to me, they would have given me every bit of information I wanted. What I did ﬁgure out, though, just from looking at their operation, was doing an actual microbrewery is not a smart idea right now. Uh, I mean, it was just nothing. Of course, yours was an excellent idea . . .

Group of brewers including Doug Hagedorn of Waterloo Brewing Co. and later Celis Brewery, Rob Cartwright when he brewed at Copper Tank, Davis Tucker, Stephen Tidwell, brewer at Bitter End and later head brewer at Katie Bloom’s on Sixth St. (originally Armadillo Brewing Co.), Tim Shwartz, David Strain from Frio Brewing Co. in San Antonio, Brock Wagner, Kevin Bartol, Glenn Fritz and Carolyn Flannery of Yellow Rose Brewing Co. in San Antonio, and Bubba Dog who was featured on their Blonde Ale label.

and visited the Wynkoop Brewery, Colorado’s first brew pub. He was so taken with the idea that on our flight home, Billy had already decided that was our future. It would be two years before the next legislative session was to convene, so Billy had those two years to work on getting the law changed and to send me to brewing school at Siebel in Chicago. In 1993 the State Legislature passed the bill to legalize brew pubs due to Billy’s diligence and with no little help from Davis Tucker and a few parties in Dallas, Houston and Corpus. In 1993, we were to open the first brew pub in Texas, Waterloo Brewing Co. Shortly after Waterloo opened, Reed Clemons opened the Bitter End with Dan Moran as his brewer, followed by Rick Westerveldt, and then Tim Schwartz. Copper Tank was opened by Davis Tucker with Don Thompson as his brewer, followed by Pat Carrol and then Rob Cartwright, who later opened Independence followed by Erik Ogershok now at Real Ale with Tim.

Anderson: Waterloo was big and funky. An old warehouse with two ﬂoors and a rooftop beer garden and an old gas station on the side which also acted as a beer garden as well as home to a downtown location for St. Patrick’s of Texas Homebrew Supply.

Peters: The brew pub situation described above drove the movement. Brew pubs were new and a lot opened fast, starting December 1993 with Waterloo and a bunch in 1994. I think it was a lot of homebrewers thinking they can make a living doing it, like me. Not a lot of knowledge of running a business, but who needs that. The lack of variety was staggering. So different than it is now.

Farbstein: I know when going to college, Waterloo was a fixture that we all kind of hovered around. Wednesday nights were the biggest, which was the half-price burgers and dollar pints, and we were all on a budget, and the beer was good and the burgers were even better. So, we spent a lot of time at Waterloo. It was definitely a meeting place for home brewers and commercial brewers at the time. I know that Billy’s always been a visionary, you know, with Dog & Duck and Crown & Anchor, and Waterloo for sure. So, I definitely feel like Waterloo, out of all those places, was the place where the cool kids were hanging out.

WATERLOO BREWING CO. McElroy: Waterloo. That place was awesome. I mean, you know, being the ﬁrst one that was in Texas, and Steve Anderson was the brewer there. Billy Forrester started it, and they were the ones who got the laws changed to allow brew pubs in Texas. Wilson: Waterloo was housed in a former paint warehouse I believe, and it felt like it.

Forrester: There was an old paint warehouse which lent itself very much to brewing because the building was very strong. So we had all our bright beer tanks upstairs. Thompson: He had some architect or interior designer. Completely whacked the joint out. It was strange. Billy said, “I shouldn’t have done that.” Tucker: Well, it was old, it was actually old brick. You know, not old brick but old tile. Like almost glazed tile brick. And two stories. Had a concrete roof, concrete, two ﬂoors of concrete roofs.

Peters: Waterloo was ﬁrst and was really fun. Everyone went there. Steve brewed good beer. I got to brew a few times with Steve there. That was really exciting because it was my ﬁrst time brewing on a large system. The beer was good and the place thrived. He won a bunch of GABF medals.

Schwartz: When Waterloo closed, that was after 9/11. People weren’t going out. I mean, that hit them pretty hard. McElroy: And then the brewery was, it was a pretty big place. And packed it in, and it was awesome until people started seeing dollar signs. You know, landlords, landowners downtown were starting to see dollar signs and raised the rents so high it was untenable. And then something else went in there for a while, for a year or two. And then they were going to scrap it. They scrapped it to build some kind of a high-rise but that never panned out. Now it’s still a parking lot, as far as I know. I mean it was ridiculous, it was terrible, it was a tragedy. Only good thing that came out of it is that Steve Anderson came over and started brewing at Live Oak.

BITTER END Wilson: Bitter End was more high end with wood-ﬁred pizzas, it’s own bread chef and an upscale menu. But the brewing system was homemade, i.e. not so great. McElroy: Bitter End was, it was a brewery. The restaurant was a really nice restaurant. The brewery part of it was built by this guy Dan Moran, and it was rough, it was very rough but the guy Rick Westervelt went there to brew some beer and he brewed pretty good beer and then he turned over the reins to Tim Schwartz and Tim brewed really good beer. He was brewing against it. Tucker: The guy that started Bitter End, Reed Clemens, I called him, and I said, “I understand you’re talking about starting a brew pub. I’d be happy to offer you any information.” He went the Dan Moran route and ended up with a really crappy system, and more work than it was worth, and uh, not making good beer until Tim got in there and, you know, at least, I think, redid some things and got some practices in there. But it did show you could brew good beer even on a really crappy system. Schwartz: I mean it used to be, at that time, at Bitter End everybody would come in and ask the bartender which beer was good today. And that’s how bad it was. Because

they had infections going on, you know, just weird yeast stuff, and so the, you know, they had a couple of good beers, and we went early on, this would have been spring of ‘94, before I started brewing. I started at Bitter End the December of ‘94. And we did a pub crawl. And so we went to Armadillo, and it was like, yes, the beer’s better there, that’s cool. We went to Bitter End and it was still spotty. They had, like, their stout was good, but man, there were some beers that were kind of funky. And then went to Waterloo, and Waterloo had the best beer in town. Farbstein: Bitter End was also on the radar with the best food and beer combo for years and was a source of most of my calories and most of the yeast for Real Ale in the early days. McElroy: Bitter End’s another one that was, you know, successful until it had a ﬁre in the kitchen, and then, well everything kind just of spiraled downward after that. They wanted to scrap that site, build a high-rise there, and they have, so . . .

COPPER TANK Wilson: Copper Tank was a large college bar whose crowd seemed somewhat blasé toward beer. They were named one of the best bars in America by Playboy, but closed shortly after. Peters: Copper Tank had dollar beers on Wednesday. There was a line out the door then. Tucker: Well, Don was, yeah, head of brewery operations and I was his assistant, mostly is what I did. Did a lot of tank scrubbing and some brewing but um, did a lot of ﬂoor scrubbing. And we were so slammed when we ﬁrst opened up that we literally didn’t have time to clean tanks. I’d get in and scrubbed them out. Thompson: Yeah, it was quicker to manually do it in 20 minutes than it was to let the CIP do it. Which, does a better job, but . . . Tucker: You know, the funniest story is because we did a light beer and then we blended it with

Sam Healey (Bitter End, Live Oak, Waterloo, and Lovejoys), Stephen Tidwell (Bitter End, Katie Bloom’s), and Tim Schwartz

Photos: Courtesy of Tim Schwartz

Farbstein: Billy was just way before his time, and I don’t know that they ever hit the velocity they needed to keep that really big space going or maybe it was really his landlord, after Billy and Tim [Schwartz] brought the warehouse district back, was looking to capitalize on it.

fresh fruit purees, to do a fruit beer. And a guy, old cowboy at the bar when we ﬁrst opened up, was sitting there and says, “Let me try that raspberry thing!” So, he gets it over and picks it up to his nose and goes, “Smells like Goddamn douche!” And I don’t know if you can write a country accent but you’ll need to write that if you print that. McElroy: You know I didn’t go to Copper Tank very much. It was, it just quickly caught on as a frat bar and the frats were into it big time. And I didn’t go there that much. And I tell you, Rob Cartwright can tell you something about it. He was a brewer there for a while. And Davis Tucker was, you know, owner of it for a while and then he sold out and started North by Northwest. You know, which, is still very successful, so . . . I think Davis had the right idea in that whole brew pub deal. And his partners were one to go the frat boy route. And, you know, it had its, it had its moment but it wasn’t really a lasting idea, whereas, you know, high quality . . . The thing about, you know, craft beer is high quality so why not have high quality food to go with it. And that was, you know, Davis’s deal with North by Northwest. Schwartz: Copper Tank’s a weird little thing because, you know, Davis and Don started Copper Tank, and they had kind of a cool thing going, and then both of them kind of got out of that, and they sold interest to other people. At that point, I think, in some ways it kind of went a little bit downhill, and it was mismanaged in some ways, and by the time Erik [Ogershock] got there, it was deﬁnitely . . . like, management was an issue as far as I’m concerned but I don’t know the full background. Tucker: Don pretty much single-handedly destroyed Copper Tank, I will say that. Don Thompson, by bringing in the information that he had gleaned in Oklahoma or Kansas or somewhere, where he was helping with a brew pub up there and they did dollar beers. And so he mentioned dollar beers to Aaron Sharf, my partner at Copper Tank and Aaron just latched onto that and so we did dollar beers on

Wednesdays. And I said, the very day they said they wanted to do it, I said that will kill this place. And I believe it did. It brings in a crowd you don’t want to bring in over the long term. Thompson: Could it have been saved? Tucker: Could it have been saved? It was too big. It was huge. So, unless you had 300 people in there it looked dead. So that was an issue. Yeah, it could have been. Certainly anything can be saved. I mean, you’d almost would have been better probably changing the name. You know, getting some more food going in there. But 6th Street and 5th Street in that era was, you know, on it’s way down. You know Bitter End opened up in the Warehouse District and that’s where I wanted to locate. I didn’t want to locate over off 6th Street but that’s where they knew. My partners had Shakespeare’s so they knew that area. They really felt like that’s where they wanted to be. And I was like, eh, alright, I’m one of three, ﬁne. So, could it, it’s probably at it’s highest and best use right now which is an event center. It’s still called that.

DRAUGHT HOUSE McElroy: Well, you know Josh at the Draught House he’s been doing this for a long time too. I don’t know when he got his deal going but he was brewing beer when I was. He was brewing beer probably back in 1997, 1998 or something like that. He started about the same time. So Josh has had a brew pub going for a long time. Don’t leave him out, oh my God! The Draught House has been a good beer bar for a million years. And then that was another Dan Moran deal, he was the one who actually put that brewery in there. Schwartz: That was my older brother’s place. He worked at the screen-printing joint right next door, and he hung out at the Draught House all the time. But I only went there a couple times before I was brewing. They went to Draught Horse as a brew pub for a little while because of the conﬂict of the name, and they went back to Draught House. So it was originally Draught House. Draught Horse was in the middle. Tucker: Early on the beers were a little bit rough and I think, just had an odd system and you know again, as we found from Bitter End, you can make good beer on a rough system. But it’s hard and that whole situation there, they were just shoved into a tiny little space. Now I’m looking forward to the new version of the brewery. Wilson: Draught House hasn’t changed much since then.

Michael Jackson, Greg Springer (Assistant Head Brewer at Celis Brewery), and Tim Schwartz

LOVEJOYS

NORTH BY NORTHWEST

Anderson: Chip Tate opened the funky great dive-pub Lovejoys.

Tucker: I mean North-by was just sort of, I mean I knew how I wanted to do it and this was it. I wanted to make good food and good beer and have a restaurant and truthfully I knew and believed that for longevity you wanna be a good restaurant and make really good beer.

McElroy: They built a brewery Lovejoys and Chip Tate started Lovejoys. After our first brew day we went to Lovejoys to have a beer and it was February 20, 1997, I think it’s our first brew day and yeah we retired to Lovejoys to lick our wounds. Schwartz: Okay, Lovejoys. Really shitty system. Really, really, shitty system. When I first saw Lovejoys they had a spiral copper heat exchanger like a homebrew system that was on the back wall like this, and it was a counterflow with a hose on the outer side. I’m like, what the fuck is that? They had a plastic mash tun that was like . . . it was a vertical, plastic mash tun. I’m like, what is that? There was just crazy shit over there. Farbstein: And a window unit to keep the conicals cold. Schwartz: Yeah, so they were producing some spotty beer. It was hit-or-miss kind of stuff, interesting. It was like . . . you know, it was a couple of homebrew supply shop guys that initially got the system going. So, you can imagine it was just like a big-ass homebrew system. I sold them this stainless rectangular basin that I had bought and didn’t need from Bitter End and a piece of that really good lauter tun screen. And so, they had a welder come in and convert that, and they got rid of that stupid vertical thing. This was still a rectangular mash lauter tun but it was so much better than what they had. And then they got a real heat exchanger. It was a plain frame heat exchanger instead of that crazy-ass whatever that was on the wall, and they started making a little better beer. Sam used to brew at Waterloo and at Bitter End, and he took over as a brewer at Lovejoys. So, it was Sam Healy. He’s now in New York, and he’s a rich stockbroker kind of dude now, but back in the day, he took that over. And he actually made some really damn good beer there. Farbstein: But I would say the culture there was definitely . . . I mean, Lovejoys was awesome because they made their own beer. They also sold other beers. They were a big account for Real Ale, for sure. We sold a lot of Full Moon through them, and you know, Chip Tate was a visionary for craft beer. The thing I remember most about Lovejoys was the Saturday morning cartoons, and he would . . . everybody would show up in your PJs and he would have cartoons on, and he would cook eggs on his espresso machine. He’d use the frothing wand to make scrambled eggs. But you talk about the craft beer community, I mean, people just gravitated there. Schwartz: Lovejoys opened up and as far as hanging out there just drinking good beer, hell yeah, cool place. I mean, I’d go down there and drink beer just for the hell of it.

Thompson: Yeah I think that’s a rule of thumb. A real good rule of thumb. You’re a restaurant not a brewery when you’re a brew pub. Tucker: The move for me to do North-by was just that I knew that I was never gonna be able to stick with the current partners I had at Copper Tank ‘cause we just had different ways of . . . a lot of philosophies. So I left there in ’96, late ’96 and then we ﬁnally opened up here in September of ’99.

OTHER EARLY PLAYERS Forrester: I just remember Armadillo Brewing was next in Austin. I can’t remember how long they lasted. And then Davis’ Pecan Street came along pretty quick. I can’t remember who else. But that first year it was just a few. It was kinda slow to go. Schwartz: Yeah, it was Armadillo first, and that was Rick [Houghton]. And when he first started out, man, he was using, like, dry packages of ale yeast, and I was still homebrewing then, I wasn’t even brewing at Bitter End. And the beers were just, like, man, dude, this tastes like funky homebrew. And I went in a couple months later, and it tasted—everything tasted better, and I saw Rick, the brewer, and I was like, hey man, did you switch to liquid yeast? And he said yeah and I said the beers are a lot better. It’s like I can tell. Um, but yeah, there was some spotty stuff. Tucker: Then the guys over on 6th Street, at Armadillo Brewing opened up, and I believe they were open no more than six months. I went and talked to them when they were under construction. You know, just a conversation, and found out no they’d never brewed beer before, no they’d never been in the restaurant business before, no they’d never run even a club or a bar before. And I thought, well, you know, this should be interesting. Peters: Marshall McHone started Hill Country Brewing in east Austin with his brother a couple years before we started Live Oak. He is huge because he convinced Shiner to make the Bock year round for the Austin market. He owned the distribution of Shiner in Austin, until he sold it to start Hill Country. McElroy: Hill Country, it had a lot of names, it was Hill Country Brewing Company, they made Balcones Fault Red Granite, and other beers besides just Red Granite. So they were very early on. I’m not sure if they were before or after Celis.

CELIS BREWERY

I know I was really excited. When I heard Pierre Celis was opening his brewery in Austin. Yeah, it’s interesting, and having that white beer available just at your local grocery store was really, really cool. It’s one of the beers that I had in my fridge all the time. Peters: Celis put us on the map. It was all Shiner Bock before that. Shiner owned this town. Celis brought us instant brewing credibility in the world. Everyone adored them. I drank the shit out the Celis White. They seemed SO professional. But alas, they spent too much to get open and they needed cash and Miller showed up with money. The Miller deal accelerated their demise. Mostly because they took the distribution from smaller guys who had worked hard to get Celis out there and gave it to the Miller distributors, who REALLY had no interest in selling it and made fun of the beer. Tucker: Miller, yeah. Miller purchased Celis and it would be interesting to talk to the pencil pushers at Miller. Were they really interested in doing anything with Celis or were they just buying it and if it took off, great? I don’t think they ever, ever put any effort into it. I think it was one of those things, well if it does okay, it does okay but we’re not gonna dump any money into it. McElroy: Well, then Miller got a hold of them, they didn’t know how to deal with it, that was like in 2000 or something maybe. They went out of business or maybe 1999. Big breweries didn’t know how to deal with small breweries, they didn’t know how to sell Celis Beer. Tucker: Pierre got sold a bill of goods. I mean, he thought they were gonna sell all kinds of beer and be able to distribute East and West coasts. That’s why they located in Austin. So it was good, you know, for distributions. Now, the US even, the total US market wasn’t ready for that. You needed to be, and I think you still do, you needed to be local.

REAL ALE BREWING CO.

Peters: The Stone House was awful. Armadillo and Copper Tank were drinkable but uninspired. Armadillo was on dirty sixth and no one really cared about brew pubs on 6th so it died.

CELIS BREWERY McElroy: Oh, my God! It was awesome because here is this world renowned brewer brewing beer in Austin or brewing beer in Texas and I mean it kind of pumped everything up, it really did. We felt very lucky to have him. Schwartz: I mean Pierre Celis brought a lot of legitimacy to the Austin scene. It was pretty cool. I mean,

Tucker: Real Ale had previous owners before Brad and the guys got a hold of it and they were not good from the get-go. I don’t know that I have any reason to couch anything in nicer terms. They just weren’t that—they weren’t well made products and that’s again, you know—I didn’t think they were even gonna make it and I think that’s sort of maybe where they were when Brad got a hold of it and realized he could take it and do something with it, which to his credit is amazing. Thompson: I don’t know if it was true but I heard that Brad lived on the ﬂoor at Real Ale. Farbstein: Real Ale started in 22oz bottles. Live Oak was always draft. Saint Arnold, I guess,

Celis photos: Courtesy of Christine Celis

Anderson: Armadillo eventually became Katie Bloom’s Brewery. Stone House was a mix of brewery and pub set in an old Texas limestone building.

Anderson: Phillip Conner started Real Ale in Blanco and did everything from brewing to hand bottling to delivering everything himself until Brad Farbstein came on board to help and eventually buy the brewery.

had bottles but, you know, none of us had very good distribution at that point. So, yeah, I’d say if you were drinking craft beer that was from a production brewery at that time, it was probably on draft. It was at a bar, and that’s where most of our volume was. Schwartz: Obviously, when we opened up the new place here in 2007, we had 110% growth because we got out of there, could actually brew more beer, and we doubled in one year, went from 5,000 to 11,500. But that was just a matter of—there’s pent up demand that we couldn’t produce it, and ﬁnally we had a facility that could produce more barrels. Then we doubled sales in a year. So, deﬁnitely by the mid-2000s . . . there was demand by 2005. We just couldn’t produce it.

LIVE OAK BREWING CO. Thompson: Live Oak’s beers were good right from the get-go. Forrester: It seemed like Live Oak especially kind of had their identity making lagers. McElroy: Well, Brian [Peters] and I, originally, we were going to do a brew pub and the more we worked on it, the more we realized we didn’t really know anything about the restaurant business except that it was a good way to lose a lot of money. And especially if you didn’t know anything about it. I was talking to Rick Westerville at the Bitter End. I was sitting at the bar at the Bitter End talking with him. And it was just like, “you know, I don’t know anything about this restaurant business, why am I doing this, you know, I don’t, you know, I don’t know how to cook, I don’t.” And as soon as we got to go into the brewery, everything fell into place because it didn’t have to look nice, it had to function well. He (Peters) is an Electrical Engineer. I was a microbiologist. But, we were both into science and that sort of a thing. And so, you know, you can build something that looks nice, it has to work well. And so, we were able to build a brewery

that worked well. And once we were working on that, things fell into place. And as opposed to what people do now, we actually built the brewery ourselves. No, we didn’t hire people. Yeah, with our hands, we built it. We had a one ton van that had been an ambulance. And we drove around with the iced down kegs in the back taps and we would give people samples. And I couldn’t tell you how many bars, they said, no, no, all our taps were full, which of course they always are . . . Do you want to try some beer? Well yeah, we will try some beer and we get them off to the van. Four more beers and they liked it. And they put us on. Brian and I had shared the brewing duties. And Brian would do office duty and I would go out and sell beer. So I was selling beer for like, three and a half days a week, or delivering beer three and a half days a week. And making beer a day and a half a week. And then Brian was making beer and doing office work. And then Brian quit and went over to the Bitter End, and so then, that was the same time that the Waterloo was shutting down and so Steve came over from Waterloo. And his first brew day was September 11th. The, the September 11th, yeah. That was the very first brew day. Pilsner. We were brewing the Pils. And then we brewed again on September 12th, also Pils.

MOVING INTO THE AUGHTS Anderson: Then something surprising began to happen, though not so surprising in hindsight. Breweries began to close. One after another and for various reasons brands were disappearing from the shelves and tap walls and every one of the original brew pubs closed. The biggest blow was the closing of Celis by then-partner Miller. It just went to show that the big guys still didn’t understand our market and didn’t know how to sell craft beer. It was also about this time that the market nationwide stalled and corrected. The whole climate changed from unbounded optimism to realistic caution at best. On top of all that, Austin suffered a dotcom bubble burst and then 9/11 didn’t help matters much either. But the drive was still

Pierre Celis and Co.

there. And many of us were fortunate enough to continue trudging on. Peters: Almost all the breweries closed. People drank imports and Smirnoff Ice. Real Ale and Live Oak plugged away. Indy came on line. No real growth. NXNW did well from the start. Draught Horse was brewing but most people drank the guest beer. All quiet until Uncle Billy’s and (512) opened. In Austin, before UB’s and (512), there was Live Oak and Indy for production and Draught House, Lovejoys and NXNW. Schwartz: And losing a lot of those brew pubs, I mean, it was a big hit to the brewing scene because brew pubs are a gathering place, and it’s a . . . I guess it’s a place for knowledge and just . . . I don’t know. I mean, it’s like you’re local, and as far as just getting the word out about craft beer, a brew pub can do that better than any place. So, seeing a couple brew pubs opening up again in the Austin area is very exciting for me. I think that, yes, it was a big hit to the craft brewing scene because you lost those local watering holes and places that knowledge can be conveyed, and people can just sit there and go, “Dude, that’s cool, that’s cool,” and talk about beer that’s being produced right there, you know. McElroy: It was really hard in the 90s. There was another downturn in like 2002; certainly there is a 2008 downturn although craft beer continues to rise. In 2002, craft beer didn’t continue to rise. So it was way different. Celis was out of business, we were still in business. Hill Country was out of business, we were the only ones and it was quite a struggle just to PECAN STEET LAGER

keep going, keep the momentum going but we did pretty well but it wasn’t like it is now where everybody knows about craft beer. We did well because we had a very high quality beer. Peters: People seemed more knowledgeable. The bad breweries closed, some good ones too. Celis: Well that was a transformative period, Live Oak started in 1997, Real Ale opened in 1996 and was sold to Brad in 1998, Davis opened NXNW in 1999, you also had Independence Brewing Co. and (512) Brewing company coming on the scene and then the addition of a second brew pub in Austin (Uncle Billy’s) opened by Rick Engel in 2006 and their ﬁrst brewer was Brian Peters, all of which would go on to win medals and national prominence. Farbstein: Yeah, 2004 was Rahr, was Independence. Rob left Copper Tank and started Independence. Fritz opened up Rahr. A couple years later was (512). So, yeah, I guess 2005 was probably the tipping point where, you know, craft started being more than just a fad, and people were gravitating towards it, though it was still really a pretty small market, and I would say still a lot of draft beer was being sold at that time. It wasn’t as much packaged. Wilson: These were dark days. The number of craft producers was at an all time low. At Draught House our own beer sales remained consistent but outside of those we sold a lot of imported beer. The town grew. The breweries that remained got better.

THINGS WE LOST IN THE AUGHTS Celis: The only real thing Austin lost is 20 years of waiting for laws to be passed to help make us leaders in the craft beer scene. If you roll the clock back to the 70s when the real craft beer scene started to take off we would be so much farther ahead than where we are now.

Peters: A lot of street cred when Celis closed. Chip actually compared it to the Kennedy assassination, like Austin was like Dallas in the history books. We lost some really average-to-bad beer. We lost the B-side [Bitter End] and the roof bar at Waterloo, two of the best places to drink in Austin. Forrester: I remember some people were real sad, and this and that. And we got ran out because they raised the rent so high. And, and I said, “Man, we’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. We did this for almost eight years. We’ve got a spot-on reputation. We went to GABF. Won some medals.” Yeah, we just, we had a real good run. And I never had a regret about having gotten to do that. Uh, yeah it’s kinda sad. Something was lost. There was a real rogueness about doing it, you know. We just, we just got out there and got with it, you know, come what may. And, uh, I guess that’s what was kinda lost. Was that just, you know, Texas “I can do it” kinda attitude.

Pecan Street photo: Courtesy of Davis Tucker via Chris Troutman

Wilson: Celis Brewery.

Tucker: Yeah, well, so we just had Brewers Night at North By Northwest South. I didn’t recognize 60% of the people and we still, thank goodness, are all willing to help each other, and help each other be better and grow, but at the same time it’s just harder to do it when there’s that more, that many more people in the room, you know, and literally, in the room. In the, you know, in the space, in the, in the stores, in and you know, at Brewers Night. And I’d say there’s the, the “personalness” of it maybe is starting to be lost a little bit. I do think you have people coming into the business because they think they can make a bunch of money.

LEGACY Celis: This certainly helped the brewing industry as a whole in Texas no doubt, if we can continue to make the necessary progress it will only help the Texas Craft Beer scene become a preeminent player in craft beer across the United States. Peters: The first wave did more good than bad and really built the foundation for the 2000 wave. Some of the new brewers have no idea how hard it was back in the early 90s. We were trying to sell beer to retailers and consumers that had no idea what we were talking about. It is easier now in that regard. It’s harder now because there are so many beers on the shelf that getting noticed is harder than ever. Schwartz: Well, shit, man, Steve and I were both brewing sour beers at Waterloo and Bitter End back in the late 90s. By 2001, I think, we won a medal at GABF for a sour at Bitter End. It was either 2000 or 2001, but we were doing barrel-aged stuff, you know, all of this crap that people think is so innovative today, and we were doing that back in the 90s because we were trying to do everything that we could. It was like, you’re brewing hundreds of different styles. There was always something new coming out. So, I mean, as far as that goes, it’s like, some of the stuff that people think is new, it’s like, well, no. It’s traditional. People have been doing that for hundreds of years, and we were doing it in Austin back in the 90s for sure, but a lot of that has been kind of lost because it was very small batch, only available there. You couldn’t bottle it or sell it off-premise, and so you had to come down to the B-side and see what was aging behind the curtains, man. That’s where I had the barrels, you know? So, I mean, definitely laid the groundwork trying to get people to taste different things, brewing unique styles, old forgotten stuff, and whatever—barrel-aged sour, this or that. All that stuff was being done. Farbstein: If you do the basic math, the craft industry in Texas has grown year after year even with the addition of so many new entries. The fact is that it is continuing to grow . . . and Brock and I with it, so you have to conclude that we are gaining share which is a significant improvement over the last ten years. I think the potential is in the 30 share area similar to the West Coast, so we have a ton of room to grow (collectively), if you MAKE GOOD BEER. Quality will be the measuring stick moving forward, I hope.

Forrester: I feel like I’m in the perfect place. I wouldn’t take, having been in, you know, beer retail back at the old Showdown and Crown & Anchor and Dog & Duck and then moving into brewing and everything, Waterloo Brewing Company. And now in, you know, 2000 I’m back as a retailer but embracing all this high quality craft beer. And so I just feel like I’ve gotten to be in it all the time. And that’s a good feeling . . . I think they’re making good beer. They’ve got good ideas. Uh, I’m just really impressed by it all. The way it’s ultimately grown up now. I know it had to go through some growing pains in that. But I think brewing in Austin, in Texas, is in a real good place. I think it’s strong. I think we’ll be here a long time. Farbstein: Well, and I think the sense of community, too, has been really good. The old days, it was super tight. I think we all kind of worked together to make sure we were all making good beer and that we were learning from each other’s mistakes. Real Ale, at least, tried to help a lot of the first and second wavers out as much as we could. You know, Adam DeBower (currently with Austin Beerworks) worked out here, and we really have a lot of appreciation for what they’ve been able to accomplish. It’s just that our goal and aspiration is to try to pass on the sense of camaraderie and working together as much as we can to the next generations, that they pass it on to future generations because I think that’s what separates us from making computer chips or even kombucha. So, I think at the end of the day, one of the things I think we’re focused on is just trying to bring the groups together, and try to make sure we work together to improve the beer community, and to have a sense of taking care of each other because I think that, you know, Real Ale got to where it got because we got a lot of really great advice from a lot of direct competitors, and you know, Brian Peters and Tim were pivotal in the success of Real Ale. Tucker: I would say probably around 2012, we reached some sort of tipping point with craft beer in Texas, where, and I’ve said, this is my own theory and it’s worth what I’ve, you know, I’ve gotten paid for it, but it’s that—if you go back to Sierra Nevada being 1980 and you get to, you know, 2001, well in Texas if you move ten years forward, you know, you’re now at 2011, 2012, well all of the sudden the Texas consumer who’s twenty-one has been aware of craft beer their whole life. It’s never not been around. It’s been in their consciousness some way or another and it was crazy the difference between the 2011 session and the 2013 session at the Capitol. 2011 session trying to get things done. People were aware of craft beer and oh yeah, that’s interesting, yeah you know yeah, kind of local brewers and so forth. 2013, we didn’t walk into an office that wasn’t, “Oh, we love craft beer!” It was like, boom, 180 degree flip almost and it was just like “What the Hell?” Finally it had been around and it had been in people’s consciousness long enough that a full generation of people had been aware of craft beer. And then it wasn’t unusual.

AFTER MUTING ANOTHER C-STORE FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME FOR A USELESS MENTION ON Twitter and probably one too many beers in the abandoned dentist office above the Draught House, we thought, “yeah, a story on corner stores and craft beer is a GREAT idea for the next issue!” Well, maybe not a great idea, but easily better than everything else we’d thrown out. Fast forward six weeks later and we find ourselves driving around town on a dreary Monday night dodging in and out of c-stores counting coolers, checking prices and taking the same picture over and over. We were not only questioning the story, but the whole Guide, and maybe even what had become of our lives. On the surface, the idea isn’t all bad. If you’ve been around for any amount of time you know how far we’ve come in having easy access to good beer. Gone are the days of having to go out of the way to one of a few specialty markets, liquor stores or high-end grocers to get something good. There were some early adopters who saw the wave coming, like Sunrise Mini Mart, but it is just in the past 12 months that it feels like any dingy gas station is filling their aisles with every Austin brewery, waxed bomber, and session IPA they can get. Now your biggest challenge is explaining how you spent $100 when stopping to fill up on the way home. If you get nothing from this article, you should just recognize that we live in an amazing time where getting a good beer to go is as easy as buying a lotto ticket. There were some other key takeaways of note from our thorough “research.” 1) Not all c-stores are made the same, but they are pretty close. There are a few standouts (like East

1st Grocery and the aforementioned Sunrise) where you can get a little more guidance from the knowledgeable guy behind the counter, but if you go into any of these, or just about any c-store, you’ll find something respectable-to-great. Sure, you are going to pay $1–2 more than your average grocery store, but the variance in markup isn’t much store to store. 2) Don’t take photos, unless you like having to talk to the owners over the phone as they settle in for bed. C-stores are suspicious of cameras, even if you tell them what you are doing will help more than their 10 tweets in a minute. 3) Austin has a shit-ton of Abyss. Stop leaving work for a 10:30 lunch to chase beer. It will probably be there on your way home. “But, how could you have missed MY c-store? Haven’t you heard of Whip In/Quickie Pickie/Thom’s Market/etc.?” Yeah, we may have missed the best hidden gem in Austin, but be happy, it means more for you. This is just a sampling of what’s out there and a representation of what is happening. And we only had one rule for this, you gotta have gas. There are a lot of specialty markets, coffee shops, pubs, and other small shops selling good beer to go, but this is fill up the tank, get a key for the bathroom territory. Our guide, our rules. So should we have scrapped this idea? Maybe, but we had already expensed a tank of gas and an embarrassing amount of money on beer and beef jerky to turn back. So here it is, your “9 Essential Austin C-Stores for Craft Beer.” Or, how we learned to leave the dumb listicles to Thrillist and find something worth its weight in print.

SUNRISE MINI MART 1809 West Anderson Lane Coolers with craft: 16 (+7 dry shelves) Average markup: $$ Hidden gem or most remarkable beer: Jolly Pumpkin Saison X, Adelbertâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Vintage Nun, Lakewood, Community, 903 Package variety: Six packs, bombers and singles Best snack/item to pair with beer: Hunter Gatherer trail mix jerky Craziest counter top sales item: Bluetooth headphones Prices on beer: Some

HYDE PARK MARKET 4429 Duval Street Coolers with craft: 34 (+2 dry shelves and 3 shelves in walk-in cooler) Average markup: $$$$ Hidden gem or most remarkable beer found: Lone Pint Yellow Rose, Deschutes Abyss Package variety: Six packs, bombers, and singles Best snack/item to pair with beer: Gourmet rice crispy treats Craziest counter top sales item: Robber ski mask Prices on beer: Some

ROSEDALE MARKET 1309 West 45th Street Coolers with craft: 7 (+2 dry shelves and 3 shelves in walk-in cooler) Average markup: $$ Hidden gem or most remarkable beer found: Upslope Imperial IPA , Sierra Nevada Barrel-Aged Bigfoot Package variety: Six packs, bombers and singles Best snack/item to pair with beer: Pecan pralines Craziest counter top sales item: Organic baby food Prices on beer: Some

EZ STOP 5029 Manor Road Coolers with craft: 5 (+ walk-in cooler and 4 dry shelves) Average markup: $ Hidden gem or most remarkable beer: Deschutes Abyss Package variety: Six packs and bombers Best snack/item to pair with beer: Tortillas Craziest counter top sales item: Multiple color knives Prices on beer: Yes

EAST 1ST GROCERY 1811 East Cesar Chavez Street Coolers with craft: 7 (+7 dry shelves) Average markup: $$ Hidden gem or most remarkable beer found: Community, Jolly Pumpkin Saison X Package variety: Six packs, bombers and singles Best snack/item to pair with beer: Pickled quail eggs Craziest counter top sales item: Glass pipes Prices on beer: Some

OLTORF FOOD MART 2225 East Oltorf Street Coolers with craft: 4 Average markup: $$ Hidden gem or most remarkable beer found: Deschutes Abyss Package variety: Six packs and bombers Best snack/item to pair with beer: Off-brand gummies Craziest counter top sales item: Canned sardines Prices on beer: Yes

THE CORNERSTORE 525 West Ben White Boulevard Coolers with craft: 2 Average markup: $$$ Hidden gem or most remarkable beer found: Sierra Nevada Harvest Package Variety: Six packs and bombers Best snack/item to pair beer: Hostess Sno Balls Craziest counter top sales item: El Chavo jelly barrel Prices: No

BARTON HILLS FOOD MART 2900 South Lamar Boulevard Coolers with craft: 16 Average markup: $ Hidden gem or most remarkable beer found: Odell Fernet Aged Porter and latest Woodcut Package variety: Singles, six packs and bombers Best snack/item to pair with beer: Giovanniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pizza Craziest counter top sales item: Novelty koozies Prices: Yes

FOOD MART 2400 2400 Burleson Road Coolers with craft: 13 (+5 dry shelves) Average markup: $$$ Hidden gem or most remarkable beer found: Lone Pint Yellow Rose, Deschutes Abyss, Odell Friek, Oddwood Saison Package variety: Six packs and bombers Best snack/item to pair with beer: Nitro Takis Craziest counter top sales item: Trail mix Prices on beer: Some

BEER & LOATHING

Craftyshack: Morning on the Links Words by CHRIS TROUTMAN Photos by SHAWN PHILLIPS

FRESH CLIPPED BERMUDA CRISPED BY young morning sunrays. Muddled aromas of moist dirt, weathered leather, old liquor and money. White balls, wooden clubs, legacies, traditions and Saturday mornings. Beer and loathing. We recently joined ranks with drinking elite, turning an ancient rudimentary game into another reason to drink our handicaps in beer before noon on a weekend. Although not avid golfers by long shots, we cumulated the various clubs and discs amongst the four of us and set off in pursuit of that elusive par. Taco Deli Barton Skyway played host as we planned our day over tacos, coffee and some of the last of the original Hans’ Pils cans. The coffee was necessary, the Hans’ pleasant. Both nicely complimented the tacos adorned with

copious dollops of Donna sauce. The pre-9am scene was scattered with post jog joggers, dogs, tired moms and dads, toddlers (thankfully not ours) and the four of us planning our double bogey debauchery. We quickly scarfed down our tacos and walked next door to the C-store to replenish our golf bag/cooler with a cold sixer of Hops & Grain Greenhouse IPA. Bogeys, birdies and beers were waiting for us. We pulled into the Zilker (park, not the brewery) south nine hole parking lot with Kenny Loggins blasting from the stereo and visions of soaring discs cruising effortlessly into chain baskets pregnant with anticipation. After cracking a round of Greenhouse IPAs, minimal stretching and orienting ourselves with the course, we opted for a scramble game to keep it fun for all, as only half of us have actually put disc to chain. I, with my rebel tomahawk drive, kicked off the morning sending my bright red plastic orb ﬂying a good 50 yards into the crisp cool morning air. A solid candidate for a birdie,

if this author has ever seen one. I’ll spare you the gruesome and embarrassing details, but it only went downhill from there. We played drivers to putters the remaining eight holes, averaging par or bogeys for the most part. Not too shabby for some out-ofpractice dads rarely setting their beers down to drive or putt. Aaron and I ended up five over with four beers between the two of us while Josh and Shawn came in at two over with two beers. So we all won in some fashion. We headed east on Barton Springs toward Butler Park Pitch and Putt but not without another beer stop at Thom’s Market. We loaded up on Oasis #originalslowride (cause fuck New Belgium!), fresh-to-the-scene Anchor Cali Lagers, waters and a few more breakfast tacos. We spent just a little too long perusing their impressive beer selection, a fact we regretted as we waited to turn left on Lamar. We finally crossed the Red Sea and pulled up to park on the side street. I had a bit of trouble with the meter, but my previous four beers were more to blame than the city’s shoddy under-serviced parking meters, I’m sure. We rented a few clubs, pissed, and drew inspiration from the walls lined with photos of hole-in-one-ers. Charged with small white ball adrenaline, we got in the queue. While waiting, Josh loaded his recent Christmas gift, a Houston Texans’ six pack “bazooka” style shoulder holder with cans, as the rest of us practiced our swings, but mostly posed for lazy/clever Instagram pics. #beerandloathing. After the family of five (two under 18) in front of us teed off, we finally had our chance to challenge the golf gods and, once again, in scrambler fashion, took to the tees. This round Shawn and Aaron teamed up against Josh and myself. As best memory serves me, we four each drove like the devil was at our back, sending white and neon yellow balls careening

through mid morning, humid air across early spring budding grass, under still hibernating brown and gray pecan trees. As our balls made contact with earth once more, we walked the 60 to 70 yards in high spirits, as our guts were pleasantly filled with delicious beers and our feet were pounding over soft supple grass. We continued like this - pitching, drinking, walking, drinking, putting, drinking, pitching, drinking routine for another four holes before that prick reality reminded us that we had obligations still to meet later that Saturday (our first mistake of the outing), and we still had another putting stop on our journey to the big caddyshack in the sky. We played out the fifth hole and instead of turning back north, we continued south through the creek and dog shop parking lot, jay-walking across Barton Springs, and straight up into a hella bunch of five-year-olds at Peter Pan Mini Golf. In retrospect, it was a horrible idea for four grown men who have been casually/not so casually drinking since 8am, to take on nine holes at a mini golf course. On the Google maps, it looked like a no-brainer. But in reality, as we crossed Barton Springs, we traversed from the relaxing, buzzed, Saturday morning haven of pitch and putt, right into the fucking devil’s hornet’s nest. Not like hornets that the devil liked ‘cause he’s evil and shit, but hornets that are even more evil than the devil and even that motherfucker shits his pants over. As we waded through kids and parents to the counter, none of us had realized how much shit we were about to step in. We kept our putters from Butler and got in the queue, only to quickly learn that these kids were at a much different speed than us and had no patience for our tomfoolery or posing for cool/ ironic Instagram shots. #beerandloathing. At the second hole, not the one with giant scary-ass Peter Pan, a cool dad offered to

let us play through. We honestly assessed our pace and told him we could wait. He informed us they had been at that hole for over 10 minutes and showed no promise of progressing beyond it in the next 30. We offered a Hans’ in condolence and moved on. We fumbled our way through the next hole, unsure if we were scrambling or just on our own as we awkwardly putted along, the only adults in sight with beers on this famously BYOB course. Putting white ball on fuzzy green mat, I could feel the breath of the eager sixyear-old behind me as I struggled to set my beer can down long enough to putt and move on. As our collective buzz was being killed via a mob of birthdaying kids, we aborted the puttputt leg of our golf outing trinity and made haste out of scary Peter Pan’s grasp. Would it have been a more adult hour of the day, perhaps we’d have had a better time, but we can say for sure that 11am on a Saturday is NOT the best BYOB hour on those greens. File this under solid loathing. We didn’t keep score and doubt we even stayed long enough to crack even a second beer, much less enjoy the ﬁrst. Sure, maybe we were creeps drinking around kids, but someone had to test the limits of this BYOB playground to let the rest of you all know that birthday party times and day drinking times should not overlap at Peter Pan. So we made like a cuddly yet mischievous ground hog and bid the land where no one grows up goodbye to walk west to drink more beers. After ditching our Happy Gilmore dreams and all the kiddos behind, we made the ﬁve-ish minute walk to Uncle Billy’s. When we arrived

we met new brewer Trevor Nearburg and toured their newly expanded brewing facility over a round of cold ones. We talked cans, new brews and other future plans for the old uncle out by the park. Trevor brews some tasty beers and has a good beard, so he’s alright in our book. We kept talking shop in the brewery while sipping on his Blackfin Schwarzbier when he was reminded he had a beer tasting event to moderate that began about five minutes prior. So to those patient tasters who had to hold back their thirst for an extra few minutes. Sorry, not sorry. We split a four pack of the Humbucker Helles over some nachos, oysters, pulled pork, ribs and a few burgers (#cheatday), thusly fortifying our state of loathing as we dragged our bloated carcasses out to the street to wait for our Uber and head home like the scumbags we were. Six hours, four six packs, 10 tacos, one half rack of ribs, two lost balls and a baker’s dozen strokes over par later, we walked away with countless good times and a few lessons learned. Just because something looks good on Google Maps, doesn’t mean it transitions well to a Saturday morning. Without reservation we can recommend the first two thirds of the venture, but are more than hesitant to refer anyone to Peter Pan prior to 6 or maybe even 7pm. Perhaps you’re the type that has to find out for yourself, so you know, live your life. But be prepared for parents throwing shade like Shooter McGavin. And with that, I leave you with this: “I’m alright. Nobody worry ‘bout me. Why you got to gimme a fight? Can’t you just let it be?”

THE 8 T H ANNUAL

A PR I L 2 3 - 2 5, 2015 | A W HALE OF A T IME ! Classic Movies at the Alamo Drafthouse! Dogﬁsh Head Founder Sam Calagione Live! Special Dogﬁsh Tappings! Giant Beer Party with Central Texas’ Finest Craft Brewers! GO TO OFFCENTEREDFILMFEST.COM FOR TICKETS AND MORE INFO!

Our unique brewing style is influenced by world travel and experimentation. By combining delicate trappist yeast strains with clean American brewing techniques we produce a unique beer that is always in balance, always complex, and always has a proper finish.

address 1701 East Sixth Street

hours Wed - Thur: 4pm-10pm

Austin, Texas 78702

Fri: 2pm-12am, Sat: Noon-12am

www.zilkerbeer.com

Sunday: 2pm-8pm

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BARS & RESTAURANTS 1. Flying Saucer 815 West 47th Street 2. Crown and Anchor Pub 2911 San Jacinto Boulevard 3. Doc’s Motorworks 38th 1106 West 38th Street 4. Chicago House 607 Trinity Street 5. Haymaker 2310 Manor Road 6. School House Pub 2207 Manor Road 7. Little Woodrow’s 520 West 6th Street 8. Kung Fu Saloon 510 Rio Grande Street 9. Alamo Drafthouse - Ritz 320 East 6th Street 10. The Ginger Man 301 Lavaca Street 11. Frank 407 Colorado Street 12. Hopﬁelds 3110 Guadalupe Street 13. Contigo 2027 Anchor Lane

14. House Pizzeria 5111 Airport Boulevard 15. Easy Tiger Bake Shop and Beer Garden 709 East 6th Street 16. The Brew Exchange 706 West 6th Street 17. Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden 79 Rainey Street 18. Jackalope 404 East 6th Street 19. Star Bar 600 West 6th Street 20. Gourmands 2316 Webberville Road 21. Austin Ale House 301 West 6th Street 22. Nasty’s 606 Maiden Lane 23. Spider House 2908 Fruth Street 24. Thunderbird Coffee - Manor 2200 Manor Road 25. Violet Crown Social Club 1111 East 6th Street 26. The Grackle 1700 East 6th Street

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27. The White Horse 500 Comal Street 28. Cherrywood Coffeehouse 1400 38 1/2 Street 29. Swift’s Attic 315 Congress Avenue 30. Hi Hat Public House 2121 East 6th Street 31. Craft Pride 61 Rainey Street 32. Salt & Time 1912 East 7th Street 33. in.gredients 2610 Manor Road 34. Hole in the Wall/East Side King 2538 Guadalupe Street 35. Wright Bros. Brew & Brew G 500 San Marcos Street

BREW PUBS 36. Draught House Pub & Brewery G 4112 Medical Parkway

BREWERIES 37. Hops & Grain Brewery 507 Calles Street

38. Live Oak Brewing Co. 3301-B East 5th Street 39. Blue Owl Brewing Co. 2400 East Cesar Chavez 40. Zilker Brewing Co. 1701 East Sixth Street

STORES 41. Central Market G 4001 North Lamar Boulevard 42. Hyde Park Market 4429 Duval Street 43. Whole Foods Market G 525 North Lamar Boulevard 44. Antonelli’s Cheese Shop 4220 Duval Street 45. Twin Liquors - Hancock 1000 East 41st Street 46. Rosedale Market 1309 West 45th Street 47. Quickie Pickie G 1208 East 11th Street 48. East 1st Grocery 1811 East Cesar Chavez Street 49. H-E-B, Mueller G 1801 East 51st Street

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS

Blue Owl Brewing INFO

BREW PUB SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . 2400 East Cesar Chavez Austin, TX 78702 DRINKING HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . .Coming Soon GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.blueowlbrewing.com

Jeff Young, former brewer of Black Star Co-op, will open Blue Owl Brewing this fall. With a focus on keeping their beers approachable and affordable, Young and co. aim to make their canned beers the ﬁrst “after-work” sour beer for the everyman.

BEER SAMPLING

Little Boss, Van Dayum!

WE RECOMMEND

Little Boss . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sour Session Wheat Spirit Animal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sour Pale Ale Professor Black . . . . . . . . . . .Sour Cherry Stout Van Dayum! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sour Amber Ale

Draught House INFO

BREW PUB SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4112 Medical Pkwy Austin, TX 78756 DRINKING HOURS . . . . . . Mon–Thu 3pm–2am, Fri–Sun 1pm–2am GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes (many) BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes (growlers) BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.draughthouse.com

The Draught House brewhouse is back online with a new seven-barrel custom made, direct ﬁred, single infusion brewhouse. Brewer and manager Josh Wilson said the new beer program will be random with the return of some old favorites plus some wood and barrelaged beers to come.

HOUSE BEER SAMPLING

Malt Ball, Red Planet (also Double Red Planet), Bombay IPA

Red Planet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Red Ale Bombay IPA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA Jubal Ale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Winter Warmer

WE RECOMMEND

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS

Hops & Grain Brewery INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .507 Calles Street Austin, TX 78702 DRINKING HOURS . . . . . . . . . . Wed–Fri 2–10pm, Sat 12–8pm, Sun 12–6pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.hopsandgrain.com

Bringing his Colorado beer knowledge and inspiration to Austin, Josh Hare opened one of Austin’s east side breweries. With four year-round beers canned (ﬁve, counting the Greenhouse IPA series) for easy use during your outdoor drinking endeavors, and a handful rotating series: Greenhouse, Volumes of Oak, and Volumes of Funk.

BEER SAMPLING

WE RECOMMEND The One They Call Zoe, Greenhouse IPA

Pale Dog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . American Pale Ale Alt-eration. . . . . . . . . . Dusseldorf-style Altbier The One They Call Zoe . . . . . . . . . . . Pale Lager PorterCulture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baltic Porter Greenhouse IPA . . . . . . . . . .Rotating IPA Series

Live Oak Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3301 East 5th Street Austin, TX 78702 DRINKING HOURS . . . . . Varied, check website GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . No, samples only BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.liveoakbrewing.com

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 utilize techniques such as open fermentation and secondary lagering. Follow the progress as they build out their new brewery being built in far east Austin, which should open later this year.

BEER SAMPLING Big Bark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amber Lager HefeWeizen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hefeweizen Liberation Ale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA Pilz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Czech Pilsner

WE RECOMMEND HefeWeizen, Pilz

Zilker Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1701 East Sixth Street Austin, TX 78702 DRINKING HOURS . . . . . . . . . Wed–Thu 4–10pm, Fri 2pm–12am, Sat 12pm–12am, Sun 2–8pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.zilkerbeer.com

Zilker Brewing was born of two brothers and their home brewing buddy out of a love of crisp, dynamic, drinkable beers. The three craft their brand using quality malt, fresh hops, and a Belgian Trappist yeast to create surprisingly interesting, yet easy drinking beers. Pop into their urban brewery on East 6th for the latest and freshest, and look for Zilker on draft and in cans later in 2015.

BEER SAMPLING

WE RECOMMEND

Session IPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA Honey Saison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Saison

Session IPA, Honey Saison

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BARS & RESTAURANTS 1. Zax Restaurant & Bar 312 Barton Springs Road 2. Hopdoddy Burger Bar - SOCO 1400 South Congress Avenue 3. Barley Swine 2024 South Lamar Boulevard 4. Black Sheep Lodge 2108 South Lamar Boulevard 5. Red’s Porch 3508 South Lamar Boulevard 6. Opal Divine’s, Penn Field 3601 South Congress Avenue 7. Draft Pick 1620 East Riverside, #1618 8. Snack Bar 1224 South Congress Avenue

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9. The Buzz Mill 1505 Town Creek Boulevard 10. Gibson Street Bar 1109 South Lamar Blvd

BREW PUBS 11. Uncle Billy’s G 1530 Barton Springs Road 12. Kamala Brewing / Whip In G 1950 South IH-35 13. Austin Beer Garden Brewing G 1305 West Oltorf Street

BREWERIES 14. (512) Brewing Co. 407 Radam Lane, F200 15. Independence Brewing Co. 3913 Todd Lane

16. South Austin Brewing Co. 415 East Saint Elmo Road, Suite 1D

STORES 17. Thom’s Market 1418 Barton Springs Road 18. Central Market G 4477 South Lamar Boulevard 19. Spec’s-Brodie Lane 4978 West Highway 290 20. Live Oak Market 4410 Manchaca Road 21. South Lamar Wine and Spirits 2418 South Lamar Boulevard 22. Growler Room South G 2400 East Oltorf Street, Suite 6A 23. Which Craft 2418 South Lamar Boulevard G = growler ﬁlls

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS

(512) Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .407 Radam Lane Austin, TX 78745 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . . .Saturdays with RSVP GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . No, samples only BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.512brewing.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 had some special releases in bottles.

BEER SAMPLING (512) IPA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA (512) Pale Ale . . . . . . . . . . . . American Pale Ale (512) Pecan Porter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Porter (512) Wit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wit or white beer

WE RECOMMEND Pecan Porter, IPA, Pale Ale

Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co. INFO

BREW PUB SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . 1305 West Oltorf Street Austin, TX 78704 DRINKING HOURS . . . . . . Varied, check website Closed Mondays GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.theabgb.com

Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co. (ABGB) swung wide their doors in late 2013 and have been steadily supplying their south Lamar hood and beyond with tasty brewed beverages and pies like old pros. And that’s because this establishment is run by some old stalwarts of Austin brewing lore. Amos Lowe and Brian “Swifty” Peters, co-brewers and founders, work tirelessly to keep the suds a ﬂowing.

HOUSE BEER SAMPLING

WE RECOMMEND

Big Mama Red. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Hoppy Red Ale Day Trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pale Ale Hell Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Helles Lager Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . German Pilsner

Hell Yes, Big Mama Red, Industry

Hand crafted ales from the heart of Austin Over 80% organic ingredients in every pint Family owned and 100% self-distributed Available at the finest bars & restaurants in Texas Always available: WIT, PALE, IPA, Pecan Porter

512brewing.com

White IPA

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS

Independence Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3913 Todd Lane Austin, TX 78744 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Thu 4–8pm, Fri 4–9pm, Sat 1–7pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . .www.independencebrewing.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. Since opening, Independence has created a local niche for themselves by packaging the Oklahoma Suks bottles (NOW IN CANS!) every fall for the UT vs. OU game. They have recently expanded to a 60-barrel JV Northwest brewhouse and expanded their regular lineup to include several new beers packaged in cans.

BEER SAMPLING Power & Light Pale Ale. . . . American Pale Ale Stash IPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA White Rabbit . . . . . . . . .Belgian-Style White Ale

WE RECOMMEND Power & Light, White Rabbit

Kamala Brewing at the Whip In INFO

BREW PUB SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1950 IH-35 Austin, TX 78704 DRINKING HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10am–12am GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.kamalabrewing.com

Born a simple family owned convenience store on the frontage 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 Kamala Brewing.

HOUSE BEER SAMPLING

WE RECOMMEND

Bitterama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spiced ESB Lakshmi Hefe . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spiced Wheat Ale Parvati Pale Ale . . . . . . . . . . American Pale Ale Shiva Milk Stout . . . . . . Barrel-Aged Milk Stout

Bitterama, Parvati Pale Ale

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS

South Austin Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . .415 East Saint Elmo Road Austin, TX 78745 DRINKING HOURS. .Fri Happy Hour 5:45–10pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . .www.southaustinbrewing.com

Parked in the same neighborhood as Independence and (512) breweries, South Austin Brewing Co. started producing Belgianstyle ales in 2012. Changes have been afoot in south Austin. The brewery has recently redesigned their taproom, brought on a new Master Brewer (Eric Wolf), and expanded their beer lineup beyond the original two classic Belgians to include everyday drinking beers now packaged in 16oz tallboys. Groovy.

BEER SAMPLING 6 String Saison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Saison Kol’Beer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kölsch-Style Ale TPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . American Pale Ale

WE RECOMMEND TPA

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS

Uncle Billyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s INFO

BREW PUB SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . 1530 Barton Springs Road Austin, TX 78704 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . .Sunâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Thu 11amâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;12am, Friâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Sat 11amâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;1am GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.unclebillysaustin.com

Texas is BBQ heaven. Austin is Texas Craft Beer heaven. Put them together and you get Uncle Billyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brew and Que. Uncle Billyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s is the ideal spot after a day of festival-ing at Zilker Park or cooling off at the springs. Brewers keep on the Austin staple Ax Handle Pale Ale while mixing in a constant rotation of beers with an emphasis on hoppy ales and sessionable lagers.

HOUSE BEER SAMPLING

WE RECOMMEND Humbucker Helles, Green Room IPA

Green Room IPA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA Humbucker Helles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Helles Smoked Out Stout . . . . . . . . . . . . Smoked Stout Sgt. Stedenko . . . . . . . . . . . . .American Red Ale

COME Half Cajun Half TexMex Half Southern 3 ,!-!2

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BREWERIES & BREW PUBS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 68 22 The Domain

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BARS & RESTAURANTS 1. Mister Tramps 8565 Research Boulevard 2. Alamo Drafthouse-Village 2700 West Anderson Lane 3. Pour House Pub 6701 Burnet Road 4. Billy’s on Burnet 2105 Hancock Drive 5. Hopdoddy Burger Bar - Anderson 2438 West Anderson Lane 6. Drink.Well. 207 East 53rd Street 7. Workhorse Bar 100 North Loop Boulevard East 8. C. Hunt’s Ice House 9611 Mcneil Road

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BREW PUBS 9. Pinthouse Pizza G 4729 Burnet Road 10. North By Northwest (NXNW) G 10010 N Capital of TX Highway 11. Black Star Co-op G 7020 Easy Wind Drive

BREWERIES 12. Circle Brewing Co. 2340 West Braker Lane 13. Austin Beerworks 3009 Industrial Terrace 14. Adelbert’s Brewery 2314 Rutland Drive, Ste 100

STORES 15. Whole Foods Market, Gateway 9607 Research Boulevard 16. Specs-Arbor Walk 10515 N Mopac Expwy 17. Sunrise Mini Mart 1809 West Anderson Lane 18. Specs-Airport 5775 Airport Boulevard 19. Austin Homebrew Supply 9129 Metric Boulevard 20. King Liquor 5310 Burnet Road 21. Growler Room G 6800 Burnet Road, Suite 2 22. Whole Foods Market, Domain G 11920 Domain Drive G = growler ﬁlls

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS

Adelbert’s Brewery INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . .2314 Rutland Drive #100 Austin, TX 78758 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . . . . . . Wed–Fri 5–8pm, Sat 1–4pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.adelbertsbeer.com

In 2010, Scott Hovey was ripe for a midlife 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 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.

BEER SAMPLING Philosophizer . . . . . . . . . . Belgian-Style Saison Tripel B. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Belgian-Style Tripel Ale Scratchin’ Hippo . .Belgian-Style Biere de Garde

WE RECOMMEND Scratchin’ Hippo, Philosophizer

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS

Austin Beerworks INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . 3009 Industrial Terrace Austin, TX 78758 DRINKING HOURS . . . Thu 5–9pm, Fri 5–11pm, Sat & Sun 1–7pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.austinbeerworks.com

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 2013 GABF gold medal winner Black Thunder—the four friends have come storming out of the gates and onto the Austin beer scene.

BEER SAMPLING Fire Eagle American IPA . . . . . . .American IPA Peacemaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @anytimeale Pearl Snap German Pils. . . . . German Pilsner Heavy Machinery . . . . . . . . .Rotating IPA Series

WE RECOMMEND Heavy Machinery, Peacemaker, Pearl Snap

AUSTIN BEERWORKS

BREWING FOR DUMMIES

RE: BUDWEISER PURCHASE AGREEMENT

www.austinbeerworks.com

C RA F T

B E E RS

HELL-BENT ON EXCELLENCE

Are you 21? YES

At the Brewery

Special Event

BEGINNING 4-19-15

H E L P C E L E B R AT E O U R A N N I V E R S A RY

TAPROOM HOURS

4TH BIRTHDAY!

C O M E H AV E A B E E R AT T H E B R E W E RY

WITH A BIG SHINDIG THIS SPRING

yo dooder, I heard about a cool thing people are doing called lemon parties? I dunno, it’s kind of hard to explain but definitely worth checking out. everything you need to know i s on lemonparty.org

HELMS 2015 PROJECT: 999-PACK

Cheers, -Chris

AU S T I N B E E RWO R K S. C O M V 2 .0 L A U N C H I N G T H I S A P R I L

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS

Black Star Co-op INFO

BREW PUB SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . .7020 Easy Wind Drive Austin, TX 78752 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . Mon–Thu 4pm–12am, Fri-Sat 11am–1am, Sun 11am–12am GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . Yes, limited draft URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.blackstar.com

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 Axiom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pale Lager Zephyr Pale Ale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pale Ale Double Dee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amber Ale

WE RECOMMEND Moebius, Double Dee

Circle Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . 2340 West Braker Lane, Suite B Austin, TX 78758 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fri 5–8pm Sat & Sun 1–5pm, Occasional open houses GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.circlebrewing.com

Circle Brewing appeared on the internet beer rumor mill in the second half of 2008. Fast forward two years, Ben Sabel and Jud Mulherin were brewing their ﬁrst batches of beer for Austin. 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.” You can now ﬁnd some of their year-round beer in bottles in a large circumference around Austin.

BEER SAMPLING Blur Texas Hefe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hefeweizen Envy Amber Ale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amber Ale Hop Overboard Pale Ale. . . American Pale Ale Nightlight Irish Stout . . . . . . . . . Dry Irish Stout

WE RECOMMEND Nightlight Irish Stout, Hop Overboard Pale Ale

Lunch is good. Lunch & Beer is Better.

Now Serving Lunch Tues-Sun // 11am-4pm 7020 Easy Wind Dr. Austin, TX 512.452.BEER www.blackstar.coop

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS

North by Northwest INFO

BREW PUB SNAPSHOT

LOCATION #1. . . . . . 10010 Capital of TX Hwy N LOCATION #2. . . . . . . . . 5701 W Slaughter Lane DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . Varied, check website GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.nxnwbrew.com

North by Northwest is Austin’s oldest and 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. They have recently branched out and opened NXNW2 in south Austin with a similar food menu, atmosphere and beer portfolio but with additional bar and outdoor seating.

HOUSE BEER SAMPLING Barton Kriek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sour/Lambic Duckabush Amber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amber Ale Northern Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pilsner Okanagan Black Ale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Black Ale Pyjingo Pale Ale . . . . . . . . . . American Pale Ale

WE RECOMMEND Pyjingo Pale Ale, Barton Kriek

Pinthouse Pizza INFO

BREW PUB SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4729 Burnet Road Austin, TX 78756 DRINKING HOURS . . . . .Sun–Wed 11am–11pm, Thu–Sat 11am–12am GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No 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 Mohrfeld 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. Keep an eye out this year for their second location on South Lamar.

HOUSE BEER SAMPLING Blind Jake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American Porter Calma Muerta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Session Ale Fallen Cask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .IPA Series Iron Genny. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pale Ale Man O’ War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA

WE RECOMMEND Blind Jake, Man O’ War, Fallen Cask Series

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BARS & RESTAURANTS 1. Alamo Drafthouse - Slaughter Lane 5701 West Slaughter Lane 2. The Dig Pub G 401 Cypress Creek Road, Cedar Park 3. Opal Divine’s, Marina 12709 Mopac & Parmer Lane 4. BB Rover’s Cafe & Pub 12636 Research Boulevard 5. Westside Alehouse 1500 N IH-35, Round Rock 6. Alamo DrafthouseLakeline / Glass Half Full Taproom 14028 U.S. 183 7. Hanover’s Draught Haus 108 East Main Street, Pﬂugerville 8. The Brass Tap 204 East Main Street, Round Rock

BREW PUBS 9. Flix Brewhouse / HomeField Grill G 2000 S IH-35, Round Rock 10. Double Horn Brewing Co. G 208 Avenue H, Marble Falls 11. The Barber Shop G 207 Mercer Street, Dripping Springs

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12. Wimberley Brewing Co. G 9595 Ranch Road 12, Wimberley 13. Middleton Brewing G 101 Oakwood Loop, San Marcos 14. Pecan Street Brewing G 106 East Pecan Drive, Johnson City 15. Smoke’n Hops G 3799 U.S. 290, Dripping Springs 16. Faust Brewing Co. 240 S. Seguin Ave., New Braunfels 17. Red Horn Coffee House and Brewing Co. G 13010 West Parmer Lane, Ste 800, Cedar Park

BREWERIES 18. Solid Rock Brewing 2214 Bee Creek Road, Spicewood 19. Jester King Brewery 13005 Fitzhugh Road 20. Thirsty Planet Brewing Co. 11160 Circle Drive 21. Infamous Brewing Co. 4602 Weletka Drive 22. Twisted X Brewing Co. 23455 West RR 150, Dripping Springs

GREATER ATX

29 31

23. Rogness Brewing Co. 2400 Patterson Industrial Drive, Pﬂugerville 24. Real Ale Brewing Co. 231 San Saba Ct, Blanco 25. Save The World Brewing Co. 1510 Resource Pkwy. Marble Falls 26. New Braunfels Brewing Co. 180 West Mill St, New Braunfels 27. Guadalupe Brewing Co. 1580 Wald Road, New Braunfels 28. Oasis, TX Brewing Co. 6550 Comanche Trail 29. Bindlestick Brewing Co. 1309 Leander Dr, Unit 504, Leander 30. Bluebonnet Beer Co. 1700 Bryant Dr #107, Round Rock 31. Bull Creek Brewing Co. 7100 FM3405, Liberty Hill 32. Strange Land Brewery 5904 Bee Cave Road

G = growler ﬁlls

STORES 33. Hamrick’s Market 401 Cypress Creek Road, Cedar Park 34. Pecan Liquor 1912 West Pecan Street, #205, Pﬂugerville

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS (DISTRIBUTING)

Bindlestick Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . .1309 Leander Drive, #504 Leander, TX 78641 DRINKING HOURS . . . . . . . . . Saturdays, 5–8pm Reserve tickets via Facebook GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.bindlestickbeer.com

What the hell is a bindlestick? It’s those things hobos carried around with which to hold all of their earthly possessions. It is used as a symbol to represent a bygone era in America, primarily pre-prohibition. And that is what Bindlestick Brewing is shooting for, ales and lagers in the preprohibition vein. But with a bit of a modern Texas twist. At time of press they’d not started distributing, but by the time you are reading this they probably will be.

BEER SAMPLING Chimney Stack. . . . . . . . . . . American Pale Ale Monkey Wagon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amber Ale

WE RECOMMEND Chimney Stack, Monkey Wagon

Bluebonnet Beer Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . 1700 Bryant Drive, #107 Round Rock, TX 78664 DRINKING HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . Fri & Sat 5–8pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . www.bluebonnetbeerco.com

Bluebonnet Beer Co., owned by David and

BEER SAMPLING American Amber Ale . . . . . . . . . . . . Amber Ale American IPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA Cream Ale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cream Ale Texas Pecan Brown Ale . . . . . . . . . . .Brown Ale

Clare Hulama, started brewing in Round Rock in late 2014. This was after they quit their jobs at Dell. When you have homebrew cred like David and Clare do, it is a pretty safe bet to Ofﬁce Space it and peace out. Like Twisted X, they built their brewery in a small industrial park. Just before the new year, they opened up their taproom on Fridays and Saturdays— serving up their four year-round beers and one or two seasonal/special beers.

WE RECOMMEND American IPA, Texas Pecan Brown Ale

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS (DISTRIBUTING)

Bull Creek Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7100 FM 3405 Liberty Hill, TX 78642 DRINKING HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coming Soon, Tours by appointment GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.bullcreekbrewing.com

Bull Creek has been brewing small batches since 2011 and distributing in small amounts. In 2014 they began a major brewery expansion and plan to distribute to a larger area in 2015. The are located in Liberty Hill, outside Georgetown and are currently only doing private tours and tastings via RSVP from their website and Facebook.

BEER SAMPLING

Iron Balls

WE RECOMMEND

Iron Balls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Imperial Stout Longhorn Blonde. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Helles Lager Tommy Raj . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . American IPA

Guadalupe Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1580 Wald Road New Braunfels, TX 78132 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . . . . . . . By appointment GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.guadalupebrew.com

After trips to Europe and the Northwest, Keith Kilker and his wife Anna were inspired to start their own brewery. The ﬁrst step was studying at Siebel’s Brewing Technology program and a stint at a Colorado brew pub. They opened their brewery in 2011 with their honey ale as their ﬂagship beer, made with locally sourced honey. More beers followed and distribution began to Austin and the rest of Central Texas.

BEER SAMPLING Americano Wheat Ale. . . American Wheat Ale Rye Ale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . America Rye IPA Scotch Ale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scotch Ale Texas Honey Ale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Honey Ale

WE RECOMMEND Rye Ale, Scotch Ale

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS (DISTRIBUTING)

Infamous Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4602 Weletka Drive Austin, TX 78734 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . Thu 6–9pm, Fri 4–9pm, Sat & Sun 1–5pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.infamousbrewing.com

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 in spring 2013 with their take on a cream ale and an IPA, with other seasonal and special releases coming soon after. They began canning their year-round beers in late 2013.

BEER SAMPLING Bugsy’s Fire Brush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amber Ale Hijack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cream Ale IPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA Sweep the Leg . . . . . . . . . . Peanut Butter Stout

WE RECOMMEND IPA, Sweep the Leg

Jester King Brewery INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13187 Fitzhugh Road Austin, TX 78736 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fri 4–10pm, Sat 12–10pm, Sun 12–6pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . www.jesterkingbrewery.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, followed by a very popular series of sour barrel-aged creations, and most recently ventured into sour beer and fermented (and re-fermented) fruit blends starting with the raspberry Atrial Rubicite, the strawberry Omniscience & Proselytism, La Vie en Rose, Provenance, Detritivore, and the oyster mushroom and sea salt Snorkel. The tasting room at the brewery is most often the best place to ﬁnd and grab their latest beers.

BEER SAMPLING Atrial Rubicite . . . . . . . . .Raspberry Sour Beer Black Metal . . . . . . . Farmhouse Imperial Stout Le Petite Prince . . . . . . Farmhouse Table Beer Noble King. . . . . . . . . . . . Hoppy Farmhouse Ale Wytchmaker . . . . . . . . . . . . Farmhouse Rye IPA

WE RECOMMEND Le Petite Prince, Atrial Rubicite

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS (DISTRIBUTING)

Last Stand Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. .12345 Pauls Valley Road, Building I Austin, TX 78737 DRINKING HOURS . . . . . . . . . Saturdays, 2–8pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.laststandbrewing.com

Kerry and Mandi Richardson, with partner Mignonne Gros, quit their day jobs to chase their homebrew dreams. The end of that rainbow led them to a pleasant lot in Driftwood, near Argus, Revolution Spirits, and Jester King, where they brew their clean, balanced, well made take on American style craft beers. Go for the beers, but stay for the outdoor beer garden.

BEER SAMPLING

WE RECOMMEND

BPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Belgian Pale Ale Coffee Porter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Coffee Porter IPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . American IPA

Coffee Porter, BPA

Middleton Brewing INFO

BREW PUB SNAPSHOT

CURRENT LOCATION. . . . . . 101 Oakwood Loop San Marcos, TX 78666 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . . . . .Thu & Fri 2–10pm, Sat 12–10pm, Sun 12–7pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . www.middletonbrewingtx.com

The Middletons 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 have recently moved into their new facility in San Marcos.

BEER SAMPLING Black Lab Porter . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robust Porter Bobcat Red . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Imperial Red Ale Driftwood Pale Ale . . . . . . . American Pale Ale Limestone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Belgian-Style IPA Topaz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Belgian-Style Tripel

WE RECOMMEND Black Lab Porter, Bobcat Red

New Braunfels Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 West Mill Street New Braunfels Texas 78130 DRINKING HOURS . . . . . . Varied, check website GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.nbbrewing.com

Founded in 2011, New Braunfels Brewing recently underwent changes with a new head brewer and equipment. They focus primarily on wheat beer, but throw in a sour or two when their fancy strikes. Ingrained in the local community, their facility and taproom is located in the historic downtown and open for regular “hoppy hours” as well as whenever they feel like throwing the doors open. So stop by if you’re a gambling man.

BEER SAMPLING Erdeweiss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dunkelweizen Luftweiss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hefeweizen Shivas Tears. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Weizenbock Waserweiss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Berliner Weisse

WE RECOMMEND Luftweiss, Waserweiss

Oasis, TX Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6550 Comanche Trail Austin, TX 78732 DRINKING HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Thu 5–10pm, Fri 2pm–12am, Sat 12pm–12am, Sun 12–10pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . .www.oasistexasbrewingcompany.com

Oasis, TX Brewing Co. is located out in the enclave of Oasis, TX, just west of Austin overlooking Lake Travis. Brewer Spencer Telekemier brews up tasty session beers including a well-made pale ale and keller pilsner. Watch for their special Lake Monster releases throughout the year and treat your eyes and taste buds to a favor and hit up the scenic tasting room on the weekends.

BEER SAMPLING

Luchesa Lager, Slow Ride Pale Ale

London Homesick Ale. . . . . . English-Style Ale Luchesa Lager. . . . . . German-Style Kellerbier Slow Ride Pale Ale. . . . . . . . American Pale Ale

WE RECOMMEND

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS (DISTRIBUTING)

Real Ale Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 San Saba Court Blanco, TX 78606 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . . .Thu–Sat 11am–5pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.realalebrewing.com

One of the oldest 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. Real Ale moved just outside the downtown area in 2006 to a new facility, where they are currently located. In March they opened their new tasting room and added Thursday and Saturday hours.

BEER SAMPLING 4-Squared . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blonde Ale (Squared) Devil’s Backbone . . . . . . . . Belgian-Style Tripel Fireman’s #4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blonde Ale Hans’ Pils. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . German Pilsner Rio Blanco Pale Ale . . . . . . . American Pale Ale

WE RECOMMEND Hans’ Pils, 4-Squared

Rogness Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . 2400 Patterson Industrial Drive Pﬂugerville, TX 78660 DRINKING HOURS. . . . Thu 6–10pm, Fri 4–10pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.rognessbrewing.com

Rogness has 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. Year-round and seasonal beers are on draft or in 22oz bottles around town, but if you swing by their tours you’ll get to try out the latest small batch concoctions they’re testing.

BEER SAMPLING Beardy Guard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Biere de Garde Bella . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Belgian-Style Golden Ale Boomslang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . India Pale Lager Titanoboa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Triple IPA Yogi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Chai Spiced Amber

WE RECOMMEND Bella, Boomslang, Rattler

JOIN US IN OUR BRAND NEW TAP ROOM with new extended hours of operation open 11am - 5pm THURSDAY • FRIDAY • SATURDAY 231 San Saba Ct. Blanco, TX 78606

check realalebrewing.com for more info.

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS (DISTRIBUTING)

Save The World Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . 1510 Resource Parkway Marble Falls, TX 78654 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fri 3–6pm, Sat 12–5pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . www.savetheworldbrewing.com

Save the World is nestled cozily out west in Marble Falls and brew up a unique portfolio of Belgian-inspired ales. The beer stands on its own, but the exceptional aspect to this brewery is that they are 100% philanthropic and giving away all the proceeds to international, national, and local charities. Former physicians, husband and wife owners Dave and Quynh Rathkamp hung up their stethoscopes in 2012 and donned brewers’ boots in early 2014.

BEER SAMPLING Agnus Dei. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Belgian-Style Witbier Froctum Bonum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saison Ale Humilus Filius . . . . . . . . Belgian-Style Pale Ale

WE RECOMMEND Agnus Dei, Froctum Bonum

Solid Rock Brewing INFO LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2214 Bee Creek Road Spicewood, TX 78669 DRINKING HOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sat 4–8pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.solidrockbrewing.com

BEER SAMPLING

BREWERY SNAPSHOT Like so many breweries, Solid Rock is born out of a passion for homebrewing. Solid Rock was established in 2013 by three homebrewing friends: Curt Webber, Steve Jones, and Stephen McCarthy. They are shooting to create beers that are drinkable, refreshing, and even familiar. As they say in their mission statement, “We brew our beers to ﬁt like your favorite pair of jeans.”

WE RECOMMEND Big Drought Stout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dry Stout Cho’Sen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Hybrid Ale Cornerstone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cream Ale Dauntless IPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA Roundhead Red . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Irish Red Ale

Roundhead Red, Dauntless IPA

Hamrick's Market

" ! "

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS (DISTRIBUTING)

Strange Land Brewery INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5904 Bee Cave Road Austin, TX 78746 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . . . . . . .Fri & Sat 5–9pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . www.strangelandbrewery.com

Like most breweries, time lines for opening are always optimistic, but bureaucracy usually gets in the way. But Strange Land is ﬁnally open for business. And thank God, because the burger brewery jokes were growing a little thin. Located behind the Hat Creek in southwest Austin (Westlake), Strange Land is brewing up an eclectic mix of brews. Stop by on a Friday or Saturday to sample their year-round and specialty beers. It’s small, but quite nice.

BEER SAMPLING Alemannia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Altbier Entire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Porter Ploughshare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saison Sanctum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Belgian-Style Dubbel

WE RECOMMEND Entire, Ploughshare

Thirsty Planet Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11160 Circle Drive Austin, TX 78736 DRINKING HOURS . . . . . .Saturdays 11am–3pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.thirstyplanet.net

Following college graduation, Brian Smittle moved to Colorado where he volunteered at the Hubcap Brewery in Vail at night. He soon became a paid employee and full-time brewer. 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. Later he decided to escape the restaurant side of things and open a full production brewery in Austin—Thirsty Planet Brewing Co.

BEER SAMPLING Buckethead IPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .American IPA Thirsty Goat Amber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amber Ale Yellow Armadillo Wheat . . . .American Wheat

WE RECOMMEND Buckethead IPA, Thirsty Goat

The 2015 Session is Underway!

Q1 Please Rank These Beer-related legislative issues by importance to you Answered: 233

SB719 - Direct Beer Shipment to Consumers - just like wine and spirits (Sen. Burton) HB2546 - Home-brew Competitions (Rep. Springer)

Skipped: 0

To-go sales from breweries Growler sales @ mixed bev... 24 oz limit beer festivals Special Permits @... Licensing reqs

In the works: A festival bill with Rep. Goldman

Import Limit Direct Shipping

More to come, stay in touch!

Remove TABC label process Blue Laws

openthetaps.org

BREWERIES & BREW PUBS (DISTRIBUTING)

Twisted X Brewing Co. INFO

BREWERY SNAPSHOT

LOCATION. . . . . . . 23455 West Ranch Road 150 Dripping Springs, TX 78620 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . . . . . .Mon–Thu 1–8pm, Fri & Sat 11am–8pm, Sun 12–6pm GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No BEER SOLD OFF-SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.texmexbeer.com

Established in 2011 by Jim Sampson and Shane Bordeau in Cedar Park, Twisted X is now situated in Dripping Springs. 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!

BEER SAMPLING

WE RECOMMEND

Cow Creek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vienna (Dark) Lager Chupahopra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . American IPA Fuego . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jalapeño Pilsner Señor Viejo . .Barrel-aged Imperial Schwarzbier

Fuego, Señor Viejo

BREW PUBS (NON-DISTRIBUTING)

Barber Shop

Double Horn Brewing Co.

INFO

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207 Mercer Street Dripping Springs, TX 78620 GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.barbershopbar.com

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208 Avenue H Marble Falls, TX 78654 GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . www.doublehornbrewing.com

BREW PUB SNAPSHOT

The Barber Shop is another testament to the iron will of homebrewers. With an emphasis on the “bar” in Barber Shop, they left the historical building’s 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.

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 in 2011. Knight and head brewer Eric Casey have made it their mission to supply residents with quality house beers and local craft brews.

Faust Brewing Co.

Flix Brewhouse

INFO

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . 240 South Seguin Avenue New Braunfels, TX 78130 GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.faustbrewing.com

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2200 South IH-35 Round Rock, TX 78681 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . . Varied, check website GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.ﬂixbrewhouse.com

BREW PUB SNAPSHOT Housed in the historic Faust Hotel in New Braunfels, Faust Brewing is the perfect place to tell your designated driver to have a few with you. It’s better than your favorite stumble in, stumble out joint. No need to stumble anywhere, because you are already there. Drink Faust’s tasty house beers and go upstairs. Goodnight.

BREW PUB SNAPSHOT How many movie theatres have a brewhouse in their front window? Just one. You might even catch brewmaster Justin Rizza brewing up something tasty as you rush in for the latest Avengers ﬂick. Drink from their six year-round and four seasonal house taps or one their 30+ guest taps.

BREW PUBS (NON-DISTRIBUTING)

Pecan Street Brewing

Smoke’n Hops

INFO

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3799 U.S. 290 Dripping Springs, TX 78620 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . Varied, check website GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.smokehops.com

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 East Pecan Drive Johnson City, TX 78636 DRINKING HOURS. . . . . . Varied, check website BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes 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.

INFO

BREW PUB SNAPSHOT Smoke’n Hops is Dripping Spring’s newest brew pub, bringing more BBQ and fresh beer to our Hill Country playground. They boast pit style BBQ, fresh craft beer, and a welcoming outdoor atmosphere complete with picnic tables and a playscape for the kids (extra points!). They currently have a pale ale and porter brewed on their one-barrel pilot system which they hope to upgrade to a seven-barrel system soon.

Red Horn Wimberley Brewing Co. +WЄ MM 0W][M and Brewing Co. INFO INFO LOCATION. .13010 West Parmer Lane, Suite 800 Cedar Park, TX 78613 GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.redhornbrew.com

BREW PUB SNAPSHOT Opened in early 2015, Red Horn concentrates on fresh brewed beer and fresh roasted coffee. At the time of press Red Horn had just started brewing, but surely as you are reading this, maybe sitting in Red Horn, you could be sipping on one of their house beers right now. We hope you enjoy it.

LOCATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9595 Ranch Road 12 Wimberley, TX 78676 GUEST TAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER SOLD ON-SITE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes BEER TO-GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes URL . . . .www.wimberleybrewingcompany.com

BREW PUB SNAPSHOT The real name for this place is Brewster’s Pizza and Wimberley Brewing Company. As you walk into Wimberley you will notice there are a lot of kids running around. Actually, they’re not running around, they’re working. This is a true family business, run by the Collies. Try the spinach pizza.

NOW OPEN IN CEDAR PARK, TX

FEATURING

25+ Rotating Guest Beers on Tap 5 House Brewed Mainstays In-House Roasted Coffee Locally Sourced Foods 13010 W Parmer Lane, Ste 800 Cedar Park, Texas 78613 (512) 986-7038 REDHORNBREW.COM

5904 Bee Cave Road Tap room open Fridays and Saturdays 5â&#x20AC;&#x201C;9 pm

LAST CALL

Grady Wright of Wright Bros. Brew & Brew LAST CALL BEER RECOMMENDATIONS I’ll steal this one from the late Hank Thompson, “(you) got time for one more round, And a six pack to go.” Grab one last proper (20oz) pint and six roadies of your go-to beer. My go-to beers for this 92oz last round are The One They Call Zoe, Fire Eagle & Hans’ and I’m the beer buyer here, so that means my three amigos will always be stocked up in our retail fridge for your road-pleasure, wait, I’m sure there’s a better way to say that. FAVORITE SHIFT BEER The one with my thumb in it. BIGGEST WALKED TAB Seth Jones, every time he leaves. We’ve bartered a deal that lets him run a tab for days or weeks at a time in exchange for his mustache’s services as our ofﬁcial mascot. LAST CALL CEREMONIES We keep it pretty simple. Crank up the lights, crank up the metal and hustle to close up shop in time for a beer or two at one the those “real bars” that closes at 2am. CLOSING TIME SONG Jimmy Buffet’s Cheeseburger in Paradise. I can’t explain my borderline sadistic fascination with this song, but it and I have quite a history. It also chases off any lingering customers with normal, decent taste and, since we don’t serve yard-aritas, it clears the house almost every time. Heaven on earth with onion slice . . .

WEIRDEST/CRAZIEST LAST CALL EXPERIENCE I didn’t witness it firsthand, but our fearless parking attendant, Chen, who regulates the parking lot across the street where our 15 parking spots reside was robbed at gunpoint just before last call one night. Luckily, the master criminals who robbed him don’t know how crime works and fired two shots in the air to scare him only to steal his backpack full of personal goods instead of the cash he had collected that day. HARDEST CUSTOMER TO GET OUT Honestly, it’s me. Our customers are respectful, great people and I’m . . . well, I’m me. On my nights off, I love to wander behind the bar to mess with the music, get in the way and pour myself beer after they’ve cleaned out the drip tray. You know, typical jerk-owner stuff, but that’s your right when you use your trust fund money to buy a winning lottery ticket and open one of these new cash-cow, fancy beer bars I heard so much about. High five, bro.