Beer in Texas

[binkman]

Visiting the girlfriends family in Austin over Christmas. Im looking to take some good brews back east with me. Any recommendations? I know its not Texas but Deschutes doesnt distribute in my neck of the woods, so Ive been loading up on them, for example. Is there any Pliny to be had in the Lone Star state?

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[dmccall]

No Pliny in TX, sorry.

 

[stevo155]

Heard these guys on the Brewing Network. Sounds like they are making some good beer. It might be worth checking out while you're in town.

Black Star Co-op

 

[abarhan]

Saint Arnold, If you can grab a pint of Live Oak they are great-no bottles though. Jester King is OK if you like farmhouse beers. I have tons beers if you are looking to trade big bottles in San Antonio

 

[helibrewer]

It's weird, but I am happy drinking Shiner Bock in Texas...It's the BBQ I miss from the few trips I made to San Antonio.

 

[Taypo]

Rahr. Their Winter Warmer is out right now, its pretty damn good. If you can put your hands on the bourbon aged version, even better. Shiner is good everyday, BBQ and wings beer. St Arnolds has always been "meh" in my book, but worth a try. Jester King is fighting the good fight and the beers are pretty decent.

 

[Jackson2008]

I am not sure if there is any in Austin, but Karbach (Houston) on tap. All of their releases have been good in my book. They are not canning yet.

Southern Star (Houston) & Austin Beerworks are both in cans and everything I have tried from both has been really good.

512 is an Austin brewer. Their Pecan Porter is excellent.

Uncle Billy's Brewpub in Austin has some really good beers.

 

[PIGMAN]

Do they still brew Lonestar?

 

[austun-reddog]

In Austin, definitely get some Jester King. Great local farmhouse brewery. :rockin: And I like it how they are stickin it to the TABC!
Live Oak is another great local brew -- BeerAdvocate rates their Hefe in the top 100 - it's really that good.
Real Ale from Blanco, TX is another excellent brewery with plenty of distribution around the area.
Ditto on the (512) Pecan Porter - great stuff

Also venture out to some of the local beer and brewpubs; Draught House, Black Star Coop, The Dig Pub, Whip In, Billy's on Burnet, Uncle Billy's Brew and Cue, North x Northwest, and the Gingerman. These all tailor to good brews and/or in house brewing.

If you do get a chance to visit Black Star Coop (the only beer coop in the States I believe), definitely try some of their own beers. But they also do have the Rahr Bourbon Aged Winter Warmer on tap -- yummy!

 

[binkman]

Can I get 512 in bottles? Didnt see it at Spec's.

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[roaster]

512 doesn't bottle most of their beers. They did just bottle their Wild Bear, an oak aged version of their hoppy brown, but they only bottled 480 of them.

Independence bottles though and their Convict Hill oatmeal stout and Stash IPA are great.

The Draught House is a great brewpub here to check out and there is a place in south Austin called Whip In that has a great selection of bottles.

 

[roaster]

Draught House also had the Rahr and Sons oak aged winter warmer on tap the other night

 

[thegerm]

I learned to drink beer on shiner bock. I find it kind of disgusting now. Saint Arnold makes good beer, but I haven't really found any of their beers to exactly stand out in a way to make me want to bring a 6pack back to jersey with me when I visit home.

lone star is like PBR for texans.

 

[Runyanka]

Jester King, Circle Brewing Company, 512 Brewery. These are just a couple of the craft beer scene in or near Austin. I know the owners of Circle Brewing Company, they are good guys!

 

[Dwain]

Real Ale Brewing Company in Blanco has some decent offerings:

Real Ale Brewing

 

[Taypo]

I learned to drink beer on shiner bock. I find it kind of disgusting now. Saint Arnold makes good beer, but I haven't really found any of their beers to exactly stand out in a way to make me want to bring a 6pack back to jersey with me when I visit home.

lone star is like PBR for texans.

Considering the owners, I'd say Lone Star is EXACTLY PBR for Texans

 

[Ravenshead]

Southern Star is great. I think their Buried Hatchet is my favorite stout for now.

 

[Waterintobeer]

You should look out for some austin beer works. They can, so that makes it easy to take back and they make some good every beers

 

[PantherCity]

Austin beer Works is the best in my oppinion. There pearl-snap Pils is Awesome. It is not your typical pilner, it is run through a hop back and heavily dry hopped. Crazy big hop aroma and flavor and super crisp. They also make a killer IPA (best in Texas) and a really good schwartzbier & XPA.

I would recommend heading to the Whip-In. it is a beer store/bar/Indian restaurant. They have all the good locals on tap (probably 30 taps) and what ever is available in package. They are about to start brewing on premises, and I'm pretty sure most the guys that work there brew and they are all really into beer.

Namaste Y'all!!

Also go check out Austin HomeBrew. Great shop and you can get a t-shirt from one of the local breweries.

 

[EllisTX]

The standouts IMO are Southern Star's Pine Belt Pale ale and their Buried Hatchet Stout. Real Ale has an excellent ipa called Lost Gold and their Brewhouse Brown isn't bad either. Rahr, unless you get their bourbon barrel aged beer, is pretty weak. All their beers I've tried fell flat. I've not spent much time in the Austin area so I can't help you much there.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Austin has lots of good beers from local breweries but you'll have a hard time finding them in bottles. The Gingerman downtown has a good selection of local beers as do many other bars named above. 512 and Live Oak are my favorite. Jester King is ok in my book but I would stay away from Independence; I do not like their beers at all.

If you are looking for beers to take home in bottles/cans, Rahr's winter warmer also gets my vote, especially if you can find the barrel aged version in bombers. I don't know how far it was distributed. Southern Star's beers are good. Real Ale is not my favorite brewery but you might find their beers to be the kind of beers you like to drink.

At Specs you might be able to find some European beers or beers from the west (sadly not much from California) that don't distribute east of the Mississippi. You should be able to find some good Colorado beers like Avery, New Belgium and Great Divide (Yeti is good stuff, as is their raspberry brett ale). You'll definitely find most or all of the Texas breweries at Specs.

Strangely, anywhere in Texas I've shopped tends to carry a lot of English/German beers and large domestic craft breweries but doesn't carry a lot of regional domestics (not that there are many outside of the Austin-Houston area) from the Southwest or Southeast. I think our distributors and retailers still think in 1970s terms that there is "import" (English/German/Dutch/Danish) and "domestic" (large domestic breweries) and ignore a lot of the smaller craft breweries.

 

[509inc]

When in Texas I always track down some 512 Pecan Porter. On the 512 website (512) Brewing Company | Austin, Texas Microbrewery | Find Us you can email then and they will send you a list of every where you can get 512 on tap. FYI

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

the Jester King Black Metal Stout is killer, def bring some back.

 

[Grippe]

JK and Austin Beer Works are both solid recommendations - do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle of Tito's vodka while you're at it.

Trust me on the Tito's.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Tito's is delicious.