craft beer - 4/4 - The Austinot

Hops and Grain: Austin’s Sustainable Brewery

February 18, 2015 by Bill Tucker 1 Comment

A glass of fantastic beer welcomes you at Hops and Grain (Credit: Hops and Grain)

Walking into the Hops and Grain taproom is like stumbling upon a hip family barbeque. Long picnic benches line the modest space. Board games are stacked up, ready to be played. A psychobilly band plays circus rock from the brewery loading dock.

Not only is this East Austin original one of the best breweries in town, but it’s also one of the most well rounded. With a fun vibe, great brews and an eye towards ecological sustainability, Hops and Grain has quickly become one of the crown jewels in the Austin beer scene. [Read more…]

Go Inside the Private Cellar of Austin’s Top Beer Bars

February 10, 2015 by Edgar Barguiarena 1 Comment

Deep inside your your favorite bars in Austin, tucked away in cool, dark corners, are some of the rarest beers in the city. These brews are made in extremely limited quantities and are typically the priciest beers in a brewery’s lineup. They will be stored, or “cellared,” for years to allow time to enhance the unique qualities of each brew.

This is the subculture of aging beer—and it is big business in Austin and throughout the rest of the country. The practice of saving limited-release beer has taken off over the last few years, as Austin’s best breweries and overall distribution networks have matured.

To be clear, these aren’t your pale ales and lagers that are being aged for years at a time. If you’ve ever opened a Firemans 4 that has been hiding in your refrigerator’s veggie tray for too long, you’ll know why some beers have an expiration date. Instead, Austin’s bars store your stouts, porters and dark ales. The boozier, the better.

Don’t stop reading now. You’re about to get a behind the scenes look into the cellar programs for storing rare beers at some of the top bars in Austin. [Read more…]

Austin Brewery Tours Highlight City’s Growing Industry

November 19, 2014 by Matthew Champion 3 Comments

Jesse and Andrew of ATXcursions (Credit: ATXcursions)

When I was offered a chance to check out ATXcursions, Austin’s newest craft brewery tour company, I jumped at the opportunity. Austin has one of the fastest growing beer scenes in the nation and quality beer is popping up in every corner, so I figured I was bound to have a good time. I love being right. [Read more…]

Austin’s Newest Brewery Preps for Biggest Beer Festival in U.S.

September 22, 2014 by Edgar Barguiarena 2 Comments

The spectacular views at Oasis Brewing are amongst the best at any brewery, anywhere in the country (Credit: Oasis Texas Brewing Company)

Hops, Grain, Yeast, Water. A combination of these basic ingredients drives competitive brewers and beer nerds alike to Denver every year for the Great American Beer Festival.

Just as the first snow begins to coat the top of the Rockies, breweries and beer fans from across the country gather at the Denver Convention Center for a three-day beer festival of epic proportions.

By the end of the festival, only a few of the 600+ breweries that formally enter the competition will walk away with a coveted GABF medal.

Bringing home a medal can put a brewery on the map. Just ask Josh Hare of Hops & Grain. In 2012, Hops & Grain brought home a gold medal for their ALTeration, a German style alt-bier.

Yes, bringing gold back to Austin before even celebrating your first anniversary in business buys you instant credibility. This is the level of success Spencer Tielkemeier of Oasis Texas Brewing Company hopes to achieve less than two weeks from now. [Read more…]

WhichCraft Is Austin’s First Craft-Only Beer Store

April 28, 2014 by Matthew Champion 2 Comments

WhichCraft opened on April 19, 2014 in Austin

Editor’s Note: WhichCraft is closing its original location on Sept. 22, 2018. The newer Mueller location will remain open.

Do you ever get tired of sifting through all the crappy domestic beers at the grocery store to get to what you want? Come on, guys. I drank that stuff in college, but I’m grown now. I look for quality over quantity and I like to actually taste my beers and distinguish them from one another.

If you’re not looking for what you’re forced to drink at a baseball game, head over to WhichCraft, where you’ll probably be interested in nearly everything on the shelves.

WhichCraft has impressively filled a niche that was still available for the taking in Austin, by becoming the city’s first craft-only beer store. No sifting through the shelves here. You won’t find any of the watered-down lighter lagers from the big beer companies, or wine or liquor for that matter. When WhichCraft says craft beer only, they mean it. [Read more…]

Best Austin Craft Beer Joints: Porter Ale House and Gastropub

April 21, 2014 by Edgar Barguiarena Leave a Comment

Your friendly neighborhood bar, set to the background of South 1st traffic

Editor’s Note: Porter Ale House closed on July 27, 2017.

The craft beer scene in Austin is blowing up. For every new brewery that opens, there are at least three bars that pop up, eager to serve you the best local beers that Austin has to offer.

Continuing the tradition Eric started with his Best Burger Joint in Austin series, I’m profiling and reviewing the best craft beer joints in Austin, with the occasional stop or two at bars that have room for improvement. I’ll take into consideration everything from beer selection to ambiance to overall value, and everything in between.

Please join me as I try to catalog your favorite watering holes in Austin, and let me know what you think in a comment below.

First Impressions: Porter Ale House and Gastropub

The 78704 zip is home to plenty of good bars and some of the best restaurants in town, but it was never quite considered a craft beer destination. The opening of ABGB last year started to change that reputation and the recent debut of Austin’s first dedicated craft beer bottle shop, Whichcraft, further solidified this status. Further south, just within the boundaries of the 78704 zip code on South 1st near 71, Porter Ale House and Gastropub is another welcome addition to the now thriving craft beer scene in South Austin. [Read more…]

Austin Beer Garden Brewing Company Draws a Crowd to South Austin

February 26, 2014 by Matthew Champion Leave a Comment

Fly, ABGB, Fly (Photo credit: TheSimplifiers.com)

Every time I head out to the Austin Beer Garden Brewing Company, it’s always packed to the brim with people. There’s good reason for this, and it’s admirable that ABGB has been able to develop such a following in less than a year. They opened their doors last summer and it seems like they’ve never closed since.

Despite the new company name, the people behind the brand are not inexperienced when it comes to the craft beer game. Head Brewers Amos Lowe and Brian Peters hold nearly fifty years of collective experience between them, with former leading positions held at Uncle Billy’s Brew and Que and Live Oak Brewing Company. [Read more…]

The Ultimate Guide to Austin Beer Week 2013

October 23, 2013 by Edgar Barguiarena 5 Comments

Prosit!

Austin Beer Week (def): held shortly after Great American Beer Festival (GABF), a week dedicated to all things craft beer in the great city of Austin Texas, whereas brewers who are just getting over their GABF hangover celebrate their craft with the rest of the city during special keg tappings, meet-the-brewer sessions, anniversary parties, and the inevitable hangover or four.

On the brink of a record-setting run at the Great American Beer Festival (the granddaddy of all U.S. beer competitions) Austin is gearing up for its biggest week in beer yet. Six of the 10 Texas medals were earned by folks in the Austin area, including 2 gold medals (!). So you can be sure our favorite brewers are putting out their best stuff yet. Texas is still only 6th in medal count, but we are going up against the original regions that have always been known for craft beer. Given how young our breweries are, this is an impressive achievement. [Read more…]