Hey Austin brewers I need your advice. We will be staying in Austin for a long weekend and would like to know any of your favorite places for Beer, BBQ or Music. I have Jester King, Flying Saucer and Gingerman on my list as of now. Thanks.
Jester King is a brewery and they do serve beer and some food on certain days, so be sure to check their schedule. Gingerman and Flying Saucer are just beer bars, although good ones - eat first. Draught House is a brewpub and if you’re here on a Tuesday, that’s the place to be - cheap pours on everything they sell. Uncle Billy’s is a brewpub with decent BBQ and better beer. Whip-In is a brewpub with a good selection of taps plus Indian food, which is really good if a little expensive.
If you want great BBQ, you have two choices in Austin - Franklin’s (expect to stand in line for at least an hour, usually two, so get there early) and Mueller’s, who has recently re-opened on the east side. Mueller’s is better (Mueller trained Franklin). If you’re willing to drive 30 minutes, Black’s in Lockhart is a good choice. Granzin’s in New Braunfels (about 45 minutes out) is another good one (be sure to go to their bakery, too). And if you want the best in central Texas, head out to Cooper’s in Llano - you can make that a day-trip with an early lunch at Cooper’s, a hike at Enchanted Rock, then dinner an a couple of pints at The Brewery in Frederiksburg (beer’s nothing special, but it tastes good after hiking).
Shadetree,
Thanks for the info. We will try Muellers and maybe Franklin’s. We tried Blacks about 10 years back while visiting San Antonio. We took a day trip from SA and stumbled upon Gruene Hall while on the way to Lockhart. Great place to catch some music on a weekend afternoon. I checked out Jester King’s website and they have tours and tastings on Saturday. I was not aware that you cannot purchase bottles while at a brewery in Texas. I was hoping to bring a few back with me, but I guess I will need to find a bottle shop.
Just thought of another possibility - I bet Whole Foods carries Jester King and the downtown location actually has pretty decent BBQ for sale, eat-in or take-out, and you might be able to actually drink some JK along with the BBQ right there in the store.
[quote=“baileyjoe”]these guys are solid http://www.512brewing.com/[/quote]Yep, and they’re just down the street from me too! Same rules apply though - they’re a micro, not a brewpub, so can only sell glasses and fill with “free” beer so you have to hit them at the designated tour times in order to sample. Or else find their beers on tap - Pecan Porter (they use roasted pecans in the mash) and IPA (nice balance if you’re not in the mood to scald your tongue with alpha acid) are the two that I like.
Baileyjoe, are you a Zealot?
[quote=“sqhead”]Shadetree,
Thanks for the info. We will try Muellers and maybe Franklin’s. We tried Blacks about 10 years back while visiting San Antonio. We took a day trip from SA and stumbled upon Gruene Hall while on the way to Lockhart. Great place to catch some music on a weekend afternoon. I checked out Jester King’s website and they have tours and tastings on Saturday. I was not aware that you cannot purchase bottles while at a brewery in Texas. I was hoping to bring a few back with me, but I guess I will need to find a bottle shop.[/quote]
Distribution laws in TX are not so good. You can be a brewpub and sell directly to the public but no retail distribution or you can be a brewery and sell through a retailer but not directly. If you are a brewpub out of state, you allowed to distribute through retailers though. Go figure…
[quote=“mvsawyer”]Distribution laws in TX are not so good. You can be a brewpub and sell directly to the public but no retail distribution or you can be a brewery and sell through a retailer but not directly. If you are a brewpub out of state, you allowed to distribute through retailers though. Go figure…[/quote]I’ve lost track of the bills in the legislature, but there are a couple that will change these idiotic restrictions, making it possible to sell brewpub beer wholesale and brewery beer retail. If they pass, should see a nice growth spurt at the low-volume end of the brewing spectrum.
Now if we could just get them to let us buy beer and wine before noon on Sundays and liquor after 9:00PM…
[quote=“Shadetree”][quote=“mvsawyer”]Distribution laws in TX are not so good. You can be a brewpub and sell directly to the public but no retail distribution or you can be a brewery and sell through a retailer but not directly. If you are a brewpub out of state, you allowed to distribute through retailers though. Go figure…[/quote]I’ve lost track of the bills in the legislature, but there are a couple that will change these idiotic restrictions, making it possible to sell brewpub beer wholesale and brewery beer retail. If they pass, should see a nice growth spurt at the low-volume end of the brewing spectrum.
Now if we could just get them to let us buy beer and wine before noon on Sundays and liquor after 9:00PM…[/quote]
Blue laws…Even more ridiculous than the distribution laws.
It’d be nice to see some of that southern beer up here in north TX.
Now if we could just get them to let us buy beer and wine before noon on Sundays and liquor after 9:00PM…[/quote]
Don’t feel bad, Brother…We just got Sunday alcohol sales, ( after Noon), on Sunday, within the past year!
[quote=“Shadetree”][quote=“baileyjoe”]these guys are solid http://www.512brewing.com/[/quote]Yep, and they’re just down the street from me too! Same rules apply though - they’re a micro, not a brewpub, so can only sell glasses and fill with “free” beer so you have to hit them at the designated tour times in order to sample. Or else find their beers on tap - Pecan Porter (they use roasted pecans in the mash) and IPA (nice balance if you’re not in the mood to scald your tongue with alpha acid) are the two that I like.
Baileyjoe, are you a Zealot?[/quote]
nope…i have some great friends that live down there. they had a party for SXSW two years ago with some bands (whiskey shivers showed up to play show number 2 of 5 that day) and 512brewing donated a few kegs. perfect TX ipa fit the climate well.
