Beer Tripping in Spring, TX

The northern suburbs of Houston are teeming with breweries, but only a handful of beers from the area find their way to Austin. While Magnolia’s Lone Pint might be the only brewery from that part of the state with consistent distribution across Central Texas, some of the best-regarded and most up-and-coming breweries in the Lone Star state can be found between Montgomery and Cypress. By Untappd ratings, eleven of the top fifty breweries in Texas are in this area, almost twice as many as Austin and Cedar Park (six breweries in the top 50). In my previous visits to the Houston area, I had never been further north than IAH, but a trip to visit newly moved family and a former coworker friend got me to Spring.  

My first stop was Excalibur Brewing in Old Town Spring. With 23 taps in a wide range of styles, Excalibur has something for every beer drinker as well as hard seltzer and non-alcoholic root beer. I tried a black gose, a barrel-aged scotch ale, a spruce tip IPA, a triple IPA, and a barrel-aged sour ale, all served in a distinctly Arthurian flight carrier: 

The breadth of the menu was impressive, and all of the beers were as well-made as they were unique. My personal favorite was the spruce tip IPA, which was easily the best spruce beer I have ever tasted. The brewery is also situated in the only walkable area of Spring and has a nice beer garden with views of historical buildings. Good beer, good ambiance, and a good location—Excalibur has everything I want from a brewery. 

The second brewery I visited was Mad LLama Brewing, located in an anonymous industrial park 15 minutes driving west of Old Town Spring. Unlike the BA-heavy lineup at Excalibur, Mad LLama’s emphasis is on clean beers, all with llama pun names. I tried the Okto Llama Brau, Munich DunkeLlama, Nut Brown Farro Llama, and Fa La La La Llama winter ale. The German beers were crisp and delicious and the brown was solid, but the winter ale stole the show. It’s rare to find a beer with baking spice flavors that still finishes cleanly, which this one did.  

   While much smaller than the nearby communities of Cypress and Conroe, Spring punches above its weight class with two very different (but very good) breweries. A trip to suburban Houston isn’t as exciting as Scotland or Ybor City, but if life ever takes you to Spring, make sure to check Excalibur and Mad LLama out!