The Austin craft beer scene is booming! Austin is becoming the beer destination place to visit. We get many emails from people coming to visit Austin for the weekend and are looking for recomendations on breweries, craft beer bars and local food. I decided to put together an article for the craft beer enthusiasts that are coming to Austin for a weekend and want to try our local beer and food. There are many more places to visit, you can view them on our Texas Brewery/Brewpub Map here.
Friday
After leaving the airport, the nearest brewery is Live Oak Brewing, which is only 10 minutes by car. A German-built brewhouse offers year-round beers, like Pilz, and seasonal ones, like Primus Weizenbock, Grodziskie, and Lichtenhainer. The brewery, nestled among majestic groves of live oaks along the Colorado River, is just minutes from downtown Austin. Features a spacious taproom and the shadiest Biergarten in town.
Or you can check out the newly opened Hi Sign Brewing, which is 5 minutes away by car. Hi Sign’s core four beers will include a blonde, a New England IPA, a pale ale and a very special blood orange coffee stout made with Ubuntu Coffee.
If you are hungry and want to check out some local places, head over to Rainey Street. There you will find Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden with the largest tap wall in Austin (30 house made sausages & over 100 beers on tap). They have a huge outdoor area where you can enjoy the beautiful Austin weather.
Another great spot on Rainey Street is Craft Pride (open 4pm on Friday). Craft Pride is a hip stop with many Texas craft beers on tap, plus a Detroit style Pizza Via 313 food truck parked by the patio. They even have delicious gluten free pizza option. Everything from the design, décor and construction truly represents the Pride in “Craft”. A separate retail Bottle Shop is located in the rear of the space, which allows guests to purchase their favorite craft beer to go. For those who are gluten intolerant, they also have gluten free beer, organic beer and ciders available in bottles.
If you are looking for a taste of Belgium, then located on Congress Ave is the newly opened Mort Subite, Belgian inspired pub. They feature 24 Belgian taps, 40+ Belgian bottled beers, unique Belgian spirits and more.
If you are still looking for more beer places to check out, head over to Waller Creek Pub House (open until 2am on Friday). The space has plenty of indoor and outdoor seating and aims to be the new hang out destination. The pub features an impressive 30 handle tap wall and elevated pub food.
Across the street from Waller Creek is Easy Tiger Bake Shop and Beer Garden. Easy Tiger is a hip hangout with both a bakery/cafe & a creekside beer garden serving simple snacks & cheeses. They also have a great outdoor patio area with ping pong tables.
Saturday
If you want to try craft beer and a French inspired fare, then Hopfield’s is the perfect place. Hopfield’s has a swanky, modern classic environment. They offer a large selection craft beers on tap, cans and in bottles paired with a menu that includes items such as Steak Frites, Marrow Bones, and mussels.
There are 4 breweries close to each other that you can visit (4th Tap, Adelbert’s, Oskar Blues & newly re opened Celis Brewery).
Starting at noon, check out Oskar Blues. Every weekend you can expect great brews, great food trucks, and great tunes in our 5,000 sq. ft. Tasty Weasel Taproom and/or 2000 sq. ft. patio.
In the same area is Adelbert’s Brewery. Adelbert’s brew Belgian-style, bottle-conditioned ales. They use non-GMO Bohemian floor malted barley, Noble hops, and fresh yeast propagated at the brewery.
4th Tap, is the first worker-owned cooperatively-governed production brewery in Texas, and one of the first in the United States. 4th Tap is 100% owned by the people who work on the floor day-in and day-out.
Celis Brewery, founded by Christine Celis in Austin, Texas, brews Belgian-style ales and other beers, including the original witbier that Pierre Celis brewed in Hoegaarden, Belgium. The brewery is an extension of the Celis family legacy and builds on the award-winning craft beer heritage for which the family is known.
Sunday
I saved Sunday for a trip out to the Hill Country. If you don’t have a car, you can use Uber, Lyft or Fasten.
One of my favorite visits is Jester King Brewery (open at noon on Sunday). Jester King is an authentic farmhouse brewery committed to mixed culture and spontaneous fermentation. Their beers incorporate our natural surroundings and local arigulture, so as to make beer uniquely tied to a time, place, and people. Their tasting room provides a beautiful, relaxed setting to enjoy the Texas Hill Country with friends and family. Stanley’s Farmhouse Pizza is located there which offers handcrafted, artisan pizza using fresh ingredients found at local farms and gardens whenever possible. They have their own beer list which features breweries here in Austin as well as across the US.
Close by is Last Stand Brewing. Their year round production beers are the Belgian Pale Ale, Simcoe Pale Ale, SMaSH Citra IPA, and Coffee Porter. In addition they have 4 rotating taps that change frequently. They usually have a food truck on weekends.
Next door you can find Argus Cidery. Argus Cidery is Austin’s first cider house, making distinctly dry, effervescent ciders and other fermentables that are 100% fruit. They offer cider flights, cider by the glass and bottles to enjoy at the cidery or to go.
Another great spot right next door is Revolution Spirits Distilling Company. Try the Austin Reserved Gin, Single Barrel Series or the featured Gin Cocktails. Cafecito Coffee Liqueur and the Revolution Spirits Farmhouse Series Fruit Liqueurs — Apricot, Cherry and Raspberry.
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