Stop for a Shiner in Gruene, Texas

When people think of the regions where great American craft beer is brewed, they usually think of the West Coast, the Northeast and the Great Lakes region.  Texas and the Southwest are typically not thought of as great beer regions. In fact when people think of beer in Texas, Corona, Tecate and Shiner Bock are probably the first brews that come to mind.  However, after visiting San Antonio and Austin last week, I can say that Texas does have good beers, breweries and most importantly great beer culture.

 Real Ale Brewery

Of all of the new (to me) breweries I sampled in Texas, I was most impressed with the Real Ale Brewery out of Austin.  Since they offer a variety pack, I was able to sample all of their year-round beer.  Included in the pack were refreshing blonde ale, a sessionable brown, and an interesting pale ale hopped with Saaz.  While all were very tasty, my favorite was their Full Moon Pale Rye Ale.  Pale ales with rye (or Rye-P-As) are quickly becoming one of my favorite new styles. While Full Moon wasn’t quite on par with the superb Bear Republic Hot Rod Rye, it is definitely in league with others like Founders Red’s Rye and Terrapin’s Rye Pale Ale.   

Draught House Pub and Brewery

The two most important aspects of a successful beer bar are selection and price.  Who cares if there isn’t enough wood paneling and the waitresses are inattentive?  Good beer at a reasonable price is really all that matters.  The Draught House Pub and Brewery definitely has these two bases covered.  There were about 40 taps in all, including Bigfoot, Yakima Twilight, A Little Sumpin’ Extra, Arrogant Bastard and some very tasty ales brewed on sight.    In addition to the top notch selection, the prices were very reasonable.  Emily and I had 8 beers altogether and the tab was under $30.  Try finding that in DC!  The only real problem was that the barroom was packed and to place your order you had to wait in a line that snaked out the door.  I don’t mind standing at the bar waiting to be served, but there is something unsettling about standing in a line at a bar that isn’t for the bathroom.   

Central Market

Imagine the selection of a great bottle shop but with the convenience and prices of a mega-mart; that’s Central Market.  Central Market is a gourmet grocery that is like a cross between Wegmen’s and Whole Foods.  They seem to be everywhere in Texas.  We happened to venture into the one in north Austin.  Their selection was amazingly good.  There were sixpacks, bombers and single bottles of wide variety of brews.  I even saw some pretty rare “wet hop” beers that have been off the shelves in DC since November.  At this point they’re probably past their prime, but it’s nice to see a store that doesn’t get completely picked over the second a new seasonal comes out.  Along with the usual suspects like Stone, Rogue, Bear Republic and Sierra Nevada, Central Market also featured a lot of local Texas beers, as well as a few breweries that don’t distribute to DC like Boulevard Brewing out of Kansas City and New Belgium out of Fort Collins Colorado.