Once a year, for each of the past five years, I have taken a week off to go to Austin, Texas. Austin has quite the reputation as a food destination(canyou saybrisket?!), and is one of the best knownepicenters for live music in the US. Recently though, the Austin beer scene has seen quite the uptick in breweries, many of whom are brewing award-winning beers. Spending a few days in Austin? Here’s three must hit breweries to enjoy some amazing beers at!
The Austin Beer Garden Brewery(The ABGB as it’s called) has built up quite the pedigree in a short amount of time, since Opening in 2013. They have won the Great American Beer Festival’s brewpub of the year,(twice in a row!), won multiple GABF gold medals for their beers, and recently won a blind tasting in Paste Magazine’s 134 of the Best Pilsners Blind Tasting.
So, get yourself one of their awesome sandwiches(theMuffaletta was my personal favorite), a Pilsner of your choice, and enjoy this awesome space.
I feel no trip to Austin is complete without a pilgrimage to Jester King. Located about 30 minutes outside of downtown Austin, this hill country brewery is churning out some of the best farmhouse and mixed fermentation beers in the country.
One visit to Jester King and you can see the time and energy that’s gone into this place. A fully functioning farm(with goats!) that’s now over 160 acres big, is quite the shock from the bustle of downtown Austin. They also have delicious wood fired pizza available, as well as four bars operating at any given time, all with slightly different options.
Beer Recommendation – Any of their SPON offerings –“Methode Traditionelle”(think Gueuze)
I visited Blue Owl for the first time during my last visit to Austin this past August, and I was really impressed. This small brewery and taproom in East Austin does all Sour Mash beers. They inoculate their wort with wild yeast and bacteria from grain husks. Then they leave the wort in a vessel to control the lactobacillus(souring bacteria – think greek yogurt), then boil, hop, and ferment.
This creates varying levels of tartness, depending on the beer. They make everything from traditional sour mash beers like Berliner Weisse and Gose, but also do some fun things like Pilsners, IPA’s, or a favorite during my visit…
Beer Recommendation – Cool and the Gang – A Sour Mash English Mild with Earl Grey Tea
If you love beer, retail, people, hi-fives, and working hard for yourself and are thinking of taking that leap, check out our franchise information and fill out the application! We’d love to be a partner with you in the Austin beer scene!
