Best Breweries in Austin
June 1, 2023
|
We all know Austin is a foodie destination, but over the years, the beer scene has really been, well, brewing! Today, Austin boasts the largest number of breweries in all of Texas, with several earning national and even international recognition. Whether you are happy for hops, love to get sour, or just enjoy a classic golden ale, the Heywood has got you covered for the best breweries in Austin.
Best Breweries in East Austin
Our East Austin neighborhood has become THE hot spot for craft brews in Austin. And when you stay at the Heywood Hotel, you can tour them all in style on one of our complimentary bikes! Read on for where to find the perfect pint purveyors on the Eastside.
Located a few short blocks down E. Cesar Chavez from the Heywood Hotel, Blue Owl Brewing sour mashes well-known beer styles into new experiences. Their beers include Little Boss Sour Session Wheat, Spirit Animal Sour Pale Ale, Van Dayum! Sour Red Ale and Professor Black Sour Cherry Stout. Make sure to check out their summer seasonal Tropical Brut, a passion fruit and mango sour sparkling ale. Their cute front patio is a great place to enjoy your selections, and be sure to pick up a six pack of cans to take home.
Photo courtesy of Central Machine Works Brewery.
Continue east along E. Cesar Chavez to find Central Machine Works Brewery, just two miles from the Heywood Hotel. This industrial-chic microbrewery also has a full bar and tasty bites (try the warm German potato salad!). The building is a converted WWII-era machine shop, now housing the brewery, an enormous-yet-stylish beer hall and restaurant. The outdoor beer garden is equally one of the largest patios in Austin and often hosts local live music. Central Machine Works brews a variety of styles. The American Lager, Citrus Pale Ale and Kolsch are the must-tries among a list of around 10 beers brewed in house. Though a relative new-comer to the Austin beer scene, Central Machine Works has quickly established itself as a guest favorite!
Photo courtesy of Zilker Brewing Company.
Pedal down East 6th to Zilker Brewing Company, one of Austin’s premiere brewers and the official beer supplier of the Heywood! (Did you know that all Heywood guests receive complimentary Zilkers at check in?) We love Zilker’s dedication to fostering community and making craft beer accessible. And of course we love their beer! Their friendly taproom features a large selection of their brews, including the full-bodied Marco IPA, roasty Coffee Milk Stout, crisp and citrusy Parks & Rec Pale Ale, easy-drinking Honey Blonde and the lively Chaos Magic blackberry kettle sour. The variety and quality of their craft makes them recognized as one of the best breweries in Austin. Want to get spicy with it? Check out the fried chicken at Spicy Boys Chicken food truck, parked just outside on their front patio.
A block away is Lazarus Brewing Co., which has a great taco menu in addition to fine craft brews. Some of our favorites include Amandus (Belgian-style golden ale), Despereaux (French saison), Amélie #4 (French ale) and Queen Lucy (Belgian pale ale with spices). Their enormous outdoor patio is a great place to enjoy a pint any day of the week. Pro tip: their queso fundido with chorizo goes well with every brew!
If you’ve got more in ya, head a little further east to Friends and Allies Brewing on Springdale Road. Founded by two beer industry veterans, Friends and Allies uses West Coast brewing techniques to deliver fresh, high-quality, unique local beers including Noisy Cricket Session IPA, Fresh Coast IPA, Urban Chicken Saison and Springdale White Ale. Don’t be surprised to find live music on the patio during the weekends. This is Austin, right?
Photo courtesy of Austin Eastciders.
Right next door is Austin Eastciders. Here you can grab unique, award-winning ciders including Original Dry Cider, Blood Orange, Pineapple, Hopped and Texas Honey, plus special editions. This is a great, gluten-free option! Their aproom is open Tuesday through Sunday, or feel free to pick up a six pack to enjoy on the Heywood Hotel patio!
A few miles north on Manor Road, you can find Batch Craft Beer and Kolaches. Batch’s brews are flavor forward and adventurous. For example, Abuelita XX is a Mexican hot chocolate stout with spices, peppers, XXTra Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and Abuelita mix — “Aye!” Enjoy a beer on their spacious patio, and be sure to grab a few of their renowned kolaches and other baked goods.
Photo courtesy of Oddwood Brewing.
Less than a block away from Batch is Oddwood Brewing. Focusing on American-style wild ales and hoppy pale ales, the aptly named Oddwood looks to bring whimsy and personality to their beers and their brewpub. The taproom typically features a rotating selection of around a dozen of their beers, along with additional options available by can or bottle. Jersey-style thin-crust pizza is served. The taproom and outdoor patio are open Tuesday through Sunday.
Best Breweries Around Austin
If you wish to venture further afield, there are dozens of breweries located around the broader Austin area. Here we highlight some of our personal favorites.
Photo courtesy of St. Elmo Brewing Co.
St. Elmo Brewing Co. is located just a couple of miles south of the Heywood Hotel in the growing St. Elmo Market District. This great little brewery has a comfortable outdoor patio area fit for an afternoon hang. St. Elmo features more than 15 beers on tap including local favorite Carl Kolsch, which is served around town by in-the-know restaurants. Other selections include Chico Pale Ale, Slater American IPA and a rotating selection of seasonal options including stouts, sours, doppelbocks and more. Plenty of patio seating, food provided by the Spicy Boys pop-up trailer, and fun nightly events like “Grassy Thursdays” (bluegrass bands!) make this South Austin charmer special.
Also note that St. Elmo is also located right next door to Still Austin Distillery which specializes in “grain-to-glass” bourbon and gin, and has another great outdoor space. In the same complex is The Austin Winery, a full production urban winery with all wines made here in Austin.
Photo courtesy of the ABGB.
The Austin Beer Garden Brewing Company, known fondly as the ABGB, is a charming independent brewery in South Austin with national recognition. Winner of the Great American Beer Festival’s “Brewpub of the Year” in 2016, 2017 and 2018, the ABGB combines good food with good music and, of course, good beer. Their award-winning “always” beers include Hell Yes Helles, a 2018 gold medal winner at the GABF, Industry Pilsner, which took home the gold in 2016, and the three-gold-medal awarded Rocket 100, a pre-Prohibition style pilsner, which also took home the bronze in the 2016 World Beer Cup! In addition to these award-winners, Their taproom also serves a rotating selection of “sometimes” beers including a current favorite — Strawberry Citrus Stimulus, an American sour.
ABGB’s kitchen serves surprisingly creative pizzas, sandwiches and salads using locally sourced ingredients. Local live musicians take the stage each week. And its expansive Oak-covered patio is one of the largest and friendliest in all of Austin. We love their Can with a Cause program which shares the proceeds of a select beer with an Austin community organization. The current collaboration is with Austin’s Dawa Fund, which provides direct funds to people of color experiencing short term financial crisis. The ABGB is not only one of the best breweries in Austin, its own of Austin’s best neighbors as well.
Photo courtesy of Pinthouse Brewing.
Pinthouse Brewing has been known for just shy of a decade among Austin locals primarily for their inviting and always bustling pizza-pub restaurants. Meanwhile, Pinthouse has been making a huge name for itself in national craft beer circles, making it not only one of the best breweries in Austin, but one of the best in the country.
In 2018, Pinthouse was recognized as one of the top three small breweries in the US by Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine, which awarded Electric Jellyfish IPA with a 96 rating. The same year, Electric Jellyfish was named the Best Beer in Texas by Zymurgy Magazine. Its Green Battles IPA not only won gold at the 2018 Great American Beer Festival, it also claimed gold that year at the World Beer Cup, considered the Olympics of beer competitions! In fact, a total of six Pinthouse beers have medaled at these competitions, including Bearded Seal Dry Irish Stout and Cosmic Sloth Belgian Quad, which took home the gold at GABF 2020.
Also in 2020, the brewery purchased a 29,000 square foot facility to expand its production and serve as a local brew pub. The new location of Pinthouse Brewing on Ben White Boulevard, just four miles south of the Heywood Hotel, offers a big and bright, modern industrial-style environment (pictured). While this location does not serve pizza, it serves an expanding menu of scratch-made goods including burrata caprese, pimento cheese jammers, quinoa salads and an excellent meatball sub.
Photo courtesy of Independence Brewing.
Tucked away in an unassuming office park less than a mile east of Pinthouse, Independence Brewing offers an easygoing take on the brewery experience. The industrial-style taproom and AstroTurf-covered patio area are great places to sample from more than a dozen beers on tap, including Stash IPA and Native Texan Pilsner, and seasonals like their Redbud series of Berliner Weiss. Check their website for live music and trivia nights.
Image courtesy of Hold Out Brewing.
Hold Out Brewing is the newest kid on the block in the Austin craft beer scene! The brewery and taproom is located right next door to their sister restaurant Better Half Coffee & Cocktails in the Clarksville neighborhood, just west of downtown Austin. Choose from a selection of pale ales and lagers and, heads up, their burger is not to be missed!
Image courtesy of Austin Beerworks.
Austin Beerworks: Take a trip a few miles north to visit this Austin beer institution known for their good beer, colorful cans, and friendly environment. Take a tour of the brewery, have a pint, or sample a flight of some ABW’s finest. Their go-tos include the Peacemaker (an anytime ale), Pearl-Snap (a German-style pils), and Fire Eage (an American IPA). But don’t miss out on one of their tart seasonals like the Bloodwork Orange of the Tropical Einhorn.
Live Oak Brewing Co. sits on 22 acres in Southeast Austin, not far from Austin Bergstrom airport. One of the oldest Austin breweries, Live Oak opened back in 1997 and brews beers that are popular across the state including Live Oak Hefeweizen, Pilz and Big Bark Amber Lager. This location is a real treat for locals and out of towners, offering the chance to while the day away under the canopy of the property’s enormous live oaks. Though the location is just 8 miles from downtown, it feels worlds away from the hustle and bustle of the city. While the taproom is currently closed due to Covid-19 safety precautions, beer pours can be enjoyed at distanced picnic tables across the enormous grounds, and cans can be purchased for imbibing on the property’s 12-hold disc golf course.
Photo courtesy of Jester King.
Just out of town, but just right, Jester King is a beer lover’s dream destination! The brewery, which specializes in limited run “wild yeast” varietals, is located on a sprawling farm, just under 20 miles from the hotel. Be sure to grab a made-in-house pizza while you are there, because even their pizza celebrates the art of beer making. Ingredients are sourced from fermented or foraged ingredients, and their dough contains 100% Texas grains and is leavened with the same wild yeast they use to ferment their beer. Walk it off on their hiking trails covering 165 acres of beautiful Hill Country land, and be sure to visit the “goat barn” if you are an animal lover. Reservations are strongly recommended.
Or How About A Guided Beer Tour of Austin’s Best Breweries?
The Heywood Hotel concierge team can plan a custom itinerary with a private driver so you can spend the day touring the best breweries around Austin. Or perhaps you’d be interested in an guided bike and brew tour? We can do that too! Or if you’d just like to grab a six pack and kick back on the lovely Heywood Hotel courtyard patio, that’s always an option.
Whatever your interests and whatever your speed, the Heywood Hotel would love to help. Reach out and let’s plan your adventure!
Heywood Hotel Austin Courtyard Patio. Cheers!
Featured image courtesy of Blue Owl Brewing.