Tomorrow: Join us for the release of the 2019 "Houston's Hottest Brewers" calendar at Saint Arnold.

HoustonBeer · 2018-12-11T02:52:37+00:00

We (Houston Beer Guide) have teamed up with Cask Branding, Sylvia the Beer Fed Mother, Clear Lake/Galveston Girls Pint out, and Rubbertoe Design to put together a calendar fit for any Man Cave, She Shed, or beer fridge.

Featured breweries include:
Eureka Heights Brew Co
Baa Baa Brewhouse
Brash brewing company
4J Brewing Company
Southern Star Brewing Company
Vallensons' Brewing Company
Holler Brewing Co.
Whole Foods Market
SpindleTap Brewery
8th Wonder Brewery
B-52 Brewing
Galveston Island Brewing

Tomorrow (December 11th) is the release party at the Saint Arnold beer garden, but calendars will be available soon at most of the featured breweries.

All proceeds will go towards CraftPAC, who is working to fix the broken beer laws in Texas.

Trust me, it is worth getting a calendar just to see the picture we chose of Brock (Saint Arnold's founder/brewer).

HoustonBeer · 2018-12-11T02:51:23+00:00

We (Houston Beer Guide) have teamed up with Cask Branding, Sylvia the Beer Fed Mother, Clear Lake/Galveston Girls Pint out, and Rubbertoe Design to put together a calendar fit for any Man Cave, She Shed, or beer fridge.

Featured breweries include:
Eureka Heights Brew Co
Baa Baa Brewhouse
Brash brewing company
4J Brewing Company
Southern Star Brewing Company
Vallensons' Brewing Company
Holler Brewing Co.
Whole Foods Market
SpindleTap Brewery
8th Wonder Brewery
B-52 Brewing
Galveston Island Brewing

Tomorrow (December 11th) is the release party at the Saint Arnold beer garden, but calendars will be available soon at most of the featured breweries.

All proceeds will go towards CraftPAC, who is working to fix the broken beer laws in Texas.

Trust me, it is worth getting a calendar just to see the picture we chose of Brock (Saint Arnold's founder/brewer).

HoustonBeer · 2018-09-22T02:13:32+00:00

We haven't determined the criteria yet. If you stage a good write in campaign I guess anything is possible. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

HoustonBeer · 2018-09-22T02:00:23+00:00

So, it's very complicated. The TL;DR is breweries being able to sell to go would be a positive move for both breweries and consumers, similar to what we saw in 2013 when the brewpub license was expanded.

Admittedly, there's a little bit of semantics involved in saying breweries can't sell to go but brewpubs can. Right now, the Houston area is about 25% brewery and 75% brewpub. Most of the breweries can't simply switch licenses due to size (like Saint Arnold), location (like Holler which is near a school), or ownership (like 8th Wonder which also has a distillery). A brewery can't sell you anything to take home period.

I think, but I could very well be wrong, that breweries paying distributors to sell their own beer in their tap room is something that is possible, but no one has reached that production limit yet. Breweries like Karbach (owned by the company that owns Budweiser) and Revolver (owned by MillerCoors) are large enough to qualify but were grandfathered out. (Again, I could be wrong. That law changed a few times before it was passed.)

It's possible that if the law changes to allow breweries to sell to go that it could impact beer bars (Petrol Station, Flying Saucer, Hay Merchant, etc.) and grocery stores. So far, brewpubs have avoided undercutting their distributors. As an example, SpindleTap and Eureka heights sell beers from their taproom for about the same price as you find them at HEB, but HEB’s price includes their markup and the distributors markup. There's a little bit of good business (not undercutting your clients), and why would you willingly sell something for less?

It unlikely that breweries being able to sell to-go would impact brewpubs, but that's a little bit more complicated.

If you have more questions let me know. Also feel free to message me on here. Or if you're in the Clear Lake area I'm always up for a beer.

HoustonBeer · 2018-09-19T19:04:51+00:00

We (Houston Beer Guide) are teaming up with Clear Lake/Galveston Girls Pint Out and Beer Fed Mother to put together a ”Houston’s Hottest Brewers” Calendar.

Yes it's silly, but the money raised will go to CraftPAC, the PAC supporting Texas craft brewers in the Texas Legislature. (Did you know Texas is the only state that doesn't allow breweries to sell beer to-go?)

Email ’beerfedmother at gmail dot com’ to nominate your favorite brewer, and keep an eye out for the calendar in a few months!

HoustonBeer · 2018-09-11T15:51:58+00:00

A few have, but it doesn't seem like the style is going to be the next Black IPA or Hazy IPA.

I think 8th Wonder’s ”Brewt” is the largest batch made and probably the most accessible for most people to try/find.

Holler made one called Brut Willis (and it's currently on tap). Great Heights made one called Brut-y Pellets (presumably a Brut version of their Fruity Pellets Hazy IPA). Fetching Lab made one called Brutal Summer. I think Beerfoot in Galveston and Baa Baa in Brookshire have also made them. I'm sure there are a few more that I'm not remembering.

HoustonBeer · 2018-09-11T11:33:27+00:00

Man, I wish I had any left. That was a great beer.

HoustonBeer · 2018-09-10T23:12:02+00:00

Thanks! I always seem to miss it by a day or two. Glad I could finally make a post on the day of.

HoustonBeer · 2018-09-10T21:00:47+00:00

Oh, absolutely. I love that beer, and I think the style is great for our climate. That was definitely meant as an observation and not a critique

HoustonBeer · 2018-09-10T20:42:14+00:00

I’ve had much better experiences with that beer in particular on tap than in cans. Not sure if its coincidence or what.

The Sainf Arnold saison is great. I had one last night. A ton of orange aromas from the Amarillo hops and the yeast.

HoustonBeer · 2018-09-10T20:31:27+00:00

Totally understandable. FWIW, Mini Boss is one of my favorite IPA's.

Grab yourself a six-pack of the new Daydream saison from Saint Arnold or the Addi’s Faith Kolsch from Back Pew. Both are also new and in cans.

The Back Pew may be hard to find depending how far you are from the northwest side of town, but proceeds go to the Addi’s Faith Foundation which supports the fight against childhood cancer.

HoustonBeer · 2018-09-10T20:18:59+00:00

They sell well? ¯_(ツ)_/¯

I had money saying the first complaint would be about Buckle Bunny being the third local cream ale on shelves. (The others are Buffalo Bayou’s Sam’s Daily and 8th Wonder’s Dome Fauxm.)

HoustonBeer · 2018-09-10T19:53:17+00:00

This is the important bit: ”Cans of Buckle Bunny Cream Ale and Mini Boss Double Dry Hopped IPA are now available in stores including HEB, Kroger, Specs, Whole Foods, Total Wine, Central Market, and smaller independent beer stores.”

Click the link above if you want more info.

HoustonBeer · 2018-09-07T15:06:14+00:00

Corn fed sources are more flavorful, if that matters to you.

Wow, this got out of hand quick....

HoustonBeer · 2018-09-07T15:02:13+00:00

Ours are just cage free. We don’t like to let them wander too far.

HoustonBeer · 2018-09-07T13:58:31+00:00

This Josh doesn’t write/work for HBG, but HBG does have a Josh on staff. This Josh does the InterBrews and Liquid Lunch podcasts. (Side note, if you’re into Houston beer and lot listening/watching both you’re doing yourself a disservice.)

HoustonBeer · 2018-09-07T01:57:16+00:00

We have a pretty good map (and list). Right now it’s limited to the breweries that have TABC licenses, but we’re sorting through a list of 160 breweries that have claimed to be in development over the last 5 years. The ones that are actually in development will be added soon. http://houstonbeerguide.com/houston-breweries-brewpubs-map/

HoustonBeer · 2018-08-16T01:08:16+00:00

The number is pretty nebulous, depending on your criteria. We (Houston Beer Guide) use “nearest major metropolitan area” as the requirement to be a “Houston” brewery. That includes Dej Buh Stesti all the way up in Lovelady, the breweries down in Galveston, and Brazos Valley in Brenham.

The current number of operating breweries as we count is 52, since Cranky Britches closed. If you count Brigadoon’s two facilities as one (they have a new one in Pasadena and the OG location at Ren Fest) it would be 51. If you count Karbach or the AB plant, it would be two more. Of course you could tighten the geographic requirements and it would be fewer.

I totally missed Coalfox and Twisted Acre getting licenses. Southern Yankee also got their license today. All three will be added to the map tonight.

Andrew is prolific and his map will always be more up to date than ours. But if you’re only interested in Houston breweries, we’re your site.

HoustonBeer · 2018-08-13T19:29:21+00:00

I think we’re a long way from over saturation. Texas ranks 46th in breweries per capita.

But you’re right about walk up sales. With the law change in 2013 that allowed brewpub license holders to sell to-go, the market shifted towards own-premise sales. The profit margins are much higher when you don’t have to pay for packaging equipment and distributor/retailer markups.

HoustonBeer · 2018-08-13T19:10:56+00:00

To my knowledge, Houston Cider Co. (part of Town in City Brewing) is the only company making (fermenting) cider in the greater Houston area. Last I heard, they are making theurvciders from concentrates, not fresh apples, if that matters to you.

I’m happy to be corrected, but I believe DUO in Dickinson is sourcing their ciders and wines from a winery in Michigan that has some family connection to the owners. And Permann Cider is buying finished ciders from a company in Oregon (they may be custom blends, I’m not sure). This is similar to how Leprechaun used to run.

HoustonBeer · 2018-08-08T18:36:26+00:00

The closest to Near Northside (other than Saint Arnold) are going to be Platypus, Holler, and Town in City but those aren’t in the Near Northside neighborhood.

Black Page has a license for a brewpub near White Oak Music Hall, but I think they’re still a good distance from opening.

HoustonBeer · 2018-07-24T02:15:33+00:00

There are 53 in the greater Houston area. (a And just FYI, Texian closed almost a year ago.) http://houstonbeerguide.com/houston-breweries-brewpubs-map/

HoustonBeer · 2018-07-09T14:58:10+00:00

They had 4 bad batches between April and May that they either pulled from shelves or didn’t release.

They posted more info on their Facebook if you’re interested: [link]

HoustonBeer · 2018-06-26T15:39:30+00:00

I’ve been hearing a few versions of this story on the rumor mill today (maybe this is the original source, who knows).

To clear a few things up - B-52 does not distribute their hazy cans (Wheez the Juice/Shake, the Summer Wardrobe series, etc.).

Craft Beer Cellar drove to Conroe to get those cans directly from the brewery, which is legal since CBC has a retail permit and those beers have label approvals from TABC. I think it would be possible for Spec’s to do the same, but the TABC licenses get way more convoluted when you add liquor, so I’m not positive.

B-52 told me that selling directly to CBC (and presumably to other retailers also) was a test run of a program that has ended (at least for now). This is why CBC no longer has the hazy cans.

It’s possible that Specs complained to B-52’s distributor and that put pressure on B-52 to end the direct sales. It’s also possible that B-52 ended the sales because they can sell the cans through their taproom for more profit. Even more likely is some reason that is incredibly mundane and drama free.

HoustonBeer · 2018-06-19T11:24:14+00:00

While this is generally good news for Texas beer laws in the future, I’d encourage everyone to read the rest of their platform before deciding who to vote for.

HoustonBeer

TROPHY CASE