Holler Brewing Co.

Small brewery taproom in a large commercial building that houses many art salons. L-shaped bar seats about 10 with a few tables about the room and on the elevated sidewalk out front. A dozen beers on tap. Friendly, personable bartender.

I visited Holler while exploring Houston a few weeks back. The space itself is a very “industrial-chic” kind of taproom, with a nice patio outside. I was there at night, and the lighting inside was all blue and purple and very nightclub-ey to my eyes (although with a big projector showing an NFL game). One saving grace, though, is that there was a full view of the brewhouse from the taproom, and even a “coming soon” chalkboard with the up-and-coming beers on it — a rare thing that I enjoy seeing!

As the beers go, there were 16 on tap on my visit (8 listed as “tank fresh” and 8 in kegs, presumably). Styles include schwarzbier, BA imperial stout, horchata golden ale, THREE pilsners, four IPAs of various substyles, a strawberry-banana lactose sour, festbier, pumpkin spice amber, hefeweizen, and a honey blonde. I liked the range, there was a good variation there; the quality was alright, not too bad, nothing to write home about.

Service is friendly enough, although I didn’t sit up at the bar — there were only a couple of seats there, as the place is mostly tables.

Small taproom and patio in the increasingly brewery dense warehouse neighborhood of the Washington corridor. With about a dozen taps and cask handle, a diverse selection of styles is offered, especially British bitters and Euro pils and lagers served in appropriate glassware (e.g., nonic pints and dimpled mugs). Good service, efficient setup and quality beers, with the selection of styles a refreshing change from others in the area chasing the latest IPA crazes.

 

 

Stopped today on the recommendation of someone who had worked there.

Well worth the visit. Great beer selection, especially if you like English style beers. Today they had an English pale ale (Margaret Thatcher Naked On A Cold Day!), English IPA, ESB, and a mild bitter. All very good.

Efficient, friendly people keep the crowd happy! Food truck was good and so was nearby Vietnamese restaurant.

Highly recommended!

 

 

Second brewery of the day. In an "Up and coming" part of Houston. Industrial vibe-when I was there there were about 10-12 beers on the board-some in the keg and some straight out of the tank. Service was solid-Christin was informative and suggested I hit Sigma, which I did. Tried the Pils and the ESB-which were pretty dang good. Like this place a lot-wanted to go back on Friday when they were releasing their Dopple Bock but I needed to attend a dinner with my team. Food was available but I didn't try any. Would hang out here if I lived in Houston

 

 

Update-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, early 2022 the Holler's sold to another family. A lot of the other staff has left as well. They have added a handful of TV's that are always on sports now, ugh. The English styles are a shell of their former selves, and they completely removed their cask engine/hand pump, the lagers are not very clean anymore. They have only really made two new beers since the ownership changed, and I haven't been impressed with either. A by the books, one dimensional Saison, and a "Cold IPA" that is just meh. They had a good run as one of my favorite breweries in Houston, though have been less than impressed with them this year. Its just OK, which in reality is far from bad, but also far from the heights it once was. At Least IMO, and it has fallen out of my regular rotation when going to breweries around town lately.

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Of all the newer breweries to open in Houston over the last year or so, Holler really stands out as the best of the lot. The bar setup is slightly awkward. A small L shaped bar, small area outdoots right out side that, and a narrow small space inside with communal high top tables. It is slightly sterile, in an industrial park, but really this is just a spot they carved out of their production facility, just to accommodate the beer drinkers. So that is understandable. No TV's, and still a comfortable fun spot to hang out.

When they opened, they used the standard token system, but now, a few months later, they have a cash taproom. Which is always nice to see. I don't know why any brewery stays with that outdated system anymore?

I went on opening weekend, and again just recently. I was not sure what to think when I saw how many styles they had to begin with. I was thinking they rushed to get as many styles out as they could for opening. Though everything right from the start has been of real quality. Correct glassware for just about every style as well.

A constantly rotating list of about 9 different styles. The Pils, ESB, Marzen are all fantastic and spot on for the style. The ESB is probably my favorite in town, and the Pils ranks up there with 5 O'Clock. They have done Saisons, IPA's, Imperial Stouts, etc. They haven't done a lot of supper hyped styles or beers. Just incredibly well made classic styles from the start. Which is really impressive.

The two owners are husband and wife. They are always mingling with everyone and out and about around town as well. Really knowledgeable and supper friendly. The brewery itself might not be a regular spot for me, though it is still a comfortable stop. Though I will always be looking for their offerings around town now. Easily one of the better breweries in Houston.

 

 

 

I visited this new brewery on their soft opening weekend, which explains my score for their vibe and their service. Their bartenders were confused and this led to an atmosphere of chaos around the bar. I really enjoyed the Pilsner as well as their IPA. In fact their IPA was one of the best I have had from Houston. It is a top contender for sure. I look forward to visiting again and seeing them grow their business as well.

 

Dropped by here one friday night when heading back from Hobby airport, traffic was a bitch, figured this would break up the trip to the Northwest side of town. This brewery just opened about 1/2 weeks ago. It is in an industrial park that is going thru a gentrification, lots of things popping up in this area. Because it was their soft opening, you had to purchase cardboard drink coasters, each coaster got you a pour. When I was there, they had a nice selection, Amber, IPA, Pils, Hefe, Milk Stout, Rauchbier, Tripel and a Belgian IPA (also a nito coffee on tap). Ok somewhat stoked, no one in Houston is making a Belgian IPA, so I go for it first and am really surprised, good clean beer, nice yeast profile along with a nice hop background. I unfortunately didn't write any reviews because I was with my son, but will next time. Every beer we tried was spot on, no defects detected. Place is really nice on the inside, there are several communal tables, with a bar that has about 8 taps. There is a patio out front that has some picnic tables, the crowd was pretty good. There was a miscommunication between me and my son and we both ended up buying some more drink coasters so told him we would come back the next day and use the extra ones. We rolled in at 4 and the place was packed. They are going to have to look at expanding their seating area if the crowd keeps up like that. They serve no food, there was a food truck there on Friday night, but at 4 on Saturday, there was none. There is a corn hole game set up outside, and that is pretty much it. I will go back here again, mainly because they are in close proximity to my church, and we are always looking for something to do afterwards. I just hope they get that Belgian IPA out and about so I can get it without driving downtown.