Draught House Pub & Brewery

This is my favorite place in Austin to get a beer on tap. There's zero pressure. I like to meet friends and coworkers here. However, I prefer to leave work early and go by myself so I can review some of the hard to find beers they have. With 70 taps of mostly beer and some wine, I usually find a couple of great new beers to review. Austin is a friendly town and the customers here are extremely friendly. The bartenders are helpful. The first time I went to the Draft House, I asked for a pilsner that they just ran out of. So, the bartender gave me a pilsner they brewed on the house. On Tuesday nights, they have pint night in which most beers cost $3. The one time I was there for pint night, I had 4 beers and my tab was $14. There's not a better deal with a great beer selection in Austin that I know of. If the weather is nice, there will be a line for beer at 5:00PM on weekdays. If the indoor tables are full, you can always find a table on the large patio. They have a food truck but I have not had anything from it.

 

Visited the pub on June 19, 2019 for the first time and had a couple pints of cask ale and some fish and chips from the food truck on the premises. There's no tricks at the Draught House, just a beer menu so big you have to take a minute or two to take it all in and make your decisions. In my case, I went specifically for cask ale, and the cask Blackpool Summer Ale made the trip worth it. At 5.5% ABV, it's much too strong to compare to a good English bitter, but it still reminded me of the genre and was good enough that I'll try to visit the Draught House as often as I can living a couple hours away from Austin. The cask version of Joy Joice also was good and went perfectly with the fish and chips.

They only have three cask ales on hand, but both pints I had were in very good condition and very comparable to the cask ales I've had in England.

 

Smelled awful.

 

 

 

 

Arrived around 5 pm on a warm spring evening. The outside patio was almost full, and there was a short line to get a beer. Amazing selection on tap of their own beers, local craft beers, and craft beers from around the country. I tried their UK IPA and the newest Hop School variety; both were outstanding. You could easily spend hours here sampling great beers, amongst fellow beer lovers. While I was there a customer arrived with a box full of extra beer glasses which he gave away to anyone who wanted one - I got a Jester King & Austin Beerworks pint glass. Just a great vibe, and my son lives around the block so I know I will be visiting the Draught House whenever I visit him!

 

 

 

This is probably my favorite place in the city to grab a beer. I may be biased because it's roughly in my hood. I may also be biased because the bartenders play music that competes with my Ipod. The selection is typically solid with a nice variety of styles, regions and breweries. Sometimes you can grab some solid choice beers on tap too! On weekends they have a grill set up and a dude that grills brats and sausages for tips. I'm not gonna lie, this is in my top 5 places to go in the city.

 

The two stops I made here during my trip Thanksgiving trip to Austin were clearly the beer highlight of the trip.

A couple of different people who have been to PDX mentioned that this place reminds them of the legendary Horse Brass put in PDX. There are some similarities for sure, but the Draught House is considerably smaller, and it doesn't have a kitchen or table service (but it does have a nice outdoor patio area). That being said, there's still the same sort of dark, cozy vibe you find at the Brass, and given the décor, posters and other decorations, this place has the feel and look of English pub wannabe (not unlike the brass as well). Beer selection is terrific, with something like 60 draft selections. There were a number of limited release and/or hard to find beers on tap here (BFM saison, founders breakfast stout, St. Arnolds Pumpkinator, to name just a few), plus they had several beers on cask and nitro. Service was OK, albeit a bit slow. There's a spot at the bar where you're supposed to place your beer order, and waits in line can get a bit lengthy. The two times I stopped by was during off hours (Or what passes for off hours. I get the impression there are probably very few times during the week when this place is dead.), and there was still a considerable line for a beer. That being said, the staff were friendly and pretty knowledgeable otherwise.

Shrug. This is a great place, no doubt, and is a spot I would visit any time I'm in town.

 

 

 

 

This is one of my favorite taverns in the country.

 

 

This place gets busy; middle of the week busy! Doesn't matter though; bartenders were really helpful, and the vibe is awesome!

 

 

if you're looking for a trendy beer bar, stay away. If you want a place to relax, sit on the patio or sit inside in the dark, wood filled pub and have great beer come here. this is my favorite place to have a great beer and relax. No pressure, just have a good time with friends. I hope it never changes. Places like this are a dying breed.

 

Must have been 40 taps, great service, $3 pints on Sunday, heavy on local brewers. Seemed to be lighter on big beers or sours but I could be wrong about that, there was so many choices. Will be back for sure.