My family and I are going to be staying near the medical center northwest of town for several days so I have a few questions for you local experts. First what is a good local beer to stock my hotel fridge with and second since we will be doing a little tourist stuff in our spare time what is a decent brew pub on the river walk? Thanks guys.
The general consensus will be make a run to Freetail, you won't be that far away. A bit easier to grab will be Real Ale, St Arnold or Karbach.
I would go with any of the Karbach offerings or maybe some Real Ale or Saint Arnold for the fridge. Local to San Antonio, Branchline has put out a couple bottles I like, but they only have bombers. Your best bet for closest beer selection would either be Specs off of Dezavala and i10 or Alon Market HEB which is off of wurzbach and NW military. If you can get close to the Pearl, The Granary has great brews. FREETAIL would be another great option and you won't be too far away as stated in the previous comment, but it's in the complete opposite direction from downtown. Edited: for my love of Freetail.
San Antonio guys can chime in here and tell me I'm wrong, but I dont think there are any decent brewpubs on the RiverWalk. Freetail is the best bet in town, but they're nowhere near downtown.
Flying Saucer is off of huebner. And I believe the new Big Hops off of huebner is supposed to open this week.
...the friendly spot... Just kidding. If you do go there, ask how much the beer is before you order it. Go to Freetail. They should have some nice bottles available as well.
This is correct. If you want good beer your best bet is buying it and drinking in your hotel room, or Flying Saucer.
This. Their BBQ is also pretty good and would be a good place for a family lunch where you could have a few brews and fill a growler for later.
The Granary and Freetail are the best in town for bars/brewpubs. Freetail is the better brewery, but don't dismiss the 4 very good to excellent offerings at the Granary. Both have excellent local guest taps. As far as food, I do like Freetail pizzas. Though they can't compare with what the Granary does food wise.
New Big Hops opens at huebner this saturday, they have a lot of Texas offerings and do pints and growler fills (32 or 64 oz). Specs at dezavala would be a good selection to choose from and isn't far from where you're staying. Definitely make a trip to freetail, its about 10-13 minutes from the medical center. They also do bottles and growlers to go.
+1 for Freetail if you can get there, plus they still have bottles of La Muerta for sale! Picked up 2 on my drive up to Houston.
Too bad noted curmudeon and karoke enthusiast @jl28r1 is no longer around. He's a former Rhode Islander and would have been able to help the OP big time.
Thanks so much for the advice and suggestions guys. It's our first time in Texas and we really are looking forward to a great time.
Oh.. if you can find Hops and Grain the one they call ZOE... pick some up... out of Austin.. and it is one deliciously fantastic pale ale. Becoming my favorite drink anytime beer.
