Austin, Texas: Beers, Etc

A few good local Austin breweries to try beers from:

Jester King
Austin BeerWorks
Hops & Grain
Live Oak
(512)
Black Star Co-Op (I really like a lot of their house beers)
I also like Thirsty Planet and Independence, but they would be further down the list.

Eat BBQ at Franklins and J. Muellers. Don't eat BBQ at the Salt Lick. You will never regret those choices.

Go and see the bats take off at the Congress Street bridge. Amazing.

Listen to music on 6th street. Yeah, its touristy, but its Austin.

Food Trucks. 'nuff said

If the timing works, see a UT football game. I'm not a fan, but have been to a few, and its a fun experience.

 

Hotel Recs:
Austin Motel - South Congress Ave
Homestead Studio Suites - South 1st and Barton Springs
Extended Stay - Guadalupe and 6th St

Or better yet, search airbnb.com or homeaway.com for house rentals. Depending on how beer focused your trip will be, finding a place to stay more in the North/Central area would be a good idea. Check out beermapping.com for a better idea of where a lot of the bars/breweries are. Also, if it's a home game for UT it will probably be difficult to find a cheap hotel or rental around town.

Beers to look for:
Real Ale's Mysterium Verum series of oak aged beers - Scots Gone Wild is really nice
512 Pecan Porter
Austin Beerworks Pearl Snap Pils
Hops & Grain Alt

Other Attractions:
Barton Springs Pool - it's Texas, so it may still be warm enough to swim in late Oct
Eat Mexican food.
There are some decent cajun/creole options as well. Evangeline Cafe is one of my favorites.
Butler Park Pitch and Put - grab a six pack and play this 9 hole walking course, always fun

 

Watch out for Hippies.

 

Hippies and Hipsters infest that city.

 

Better than hicks and douchebags.

 

Hey now, we're all Texans here...

 

I really like Bangers and I think in October, the weather will be perfect to sit outside and have a beer.

Austin has a great food truck scene and I would recommended the oft lauded East Side Kings. There are 3 different locations, all of which are located in or near a bar. I would recommend the one at Liberty Bar, which is super hipstery but has a good beer selection.

Would also recommend Contigo and Barley Swine for places to both eat AND drink well. Oh and this place called Drink.Well. Great kobe burger and good beer selection. First time I've seen or heard about Fireman's 4^2 (squared) was there.

BK

 

The burger at drink.well is pretty great. Their cocktails are pretty fantastic too.

 

I don't live in College Station...

 

I feel your statement should replace College Station with Dallas...

All kidding aside, if you can find 512 Two or Double Dry Hopped One, try them, they are both delicious!

 

He's from Portland, they'll make him feel like he never left home.

 

I made an map for this exact topic (because it keeps coming up, thanks for visiting our fair city!) I added a few hotels I'd recommend. If you've got a car... go with the Doubletree @ The University of Texas on the East Side. It's right smack in the middle of town and has free parking. For North Austin, the Hotel Allandale is your best bet. For South Austin, the Embassy Suites S. Austin and the Homestead Suites are your best bet. Try to stay out of Downtown... it's loud and full of drunk people most nights.



http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i204/luttersan/beer.jpg

Notables that are off the map (literally) are Jester King & Thirsty Planet, which are actually right near each other about 10 miles or so to the west of Downtown.

 

I dont know what you consider "reasonable" for hotels but id assume that anything in austin proper is pretty expensive. (at least for me)

Me n the mrs stayed at the super 8 for the austin rodeo 2 years back. (we live in austin but north so it made sense). http://www.super8.com/hotels/texas/...l-_-S8-_-all&cid=IP_Local_yext&wid=local:yext

I believe it was 98 bucks a night and its nowhere NEAR what youd expect a super 8 to be. Plasma tvs all over the place, even in the elevator, rooms were awesome, service was spectacular and they had a breakfast of some kind. (cant remember that long ago, just remember being impressed for the price and have stayed at worse 5* hotels with the wife being a high falootin law firm goddess.)

 

Killer map, but you totally forgot Circle and South Austin Brewing! Total oversight, I'm sure.

 

Back to the subject, my vote is for Live Oak Hef!!! Don't leave without trying it.

 

Let's not forget $3 pitchers of Pearl at the Broken Spoke.

 

I don't acknowledge those places exist to visitors. Blech.

Also, when they go under, I won't have to update the map!

 

Haven't tried South Austin, but the stuff I've had from Circle has been pretty decent, and Rye-teous Ale is one of the better Rye beers made in TX imo.

 

Circle isn't terrible, I just find them to be mediocre.

South Austin Brewing, don't even get me started...