Hello! I am surprising my boyfriend with a trip to Austin over thanksgiving. While the timing is not exactly ideal, its all I could swing with work. From looking online, there seems to be 50+ breweries. I am planning Jester King for sure, but wanted to get some other great ideas. I am assuming most breweries will be closed on actual thanksgiving but if any where open last year, that would be great to know. Any other suggestions on breweries would be great, seeing as I know he like NE style hoppy/ hazy beers ( No clue what this means, I have just heard him say it before). Thanks! A
I live in Austin now, but traveled here last year for Thanksgiving. As far as breweries being open on Thanksgiving I do not remember, but would assume most will be closed. I do remember JK opened early at noon on Friday that week opposed to 4pm so that is something to think about. When it comes to IPAs take him to Pinthouse Pizza, there are two locations, Lamar and Burnet. Both put out good IPAs, but IMO Lamar does it best, their flagship Electric Jellyfish falls into that hazy NE category, they will probably have other limited things on tap, they have been putting out new IPAs almost weekly.
You might catch a few open late on T-day. Definitely hit Pinthouse for hazy IPAs. I would also suggest Hops & Grain, Austin Beerworks, and Zilker (doing some really cool things lately).
I would also suggest Live Oak. They do not make many hoppy beers, but have high quality beer and a great taproom setting. It is also conveniently located to the airport if you are flying into/out of Austin.
Looks like most beat me to the punch on this, but - PINTHOUSE PIZZA (the one on Lamar; not Burnet) is a "must-hit". And, if your coming from downtown, it'll be on the way to Jester King.
This thread is still likely best for you: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/austin-trip-inquiry.496798/
I wish my wife had the idea to surprise me like that someday. Kudos. I would also suggest hitting Craft Pride and Bangers on Rainey St. Not breweries but pretty good selection of beers. Craft Pride has only Tx beers if that appeals to you.
This may be redundant, but its worth saying again: Pinthouse pizza is where you want to go. The north and south locations brew and serve different beers, so go to both if you can. Dont listen to the people that say the south location is better. They obviously have not had Die in a Haze 5. The other must visit for hoppy beer is Hops and Grain. You wont get a true NEIPA at H & G but the beer is outrageously good.
The only Austin brewery I actively REGRET visiting is Jester King. Way overhyped IMHO. Unless you REALLY love saisons, which is all they do. Next time I'm in ATX, I'll probably find a taphouse that has consolidated the best that Austin has to offer. As of two days ago, the Austin beer scene was full of sours and saisons. Might need to do a little research if you're targeting IPAs, just FYI. Cheers!
