Austin (TX) & Final Four viewing

I'm pretty sure Pinthouse Pizza have a handful of TV's, there is a South location on Lamar. Good brewery (don't think they brew at the location though) and pizza.

 

would probably head to one of the pinthouse locations. my favorite of the 4 is the pinthouse brewing.

 

Maybe Bangers Sausage, its been a while since I was over that way (I'm in Houston, only get over to Austin on occasion) and can't remember if they have TVs either...Also Craft Pride, both on Rainey St. Craft Pride might be temporarily closed right now??

Hmm, there is a Little Woodrow's on 6th, and its a decent enough sports bar that I don't mind hanging out at. There are also just tons of places around that area and most have something local. I would just walk around and see what seems interesting.

Sorry not being much help ha,

 

You have a good bit of options. Little Woodrow's has a good slew of TV's and probably some pretty good tap handles, along with a taco truck on site. There are a ton of bars downtown that have TV's. My guess would be just to pull up google maps and search for Sports bars downtown and see what your options are. Pictures will give you a good idea of what the taplist has along with the vibe. Other places at a glance Blind Pig Pub, BBG's, The Pub (more soccer oriented, so might not have Basketball on). Have fun when you are in town, and fyi it is Austin, no one cares if you are by yourself, and yes you can slug Lonestars all night long but most of these joints will have a solid local pilsner on tap.

 

craft pride is permanently closed. Bangers is a great spot just don't think they'll be game watch friendly. as stated above, woodrow's probably your best option. moonshine patio another option

 

Will be in Austin for the first time since 2017. Back then, I hit ABGB, Live Oak, Jester King, Austin Beerworks, and Pinthouse. Will definitely revisit some of those, but what about others? Going by this Chronicle power ranking, thinking about Zilker and St. Elmo.

 

Batch makes the best IPAs perhaps in the state of Texas def go by there. Oddwood Ales is right next door to Batch makes for a great combo. Great list otherwise (including St Elmo's). Of the Pinthouse locations would go to Pinthouse Brewing (vs pizza) Southern Heights and Meanwhile others to add to your list time permitting

 

On my recent trip, we managed to hit a some of the classics (ABGB, Jester King, Pinthouse) plus Batch, Zilker, Blue Owl, Lazarus, and Oddwood.

The standouts of the new-to-me places were Oddwood (really enjoyed all the beers I tasted there) and the new Pinthouse brewing space (impressive spot). Batch unfortunately only had one IPA on tap (which I thought was solid, but not great). Blue Owl was interesting, in that the laws in that neighborhood make it so you have to buy a glass and then get four "free" beers with it (12oz is the smallest glass option).

 

The Blue Owl thing is interesting to me. I guess it is possible that there are some hold out neighborhoods that have their own strange laws. Though that is an older way of doing things (well like pre 2015 or so, whenever the new laws kicked in, I don't remember off hand) in Texas, as you couldn't actually sell beer at a brewery, and that was the work around . So, it could certainly be an odd pocket were the new laws of opening a tap room don't apply. I live in an historic neighborhood in Houston, that was dry until a handful of years ago (you could get around that by being a "private club" but that came with all sorts of restrictions and tax issues) but that was finally overturned.

So, either Blue Owl is in a weird location, which is certainly possible, or they don't know the laws ha. I would assume they are informed as they have been around for a while. Though, who knows...again interesting.

 

Back Pew Brewing in Porter operates on a glass and token system.

 

I found this odd myself. I thought surely there was some confusion around the 'old' (buy the tour, get free samples) way of doing this. Per Blue Owl's website "Because of neighborhood zoning restrictions, we aren’t allowed to sell beer directly for on-site consumption." They go on to explain to 'buy the glass, get the free samples' system.

 

So does 11 Below.

I really like the glass / tokens system. It makes a brewery visit feel like more of an 'experience' than just going to a bar. That said, I'm now about 10 years older than I was when this law was passed (~2015 IIRC). There are definitely times now that I don't want 3 or 4 pints at a brewery. And often the breweries are places I won't be returning to anytime soon (because of distance, not beer quality).

 

Yeah, I lived about a half mile from Back Pew a few years ago and left with a few tokens in my pocket.