Houston Beer Bars

I'll say that the craft beer public's buying habits have changed to focus mainly on brewery tap room sales. Which has really hurt the beer bars around. They are struggling to keep up. I know that is the case at Hughies and Hay Merchant. People are going to breweries for beer, and going to bars for cocktails and food. At least in some cases. While I certainly love these big multi tap beer bars, I would like to see more smaller corner type pubs with just three or four taps from some good breweries in whatever area they are in. Instead of trying to spread themselves thin.

Saying that, these are the better beer bars around
Hughies and Hay Merchant of coarse (given what I said above they still do a good local selection, and both have really good happy hours)
Craft Beer Cellar
Drink of Ages Pub
Axelrad
Mongoose Versus Cobra
Flying Saucer

Some of the bars that have been hit particularly hard and are showing what you have described are:
Petrol Station
The Gingerman
D&T
Cottonwood
I use to consider these among the better selections in town but not anymore. I mean I still absolutely love having a cask Ellissa at Gingerman on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, but they aren't what they once were.

 

@GoPokes what area of town are you in? Cobble and Spoke is one I would add to the list, and as far as finding locals, use TapHunter or Untappd to find out what bars are serving.

 

I agree with Champ. Most breweries have no need to send kegs out as they can’t keep up with demand so they keep them in house. I’d do the same thing. And when there are people who are willing to pass up the beer bar, like myself, for a taproom with exactly what you want, you go to the source. Haven’t been to Hay Merchant in years. My go-to’s are on the Westside - Growler USA and Growler Spot. When I’m downtown for a concert I used to hit up Conservatory but guess I have to find another spot.

 

Conservatory is in the middle of moving to east downtown. Don't know any other details, hoping they keep the same concept...but with these things you won't know till they actually open.

 

Drink of Ages announced they are closing sadly. Hop Sop, Thristle Draftshop and Hay Merchant have all been nationally acclaimed among best beer bars in the U.S.

 

Petrol Station has unfortunately gone from being my go-to beer bar to being on my "avoid" list. Their tap wall both shrunk and has gone down significantly in quality. Yes, a lot of that has to do with a lack of local options but it's also just not keeping up with the times in terms of styles and tastes generally. Also, their food quality has gone down while the time it takes for your food to come out has gone from bad to worse. It's unfortunately because the place itself is awesome. They really improved their back yard. I remember the days when it was full of piles of junk with lots of rusty nails and sharp edges. Not kid friendly at all, but totally gangster.

Hay Merchant isn't far behind in terms of being a disappointment. They too have not kept up with the times in terms of beer tastes and styles. So shocking because they were the ones on the bleeding edge 5 years ago. That edge has moved significantly. They still have a solid tap wall with a lot of national and international gems, but they are way less exciting than other places. I think the food has improved lately too for what it's worth.

Conservatory was my favorite beer bar in town. They had the best curated list from top to bottom in my opinion. They were more convenient to me downtown but I'm sure I'll hit them up when they open the new spot.

Craft Beer Cellar is crushing it in terms of having a lot of cutting edge local beers on tap. They're a great place and probably the closest to what the OP is looking for. Flying Saucer is Flying Saucer is still a fun place. Axelrad has a smaller tap wall but a generally good one. It's been a while since I've been to MvC but I remember their wall being large but not super-exciting. Shame on me for never going to Hughies.

But like others I probably go direct to the breweries more these days than anything. And speaking of keeping up with the times, I think Saint Arnold's does an amazing job at that (except with respect to hazy beers) and is still probably my favorite brewery to visit. I also love Holler and will hit them up whenever I can.

 

Our craft beer bars don't serve as many local options as other great craft beer bars in other metros, because Houston's craft breweries - overall - are a C- ........ at best.

Which, is crazy for a city our size.

There, I said it.

And - preemptively - I apologize for resurfacing an old thread and giving you all a "red-dot" notification.

 

Very respectfully disagree with this statement! We have lept to solid B+ as a city/region (if not A-). Urban South, Holler, Spindletap, B-52, Ingenious, Astral, Baa Baa, Sigma, Brash, Local Group, etc. are all making really solid beers in various styles. And I've said before and will say again I remain a huge fanboy of Saint Arnold's--they keep putting out new and tasty beers. Nothing bleeding edge but all very enjoyable.

Sure--we may not have anyone brewing the A++ stuff (Urban South is close IMHO), but the quality around town in most styles has made it a LOT less compelling to seek beers from other cities/states.

Do agree the bars around town are not getting access to all the great stuff the local breweries are putting out, as the local breweries are keeping and selling all their good stuff and making all the profits.

 

Respectfully, I'd disagree.

I do agree, we don't have anyone cranking out nationally sought after beers. There is no Angry Chair, Toppling Goliath, Tree House, etc. in Houston. The 'how much of that hype is deserved' argument can be saved for another day.

That said, there are certainly several breweries turning out very high qualities beers. I've never had a beer from Holler that was excellent. Saint Arnold makes great, high quality beers; no 'sexy' super hazies, or pastry stouts. But have you ever had a SA beer that had a quality issue? Brash, love or hate them, makes great IPAs and Stouts. I'd argue even their Pilsner was very good. B-52, who has jumped on the hazy/pasty/sour hype train the past few years, is another example of a brewery turning out great quality beers. Similarly, Great Heights and Eureka Heights are making very good, quality beers. Again, maybe not the 'sexy-hype' styles (Great Heights does make great hazies, though) but every offering from them is very well made.

 

curious to hear which regional cities have superior breweries to Houston.

in my opinion:

Austin: no
Dallas: improving but no
S.A.: again improving but no
New Orleans: no

 

So let me start by just saying, I knew this would ruffle some feathers 15min after I posted it and lost the option to delete.

That said, St. Arnold belongs no where in this conversation. They are our best brewery in terms of quality and brewery experience, without question.

As well, I think True Anomaly, Great Heights, Hollar, Brash, and to a degree Sigma are all doing great things.

What bothers me about our local market is the massive impression I get that most of the best known breweries here are just rich guys chasing hype beer drinkers. It comes across as gimmicky. And as brands, are very one-dimensional. That bothers me.

It bothers me that a place like Hollar really flies under the radar nationally while people line up at a place like Ingenious for a beer loaded with artificial flavors named after an 80s cartoon character.

I actually agree with all of this except Austin, which I do believe is better. But thats just me.

To that end, maybe Im spoiled from the standpoint that I do travel considerably and have pretty decent access to Chicago, St Louis, North Carolina, Cincinnati, Florida and Denver’s beer market. So it just seems a city (and state) our size, should be able to be a part of the national conversation more.

Ill close with this - I love keeping up with the daily WBAYDN thread on BA. And yet - IMO - you rarely see folks drinking Houston beers on there, especially out of staters.

 

I would put Austin slightly above Houston but pretty close.

 

Aside from Jester King, I'm curious what breweries in Austin y'all think are crushing it more than Spindletap, Holler and Urban South (to name a few). I definitely am not that familiar with everything going on up there. Thanks!

 

Well from a Lager perspective Austin Beer Garden, Went there 1 year ago on the tail end of a trip and have been dying to go back. I do love Hollers various pils, but I believe Austin Beer Garden probably has the best lagers in the south.

 

I think the terribly outdated beer laws are what set Texas back in terms. A lot has changed since ~ 2013/5...i don't recall which legislative session exactly. Anyway, things are getting better!

The inability to sell beer to-go hurt (recently changed).

Inability to sell beer for on premise consumption hurt (changed in 2013? or 15?).

Because of these too arbitrary business restrictions, fewer people were opening breweries. There has been a HUGE uptick in both the number and quality of options since these laws were corrected.
I feel like that also some what stymied the growth of the general craft beer culture / interest.

 

This is absolutely the truth .

Austin Beer Garden, Pinthouse, and Austin Beerworks (along with JK) all offer a superior drinking & brewery experience then the folks you mentioned. If you haven't been to any of those three, I would HIGHLY recommend.

As well, I'm a fan of Adelberts & St. Elmo. I want to try Lazarus next time I'm there and have time.

 

ABGB, Pinthouse, Live Oak
Add in St Elmo, Austin Beerworks, Oddwood, Southern Heights, Zilker, Brewers Table, all have a great selection of well made beers to style.
Also some great breweries out in the Hill Country.