Visiting Houston

I have been out of town for Christmas, but Premium Draught had plenty of Spindletap 5% Tint in cans when I was there last, right before I left town. They are a growler and bottle shop.

Holler and Saint Arnold are my two favorite breweries to hang out at right now. The new Saint Arnold restaurant is amazing. Holler just released a new Czech Pilsner that I need to try as soon as I get back.

Outside of those two, these are some of the other breweries that make it into my rotation, that I would recommend:
Eureka Heights
Great Heights
Bailson's

Hay Merchant, Hughies (both locations), Heights Bier Garten, Rudyard's, and Petrol Station for beer bars. They all have good food, and all have pretty different/unique food menus from one another.

There are many other threads in the Southwest forum for places to visit in Houston. Search and check those out, and there are a ton of other spots to visit as well, depending on were you are and what you are looking for. The above is just a highlight and my current personal preference cause its almost never ending now.

 

Saint Arnold, Holler, Brash (like IPA? Stout? - this is your stop). B52 is great and may be able to feed your Hazy (assume this is the goal with Spindletap) needs.
Specs on Smith street is your best bet for bottle shop.

Houston is massive and very spread out - where are you staynig?

 

@Henryb22, Monday and Tuesday are the slowest days for brewery tap rooms, so a lot of places around Houston choose to not open then. I'm not the biggest fan of Ingenious, but am told I am the minority. So definitely check it out yourself. They will have crowlers for sure. B52 is a ways from downtown Houston (can easily be an hour+ in bad traffic). Though think they are closed Monday and Tuesday as well.

Edit:
Downtown beer bars that are easy to get to...
Mongoose Versus Cobra
Conservatory
Flying Saucer
Craft Beer Cellar
Axelrad

 

Premium Draught is a good spot for singles, and they will have growler fills of a lot of the locals around. Almost always some Holler on tap or a NEIPA of some sort, either cans or on tap.
D&Q is a great store.
Most HEB's will have a good selection, for a big grocery chain.

Oh, and forgot. The Whole Foods in the Galleria area has a brewery. Not a terrible drive from downtown, and open everyday. They will have NEIPA's on all the time, as well as a wide range of other styles.

 

Also use Taphunter and Untappd to check out bars to see what they have on tap. This won't help you with bringing cans back, but it will allow you to sample from local breweries that aren't open. Enjoy your time here.

 

I saw on their facebook that spindletap is either at brookshires or kroger marketplace

 

But they only sell crawlers to-go

 

Hi all,

I'm considering a 3 day solo trip this June to see some baseball games and breweries. I've loved trips like that to places like Boston/Denver/San Diego. It's kind of awkward to ask this in your thread/forum, but is the brewery scene strong enough in Houston to make this similar type of trip worthwhile? I would be staying near Minute Maid Park and not using a rental car. Besides taprooms, are there really strong craft beer bars downtown? I appreciate any insight. Thanks!

 

Sigma, True Anomaly, 8th Wonder, and Saint Arnold are near the ballpark. For beer bars there are Conservatory, Craft Beer Cellar, Moontower, and Flying Saucer. Other than that you’d need a car to reach others - Houston isn’t known for its public transportation.

 

You can hit almost 50% of the breweries in Houston with a $5 Uber ride from downtown. Holler is walkable from downtown, done it before. I went to Birmingham Alabama for a weekend beer vacation so Houston is worth it. Add to your list Hughies, Brash, heights beer garden, Petrol station, ton more. Best thing to do is map where you want to go and Uber between those outside downtown. If you decide to hit up greater heights, grad a bite at petrol while over there, or stop at heights beer garden when coming or going. Depending on weather, axle rad is a good outdoor beer garden

 

You can also take the train downtown to Mongoose Vs Cobra which is a unique beer and cocktail bar, also not a bad Uber if that is the way you want to go.

If you are downtown, highly recommend the Market Square area, lots of bars and restaurants in easy walking distance. Craft Beer Cellar is there, but also La Carafe which is one of my favorite dives. Houston's oldest bar in Houston's oldest building. Cash only, crazy old time art work, great jukebox, only a few taps. Though usually something from Saint Arnold and Yellow Rose on tap (sometimes they will have cheep Divine Reserve bottles from SA as well).

 

I agree with what many others have said:

Downtown breweries:
Saint Arnold
Sigma
Holler
If you’re coming for baseball you’ll appreciate 8th Wonder. Beer is good, not great, IMO. I usually pregame there before Astros games.

Downtown taprooms:
Flying Saucer
Axelrad
Conservatory may be a unique experience
OKRA is a good bar

If you venture out a bit north you can hit Brash (FYI, they blare heavy metal, so if that doesn’t sound like a good time to you, stick to having Brash in a taproom) and Petrol Station.

As to it being worth a trip, absolutely! I’d put Houston beer up against any other city in the southern U.S.!

 

Also @Nbrock24 not sure what type of bar scene you are into, but the whole EDO (right next to the ballpark & 8th Wonder) area has blown up in the past few years. They all offer some type of Houston Craft, so after running around town, you can always plan on having night options closer to where you are staying. Good burger can be had at Rodeo Goat. Also @champ103 pointed out a great place Mongoose vs Cobra, good small plates/apps (epic pretzel) and they do 1/2 pours on most beers so you can try multiple beers without commiting to a pint. Their tap list is always eclectic. I would do a little research on the Houston Metro train if you are staying in downtown, that can get you to Sigma, AxelRad & Mongoose vs Cobra real easy. Also Moon Tower Inn has great Sausages/Hot Dogs, and if you are craving Mexican, the Original Ninfa's is in that same area.
One more thing, now that Parish is distributing to Houston you can try Ghost in the Machine which should be on tap around town, along with it's younger brother Envie. One of the best bottle shops in town Specs is not far from downtown on Smith Street.

 

Brass Tap, Holman Draft Hall, Mongoose vs. Cobra, Axelrad are all in Midtown and I hit them all most weeks Beer Market is okay, but if I go it’s for the atmosphere and music bingo night (don’t ask).

Went to Baileson Brewing finally last week near Rice/University Place. I will go more this spring. Might be too hot in the summer.

Craft Beer Cellar usually has the absolute best tap list in town in my experiences. Bottle selection is decent but they’re over priced.

You’ll find all you need at Specs midtown as well.

St. Arnold is fun and cool atmosphere, food though is honestly better than the beer tho. I said it, sorry

 

As @donspublic was saying another favorite of ours is hitting Great Heights Brewing (always have multiple solid hazy/NEIPAs) and you can get canned cr/growlers. Also, walk down the street to Petrol Station - great selection usually of beer, food is solid af too. Hey, and you can catch a movie outside also and they supply the OFF spray which is clutch in the summer

 

I’ll be in Houston for a few days starting Saturday. What’s the best spot for singles?? Specs?

Staying downtown