Visiting San Antonio

Near to Freetail is Big Hops Huebner, Flying Sauce, WF Bar Blanco, Specs and Gabriels for bottles. Where exactly are you staying?

 

There's a great restaurant with a good beer selection called Taps y Tapas. Kind of on the way to Freetail is an excellent small brewery called Busted Sandal.

Stella Public House has excellent food and a crazy beer and tap selection. I found a Bishop's Barrel and Ola Dubh there, as well as a Pumpkinator. If you go there, you can drop by Filling Station first. They serve beer in plastic cups and seem to have mostly hoppy beers, but worth a visit.

 

There is another place that should be on your radar. It has a good selection of beer, decent patio, and horrible prices. Avoid the Friendly Spot. Do not fall for it.

 

I concur... Filling Station is a few blocks away and is much better. While in Southtown I also recommend Stella Public House for great pizza and a decent selection of beer.

 

Bring some Cali goodness!

 

Here is a Google map I made of beer spots in San Antonio for a friend from Seattle who recently visited. It is heavily weighted to downtown spots because that is where I spend my time in SA.

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zlWAIWDQ9drk.kb6bj0wdzAl8

Side note: I used to be in the "avoid Friendly Spot" camp due to their over-charging. But, I have decamped for 2 reasons. First, it seems everywhere in downtown SA charges $1-2 more per pint than I see in Austin or away from the SA core. Second, it really is a pretty chill place to hang out and the food is pretty tasty. But, if you order a rare bottle out of the coolers, you would be best to ask how much it is before purchasing. Your mileage may vary.

 

Big Hops Growler Station has three locations and are usually featuring some great Texas Brews on tap. Defintely check out their facebook for tapping information. The Luxury has some good beer, and usually a couple of rare bottles. Busted Sandal would get my vote for a brewery visit.

 

I'm not afraid to go against the grain, I always have liked The Friendly Spot. Yes some of their beers are stupid expensive, so I just don't get them, I get something else. Right downtown, and a nice atmosphere if it's a nice day.

 

Definitely Stella Public House. That place has great food and usually an awesome tap list. Had Bomb! this last weekend and the wild mushroom Mac n Cheese is amazing! Of course Freetail as well.

 

Liking The Friendly Spot isn't going against the grain. It's actually the norm in SA with hipsters, noobs and casual BMC drinkers. It's just some BA's don't agree with their practices and the way the SW forum was addressed that date back further than your recent BA join date. If you like it great! I just rather spend my money at Filling Station and Stella when in Southtown. Cheers!

 

LOL!!! Thanks for belittling my opinion by making the assumption I am a hipster, noob, BMC drinker and not a hardcore BA such as yourself. I used to post here quite often as ChanceK but took a break for a while and came back with a new name (my other account for closed). I've been around the block a time or two. I guess it is wrong of me to disagree with the SW forum, my apologies sir! I will be sure to only say what snobby BAs say from now on and not have my own opinion.

 

I wouldn't take anything Grendle said personally. #BeFriendly wiped their ass on us and we still have some poopoo in our mouths from them. It does seem like they've become better with their pricing and treatment of beer. Should the collective we let go? Maybe. But again, the poopoo is still fresh.

 

I'm sorry if you took that the wrong way but in no way did I intend for it to imply YOU were a "hipster, noob, BMC drinker." Just stating what I commonly see as the FS clientele. Is that not fair? Based on the join date, I also presumed you weren't around for the FS debacle that occured last year. Henceforth was just getting you up to date.

 

You need to put up your old avatar.

 

I would, but that might be one of the reasons the mods closed my account. Not sure why they closed it, just said I was a troll, which was news to me.

 

As a general rule, no. They have been known to host bottle shares preceding special events/releases, and they're usually willing to allow small tastings if you get approval in advance.