Hops and Grain Brewing Austin Texas

Our first stop in Austin Texas was the Draught House Pub and Brewery. Funny side note, I found them on Yelp and thought this place looks great – as soon as I walked in the door I realized that I had been here before, on my last trip through Austin. It was one of those moments that makes you realize how many places you’ve been in the last 5 years. Last time I was at Draught House was for a hospitality conference, where I had a few beers with the guy I would later buy and open our own restaurant and brewery with… Crazy how the world is so small…

OK so back to this trip. The thing I love about a good beer bar is the staff can help you find what you’ll enjoy. When I asked for a delicious dank but drinkable IPA, the immediate suggestion was Hops and Grain Brewing, Green House, which was a spot on suggestion. So good as a matter of fact that I ordered 2, which is not at all like me. It was from that experience that I set out to visit Hops and Grain Brewing.

Hops and Grain Brewing is located in downtown Austin Texas, just at the end of the popular 6th street area, in a warehouse building. They have a small outdoor area with a few picnic tables that is dog friendly, which is a huge plus as Thor loves to hang out with me while I sample beers. Thor’s favorite part was that they offer house-made brew-biscuits which he seriously enjoyed.

The inside of the space was pretty sparse, a standard warehouse style tasting room, more picnic style tables and a small bar. Didn’t get to see the brewery as they only offer tours on Thursday – Saturday now, but did get the chance to sample all of their brews. They have the “buy the glass, get some tickets, trade tickets for beer” setup here, which I am sure is some clever way to comply with some ridiculous law – but no matter. The beers, across the board, were delicious.

Probably the best beer I had the chance to sample there was their Volumes of Funk series Sour Porter Culture, a sour version of their Porter Culture created by barrel aging their Porter for 2 and a half years. Dark and delicious, it had a solid Brett character that really complimented the base of Porter Culture, which by itself is also really delicious Baltic Porter.

I also had the chance to try the Rye IPA and Experimental Hop #5 which was billed as a pale lager and was delicious. One of their “flagship” beers, The One They Call Zoe was another pale lager that weighs in at just about 5% abv, making it a great session beer and the one we would later hunt down cans of.

I would certainly put Hops and Grain on the Austin area craft beer watch list, they’re making some delicious and unique beers that rival many of the best I’ve tried. Cheers to Hops and Grain Brewing and Thor thanks you for the brew-biscut.