Houston, we have only one problem!

Disclaimer: this trip was in a pre-covid era, the story might have changed in the mean time

In a sunny, not yet overly hot May, I had the opportunity to visit Houston for a week for work. That means two surrounding weekends and a few evenings to explore the local beer scene. Armed with Untappd, Ratebeer, Google Maps and Uber I set out to discover.

The view on the skyline from Holler Brewing Co.

Local business

To justify the small selection fo beery places that is coming, my stay was in the West part of town and my time fairly limited, so the choice of venues to visit was driven pragmatically. When I visit a hamburger joint it is not because of the best beer list, or even the exquisite burger quality, but likely because it is within walking distance of the hotel. So please don’t read this as “the best places you must visit before you die, by a well informed hospitality journalist”, but more as a travel log, with personal notes.

Drowning the jet lag

When flying from Europe to the US, you typicaly arrive in the late afternoon or early evening. Same thing this trip, so straight to the hotel, drop stuff and find the nearest place to eat (and drink). Luckily, just around the corner from my hotel there was a place called Hopdoddy Burger Bar and a with quick glance through the window I spotted a large sign saying CRAFT DRAFT, surrounded by a whole bunch of chalk written beer descriptions. Need I say more?

The food was more than decent, although I must admit that at that point anything would have done. The beer list was quite nice, too, with a mix of local and regional craft beers. I ordered one seemingly at random. Always fun to realize you’re back in the US, when your glass is so damn cold, that the beer inside freezes! I do prefer my beer at slightly higher temperatures, because I am interested in actually tasting what’s in there, but I don’t really have the time for this massive temperature difference to be overcome! Too bad…

There’s ice floating in my beer!

My hotel bar (Marriot West Loop) was also rather well stocked. Good to always have an option to fall back on. Not a selection to spend days on, nor one that will blow my mind and run my Untappd ratings off the charts, but good enough to spend a night cap every other day or so.

Downtown

I typically take the first two days or so to get rested before work starts, so in those days I can visit the nicer places around town (work is usually in boring office parks). I went downtown, had a quick look around the downtown area (Discovery Green and Minute Maid Park, where the Astros play their home games are nice to see), but I quickly decided to cross the river and go to one of the bigger breweries around town: Saint Arnold Brewing Company. A rather large brewing facility, named after the patron saint of the brewers with a proper church built just for him: the tasting room. There was also something like a running event going on, so it was a bit busy, but I managed to get a good spot and sample a bunch of their beers. Nice range of styles (from Kölsch and lager, to red ales, to IPAs, through scotch ales, old ales and wheat beers to barley wines, milk stouts and barrel aged versions of some) from a good variety of beer traditions all brewed pretty well. The tasting room interior really adds a lot to the experience!

At 8th Wonder, the deal is that you can buy a glass (or opt for plastic cups), which you can then fill up, fairly cheaply for the rest of your visit. This place is big, with several large rooms and a large outside area, including food trucks and a cool statue, especially when it’s dark out. Seriously good beers and the glass still serves me to this day: nice souvenir! Within walking distance, on the other side of the train tracks, there’s also Equal Parts Brewing, who also brew some really tasty drinks, in the typical small brewery half-industrial vibe: from the tasting room you look straight onto the kettles and fermentation tanks.

“Beer, Cocktails and good times” is what’s promised on the sign in front of Kirby Ice House. Not quite downtown, but not too far either. My colleagues were nice enough to bring me there on one of the evenings after work. The promise was kept. Great selection, fantastic indoor and outdoor seating. The outdoor seating was only useful for the first few minutes though, as it started to pour like crazy. It was so intense that most locals needed to check if their garage wasn’t yet transformed into a swimming pool and all but one Uber driver (don’t drink and drive, kids!) didn’t dare to get on the streets anymore. That last brave man brought me back to my hotel!

Excursions to the smaller breweries

What I like most when visitin the US, and what is not quite matched in the Netherlands, are the very small local breweries with tasting rooms right next to, or even inside the brewery. I’m talking really small, and the tasting rooms are very often just a bar with some bar stools, maybe a table or two if you’re lucky! They almost always serve flights, with an interesting set of fresh brews in small enough glasses to sample a bunch before heading out to the next.

I’m not going to go into too many details, but some of the highlights, if you ask me were: Platypus, Sigma, Vallenson’s and Holler. These spots were visited through the week and/or on the way back from the Space Center (I’m a nerd, after all). Whenever you go, look up the local breweries when you go. The craft beer world evolves like crazy. Venues mentioned here may be closed, others may have opened, and the quality of small breweries varies as well. Preparation is key if you want to spend your time optimally!

In Houston we can only have one problem:

a lack of time!

Many supermarkets have selections good enough to completely fill up my suitcase for the flight back home. It’s always a struggle to stick to the luggage weight limits, but going over by one or two drinks only means that you can have a good beer at the airport before being doomed to the light lagers there. Can’t wait to get back to the States again, more about that soon!