In the four years after moving to Houston from Tampa, Florida in 2009, they grew attached to the city and found Houston’s penchant for food and drink aligned with their own interests. When John’s job took the Hollers to Doha, Qatar for two years, Houston’s budding beer scene was gaining greater momentum, and they followed along from afar.

After learning of their years in Qatar and their ties to another popular brewing locale, Tampa, I asked the Hollers, “Why Houston?” Their responses resonate with me, and I’m guessing with many of you: Houston is where their adult lives began, and Houston is where they, together, started homebrewing. Houston was the city that started it all. So, after two years in Qatar, they began to plan their return, a trip in which they would find themselves separated from one another but working together toward a single dream.

Upon returning to the United States in 2015, John set off to earn an International Diploma in Brewing Technology from the highly-esteemed Siebel Institute of Technology while Kathryn returned to Tampa in pursuit of hands-on knowledge at Two Henrys Brewing Company. Each of these endeavors were important steps in building a solid foundation for the brewery they began building in their minds in Qatar. While John was learning the science, technology, and theory of brewing in Chicago and Munich, Kathryn was learning the operations of a 7bbl brewhouse at Two Henrys, the same size brewhouse they opted for when constructing Holler Brewing Co. when they were reunited in Houston later that year.

Since signing their lease at Sawyer Yards in May 2015, the Hollers have been testing batches of beer brewed on their pilot system and collecting feedback from a group of drinkers to fine tune their recipes before brewing them on their new brewhouse.. Luckily, I found myself a part of this group and have been eagerly awaiting the day I can drink my favorites again, including a citrusy, golden IPA, and a sneakily hoppy Belgian IPA. Good news for me, and you, when John & Kathryn invited me to visit the taproom last week: their four 7bbl fermenters and six brite tanks were full in preparation for their just-announced soft opening today at 4pm. They plan to open with six beers and one cold brewed coffee on tap, with more beers added and rotated every week until their 19 draft lines are full. To start, you’ll be able to try a traditional, quaffable hefeweizen; a heavily-hopped amber ale; a luscious milk stout; and a bready, yet crisp, Pils in addition to a couple of my favorites from the test group.

It’s the perfect time of year in Houston to enjoy Holler Brewing’s spacious patio with our city’s skyline looming just beyond the trees.

Holler Brewing Company is located at 2206 Edwards St., Houston, TX 77007.

Check out their website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Photos courtesy Holler Brewing Co.

The post Making Some Noise for Holler Brewing Co. first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Making Some Noise for Holler Brewing Co. appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Photo: J. McElweenie

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: local brewery set to open doors in renovated food service warehouse.

The team at Eureka Heights Brewing Co. has been hard at work for 18 months transforming a 20,000 square-foot warehouse into the stuff of dreams. Casey Motes, formerly a brewer at Saint Arnold, Robert Eichenlaub, Joel Swift, and their significant others have led volunteers and willing family members in countless hours of renovation, fabrication, cleaning, painting, and all things necessary to make this Heights brewpub a reality.

Atypical for the neighborhood, the property boasts a massive parking lot, accommodating and perpetuating Houston’s love for private transportation. Inside, you’ll find plenty of room to stretch out near the cold storage on the beerhall-style tables or even play a game of cornhole near the fermenters, but they plan to fill that space with more stainless steel as demand grows. A little farther down the road, they plan to move the revelry into an updated air conditioned tap room at the front of the building and take over the cornhole court to set up their canning line. The well thought-out space is ready to adapt to whatever demand Houston drinkers drum up.

Photo: C. Motes

Located just west of the Heights dry zone, you’ll be able to buy beers by the pint, flight, or walk out the door with Crowlers or growlers of the good stuff brewed on the customized 30-barrel DME brewhouse. The starting lineup features an American IPA highlighted by loads of American hops, a cream ale with corn perfected by input from real-life cowboys, a truly American style of beer with loads of Citra hops fermented with Kolsch yeast, and a milk stout with cinnamon and cayenne.

Meet the Eureka Heights Brew crew at the official launch party tonight, August 5th, at The Flying Saucer in downtown Houston from 4 to 8 p.m. If you miss the Saucer event, you’ll find the Eureka Heights team at Hughie’s on August 11th from 5 to 8 p.m. and the full line-up at Jugs Draft on August 12th from 6 to 9 p.m.

Pictured: Joel Swift Photo: J. McElweenie

Eureka Heights will open the brewery doors to thirsty Houstonians before Labor Day, with a grand opening party to be scheduled when the temperature drops a few degrees.

Photo: J. McElweenie

Eureka Heights Brewing Company is located at 941 W 18th St, Houston, TX 77008. Check out their website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Photos courtesy Jason McIlweenie & Casey Motes.

The post Beer Is Flowing From Eureka Heights first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Beer Is Flowing From Eureka Heights appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

What started as a trio of homebrewing buddies getting together to hone their craft and share their beers turned into a dream that, fueled by a few of those very beers, sparked an idea that turned into a brewery. Between then and now, Ned Davis, Mike Norfleet, and Herb Garcia have continued to tweak their recipes and practice a few other skills they learned along the way as they did the bulk of the heavy lifting building out their brewery and installing Texas’ only commercial 10-barrel electric brewhouse.

Their beers have been popping up around the neighborhood but soon you’ll be able to drink them directly from the source. They plan to offer five standard beers and five experimental beers in their taproom, which features a sizeable shaded patio and happens to be located just around the corner from Midtown’s favorite new spot, Axelrad Beer Garden.

If you’re antsy to check it out, they’ve already quietly opened their doors in anticipation of the grand opening, and you can check them out every weekend in July from 12-8 on Saturdays and 12-6 on Sundays.

Under the Radar Brewing is located at 1506 Truxillo St, Houston, TX 77004. Check out their website and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Editor’s note: Due to overwhelming attendance at the soft opening and subsequent lack of beer, this article has been updated to reflect that Under the Radar’s grand opening has been postponed to August 27th.

The post Shining a spotlight on Under the Radar first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Shining a spotlight on Under the Radar appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Recently released Dome Faux’m cans were available for purchase.

Both Colleen and I enjoyed Haterade. Colleen opined, “The Gose style was a nice change to the usual line-up at 8th Wonder and I hope they have it on draft this summer as it’s great for hot weather. It was tart and very easy to drink.” In addition to their standard line-up, a couple of specialty casks were available, including Peanut Butter Chocolate Rocket Fuel and French Toast, a chopped and screwed version of Alternate Universe.

Houston’s own Fat Tony

There were food trucks aplenty, including Eatsie Boys, The Rice Box, and The Waffle Bus. Below, Walker Lukens & The Side Arms kick off their set as the sun starts to fade.

All of the acts were high energy, but The Hot 8 Brass Band really got the crowd going. It may have been the beer, but everyone seemed to be having a great time on a beautiful Houston night.

The post 8th Wonder 3rd Anniversary Celebr8ion first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post 8th Wonder 3rd Anniversary Celebr8ion appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Featuring a massive beer garden, the new spot will have a hammock grove, lawn games, live music, and plenty of open space to sit back and relax. Their thirty-one taps will have something for everyone, with a focus on local favorites, national gems, and style classics. If that isn’t enough, their deep bottle and can selection will surely contain an old stand-by or a new favorite.

Behind this burgeoning beer program is Axelrad’s general manager, Elise Capers, who plans to take what she learned from her time with The Flying Saucer to new heights at this Midtown spot. Speaking of Midtown, fear not: parking should be plentiful with their large lot to the northwest, open street parking on Winbern, and neighbor HCC’s lot just north of that. And if you’re lucky enough to make the trip on a bicycle, don’t forget your helmet, because it’s worth five percent off your bill.

The best part for this pizza-lover is that Axelrad and Luigi’s will be sharing more than just a parking lot. They’ll be teaming up to satisfy the triangle-shaped hole in your stomach, with Luigi’s staying open late to make sure you’re fed before that long bicycle journey home.

Your first chance to check them out will be as part of the Sip & Cycle event, this Saturday, November 21. I don’t want to give away too much, but I will say that Axelrad will be pairing a Hugs & Donuts creation with a bourbon barreled bastard of a beer.

Axelrad Beer Garden is located at 1517 Alabama St and will open its doors and patio on December 5. Keep up with their progress on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The post Century-Old Axelrad Building Sees New Life as Beer Garden first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Century-Old Axelrad Building Sees New Life as Beer Garden appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.