Culture

Houston Beer Week 2015

Nathan Miller

 |  Apr 17, 2015

Houston Beer Week is here! What a glorious way for the populace of Houston to celebrate the launch of this soon-to-be-acclaimed Houston Beer Guide! Yes, Houston Beer Week is here, led by a wonderful group of hard working volunteers (they’re mighty good looking too), through whose efforts HBW is not only back after missing a year, but back in a strong and mighty way.

Houston Beer Week is not just another week; there’s fifty one of those sprinkled liberally throughout the year already. No, HBW is a shining beacon of hope, an oasis in the desert, a sign of beauty and glory, and a lot of other overly vibrant metaphors.

When I think back on HBWs of the past, I think back on wonderful experiences with new friends, drinking new beers, at new-to-me places. That theme, of newness in beer, is one that continually draws me back to this wonderful beverage. Newness is exciting, and if you can find new excitement (and I certainly do), if you can find new thirst, then that initial wonder upon tasting your first “favorite beer” doesn’t have to be a thing of the past. Thus, I present to you, a short list of events I’ve chosen to highlight for Houston Beer Week 2015 with the theme “new again.” I hope you’ll join me at these or many other events this week.

New To Houston

Alpine Beer Company has been around since 1999, but only in the last month have they entered our fair city. They’ll be at many events this week, including a tap takeover at Whole Foods Voss and special west-coast takeovers at both Petrol Station and Hop Scholar. But as for me, I’m most excited for the “Westside Connection” at Flying Saucer Downtown. Not only for delicious new-to-Houston Alpine brews, but for wonderful West Coast rap music.

New Beer

Karbach is going hard for HBW this year, and in addition to a new Pilsner and Blood Orange Ale, they’ll also be supplying a keg of their new imperial stout, Three Legged Lab, to Mongoose v Cobra for their “Mongoose Versus Houston” flight. Because this flight is available all week long, I’ll be able to stop in after work one day and also try the new 2522 Hefe from Southern Star. Two new beers in one shot. Hot dang.

New To Me

I have a confession to make and I’m not proud of it: I’ve never had Dairymaids cheese. I freaking love cheese, and somehow I’ve missed out. But soon this shall not be true! A new-to-me venue, Siphon Coffee, is hosting a BB9 cheese pairing with new-to-me Dairymaids cheese. I’m stoked.

New Breweries

11 Below doesn’t open officially until May, but the upcoming Houston brewery is hosting a sneak peek and three-beer tasting during HBW. And obviously I’m very excited for that, because with names like “Oso Bueno,” how can their beer be anything but exciting? But one new brewery isn’t enough for one week, so Brash, the newest brewery as of this week, will bring two kegs of their freshly-brewed hoppiest beers to Beavers for a speakeasy night. And there’s live music too.

These are obviously only a handful of the many, many events going on this week, so get yourself over to the official Houston Beer Week events calendar or live map and find some beer to drink!