If you’d like to have your event included, send an email to info@houstonbeerguide.com with the subject line “August Event Calendar.” Please include the date & time, a brief description of the event, the location, and a Facebook event link if available.

Thursday, August 3rd – National IPA Day

IPA Day Shirt – Available at Flying Saucer

IPA Day at Flying Saucer Downtown | 11am-1am | $3 IPA specials, one off casks and surprise release. Dozens of IPAs from Texas best and beyond including Brash Brewing, Alpine Beer Company, Eureka Heights Brew Co, Real Ale Brewing Company, Green Flash Brewing Co. and more.
More details on Facebook

IPA Day at Conservatory featuring Saint Arnold Art Car | 5pm-close | Try 5 variations Art Car, one of Houston’s best IPAs at Conservatory. Line up: Art Car, Grapefruit Art Car Dry Hopped w/ Amarillo Hops, Blueberry Art Car Dry Hopped w/ Mosaic Hops, Meyer Lemon Art Car Dry Hopped w/ Lemon Drop Hops, Double Dry Hopped w/ Citra & Galaxy Hops Art Car Cask.
More details on Facebook

IPA Day at Flying Saucer Sugarland | 5pm-12am | $3 (single) IPAs and $1 off Double/Imperial IPAs all day.
More details on Facebook

IPA Day Appy Hour at Holler Brewing | 4pm-close | Pair 3 of Holler’s IPAs with 3 types of chicken wings from T-Bone’s Sports Pub. The chicken wings are free while they last.
More details on Facebook

Saturday, August 5th

White Linen Day at Premium Draught | 12pm-4pm| Get ready for the art fair on 19th Street with Premium Draught and Holler Brewing. Premium Draught will have 5 Holler beers on tap. Each growler purchase includes a free Holler Brewing t-shirt to wear to White Linen Night. John & Kathryn Holler will be there to talk beer and pour beer.

White Linen Night and 2 Year Anniversary Party at Town In City Brewing | 6pm-11pm | To celebrate their second anniversary, Town in City is releasing their White Linen IPA – A hoppy wheat IPA brewed with Texas Grapefruit. They’ll have several small batch beers on tap as well as food an music.
More details on Facebook

Sunday, August 6th

Root Beer Float Day at Saint Arnold | 12pm-5pm | Saint Arnold will be serving root beer floats made with their root beer and Fat Cat Creamery’s Mexican Vanilla ice cream, as well as some special variations. There is no admission fee and it is a family friendly event.
More details on Facebook

Thursday, August 10th

Beer Dinner Cooking Demo at City Acre Brewing | 7pm-10pm | City Acre is opening their Victorian manor for a special beer dinner. Chef Rick will teach you how to prepare each course, which will be paired with City Acre beers. Be among the first to try their Passonfruit version of their mainstay pale ale, TXPA.
This is a ticketed event.
More details on Facebook | Ticket link

Friday, August 11th

B-52 Brewing Biere de Coupage Bottle Release | 3pm-? | B-52 Brewing is releasing their newest sour/wild beer: Biere de Coupage. It is “a blend of young saison and one-year old, oak-fermented sour saison dry-tead with a blend of five different tea varieties.” They have 1000 bottles available for $8 each, available while they last.
More details on Facebook

Saturday, August 12

Baa Baa Brewhouse Meenie Can Release | 10am-? | Baa Baa Brewhouse is releasing the second Hazy IPA in their “Ennie, Meenie, Miny, Moe” series.

Sunday, August 13th

Juice Fest at SpindleTap Brewery | SpindleTap will be releasing 3 Hazy IPAs: Their original Houston Haze, Juiceton (brewed with help from our resident NEIPA expert Larry Koestler), and Hops Drop. Each 4 pack will be $16, and purchases will be limited to 2 packs of each style.

SpindleTap Juice Fest – August 13th

Saturday, August 19th

Eureka Heights 1 Year Anniversary Party & Bottle Release | 11am-1pm| The VIP event starts at 11:30am and includes tastings of several varitations on their new Bourbon Barrel Imperial Milk Stout, Nuke the Whales. With the VIP ticket you’ll get special glassware and a 22oz bottle of Nuke the Whales to go. The regular admission party starts at 1pm and is free entry. You’ll get a chance to try several variation of Nuke the Whales throughout the day, plus a piñata, an ice cream truck, and birthday cake. Bottles will be available for sale to go.
This is a (partially) ticketed event.
More details on Facebook | Ticket Link

Sunday, August 20th

Happy Firkin Birthday to Flying Saucer Downtown | 11am-1am | Flying Saucer is celebrating their 17th anniversary with over a dozen special one off beers in firkins (also called casks) from local breweries.
More details on Facebook

Sunday, August 27th

Brews & Barrels at Saint Arnold | 11am-2pm | Saint Arnold is playing host to the Galveston Bay Foundation. Learn how to make a rain barrel and go home with a barrel and connector kit of your own. Admission is $40 and includes the barrel, the connector kit, and 2 beer tokens.
This is a ticketed event.
More details on Facebook | Ticket Link

September Preview

Sept 1-3: Brewmaster’s Craft Beer Festival at Moody Gardens
Sept 23: 7th Anniversary Party at The Almighty Moon Tower Inn

The post Houston Beer Events – August 2017 first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Houston Beer Events – August 2017 appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

If you’d like to have your event included, send an email to info@houstonbeerguide.com with the subject line “July Event Calendar.” Please include the date & time, a brief description of the event, the location, and a Facebook event link if available.

Saturday, July 1st

City Acre’s 1st Anniversary Party | 11am-5pm| City Acre is turning one! To celebrate, they’ll have special beers on tap all day (some new, some past favorites), a German food buffet, and bottles to go of their Skull Creek Kolsch aged on City Acre grown blueberries, dewberries, and blackberries.
This is a ticketed event.
More details on Facebook | Ticket link

Fetching Lab is, well, open | 1pm-5pm | Fetching Lab is only open one or two weekends a month, and even then only depending on the weather. The brewery is on the same property as their house, which is sure to make any homebrewer envious. The brewery is dog friendly, kid friendly, and horse friendly, but bring your own chair.
More details on Facebook

Local Brews Local Grooves at House of Blues | 3pm-10pm | The beer list for this annual event is too long to list. If you like Houston beer, your favorite brewery will probably be pouring beer here. There are multiple ticket tiers, some of which include a Saint Arnold beer dinner before the event.
This is a ticketed event.
More details on Facebook | Ticket Link

Town in City’s First Of JuLuau Party | 6pm-11pm | Town in City is celebrating the beginning of July. They’ll have Blood Brothers BBQ serving Hawaiian food, Hot Rod Pops serving frozen popsicles, and Reggae band Dem will be providing the grooves. They’ll also have some special tropical themed beers available.
More details on Facebook

Bike Ride and Hot Dog Eating Contest at TBR | 12pm-6pm | Join Texas Beer Refinery for their Independence Day celebration. Join 1 mile the “bike parade” from the taproom to the brewery at 12:15, and head back for the hotdog eating competition. There will also be live music starting at 2 and they’ll have “Cloud Nein” a German IPA brewed in collaboration with Wurst Haus.
This is a ticketed event.
More details on Facebook | Ticket Link

Running Walker’s Official Grand Opening | 12pm-11pm | Running Walker is officially opening their outdoor beer garden this weekend. They’ll have food trucks and live music all day to celebrate.
More details on Facebook

Tuesday, July 4th

Fourth of July Celebration at No Label | 12pm-7pm | It’s a day of contests at No Label: hotdog eating, watermelon seed spitting, and dog costumes. They’ll have beer available by the pint, plus food trucks and music throughout the day.

Friday, July 7th

Bishop’s Gone Wild Bottle Release at B-52 | 3pm-? | B-52 will be releasing their Saint Arnold tribute beer, a sour amber ale with raspberries and blackberries, at the brewery at 3pm. Limits will be based on turnout.

Bishop’s Gone Wild Bottle | Photo: B-52 Brewing

Saturday, July 8th

Saint Arnold Pub Crawl Downtown | 2pm-6pm | It’s time for the annual downtown pub crawl. Stop at any one of the locations below between 2pm and 3pm to get a punch card. Your route and stops will vary depending on where you start. Meet everyone at Market Square Park at 6 to redeem your fully stamped card for your Pub Crawl pint glass. You don’t have to drink at every stop to earn the stamp. After the pub crawl, Ishi and The Waxaholics will be performing at Market Square Park.

Stops: El Big Bad, Springbok, Molly’s Pub, Flying Saucer, OKRA Charity Saloon, Christian’s Tailgate, Conservatory, Batanga, Boots ‘n Shoots, Bovine & Barley, Nightingale Room, Shay McElroy’s, Little Dipper, Market Square Park
More details on Facebook

Monday, July 10th

Houston Haze Release at SpindleTap | 3pm-Saturday, July 15th | The newest batch of Houston Haze will be released on Monday at 3pm. As long as supplies last, it will also be available Tuesday-Thursday from 9am-6pm, Friday from 9am-9pm, and Saturday from 12pm-pm.

Friday, July 15th

Cubano and Craft at SpindleTap | 12pm-6pm | Experience a day of Cuban culture, Cuban cuisine, and craft beer. They’ll also have a cigar rolling station.
More details on Facebook

Belgian Beer Week kicks off at Flying Saucer Downtown | July 15 – July 21st

Saturday – Saison Saturday – Discounted Saison Bottles + BYO Saison Flight: Funkwerks Brett Saison, Funkwerks Tropic King, BLVD Tank 7, BLVD Saison Brett, Saison Dupont, Southern Star Summer Saison and more.
Sunday – Belgian Bottle Bottle Release: Large Format and rare Belgians from the cellar.
Monday – $3 Belgian Drafts + Maredsous Chalice Release
Tuesday – Victory Trivia – $5 Victory Golden Monkey all day long + Victory Hoppy Quad at 6pm.
Wednesday – Belgian Flight – De Ranke Tripel, Da La Senne Zinnebir and more.
Thursday – Belgium comes to America – The Bruery Sans Pagaie at 6pm.
Friday – Belgian National Day – Build Your Own Belgian Flights + Cantillon Tapping at 7pm
More details on Facebook

Sunday, July 16th

Feast of Saint Arnold | 5pm-8:30pm | Feast of Saint Arnold is Saint Arnold’s annual fundraiser for Texas Children’s Hospital’s Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center. It’s a 4 course meal (plus hors d’oeuvres and dessert) served family style like a medieval feast. Plus beer, of course.
More details on their website: www.saintarnold.com/feast-of-saint-arnold/

Sunday, July 23rd

Screwed Up Sunday at 8th Wonder | 11am-6pm | 8th Wonder’s annual event paying tribute to DJ Screw is back. The event will include music (of course), an interactive live artshow with Donkeeboy, and a DJ Screw pint glass with 3 beer tokens.
More details on Facebook

Friday, July 28th

Sangria bottle release at B-52 Brewing | 3pm-? | B-52 is releasing their red & white wine barrel aged saison that has been re-fermented with wild yeast, pink guava, blood orange, blackberries & raspberries.

Saturday, July 29th

Xmas in July at Buffalo Bayou | 6pm-9pm | This year’s annual event features a commemorative glass, all you can (responsibly) drink beers, and an ugly sweater contest.
This is a ticketed event.
More details on Facebook | Ticket Link

Board Game Bonanza at Flying Saucer Downtown | 12pm-6pm | Tea & Victory is bringing their library of over 200 board games to the Flying Saucer in downtown Houston.
More details on Facebook

Flying Saucer Board Game Bonanza – July 29th

August Preview

Aug 3 – IPA Day at the Flying Saucer Downtown
Aug 6 – Root Beer Float Day Celebration at Saint Arnold
Aug 10 – Beer dinner & cooking demo at City Acre
Aug 19 – “Nuke the Whales” bourbon barrel imperial milk stout release at Eureka Heights
Aug 20 – Flying Saucer Downtown’s 17th Anniversary Party

Don’t see an event near you? Use our Brewery Map to find somewhere new to visit.

The post Houston Beer Events – July 2017 first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Houston Beer Events – July 2017 appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

(Click here to for a zoomable version)

Yo that IPA Region is stacked! Mostly Harmless got screwed, though. Pumpkinator vs. Rocket Fuel in the Sweet 16 is gonna be brutal. I’ve got EZ7 as my Cinderella. Think Yellow Rose can win it all again?

Welcome to the 2017 edition of the Houston Beer Guide Bracket. Last year’s bracket was a blast, with some nail-biters, a ballot-stuffing scandal, a handful of upsets, and Lone Pint Yellow Rose ultimately cruising to the title.

We’ve made some changes compared to last year, when we used weighted Untappd rankings to fill out the field from 1 to 64. This year, we still leaned on ratings, but we also opened up the selection process to the HBG staff, our own version of the NCAA’s selection committee. We awarded “automatic bids” to breweries that wouldn’t have qualified based solely on rankings. We eliminated one-time releases (no Divine Reserves, Bishop’s Barrels, etc.). And we limited the field to independent craft breweries — you know what that means.

Enough with the pregame analysis. Let’s get to the #HBGBracket. Voting for the first round ends Monday night, March 20th. The second round will begin Tuesday, March 21st. We’ll update results on Facebook and Twitter.

Update #1 – Round of 64 recap:
The first round has wrapped up and there were quite a few surprises. 12-seed SpindleTap Hop Gusher took down 5-seed Saint Arnold Endeavour, with a respectable win of 56%. In our far north vs. far south matchup, 14-seed B-52 Double IPA beat 3-seed Galveston Island Citra Mellow. Copperhead King of Terrors managed to eke out a win against Buffalo Bayou Vanilla Mocha Sunset, in a match decided by just 13 votes. In the battle of Clear Lake, Texas Beer Refinery’s Gulf Coast Gose held its ground against BAKFISH I Tell You Wit. Unfortunately, Texas Beer Refinery Catalyst wasn’t able to repeat last year’s Cinderella run. Yellow Rose continued last year’s tradition of dominating the competition, knocking out newcomer Running Walker Texas Reserve. Check out the rest of the results at the bottom of the page.

Update #2 – Round of 32 recap:
Well that was certainly interesting. The majority of this round went to chalk, with the 1-seeds doing especially well. Dig into the middle of the field a little bit, and you’ll see some very surprising results. 12-seed SpindleTap Hop Gusher continued its Cinderella run, leading 4-seed Brash Pussy Wagon the entire round. At the 24-hour mark, Brash Vulgar Display of Power vs Brash Cortado was exactly 50/50, but lower-seeded VDoP eventually won out. 11-seed Copperhead King of Terrors managed another narrow victory, this time over 3-seed No Label Nightmare on 1st Street. There were no upsets in the Easy Drinking region, dashing the chances of a Pilsner head-to-head between Back Pew and Saint Arnold. How will old-standard Buried Hatchet fare against new-hotness Raspberry AF in the next round? Last year’s champion, Lone Pint Yellow Rose, faces Cinderella; is there a stunning upset on the horizon? Will King of Terrors be able to sneak past Brash EZ-7 and into the Elite 8? It’s all up to you.

Update #3 – Sweet 16 recap:
Let’s start with the fun parts: Almost every one of the match up in the Sweet 16 ended within 100 votes. For nearly 1,500 votes, that’s pretty impressive. Brazos Valley 7 Spanish Angels overcame Saint Arnold 5 O’Clock Pils by 107 votes, 4-seed Lone Pint The Jabberwocky upset 1-seed Brash Abide with 92 votes, Saloon Door Tasty AF beat Brash Vulgar Display of Power by 39 votes, and Pumpkinator vs Rocket Fuel was decided by just 32 votes. Every beer included in the Sweet 16 deserved it’s place this far into the tournament. SpindleTap found a post in one of the beer groups by someone bragging to have voted for Hop Gusher several hundred times in a short period Monday afternoon. Unfortunately, there is no way for us to undo the damage that was done. After a discussion with the team at SpindleTap, they offered to forfeit the game to Yellow Rose. At the T-11 hour mark, SpindleTap had the lead, and they appeared to gain more ground in the morning. As stated earlier, we believe that every beer that made it to the sweet 16 deserved to be there. Hop Gusher beat Endeavour and Pussy Wagon without any intervention, and there is a very strong likelihood that it would have beat Yellow Rose as well. Yellow Rose faces some stiff competition in the next round with Saint Arnold Art Car, as do all of the beers in the Elite 8.

Update #4 – Elite 8 recap:
The giants have fallen. Saloon Door rounded up their supporters to knock out 1-seed Saint Arnold Pumpkinator. Brazos Valley had a late surge of support: 7 Spanish Angels rallied from being down 49/51 at the 24 hour mark to come out ahead 54/46 and take out 1-seed Southern Star Buried Hatchet. 1-seed Yellow Rose clobbered 2-seed Art Car in a round that was expected to be more of a challenge for last year’s champion. Brash’s 7-seed EZ-7 avenged 1-seed Abide’s earlier elimination and trounced Lone Pint The Jabberwocky. Lone Pint Yellow Rose is the only 1-seed that remains in the tournament – how will it fare against the Saloon Door posse, which has already overcome some quite impressive opponents? Will EZ-7 or 7 Spanish Angels be the lucky one to advance to the finals?

Update #5 – Final Four recap:
Yellow Rose, our last 1-seed and last year’s champion was bested by the chocolate & peanut butter stout from Clear Lake, Tasty AF. 7 Spanish Angels, the coffee brown ale from Brenham, rallied its supporters to eliminate Brash EZ-7. It’s all come down to this: Saloon Door Tasty AF versus Brazos Valley 7 Spanish Angels. Peanut butter & chocolate vs coffee. Both beers eliminated some very impressive challengers along the way. Which beer will be crowned the best beer in Houston by the readers of Houston Beer Guide?

Update #6 – Championship recap:
Wow, that was a surprisingly close match. Saloon Door’s Tasty AF is now the reigning ‘Best Beer in Houston’ as chosen by the readers of Houston Beer Guide. If you haven’t tried it or any of the other 63 beers included in this year’s bracket, I highly recommend that you seek them out.

The changes we made to the beer selection process this year were a direct result of the conversations we had with our readers last year. If you have suggestions for ways we can make it even better next year, shoot us an email, we’d love to hear your ideas: info@houstonbeerguide.com.

Championship Results:

Saloon Door v Brazos Valley (1,800 votes)
Tasty AF – 51.3%
7 Spanish Angels – 48.7%

The Final Four Results:

Elite 8 Results:

Sweet 16 Results:

Round of 32 Results:

Round of 64 Results:

The post Houston Beer Guide Bracket 2017 first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Houston Beer Guide Bracket 2017 appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

Using the same methodology as the Beer Ranking posts, the seeds below are based on the top 64 rated beers in Houston based on weighted rankings.

Voting for the Round of 8 ends Thursday night, March 31st. The Round of 4 will begin Friday, April 1st. We’ll update results on Facebook and Twitter as well.

[Direct link to the full-sized bracket here]

Update #1:

Well the first round is in the books and it appears the seeding wasn’t as absurd as some thought: chalk won almost every matchup, with just two exceptions. The contenders from B-52 and Texas Beer Refinery live on, winning as underdogs and heading to the Round of 32 below. Maybe we were right when we said, “You should be drinking Texas Beer Refinery.”

Update #2:

After the relatively predictable Round One, the Round of 32 went a lot differently, with several upsets. While Texas Beer Refinery continues their Cinderella story as a 13-seed (now facing a very tough Vanilla BBH 1-seed), the joy hasn’t been shared by everybody: Buffalo Bayou, Brash, B-52, and No Label were each eliminated in the bloodbath. One clear takeaway as we enter the Sweet Sixteen: the commonly “hyped” styles are clearly winning. Of the remaining sixteen beers, only two are styles other than IPA or Porter/Stout, and both of those, BB10 & FUN 013, are barrel-aged (as are five others at this stage). What will make it out of this round on Sunday to enter the Elite Eight of Houston Beers? There’s no certainties at this point, though I certainly hope my Yellow Rose is still alive!

Update #3:

As we enter the Elite Eight, the bracket tells two very different stories. On the right side, an unexciting previous round led to all the highest seeds progressing, and this round pits Black Crack against Yellow Rose, as well as a face-off between two Saint Arnold stouts. On the left side of the bracket, however, a completely different drama has unfolded with the Cinderella story TBR Catalyst knocking out one of my expected Final Four picks, and the fourth overall seed Vanilla BBH. It faces a heavy competitor in Bishop’s Barrel #10, but don’t be surprised if the magic continues. Meanwhile, another upset occurred in the previous round and the juicy newcomer Art Car IPA advances to face off against the number one overall seed and competition favorite, BBH. Vote below and come back on Thursday when we enter the Final Four.

Update #4:

With so much drama in the HBG, it’s kinda hard being a beer bracket referee. We’re down to our last four beers, and as the Final Four comes to Houston in the basketball sense, we’ve also got the Final Four here. Sadly, the Cinderella story from TBR didn’t make it past the last round, but nonetheless it lives on in my heart. On the left side of the bracket, number one overall seed Karbach BBH faces off against Saint Arnold BB10 in a battle of two bourbon-barrel-aged beers: a porter and a barleywine. The bourbon champion will move on to face a non-barrel-aged winner from the right side of the bracket, where my favorite, Lone Pint Yellow Rose (fingers crossed y’all), goes up against the annual autumn delight, Saint Arnold Pumpkinator. Who will make it to the championship? Vote below and come back on Saturday afternoon for the championship matchup!

Update #5:

This is it! From a field of sixty-four competitors, only one shall be victorious. Who will take home glory and who will take home defeat? (Except, not real defeat, because, either way both competitors are delicious.) We’re down to the final competition: Lone Pint Yellow Rose and Karbach Bourbon Barrel Hellfighter. Two of Houston’s most beloved beers and two of the country’s most exciting styles: bourbon-barrel-aged anything and mosaic-hopped anything. Vote below for your pick.

Update #6:

That’s it for our inaugural Houston Beer Guide Bracket. Obviously I’m thrilled with the result (read: WOO YELLOW ROSE FTW) and I hope you are too. What would you like to see us change next year? How can we make this bracket even better? Sound off in the comments below!

Championship Results:

Championship – Karbach vs. Lone Pint (903 Votes)
Bourbon Barrel Hellfighter — 42.4%
Yellow Rose — 57.6%

Final Four Results:

Game 1 – Karbach vs. Saint Arnold (592 Votes)
Bourbon Barrel Hellfighter – 56.3%
Bishop’s Barrel #10 – 43.7%

Game 2 – Saint Arnold vs. Lone Pint (637 Votes)
Pumpkinator – 23.7%
Yellow Rose – 76.3%

Elite 8 Results:

We had a little bit of a hiccup with this round. Someone decided to vote 2000+ times in an attempt to ruin it for everyone. We pulled the poll early, so there were fewer overall votes. We took the raw voting data and filtered it for 1 vote per IP address. Going forward the polls will self-regulate to one vote per IP address. We will also “check the tapes” before we publish the results.

Game 1 – Karbach vs. Saint Arnold (588 Votes)
Bourbon Barrel Hellfighter – 55.1%
Art Car – 44.9%

Game 2 – Texas Beer Refinery vs. Saint Arnold (619 Votes)
Catalyst – 41.4%
Bishop’s Barrel #10 – 58.6%

Game 3 – Saint Arnold vs. Saint Arnold (562 Votes)
Pumpkinator – 52.5%
Divine Reserve #15 – 47.5%

Game 4 – Southern Star vs. Lone Pint (610 Votes)
Black Crack – 31.3%
Yellow Rose – 68.7%

Round of 16 Results:

Round of 32 Results:

Round of 64 Results:

The post Houston Beer Guide Bracket 2016 first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Houston Beer Guide Bracket 2016 appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

The flight at Drake’s in San Leandro, CA – One of my favorite flight presentations

Last week, I drove from my lovely Midtown castle to the faraway lands known as “The Heights” in order to sample the new beers at Town in City Brewery. Though the journey was far and perilous (traffic on 45N), I rested easy knowing that soon, I’d get to try some new-to-me and new-to-Houston beers, almost making the prospect of driving worth it.

As a responsible driver and frequent ticker, I had two goals: drink every beer that Town in City offered and subsequently drive home sober. So I asked the same question I ask every brewery I visit: “do y’all offer flights?”

The answer, sadly, was no. Town in City offers three sizes for on-premise consumption: 10 ounces, 20 ounces, and 60 ounces. With five beers on tap, that meant I either had to consume 50 ounces of beer (not driving-friendly) or send a lot of half-drank glasses back to be poured out. Because my desire to be safe trumps my desire to drink, I opted for the latter.

Thankfully, my friendly bartender at TiC understood my dilemma and rather than waste beer, poured me smaller samples. I was able to solve all my problems through the benefit of excellent customer service. However, it immediately brought a question to my mind: where are Houston’s brewery flights?

I am fortunate enough to travel frequently, for work or pleasure, and when I do, I visit breweries. According to untappd, I’ve been to 155 breweries since August 2012. And at those breweries, in places as wide-ranging as London, San Diego, Miami, and Boston (and many places in between), the answer to my question above, “do y’all offer flights?” is usually, “Of course! The details are…”

To illustrate my point, here’s a breakdown of the most recent 15 breweries I’ve visited, in 7 locations:

• Town in City; Saint Arnold; 11 Below — Houston, TX — No flights or tasters offered
• Galveston Island — Galveston, TX — Flights of four at a time
• La Cumbre; Marble; Nexus; Chama River; Bosque — Albuquerque, NM — Flights of four/five at a time
• Firestone Walker; Barrelhouse — Paso Robles, CA — Flights of four at a time
• Ladyface Alehouse — Agoura Hills, CA — Flights of five/six at a time
• Oasis Texas; Pinthouse Pizza — Austin, TX — Flights of five/six at a time
• Other Half — Brooklyn, NY — Single 4oz tasters

Obviously this is a small list, but notice something interesting here: only the three Houston breweries stand out as not offering flights or tasters. Even our neighbors a county over in Galveston have flights (and they come in little adorable Ball jars), and our friends in Austin offer tasters or flights as well. Yet, for some reason, Houston seems to be missing this typical brewery offering.

Admittedly, Whole Foods Market offers flights. And as a ‘brewpub’-style establishment, I’d be shocked if they didn’t. But otherwise, I can think of no Houston brewery that offers flights. If we’re going to get serious about beer tourism in this city, I think that our breweries need to address this gap. Especially in a city as car-centric as Houston. So rather than asking “do y’all offer flights?” at my next Houston brewery visit, I intend to ask: “where are Houston’s flights?”

Update: A couple of breweries have reached out over Twitter. Saint Arnold offers flights during their regular lunch hours and 8th Wonder offers flights Sunday-Thursday. A Twitter user tells us Southern Star also offers flights.

The post Where are Houston’s flights? first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Where are Houston’s flights? appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.