Texas Beers

A friend is down in Texas right now and wants to bring back some beers for me. He isn't a beer guy so I don't want to send him on a wild goose chase for rare beers. I want some Jester King wild and sour beers, plus maybe something else. Any recommendations for stuff that should be easier to find?

What part of Texas is he in? That's going to drive what he has access to as far as some of the smaller craft breweries.

I'd say at least one beer from the Spoetzl Brewery. Shiner Bock is the most popular of their beers, even thought it's not really a bock. Their FM966 Farmhouse Ale is one of my favorites, along with Shiner Black. You can find both all over Texas.

FM966 Farmhouse from Shiner is good and in stores now. Rahr's Tenderfoot and La Grange is still out, but a little harder to find. Check a World Market or Specs. This may be just me, but I think Franconia Lager has a bit of a sour taste. Jester King is at World Market. Central Market is another good place to beer shop. Even Kroger has some Texas beer: Saint Arnold, Shiner, Rahr, Real Ale, Revolver.

Some other DFW area brewers that also have good beers are Community, Lakewood, and Deep Elum.

I'm not a huge fan of the Franconia Lager, either, but I love their Dunkel.

If you like IPAs, Deep Ellum (Dallas) IPA and St Arnold's (Houston) Elissa IPA are two I would recommend. Deep Ellum also brews a Farmhouse Ale called Greenbelt (for Armadillo Ale Works) which is also good. If around the Austin area, have your friend pick up a Devil's Backbone Triple from Real Ale (Blanco). Shiner's FM966 is available all over the state, and a nice Farmhouse Ale.

Thankfully we have a large list of great craft beers to choose from, when the home brew is running low.

Oh yeah. Deep Ellum. They have a Farmhouse Wit.

Houston - No Label, Karbach, Southern Star, Buffalo Bayou, Saint Arnold
Austin- Jester King, Hops and grains, Rogness, Infamous, Twisted X,
San Antonio- Branchline, Ranger Creek, 5 Stones,
Dallas- Rahr and sons, Deep Ellum, Revolver, Community, Armadillo,


There are more. Most still do not bottle yet. Draught only. There are a lot around I suggest Karbach, Hops and Grains, Ranger Creek. All above you will not be disappointed

I saw some Southern Star in cans at HEB. I bought one sixer (some sort of IPA) and didn't love it- but it was available and different.

I like just about anything by Real Ale, especially their Moon (?) something pale ale- it's a rye pale ale and it's quite good. I'm drinking an Elyssia (St. Arnold's) right now (right this moment!), and that's good as well. I'm not sure where St. Arnold's distributes to, but I assume it's widely available in Texas.

Yooper said:

I saw some Southern Star in cans at HEB. I bought one sixer (some sort of IPA) and didn't love it- but it was available and different.

I like just about anything by Real Ale, especially their Moon (?) something pale ale- it's a rye pale ale and it's quite good. I'm drinking an Elyssia (St. Arnold's) right now (right this moment!), and that's good as well. I'm not sure where St. Arnold's distributes to, but I assume it's widely available in Texas.

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Its Full moon Pale Rye. It is really tasty. You might be refering to is bombshell blonde. Thats their blonde ale and the lease favorite of their beers.

I forgot Real ale. My current favorite Texas brewery. Also they are doing a collab with surly and 3floyds

Real Ale makes some really good stuff. I haven't had the Full Moon Pale Rye. I'll look for it next time I'm at the beer store, though!

You can't go wrong with Shiner as previously posted, I myself am a huge Ziegenbock fan...YMMV

I can only speak for my taste and in houston. But should grab some jester king beers if in Austin or if available. St Arnolds I would recommend Ellisa IPA, Endeavor DIPA, or weedwacker which seems to be liked by a lot of people. They distribute all over texas and in neighboring states. Southern Star Pine Belt Ale is one of my favorite local beers and more like an IPA than a pale ale. Just about anything you can get from Karbach will far more often than not be pretty good. They are my favorite local brewery. The only one I woukd really stear away from is anything by buffalo bayou. Just my opinion.

If you like Belgians and are near Austin, have him pick up something from Adelbert's. They carry it at most of the HEBs (main grocery store in the area) and at Spec's (liquor chain in the area). I like the Philosophizer and Black Rhino. Their Tripel B is a good tripel, too.

Never mind..one too many HB

E_Marquez said:

Never mind..one too many HB

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What'd you do, recommend your own?

AF-ATC said:

You can't go wrong with Shiner as previously posted, I myself am a huge Ziegenbock fan...YMMV

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Ziegenbock is made by Anheuser-Busch. I think there are far better Texas beers than that. It's an imitation craft beer, and is not a bock at all but modeled after Michelob's Amber Bock. If someone is bring home craft brews, this is a definite skip in my opinion. It's a macro lager, and there are other AB beers that are just as good (or bad, depending on how you look at it).

Shiner isn't bad but it has a pretty large distribution area. It's also not the best beer the make. It can be had in a lot of states. I think you would like to grab things harder to find and more local. Plus there are a lot of better beers local to Austin, Houston, and Dallas.

Thanks for the replies everyone. My friend is in the Dallas area. Hoping he can find some Jester King which is what I really want plus any others that may be good.

I can get Shiner around here in MN.

MachineShopBrewing said:

Thanks for the replies everyone. My friend is in the Dallas area. Hoping he can find some Jester King which is what I really want plus any others that may be good.

I can get Shiner around here in MN.

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Texas is coming along in its craft beer scene, but we still have a long way to go and some really antiquated distribution laws that need further changing. I'm on my way home to Tx right now (in Denver airport) from Ft. Collins which makes TX look downright pathetic.

In Dallas, see if you can find stuff from Peticolas or Franconia (good Dunkel). Some of the Rahr stuff is OK. Shiner is now a macro lager. The bock is OK, but no longer the craft beer it once was.

Community and Deep Ellum have pretty good beers.


Sent from my kegerator

Jester King isn't extremely widely available in the DFW area, but it's not scarce, either. Their website has a pretty good map on where you can find it.

Jester King El Cedro if you can find it is one of my favorite that is usually available.