Beer

The 5 Best Things to Eat or Drink This Weekend: Beers and Bowls for Charity, BrewFest and a Curry Crawl

Beers for Boston at The Railyard All weekend 4200 San Felipe The Railyard (the bar which famously replaced the old Roll-In Saloon) is hosting a mini tap-takeover and charity event to support victims of the marathon bombing in Boston. Through the end of May, The Railyard will donate proceeds from th ... More >>

Here, Eat This: A Beginner's Guide to German Cuisine

Modern-day Texans may not see much German influence when they look around, but the indirect effects of decades of German settlement still linger in large pockets of the state. The first waves of German immigration began in the 1830s ahead of the European Revolutions of 1848 that sent floods of Fort ... More >>

Saint Arnold Icon Blue Has Arrived

The second beer in the new seasonal Icon series from Saint Arnold Brewery hits shelves this week in the form of Icon Blue. The beer, a Cascadian Dark Ale (or Black IPA), will be available in 12-ounce four-packs throughout the spring. While not all accounts have received their initial shipments, I've ... More >>

Underdogs and Juggernauts

The 10 best new restaurants of 2012.

The Top 10 Texas Beers of 2012

Taking a look back just four years to former Houston Press food critic Robb Walsh's list of Top 10 Texas beers from 2008 shows what a difference a few years make. While the list holds some very solid selections, like Pale Moon and Live Oak Pilz -- as well as one carry-over to this list-- the sheer ... More >>

Upcoming Events: Downtown Hoppy Hours and Italian Stallions

Everyone loves The Orange Show -- but the non-profit Center for Visionary Art needs your help to keep providing Houston with amazing public art displays like the annual Art Car Parade and concerts at the Orange Show monument itself. To that end, Saint Arnold is sponsoring the 2012 Foamraiser tomorro ... More >>

Rice University Offers a Beer Education Your Own College Probably Didn't

When you talk about getting educated on beer at college, I am going to assume that you mean learning about the finer points of keg tapping and Natty Light hauling. Because until recently, a real beer education was something that most universities didn't teach. Wine appreciation classes? Sure. Beer? ... More >>

Old Habits Die Hard: 6 Texas Beers to Try

Texans are a stubborn bunch. Proud and headstrong, we hold our beliefs as closely as just about anyone. Sometimes we do it out of tradition, and other times simply out of habit. What other excuse do we have for still executing the mentally handicapped and eating at Saltgrass Steak House? Old habits ... More >>

3rd Annual BrewMaster Craft Beer Festival

Spec’s Second Annual Brewmasters Craft Beer Festival

Comment of the Day: Saddest Beer Palate Ever

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Houston Gets a Brewpub; Tyson Cole Talks Uchi

I tried and failed to think of a clever tie-in with the Waugh Drive bat colony. Oh well. Beer!​Normally, we reserve restaurant opening and closings news for our weekly Friday roundups. But some news is too good to sit on, like the announcement from Scott Metzger -- owner of Freetail Brewing Co ... More >>

Saint Arnold’s Oktoberfest 2010

Break out your lederhosen

1st Annual Brewmasters International Beer Festival

Everybody needs a hobby, right? Why not make yours beer?

St. Arnold's Winter Stout

​Normally we use the anniversary of some historical event to try to justify what would otherwise be a random beer review each week. But this is current folks, no encyclopedia digging required. This week, as early as yesterday at some stores and watering holes, our own St. Arnold Brewing Co. ... More >>

A Lone Pint or Two Tonight

​Beer lovers can get a sampling of what may be Houston's next microbrewery tonight during a free tasting at Chelsea Wine Bar in Seabrook. The crew behind Lone Pint Brewery will have seven kegs of beer, four different recipes, for sipping. The Lone Pint crew -- Trevor Brown and his wife Christ ... More >>

Holiday Beers

​If holiday cocktails aren't your game, there are plenty of brewers suggesting you wish Jesus a happy birthday with their own drinks this month, and Block 7 Wine Company, 720 Shepherd, was happy to get folks started last weekend with a holiday beer tasting. We found it well worth the $5 cove ... More >>

My Top 5 Summer Beers

In the winter, a cold beer is a nice thing to drink with a sandwich. In the Texas summer, a cold beer is a necessity. It is a cure for the malaise brought on by too many days without a fucking break from this heat -- the short term solution to global warming. And here are my five top beers of the su ... More >>

Texas Traveler: Southern Star Brewery

Photos by Brittanie SheyThe canning processUp until March of last year, there weren't a whole lot of good reasons to spend a Saturday afternoon in Conroe. But now there's a least one: The Southern Star Brewing Company. Southern Star celebrated their one-year anniversary this spring with the release ... More >>

Texas Traveler: Southern Star Brewery

Photos by Brittanie SheyThe canning processUp until March of last year, there weren't a whole lot of good reasons to spend a Saturday afternoon in Conroe. But now there's a least one: The Southern Star Brewing Company. Southern Star celebrated their one-year anniversary this spring with the release ... More >>

Saint Arnold's Celebrates Their 15th Anniversary With the First Annual Beer Olympics

Photos by Jeff BalkeSunday's bracing heat and thick humidity didn't stop the hundreds of beer lovers who turned out to help local microbrewery Saint Arnold celebrate its 15th anniversary while feasting on barbecue and watching the spectacle that was the first annual Beer Olympics. Emcee Lennie Ambr ... More >>

Aloha: The Beer I Had For Breakfast

Kona Brewing Company's Pipeline Porter is "Made with 100% Hawaiian Kona Coffee" according to the label. It's a limited release winter beer and it goes down very smooth. There's none of the saccharine sweetness or ponderous malt you find in many stouts and porters. The taste is rich and creamy with l ... More >>

American Homebrewers Association Rally

Web exclusive!

Congratulations: It's a Dopplebock!

While it hasn't actually been announced yet, beer geeks report that Shiner 100, the beer that will mark Shiner's 100th anniversary, will be a dopplebock. The robust German-style beer will be labled Shiner Commemorator. Doppelbocks are traditionally darker and stronger than standard bocks. Shiner Co ... More >>

What to Get a Texas Beer Lover for Christmas?

The Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner celebrates its 100th birthday next year and while we'll have to wait until January for the anniversary beer to be released, a new book on the history of the brewery has already hit the bookstores--just in time for Christmas. The hefty coffee table book (beer table book? ... More >>

Recession Thanksgiving Tip: Drink Beer Instead of Wine

Airline travel is down, grocery stores are giving away free turkeys to get customers in the door, and everybody is looking for ways to economize this Thanksgiving. But before you decide to save money by buying a jug of Riunite instead of an expensive wine, consider serving your guests American cra ... More >>

Texas Beer

Hello Budweiser American Ale

Texas Wants Beer: My Ten Top Texas Beers

Texas Wants Beer: Five Places to Drink Beer in Houston

Texas Wants Beer: Change This Law!

Texas Wants Beer!

Our state is the top beer market in the country, so why are we falling behind in the microbrewery movement?

Taste-Testing the St. Arnold Brewing Company's Divine Reserves

Drink and Walk

Un-French Frites

Mussels and fries, monk beers and Belgian pride abound at Cafe Montrose

Best Brewpub

Two Rows Restaurant & Brewery

Best Beer Selection

The Ginger Man

Tippling from Tap to Tap

Down and out (and drunk) in NoDo

Knocking Back a Few

Speaking off the toque: Ian Larsen

Holy Water

Saint Arnold's finds a little divine guidance in the form of Father Andrei Davydov

Best Microbrewery

Saint Arnold Brewing Company

Expect the Wurst

Schadenfreude

Food Fit for Drinking

Houston Brewery revamps its menu

Dish

Clubland

Beer Haul

A Pizza Puzzle

If it pulls the pieces together, The Strand Brewery could have a powerful pie

Promises, Promises

The Rock Bottom's menu writes a check its kitchen can't cash

Pub Grub? No Flub

The hometown entry in the Richmond brewpub battle fights with good food

Pub Flubs Grub

The drinking beats the dining at the new Village Brewery