Houston’s notoriously hot days of summer have definitely arrived and there's no better way to beat the heat than with a cold beer and some good music. SpindleTap Brewery is hosting just the event to celebrate summer with their first ever Punks and Pints Fest, a full day of local punk rock and ska on Saturday, June 26.
“We have absolutely missed festivals so whenever we were sitting around talking we were like, let's just do a music fest. Let's do it at the brewery where we can sit around, drink beer, have a bunch of music playing and just make a good afternoon of it,” says Jon Denman of SpindleTap. Punks and Pints will be the first official music festival at SpindleTap, though they have hosted events in the past.
The whole day event will feature burlesque dancers, food trucks, and the release of a special IPA named perfectly for the occasion, Oi! Oi! Oi! IPA. The festival will feature Houston favorites Los Skarnales, The Dead Rabbits, O’Doyle Rules, The Lockdowns and Stupid Idiot.
Tickets are available online now and will be available for purchase at the door. VIP packages are available and include T-shirts, beer tokens, water bottles and seating in the VIP area. No matter where you sit, the stage will be visible and accessible with green areas located around for seating on a blanket or chair which are allowed to be brought in.
“We wanted it to be Houston bands,” says Denman while describing the thought process behind the selected line up. “This one is a good mix of punk and ska so it's really hard to have a bad time listening to ska music.”
For the release of their IPA which Denman describes as “a throwback to the glorious, hoppy days of West Coast IPA’s,” a drool-provoking description, Spindletap teamed up with another local brewer, Baa Baa Brewhouse and Drink of Ages Radio Show hosted by Denman himself.
“Baa Baa Brewhouse, they're out in the west side, they make terrific beers and that whole team over there they're just a lot of fun. They’re really into punk rock so we brewed that beer two years ago.”
“Drink of Ages and Baa Baa Brewhouse did a collaboration and we called it Oi! Oi! Oi! so it only made sense to bring that beer back for the festival and do another collaboration. This time we are brewing it at Spindletap, so this time it’s a three-way collaboration.”
Spindeltap, which celebrated its five year anniversary in late 2020, occupies a three and a half plus acre property with plenty of space to spread out, a covered stage, a basketball court, a baseball field and a nine hole putt putt golf course.
Usually, the brewery is open for all ages as the layout encourages family fun, but for Punks and Pints it will be 21 and up. Tickets are available online and the day of the event and though some parking is available, Denman encourages attendees to take the safest route possible and use a rideshare saying wisely, "It’s a full day of beer so a $25 Uber ride is much safer than anything."
“It’s been pretty wild,” says Denman of his three years with Spindletap. “They’re such a fantastic group of people that own Spindletap and their ideas of the way they want to run things is different than a lot of other businesses and that’s why you're seeing success with Spindletap, because they don’t run business like normal business people.”
Denman describes what drew him to Spindletap was the company’s ability to execute big ideas as a growing business while giving back to the community frequently, and quietly, through college scholarships, helping small coffee farms and more.
"They've created a whole different type of brewery experience than any of the other ones around Houston, or actually anywhere, that I've ever been to," says Denman proudly.
“I love this city,” says Denman. “There’s of course some things that we don’t have, but we have so much more to make up for the lack of mountains or somethings that other cities have.
“No matter what you're looking for, it has some of the best you'll find in the world. You're not going to find a city that has such diversity and mixed cultures that aren’t clashing but working together to create a whole new vibe and cuisine that’s happening in Houston.”
Punks and Pints will take place on Saturday, June 26 at SpindleTap Brewery, 10622 Hirsch from 2 p.m. until 9 p.m., $20-80 for VIP.