10 Craft Breweries in the Austin, Texas Area Worth Checking Out

America’s brewing epicenters are beginning to shift from their historical locations. No longer do states such as Colorado and California enjoy most of the glory. Up and coming states like Texas giving vacationers new options when it comes to brewery destinations.

Coming off an impressive set of 21 wins at last year’s Great American Beer Festival, Texas was third in the overall medal count behind Colorado and California. To help narrow down this large list of Texas breweries, we’ll focus on the area in and around the capital city of Austin.

This list of 10 Austin area breweries is by no means an all-encompassing list, nor is it in any order, but should give you a good place to start.

Lazarus Brewing 1902 E. 6th St., Austin, Texas

Located on the famous 6th Street, the religion-themed Lazarus Brewing Co., was founded by practicing pastor Christian Cryder and his wife Marilyn. His brewing team is headed by Matt Couch, formerly of Pennsylvania’s Victory Brewing. Cryder and company are already an integral part of the soul of this revitalized area of East Austin, providing beer lovers a warm and inviting living-room style tap room, along with a variety of classic beer styles and their own fresh roasted coffee, courtesy of Marilyn.

While there, grab a pint of Amandus, their 2017 Great American Beer Festival Gold Medal winning Belgian Strong, or 40 Days and 40 Nights, their American IPA. The brewpub is open seven days a week and also offers light fare to munch on. Check out their website for operating hours.

St. Elmo Brewing 440 E. St. Elmo Road Austin, Texas

Located a little south of downtown Austin in a near-forgotten area of Texas’ capital, sits St. Elmo Brewing Co., founded by industry veterans Bryan Winslow and Tim Bullock. The small neighborhood brewery offers a wide variety of styles reflective of their own varied tastes in beer. Each of their offerings even has unique descriptors that tell a story. Their seasonal gose, for example, is named “Gozer,” in honor of that demon from Ghostbusters that we all know and love.

With each visit, you’ll often find at least 10 beers available including their three year-round beers: Carl, an easy drinking Kölsch; Chico, a hoppy pale ale; and Angus an Irish-style dry stout. The tap room and kitchen are open Tuesday through Sunday. Hang out on their homey patio and enjoy fare from the Thai trailer Soursop. Check out their website for hours of operation.

Celis Brewing 10001 Metric Blvd Austin, Texas

Though Belgian-style witbier, or “white,” style was completely gone by the mid-1950s, former milkman Pierre Celis revived the style in 1966 when he founded Höegaarden Brewery in the town of Höegaarden in Flanders, Belgium. From that point on the name Celis has become synonymous with the style. Celis later moved to Austin, Texas opening the original Celis Brewery, which closed in 2001.

Pierre ’s daughter Christine has reopened the seminal brewery with a mixture of a vintage and modern feel on Austin’s Northside. With a Celis museum opening soon next door, Celis 2.0 features its iconic ‘White’, as well as ‘Pale Bock’, Celis Raspberry’, and many others brewed with traditional Belgian techniques. The tap room is open Tuesday through Sunday. Check out their website for hours of operation.

Jester King  13180 Fitzhugh Road Austin, Texas

Located west of Austin proper, near Dripping Springs, Texas, Jester King has become synonymous with what we see as a modern farmhouse brewery. Founded in 2010, the brewery focuses on mixed culture and spontaneous fermentation, incorporating local agriculture and surroundings to give their beer and visitors a sense of the time, place and people of their particular area.

Jester King offers a wide variety of tradition-inspired Belgian farmhouse and sour beers, like their popular Atrial Rubicte, as well as pure culture French Saison and mixed culture versions of traditional styles beers such as Commercial Suicide, their take on an English Mild. The countryside is incredible, as well as the onsite farm which grows many of the ingredients for their beers. The tap room and kitchen are open Friday through Sunday. Check out their website for hours of operation.

Live Oak Brewing  1615 Crozier Lane, Del Valle, Texas

Nestled near the Colorado River just south of downtown Austin, Live Oak Brewing has been cranking out traditional German lagers and ales since their beginnings in East Austin back in 1997, with a modest focus on German smoke or Rauchbier. Live Oak has expanded their offering to include IPA and even a smoked version of the traditional Oktoberfest.

Founder Chip McElroy has kicked it up a notch at the new location with a large and inviting tap room with a homey feel and one heck of a shady biergarten outside. Visitors will enjoy the grounds while sipping on brews not often seen in the United States expertly brewed with old world techniques and playing a round of disc golf on a sprawling 9-hole course.

Independence Brewing  913 Todd Ln. Ste 607, Austin, Texas

Only a few minutes down the road from Live Oak, Independence Brewing has been a part of Austin’s brewing revival since 2004. Founders Amy and Rob Cartwright and their brewing team have consistently put out great examples of traditional styles, while keeping an eye on evolving taste buds and taking home a few medals along the way, including a gold medal in 2016 at the World Beer Cup.

Independence places a focus on honoring its Austin roots and showing its Texas pride with much of its beer names and can designs. Stop by and you’re sure to get a heaping dose of Texana with every sip of their popular Power and Light Pale Ale, Stash IPA, among others, all the while soaking up the Texas sun on the patio outside their cozy tap room. Check out their website for hours of operation Thursday through Sunday.

Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co  1305 W. Oltorf, Austin, Texas

A back to back brewpub of the year winner, the Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co, or just ABGB as it’s known, offers a wide variety of award-winning lagers and ales. Built by industry brewing veterans Brian ‘Swifty’ Peters and Amos Lowe, the ABGB fuses years of brewing experience, rock-solid pizzas, and a panache for attracting badass entertainment to bring visitors a dining and drink experience you won’t soon forget.

Stop by for their GABF lauded Rocket 100  pre-prohibition pilsner, the ever popular Hell Yes and Industry Pilsner. ABGB is open six days a week. Check out their website for hours of operation and entertainment schedule.

Oddwood Ales  3108 Manor Road Austin, Texas

What started as a side project for founder and brewer Tyler Ziebarth while working at Adelbert’s Brewing in Austin, has become a reality for the lover of Belgian style ales. Focusing primarily on American versions of traditional Belgian wild ales, or sours, Ziebarth has created comfortable and amazingly tasty pizzas and other Italian fare at the brewpub on Austin’s ever-growing East Side.

Stop by for staples such as Eurythmic Apricot Saison, Löw Kölsch and ‘Hop Machine’, while enjoying their home-style atmosphere. Oddwood is open seven days a week. Check out their website for hours of operation.

Save The World Brewing  1510 Resource Parkway, Marble Falls, Texas

Located about 30 minutes west of Austin in Marble Falls, Save The World Brewing is out not just to make the world better beer, but to actually save it one pint at a time. The production brewery and tap room, opened by former pediatric physicians Dave and Quynh Rathkamp, is entirely a philanthropic brewery, in that they gives away 100 percent of their net profits to charity.

Took be good stewards of the environment, they have taken measures such as using solar panels for 95 percent of their power and installing a grey water catchment system. Their entirely Belgian lineup that includes their World Beer Cup gold medal-winning Lux Mundi, Bonus Pastor and Apocalypse, among other. Their taproom is open Friday’s and Saturday’s.

Real Ale Brewing  231 San Saba Court Blanco, Texas

Another slight jaunt outside of Austin takes visitors to the brewing oasis of Real Ale. Set in picturesque Blanco, Real Ale has just celebrated 22 years of brewing fantastic ales and lagers. A far cry from their humble beginnings in the basement of a Blanco antique shop, Real Ale now brews around 60,000 barrels each year with statewide distribution and became a favorite destination brewery for thirsty Texans everywhere.

Stop by on any given weekend and enjoy favorites such as Hans Pils, Axis IPA and Devil’s Backbone while sitting in their recently remodeled taproom, on the patio or in one of the abundant cozy nooks and crannies around the brewery. The tap room is open Wednesday through Sunday. Check their website for operating hours.

Other Notable Austin Area Breweries to Check Out: Blue Owl, Oskar Blues, Adelbert’s, Circle Brewing, Hops and Grain, Austin Beer Works, Friends and Allies, Last Stand Brewing, Skull Mechanix, Bluebonnet Beer Company, Pinthouse Pizza, Infamous Brewing, Oasis Texas Brewing, 4th Tap Brewing Cooperative, Blackstar COOP, Brewtorium, Strangleland, Southern Height Brewing, Twisted X, Family Business Beer Company, Red Horn, Whitestone Brewery, Uncle Billy’s, Zilker Brewing, Double Horn and (512) Brewery.