Raise Your Glass to Austin Beer Week
Our guide to the best tappings, dinners, and parties
By Dan Gray, 12:00PM, Fri. Oct. 23, 2015
Why do we like Austin Beer Week? Because of the beer, duh. And also because it breaks all the rules of space and time. Yeah, we know that a week is seven days not 10, but during our sudsy reveries, we just don’t care.
But 10 full days of dinners, classes, and dranking can be an overwhelming experience. Never worry. Long before we sipped the first pint, we’ve put together a list of some of the best events – both official and unofficial – to help navigate you through the next 10 days.
North by Northwest Restaurant & Brewery
The Stonelake location has a variety of unique beer tappings Friday Oct. 23-30. Some of the select beers include a 2014 Voodoo Child, whiskey barrel-aged Hey Joe Coffee Stout that has been aged in the barrel for one year and is served on Nitro. Drink like a khaleesi with Blood of the Dragon, a sour, whiskey barrel-aged black ale. Embrace your Darkside, a Cascadian Dark Ale with whole leaf Centennial hops.
School House Pub
Get into the Halloween spirit at Brooklyn Brewery and St. Arnold's annual pumpkin carving contest on Oct. 24. Ticket includes a gorgeous pumpkin and some pumpkin carving tools. While carving, enjoy the two featured perfect pumpkin carving beers to get your spooky juices flowing.
Contigo
Warm up to the fire and sip some delicious sour brews while a hog is being spit-roasted at the Blue Owl Brewing launch party Oct. 25. You can’t throw a stone without hitting a hog being roasted in Austin, but this is the only place to go whole hog with Blue Owl. Tickets available here.
WhichCraft Beer Store
Though not a Halloween event, WhichCraft is still offering plenty of treats, namely six different beers and Antonelli’s cheese. Adam Christians from Circle Brewing promises a “stellar sensory experience,” which will be way cooler than feeling peeled grapes while blindfolded. Oct. 26. 6pm.
Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co.
What's in a name? In a name as brilliant as German Sparkle Party, everything. To celebrate their new American pale lager, ABGB owner Mark Jensen and owner/brewer Amos Lowe are hosting a party for for a Hasselhoff.
Italic and Arro
Who doesn’t enjoy walking Downtown with a buzz? ELM Restaurant Group is partnering with Austin Beerworks on Oct. 27 for the first time for a restaurant crawl. Food, beer, and fun start at Italic and then moves to Arro with a grand finale of ABW Sputnik paired with chocolate orange cake. Act now: The event is limited to 40 guests. The $25 fixed price includes a custom T-shirt. Reservations required: events@italicaustin.com.
Independence Brewing Co.
On Oct. 28, combine brewskis with, uhm, herbal refreshments when the Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow and Independence present the classic stoner comedy Pineapple Express. There's no better way to watch this movie than with a pint in hand. Keep drinking and you might even see double James Francos. Tickets available here.
Hops & Grain Brewery
Dress up as and drink like Homer Simpson (just skip the Duff, OK?) The tap room will have food from the new Kick Drum Burgers trailer and a live (or dead?) DJ. Enjoy four fills of local deliciousness in a souvenir glass. Details here.
Around Town
Above is just a sampling of the events going on around town. Places as diverse as Gardner, Craft Pride, Dai Due, St. Philip, Juliet, Star Bar, and Draught House all have special events planned. If you are looking for beer in the next few days, there's no excuse for not finding it. See the full ABW schedule here.
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