Small Business Saturday was this past weekend throughout the country. This annual event is a celebration of all of the small businesses that dedicate themselves to the local community. While everyday should be a day when supporting local business is important, this one day is truly a great time to make the conscious choice to give your hard-earned money to a small business owner who is working hard to create commerce and employment in your city.
Okay. Rant over. I spent Small Business Saturday in Houston at Holler Brewing Company, a newly-opened brewery in the Heights area of town. The most surprising thing I noticed about the brewery was the great number of eight beers on tap with cold brew coffee also available. For a brewery that’s only been open two weeks, that’s an incredible number of choices, which made my decision that much more difficult (in a good way).
If you really want to know if owners John and Kathryn Holler are hands-on and involved in the day-to-day operation, go visit the taproom. I noticed both owners in the taproom on a Saturday afternoon greeting customers, talking to everybody, cleaning tables, pouring beer, and generally working their butts off. Honestly, this is a breath of fresh air, especially in a time when craft breweries are opening at a record pace with investors infusing millions of dollars in locations that feel more corporate than comfortable. It was clear they’ve established quite the rapport with several of their patrons as they were chatty and friendly with several of the people in the brewery.
As for the beer? Well, they have some wonderful standouts that are incredible. Accompanying me to the brewery was a good friend who wanted to try out most of their offerings, so he ordered a flight of six beers that included their Hefeweizen, Dollar Pils Y’all, IPA, Belgian Tripel, Looyah Milk Stout, and Cafe de Olla Cold Brew coffee. Needless to say, I had to take samples from each of his choices in addition to my choices of pints.
I started out with a pint of their BBQ Beer, which was interesting as it has a mesquite smokiness that reminds me of when I enjoy a great Texas brisket. Because mesquite is our wood of choice when smoking a brisket, this beer certainly gave me some nostalgia and seemed like the most Texas choice of beers that they had. The dry finish was palette-pleasing and left me satisfied and ready to enjoy another. Plus, at only 4.7% ABV, this is certainly going to be a warm weather favorite for me since it’s refreshing and definitely their lightest option.
However, the standout of their selection is definitely their Looyah Milk Stout. After taking small sips of my friend’s flight choices, the milk stout was the hands-down favorite of both of us. The sweetness of the milk stout is balanced well by the roasted malt flavor that gives you the hint of chocolate truffle. If these guys end up putting this beer on nitro, you’ll see me here as much as possible. My goodness, this beer is one of the best stouts in the Houston area and with the weather cooling down, I know many of you who visit will be drinking so many of these throughout the entire winter months.
Looking around at the packed taproom, it’s clear they’ve made a great first impression in the community. In addition, I was also noticing what many people were drinking. Overwhelmingly, I saw more Hefeweizen glasses than anything else. To be fair, it warmed up quickly outside and the Hefeweizen is light and refreshing. I found it to be a little heavy on the banana flavor, but it was still solid.
Of all of the small sips I had, the Belgian Tripel was my second favorite beer behind the Looyah Milk Stout. I just knew that the 8.2% ABV didn’t lend well to me driving back to Galveston, so I kept with the lighter offerings. However, the fruity flavor was tremendous and from a strictly flavor aspect, this beer had the most character of any of the ones I tasted.
Overall, I’m so impressed with what Holler Brewing is bringing to the Houston scene. As more breweries are opening near the center part of town, it makes doing an Uber tour of breweries in a short radius that much easier. Holler should be on your must visit list and with it being in a trendy area, you know they’re going to attract so many people from within a few miles of the brewery.