What better way to ring in the new year than to spend it at the granddaddy of Texas breweries, Saint Arnold Brewing Company. In a little more than 22 years, Saint Arnold has established themselves as one of the largest and most respected breweries in the state. Everybody knows them and I’d venture to say that nearly every Texan of age has had at least one of their beers.
Granted, I’ve made many trips to Saint Arnold’s brewery, so this trip was nothing new to me, but I did realize it was the first time I’d ever gone on a non-weekend day. I’m calling this a Sunday Funday since it was the last day of my weekend and they were closed on New Year’s Day.
If you’ve never been to the brewery, I highly suggest you rectify this. With great food coming out of Executive Chef Ryan Savoie’s kitchen as well as special, hard-to-find brews in the taproom, this should be one of your first stops in Houston. The indoor biergarden makes you feel like you’re in an Oktoberfest location in Munich. With the tapwall stocked with over a dozen beers and the long tables throughout the entire space, bonding with friends and even making new ones is always a possibility here.
I’m going to reminisce for a second and let you know that they’ve come a very long way since their humble beginnings in Northwest Houston on Fairway Park Drive. The old location was a small warehouse space that was always packed and hot as hell in the summertime. After outgrowing that space and moving into their enormous (air conditioned) building on 2000 Lyons Ave, they’ve been able to expand their creativity through their barrel-aging program and their specialty series like Divine Reserve, Bishop’s Barrel, and Icon. Plus, their sour program is a home run, especially with the Boiler Room Berliner Weisse brews.
On my most recent trip to celebrate 2017, I made it a point to try beers I had yet enjoyed. The first beer was their newest winter seasonal, White Noise. This hoppy Belgian witbier seems better suited for a Texas winter than in other states. It’s very refreshing and with the addition of the Citra dry-hops, it makes the beer finish cleanly with no residual flavor on your palette. Enjoying several of these will be easy, especially considering on the day I visited, it was 75 degrees outside.
For my second beer, I chose a new beer that I had never seen. Berry Medilow was a fruit-infused Berliner Weisse with Brettanomyces. While it is one of the Boiler Room brews, I noticed that it wasn’t underneath the placard designating which Boiler Room variety was available so I figured it was a new beer. As it turns out, it was a beer that was brewed originally in the summer and available on tap now. To me, it had a tart raspberry and cherry flavor that tasted funky, yet balanced. I was a huge fan of this one.
There isn’t much I can say about Saint Arnold that hasn’t already been said. They are innovative and are always looking for new ways to push boundaries and make unusual beers that keep them relevant. Several of my favorite daily drinkers come from here (Art Car & pretty much any current seasonal), so they are always going to be a staple in my refrigerator. However, if you want the true Saint Arnold experience, come hungry, bring some games and friends, and drink some delicious craft beer.