Austin's "Keep Austin Weird" ethos extends naturally to its craft beer scene, and the best craft beer bars in Austin are as individualistic and Texas-rooted as the city itself. The outdoor culture here shapes every taproom — even in August, when the heat argues against outdoor drinking, the best Austin taprooms find ways to make outdoor space work. East Austin holds the core of the scene, but the quality has spread into South Congress, North Loop, and beyond.
East Austin: The Craft Beer Core
East Austin became Austin's craft beer heartland the same way it became the city's most interesting neighbourhood generally: through a combination of affordability, creative energy, and proximity to the kind of resident who wants independent businesses rather than chains. The taproom concentration here is the highest in the city.
01
Jester King Brewery
Hill Country (SW Austin)
$$$
Farmhouse / Wild Ale
Jester King is the most internationally respected brewery in Texas, producing farmhouse ales and wild beers from a Hill Country farm that uses local flora, fruit, and grain in ways that make each release genuinely site-specific. The farm setting is worth the thirty-minute drive from downtown Austin — goats roam the property, the food programme uses ingredients grown on-site, and the limited-release bottle list is one of the most sought-after in American craft brewing. Book ahead for weekends.
Order: Aurelian Lure or any of the Black Metal farmhouse series
02
Austin Beerworks
Burnet Road
$$
Austin Institution
Austin Beerworks has been the city's most reliable craft brewery since 2011, and the Burnet Road taproom is the kind of laid-back Texas experience that no amount of conscious design produces naturally — it just happens when a brewery focuses entirely on making good beer and not on making an Instagram backdrop. The Pearl-Snap Pilsner is one of the best craft lagers in Texas, and the Fire Eagle IPA hits West Coast bitterness levels that are increasingly rare in an era of hazy everything.
Order: Pearl-Snap Pilsner or Fire Eagle IPA
03
Lazarus Brewing Company
East Austin
$$
Community Taproom
Lazarus occupies a converted space in East Austin that manages to feel genuinely local rather than deliberate. The brewing programme is hop-forward with enough variety to keep regular visitors from getting bored, and the food menu — built around breakfast tacos and light fare — reflects Austin's food culture in a way that larger breweries attempting the same thing rarely manage. The patio fills up on weekday evenings with the East Austin crowd that treats this as their regular.
Order: Rising IPA or the Hoppy Blonde Ale
The full Austin bar guide
Live music bars, cocktail spots, rooftop terraces, and hidden gems. Our complete Austin guide covers every neighbourhood worth drinking in.
Explore the guide
South Congress, North Loop, and the Rest of Austin
Austin's craft beer scene has pushed beyond East Austin into South Congress and the North Loop neighbourhood, where the city's growth has created new audiences and new spaces for independent brewing. These are the stops that reward exploration beyond the obvious East Austin corridor.
04
Hops and Grain Brewery
East Austin
$$
Sustainable / Local
Hops and Grain brews with Texas grain where possible and sends spent grain to local farms for feed — a sustainability loop that matches the brewery's approach to everything else they do. The Austin Amber is the flagship and one of the most characterful amber ales being made in the state: malt-forward, clean, and the kind of beer that improves after you have had three rather than one. The taproom in East Austin has a good selection of Texas guest taps alongside the house programme.
Order: Austin Amber or the A Pale Mosaic IPA
05
Oddwood Ales
North Austin
$$
Belgian-Influenced
Oddwood produces Belgian-influenced ales in North Austin with a seriousness that the style deserves and rarely receives outside the Northeast. Their Farmhouse Saison is the best Belgian-influenced beer being made in Texas, and the rotating barrel-aged programme gives serious drinkers something to track across the year. The taproom is quiet and focused — one room, a short menu, and no distractions from what is in the glass. This is the Austin brewery that beer nerds recommend to other beer nerds.
Order: Farmhouse Saison or the seasonal barrel-aged release
06
St. Elmo Brewing Company
St. Elmo / South Lamar
$$
South Austin Anchor
St. Elmo anchors the St. Elmo neighbourhood with a taproom that has become the de facto community bar for South Austin's creative industries. The Porch Swing Wheat is the accessible entry point — light, citrusy, designed for 95-degree Texas afternoons — but the IPA programme and the seasonal dark ales show the brewery taking craft beer seriously even when their immediate environment encourages otherwise. The outdoor area is larger than it appears from the street.
Order: Porch Swing Wheat or the rotating IPA
Weekly editorial
The bars worth going to, weekly.
One email per week. The bars our editors are recommending right now, across 60 cities worldwide.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
07
Meanwhile Brewing
East Austin
$$
Music / Taproom
Meanwhile integrates Austin's live music culture with its craft beer scene in a way that does not diminish either. The taproom hosts acoustic sessions several nights a week, the beer programme is serious rather than incidental to the entertainment, and the outdoor stage setup makes summer evenings here one of the more distinctive Austin experiences. The Lil' Buddy Session IPA is the everyday drinker; the rotating seasonals give you reasons to come back when the next set is announced.
Order: Lil' Buddy Session IPA or the seasonal Dark Mild
08
Twisted X Brewing
Dripping Springs
$$
Hill Country Setting
Twisted X is in Dripping Springs, thirty minutes west of Austin, and the Hill Country setting justifies the drive the same way Jester King does — though where Jester King is serious and focused, Twisted X is larger, more approachable, and better suited to groups who want a craft beer afternoon without the farmhouse ale deep-dive. The Fuego Cinnamon Lager is the fun beer on the list; the sessionable IPAs are the ones we keep coming back to.
Order: Allstars Hazy IPA or the Tex-Mex Lager
09
Pinthouse Pizza — South Lamar
South Lamar
$$
Brewpub / Pizza
Pinthouse Pizza combines a serious craft beer programme with one of the better pizza operations in Austin, and the South Lamar location draws crowds that come equally for both. The Electric Jellyfish IPA has won more awards than the name suggests it has any right to, and the rotating small-batch taps change fast enough that frequent visitors always find something new alongside the reliable flagship. The pizza is not incidental — order it deliberately.
Order: Electric Jellyfish IPA or the current small-batch release
10
Nomadic Beerworks
North Loop
$$
Neighbourhood Taproom
Nomadic Beerworks is the North Loop neighbourhood taproom that the area's increasingly dense residential population has been waiting for. The beer programme is varied without chasing trends — a solid rotation of IPAs, pale ales, and seasonal darks brewed on the premises — and the compact space draws a genuinely neighbourhood crowd rather than the destination-seeker mix you find at the larger East Austin taprooms. Go on a weeknight when the space is quieter and the regulars are in.
Order: The rotating IPA or the Pale Ale
Austin craft beer — all listings
Browse every craft beer taproom and bar in Austin, sorted by neighbourhood and style.
See the full list
Our Verdict on Austin's Craft Beer Scene
Austin's craft beer scene is as Texas as the city itself: outdoor-focused, independent-minded, and led by a brewery — Jester King — that produces world-class wild ales from a working farm thirty minutes outside the city. The scene is more spread out than Portland's or Denver's, but the individual quality at the best Austin taprooms is competitive with any city in the country.
Dedicate a half-day to Jester King if you are visiting — it is worth the drive and worth booking ahead. Spend the rest of your Austin craft beer time in East Austin between Lazarus, Hops and Grain, and Meanwhile Brewing, and end an evening at Pinthouse on South Lamar when you need both beer and food without having to choose between them.
The best bars in Austin — full city guide
Beyond craft beer: our complete guide to Austin's best bars across live music, cocktails, and every other occasion.
Read the guide
