Get Hoppy

Keep Austin Beered: The best locally-brewed beers to beat summer heat

It's that time of year again. Water restrictions, frying eggs on asphalt, heat stroke… if only there was something that could help. Enter: beer. Beautiful, icy, delicious, sweet, sweet beer.

In the last two years, eight breweries have opened in Austin, so while the world may be ending come December, at least we all lived to enjoy the Golden Age of Beer in Austin.

The last few years have also seen Austin breweries garner both national and international acclaim, leaving the local-brewed neophyte with the fortunate problem of "Where to begin drinking?"

Following extensive research (much beer drinking and drunken arguing), I developed the following list comprised of my personal favorites — and there’s something for everyone.

Austin Beerworks Pearl Snap

This German style Pilsner is going to keep you right 90-degrees when it hits 110+. Floral and citrus combine to offer a crisp and refreshing taste with a distinct — but not overpowering — spicy note of hops. The brand also affords mass appeal so you don't embarrass yourself in front of your beer-geek friends.

Austin Beerworks Peacemaker

A beautifully balanced thirst quencher, with smacks of orange and grass with a delightful smooth finish. You know, the kind you keep tossing back until you forget about all of that meat you were grilling. Oh and by the way, it won a silver medal in the English-style summer ale category at the Great American Beer Festival.

Live Oak Hefeweizen

Quite possibly the best beer brewed in town. Want a cure for toting your kids around all day in the sun? This hefe is a cloudy golden yellow that offers restorative flavors of vanilla, cream and banana, as well as faint notes of clove and cinnamon. What's that kiddo? You want what? I’m sorry, the beer and I are talking about grown-up things right now.

Independence Convict Hill Oatmeal Stout

So exquisite, it grabs you by the beer gut and demands you sit down in a lawn chair to enjoy it. Rich, with strong bittersweet chocolate, nutty and bourbon flavors. Those days when you say to yourself, “I really need a beer”? At 9.2 ABV, this is the one.

(512) Pecan Porter

Tall, dark and mysterious your type? Like every porter should be, it's completely opaque and within its dark depths you'll find flavors of locally grown pecan, chocolate, fruit, with a slightly bitter coffee finish.

Hops and Grain Alteration

Open for less than a year, Hops and Grain has already won a gold medal for Alteration at the World Beer Cup. A German style brown ale, Alteration hits you with some toffee, malt and hops. Sweet and bitter, well-balanced, it's a great new addition to the Austin beer scene.

Thirsty Planet Buckethead

This is the Austin beer for hopheads. Buckethead isn't for everyone, but if you like aggressively-hopped IPAs, check this out. There's an immediate punch of floral hoppy bitterness and strong citrus, but it's balanced out slightly by sweet malt flavors.

With Austin the recipient of more badass beer than rain these, save that drinkin' water for your lawn and stay hydrated with these locally brewed bad boys. Before it gets too hot to move, go out to the store and grab a few of my favorites.

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Dinner and a Show

Voxtrot plays acoustic set for dinner series making a name in Austin

Wild Honey Pie Voxtrot dinner party in Bastrop

Photo by Brynn Osborn

Voxtrot played as a trio to a small crowd of lucky fans.

As much as entertainment gigs dry up in December, the iconic Austin band Voxtrot was busy. A few days before playing the Holiday Hootenanny — a mini festival at Radio East with other big names like Of Montreal and Danny Brown — the band appeared in Bastrop for an intimate acoustic set and a bit of storytelling after a multi-course dinner.

The dinner on December 10 was attended by locals who won tickets in a free raffle, but there will be more chances for Austinites to purchase tickets for future parties in 2025. Eric Weiner, the main organizer of the series, says he has "big plans for Austin" this upcoming year, but he keeps events under wraps until about a month out to maintain the mystery.

There were also videographers on-hand capturing the performance, so fans who keep up with Voxtrot will be seeing those videos in the coming months.

Wild Honey Pie Voxtrot dinner party in Bastrop The band showed up in smart suits.Photo by Brynn Osborn

Weiner is the founder of the Wild Honey Pie, formerly a popular music blog that's turned into a creative agency. They're based in New York, and have hosted events in Seattle, the Catskills, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles. But this wasn't the first event in Austin.

Most recently, the Wild Honey Pie hosted a dinner at Chef Mashama Bailey's now-closed Grey Market, featuring a concert by Zella Day. But first-ever dinner in Austin in 2019 was catered by local chef Sonya Cote at Eden East; the Voxtrot show was a chance to reunite at Cote's current digs, Store House Market and Eatery.

"Ever since, I've been just trying to find any excuse to work with Sonya again, and this kind of fell into our laps," said Weiner in a call with CultureMap ahead of the event.

He added that his relationship with Voxtrot — whose lo-fi, semi-retro song "The Start of Something" may be familiar to many Austinites — started simply because he was a fan. He estimates that the song has been on every romantic playlist he's made since college.

Remembering past parties with lead singer Ramesh Srivastava, Weiner says, "He's so artistic. His music means the absolute world to me. ... If we like working with an artist once, we're not going to stop there."

Wild Honey Pie Voxtrot dinner party in Bastrop Voxtrot joined in on the food festivities.Photo by Brynn Osborn

Voxtrot famously broke up in 2010, which made their surprise return to the stage in 2022 all the more exciting. Srivastava doesn't shy away from talking about the period in between, and broached the subject with a couple of jokes during the Bastrop show. It's clear how an audience of dozens crowded around a few chairs changes the tone of the performance — not to mention that Voxtrot played as a trio that night, with drummer Matt Simon and bassist Jason Chronis.

In the lighthearted "stage" banter — which was necessary not just because of the size of the audience, but because the show was in a tent outside and the instruments needed almost constant tuning in the cold air — Srivastava also mused that at age 41, he might be approaching his days as a crooner.

Wild Honey Pie Voxtrot dinner party in Bastrop The group dinner format meant fans could spend some time chatting with the band.Photo by Brynn Osborn

Among the vignettes he told to introduce songs was a Bastrop County connection: Srivastava grew up in Austin and remembers creating a mythology around Smithville's Norma Jean Boulevard, which he spotted through the window on car trips. Part of that fiction included who might live there, but he never guessed he'd be in a band with a bassist who fit the bill. He dedicated the following performance of "Long Haul" to the fateful street.

The Wild Honey Pie dinner series has gained popularity for its laid-back approach to an exclusive outing. Shared tables mean people get to chat during dinner — and as fans of whoever is playing at the end of the night, they already have something in common. Weiner met his wife through someone he befriended at one of the parties.

"The whole setup of the event is to make friends," he said. "So it's hard to go and not make new connections."

Wild Honey Pie Voxtrot dinner party in Bastrop Eric Weiner and Sonya Cote.Photo by Brynn Osborn

An interesting menu also meant there was plenty to discuss, including "Crostini" Bastrop with pâté, parsley, pickled vegetables; a toasty Bon Fire Soup with pumpkin, coconut carrot "bacon," and crispy crickets; and a wild venison pie. (Vegans were welcome to the party, with a parallel menu.)

These bites were accompanied by creative drinks featuring Tito's Handmade Vodka: the Raised By Wolves, a black vodka daiquiri thanks to charcoal in the simple syrup; and The Start of Something, a refreshing pink lemonade-like cocktail with blueberry simple syrup and honey liqueur. Brand partners are a big part of keeping these events going, and in this case, Tito's was the reason people were able to attend for free.

Wild Honey Pie Voxtrot dinner party in Bastrop This is quite a few steps above finding a snack somewhere before a concert.Photo by Brynn Osborn

If Austinites want updates on the next Wild Honey Pie Dinner Party in town, they can check the lineup at thewildhoneypie.com, or sign up for the newsletter on the same page. There are also announcements on Instagram, plus videos of acoustic performances at other parties.

According to Weiner, it sounds like the next event isn't too far away. "We love Austin too much to only come once a year," he said.

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