Brew News

Hops & Grain celebrates its first anniversary with eight exclusive brews

Hops & Grain brewer Josh Hare hadn’t even started brewing his first batch of beer in time to attend the 2011 Texas Craft Brewers Festival. Now he's in the midst of planning his first anniversary party on Sunday, Oct. 7, the day after this year’s festival, and exactly one year to the day from when the first batch of Hops & Grain beer was brewed.

It’s been quite a year for the upstart East Side brewery. Hops & Grain introduced two year-round beers in cans within four months of opening and is adding its third beer in a can called The One They Call Zoe, named for Hare's little Papillion dog. Hare set out to brew 650 to 700 barrels in the first year, but will actually produce about 1,000 barrels.

“I’m working a lot harder than I expected.” Right now we are brewing our 26th different style of beer. We’ve done all of these styles in our three barrel green house brewing system. It’s kept the creative juices flowing,” said Hare.

His efforts haven’t gone unnoticed: Hops & Grain won a Gold Medal for its Alt-eration German Pilsner in the German Brown Ale/Dusseldorf Style Altbier category at the 2012 World Beer Cup international beer competition. “This is a huge thing to win with a style of beer that is so old and has been done well by so many German breweries,” Hare continued.

For Hops & Grain, success has spurred growth: The brewery has upgraded from manual canning to automated canning line and added tanks that will triple production capacity; they also expanded space by 1,200 feet to include a barrel cellar for temperature-controlled aging.

“Making it through the first year is a big milestone. We’re still operating as sustainably and efficiently as we can, and we’re growing. I’m proud of the whole culture at the tap room," Hare said. "We wanted to build a cool community in a neighborhood, and we are starting to do that. It’s fun to see the neighbors coming into the tap room on Friday afternoons.”

The Hops & Grain first anniversary party will be held on Sunday, October 7 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the brewery in East Austin, where Sixth Street dead-ends at Calles Street. There will be food from the Backstage Grill, live music and 12 beers on tap, eight of which were brewed exclusively for the anniversary.

The highlight of the event will be the “Beer Mile” at 3 p.m., a four-lap running race where competitors chug a beer on every lap. Lace up your sneakers and see if you can beat Josh and Meg Hare in the final race. You have to be fast and hold down your beer until you cross the finish line. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased in the tap room or online.

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Doing Some Noodling

New Cedar Park eatery lets you make your own instant noodles in 60 flavors

K-Ramyun is a traditional Korean make-your-own ramen bowl restaurant, newly opened in Cedar Park.

Photo from K-Ramyun via Yelp.

At K-Ramyun you can choose from over 60 noodle flavors and 20 toppings to build your own bowl.

Earlier this month K-Ramyun, Austin's first-ever self-serve Korean ramyun joint, had its official grand opening in Cedar Park. Unlike other noodle spots in town where you can order your bowl from a menu or counter, here, you'll choose your own ingredients and add them yourself in a cafeteria-meets-convenience-store setting.

American ramen-lovers may hit a point of confusion here; although we use the word "ramen" interchangeably whether we're eating fresh noodles at a restaurant or dried noodles with a flavor packet at home, the word "ramyun" specifically refers to the latter.

Here's how the store works: Diners can grab a tray and select from a towering shelf of packaged noodles, just like they'd see at a grocery store, but with way more options. Each package includes instant noodles in a specific flavor profile. This shelf is the central focus of the little shop and includes over 60 ramyun flavors in colorful bags, varying from spicy, to seafood, to cheesy.

With vegetable bases, there is something for everyone — except, unfortunately, those looking for gluten-free options.

K-Ramyun Cedar Park selections This shelf includes more than 60 flavors of traditional Korean ramyun. Photo from K-Ramyun via Yelp

Diners will then take their tray and pick from 25 topping options including eggs, cheese, corn, bean sprouts, and scallions, and they can also choose from a variety of frozen desserts from the freezer. Much like checking out in the school lunch line, guests will then take their trays to the cash register, pay for their goods, and then head to the "cooking station."

If you're not a fan of cooking, this cooking station may be just your speed. Guests simply mix their noodles and toppings into a cardboard bowl, and put it underneath a machine that will add a pre-determined amount of boiling water. Staff will be standing by to give help if needed.

K-Ramyun Cedar Park bowl Cooking stations keep it simple and include bowls, plus a machine that adds boiling water.Photo from K-Ramyun via Yelp

From there, diners can pull a stool up to one of the few tables or counters lining this small space, and dig in. Aside from the white tables and stools, the design of the space is very simple. White walls, a few pops of color, the colorful "noodle shelf," and just for fun, a photo booth along with props like headbands, sunglasses, and hats, and a small area where guests can hang their photos. The vibe is simple, and the focus is the noodles.

K-Ramyun is located at 1821 Lakeline Blvd. in Cedar Park, and is open Mondays through Saturdays, from 10:30 am to 8 pm.

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