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These days, it seems there’s a brewery on every Farm-to-Market intersection across the greater Texas Hill Country region, each filled with fine folks seeking quality craft beer.
Our little town of New Braunfels has a handful of breweries and pubs in the city limits aimed at bringing regional Texas beers and German imports together on a tap wall that tips its hat to our town's heritage...not to mention the country’s second most popular Oktoberfest. If you’ve been wanting to check out what your neighbors are brewing (but haven’t known where to start), we created a handy list of New Braunfels’ best breweries, pubs, and festivals that create and celebrate our favorite craft beers.
Brewery: New Braunfels Brewing Company
Founded in 2011 by Lindsey and Kelly Meyer, the New Braunfels Brewing Company brews beer inspired by traditional German recipes (along with that classic Texan disregard for the rules!). NBBC regularly makes several wheat beers like Hefeweizens, Dunkel Weizen, and Weizenbock, and they occasionally dabble in sours that will convince you that this brewery has the chops to roll with the big boys. Some patron favorites are the various sour beers, the Hefeweizen, and whatever experimental beer they may have on tap. The brewery is located at 180 W Mill St right off the roundabout in downtown New Braunfels!
Brewery: Guadalupe Brewing Company
Guadalupe Brewing Company opened its doors in 2012 and has grown and maintained a loyal following ever since. Headquartered at 103 Gattuso Road, Guadalupe has a tasting room that feels like the garage of a very passionate home brewer. I personally believe that is what makes patrons feel like they are a part of this small operation! Besides several noteworthy beers on tap, Guadalupe features stouts served on nitro. Smooth peanut butter, coffee maple, and chocolate pecan stouts bring the treat back into beer drinking, while the Scotch Ale and Texas Honey Ale are lighter options perfect for hot days outside or on the river.
Brewery: Faust Brewing
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Faust Brewing Company opened to the public in 1998 at the Faust Hotel in downtown New Braunfels. Like most beer joints in town, the German heritage of the city is the main influence of this place and shows in its varied line of ales. The slogan on their website is “You don’t have to go home; you can stay here,” which is probably appealing to tourists who make trips to Faust for the drinks and need a place to stay - you can get put up in the hotel! The Alex Meixner Polka Pils pays tribute to the local celebrity who has become a bit of a national name over recent years. Other good brews are the ESB, Walter’s Ghostly Pale Ale, and the Oktoberfest. The Hotel & Brewpub is located at 240 S Seguin Ave, and the Brewery and Tap Room are at 499 S Castell Ave, just a couple blocks down the road.
Brewery: Ruggedman Brewing Company
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Located on 7600 S Old Bastrop Hwy, Ruggedman Brewing Company is a seven-barrel craft brewery operated by a few friends from the Marine Corps who decided to name the company after the condition they found themselves in after the service. They are always bringing in food trucks and catering to make the tap room experience great, but mostly they want to foster a community of friends getting together and telling stories over a beer. Beers on tap include Gold Pan Blonde, Anchor Line Amber, Wrecking Ball Tripel, and Rock Duster Quad with Sour Cherries.
Pub: Krause’s Biergarten & Cafe
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Krause’s Biergarten & Cafe was recently renovated back into the lives of the Hill Country folk earlier this year and has continued to serve up the best beers and food around. Ron Snider has taken on the responsibility of reopening the iconic place that Gene Krause opened in 1938, and once again carries on the atmosphere of open conversation, good food, good times, and (of course) great beer. Before we hit the tap wall, the food here is unbelievably good. Exceptional German fare includes pretzels, sausages, and kartoffels, and the kitchen is committed to serving fresh and sustainable ingredients each day. Krause’s is serving up Texas beers from breweries like Twisted X, St. Arnold, 512, and Thirsty Goat, as well as German brews like Franziskaner, Hofbrau, and Warsteiner. Krause’s is located at 148 S Castell Ave!
Pub: Friesenhaus
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You may have heard of Frisenhaus because it hosts the Masskrugstemmen challenge where participants have to hold a stein full of beer out in front of them with just one hand longer than anyone else. They even send the local winner out to the National Masskrugstemmen Championships to battle it out for the national title! Other than that, this establishment is a great German-family-owned restaurant where you can drink beer and enjoy accordion music by local musicians on the weekends. They serve up the traditional German foods and have 16 beers on draft. You can even get your beer served in a 2-liter glass famously known as “Das Boot.” Friesenhaus is located at 1050 S Seguin Ave!
Festival: Wein & Saegerfest
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If you are totally in the dark about the craft beer culture or even the German heritage of our town, a perfect and entertaining way start is by attending one of the festivals that New Braunfels hosts annually. Wein & Saegerfest is held in the late Spring as a sort of heritage festival that blends the traditions of the settlers of New Braunfels with the new cultures that have come into the city over the years. The festival features different Texas breweries that provide samples with tickets purchased at the festival.
Festival: Wurstfest
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New Braunfels has also worked its way into the national spotlight with its Oktoberfest celebration, Wurstfest - a “ten-day salute to sausage” that has had over tens of thousands of patrons visit in past years, some years hitting 100,000+ attendees. The festival promises loads of beer, tons of food, and some of the best polka music you have ever heard...all right next to the river on the Wurstfest grounds!
Festival: Craft Beer Festival
To hold you over until November when Wurstfest kicks off, the Craft Beer Festival takes place in the spring to highlight microbreweries in the area. This festival aims to create a meeting place for the craft beer community members to come together in the middle of the year to network, drink, and simply enjoy the culture that has been created through the beer world.
If your love of great beer makes you want to transition from tourist to resident, we’d love to show you around town...starting with this FREE Buyer's Guide created specifically for the New Braunfels buyer. Contact a lender today to see how much you can afford, and talk to a REALTOR® to get started!
