No Label Brewing Co.

No Label is by my parents’ place so I went there a lot when they first started tours. Like Karbach, this brewery has come a long way. Katy was a small town once upon a time and that makes this brewery feel like a high school reunion. It’s friendly and down to earth here. Brewery staffers are walking around talking to people visiting and the guests are just as friendly. I think I’ve talked about my dog, my career and music within a hour here with seven people just sitting in one spot not moving. Families gather their folding chairs in a circle around the cooler, younger kids are frolicking all over the property and dogs abound plentiful at this family friendly brewery. The atmosphere is reminiscent of going to high school in Katy, a small football town where everyone knows everyone else. It’s like the Texas ideology we are all told about but don’t see as much closer to town. Going to No Label on Saturday makes for a relaxing and pass by too fast.

The Basics:5351-A 1st Street
Katy, TX 77493
281-693-7545 No Label Brewing Co. Website

On their website:

“Tastings are held 1pm-3pm at our brewery every Saturday.Admission table is closed at 2:30pmAdmission is $5 for 21 and up.
We recommend bringing cash.Under 21 are free but must be accompanied by a parent.No outside alcohol is allowed at our brewery.
We are dog and kid friendly!”

If you haven’t made it out to our brewery on a Saturday, we hope you will join us soon! We are open every Saturday from 1-3pm. We are dog and kid friendly. We always have a food vendor out during our Saturday tastings. Check our events page on our website or our Facebook for the food vendor that will be out for a certain Saturday. We also have local bands that play during our tasting. Admission is $5 for 21 and up and you MUST have your ID. Anyone under 21 is allowed with their parent only. We also sell No Label Merchandise at our tasting in our merchandise room. One of our owners and brewers are always at the tastings to chat with you about our brewery. We hope to see you out very soon!
Our tastings are outside of the historic rice elevators in Old Town Katy.Directions to our brewery:
From Houston, take I-10 West
Exit Highway 90
Take a right at Highway 90 (at first stoplight)
Pass Katy Land Dr.
Take a right at Carpen Car Wash over railroad tracks
You will see our sign!
(If you hit Avenue A you have gone too far)

Tastings are held 1 pm-3 pm at our brewery every Saturday.

Admission table is closed at 2:30 pm

Admission is $5 for 21 and up. We recommend bringing cash.
Under 21 are free but must be accompanied by a parent.
No outside alcohol is allowed at our brewery.
We are dog and kid friendly

T-Shirts, Pint Glasses, koozies and other No Label Gear is available for purchase at our tastings.”

Price: $5pp. You get a No Label glass the size of a juice/ kids cup. No Label glasses are for sale at the merchandise table. I love to pick them up for 5 bucks.

Tokens: 3 nickles given to you when you show your i.d.

Shopping: No Label has the sexy Dickies shirt but not a lot of selection that I’ve seen.

Parking: There is lots of parking in the grassy area. You will be directed by signs. Stick to the dirt path, the last time we came we found wood with nails in it, not far from cars.

The Digs: No Label is outdoor with indoor production to look at.

During the hot months bring a pop up tent if you have one. Bring Chairs!!! Seating is available anything thats concrete and shade is provided by the historic rice elevators.

•Port-a-potties outside and one restroom inside I recall from wen the place to hang was the other side of the building.
•Bring Cash or Food and non alcoholic drinks. Coolers of non alcoholic drinks and food are totally fitting and permitted here.
•Kid friendly! Lots of them are there but bring them chairs so they don’t get cranky like! During the summer it gets very hot at this brewery. There is shade but it gets crowded so a giant umbrella to stick in the ground would be good also. I don’t think multiple pop up tents would fit that close to the brewery. I haven’t seen it, but hell, try it.
•Bring your dog! Plenty of space for pups and people to meander from music to taps to food trucks.
•Everything is highly visible and brewery people are by the taps, walking around and the office that socialize and some work to ask questions if you have any.
•Wheel chair accessible. It’s outdoors, so accessibility in the logic sense is fine, but when you are out there the ground isn’t super smooth or even all the time.

In May the Wild West Brew Fest is in the same town. I liked stopping by the brewery and going to the festival afterward in 2012. Free beer before crayfish then more beer!

TX Senator Turns in Craft Brewery Proposals for 2013

Big news in Texas for Craft Breweries and Brewpubs!

Four bills filed by State Senator Kevin Eltife on Tuesday would loosen strict regulations on craft breweries and brewpubs in the great state of Texas. It’s an exciting time, similar to the excitement in 2011 when bills filed to allow our breweries to beer for home consumption out in limited quantities among other things, failed.

But I have a good feeling about this set of bills and their making it through due to the proven massive growth in the industry and after the consistent criticism of the outdated bills over the years.

Brewpubs allowed to sell a limited amount to retailers and get their beers to Texas consumers that don’t live in those cities or frequent the brewpubs. I’m excited about this part of the bills because I would love able to pick up more Texas beers in our grocery and liquor stores. It’s a fabulous idea for our economy and for our taste buds. Free market economy, folks! The taste of competition is freedom.

The bills also suggest an adjustment to the amount of beer that breweries can sell to retailers without a distributor.

518 proposes that breweries can sell to consumers for on-site consumption, which isn’t a far cry from an ultimate goal, to sell beer to take home with you from the brewery. I am excited to get to the off-site sales part but the vechicle of on-site consumption only leaves me wary and curious about the potential change to my beloved past time, visiting breweries. I love my brewery tours.

Does this mean breweries will become be designed to become closer to bars in Texas? Will this mean that the breweries required to sell bar food for patrons consuming more beers on premises?
I’m interested to see what will happen in the structure of the tours offered if the bills pass. Perhaps the unfamiliar isn’t as dramatic as I imagine and maybe it will result in glorious growth of our craft brewers in Texas. More craft brewers and having our state represented in the nation for our small businesses accomplishments makes me excited for the future of these bills!

Progress is the goal and let’s hope this year will be a step forward for our Texas breweries and brewpubs

Proposal 518

Sec. 12.052. SALES BY CERTAIN BREWERS TO CONSUMERS. (a) In

addition to the activities authorized by Section 12.01, the holder

of a brewer’s permit whose annual production of ale together with

the annual production of beer by the holder of a manufacturer’s

license at the same premises does not exceed a total of 225,000

barrels may sell ale produced under the permit to ultimate

consumers on the brewer’s premises for responsible consumption on

the brewer’s premises.

Sec. 62.122. SALES BY CERTAIN MANUFACTURERS TO CONSUMERS.

(a) A manufacturer’s licensee whose annual production of beer

together with the annual production of ale by the holder of a

brewer’s permit at the same premises does not exceed 225,000

barrels may sell beer produced under the license to ultimate

consumers on the manufacturer’s premises for responsible

consumption on the manufacturer’s premises.

(b) The total combined sales of beer to ultimate consumers

under this section, together with the sales of ale to ultimate

consumers by the holder of a brewer’s permit under Section 12.052 at

the same premises, may not exceed 5,000 barrels annually.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.

“Out there things can happen, and frequently do,
To people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen, don’t worry, don’t stew.
Just go right along, you’ll start happening too!”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Here are some links to Texas newspapers with more information about the proposed bills.

Craft beer bills back in business: KXAN.com

BREAKING NEWS: Beer Bills Introduced: The Austin Chronicle

A Texas Lawmaker Filed Four Bills Yesterday to Make Life Easier on the State’s Craft Brewers Dallas Observer

Breaking news: New bills would help Texas brewers, brewpubs The Houston Chronicle

Karbach Brewing Co.

 

We went to Karbach tonight for the Friday tour 5 p.m. – 7p.m. I had a blast with the husband and his dad.

Karbach brewery was super fun because of great crowd and atmosphere. There are lots of rooms inside this brewery which makes it interesting to go room to room and see what’s in each.
Delicious beers come out of that place. I haven’t had any lately but they aren’t brews that you forget easily. The brewery tours have changed so much from the first time I went there in the best way. I really like this brewery because they offer a dollar off admission with donations to the Houston Food Bank. It makes me happy.

The Basics:

2032 Karbach Street

Houston, TX 77092

Close to 290 West, 610 Loop and Hempstead Hwy.
Karbach Brewing Website

On their website:

“Come See Us!

Cost: $7 Admission

Time: Fridays from 5PM-7PM (Tour at 6), Saturdays from Noon-3PM (Tours at 1PM and 2:15PM)

Tours of Karbach Brewing Co. are very informative and can be appreciated by the novice beer drinker as well as the skilled homebrewer. A very informal setting lets you hang out right among the tanks and take a guided tour of the brewery all while enjoying some samples along the way! Get all of those questions you’ve been dying to have answered out of the way before or after the tour. Just find a brewery employee and we’ll be more than happy to talk you through it.

Karbach Brewing Co. is centrally located right outside of the 290/610 interchange near the intersection of Mangum and Dacoma. Minutes away from the Galleria area or downtown, visiting the brewery can be a great addition to your Saturday plans!

Good to know:

• All guests planning to sample our brews must have a valid form of identification and be 21 or older
• Children are welcome, but must be accompanied and supervised by a guardian at ALL TIMES (kids found wandering without parent will be given espresso and a free puppy)
• We welcome you to bring your own food/chairs but please do your best to see to it that your garbage ends up in the trash cans
• Absolutely NO OUTSIDE ALCOHOL is permitted inside the brewery or on brewery property”

Price: It’s 7 bucks for a tour, a karbach logo glass (about the size of a juice cup) and four tokens for samples. As I mentioned in my Saint Arnold post, this price is excellent for four beers at any place you go out to have a craft beer in Houston. They accept cash and cards!

Tokens: You get 4 tokens total. One is blue and the others are red. Or at least they were tonight. The blue token is for high alcohol content beers. Mitch was told this in the line to get Pontificator. I will investigate this further one our next visit and update with confirmed information.

Shopping: They have three different kinds of glasses for purchase when you go into the brewery.

A nice set up of shirts to look over behind the table where you pay for your tour. I snapped a photo of the shirts to give an idea of what they have out. Mitch has the Hopadillo t-shirt and loves it(featured bottom right corner in the photo). My photos aren’t as pretty as I like but I’m working on it! Also I didn’t snap the photo of the dickies style brewery shirt that is awesome! They have them at almost every brewery I’ve gone to and I love that style on men. It’s delicious.

Parking: My word! Parking here is complicated and since it isn’t mentioned on the website let me clarify it a bit. There is parking in the grass just passed Karbach Street and the gas station on Dacoma Street. I came from Hempstead Highway so the parking was on my right. Karbach brewing is on the corner of Karbach and Dacoma. Alternatively, you can turn down Karbach Street and park on the side of the road. There are many driveways and gates and such. We went down Karbach and it was crowded as is the parking lot.

The Digs: Karbach is indoor/ outdoor, has air conditioning inside, tons of picnic tables outside and 2 cornhole (bean bag toss game) stations.

• One bathroom (I mean one giant room with a toilet) inside and four port-a-potties outside. Two for girls, two for boys.
• Bring Cash or Food! There is a food truck outside and it is delicious. I jumped on that food truck bandwagon and I love it! Food that’s delicious and portable is my style.
• Kid friendly as it says on the brewery’s website. However, I didn’t see patrons with kids really. It seemed like a younger crowd but it was Friday night; not Saturday day time.
• Bring your dog! These people (below) brought dogzilla! Be aware that it is crowded. If your dog doesn’t like being in crowds or has behavior issues, I would leave Sparky at home.

• The tour is awesome, I’m sure of it. I heard over the intercom that it was starting in five minutes in some room. I couldn’t make out what the location was and frankly I was eating delicious fries from the food truck, St. John’s Fire. I got the tex- mex fries and Cajun egg roll and I felt very content to miss it. I realize this is a brewery tour review so I will be back, Karbach, to take the tour!
• Wheel chair accessible. There is only one floor and no steps.

Karbach is super close to my house, so I’m partial to this brewery. It only has tours two days a week so it doesn’t compete with Saint Arnold’s for me for that reason alone, but two days are better than one, so I’m pleased. There is a constant line for the taps but it moves very fast, which is awesome considering how many people are out there. I love that my I can take my dog here but he occasionally likes to eat small dogs(I didn’t see a single small dog there, but you never know) so I wouldn’t bring him because it’s crowded which would put him in contact with lots of strangers and other dogs passing by.

Another gem to show off to your out-of-town friends and family to make them realize they’re suckers for not living in Houston.
Mitchell is going to follow-up with insight about the beer at the taps. His dad said that the Weekend Warrior Pale Ale was refreshing, slightly citrus-y and like picking a fresh sprig of rosemary and wafting it at your nose.

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Saint Arnold Brewing Company

Saint Arnold Brewery is one my frequent haunts! Now that I’m pregnant it gives my husband the freedom to drink on his day off while I consume the delicious root beer they offer for free to non beer drinkers.They are the only brewery offering Monday- Thursday tours in   he is off on Wednesdays making doing exciting things difficult. If you know of another brewery open during the week feel free to correct me if I’m wrong so I can go! It reminds me of a hall set in Medieval times or high school lunch room. You can hang out, talk, eat and play games.

The Basics:

2000 Lyons Ave

Houston, TX 77020

Close to I-10, I-45 & 59, minutes from downtown.

Saint Arnold Brewing Company Website

On their website: “We require closed toe shoes for people who want to do the second part of the tour in the tank farm while we are in production. This is to keep you safe. On Saturday tours, closed toe shoes are not required. This does not affect those remaining in the beer hall.
Monday-  Friday: 3 p.m. Admission: $8/ person: Includes tour & souvenir glass Taps open at 3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Tour at 3:30 p.m.
Saturday: 11a.m. – 2p.m.

Admission: $8/person: Includes tour & souvenir glass We will admit guests between 11:00AM and 2:00PM. Tours at Noon, 1PM, 2PM
Saturday tours can be large, and our official capacity is limited. Sometimes we will have lines to rotate people through all day, so as many people can visit as possible.

We have a parking lot at the northwest corner of the brewery as well as street parking. No reservations necessary! You are welcome to bring snacks or a lunch and remember to bring your six-pack carriers to be recycled! Children are welcome at the brewery but all minors under the age of 21 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. All guests over age 15 are $8.”

Price: It’s 8 bucks for a tour, a Saint Arnold logo glass (about the size of a juice cup) and 4 tokens for samples. They accept cash and cards. For those who are mathematical challenged or just don’t know, 2 bucks for a Saint Arnold beer at a craft brew place in Houston is a decent price. They run about $8 a six-pack at the grocery store to give a perspective on the price.

Tokens: A token per beer is how it works here unless you get the Endeavor which is 2 tokens. I think that it is 2 tokens for high alcohol content brews. in generally because I remamber paying 2 tokens for something else before but I can’t remember.

Shopping: They have a wonderful selection of pint glasses for the current and sometimes previous seasonal brews and some beer mugs/ steins that are pretty awesome all with Saint Arnold’s personal touch to them. The art for the seasonal glasses changes every year and it makes them fun to collect, which we like to do. They offer lots of kinds of shirts, including a onesie in two sizes (6 months or 12 months) which we bought for our baby girl. So if you are into brewery/ beer swag, this is a place that will have you staring at the wall of stuff they offer.

The Digs: Saint Arnold’s is indoors, has air conditioning and tons of picnic table seating. Bathrooms are awesome and plentiful, which you would assume when arriving there, but worth mentioning whenever discussing breweries.

• Bring Lunch! There is not food served here and there isn’t not fast food or pick up places immediately surrounding the brewery although it is so close to downtown it isn’t far from anything but it’s easy to forget because there are no stores around. Breweries in Houston tend are in warehouse areas, so think ahead! I wish we remembered to bring lunch but we always forget.
• Internet access is there but does not work on my phone in the hall.
• Kid friendly atmosphere. I see patrons with babies, strollers and kids in tow regularly.
• Do not bring your dog! It’s nice inside.
• The tour is awesome! It is not the same every time, a different person gives it on different days(although you will see the familiar faces), people ask all sorts of questions throughout the tour that make it really interesting and the guides usually have some great stories or knowledge to drop on the groups about what’s brewing at Saint Arnold’s. It has been wet and slippery down there last time I went so be cautious and think about what shoes you wear before going on the tour. They post it on their website for a reason. I have been on the tour a few times and it is well worth going, repeatedly. Since I have been pregnant I haven’t been on the tour because it begins on the second floor (where the taps are) then down stairs and that does not appeal to me now.
• Do not smoke your electronic cigarette devices in here. It is not allowed because it confuses cigarette smokers.
• Wheel chair accessible.The elevator to get to the second floor to reach the hall is by the front door which has a ramp and stairs.
• “All guests over age 15 are $8.” This is true and I know because while I’m pregnant and I’m still paying.

**I believe there is another way to the bottom from the outside but I haven’t asked about wheel chair accessibility of the tour before so I don’t really know.

I love Saint Arnold’s brewery and continue to go there often because of the great location (off I-10 between I-45 & 59 which makes it a convenient meeting place for after work or just getting together with friends), cheap beers, comfortable climate control and great setting during the week days. Weekends are crowded and I like to take my dog out on the weekends so I skip the Friday/ Saturday madness. I went once on Saturday and I prefer a bit more low-key and less waiting in line. It’s great to take your people from out-of-town to show them unique places in Houston.

My husband, Mitchell is going to follow-up with some comments about the brews offered at the taps offered there now.