Austin Beerworks
Pearl Snap is a 5.3 percent pilsner, and it anchors five year-round beers: Peacemaker at 5.0, Floaty at 4.5, Flavor Country at 5.9 and Fire Eagle at 7.3.14
Why go
The core range is distributed all over town. The reason to come here is the beer that never leaves the building. They run a lot of experimental taproom-only releases.3 The Austin Chronicle's brewery power rankings have carried this brewery through nine editions without dropping below twelfth in the city.1 The seasonals are what that standing is built on. Super Awesome helles has taken two Great American Beer Festival medals. Black Thunder schwarzbier has medaled at both the GABF and the World Beer Cup, and Golden Sour took World Beer Cup silver in 2023.2 The taproom is large and the patio is shaded. In North Austin in July, that is the whole argument.3
Order this / avoid
- Pearl Snap, the 5.3 percent pilsner, is the house constant and the Chronicle's default pour here.1
- Acoustic Metal, the Czech-style dark lager, when it is on. The Chronicle named it its favorite rotational beer of 2024.1
- Super Awesome helles, a two-time Great American Beer Festival medalist, and Sputnik oatmeal coffee stout if you can time the annual release.2
- Ask what is taproom-only before you order anything else. The experimental releases do not leave the building.3
- Avoid: looking for a truck. The food comes from Can-tina, on site.4
What locals & experts say
- Eric Puga, the Austin Chronicle's brewery power rankings, 17 October 2024, placed the brand twelfth in Austin and singled this room out:
OG ABW is simply one of the highlights of the Austin beer experience, an icon of the Austin beer culture and conduit to the newbie craft beer transplants becoming full-on local beer snobs. It's the taproom you take eager out-of-towners to on stop number one.
The same paragraph puts the Sprinkle Valley sibling below it on beer board and atmosphere.1 - The 2023 edition, 10 October 2023, had the brand sixth and put the case on the rotating beer, calling the seasonals program the best in Texas. It also logged the two mainstays added that year, Floaty hazy session IPA and Smalltime light lager.2
- Raphael Brion listed it for The Infatuation on 25 May 2022, without a number, because the outlet does not rate places where you cannot eat a full meal:
Austin Beerworks is one of the most popular breweries in Austin, with a huge variety of beer styles and an equally large taproom and shaded patio in North Austin.
It appears in their best breweries, best bars and best patios guides for the city.3
Good to know
- Open daily, from late morning until late, and later on weekdays than on Sunday.4
- The 2024 medal run and the trade honor. Flavor Country took bronze and Killer Strains Golden Sour Ale took silver at that year's Texas Craft Brewers Cup, and the Texas Craft Brewers Association named co-owner Adam DeBower its 2024 Ambassador of Craft Beer.1
- Hygiene: nothing at this address. Austin Public Health lists one Austin Beerworks site, the Sprinkle Valley taproom at 10300 Springdale Rd, which scored 100 in August 2025. That number is not this building's.5
Verdict
should-visit — Two doors trade under this name, and the Austin Chronicle puts this one above Sprinkle Valley on beer board and atmosphere, so choose this one. The Sputnik oatmeal coffee stout comes round once a year, and it is the release worth timing a visit to.