Vector Brewing
Vector brews Moonsmoke, a Lichtenhainer, which Hop Culture describes as
a cross between a gose and a rauchbier.2
Why go
The brewery opened in Lake Highlands in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, and took Brewery of the Year in the small-production class at the 2023 Texas Craft Brewers Cup.21 Hop Culture: instead of focusing on one style, the brewery dabbles across the board.
Local ingredients go into them.2 There is a scratch pizza kitchen in the same room, so this is an evening rather than a stop.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: Moonsmoke. A Lichtenhainer is a smoked sour wheat beer and almost nobody brews one.2
- Order: the pho beer if it is on, built with the aromatics and herbs from the bowl.1
- Order: Endo, which Hop Culture calls
a 6.9% ABV hazy banger with Citra, Idaho 7, and Belma.
2 - Eat here. The pizza comes off a scratch kitchen in the building.2
What locals & experts say
- Brian Reinhart, D Magazine, 2025: the brewery makes
some truly wild brews, including smoked lagers and a fabulously bright beer made with all the aromatics and herbs used in a bowl of pho.
1 - Hop Culture, Grace Lee-Weitz, 2025:
the brewery has quickly cultivated a cult following for sourcing local ingredients in its beers.
2 - The Texas Craft Brewers Cup made it Brewery of the Year in the small-production class in 2023.1
Good to know
- Vector brewed False Idol's fifteen-month barrel-aged barleywine with 903 Brewers.2
Verdict
should-visit — A brewery that makes a Lichtenhainer, a near-forgotten smoked sour, and a beer built out of pho aromatics. Order Moonsmoke first, put a pizza next to it, and ask what else is odd this week.