Horny Toad Brewing Monthly Open House - March 1

Horny Toad Brewing Company will start hosting an open house on the first Saturday of each month from 2-8 pm. The brewery is at 313 Edward Street, Rowena Texas.

Somebody work for me this Saturday. I'd like to go.

Pedernales Brewing Company Tasting Room Schedule

I've known for a while that Pedernales Brewing Company opens their tasting room and offers tours. I hadn't had the chance to catch one in a while, but last Saturday I got the opportunity to work in the tasting room. It's not as much fun to work in the tasting room, because the employees aren't allowed to drink on duty, but that's not a big deal.  Normally, I don't start drinking until 5 pm anyway. (It's Hell getting old.)

It was hot outside, and the brewery isn't air conditioned. But the fans inside kept it mild enough. On tap there were the flagship beers: Lobo Texas Lager, Lobo Negro, Classic Hefewiezen and Classic IPA. Also on tap was Lobo Lito (a summer pilsner), and their first seasonal, Oktoberfest, which I've already written about.

I was asked if I wanted to do the first tour. While I have taken the tour a couple of times and I know the brewing process, I didn't have enough details to feel comfortable about it. So I tagged along on a couple of the tours. Sure enough, someone wanted to know what the production was. I'm sure "Shit Ton" wouldn't not have been a good answer.

I met a couple of home brewers who had stopped by and we had a nice chat. One group had finished up a wine tour "for the ladies" and now it was the men's "reward".

We guestimated about 50 people had stopped by over the four hours, so it was never too crowded.

Next time you're in Fredericksburg, take the tour. Beer always tastes better at the brewery. And it will be the easiest way to find their quarterly seasonals on tap. (Shh! Don't tell anyone, but I hear a spiced porter is next.)

The tasting room is open on Friday from 3-5 pm, and on Saturday from 1-5 pm. Pedernales Brewing Company is at 97 Hitchin' Post Trail just south of Fredericksburg on US Highway 87 South. Look for the flags on your left. Call 830-998-7486 for details.

Fort Bend Brewing Company Announces Tours

Fort Bend Brewing has announced that they will have regular tours on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month, from 1-3 pm. Admission is $5 at the door, and $7.50 in advance to secure a ticket. If the tour sells out, they will announce it on their Facebook page.

Czech Brewery Tours

Should I ever win the lottery, or make a million bucks with my own brewery, I think I would enjoy taking the Belgian Beer Me! tour and then one of these Czech Brewery Tours. [It's pretty obvious whoever wrote this page used a translation program, but still . . ]


Day 1 Visit to breweries Klaster in Klaster Hradiste n. Jizerou, Konrad in Liberec & Svijany in Svijany
Start: Prague, 08.00 am from hotel Populus - for participants accommodated in hotel Populus
Prague, 08.30 am from street Na Florenci, Prague 1
End: Prague, abt. 06.00 pm city centre, hotel Populus
Price: 2360,- CZK per person (98,- EUR pp)
Included: Transportation by air-conditioned bus, English speaking guide/translator, excursion to 3 breweries, degustation of 11 kinds of beer including beer to lunch menu (Klaster 5 kinds of beer, Konrad 5 kinds of beer, Svijany 1 beer)

This full day trip includes guided tours at three historic Czech breweries. Starting at the former monastery Klaster which has been brewing beer since the 16th century. We'll take a guided tour, followed by lunch and a degustation deep below the monastery. Next it's a short ride over to Konrad, founded in the recent year of 1872. We'll have another degustation before our final stop in the award winning Svijany brewery.

Day 2 Visit to breweries Jezek in Jihlava, Poutnik in Pelhrimov & Hubertus in Kacov
Start: Prague, 08.00 am from hotel Populus - for participants accommodated in hotel Populus
Prague, 08.30 am from street Na Florenci, Prague 1
End: Prague, abt. 06.00 pm city centre, hotel Populus
Price: 2360,- CZK per person (98,- EUR pp)
Included: Transportation by air-conditioned bus, English speaking guide/translator, excursion to 3 breweries, degustation of 13 kinds of beer including beer to lunch menu ( Jezek 5 kinds of beer, Poutnik 4 kinds of beer, Hubertus 5 kinds of beer), gift – 3 beers Poutnik

We'll start off in walled city of Jihlava at the Jezek brewery where we'll have a chance to drink from wide variety of beers including the 18° Grand (one of the thousand beers to try before you die). From there we go to brewery Poutnik which still uses some very old fashioned techniques. We'll have a beer and take some for the road. But it's just a quick ride over to Hubertus for their stellar Kvasnicove lager brewed at the foot of another old monastery.

Day 3 Visit to breweries Lipan in Drazic & Budweiser Budvar in Ceske Budejovice
Start: Prague, 08.00 am from hotel Populus - for participants accommodated in hotel Populus
Prague, 08.30 am from street Na Florenci, Prague 1
End: Prague, abt. 05.30 pm city centre, hotel Populus
Price: 2360,- CZK per person (98,- EUR pp)
Included: Transportation by air-conditioned bus, English speaking guide/translator, excursion to 2 breweries, degustation of 8 kinds of beer including beer to lunch ( Lipan 2 kinds of beer, Budweiser Budvar 6 beers), lunch RAUT with QUESTION / ANSWER SESSION with head of laboratory and press spokesman of Budweiser Budvar

This trip is a bit shorter, but packed well worth it. We start with the small but delicious beers of Lipan before going on to Budvar. Here we will take the customary tour which we will follow up with a lunch, degustation and question answer session with the head of the beer laboratory.

Day 4 Visit to breweries Kout na Sumave, Modra Hvezda in Dobrany & Pilsner Urquell in Pilsen
Start: Prague, 08.00 am from hotel Populus - for participants accommodated in hotel Populus
Prague, 08.30 am from street Na Florenci, Prague 1
End: Prague, abt. 07.00 pm city centre, hotel Populus
Price: 2360,- CZK per person (98,- EUR pp)
Included: Transportation by air-conditioned bus, English speaking guide/translator, excursion to 3 breweries, degustation of 7 kinds of beer including beer to lunch menu (Kout 2 kinds of beer, Modra Hvezda 2 kinds of beer as momentary brewing and 2 beers to lunch, Pilsner Urquell 1 beer lager 12), place reservation in pub Na Parkane in Pilsen

This day we're going to the Sumave mountains for the famous Kout Na Sumave. Featured on Anthony Bourdain's show, the brewery grounds could use a coat of paint, but, boy, wait till you try the beer. For lunch nobody should miss the chance to stop at Modra Hvezda, a relatively new brewpub opened on the premises of the towns old brewery. To cap off the tour, we go to Pilsner Urquell, reigning king of Czech beers. After the brewery tour, we'll reserved a place at Na Parkanu, the only pub in the world serving unfiltered Pilsner Urquell.


Total cost: € 392 = $550