Did I get your attention? Thought so.
This wasn’t on my bucket list, but it’s something I’ve wanted to do: go to a brewery. Just see what’s so special about beer and how they make it. Not all chicks like beer, but I’m one that does!
St. Arnold Brewery is just north of downtown Houston. I loved the old building–especially the details on the doors. The brewery is just waiting for us to step inside.
As we walked in, there’s a line. I wasn’t really sure what for or where it leads, but we got in line. Others followed suit.
Some people have food, drinks, games, six-pack beer carriers to recycle. I didn’t really know what to expect. Especially not the smell of pizza in the hallway. I thought this was a brewery.
Follow the sign. Walk up the stairs. 2nd floor? It felt like they were never-ending, especially since we were only going a step a minute.
We reached the holy land! We paid our $7 a piece for the tour and got our souvenir glass. What they don’t tell you on their website is that you get 4 tokens to try their beers. So in my mind, this was free beer! Yeah! Let’s do this! At 1pm on a Saturday. So what? It’s FREE!
Come to find out later, if you bring a larger beer stein, they will still fill that for you too. Hm, looks like I’m going to have to make a trip back there in the near future.
So this was the Beer Hall. It doesn’t even begin to show how crowded it was. People were having birthday parties there, there were blankets sprawled on the ground where people ate their pizza and played their games. Ohhhh! It all clicked. I just thought this was a brewery tour, not a hang out spot.
We got a beer and started to walk around. The next tour started in a few minutes.
St. Arnold was a saint in the 600′s, who recommended beer instead of water. Way back in those days, water was polluted and would make drinkers gravely ill. Instead, drink beer! It’s cheaper and more nutritious. Sounds good to me, let’s drink!
So I didn’t learn too much on the tour, mostly because I couldn’t hear what the hell our tour guide was saying. But I did get to see the beer making process in action. There was beer fermenting on the floor and this guy wanted to try it. (Ok, so maybe I learned a little.) He got the go ahead from our tour guide and scooped some off the floor.
“It’s not bad. It tastes like beer and bread. Y’all should try it.”
Bleh, no thanks, I’m not going to eat something off the floor. I walked off, back to the beer hall or should I say, beer wall!
Look at that beautiful wall of beer! They were promoting their newest beer Santo, so naturally, I had to try it. I’m not normally a fan of dark beer, but this was fantastic. It’s nothing like BMC–as they call it at Saint Arnold–Bud Miller Coors. This beer is so flavorful and full of life. And even the label is artsy! What’s not to love?
For those of you in Texas, go out and try a St. Arnold Santo!
Are you a beer drinker? What’s your favorite beer?
