Happy October (and, even though its not in October, happy belated Oktoberfest)! Since a lot of Americas think Oktoberfest is in October and Oktoberfest just ended (sadddd but I am so looking forward to 2018!!) I decided to do a post on – what else – beer!!
Oktoberfest 2014…not Jester King!
Honestly, before I planned my trip to Austin, I had never even heard of the Jester King Brewery (well, maybe once). Seriously. I love beer, but I really had not made it into the Texas breweries. However, Dan had, and he really wanted to try to visit Jester King when we were around Austin. So, I decided that we had to make it happen!
Jester King, albeit not the best picture.
Jester King Brewery is a highly respected craft brewery located a 30 – 40 minute drive from the Texas state capitol – although its frequently referred to as an “Austin brewery.” Jester King is pretty famous for its sours and spontaneously fermented beers, and it has a good reputation in the craft beer community! Since it seemed so fabulous, Dan and I rented a car just to drive there on our way from Austin to San Marcos for Dan’s cousin Claire’s wedding! Pro tip – a decent amount of their beers are low alcohol (at least for craft beer) so you actually can drive if you are careful.
The grand entrance!
Lucky for us, we found out that Jester King was doing a highly anticipated release the weekend that we were there, so we made sure that we arrived about 15 minute prior to opening. We had an easy time parking in their large parking lot and made our way into the brewery 15 minutes before opening!
Plenty of parking.
I have to say, the one thing that struck me about Jester King upon arrival is how GORGEOUS (seriously GORGEOUS) its grounds were! All I could think was what a great place to hold an event (although that may have been the wedding planner in me…)! Jester King is set on what could be a farm, with a few buildings surrounding a tree covered courtyard with lots of communal picnic tables for beer drinking; it reminded me a lot of Oktoberfest in a good way!
Fun tables!
In any case, we found seats and about 5 minutes before opening the staff started brining out the new release for sale. Shortly thereafter, people began lining up in a very orderly fashion to buy the beer! Right at 12 the sales started and we had procured our beers within 10 minutes! Great success!
The release – Montmorency vs. Balaton.
After getting our beer, we grabbed a seat at one of the lovely shaded picnic tables to try some of the beer! We met a lovely couple from Houston while waiting for the brewery to open and ended up talking to them while we sampled Jester King’s beers – so fun!!
Seating.
More seating.
For people interested in visiting, the sales (when we were there) were set up right in the middle of the tables. You can’t miss it. Aside from buying that beer, there is a bottle shop and a Jester King swag shop. In addition, there are at least two bars serving Jester King’s beers for consumption on sight. I was also told that food trucks come a bit later in the day. Next time we will have to stay for that!
Swag.
In sum, we had a lovely time at Jester King and would recommend to any craft beer lover in the Austin or San Marcos area!!
STEAL THIS BREWERY
Jester King Brewery: 13187 Fitzhugh Rd, Austin, TX 78736. Open Friday 4:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m., Saturday 12:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m., Sunday 12:00 – 9:00 p.m. No reservations. No food, but food trucks usually on premises during meal hours. Dogs and children welcome.
ON A BUDGET
Jester King may not be the best option for the super budget minded. First, its not really in Austin…Jester King is definitely on the outskirts of Austin (at best) and you will need to either Uber there and back or drive (and that’s really NO fun at a brewery!). The beers are very good but, since they are small batch, they are expensive comparatively. If you cannot make it out to Jester King and you still want to try it, check out Craft Pride right in Austin city!