Where to Drink Now

Where to drink now: Introducing 3 of Houston's freshest new breweries

Find True Anomaly in EaDo across from Vinny's.

@trueanomalybrewing Instagram

As of last count, roughly 60 breweries operate in the greater Houston area. Even the most seasoned beer ~~nerds~~ enthusiasts may find visiting each one a tough task, but those who make the effort will find plenty of tasty rewards.

In 2019, the roster will continue to grow as Houston rides the nationwide craft beer wave. Even as we roll into April, Megaton Brewery in Kingwood has had a soft opening and Fortress Brewing in Spring just opened to the general public. While those new arrivals will need a couple of weeks to get their sea legs, here’s a quick look at three Houston breweries that have opened in the last couple of months. With patio season upon us, they're ready to serve some of the city's freshest suds.

True Anomaly Brewing Company
To the delight of thirsty Houstonians — especially EaDo residents like SportsMap editor Fred Faour — True Anomaly Brewing Company opened its doors to the public last month. The brewery joins the ranks of fellow EaDo brewers 8th Wonder, Sigma Brewing, and Moontower Sudworks, making the neighborhood a legitimate craft beer hotspot.

The name True Anomaly, a nod to aerospace design, reflects the scientific roots of founders Michael Duckworth, Tom Ahlstrom, Ben Stahl, and David Lantz; it's also the best acronym in Texas brewing. The partners, all either former or current NASA employees, have been home brewing together for over a decade. Unlike the complexity of rocket science, True Anomaly strives for simplicity. “We try not to include any ingredients in the beer that doesn’t need to be there,” Ahlstrom tells CultureMap.

Their brewing program is expected to yield a creative twist on styles that are already popular around town. The brewery’s initial tap list consists of a Grisette (similar to a light bodied saison), house IPA, New England IPA, dry-hopped Saison, and a fruited Berliner Weisse. In the coming months, the brewery is expected to host an ambitious range of styles that are unique to Houston’s brewing landscape (for now).

“We’re actively working on developing our sour and wild ales in our barrel room,” Ahlstrom says. “We purchased two foeders from American Foeder Crafters and already have some inoculated beer going in those. We will also be filling our first sour barrels next week. Building up this barrel room will take years, so within the next [couple of] years we intend to have a large inventory of sour beer for blending, fruiting, bottling, and getting out into the market.”
2012 Dallas St.; Wednesday-Friday 4-10 pm, Saturday noon to 10 pm, and Sunday noon to 7 pm

Astral Brewing
New entrant Astral Brewing debuted in early March in its newly minted facility located in the Independence Heights neighborhood. The spaced-themed brewery, helmed by operations manager José Ceja and head brewer Alex McDonald, hopes to push the boundaries of the local beer scene and help put Houston on the map as a craft beer destination.

“The beer scene in Houston is greatly improving, but it still trails the great beer Meccas of the United States in terms of number of breweries and the quality of beer,” says Ceja. “As Houston will soon be the third largest city in America, it seemed like the right place to open a brewery, and we felt we could offer something.”

Astral’s opening lineup includes traditional styles such as English Golden Ale, porter, West Coast IPA, and the ultra-trendy New England IPA. In short order, Astral will begin a barrel aging stout program and eventually parlay into mixed fermentation. To assist in their future wild ale/sour program, Astral has tapped Garrett Crowell, former head brewer of Jester King, to consult.

“Alex’s background in microbiology, and our work with Garrett will hopefully make this possible,” Ceja says. “We want to take things slowly, though, and feel like we've mastered the production and repeatability of clean beers before introducing 'bugs' into the brewery.”
4816 N Shepherd Dr., Ste A; Thursday-Saturday, 4-10 pm and Sunday noon to 8 pm

Walking Stick Brewing Company
Tucked away behind Wakefield drive in the Garden Oaks neighborhood lies Walking Stick Brewery. Located just across the street from Great Heights Brewing, owner and head brewer Andy Dunn, a Colorado transplant and avid hiker, hopes to bring a fresh mountain-inspired feel to the neighborhood.

Two years ago, Dunn shifted careers from corporate consulting to brewing full time in Houston. “I love the mix of challenges a brewery presents,” Dunn says. “It’s a healthy balance of intellectual and physical demands. It allows us to build something beautiful and very personal.”

And beautiful it is. Dunn and his wife Angie have transformed the previously vacant space into a family-friendly beer garden fresh with chic industrial finishes, AstroTurf patches, and oversized, comfy, striped loungers. For the time being, Walking Stick’s beer is served out of a vintage trailer until construction on their taproom finalizes later this month.

“I aim to brew a spectrum of beer styles that present a wide range of flavors and colors,” Dunn says. “I lean toward the British ales as a foundation, but I want to have an option for all preferences.” To that point, Walking Stick currently offers a wide range of beers on tap including an ESB, pale ale, Saison, and brown porter.
956 Judiway St.; Friday 4-8 pm, Saturday and Sunday noon to 8 pm

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Ralph Palmer is a local beer blogger and co-host of the Beer, Blood and the Bayou podcast. Follow him on Instagram at eyefearnobeer.

Walking Stick welcomes visitors with a lush beer garden.

Photo by @eyefearnobeer

Walking Stick welcomes visitors with a lush beer garden.

where-drink openings craft-beer

oh bevin

Houston bartender's new book celebrates cocktails and sexuality

Photo by Troy Ezequiel Montes

Bevin Biggers writes about sex and cocktails in her new book, Aphro.

“There's a lot of stigma about sexuality, especially with black women.”

Louisiana-born, Houston-based mixologist/multidisciplinary artist Bevin Biggers says as she’s flipping through the pages of her literary debut Aphro: A Cocktail Book on the Sexual Response Cycle. A veteran of Houston’s bar and restaurant scene, who has worked nightspots from Montrose to the Heights and collaborated with big-name alcohol brands (and who also isn’t afraid to call out shady establishments), Biggers has created a project that’s part cocktail manual and part Black, female sexuality manifesto.

“We already have a lot of other s**t going on and then, on top of that, it's sex, too,” says Biggers, while sipping on a drink at a Midtown watering hole. She points out that, when it comes to media representation, Black women have been stuck with many stereotypical caricatures/portrayals throughout the decades: maids, baby mommas, lesbians, jezebels, sistas who are just plain ol’ angry. But as for Black women who freely explore their sexuality with no shame or repercussions, the culture usually comes up empty.

“[White women] can be explorative and do all these different things. Black women do it and it’s ‘she’s a whore’ or whatever, right? So, all these caricatures kind of negatively impact how we live, and I talk about all of that here,” she says.

Aphro originally began a decade ago as a bar concept. After years of becoming a pro in the mixology game, even honing her craft-cocktail skills while living in New York (where she became a fan of the city’s Museum of Sex), she wanted to make it a full-fledged business. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been a good time to open a bar (“Bars are expensive,” she confirms).

Eventually, it morphed into a book project where Biggers drops sex talk, cocktail recipes, and surprising bits of African American history. “There's a lot of Black bartenders back in the day who freed their wives, their children, and themselves from slavery, using bartenderships,” she says.

The sex lives of African Americans during and after slavery is a subject Biggers has done extensive research on. Last November, she gave her Substack readers an Aphro taste when she posted a lengthy study on chattel slavery and its impact on the orgasm gap. “It's still a real cocktail book – there are still many pages of recipes,” she assures. “But, here, I talk about stereotypes, caricatures of black women, the orgasm gap, chattel slavery, and how things almost connect to current times.” She also included a questionnaire she sent women regarding orgasms. “I asked very specific questions, and I got a lot of f—ed-up answers, which was the whole point ”

Funded by a grant from Houston Arts Alliance, Biggers worked with Toronto-based Sure Print & Design to put Aphro into book form. She collaborated with local photographer Rosebeth Akharamen in serving up glorious color shots of the suggestively-named cocktails, made from “aphrodisiac ingredients,” Biggers had conceived.

Drinks range from “Late Night Cinemax,” (consisting of mezcal, corn puree, chipotle honey, coconut, and a popcorn garnish) to “Locally Deflower” (which includes Texas sized herbs and “delicate floral notes to evoke a softer intimacy”). These 20 recipes are the result of Biggers spending over a decade getting to know more about classic cocktails and modern bartending techniques.

“I come from Hiram Clarke, where it’s just Hennessy, Alize, Crown Royal,” she says. “And, then, when I came to start bartending, I was learning about Fernet and Montenegro and IPAs and good considerations of beers, and I was like, what the hell is all this? But I want to learn. I want to know what y'all know,” she says.

We also get seductive shots of Biggers herself, all glammed up in several swanky locations, including her own living room. “I didn’t see any of these photos when she took them because we were in a rush, because of the makeup artists, and I had to do my makeup all over again,” she says. “So, this was all trust, and she knocked it out the park.”

For Biggers, it’s all worth it if her fellow cocoa-colored beauties buy her book and start feeling more grown, Black, and sexy about themselves. “The inspiration is always being curious about this topic, but it was such a big deal in my community, of not wanting to be accused of being fast,” she says. “Even something that's mutual, it's always, what did you do to him? If it's kissing, it’s you kissed him, and it's not like, y'all kissed each other, you know. There was always punishment for something that's kind of natural. Then, when you're curious about something like that, you start to learn about it in dangerous ways… You learn through strangers, because your parents are not telling you anything about this stuff. You learn through movies. You learn through putting viruses on the f—ing computer, because you typed in the wrong thing, and now, the home computer, the family computer is f—ed up.”

Biggers ordered a limited run of Aphro volumes that she sells on her website, which also has related merch like color prints and an adult coloring book. She still has dreams of turning her book into a watering hole one day. Until then, she’ll continue her mission of instructing women (and men) on how to stir up your sex life – as well as a stiff drink.

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Biggers will host an Aphro book release party/talk at Los Perros Cafe on Friday, April 17, at 7 pm. RSVP here.

books cocktails