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    Where to Drink Now

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

    Ralph Palmer
    Apr 2, 2019 | 2:35 pm
    True Anomaly Brewing Company tap room
    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

    ---

    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.

    Walking Stick Brewery beer garden
      
    Photo by @eyefearnobeer
    Walking Stick welcomes visitors with a lush beer garden.
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    he finished the job

    Houston chef Tristen Epps dishes on his Top Chef victory — and what's next

    Eric Sandler
    Jun 13, 2025 | 9:05 am
    Top Chef Tristen Epps
    Photo by David Moir/Bravo
    Kristen Kish, Tristen Epps, Gail Simmons, and Tom Colicchio.

    Houston has played a leading role in America’s culinary scene, but the city has never been home to a Top Chef winner — until last night. In the final episode of season 22, chef Tristen Epps earned the title and a $250,000 cash prize.

    Epps secured his victory by remaining true to the Afro-Caribbean cuisine that helped him secured an impressive four Elimination Challenge wins and $35,000 in additional prize money from two Quickfire wins and as a member of the team that won the show’s signature Restaurant Wars challenge. His four-course menu took a panel of celebrity judges on a journey that also referenced the finale location of Milan, Italy.

    In particular, Epps wowed the panel with his second course — Chicken “Durango” with injera shrimp toast and shellfish jus — that referenced both the Ethiopian chicken stew doro wat and the Italian dish pollo durango, a sly nod to the history of imperialism between the two countries. He finished his savory offerings with Oxtail Milanese Crepinette with Carolina Gold rice grits, curry butter, and bone marrow gremolata, which earned praised from the panel.

    “Historically, we’ve been underserved oxtail,” Top Chef alum and James Beard Award winner Gregory Gourdet said during the episode. “Tristen took the time to pull it, create that beautiful, huge, maybe too big, portion of oxtail. And cover it with that gremolata. He did not forget the bone marrow. That’s very, very smart.”

    Throughout Top Chef’s run, Epps has been holding a series of pop-ups devoted to everything from hot dogs to steakhouses. Now, he can turn his attention to Buboy, a tasting menu concept that will celebrate the Afro-Caribbean cuisine he championed throughout his time on the show.

    CultureMap caught up with Epps on Friday morning for a brief chat about his victory and what’s next.

    CultureMap: What do you remember from the day you cooked that final dinner?
    Tristen Epps: It was an extreme amount of focus. A lot of writing in my notebook. I didn’t want to laugh. I didn’t want to cry or do anything except finish the job, regardless of whatever the outcome would have been. I remember wanting to call my mom. I really wanted to talk things out so I could calm myself down and stay within my focus. Once I got into cooking, I felt so much at ease. It’s my happy place. It’s my serenity.

    CM: How did you feel when you saw Gregory Gourdet on the panel? Did you feel like you had an advocate in the room?
    TE: I’ve cooked with gregory before, a long time ago. It was really fun. I loved what he was doing.

    I felt like I had kind of an advocate. I was worried my food wold be too spicy or too overpowering [for the European chefs]. Seeing Gregory was really good, especially with what I was doing.

    CM: Other chefs, including Gregory Gourdet and Houston chef Dawn Burrell, have done well on the show with Afro-Caribbean cuisine but they didn’t win. How important was it to you to finish the job and use those flavors to win the title?
    TE: To me that was super important. There’s adventurous people who make phenomenal food. They’ll go once because it’s interesting, bu they’re usually skeptical. When you don’t nail it, they say, that’s why I go to the regular places that are familiar.

    Finishing the job was really important to me. People have come up short on this. I wanted to get this right for everyone who’s made that step forward and created the ladder.

    CM: What have your last 12 hours been like since the episode aired? Have any celebrities reached out to you?
    TE: A lot of calls, a lot of good luck. A lot of everything. It’s been amazing.

    A lot of past Top Chef winners reached out to me, giving me a lot of support and telling me what they did after they won.

    [ESPN football commentator] Mina Kimes did, which was really cool.

    CM: What are your plans for the prize money?
    TE: It’s going to go to Buboy. Now that the cat’s out of the bag, it can go a little faster.

    CM: You’ve been holding a series of pop-ups that range from tasting menus to hot dogs? What’s next?
    TE: Part of getting the restaurant open has been introducing myself to all of Houston. These pop-ups represent my interests and my fun. They’re the things that Buboy is going to represent. It can be fun, it can be a conversation, it can be educational, it can push the limits of cuisines we know. It’s an expression of culture in whatever way I see fit that day.

    The hot dog concept will probably be a separate venture, but who’s to say there’s not a hot dog at the end of that meal?

    Top Chef Tristen Epps
      

    Photo by David Moir/Bravo

    Kristen Kish, Tristen Epps, Gail Simmons, and Tom Colicchio.

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