Biergarten Brawl!

Hey Beer lovers,

Today I had the opportunity to attend a couple of locally owned biergartens and loved every minute of it. Which was better you ask? I won’t say, but you should! Comment on this post and tell the brew guys where you’d prefer to kick back and have a cold one.

Here is an interview with a frequent customer at the first biergarten, Black Sheep Lodge:

Black Sheep Lodge

Black Sheep Lodge, which is located on S. Lamar just south of Oltorf, is a great little place with a very large selection beers. With about 20 beers on tap and over 80 beers in bottles and cans, you’d be hard pressed to not find something you like. The lodge’s menu also includes a variety of food from burgers and hot dogs to salads and sandwiches. Also, every Wednesday, the kitchen creates a new dish to put on special for the next seven days. This week, the special was an Elvis sandwich (peanut butter and banana on whole wheat bread and pan friend in butter) with bacon. It was surprising good, but then again, bacon makes just about everything better.

The lodge also has an outdoor patio to complement its indoor seating area that includes eight big screen tvs, two dart boards, and a pool table, and shuffleboard. As far as parking goes, there is a somewhat hidden parking lot directly behind the shopping strip with its own entrance to the lodge.

Scholz Garten

Scholz Garten, located on San Jacinto in between 15th and 16th, has a good deal of tradition behind it. Founded in 1866, the building itself has been recognized by the State of Texas with a historical marker. OK, now about the beer. Scholz had a selection of around 50 beers and a menu that consisted of burgers, sandwiches, BBQ, and some delicious onion rings. Scholz has a very large venue, with two indoor seating areas and a very large outdoor venue with a stage that can be reserved for private events.

Parking around Scholz’s is limiting, but there is plenty of street parking as long as you don’t mind walking a block or two. Being so close to Darrel K. Royal Stadium, this place is a hotspot for UT fans on game days.

The beers

Sine this post is dedicated to biergarten competition, I’m going to be brief when rating today’s brews. Feel free to ask questions!

Session Lager – 4 out of 5 mugs

Session Lager is brewed by Full Sail Brewing Company in Hood River, Oregon. It has a light flavor and goes down smooth. The bottle, which is very uniquely shaped, only holds 11 oz but was by far the best beer of the day.

Schlitz – 3 out of 5 mugs

Ok, ok, I know, it’s a cheap beer. But for $1, I couldn’t pass up the chance to try something new. Truthfully, it was pretty good and very drinkable for a Natural Light/Keystone colleague. The beer, which hails from Schliz Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is very much like Coors Light, it might as well be water. The high rating is because compared to cheap beers, this one ties Coors Light for second place on my list. (1st place goes to High Life)

St. Pauli Girl Lager – 2 out of 5 mugs

This German Lager has a bit of a skunky smell with very few redeeming qualities, save perhaps the slight sweetness after a second or two of drinking. I didn’t get a good read on the color because I drank it out of the bottle, but my advise is to get this beer only on fire sale.

Thank you for staying with me so far in the post, please be sure to share your thoughts with us on the gartens above. And thank you to Black Sheep and Sholtz for showing me a good time today.

Cheers,

Adam