The Best Local Breweries in San Antonio

Looking for a good place to enjoy a cold brew? You’ve come to the right place. San Antonio, Texas has a large number of local breweries for visitors and locals alike to indulge their taste buds. Or, if visiting breweries and touring their production facilities are your thing, you’ll have a lot to explore. Take a look at the following list of five of the best local breweries in San Antonio.

Alamo Beer Co.

The Alamo Beer Company has a long history tied to their beers and their brand. In 1884, there was actually a beer called the “Alamo,” produced by Lone Star Brewing Company. When prohibition hit the area in 1918, the supply of “Alamo” beer disappeared, and when prohibition ended in 1933, it was still nowhere to be found. Luckily for Texas beer drinkers and visitors to the San Antonio area, Alamo Beer is back thanks to the creation of the Alamo Beer Company by owner Eugene Simor in partnership with Real Ale Brewing Company in Blanco Texas. Since that first partnership in 2003, Alamo Beer has been flowing freely out of the spouts in Texas, and finally in 2014, the local San Antonio brewery location was able to begin production.

Today, the Alamo Beer Company produces four main beers including the Alamo Golden Ale, the Alamo Amber Lager, the Alamo German Pale Ale, and the Alamo Pilsner. Around the holiday season, the brewery also produces a Holiday IPA that’s available between November and December. To find out more about the all of their beers and visiting their San Antonio Brewery location, visit Alamo Beer Company.

Blue Star Brewing Company

In 1996, Blue Star Brewing Company opened its doors just outside of Mission Reach, which is an area along the San Antonio River that attracts a wealth of pedestrian and bike-friendly traffic. In addition to a production facility, the brewery also has a large pub area that serves local-made food six days a week. Blue Star’s owner, Joey Villarreal, opened the brewery with the mission to “serve house-made craft-brewed beer using wholesome ingredients.” Villarreal is also the owner of Blue Star Bike Shop, which visitors will notice is right next door to the brewery to provide easy, convenient, and fun transportation to the riverside area.

Blue Star Brewing Company has a long list of beers for visitors to enjoy including a Texican Lager, a Dunkelhead dark lager, the Cowtown Mild Brown, the Flying Pig Extra Pale Ale, the Cinco Peso Pale Ale, the King William barely wine style ale, the Green Tractor IPA, an Apache Amber Lager, a Smoke Dark Ale, a Spire Stout, a Southtown Sour, the Close Encounter sour beer, the Mannerchor Marzen german style lager, a Pilsner, the Wheathead, and finally, the Raspberry Geyser—phew, that’s a lot of beer.

To find out more, visit Blue Star Brewing Company.

Branchline Brewing Co.

Branchline Brewing Co. was founded in 2012 as the second production brewery in San Antonio and the first brewery to can craft beer in the area. Customers have raved about Branchline’s friendly staff, relaxed atmosphere, and reasonable prices. While Branchline is a smaller sized brewery, it still packs a big punch and has been known for being a locals’ favorite.

The brewery offers five different types of beers including the moderately-hopped Evil Owl American Amber, a light, refreshing Shady Oak Blonde Ale, a hoppy Woodcutter Rye IPA, the West Coast-styled Visitor IPA, the Dark Territory Oatmeal Stout, and finally, the roasty Silver and Black IPA.

Branchline Brewing Co. is open Tuesday through Sunday from 2pm until 9pm, and they also offer beer-to-go. For more information about this small San Antonian brewery, visit Branchline Brewing Co..

Freetail Brewing Co.

Scott Metzger founded Freetail Brewing Co. three years following an epiphany he had during a 2006 ski trip with his buddies. As it’s told, “maybe it was the lack of oxygen at altitude, or maybe it was all the tasty local beer he had consumed, but he had determined to open a brewery restaurant in his hometown of San Antonio.” Whatever the reasoning, Scott accomplished his dream of opening Freetail Brewing, which has now expanded to a new production brewery facility and has begun distributing beers throughout South Texas. According to Scott, the “Freetail” name was inspired by the Mexican Free-tailed Bat, which was named the Official Flying Mammal of Texas with over 30 million of these bats calling San Antonio home.

When it comes to beer, Freetail offers an extensive list of core beers, seasonal beers, reserved beers, and even a few archived beers. Take a look at their active, seasonal, and reserve beer list:

• Bat Outta Helles (German-Style Lager)
• Freetail Orignal (American Amber Ale)
• Rye Wit (Belgian-Style Wheat)
• Soul Doubt IPA (India Pale Ale)
• Witicus (Double Rye Wit)
• Texicali (Brown Ale)
• Piñata Protest (Red Wit)
• Watermelon Bexarliner
• Yo Soy Un Berliner
• Oktoberfiesta
• Cherry Bexarliner
• Hopothesis Imperial IPA
• #Whalezbro
• La Muerta Imperial Stout
• Despertado en Manzanilla
• Komorebi
• Bourbon Barrel Aged Local Coffee Stout
• 2104 La Muerta Imperial Stout

To find out more about this creative local brewery, visit Freetail Brewing Co..

Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling

Founded by three business school graduates who realized that their passion for beer and whiskey paired with an entrepreneurial spirit and their growing discontent for corporate life was a perfect motivator, Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling was born in San Antonio. A small creek in area inspired Ranger Creek’s name, and the company wanted to honor the state of Texas and felt that the name was the perfect way to do so. Ranger Creek has also been nicknamed as a “brewstillery,” and offers guided doors to the public.

Ranger Creek brews a couple different beers: Love Struck Hefe, Red Headed Stranger, Oatmeal Pale Ale, and additional seasonal beers. Ranger Creek also distills a Small Caliber Series of whiskeys in aged barrels, as well as Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey and White Whiskeys.

For more information about this “brewstillery,” visit Ranger Creak Brewing & Distilling.