The Austin Brew Bus

I’ve organized two private tours for groups of 20 – 30 over the last two years as a fundraiser. We had a few issues with equipment the first year, but the guides, the drivers, the owner and the experience was always fun. The second year was even better. I’m planning for our third annual trip now. The Brew Bus does a good job and we keep coming back.

On a weekend trip to Austin with no specific agenda other than fun, my bf read about the Austin Brew Bus and asked me to come, so I reserved one of the last few seats for our weekend. Our tour included Thirsty Planet, Jester King, and Craft Pride with Danny as our guide. When just the two of us boarded the bus, I was a bit alarmed that there were two bachelorette parties and a bachelor party aboard, but it actually turned out fine. We had a bit of a snafu with the pick-​up location, but it all turned out just fine.
Although there were tickets and specific tastings for the beers, we were easily able to consume more than the allotted amount. I was a bit skeptical of the price, since typically going to a brewery is pretty cheap, but the overall experience, the amount we were able to drink, and the beauty of visiting three breweries/​brew pubs in one day without having to drive completely justified the cost. There is opportunity to learn as much or as little as you want about the beer and beer-​making process and Danny was very knowledgeable and inclusive, which I appreciate could be difficult with larger groups on the bus. ABB was an awesome experience that I’d absolutely love to do again.
Pro tip: Über to and from the drop off/​pick up spot and drink as much as you want.

Reading through the reviews I was so excited to experience this tour! 12 5 star reviews? Wow!
I wish our tour experience was the same as some of the past reviews — but sadly, that wasn’t the case.
A 30 min wait for the bus to arrive is not necessarily the bus tour’s fault (if you are using an outside service), but what you do in that 30 min, while your costumer waits, is. We arrived on time (actually 10 min beforehand) & saw a group collecting at the parking lot — a block from the listed address. No «brew bus tour» sign to notify customers where to wait just a group kind of congregating. One of our friends figured out who the tour guide was (who didn’t have a sign or logo t-​shirt) after asking around. I’m so thankful we asked because if we waited at the listed address on the RSVP — we would have missed the tour completely.
I wish I knew the tour guides name but he never introduced himself until the last spot @ Chicago House as he was quickly trying to depart. I believe it was Chris.
The bus finally arrived at 11:30am (tour on RSVP stated 11a-​4p). I was thankful my boyfriend had water in his truck to offer everyone so we could hydrate beforehand. As we settled in on the awesome air conditioned bus we were then told, by our tour guide, since we were running behind we would have to hurry to grab our first beer at the first spot (Thirsty Planet) then quickly rush to make the beer tour on time. I appreciate the kind gesture to offer us a free pint (not normally included) but kept feeling annoyed that we were constantly reminded to rush, hurry — we only have so much time here. When we arrived @ Thirsty Planet we received one pint & two drink tickets as we were ushered to the tour. I finished one beer & could only finish part of my 2^nd before it was time to leave, leaving behind my 3^rd drink ticket.
The 2^nd spot (Jester King) is where we received 4 samples & could order pizza (not included in price) if we wanted a snack. Jester King is awesome & their beer was tasty — everyone was feeling happy at this point with beers in hand:). We were here for an hour — which I feel was a great amount of time. We could enjoy the venue, mingle with the other guests, and calmly drink our beer. This was my absolute favorite spot of the day.
3^rd and final spot was Chicago House. We were offered the first round free. Time: 2:50P. The tour guide informed us in the beginning he had to rush off to his rehearsal & wouldn’t be able to mingle with us at our final spot — totally cool… until he later said he really didn’t have a rehearsal but rather a dinner with his mom… either way, I paid to be here from 11a-​4P — the scheduled tour time. He closed out our tab at 3:30P and after taking a few pictures with us kindly departed.
I personally feel $ 70 is a lot of money for what we received — I can easily visit all three spots on my own & spend less. What makes beer tours so awesome is the experience, the opportunity to learn more about beer & the chance to be shuttled to each brewery safely. Other than getting to each spot safely using Austin Brew Tours, I didn’t walk away feeling I received an exceptional or premium experience (which I feel I should receive paying $ 70) or learned anything about beer.
I think the concept of this tour is great — I loved the fact that we were picked up and dropped off downtown so if we wanted to keep the party going — we could! I liked all three brewery choices & the clean bus provided by R&R limousines.

I have to say that this was a wonderful experience!!! Our tour leader Danny aka swarma was fantastic, accommodating, and very knowledgeable! We were on a woooooing Bachelorette party along with fake tattoo’s and all, and he even put one on to join in the fun! If you have a special event and enjoy craft brews I really recommend this but make sure you have Danny! !!!

My gf and I went on the beer bus tour yesterday for a buddy’s birthday and had Chris as our beer sherpa. We all had a great time. They took us to Adelberts, hops and grain, and then finished up at Craft Pride. The advice and info given by Chris was funny and insightful and we even got a tour by the Adelbert’s owner and then a interesting guy named Bob’s at Hops and Grain. I highly recommend it!

Are you kidding me, beer, food, live music, someone educating me & my friends, AND someone to drive me around!!! How can
you not love what the Austin Brew Bus offers. Chris’ beer knowledge is AWESOME and his willingness to teach is pretty impressive! Just say YES! You’ll thank me later!

Chris, our tour guide, was great! We went during a bachelor party weekend and had an awesome time. We learned a lot and got to try some really good local Austin beers. Highly recommended!!! We can’t wait to do it again to see some of the other breweries on the tours. They rotate the tours to different breweries every weekend.

Went for my brothers 30^th. Toured thirsty planet, Jesters, and Chicago house. It was a great experience and the tour guide was great after getting to know everyone. Great beer, great times!

The hubby and I had a great time on the Austin Brew Bus tour last weekend. Our tour guide, Chris, was great and very knowledgeable about all the craft breweries in the area. We have been traveling the country in an RV since 2009 and have had the opportunity to check out a lot of craft beers but it is usually on our own, driving from brewery to brewery. It was so great to be on the bus and not have to worry about the driving and we also met some great people! We went to Thirsty Planet Brewing Co., Jester King Brewery and Chicago House (they have over 20 craft beers on tap!) and thoroughly enjoyed the tour! We will be in Austin awhile and will definitely take another tour to explore other breweries! This tour was a gift from our kids but the cost of the tour is well worth it!

We had a great time. Had one of the best brewery tours ever at Thirsty Planet and then off to Jester King for lunch and their specialty brews. We finished up at Chicago House just off 6^th Street. Our tour guide was talkative and funny, very knowledgeable about all the breweries in town and their various strengths. If I had one suggestion it would be to arrange a special deal with each of the breweries to do a sampler of all their beers, get a tour and move on to the next place. It seems like you should be able to hit three or four breweries (rather than two) doing it that way — but I guess part of the fun is hanging at the brewery and meeting the brewers and your fellow beer tourists.

Great time on this tour. Totally worth it. Danny was an excellent beer sherpa. Very knowledgeable on the beers we tasted. I recommend this to everyone visiting Austin.

ATTENTION ALL BEER LOVERS! Do I have your attention? GO ON THIS TOUR! I REPEAT! GO ON THIS TOUR!
My DH and I went on the maiden voyage of the microbrewery tour. We had an absolute ball. At 11 AM we were picked up by an airconditioned bus at 7^th and Trinity. Make sure you bring $ 5 to park in the lot. I wouldn’t suggest using a meter because our tour took our time, and we didn’t arrive back until 4:00 PM when we were initially due at 3:00 PM.
We were greeted by our knowledgeable beer tour guide, Derek. He taught us all kinds of trivia about microbreweries and beer, in general.
We spent the next several hours going to Billy’s Brew and Cue, Hops and Grain Brewery, and Black Star CO-​OP. At each location we got to sample about five beers and we had a grand olé time. You could also order food, if you were hungry.
Like I said previously, we arrived back to the parking lot around 4:00 PM and took the optional last tour stop to Lovejoy’s. We enjoyed three more tastings there and then said our sad goodbyes. I would do this again in a heart beat.

Fantastic! We had so much fun. The tour guide, Bob, was great! We went to three breweries and got a firsthand look at the the process of making beer! We were able to sample lots of different styles and tastes of beer. This tour is definitely worth the ticket price. I will go on this tour again!

Two friends and I decided to try out the Austin Brew Bus over the weekend and while we were a little unsure what to expect, we definitely did not leave disappointed! As a transplant to Austin (and a woman), I had been wanting to try out some of the local breweries but wasn’t totally comfortable going on my own. This tour was a great way to get acquainted with some of the local breweries around town while having a tour guide to explain some of the basics of craft brewing. Derek (the tour guide) was very knowledgeable of the local brewpubs and explained in detail the different types of beers we were tasting. He made the tour fun, filled with cool, interesting statistics about not just the local breweries but brewing in general and was a great facilitator for the tour. I had the chance to try about 12 different beers on the tour and it introduced me to a new side of Austin. I would whole-​heartedly recommend this tour to friends and I look forward to my next opportunity to go.

I went on the inaguaral Austin Brew Bus tour this past Saturday and had a great time. We stopped at five local Austin breweries throughout the day and got to sample multiple beers at each (the Thirsty Planet’s Yellow Armadillo was arguably my favorite, although the Independence’s Bootlegger Brown Ale came in a close 2^nd). Not only did we get to drink great local beers at each of our stops, but our guide and Austin Brew Bus owner Derek handed out additional Texas beers while we were on the bus in between breweries. He also gave us an explanation of each brewery and a lesson on the proper techniques for tasting beer. Two of the brewmasters also gave us the chance to take a look at their brewing equipment and explain a little bit about their brewing methods. All-​in-​all a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, I would definitely recommend this tour for anyone who appreciates local breweries and/​or enjoys an afternoon of drinking good beer.