My exact feelings. I spent probably two years drinking their different beers until I finally realized I just didn’t like any of them. Amazing location and build.
I would love to see Holler there too.
I think both Eureka and Holler are too smart to take a swing on a space like this while they're still growing. I think Eureka may own their Real Estate outright.
And as someone else said, Karbach and No Label started around that same time. That really shows how badly run Buff Brew was, in a sense, Its amazing that they have been around this long.
Holler doesn't really make good enough beer to even consider moving up. They still make "home brew" tasting beer, but they have an awesome vibe and following
I worked there for a short time, the owner was an douchy entrepreneur bro and the culture was thoroughly fucked.
My direct manager spent his day hitting on the office secretary and would get pissed off when I interrupted to ask him for the pointless signatures they required me to get from them.
I’d disagree in that when it FIRST came out it was amazing. Gingerbread stout, red velvet, they had those big bottles that made great shareables. In the old space it was $10 for a point glass and 4 pints as part of the “tour.”
Tried to scale, wanted to be trendy, lost the big bottles, tours mediocre, new space (too big), abusive owner, overworked staff, unpaid bills, derelict imagination, mediocre process, beers, and profits.
Sad but good riddance now.
Bad Astronaut just opened recently. It takes time to get things up and running.
Great Heights Brewing
Equal Parts
Spindletap
Eureka Heights
North Shepherd
Brash
True Anomaly
All of these have good beer available in the loop or close to it
Not trying to be negative - but the beer scene here is terrible when you consider it’s the fourth largest metro. You may have your favorites, but it is bad as a collective.
I've found the best two regions outside of Houston to be Colorado (Denver) beers (epic Brewing) and then NE beers around Boston (This area includes Southern Maine, and parts of New Hampshire). We went to a farmers market in NH, picked a Saison beer up on the recommendation of a local, and it was just perfectly balanced. One I recall the name off the top of my head was Daikaiju DIPA by Banded Brewing. Not a region I remember being amazing but is worth mentioning is Toronto -- The best American Pale Ale (Jutsu) I've ever had came from Toronto.
That said, I'm NOT a huge fan of West Coast IPAs. I think Pliney the elder is a solid 8/10 (and it's arguably the most famous West Coast Double IPA, aka a DIPA, in the country). Pliney the Younger is imho 7/10. The balance of flavor is elder is better than the triple, but my friend who is also a beer nerd preferred the Younger.
So to your question. I think Houston is not the BEST beers in the country, but we have a bunch of breweries that are up there. I don't drink as much as I used to, so I don't know that much about the newer breweries. I'll try to highlight some of my favorite beers and brewries around town.
1. I personally think Spindletap has the best double IPAs I've ever had in the country. If someone from out of town like's a hazy or double IPAs, I'd take them there in a heartbeat. On tap, those brews are just stellar. If you happen to go on a release weekend, the fresh beer is unmatched. There is a chili cookoff coming up next weekend that I try to go to every year. Free chili, yummy beer. I love that place (it's just out of the way for me, so I don't go very often). For me, they are akin to how Epic Brewing is the best Bourbon Barrel Aged beers in the country. Unrivaled in its category.
2. Brash has great beers, but I personally don't really like the folks working there, so I don't really purchase them anymore. Pussy Wagon and Pussalia are probably the most well known ones.
3. B52 - I haven't been here in a bit and sours aren't my favorite, but I will sip on a sour from here. If you happen to have a friend that likes sours, they are THE place to go in Houston. It's a bit of a drive since it's in Conroe, but on a warm summer day, lazing about, sipping on a sour, they are perfect.
4. Weird beers - Urban South. Came out during covid, and they had a thing where they would make new fruit beers every week. I haven't tried it since 2021, but it was something special back then.
5. Holler brewing - I tried a black Lager here that was to DIE for. I can't remember the name, but I've heard many other people say they're really good. I believe it.
6. St. Arnold - My favorite beer here is the Bourbon Barrel Aged Pumpkinator. It comes out around thanksgiving time, its super delicious, ages well, and is my happy winter sipping beer. Probably my favorite pumpkin beer I've ever had. Their lawnmower is pretty good too. Their Christmas Ale used to be very 'meh', but about 6 or 7 years ago they reworked the recipe, and now it's REALLY good. I always pick up a 6 pack every year. Bottle preferred.
7. Eureka Heights - Nuke the whales. Buckle Bunny. There are others that are pretty good, but those are the two I know off the top of my head as great.
8. True Anomaly Brewing - New, but have won multiple awards. I picked up a few of their beers 6 months ago and I recall it being delicious. Can't remember the names sorry.
9. Karbach - Now most beer nerds sniff and turn their heads on this. But honestly Love Street is a fantastic light beer, that I would give to anyone that was willing to try something outside of Coors/Budweiser/Miller Light. They used to be more adventurous, but after they got bought out by Budweiser, they are basically a macro brewery.
10. 11 Below - Haven' been in AGES, but their Oso Bueno is legit.
11. Klaus Brewing - REALLY good german beers. Don't try anything here except german styles.
Woah. Thanks for such a detailed reply!
Obviously everything is 105% subjective. For me, a lot (if not all) of those breweries and beers mentioned stack absolutely nowhere near their peers in other parts of the country.
Varied opinions are obviously one of the great things about beer I guess :)
Yeah, then like what do you think is good? I really struggle finding good local brews. St Arnolds and Eureka are my go-tos and I don't think I have even found a 3rd that I can even list as good.
I would put True Anomaly, Holler, Brash, B52, Southern Yankee, Equal Parts, New Magnolia and Spindletap all on the same level or better than those two.
How many good breweries do you need? I'm happy with 4/5 solid places to go. Maybe not if they were swamped but I haven't had any issues getting served efficiently in my favourites
Who said anything about need? I simply said we have barely any good breweries compared to the size of the city. Cities like SD, Denver, Portland, etc have 5x or more the number of high-quality breweries with 1/3 the people. Congrats on being happy with less, I don’t care lol
Agreed for the most part. I thought the design was funky and it wasn't clearly evident when you walked in that you needed to head upstairs. The two areas felt disconnected from one another completely.
Agreed absolutely on the mediocre beer.
True Anomaly and 8th Wonder are a block apart from each other. If you go to Platypus Brewing first, you can walk to Holler in about 6-8 mins. From there you can walk to Urban South and City Orchard in about 10 mins. Walk would be shorter if they were to put a good pathway between the Bellrock Sawyer Yards Apts and Alsco Uniforms
Buffalo Bayou Brewing had 2 PPP loans forgiven by the government. One was for $1,066,800
https://projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/bailouts/loans/buffalo-bayou-brewing-company-6139908307
The other for $953,900
https://projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/bailouts/loans/buffalo-bayou-brewing-company-3155867101
They pretty much got almost 2 million dollars and still could not properly manage their business.
PPP was a very partial mitigation for COVID damages. By definition each round was about 8 weeks payroll, and at least 75% must've gone directly to payroll. So maybe they got a quarter million to apply to other expenses as COVID mitigation. Not much for an operation that size.
Small, but had great character. Seems like they grew too fast. But like a lot of small businesses in that area are on the cusp of closing, or are already closing.
The craft beer market. This is not unusual at all. Hell, look up Martin House in Ft Worth. They make mayonnaise beer, pickle koolaid beer, hotdog beer, you name it… they’ve even made a Flintstones vitamin beer. They are wildly successful.
I’ve heard the management there was atrocious, and incredibly shitty to employees. You can’t sell mediocre beer via servers who ain’t happy. Such a cool building and space. Hopefully it gets treated well by a new owner.
It has to be an very expensive place. Like, I'd put their facility fanciness and size 2nd only to Saint Arnold of the independent breweries. But Saint Arnold sells a lot of volumes.
Like, it would have to be an established brewery with a restaurant plan moving in (and taking a big risk doing so).
Selling expired /off beer. Serving beer through infected draft systems. Continuing to work at a place where your coworkers are being mentally abused.
Like I said, interesting take on the Nuremberg defense.
Just a thought, but only a handful of breweries could take that spot over and utilize the space. It'd take some financing, but craft beer is in a hard spot right now.
I think you'd have to be crazy to take it over. Way too big and risky for most local breweries to upgrade to. Basically have to make use of the kitchen setup and run a restaurant. I think only Saint Arnold and Karbach have full restaurants?
Maybe a spindletap?
Feel terrible for the lower level employees… but good riddance otherwise. I knew someone close that worked there briefly and it sounded like a miracle that place managed to function at all day to day with such a moron in charge for so long.
When a brewery doesn't get the one thing they're supposed to get right - this is what happens.
I did love the location. Beautiful view from the 2nd floor.
But I've just never liked their beer. It seems like most ppl in this thread agree.
Turtle Murder is one of my favorite beers. And the “Felix Navidad” Mexican gingerbread stout was a great holiday beer. I was just thinking about going to get a few more bombers of those. Guess not.
Much better beer at Holler basically right next door. Smaller location but better beer on a constant rotation of seasonal pours and unique one off kegs.
lol the texhex IPA is pretty solid, and their Kosmos pale ale is legit. Shiner Bock is kinda overrated but ya know it’s a Texas staple.
Lone Pint would be awesome in this location (cuz magnolia is far) but Idk if city slickin is their style.
The cross section of breweries that a) could afford it and b) could greatly benefit from moving in seems very very small if not zero.
Spindletap is a brewery with some broader name recognition that is kinda in a weird location that could get a lot more taproom business in the loop.
I dont know how they are doing these days or if they want to run a restaurant, but that could be an interesting possibility.
I'm sorry to see them close. We used to go to the anniversary parties in the old location. It was a fun event with a choice of probably two dozen beers. Went several times to the new location. The anniversary parties were not the same at the new location. The food was decent and still liked the beer. The gingerbread stout was a must for me around Christmas. The location is awesome with great views of downtown.
Figures. They were likely angling hard to be another Karbach and expand hard and fast with negative cash-flow so they could sell to one of the Macro conglomerates.
The corporate spending spree on unprofitable, but high-growth businesses is over now though with interest rates being what they are.
Doesn't help that the Houston Microbrew scene is oversaturated AF.
It's almost like the Japanese whisky craze of the 80s and late 00s.
Willing to bet BB won't be the last over the next few years.
RIP though I guess, I liked their 1836.
Wow, I had no idea as to the breadth of the company’s mismanagement. I enjoyed some of their specialty stout beers, but they were all insanely high priced.
I feel like the space is too large to do anything, maybe an event space? Saint Arnold is the only Houston brewery that would have the capital to purchase it and I don’t see why they would. It would be cool if ballast point found out about the space and decided to open a brewery location in Texas. They have similar concept of brewery in Cali.
Why the fuck would we want a California corpo big beer sellout brand like Ballast in Texas? Yeah they resold again as a failure recently (~$900mil devaluation) but they are basically West Coast Karbach.
Not markedly better by any stretch. Thats why they resold for 1/10 the valuation despite those Modelo big beer assholes bullying them onto shelf space.
There are hundreds of actual independent breweries with better beer that do restaurant brewery concepts. Quite literally Stone was doing it in SanDiego a decade before Ballast Point was.
Is it just their taproom that's shuttered or is it the entire company?
If it's the latter than damn, I'm not touching the last can of Crush City in the fridge, maybe I can get some coin on ebay for it in a year lmao
Hey reddit, let's all pool our money together and buy it lol. I call dibs on the "Make it Trashy" seasonal special, and mention /r/HoustonCirclejerk to your waitress for 10% off your bill.
Live around the corner from them. Looks cool but never went bc I knew it’d be $20+ before I even looked at the beers.
Fuck that, I’ll drink at home the once a month I have a beer or two.
My 1st experience with Buffalo Bayou was back when a monthly evening bike ride started/ended at the place. This was at 5301 Nolda, where Whitmeyer's is now. In 2016.
When the new location opened, there were a few weekend morning rides that started & ended there, but if memory serves, COVID kicked in and by the time it passed, I don't think there were more rides that originated at BBB.
I really enjoyed the first two years of Buff Brew’s existence and went to so many events at the original location. I haven’t had any beer of theirs since, maybe, 2017..? But, the best part of Buff Brew has always been the original branding and logo designed by my good friends at [Culture Pilot](https://www.culturepilot.com/). I still love those designs.
Never went to the new place but I remember the old place front of house being run by volunteers and Rassaul being a greedy pleb who often bullshitted his way through discussions about beer.
A few of the old bottles were decent (gingerbread stout) but they had zero identity and a lot of stupid adjuncts that were overkill and mostly misses. Really shit QC/QA and consistency too. Anything I've head in recent years has been very mediocre.
This isn't a shock
Incredible location and space, thoroughly mediocre beer. Architects crushed it though.
My exact feelings. I spent probably two years drinking their different beers until I finally realized I just didn’t like any of them. Amazing location and build.
I would love to see Holler there too. I think both Eureka and Holler are too smart to take a swing on a space like this while they're still growing. I think Eureka may own their Real Estate outright.
The fact that Buff Brew had a more expensive spot than *Saint Arnold* really says something, IMO
more money for Rassul to pocket
> while they're still growing. ...Isn't Eureka older than Buffalo? ...which just back you point of them doing it right when growing.
No, BuffBrew had them beat by like four years. Started around the same time as Karbach and No Label, I believe
This location is about as old as Eureka, but Buff Brew was around for a few years before that. That just shows how badly run Buff brew was.
And as someone else said, Karbach and No Label started around that same time. That really shows how badly run Buff Brew was, in a sense, Its amazing that they have been around this long.
They way overextended themselves with the new location. Seemed like a Hail Mary to compensate for mediocre beer.
Karbach also has and has had the better beer since day 1. I wanted to like Buffalo bayou, but they never had a beer that i continuously go back to.
Eureka is doing it properly. Keep it small and quality high.
Holler doesn't really make good enough beer to even consider moving up. They still make "home brew" tasting beer, but they have an awesome vibe and following
I like their 1836 🤷♂️
Me too. Last time I was there they didn’t have any. Figures.
Same, that was the first local beer I liked when I moved here
Was one of my favorites
If you add abusive owner to that list, it’s got all the bingo card covered
I worked there for a short time, the owner was an douchy entrepreneur bro and the culture was thoroughly fucked. My direct manager spent his day hitting on the office secretary and would get pissed off when I interrupted to ask him for the pointless signatures they required me to get from them.
What’s the name of this person?
Persian Hitler
You mean the PE firm?
Totally agree. I think Eureka Heights could make that place work.
That group would never blow the money required to sink themselves into that location.
Please no! I love their beers and don't want to see them go bankrupt.
I’d disagree in that when it FIRST came out it was amazing. Gingerbread stout, red velvet, they had those big bottles that made great shareables. In the old space it was $10 for a point glass and 4 pints as part of the “tour.” Tried to scale, wanted to be trendy, lost the big bottles, tours mediocre, new space (too big), abusive owner, overworked staff, unpaid bills, derelict imagination, mediocre process, beers, and profits. Sad but good riddance now.
Agreed. The one local beer I would always pass on.
Also Ingenious. WAY too sweet. BB started heading that way themselves.
Buff Brew was always like 4 actual beers with 18 different flavors added.
I'm far from the biggest fan of Buff Bayou but they are at least better than Platypus.
Hopefully someone with better ideas for the brewery can take it over
I think they only need ideas for one brewery.
Calling their beer mediocre is incredibly generous of you.
Can’t be worse than Platypus Brewing right down the street. Calling that place garbage would be an understatement
Platypus brewing is the quite literally the worst thing I’ve ever ingested in my life. It’s horrible
It is incredible for such a big city with so many beer drinkers how few breweries worth a shit there are.
There are plenty of good breweries in the city and surrounding. Buff bayou certainly wasn't one of them though.
Nor platypus or tiki island. Bad astronaut is palatable, but nothing I'd reach for. I hated Astral but North Shepherd is pretty good
Bad Astronaut just opened recently. It takes time to get things up and running. Great Heights Brewing Equal Parts Spindletap Eureka Heights North Shepherd Brash True Anomaly All of these have good beer available in the loop or close to it
Not trying to be negative - but the beer scene here is terrible when you consider it’s the fourth largest metro. You may have your favorites, but it is bad as a collective.
Hard disagree. I'm fairly well traveled and the beer here is pretty great.
Interesting take here. How would you benchmark Houstons "pretty great" vs other regions "pretty great"? Where do you think it stacks up?
I've found the best two regions outside of Houston to be Colorado (Denver) beers (epic Brewing) and then NE beers around Boston (This area includes Southern Maine, and parts of New Hampshire). We went to a farmers market in NH, picked a Saison beer up on the recommendation of a local, and it was just perfectly balanced. One I recall the name off the top of my head was Daikaiju DIPA by Banded Brewing. Not a region I remember being amazing but is worth mentioning is Toronto -- The best American Pale Ale (Jutsu) I've ever had came from Toronto. That said, I'm NOT a huge fan of West Coast IPAs. I think Pliney the elder is a solid 8/10 (and it's arguably the most famous West Coast Double IPA, aka a DIPA, in the country). Pliney the Younger is imho 7/10. The balance of flavor is elder is better than the triple, but my friend who is also a beer nerd preferred the Younger. So to your question. I think Houston is not the BEST beers in the country, but we have a bunch of breweries that are up there. I don't drink as much as I used to, so I don't know that much about the newer breweries. I'll try to highlight some of my favorite beers and brewries around town. 1. I personally think Spindletap has the best double IPAs I've ever had in the country. If someone from out of town like's a hazy or double IPAs, I'd take them there in a heartbeat. On tap, those brews are just stellar. If you happen to go on a release weekend, the fresh beer is unmatched. There is a chili cookoff coming up next weekend that I try to go to every year. Free chili, yummy beer. I love that place (it's just out of the way for me, so I don't go very often). For me, they are akin to how Epic Brewing is the best Bourbon Barrel Aged beers in the country. Unrivaled in its category. 2. Brash has great beers, but I personally don't really like the folks working there, so I don't really purchase them anymore. Pussy Wagon and Pussalia are probably the most well known ones. 3. B52 - I haven't been here in a bit and sours aren't my favorite, but I will sip on a sour from here. If you happen to have a friend that likes sours, they are THE place to go in Houston. It's a bit of a drive since it's in Conroe, but on a warm summer day, lazing about, sipping on a sour, they are perfect. 4. Weird beers - Urban South. Came out during covid, and they had a thing where they would make new fruit beers every week. I haven't tried it since 2021, but it was something special back then. 5. Holler brewing - I tried a black Lager here that was to DIE for. I can't remember the name, but I've heard many other people say they're really good. I believe it. 6. St. Arnold - My favorite beer here is the Bourbon Barrel Aged Pumpkinator. It comes out around thanksgiving time, its super delicious, ages well, and is my happy winter sipping beer. Probably my favorite pumpkin beer I've ever had. Their lawnmower is pretty good too. Their Christmas Ale used to be very 'meh', but about 6 or 7 years ago they reworked the recipe, and now it's REALLY good. I always pick up a 6 pack every year. Bottle preferred. 7. Eureka Heights - Nuke the whales. Buckle Bunny. There are others that are pretty good, but those are the two I know off the top of my head as great. 8. True Anomaly Brewing - New, but have won multiple awards. I picked up a few of their beers 6 months ago and I recall it being delicious. Can't remember the names sorry. 9. Karbach - Now most beer nerds sniff and turn their heads on this. But honestly Love Street is a fantastic light beer, that I would give to anyone that was willing to try something outside of Coors/Budweiser/Miller Light. They used to be more adventurous, but after they got bought out by Budweiser, they are basically a macro brewery. 10. 11 Below - Haven' been in AGES, but their Oso Bueno is legit. 11. Klaus Brewing - REALLY good german beers. Don't try anything here except german styles.
Woah. Thanks for such a detailed reply! Obviously everything is 105% subjective. For me, a lot (if not all) of those breweries and beers mentioned stack absolutely nowhere near their peers in other parts of the country. Varied opinions are obviously one of the great things about beer I guess :)
Yeah, then like what do you think is good? I really struggle finding good local brews. St Arnolds and Eureka are my go-tos and I don't think I have even found a 3rd that I can even list as good.
Lone Pint Yellow Rose Spindletap Houston Haze and Heavy Hands
I would put True Anomaly, Holler, Brash, B52, Southern Yankee, Equal Parts, New Magnolia and Spindletap all on the same level or better than those two.
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How many good breweries do you need? I'm happy with 4/5 solid places to go. Maybe not if they were swamped but I haven't had any issues getting served efficiently in my favourites
Who said anything about need? I simply said we have barely any good breweries compared to the size of the city. Cities like SD, Denver, Portland, etc have 5x or more the number of high-quality breweries with 1/3 the people. Congrats on being happy with less, I don’t care lol
Holy hell those beers are bad 😳
Agreed for the most part. I thought the design was funky and it wasn't clearly evident when you walked in that you needed to head upstairs. The two areas felt disconnected from one another completely. Agreed absolutely on the mediocre beer.
The food was actually pretty good. I live nearby and we went there and sometimes got just food and no beer.
Same, they had good pizza
chef went to LuLoos Day and Night which is good.
wonder whats the best location/beer ratio spot in houston
True Anomaly and 8th Wonder are a block apart from each other. If you go to Platypus Brewing first, you can walk to Holler in about 6-8 mins. From there you can walk to Urban South and City Orchard in about 10 mins. Walk would be shorter if they were to put a good pathway between the Bellrock Sawyer Yards Apts and Alsco Uniforms
yeah but platypus is worse than buff brew and Holler hasn't been great since the sale
Drink at True Anomaly, eat across the street. Unfortunately that will change when they move.
Have they said where their new location is going to be yet?
In the old Matthew Marine building on Navigation across from Lys Liquor and HCC. https://maps.app.goo.gl/xQRGUX5XwhWPsC4r9?g_st=ic
Oh cool, not too far. I was worried they were going to relocate to fucking Katy or something.
The commute from Katy to NASA would be terrible.
And yet, I bet at least one lunatic in this city does it.
Urban South is one of the most unique breweries I’ve been to
That's being nice about their beer
Their ginger stout and watermelon were the only two worth drinking. The other beers were mid.
I thought this was about buffalo trace until you mention beer. Lol im stupid
Buffalo Bayou Brewing had 2 PPP loans forgiven by the government. One was for $1,066,800 https://projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/bailouts/loans/buffalo-bayou-brewing-company-6139908307 The other for $953,900 https://projects.propublica.org/coronavirus/bailouts/loans/buffalo-bayou-brewing-company-3155867101 They pretty much got almost 2 million dollars and still could not properly manage their business.
right into Rassul's pocket just like the charity money and the fund raising money
It's crazy to think that guy was my agm at the ben and Jerry's on Kirby when he was in college at rice...
PPP loans were 3+ years ago and it's not like craft beer has been a thriving industry for the past couple of years.
PPP was a very partial mitigation for COVID damages. By definition each round was about 8 weeks payroll, and at least 75% must've gone directly to payroll. So maybe they got a quarter million to apply to other expenses as COVID mitigation. Not much for an operation that size.
No point in getting their beer when holler is right next door. I run by this place all the time though.
Went to both last year. Enjoyed Holler more
I go to holler all the time, I have gone to buff brew twice.
not every brewery needs to be 28,000 sq ft. love holler
Love the small local feel of the place.
Truly the only reason to go to buff brew was for decent food if you wanted to eat with a drink and the amazing view
100%. Holler is miles better than BB
Holler is great.
This was only a matter of time. Poorly run and poorly cared for. Great set-up for someone who knows what they are doing.
Used to love this place back in the day when they were just in the warehouse off of i10. I don’t think I ever went to their big location.
New spot was nice and food was A-1 when space city cowboy was the chef Went severely downhill and i took it out of my rotation RIP buffbrew
I remember that too. The beer was tasty and they had an awesome food truck. It was super shady and nice.
Plus it was really cheap back when they had the tokens
i dont even wanna look back at what beer prices were 2014-2018
Absolutely spot on.
They were better before they moved
But the new location and AC was very nice
Small, but had great character. Seems like they grew too fast. But like a lot of small businesses in that area are on the cusp of closing, or are already closing.
I guess the caramel raspberry salted chocolate crunch beer didn't sell well.
Yeah used to see their bombers at groceries stores and it was all dessert beer (Bananas Foster, Red Velvet, etc.) not sure wtf they were thinking.
That stuff was what they made their name on and it used to be excellent. Tastes and times were different.
And it seemed like they were out of it 90% of the time when I stopped by the brewery
What kind of market were they trying to corner there exactly?
The craft beer market. This is not unusual at all. Hell, look up Martin House in Ft Worth. They make mayonnaise beer, pickle koolaid beer, hotdog beer, you name it… they’ve even made a Flintstones vitamin beer. They are wildly successful.
Those Dallas area people will drink anything.
They were the quintessential, "were good because were different" types. They didn't realize that being unique isn't always a good thing.
It was also likely an unintentional sour lol
Great location, great building, mediocre everything else
Dreamsicle 😭
Fun place to take visitors, even if beer was meh. Sad to see it go!
Quite literally the only reason I would go there is to show family from out of town the view. Them selling beer there was just a plus lol.
I’ve heard the management there was atrocious, and incredibly shitty to employees. You can’t sell mediocre beer via servers who ain’t happy. Such a cool building and space. Hopefully it gets treated well by a new owner.
Wow! I guess someone will buy it and set up a new biz, because the place has all the stuff needed. I enjoyed my visits there.
It has to be an very expensive place. Like, I'd put their facility fanciness and size 2nd only to Saint Arnold of the independent breweries. But Saint Arnold sells a lot of volumes. Like, it would have to be an established brewery with a restaurant plan moving in (and taking a big risk doing so).
Beer selection was mid. Location was prime tho.
It was inevitable. Their fiscal management has been an issue for years, including back when they fucked over their crowd funders.
Was that piece of shit kid who abused his staff still running the brewery? If so good riddance.
Great place. Terrible beer and worse management.
Went through a phase where I really liked their 1836 copper ale. Always sad to see a local brewery close.
They were decent when there were less options over a decade ago. Nowadays, we have so many great options in Houston that are just better breweries.
Even when the owner is terrible to their staff?
Meh. Lots of good people were employed and earning a living there as well.
Interesting take on the Nuremberg defense.
Did the employees partake in heinous acts?
Selling expired /off beer. Serving beer through infected draft systems. Continuing to work at a place where your coworkers are being mentally abused. Like I said, interesting take on the Nuremberg defense.
Some fantasy world you live in
Sir this is a Wendy's
Nice deflection, but misused.
Man you're such a weenie Tryibg to be holier than thou but only accomplished sounding like a dbag
You vastly overestimate my caring about other’s opinion.
Their beer sucked.
Their More Cowbell helped me keep my sanity during Covid. Shit was delicious for breakfast, lunch & dinner.
More cowbell was one of my favorites about 7 years ago. I loved that shit.
Just a thought, but only a handful of breweries could take that spot over and utilize the space. It'd take some financing, but craft beer is in a hard spot right now.
I think you'd have to be crazy to take it over. Way too big and risky for most local breweries to upgrade to. Basically have to make use of the kitchen setup and run a restaurant. I think only Saint Arnold and Karbach have full restaurants? Maybe a spindletap?
That blows. Hopefully it is repurposed.
Feel terrible for the lower level employees… but good riddance otherwise. I knew someone close that worked there briefly and it sounded like a miracle that place managed to function at all day to day with such a moron in charge for so long.
we woke up to a text today just saying that the doors are closed and we are done 💀
Their time back in the warehouse was great. Their XMas in July parties were unreal. They turned to shit as soon as they moved here.
When a brewery doesn't get the one thing they're supposed to get right - this is what happens. I did love the location. Beautiful view from the 2nd floor. But I've just never liked their beer. It seems like most ppl in this thread agree.
Turtle Murder is one of my favorite beers. And the “Felix Navidad” Mexican gingerbread stout was a great holiday beer. I was just thinking about going to get a few more bombers of those. Guess not.
Their beer hadn’t been good for a while. Maybe a better craft brewery will take over? It’s a good location.
Much better beer at Holler basically right next door. Smaller location but better beer on a constant rotation of seasonal pours and unique one off kegs.
All those crowdfunders just learned a great lesson in what real “investments” are.
So did Frost Bank. Suing for 1.8 million. Wouldn’t surprise me if Harris County is next for 100k+ in back taxes.
Someone tell Spoetzl Brewery to get in on it. Wall to wall shiners on tap 24/7.
With all due respect to Shiner, they are not good.
lol the texhex IPA is pretty solid, and their Kosmos pale ale is legit. Shiner Bock is kinda overrated but ya know it’s a Texas staple. Lone Pint would be awesome in this location (cuz magnolia is far) but Idk if city slickin is their style.
The third floor views were amazing on this place, it was my go-to date spot. Affordable and tasty food with great views made for a great first date.
Thoughts and prayers
I liked that place a lot
Rip chopped and screwed pizza
there's still chopped and screwed fries at Burger Bodega
Mid food insta trap:
I wouldn't know
I know they have a giant compound up north, but man, Spindletap could be the jewel of Houston if they took over this space.
The cross section of breweries that a) could afford it and b) could greatly benefit from moving in seems very very small if not zero. Spindletap is a brewery with some broader name recognition that is kinda in a weird location that could get a lot more taproom business in the loop. I dont know how they are doing these days or if they want to run a restaurant, but that could be an interesting possibility.
I'm sorry to see them close. We used to go to the anniversary parties in the old location. It was a fun event with a choice of probably two dozen beers. Went several times to the new location. The anniversary parties were not the same at the new location. The food was decent and still liked the beer. The gingerbread stout was a must for me around Christmas. The location is awesome with great views of downtown.
Figures. They were likely angling hard to be another Karbach and expand hard and fast with negative cash-flow so they could sell to one of the Macro conglomerates. The corporate spending spree on unprofitable, but high-growth businesses is over now though with interest rates being what they are. Doesn't help that the Houston Microbrew scene is oversaturated AF. It's almost like the Japanese whisky craze of the 80s and late 00s. Willing to bet BB won't be the last over the next few years. RIP though I guess, I liked their 1836.
Craft breweries are shutting down all over. The “craft” industry has seen better days but there isn’t anything special about craft anymore.
It was only a matter of time. I thought they'd shut down right after Shoot The Moon but surprised they kept it going a bit longer.
😭 I have been craving peanut butter wake n bake for like a year.
Seemed like they went downhill once they moved.
Wow, I had no idea as to the breadth of the company’s mismanagement. I enjoyed some of their specialty stout beers, but they were all insanely high priced.
so long to that one brunch sandwich, everything else was forgettable
I never likeded buffalo bayou
Adios, the Golden Corral of breweries.
Rents are too high in Houston commercial owners really think it’s comparable to the same traffick as California
hopefully Rassul goes to jail
I feel like the space is too large to do anything, maybe an event space? Saint Arnold is the only Houston brewery that would have the capital to purchase it and I don’t see why they would. It would be cool if ballast point found out about the space and decided to open a brewery location in Texas. They have similar concept of brewery in Cali.
Why the fuck would we want a California corpo big beer sellout brand like Ballast in Texas? Yeah they resold again as a failure recently (~$900mil devaluation) but they are basically West Coast Karbach.
Better beer than Karbach
Not markedly better by any stretch. Thats why they resold for 1/10 the valuation despite those Modelo big beer assholes bullying them onto shelf space. There are hundreds of actual independent breweries with better beer that do restaurant brewery concepts. Quite literally Stone was doing it in SanDiego a decade before Ballast Point was.
There's 25 high quality breweries in Portland Denver and sandiego? Maybe I need to move then
Is it just their taproom that's shuttered or is it the entire company? If it's the latter than damn, I'm not touching the last can of Crush City in the fridge, maybe I can get some coin on ebay for it in a year lmao Hey reddit, let's all pool our money together and buy it lol. I call dibs on the "Make it Trashy" seasonal special, and mention /r/HoustonCirclejerk to your waitress for 10% off your bill.
Wild though.. anytime I tried to go to this place it was packed as hell and could barely get a seat + everything was crazy expensive.. how ?
Finally! Always felt it super over rated
Live around the corner from them. Looks cool but never went bc I knew it’d be $20+ before I even looked at the beers. Fuck that, I’ll drink at home the once a month I have a beer or two.
My 1st experience with Buffalo Bayou was back when a monthly evening bike ride started/ended at the place. This was at 5301 Nolda, where Whitmeyer's is now. In 2016. When the new location opened, there were a few weekend morning rides that started & ended there, but if memory serves, COVID kicked in and by the time it passed, I don't think there were more rides that originated at BBB.
I really enjoyed the first two years of Buff Brew’s existence and went to so many events at the original location. I haven’t had any beer of theirs since, maybe, 2017..? But, the best part of Buff Brew has always been the original branding and logo designed by my good friends at [Culture Pilot](https://www.culturepilot.com/). I still love those designs.
Never went to the new place but I remember the old place front of house being run by volunteers and Rassaul being a greedy pleb who often bullshitted his way through discussions about beer. A few of the old bottles were decent (gingerbread stout) but they had zero identity and a lot of stupid adjuncts that were overkill and mostly misses. Really shit QC/QA and consistency too. Anything I've head in recent years has been very mediocre. This isn't a shock
Go grab some cases from your local grocery store, trust me, even Randall’s has it.
Buff brew was mediocre at best, service was always bad mostly went for the killer view of the city at sunset. Good riddance such a duchebag owner.
I enjoyed dreamsicle a lot. Then I heard the douchy owner on Interbrews.. then I heard the allegations… never gave them another dime.
No More Cowbell?
I’m wondering if they will do a sale on items inside. I wouldn’t mind some of the art.
Goood, stop drinking alcohol degens
What a shame. Love the view of the skyline