Address: 2000 Lyons Ave, Houston, TX 77020
MONDAY - FRIDAY: 3PM - 4:15PM (Tour at 3:30)
SATURDAY: 11AM – 2PM (Tours at 12:00, 1:00, 2:00)
Cost:
Admission: $7/person: Includes tour, souvenir glass, 4 tokens for beer. Children under 15 are free.
Appropriate Age: Any age.
Our Review: Today we took the kids on a tour of the Saint Arnold Brewery. Yes, I took my kids to a brewery. The tour was really for the adults but the kids were allowed and fit in fine.
Saint Arnold Brewing Company is Texas' Oldest Craft Brewery. As they say on the tour, they make full flavored beer for beer lovers, not thirsty drinkers. Thirty six people work at Saint Arnold and do everything to brew the beer.
Saint Arnold is open to the public Monday through Saturday. On week days, you can go from 3:00 - 4:15. On weekends, you can go 11:00 - 3:15. We went on a Saturday at 1:30, in the pouring rain, and the place was packed.
The parking lot is small, but street parking was easy. We ran through the rain and jumped on the elevator to the second floor. Here our IDs were check and we were able to buy adult tickets for $7.00 each. Kids under 15 are free. Admission included a 10 oz Saint Arnold glass and 4 drink tokens.
Tours are given at the scheduled times, but it looked like you could spend all afternoon hanging out in the brewery. There were 3 huge rows of picnic tables holding hundreds of people and there were picnic blankets on the floor. The brewery sells hot pretzels but encourages you to bring in your own lunch. Adults, and many kids, were camped out talking and playing board games and cards.
The tokens can be redeemed in this main room. One token gets you a 8 - 10oz beer. You can sample them all and pick the one you like best. There is also free root beer on the counter. If you have your own St. Arnold glass, you can have it filled in exchange for a token.
According to the staff at Saint Arnold, a typical Saturday has 900 people in and out in the 4 hours they are open. During the week, they are open just over an hour and the numbers are more like 30 people per day.
People can hang out in main room all afternoon, or they can take a tour during the scheduled time slot. Reservations are not required.
For the tour, over 100 people went into the brewery and learned about Saint Arnold's history and then about brewing. We took our kids on the tour and stayed by the exit. We did break out for more root beer and to use the restroom, and it was no big deal.
The second part of the tour goes down some steps. If you have a stroller, you can go around to the elevator or you can just park it on the second floor like we did.
I did not learn a lot from the tour since we hung near the back, but my kids thought it was neat and it was only 30 minutes long. If you take your kids, I suggest trying the tour. You can always just leave if you need to.
This is a fun outing and the drinks are a lot cheaper than going to a restaurant. Bring your friends and a picnic lunch and spend the afternoon. Also bring your old Saint Arnold 6 pack carriers and earn free stuff.
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