Need Austin Help - Bachelor Party

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jtmartino1

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I'm headed to Austin in a couple of weeks for a buddy's bachelor party. There will be 12 of us. They're not beer geeks but they like beer and love to drink (a lot, he's Irish).

Need some feedback from you local folks! *Paging Lutter, mwbbq, shelf_turd_ferguson*

1. Are the brewery bus tours worth it, or should we just walk around ourselves?
2. Would a trip to Jester King and Salt Lick be a good idea on a Friday, or would it be too busy? They're not huge on driving 30-45 minutes since most of them don't drink sours, and I know there's a lot of options closer.
3. I'm familiar with 6th Street on Saturday - what's Rainey about?

Any other recommendations for bachelor-esque activities? Thanks mwbbq for the awesome BBQ recommendations.

Cheers all!

-Josh
 
I'm headed to Austin in a couple of weeks for a buddy's bachelor party. There will be 12 of us. They're not beer geeks but they like beer and love to drink (a lot, he's Irish).

Need some feedback from you local folks! *Paging Lutter, mwbbq, shelf_turd_ferguson*

1. Are the brewery bus tours worth it, or should we just walk around ourselves?

I have no experience with buses but there's a few breweries downtown that are a short Uber away from each other (Hops & Grain, Zilker, Blue Owl) as well as further north (Austin Beerworks, Adelberts, 4th Tap, soon-to-be Oskar Blues). I'd say they're all a little too far to walk, but I'm also lazy, lol.

2. Would a trip to Jester King and Salt Lick be a good idea on a Friday, or would it be too busy? They're not huge on driving 30-45 minutes since most of them don't drink sours, and I know there's a lot of options closer.

Keep in mind Jester King doesn't open until 4pm on Fridays. It's not very busy on Friday/Sunday either in my experience (Saturday is usually bonkers).

3. I'm familiar with 6th Street on Saturday - what's Rainey about?

Different crowd. More upscale. You aren't as likely to be robbed/randomly punched in the face there. 6th Street is gross.

Rainey also has Craft Pride, which is one of the best beer bars in town with 60+ local beers on tap.


Any other recommendations for bachelor-esque activities? Thanks mwbbq for the awesome BBQ recommendations.

Cheers all!

-Josh
 
Biggest rec other than Jester King is Austin Beerworks, btw. They're my favorite brewery in town on an ounce-per-ounce basis... I'm there every weekend... holla if you go. ;)

Awesome, thank you for the recs! If we go I'll shoot a PM.
 
I'm headed to Austin in a couple of weeks for a buddy's bachelor party. There will be 12 of us. They're not beer geeks but they like beer and love to drink (a lot, he's Irish).

Need some feedback from you local folks! *Paging Lutter, mwbbq, shelf_turd_ferguson*

1. Are the brewery bus tours worth it, or should we just walk around ourselves?
2. Would a trip to Jester King and Salt Lick be a good idea on a Friday, or would it be too busy? They're not huge on driving 30-45 minutes since most of them don't drink sours, and I know there's a lot of options closer.
3. I'm familiar with 6th Street on Saturday - what's Rainey about?

Any other recommendations for bachelor-esque activities? Thanks mwbbq for the awesome BBQ recommendations.

Cheers all!

-Josh
1. No experience with these beer buses here, or cost of them. I think if you plan in advance you could hit up some breweries without doing a bus and have a good time. Walking, Lyft, and public buses could get you around. And if you're just looking for a good selection of beer, no need to go the breweries, plenty of bars in the southern half of DT. That said, Lutter made some good recommendations. Hops & Grain (east), Blue Owl (east), Zilker (east?), Austin Beerworks (North), etc. If your party is into standard styles (things people tend not to trade for), you could make a full day of trying new beers.

2. Skip Salt Lick every time. I guess it's a cool spot and experience for visitors, but better food can be had much closer to central Austin. If you want the experience then by all means go, but IDK how busy it will be. It's out in hill country like JK, but they're still not exactly close. East Austin should be your go to for BBQ, sounds like mwbbq has you covered.
JK has gotten busier on Fridays and Sundays, even without special releases. So it will be busy, but it's a nice location to get away from the city. It'd be a bummer to get out here and not go, but it sounds like a sizable group that wouldn't enjoy the beer a ton. If you do want to go, you MUST consider timing. It'll be 45-70 minutes if you head out between 3 and ~7 PM. Go at 8 or later, and it'll be 30-45. They are open from 4 to 10 PM.

3. Rainey is nicer than 6th, more laid back vibe, more yuppies. Better beer selections too (Craft Pride and Bangers). You can walk there from 6th. If you want to have a good, more chill time, Rainey will do ya. If y'all want to get drunk and maybe meet some girls and characters, do 6th st.

4. Other bachelor party ideas? Bring me some de garde and I'll show you a good time :)
There's a paintball field by JK, strip clubs around (never been to one), Live Oak's tap room by the airport is supposed to be solid. There are some distilleries around I think (including one by JK iirc), and live music every night. Do512 may be helpful there.
 
Oh yeah, shelf_turd_ferguson ... I completely forgot about the new Live Oak brewery.

If you're flying in... it's literally across the street from the airport. Definitely worth going to. A++

For BBQ I still say John Mueller Meat Co. Best beef ribs in town, IMHO. Salt Lick is probably the worst BBQ in Texas (which, coincidentally, is also probably way better than any BBQ outside of Texas, so it fools people)... nice atmosphere though, lol. If you do end up at Salt Lick (which we all do on occasion), remember that it's BYOB. Pick up a cooler and beer before you go or you'll have a sad.
 
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Have you guys done PubCrawler or Hipside Peddler? Have a recommended route?

How's Lake Travis for boating/party barges? Floating the river any fun like it is in Bend?
 
Floating the river any fun like it is in Bend?
It JUST heated up around here, so I'm not sure how active the rivers are yet. Too ****ing cold for me, that's all I know. There are services on the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers (south of the city) that will rent you an innertube and pick you up down the river.

Never done the beer peddling, but I've seen them around downtown.
 
Agreed, too cold to float the river now. Rainey St >>> 6th St. Hit up Via 313, Detroit style pizza. Thank me later.
 
A party bus could be a good time but if the group isn't that into beer and also if they want to be rowdy, then Jester King isn't the place-- they turned around some party bus my friend was on a few months ago. Also, traffic on Friday afternoon is bad.

Eat some tacos, visit some breweries, take a nap, and then have dinner and go out. Repeat for as many days as you are here. Rainey is more like West 6th than it is Dirty 6th, and the East side has some cool bars and breweries but has more than a hipster vibe. If I was taking a group of bachelor party people around, I would probably take them to Dirty 6th for cheap drinks first and then go to one of the other areas.

Tubing: will definitely still be too cold for most Texans, but who knows...if it's been in the 90s for a couple weeks the water should be warm enough.

PubCrawler etc - these always looked lame to me but I keep seeing them so there must be some appeal. It's like $35 a person AND you have to bring your own beer AND it has to be in cans/plastic bottles AND you can't actually drink while riding through the main area of downtown...seems super fun to me.
 
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