FREDERICKSBURG, TEXAS
Friendly rustic villages like tiny Luckenbach (postal back bar), Greune (barn-like pub at water tower), Bandera (wood-floored Arkey Blues and cowboy hangout 11th Street Bar), and Kerrville offered standard bottled Texas fare by Lone Star, Pearl, and Shiner, March ‘04.
But the diamond in the rough is nearby FREDERICKSBURG BREWPUB, a glass-fronted Main Street ale house with a friendly cafe-styled dining area, tidy biergarten, and second floor Bed And Brew hotel. On this sunny spring afternoon, the crowded pub tendered award-winning red-fruited, bitter-hopped Harper Valley IPA, mocha-soft, hop-charred Oatmeal Stout, dry-bodied, coffee-nutty, black cherry-backed Pioneer Porter, tangy orange-soured, berry-shaded, wood-smoked Enchanted Rock Red Ale, and sugary, soft-hopped, wheat-backed Pedernales Pilsner.
Rotating tap lineup changes frequently, so check listings.