The Live Oak Brewery
Wow, I'm sorry to say I actually had no idea this fantastic place existed until just recently when some friends invited us by on a Friday afternoon in October. It's not visible from the main roads, rather it's perfectly tucked in off the beaten path just across the Hwy from Austin Bergstrom International Airport. Austin Visitors flying in should consider dropping by here on the way into town, especially if you're meeting up for any type of group event with different flight arrival times as a 2 minute Uber could bring your crew together for some great beers and nice vibe while you wait for your Airbnb host to hand over the keys.

The Ambiance at Live Oak Brewery
When you pull up to Live Oak it looks like a large factory. No tiny micro operation, this brewery is pretty big. The taproom sits on the backside and offers a polished interior, some covered seating on the back patio, and a large open park area with picnic tables placed under huge live oak trees that help string together lighting to create a cozy scene as the sun goes down. There's even a frisbee golf course built into the property and they sell frisbees at the bar. Not a bad bachelor party or birthday idea as your crew could grab some cans and hit the frisbee golf course then enjoy a draft on the way back with some eclectic food truck bites before hitting downtown. We sincerely enjoyed our Bratwurst and pretzel buns from The Black Forest food truck. The large picnic tables are placed far apart to give the feeling of your own personal backyard party but still in a social setting. We brought a large blanket for the rugrats to play on, but opted to leave our dogs home that day. Dogs are welcome in the Live Oak Brewery outdoor area as long as they're on leash.

What? A Four Dollar Beer! Are you Kidding?
I don't think I've seen a $4 beer on a menu since the late 90's! You'd have to leave Austin and probably the US to find a better deal on beers. They offer $4 cans, $6 drafts, $16 pitchers, and $16 flights if you want to try around before picking your favorite. The typical draft is a 1/2 liter beer which comes out to over 16 ounces for $6 and these bad boys are poured proper. Beers come in their historically optimized shapes and sizes for each beer which makes them easy to tell apart and more challenging to carry. My guess is what's on tap varies from time to time, but I'll have to circle back a little later to know for sure.

All in all, this is my new favorite brewery experience in Austin.  Something about sipping a Live Oak outside under so many beautiful Live Oaks gives it a different energy than ABGB off Oltorf, Zilker Brewing Company on East 6th, and Celis Brewery off Metric.