HoppinBreweryTour.com

Tour Stop 90 - Cibolo Creek Brewing Co. - 7/10/2019

Experience before you go . . .

Summer road trip on steroids! Eight days, 2900 miles and face to face with 32 family members. Even after we got home and with two days rest I still wasn't talking in complete sentences. If I just wrote about the highlights we'd have enough material for a short novel. So I'll get right to the chase with some pre-tour info just to round out your Hoppin' Brewery Tour #90 reading adventure. Hopefully you followed that.....and it doesn't take a genius to figure out the 8 day, 2900 mile thing to be 362.5 miles/day. The trip was very well planned and took us through Arkansas, Dallas/Fort Worth and down to San Antonio over to Beaumont and then to Athens for good friends daughter's wedding. Cibolo Creek Brewery is in Boerne, north of San Antonio but before I start talking beer, I got to tell ya.....visiting family is a beautiful thing. Saw sister and new hubby in Arkansas, brother and wife, brother in law and wife, nephew and wife with 3 kiddos in Dal/FW, 2 nieces and 1 nephew with hubbies and wife and 13 kiddos between them in San Antonio and then sister in law and hubby in Beaumont. I know I said I wasn't going to do that but I just couldn't help myself....lord have mercy!!!

Back to San Antonio, what a ball! The first night we were there we connected all the nieces and nephews family's for a pool party. Thirteen kiddos ranging from 6 months to 14 years old were run amok having the time of their lives. Throw in pizza with all the sides and it adds up to a mini family reunion. Nothing was broken, plates or bones and the house and pool area returned back to normal with just a little bit of elbow grease.....all good! The next day we went downtown for some walking on the River Walk. What a gem! The San Antonio River meanders through the downtown area surrounded by restaurants and stores, just beautiful! After strolling the famous walk we visited the campus of University of Incarnate Word. Now I have to give a shout out and I don't normally do this but to our niece's hubby Carson, who is the brand new Head Basketball Coach of UIW. If you want to follow a Division 1 basketball team who over time will be bringing it big time, it would be UIW. It's a great story that's just starting so if you want a front row seat now's the time. Carson is a players coach and a players parents coach. He stresses academics then athletics, in that order so put UIW on your college basketball radar and hold on tight.

Okay as always we are now at the Hoppin Brewery Tour part where I try to paint a beautiful picture and develop an experience before you go. Picture a very family friendly, refined beer, with good food to boot on the Main Street of an up and coming community outside of San Antonio and you have Cibolo Creek Brewing. We did the pool party thing and now it was time to do the local brewery thing. This eight day road trip was one active son of a gun with no time to put your feet up and rest so we powered through the "I got to take a nap" feeling and we jumped in the jeep and headed for the brewery. Right on Main Street, Cibolo Creek occupies a single family home turned commercial brewery with a nice cozy front porch. Once inside tables and chairs to the right, high tops and chairs to the left, bar with 4-5 stools next on the left and as you continue there's a door leading out to the back outdoor seating area with picnic tables and a stage for entertainment. I ordered a prearranged flight on my way through to the outdoor area which was interesting being told what brews were to make up my flight but it was a good mix so all's good. Out back we connected with the familia and preceded to sit and commence beer sipping. But once I realized the flies were pretty active and within a couple minutes one fly was attempting the backstroke in one of my beers we quickly moved inside and occupied a couple large high tops to make room for more family that hadn't arrived yet. Food was ordered and beers were consumed. Kat and I split the Goat Burger which had rave reviews and all I could see biting into this burger was a goat named Sal with a straw hat on with a fuzzy end piece of straw hangin out of his mouth.......think I'll stick with beef!! More family arrived with the kiddos out numbering the adults and the family friendly part the Cibolo Creek was put to the test. Board gaming, front porch swinging and some intermittent tears were the name of the game. Everyone wanted to swing with Aunt Kat and by the end of the night all the kiddos were vying for future visits to either Chicago or Tucson.

Some of the beers enjoyed by the adults were Weiss Summer Wit (5%, 12 IBU) citrus, lemon, refreshing; Boerne Blonde (5.1%, 16 IBU) light, flavorful and goes down smooth; Cavern's Inn Black Lager - Schwarzbier (5.5%, 24 IBU) interesting, dark, chocolate, very drinkable for a dark...thus the lager; Lakeside NEIPA - Northeastern IPA (6.4%, 44 IBU) hoppy choppy and wise; Creekside IPA (7.4%, 56 IBU) hoppier, choppier and wiser...Columbus, Centennial, Falconer's Flight, Zythos, Ekuanot and Summer hops....now that's a hop, skip and one big jump!!!

The kiddos were exhausted on verge of tears, young and old! The hospitality was wearing thin but as they say in the small bidness world, a smiling and paying customer is a good customer!! Of course I latched onto the young man who had endless energy, always smiling, sporting a fab old-time mustache named Tyler. Best friend when I was 12 years old was named Tyler until we got on each other's nerves and squared off and I ended up hittin'em....still regret that! Saw Tyler at our 35 high school reunion and I said I was sorry.....all good! Never be too big or too small to say you're sorry and in this case it's never too late!!

Cibolo Creek receives the HBT "Good Vibes" award with its big taste in the beers and the food and its small town feel when it comes to the customers.

Until next time and remember.....

Go get'cha one!!!