Best Breweries in Tyler, TX

There’s nothing like sitting down after a hard day’s work and enjoying a great meal, refreshing company, and a cold beer. Tyler, TX, has some amazing breweries and taprooms that serve locally crafted and specialty brewed beers and ciders. Many of them serve some of the best-tasting food and fare along with their well-known lagers and ales too.

We’re all about supporting local businesses here at Classic Toyota. We know you won’t be disappointed when you pop into any of these neighborhood restaurants, alerooms, or beerhouses. The next time you want to grab a cold one with friends or simply pick up a six-pack on the way home from work, be sure to check out any one of these popular establishments.

ETX Brewing

ETX Brewing Co. is a family-owned microbrewery located in downtown Tyler. It is owned by two brothers, Brian and Matt, who both lead the brewery with two very different philosophies. Brian loves to be on the go, making life happen rather than letting it happen to him. Matt enjoys following life wherever it may take him. With both of these philosophies in mind, they are proud to make exceptional craft beer that appeals to the adventurous and laid back alike.

ETX is also doing its part to reduce the impact the business has on the environment. Rather than sending their hundreds of pounds of spent grains to a landfill, this brewhouse works with local farmers to provide food for their cattle. Any food waste they capture is also given to local farmers for their animals. 

As a local brewery, they produce several types of craft beer from stouts and IPAs to ales and specialty brews. One of their more popular beers is the Texas Stout of Mind, a chocolate, coffee, and oatmeal stout made with Belgian chocolate and locally roasted coffee from Texas State of Mind. They also craft gluten-free beers such as their Gluten-Free American IPA, which is East Texas’ first 100% gluten-free beer, made with 100% sorghum along with additions of Mosaic, Wakatu, and Loral hops.

If specialty beer is more your style, be sure to order a glass of Lost Gem, a classic German-style Kolsch lightly hopped with German Spalt hops, or their Coco Loco, made with the perfect combination of coconut and vanilla.

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse has been operating for over 25 years and now has seven breweries in five different states. They have received multiple awards for their signature beers and ciders. This brewhouse specializes in crafting the highest quality beer using a time-tested brewing process. Committed to inclusion, diversity, and equity alliance, BJ’s strives to create an inclusive, safe, and fun workplace for its team members and guests.

Enjoy one of their top-rated beers or ciders with your meal, or pick some up to go on your way home from work. Try their most popular handcrafted beer, BJ’s Brewhouse Blonde, which is a light and refreshing German-style brew. BJ’S Hopstorm IPA is brewed using six different hop varieties that give this beer its complex character. For a gluten-free option, pick up the BJ’s Berry Burst Cider, which is an intensely aromatic cider with a deliciously sweet medley of berries.

Dog Tags Restaurant and Taproom

With a vast range of craft and draft beer selections, Dog Tags Restaurant and Taproom is known for their exceptional customer service as well as their amazing burgers and sandwiches. Dog Tags is also a veteran-owned restaurant and brewery. They know that eating out is about more than just the food, having a good time with friends and family is equally important. This is what they aim to provide for locals and visitors in the Tyler area.

Dog Tags has over 120 different choices of beer, ranging from lights to darks. Their draft beer selection includes  brews like Necessary Evil, a German Pilsner, Oktoberfest, a Scotch ale, or Key Lime Pie Bikini Atoll, a sour Gose.  If you prefer bottled or canned beer, then you may like Cookies and Cream, an Imperial Stout, 1877, an Irish red ale, or one of their seasonal favorites, Cranberry hard cider. 

Along with their tasty food and craft beers, Dog Tags also hosts several events to round out your evening. Join a pool league or play in a pool tournament. Try your hand at trivia with Dr. Factenstein or enjoy some karaoke with your friends. When you come for a delicious dinner and a drink or two, be sure to stay for the live music. There’s always something fun going on at Dog Tags!

True Vine Brewing Company

True Vine Brewing Company, owned by Ryan and Traci Dixon, opened in 2014 in a micro-warehouse in downtown Tyler. They were only open once a month for brewery events they called “Open Taps” which became exceptionally popular. Knowing they needed to expand, they opened a taproom and wine bar in another location in downtown Tyler in February 2020. The Dixons truly have a passion for beer making as well as fostering community and friendships over great craft beer. 

True Vine Brewing offers several artistically driven and award-winning beers at their Tyler area taproom and throughout Texas. Their popular Mermaids and Unicorns is a blonde ale that is bready, biscuity, and packs a hoppy finish. Dragons and Dinosaurs, only available April through June, is a ferociously delicious tropical pale ale brewed with Amarillo and Cashmere hops for just the right amount of bite.

If you enjoy German-style brews, then you may want to pick up their Galactic MinoTaurt. This wheat style beer, also known as Gose, is soured to just the right pH level before entering fermentation, and then dry hopped with tart and tropical flavors. Their Mexican style lager, Salud!, pairs very well with the great Tex-Mex food of our area. It has spicy and savory flavors with a clean, light, and refreshing lager. 

We hope we selected the top breweries to highlight, above. Are there any from this list you would like to visit first? Do you have a favorite taproom you enjoy stopping by from time to time? If so, we’d love to know more about it. Simply contact us and we’ll be happy to add it to this list.

Image by Louis Hansel Licensed via Unsplash