Real Ale Brewing

Great atmosphere, plenty of people without the feeling of being crowded. Staff is organized and keeps things flowing. DOG FRIENDLY! YAY! Definitely worth the trip!

Real Ale Brewing offers a fantastic atmosphere with exceptional quality fresh brews on tap to try. The tour was very interesting and the folks who work here are genuine, and appear to really care about the business. I can’t wait to go back again!

Pride of the community.

Oktoberfest 2015 at Real Ale was a blast. They had great music from a really good band, the Polkasonics. The food, by Best Wurst, was very popular and really good, especially the smoked jalapeño, very tasty with their curry ketchup.
The folks at real ale really know how to throw a party. They were so friendly and really made you feel welcomed to their place. The drafts were great, even though they only featured four varieties for the fest, these four were a good example of the range of what real ale produces.
There was a great turnout and folks were having a good time. The water station serving cold water from the kegs was a cool touch. Hope they do it again next year. Prost!

My husband and I have deemed this our favorite brewery in South Texas. Every single one of their beers is spot on. Excellent quality and attention to the craft. They provide a great atmosphere on site– take the tour, and try out a flight in their tap room! Don’t forget to visit the adorable town of Blanco and all it has to offer afterward! If your in the region, Real Ale is a must!

The tasting room is pretty small but the bartender was really nice. She gave us a little extra to sample! All great tasting beers!

Cool, nice open taproom. Came around noon on a Saturday, they had just released their ocktoberfest. Beer is good. Service is poor — didn’t make us feel welcome, glad the brewery was just on the route and we didn’t make an effort to visit the place. Beer is by the pint, no $ 10 deal. Wouldn’t recommend to go out of your way to visit.

We were traveling from Dallas to San Antonio for a wedding this past weekend and always love the drive down US 281 which goes through the Hill Country and Blanco, Home of Real Ale Brewing Company so we had to stop at the home of my «Go To» favorite beer, Devil’s Backbone. Although, there must be some town ordinance that outlaws street signs larger than 6 inches we were able to locate this hidden brewery. Not far off the highway down a dusty road is heaven. At least that’s where I thought I was going after climbing up those steps to the Tap Room. I’m old, fat, and hypertensive so it was touch and go until I was able to gain some sustenance from a cold glass of ale. This is a really nice place, brews great beer and is pet friendly with picnic tables outside. We were late for the tour but not for the tasty beer. If you are a lover of great craft beer then I urge you to head on over to Beautiful Blanco and partake of their excellent selection on tap.

Our tour guide Justin was great. Their tap house was very clean and the staff is very knowledgable. They’re the 3^rd largest brewery in Texas.

I have loved Real Ale beers since I moved to Texas. Real Ale explanded their tasting room hours which allowed me to finally stop by. Their beer selection was quite large. Everything I tasted I loved except their Backbone, a Tripel style beer. A majority of beers cost $ 4 except their higher ABV beers. I missed the beer tour because I was too busy sampling beers so I will try that next time.
If you are on highway 281 and love craft beer you need to stop by.

This place was really fun! We stopped in during our trip to Blanco (we were visiting from out of town) We tried a flight of different beers. They let you choose from every beer they are brewing and you can pick 5 beers at a time to try. The bar area over looks their brewery area, which is pretty cool. They have long picnic tables that accommodate many large groups at a time. They also sell T-​shirts, hats and stickers. This place had a fun vibe, great bartenders and we had a really great time. Would definitely visit again!

I have tried almost all the beers that Real Ale offers and only have found one that I didn’t care for. Overall, my favorite brewery in Texas!

Didn’t make it out for their 19^th Anniversary Party last weekend, so we headed to Blanco today — no tours today but the taproom was open.
It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been at the brewery. The taproom overlooks the main part of the brewery, so I was able to see how much they’ve grown in these last 2 years. The do beer right and it’s definitely paying off for them.
Several special offerings in the taproom today, including the 19^th anniversary Baltic porter and Highlander (barrel-​aged Wee Heavy). After a flight of tasters, I ended up with the Sisyphus — by far my favorite barleywine.
It’s a drive to get out to Real Ale but definitely worth it.

This is the best beer I’ve ever had. After almost 2 decades of brewing, these guys and gals really set themselves apart by the quality of their beer and the service at their brewery. There are many new, up-​and-​coming breweries around Austin but no one compares to the incredible quality that is Real Ale. I admire their commitment to quality; they are like the Ferrari of beers here in Texas.
I also just went to their anniversary party and was thoroughly impressed at how much value they gave the visitors. They had the parking situation down pat, the whole community of Blanco was involved in helping with the event, they had live bands and they included A LOT of good beer, all for only $ 5. As a business owner myself, I cannot wait until I am of the caliber that is the Real Ale Brewing business.

Been waiting a long time for Real Ale to open up a Tap Room and have brewery tours on Saturdays. Had a fun ride out to Blanco in the Firebird with the T-​tops off. Please bottle up your Altbier that’s only available as a Brewer’s Cut at the moment and put it on store shelves soon. Great day at the brewery. Real good, real ale.

Free beer Fridays, water available and cheap merchandise. This brewery is worth the drive just for the 3 hours of free beer on Fridays. And the beer is good, I dare say best in Hill Country. Also, service is great. Everyone was super nice and not put off by the fact that we refilled a bunch of times. This place was so great that we can’t wait to bring out of state visitors and show them what well executed Texas craft beer tastes like.

It was literally a joy to go to this brewery. Sure, it is a little out of the way, but you can use that excuse to see a new town– if you’ve never been to Blanco before. There are only open on Friday afternoons currently, so I got to leave work early to be able to make the trip. The street that the brewery is on pretty much turned into a gravel road towards the end, and there seemed to be ample parking available.
Outside there were many picnic tables, and people standing drinking beer as well. The merch shop is where you obviously buy Real Ale logo things, and where you get samples. I wasn’t able to get any samples before our tour, but I made up for it later on. With me, the tour guide is one of the more important aspects of the tour, and our guide made the experience great. He was happy to be showing visitors the brewery, and happy to be talking about beer. The tour took longer than most, since Real Ale has been doing their thing for quite awhile, so their brewery is pretty big.
We were just walking along near the packaging area, and the guide was like «I think there is some finished beer over here,» so we then walked up on maybe 10 boxes chock full of ice cold, canned beer. He let us take a beer of our choice, and again later on when we passed through on the way back. Before we left, a got a few samples, including a brewer’s cut that I may not get to try again. Oh, and the tours and samples are FREE. I want to say my pint glass was $ 4, so that is all I paid for many samples, seeing a brewery and a great experience. It goes to show you that not every business is simply out there to get as much money as possible. So what I’m saying is find a way to leave work early on a Friday so you can visit Real Ale!

Tours on Fridays at 3 and 4, tasting room open from 2 – 5. I highly recommend going to check it out. We were greeted by a blasting of heavy metal from the brewhouse (always awesome), and the guys that give the tour and pour your beer are really nice and will answer any question you might have about the process.
Free beer.
Show up early, because when our tour ended at 4 the place was packed. Also, it’s kind of hard to find off 281; look for the Best Western and it’s a right after that.
Did I mention free beer?

This year’s Great American Beer Festival reminded me how much I miss Real Ale. Great things come in small packages, and Real Ale proves this. Even though I absolutely love living in beer nirvana (Denver), I get a craving for Real Ale’s beer on a regular basis.
Their Scots Gone Wild (sour scotch ale) at GABF was probably the best beer I had at the festival, and I had a lot of America’s best beer. In fact, the series it’s part of (Mysterium Verum) is almost always fantastic — true American beer experimentation. Their Devil’s Backbone is one of my favorite tripels, while the Lost Gold IPA is a favorite of mine as well. The Sisyphus is a very solid barleywine, and the Coffee Porter is one of the best out there. And let’s not forget the Real Heavy, Full Moon Pale Rye Ale… man, I could just go on and on.
Real Ale is probably the best brewery in Texas. And although their tours are only on Fridays, it’s worth the trip to stop into their small facility. I know their Fireman’s 4 is wildly popular, but if you haven’t tried their other stuff, spend the extra few Washingtons and give them a shot.

I recently went on a tour to Real Ale Brewery during San Antonio Beer Week and I was very impressed by the brewery. The staff was very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful and the beer of course was amazing. It was hot on the day that I went but their outside sitting area had plenty of shade and it was a nice place to just hang out and drink a beer.
I love Real Ale and I was glad that I got a chance to try more flavors while at the brewery.