Did you know that Budweiser is made in Houston? I’ve probably driven by the huge manufacturing plan on I-10 a million times, but I never actually comprehended that you could go on a brewery tour there. I’ve made my way around the Houston beer scene, done tours, and had drinks at Karbach, 8th Wonder, Buffalo Bayou, No Label, and St. Arnolds. It never occurred to me to do a tour at the Budweiser plant as well. This is probably because craft beer >>>

But a random meeting at Discovery Green, multiple emails, and a phone call lead to Natalie and I entering the Budweiser #MadeInHoustonContest and getting VIP tickets to the #MadeInHouston Budweiser Experience.

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A post shared by Made In Houston (@madeinhoustoncontest)

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A post shared by Made In Houston (@madeinhoustoncontest)

Budweiser did a pretty lousy job marketing this. I’d like to have a word with the Budweiser social media director about how to properly market an event and use hashtags and Instagram and create a brand and reach out to bloggers and….sigh basically day of, Natalie and I had no clue what we were about to go to. We discovered these Instragrams and hashtag and all that AT THE PARTY.  All we knew was that there would likely be free beer, which tbh was enough to get us out of bed, but still the marketing could have been a lot better. Budweiser social media plz contact me here. 

ANYWAYS. We show up at the Budweiser factory. Which PLOT TWIST, isn’t the one on I-10/Westside 610 just north of Memorial Park, but on the east side of Houston by Eastside 610. Yes there are apparently two Budweiser factories in Houston…We show up there head to the “Tasting Room” and are greeted with some VIP lanyards, three drink tokens, and are encouraged enjoy foods courtesy of some company (wish i could find it, but, you know, Budweiser social media suxxx) and music from The Tontons (NEW GIRL CRUSH).

We went on a tour of the Budweiser factory which was a mix of Willy Wonka’s factory crossed with the Hollywood Tower of Terror and a Russian banya spa. The place is a maze, the elevators are slightly unnerving, and the temperature changes wildly from room to room. Bring a jacket because when you drink “the freshest beer ever” (it’s just MINUTES OLD!) you do it in a 50 degree refrigerator.

Minutes old beer

Safety first!

At the party we were restricted to drinking Budweiser which, if you haven’t had it in a while, tastes like a college dorm party. It’s hard to casually sip a Budweiser without bringing up memories of football tailgates and bottom shelf vodka. The Tasting Room was pretty cool, although the bartenders struggled to pour beers, the counter was made of recycled bottles.

I remember the first time I poured a beer

kewl counter bro

The performance by The Tontons was AMAZEBALLS. I think this was Budweiser’s attempt to to be hipster with a basic beer. But seriously, everyone go follow them on Twitter and download their music and figure out where the lead singer shops. End #fangirl rant.

All in all, I’m glad I can now add Budweiser to my list of Houston breweries I’ve visited. And I’m glad that they are proud to be #MadeInHouston. Call me a hipster/millennial/beer snob, but next time if I ever go back to Budweiser, I’ll be expecting the other taps to be open because haaaall no can I drink another Budweiser sober. No matter how free, fresh, and VIP it is…