Martin House Brewing Company — Restaurant in Fort Worth

So I wanted to make sure I was not "impaired" in anyway to do this review, because I had a really good time. I attended Sourfest 2021 at Martin house and drove up from Houston on a whim to give it a shot. I have liked the Martin House brews I have had here in Houston, so I was really hoping to enjoy this.

#1. This brewery still has that "non-corporate", local, small feel to it and that I love. The people that where there we my type of people. For the most part, they were people that liked good beer and though I did hear some crazy remarks from some people attending ("It's hard to find a beer here that isn't sour." for instance), I think maybe these people were just at the wrong brewery or hadn't yet found the non-sour ones. If you like well executed sours, this is a great place for you.

Atmosphere and customers: 9/10

#2. This brewery is right on the Trinity (I think it's the Trinity?) and that is great. The views of downtown and the open air was great. The fact that we could set up a shelter and some lawn chairs and drink great beer in that heat while seeing that view, was really nice.

Views: 8/10

#3. Sourfest - I would do this again. I had alot of fun while there with friends and the atmosphere was perfect for a summer outside beer festival. I do have some criticisms of course, but I will be back next year.

a). Not enough food trucks OR need a way to improve the line wait times. 45 minutes waiting on street tacos, we gotta do better here. Once we ordered, the food didn't take long, but getting to the front of the line to finally order, was a solid 45 minutes, or enough time we had to send friends out for beer refills in that heat.

b). I tried as many of the beers as my body could handle...lol Great variety and great beer, but I was disappointed in the jalapeño beer was NOT spicy. It had a great smoky flavor that I liked, but if you are going to tease me with a hot pepper in a beer, I need it to at least pass the spice level of mild Pace salsa (NEW YORK CITY?!?!?) I love hot, but not sure this would have even hit a spice level of one of my grandmas cinnamon hard candies sitting in that bowl since 1982... Bump this one up please. The pickled version of this rated higher for me, but still isn't spicy...

c). The lines....where just fine. Seriously, outside the waits on the food trucks, all the lines looked long, but where not. They went fast, the service was quick, the employees did great. The one line that needed a little help maybe was the beer to go line, but when you get a bunch of us undecided window shoppers up there trying to make decisions, that line is going to take longer and that is to be expected. Do all of those line as good or better in the future and NOBODY has anything to complain about.

d). Price - just fine. I felt like I got good value for the price and would pay that again.

e). Music - It was ok. I don't have a complaint or compliment either way. The fact that you had music was good.

f). Beer - Great. Just great. Good variety but not too many, good beer, good signs that explained what each one was and YES I do like the rule of no tasters, only full pours. The last thing anyone wants is someone that wants to taste them all and hold the line up. Take a leap and try a glass buddy and move on! Next year stick to doing some great beers, well, and don't over do it again and you will be fine and I'll be back to give a stupid long review...lol

g). Parking - I wish there was more, but it seemed to work out just fine. Had to park in BFE & walk over & I wish there was a unloading area maybe to drop stuff off with friends rather than carry it all, but I bet the parking is just fine most every day just how it is outside of the Sourfest & really, I didn't mind walking some & kinda expected it. I feel like this was well communicated before the event, so it's fine, don't pay to change it as I don't know that it would be worth it.

h). Swag - Nice and worth it. The glass was awesome. The one thing needed was a koozie that would fit that glass...

Overall...

My husband and I have been drinking Martin House beer for a few years now. It’s become a thing anytime I go to H‑E‑B - I ALWAYS check to see if there are any new or seasonal beers by Martin House. Anytime there is, we ALWAYS get it. Plus, we always buy their Pickle Beer because my sweet husband make me the most delicious Micheladas with them. Try any of their pickle beers in your next Michelada. You’ll thank me. I promise. When we planned our family Vacay to the Dallas/Fort Worth area - we were SO excited because we’d FINALLY be able to visit Martin House Brewing. Our visit was excellent! We were immediately greeted by a guy with, what my husband called, a fantastic, voluptuous beard.😂😂 My husband has a beard himself, so this was high praise from him. We told him how we’d been Martin House fans for years…& our favorite beers were by then…& that it was our first time visiting. I’m sure our excitement was apparent.😂 We immediately got a flight, snd loved everything we had. We then went back and my husband got their Blonde…but I was on the fence. The gentleman working asked me what i was stuck between. I told him how much I loved their pickle beer, but was also fascinated by the mustard beer. He let me try it…& then told me he was going to modify it and let me try that too. He added pickle beer to the mustard beer…& y’all. GAME. CHANGER. I ordered that, and LOVED it!!! We had a couple more beers, and even bought a few 4 and 6 packs to take home. I absolutely love this place, and my husband and I cannot wait to visit again sometime! I will say my only complaint was when our guy was busy, we had to be helped by two lady workers…& unfortunately, they were not as friendly or helpful. But - it won’t stop us from coming back. We LOVED this place! It had such a cool, chill vibe…and they even had books and board games for you to enjoy. We played a few of those games and a had a blast. We were disappointed that they didn’t do tours that day - but it didn’t change the awesome time we had! I wish we’d visited a few days earlier in the Vacay. We might’ve fit in a couple of visits before we left town if we had done that! Y’all. GO HERE. And even if you don’t - DEFINITELY buy any of their beer. We’ve always loved everything we’ve...

No taproom or indoor facilities at all, you get to step into a storage warehouse briefly to get beer, then stand (or sit if you bring a chair) outside. It was a bit chilly and windy this weekend, I can't imagine it being pleasant further into the winter. They had a decent amount of portapotties, which is good if you've been to breweries that only have a single user restroom but not good if portapotties gross you out. To get beer you have to stand in a super long line around the outside of the building. I clocked my wait at 14 minutes one time, which makes the lines at Rahr, Community, Peticolas, etc seem pretty trivial all of a sudden. Props to the folks who were serving though, they were super friendly and helped my Mexican father-in-law select beers despite a language barrier.

Most of Martin House's beers don't do too much for me but in the last year or so some of their newer and seasonal stuff has been pretty decent. In particular the Big Hoppa IPA is awesome and probably my favorite thing they've done. Unfortunately they didn't have any of that stuff on tap, just the basics, and were out of a lot of things that were shown on the wall as well. One of the most exciting things about visiting breweries for me is getting to try new or experimental beers so it was kind of a bummer seeing the same stuff that's in cans at every gas...