The Brewery LBK — Restaurant in Lubbock

How cool is ti to find a brewery in a historic hotel? The Brewery LBK can make that claim, occupying part of the first floor of the Pioneer Hotel. Downtown Lubbock may not be quite as hustling and bustling as it was 70 or 80 years ago, but this is a major tenant that is brewing great beer.

As it turned out that Saturday afternoon, I was the only customer in the house, and the young college-age woman tending bar was more than willing to engage me in conversation.

As for the Pioneer, it is no mostly condos, but the Pioneer Pocket Hotel also operates there, meaning guests can book a room online and gain digital access. There’s no front desk or check-in. You just do it. Also, the West Table Kitchen and Bar, also on the first floor, is owned by the same company that owns the brewery. It’s on my list for a future visit.

I went with a flight as per usual, but in this case, a flight is six. With 10 offerings running the gamut, my choices ran from light and refreshing to hoppy and high alcohol. I started with the 1806 Texas Lite Lager (4.8% ABV; 9.7 IBU), followed by Shulz German Style Pilsner (4.8% ABV; 27 IBU), Broadway & K Kölsch (5.5% ABV; 19 IBU), LBK IPA (7.5% ABV; 61 IBU), Kerb Crawler (10% ABV; 33 IBU), and LBK Imperial IPA (11% ABV; 100 IBU).

While these were all excellent in their own ways, the latter two are just a little too much in the ABV column for my liking. You just can’t drink as much. My favorites were the Kölsch and basic IPA, both very approachable products that I found to be delightfully refreshing after I had walked a few miles around Downtown Lubbock working up a thirst.

My server, though, insisted I keep trying more, and I happily agreed! I was more than happy to offer some professorial advice as she pondered he life choices ahead after graduation. First, she offered a short glass of Doc Holliday, a fruity sour (5.5% ABV; 10 IBU). It was delicious. Actually, a person could get in trouble with this one on a hot day.

And then she offered me both versions of their “Hanging Fruit” collab with a winery out of Shallowater. The red and white versions were equally delicious. And if you think a beer/wine mixer is strange, let me assure you they are amazing. Think wine up front, with a light beer finish. I mixed a mixer with three of each, and on top of that grabbed a 64-ounce growler of the IPA. And yeah, I waited until I got home before getting into these.

All told, I rated The Brewery LBK second out of six fine breweries in this city, all of which were good. But you have to have some standouts, right? And this was excellent, not far from first.

Highly recommended. And I want to spend the night her sometime, knowing that all I have to do is find the elevator after...

Tried to go next door for dinner but they were packed. That was lucky for us. Surprisingly family friendly (we had the 9 year old twins with us), Ralph put the Spurs game on for my son, the live music was great but also interactive and super fun, and the vibe here is amazing (that word supplied by my daughter). Cocktails were terrific. We had Chillton, Moon Child, Pink drink mocktail and Russett apple mocktail. The burger was A+, top 10 burgers I’ve had. Ralph really took care of us. He and his servers are probably the reason this place is so popular because they really care for their clientele. What a great place!!!! Enthusiastic thumbs...

There’s plenty of on the street parking in the area. It’s on Broadway in downtown Lubbock. It’s got a nice ambiance inside. They have a nice selection of their own in house beers. They also have some delicious cocktails. The food menu is limited. I’ve been there a few times and the food is good bar style. The dress is work casual and it’s usually busy from the work crowd getting off around 5pm. The servers are very nice. The bartenders are great and have a lot of knowledge on their in-house beers. Occasionally they will have live music too. It’s a relaxing place to land at the...