Padre Island Brewing Company: Laid Back Enjoyment on South Padre Island

Friendly and laid back, Padre Island Brewing Company is much like the island on which it is located.

Anytime I travel, I try to include breweries and brewpubs as part of the festivities. The existance of a brewery or brewpub won’t be the sole reason for selecting one destination over another, but it will factor into my decision. One brewery that offered enough to tip the scales in my most recent vacation decision is Padre Island Brewing Company, a restaurant and brewery located in the vacation resort area known as South Padre Island, Texas.

Facts and Figures:
Established in 1995, Padre Island Brewing Company is a combination brewery and restaurant. This company produces all of its own beer on- site, in large brewing vats located just behind the main bar.
This restaurant/brewing operation is very good for those who like some space and like to move around. The main level consists of a large, single room with enough seating to accommodate most of the hungry and thirsty tourists who enter through the doors each day. If there are more, they can always enjoy the upper level, which features its own bar, a pool table, television sets, and an outdoor patio.
The Beer:
Padre Island Brewing Company strives to offer five of its own beer products on tap at all times. When I paid a visit in November, 2009, the following products were available:
Tailing Red Amber– This beer is tan- colored with a tinge of redness. The taste is a little salty with flavors of light caramel and light hops. It is a nicely balanced, agreeable amber that would taste better if not served so cold. Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Padre Island Pale Ale– This golden pale ale offers a mild fruit aroma with a light taste that combines citrus, with hop accents. It is a tame pale ale, but certainly agreeable in taste nonetheless. Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
South Padre Island Blonde– This is a light, pilsner style brew. It offers flavors of pale malt, a touch of vanilla, and a certain woodiness. It is good and goes well with many of the brewery’s menu items. Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Tidal Wave Wheat– This beer is cloudy, tan in color, with a bit of a bite. It has a hefeweizen- like quality with a taste that yields yeast, citrus, and grains. There is a little bit of alcohol in the finish. Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Speckled Trout Stout– Dark in color, this bitter stout offers flavors such as roasted malt, coffee, and espresso. The bitter sensation from the finishing hops is obvious, and so is the slightly alcoholic finish. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Menu Selection:
Padre Island Brewing Company offers a good menu selection that divides itself into categories such as appetizers, soups & salads, burgers, sandwiches & wraps, entrees, and pizza. The menu features American- style food and, like other dining establishments on South Padre Island, there are several seafood options.
Restaurant/Brewery Commentary:
Padre Island Brewing Company is a nice, relaxing brewpub/restaurant located on Padre Blvd., which is the main drive on South Padre Island, Texas. I have visited this establishment twice in the past ten years and each time, I came away from the experience with a feeling of contentment. The beer is tasty and the food is very good, with enough menu options to satisfy the most finicky consumers.
Most important to any brewery/restaurant experience is the beer itself and Padre Island Brewing Company delivers nicely on this count. The beer, while not the type that blows you away on first sip and leaves you begging for more pints, is very agreeable and likeable nonetheless. I enjoyed the stout best, but I liked most of the others as well. The blonde, amber, and pale ale not only taste good, they are very compatible with many of the foods on the menu.
Since I like to write about beer, I try to converse with the head brewer whenever I visit a new establishment. On my recent visit, I did get the opportunity to spend some time chatting with head brewer Markkus Haggenmiller. We talked about the Padre Island Brewing Company, its future and past, as well as brewing in general- both in the state of Texas and elsewhere. It was fun to share some conversation with the brain behind the brew while also enjoying some tasty pints of stout, amber, pale ale, and blonde ale.
As for the food, Padre Island Brewing Company offers a good selection of American style cuisine. When I was here most recently, we sampled the nachos, pepperoni pizza, beef taco wrap, and ranch burger. Among these foods, I liked the ranch burger and the nachos made for a nice appetizer. The ranch burger was juicy and cooked to order, with just the right amount of barbecue sauce and marinated onions. The pizza was good as well and I liked the beef taco wrap, except it was a little too dry. It tastes like a Philly steak, but it needed something extra, like sour cream.
One other nice feature at Padre Island Brewing Company is the prices. Most every sandwich, wrap, appetizer, soup, and salad sells for less than ten dollars. Only when you get to the entrees does the price rise very high, and even then, it is contained in the $15 to $20 dollar range, with only a couple of exceptions. The beer is also priced below $5 per pint and if you go during happy hour, you can get an additional dollar or so taken off the tab, for each pint.
Considering everything, the Padre Island Brewing Company is a very nice, friendly, laid back brewpub- much like the atmosphere on South Padre Island itself. The food is good, even if not incredible, and the beer is agreeable, even if not over the top. Like revisting an old friend from college, Padre Island Brewing Company is the type of place that you anticipate highly, and then leave feeling content and satisfied.
Rating: 7 Cheers out of 10
$20 off with 3 night booking!