We were very fortunate to be invited to the first soft opening for Under the Radar Brewery in Midtown Houston. The initial opening on Sunday was designed to be for family and friends, but I’ve been pestering these guys since they first gained their TABC license and was graciously given an invite, which was thrilling. This new brewery is one of a select few smack dab in the middle of town, centrally located for any inner-loopers who are looking for a place to just hang out and drink local craft beer.
The way that Under the Radar got started was through a common avenue of many aspiring entrepreneurs: homebrewing. Founders Ned Davis, Herb Garcia, and Mike Norfleet have been at this brewing game for seven years now with many of their brews being served at Dynamo tailgates, Texas A&M football tailgates, and weddings for friends and family. After seeing how receptive people were to their brews, including brewing forty gallons for a wedding, they knew that they could make this a career and see some success on the commercial side of the business.
Under the Radar Brewery is still not quite open yet, but will be celebrating their grand opening on Saturday, August 6th. Fortunately, they’ve already built up some fans who have been going to bars in Downtown, Midtown, and the Heights. After talking with co-founder, Herb, they have had their beers on tap at Saint Dane’s, Axelrad, Christian’s Tailgate Heights, Onion Creek, Conservatory, and other locations in town. Chances are, if you’ve been to one of these bars over the past month or two, you’ve seen the tap handle and wondered, “who’s that?” Now you know.
The plan at opening is to have up to five brews on tap. When we visited, there were a total of four: Radar Love Hefeweizen, Mid-Frequency IPA, Midtown Bock, and Mrs. Miller Blonde. Radar Love and Mid-Frequency have been their top sellers at many of the bars with the hefeweizen hitting the spot during this summer heatwave. Another one of the co-founders, Mike, let us know that they’ve had some weekends where two kegs of Radar Love have been floated at Axelrad within two days. It seems to be a popular brew.
Honestly, my favorite was a beer that originally wasn’t supposed to be. The Mrs. Miller Blonde Ale was originally a batch that was a mistake. According to Herb, during the brewing process, mistakes were made with the temperature, but the end result turned out to be a refreshing offering on a hot, summer day. The citrus flavor, low bitterness and higher carbonation on this beer allows it to be a brew that can be enjoyed by craft beer novices and experts alike. My buddy’s favorite beer was the Midtown Bock. He found it to have a smooth caramel flavor and the dark malts used gave it a very full flavor.
It’s easy to miss the brewery since they’re on a small residential street one block over from Alabama St. The warehouse is nestled among homes, but that seems to give it a more local feel. The next few weeks are going to be dedicated to getting the brewery ready for the public opening. They do own the lot next to the brewery and will be using the space for parking and for food trucks to give everybody options to stay and enjoy themselves for quite a bit of time. One thing to consider is the location is small and the seating is mostly located in the outdoor beer garden. Luckily, they have a huge tree that overhangs most of the benches providing much needed shade to help make it more pleasant.
So go ahead, try out some of their beers in advance by visiting one of the many bars carrying their brews. Just make sure you save the date for August 6th as their will be a huge celebration with beer, food trucks, and hopefully, some live music. Give these guys a shot and you might have found your new local hangout in Midtown.