The Ginger Man

JoEBoBpr

Missouri

4.2/5  rDev -1.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Was visiting Austin and as always have to find my way to one of the local beer spots. BA pointed me towards The Ginger Man.

Very cool dark feel inside. Once you walk in there is a rectangular bar that is narrow and extends for a way towards the back of the building. Near the entrance there is a nice living room like area with some couches a couple of TVs and some books plus some cool bear-themed decorations.

The selection and quality were good as far as I could tell. A decent amount of locals with some of the more readily available crafts like Blvd, Chimay, etc.

The atmosphere was chill, warm and inviting. I would definitely frequent this place if I lived here.

They have a bear garden and more wide seating areas at the back of the building but I stayed near the front for the most part.

11-15-2011 04:28:43 | More by JoEBoBpr

elNopalero

Texas

4.28/5  rDev +0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $

There’s over 40 beers on tap here by my estimation, including two on hand-pump. Located near the heart of downtown Austin, it has that vibe somewhere between a downtown afterwork hangout (at least, on the day I visited there were waves of happy hour haunters coming in) and hip beer geek hangout (until it got crowded I enjoyed sitting next to some fellow craft beer enthusiasts and musing poetically about hoppy brew).
The physical space is dark, quiet during the daytime but quickly turns lively. Lots of local options and a staff that was busy but didn’t ignore me when I was ready for another.

02-29-2012 02:08:35 | More by elNopalero

HeavyCsOptician

Mississippi

4.14/5  rDev -2.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Was in Austin a couple of weeks ago for a wedding. Needless to say we would be partaking in a few beverages. The groom had lived in Austin before and highly suggested The Ginger Man.

As described it is a very low lit, intimate setting with a plethora of choices to choose from. Also has a fair menu if you are going to dining while having a drink. There is a room in the back with tables to sit and have conversation away from all of the bar noise. We chose to sit on the cozy couches and watch the Longhorns.

I am a pils guy so I had a couple of Czech Pils. However the draught selection is superb. We ended up going to The Ginger Man twice over the weekend. Whether it is to just chill, watch the game, or throw darts this place was very deserving of its high rating.

12-01-2011 03:14:52 | More by HeavyCsOptician

Geigespieler

South Carolina

4.4/5  rDev +3.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Went here on a Friday night while in town for a conference at UT. The place was quite busy, but I found a spot at the bar and tried the roast beef sandwich and two beers: a local Alt and a local Braggot. Service was very attentive in spite of the crowd. Sandwich was very tasty, though the food options were somewhat limited. Beer selection was quite diverse and the two I tried were very nice. I was also offered samples of two other beers that I asked about. Unfortunately, the Austin Craft Beer Festival was starting the day I had to leave town, but I'm glad I was able to stop by. They only charged me for one beer and the sandwich and told me not to worry about it when I pointed this out (I left a nice tip). Will definitely be back next time I'm in town.

10-22-2011 05:40:30 | More by Geigespieler

DoktorZee

Alberta (Canada)

4.5/5  rDev +5.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3 | $$$

One of the best beer bars in Austin the GingerMan (with sister locations in Dallas, and New York, I believe) is never going to disappoint with it's huge number of taps (never really counted them, but clearly somewhere between 70 and 100) and selection of interesting beers. If there's a hot new release you've got a great chance of finding it here. They've also usually got 2 casks going - one Texas/local and often something interesting. Selection is solid for Texas beers, excellent for west and east coast and sometimes really surprisingly good for Europe (e.g. 5+ interesting Belgians on tap most times plus some Germans).

The folks working here are solid: friendly with a very good knowledge of what they're serving. Overall vibe is positive as you'll usually be able to strike up a conversation with equivalently passionate beer fans alongside you at the bar. Only weak point is the food; you should really eat somewhere else before you head to the GingerMan because you're not going to find anything that impresses on the menu.

I'd definitely rank this in the top 3 of Austin beer locations with the Draught House and the 3rd position being battled for by placed like the Pour House, Spider House and a few up and comers (Hank's Garage has some promise).

08-06-2011 17:30:44 | More by DoktorZee

jamescain

Texas

4.14/5  rDev -2.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

I've only been here once, but I enjoyed my experience. If not for the fact that Austin has so many other choices, I would probably stop by more often. My only complaint, and this has nothing to do with the establishment, is that because they are located downtown, parking can be difficult depending on time of day. I didn't try the food but it looked good. They have a very good selection of beers, but are slightly pricier than other locations around the city. The atmosphere was relaxing and enjoyable, with low lighting and music in the background, rather the foreground. The bar tenders are quick to serve you and seem knowledgeable about beer. I wouldn't say it's a must stop in Austin, but if you're staying downtown, it as a great spot to find a good or local beer.

07-22-2011 15:19:52 | More by jamescain

mltobin

Connecticut

4.01/5  rDev -5.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

When on a trip to Austin last month, I made a point of stopping into the original Ginger Man. I was a little surprised that at 1:30pm on a Thursday that they were closed...had to grab some tacos from one those food trucks and come back after 2pm. When I made it back, it was very quiet, only a few other patrons. Their beer selection was in a similar format to the locations in CT/NY, but tailored of course to the distribution in Texas. So, it was nice that I was able to order something from Deschutes and the local, Jester King. The food menu also looked similar if not identical to CT/NY locations...upscale pub grub. You will spend more money here than some other watering holes, especially for Texas, but its worth checking out and hopefully ordering something that you have not had before.

06-27-2011 01:59:37 | More by mltobin

EgadBananas

Louisiana

3.91/5  rDev -8.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | $$

Atmosphere is pretty good. There's plenty of restaurant-like seating, a long bar, a lounge type sitting area, and plenty of outside sitting...which is pretty cool. It's one of those dimly lit pubs though, which makes it difficult to view your beer well...and if your mighty tired, the low light makes fighting sleepiness a bit of a challenge lol Selection is monstrous though, and most is good quality stuff, with some more run of the mill stuff in the mix as well...but fantastic over all. Service was good, though with how crowded it gets, it can make for some slow beer purchases though. Small price to pay in the end for one of the most exceptional tap lists in the city.

06-13-2011 13:55:36 | More by EgadBananas

DrJay

Massachusetts

4.44/5  rDev +4.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$

I stopped in here twice on a recent visit to Austin. It worked out great because my hotel was across from the convention center, only a few blocks away. My experience both times was great -- first time I sat at the bar and had fast, attentive service all night and the second time found a table for myself and a few colleagues. It was busy during my second visit, but it was still easy to get service at the bar.

Deciding what to have was more difficult. With 80 taps (and a couple of beer engines) staring at you, it can take a while to figure out what to have. The printed beer menus helped, but weren't up to date with the most recent changes. Sitting at the bar helped, since it was easy to chat up the bartenders and hear what kegs had just been put on. The selection was impressive, with plenty of national and regional craft selections, quite a few limited release beers, and one beer engine running during my visit -- I mostly stuck with locals like St. Arnolds, Live Oak, and 512, but did end my first visit with a Victory Storm King.

Decent vibe overall, quite dark inside the bar area with an open air patio in the rear of the building. Good tunes on the jukebox too. Definitely a place I would go out of my way to visit again if I'm in the Austin area and highly recommended.

06-05-2011 21:32:50 | More by DrJay

coldmeat23

Oklahoma

3.78/5  rDev -11.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 3 | $$$

This is essentially one long room, which is fairly dimly lit, with an outdoor patio at the back end of it. The physical bar itself was rather nice looking. Some kind of deep polished wood.

When we got there at around 5:00pm, it was relaxed, but most of the barstools were full, along with a couple of tables. Our first couple of beers were no problem to get. By 6:00pm it began to get packed, and we were still taken care of, just not so quickly.

The tap wall had around 80 different bers to choose from and most all of them seemed to be very good selections. The bottle selection had to be over 100 and also looked to have some nice ones. They had a couple of cask engines, but nothing was on while we were there.
Locally, they had a good represention of beers. This was one of the only spots that we found that actually had Jester King. Saint Arnold, Live Oak, Ranger Creek, etc. were all represented.

The food menu was limited (which is no big deal), but seemed to be on the pricy side. We tried a 'big pretzel' and knew that we'd made the right decision. It was very tasty! We split it four ways, then ordered a couple more. We even got a few other people at the bar to order pretzels, as well, because we were talking about how good they were.

I kind of get the feeling that people go to Flying Saucer to get wasted and come to Ginger Man to be seen by others in the craft beer community. (Austin, please forgive me if this is wrong. It's just based on what we saw while we were there for a few days.)

06-01-2011 13:54:01 | More by coldmeat23