ABOUT

Astral Brewing is a brewpub in Houston, Texas. We opened our doors on March 1st, 2019. Our specialty is hoppy ales including hazy northeast IPA's and clean and crisp west coast IPA's. We also offer an ever-changing variety of beers ranging from roasty porters to light refreshing ales perfect for the heat of the summer. We look forward to seeing you at our beautiful, air-conditioned taproom on N Shepherd!

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We have an outdoor patio area with lots of seating, and an air-conditioned taproom to get out of the Houston heat. Our TVs will be tuned to a local sports event, or a classic movie.

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We are dog-friendly (as long as they are leashed and don't bark).

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We are kid-friendly (as long as they are reasonably under control). Please do not allow your children to roam the taproom unattended. There are people walking around carrying glassware. We have some board games (not all are appropriate for younger children), corn-hole, a ping pong table, and indoor shuffleboard. Feel free to bring your own special toys or games for your kids.

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Most days we will have a food truck outside, but you are welcome to bring your own food or order in. We also carry small snack bags.

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We are happy to host special events and parties. Groups less than 15 people can spontaneously gather, but for parties greater than 15 we ask that you reserve space ahead of time. Please see our EVENTS page for details.

TEAM

José Ceja

Co-Founder and Head of Operations

José Ceja is originally from Tucson, Arizona and has called Houston home for approximately 8 years. He is a graduate of the University of Arizona College of Law and will be involved in all operations the business, including recipe development, brewing, marketing and accounting. He is a craft beer fanatic and has been home-brewing out of his garage for 6 years. He is particularly fond of IPAs and mixed fermentation ales. In addition to brewing every chance he gets, he has read extensively on all aspects of brewing and will continue to consult with the brewers on recipe design and formulation. José will manage and supervise the business side of Astral Brewing.

Alex McDonald

Co-Founder and Head Brewer

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Alex McDonald grew up in New Jersey where he earned his undergraduate degree in physics at Princeton University. He then moved to California to pursue a PhD in biochemistry at the University of California at Santa Cruz. During his time in California, he was introduced to the craft beer world, and many styles of beer including west coast IPA's, mixed fermentation sour beers, and barrel aged stouts. Six years ago, he learned how to home-brew, applying his biochemistry knowledge to the process of producing and fermenting wort.

After completing his PhD, he moved to Boston to work as a post-doctoral fellow in biochemistry. In Boston he was introduced to North East IPAs, a new style that was just coming onto the market. For the last two years Alex has worked on developing his own recipes for North East IPAs which have become the flagship beers for Astral Brewing.

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