The Flying Saucer – Houston

Every once in a while I find a truly great beer bar. By this I mean a bar with unique, interesting beers on tap, some of which I have not tried before. It seems like every city has one, maybe two, of these places, though they can be hard to find. Here in Columbus I would put Bob’s Bar or The Bodega in that category. In Houston, I discovered The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium.

The Flying Saucer is a small chain with about twelve locations scattered through the US. The Saucer is built around serving a huge selection of beer, most on tap. I noted a nice selection of local Texas beers (Live Oak, Shiner, Real Ale, Saint Arnold, and Southern Pine), which gives them extra points. Of those five breweries, I have only seen Shiner as far north as Columbus.
I also noticed that they had Flensburger Pilsener by the bottle. I can still hardly believe it. This beer I tried for the first time in Dortmund Germany last summer. It is a good beer, but typical of a small local brew. It comes in old fashioned bottles with flip tops. How the Flying Saucer got their hands on it I will never know.

Most of the beer I had at the Flying Saucer was new to me, though I had heard of most before. I tried the tasty Ommegang Hennepin out of Cooperstown NY, which is a strong Belgian Saison beer that went straight to my head. A local brew on the fire sale was the Southern Star Pine Belt Pale from Conroe TX, which was good but nothing special. I located an old favorite on the menu which I used to wash down the veggie pizza, Old Speckled Hen out of Jolly Old England. I tried the Shiner 100 of Shiner TX with high expectations. Sad to say it was a beer I did not bother finishing.

On Mondays all pints are $2.75 and every night there is a fire sale special at that price. Wednesday is brewery glass night so when you order the special beer, you get to keep the glass.
The Flying Saucer was very close to my hotel, so I ate there nearly every night. The food is good, though typical of bar food. Nothing to satisfy the vegan and very little for a vegetarian. They have a veggie pizza which stood out for its outstanding flavor.

The walls of the flying saucer are covered in plates. Some of the plates are china similar to what you see in flea markers. The rest are gold plates with names and dates on them. These are the plates belonging to the UFO club members who have had 200 beers (and paid $18 bucks). Seems like a small price for the semi-permanent fame of having your name on the wall.

High Five for the Flying Saucer!