Hopsquad Brewing sits at 2307 Kramer Lane in North Burnet, a Latino-owned production brewery that opened its doors a few days before the start of 2020 and now anchors the beer scene around Q2 Stadium. Grade it from the worst seat in the house, a picnic bench in the back corner on a slow Tuesday, and it still holds up: clean beer, cold floors, room to move.
Who will love it: pilsner drinkers, dog owners, and Austin FC supporters who want a pint within walking distance of the stadium. Who will not: anyone hunting a dark, quiet cocktail den. This is a warehouse with taps, and it makes no apology for it.
The location does real work. Kramer Lane runs through the North Burnet tech and warehouse belt, and the brewery's proximity to Q2 Stadium turns it into a pre-match staging ground on Austin FC nights. The Infatuation files Hopsquad under North Burnet and flags the same thing most regulars do: easy parking, a big patio, and a tap list that rewards a second round.
The room
One large indoor hall with the brewhouse in plain sight, plus a wide patio set with picnic tables. The crowd skews casual and the noise level rises with the room, so the back patio is the seat to ask for if you want to hear the table. Dogs are welcome, and on warm afternoons they outnumber the bar stools.
What to order
Start with the pilsner. The Doctor Montopolis reads as the house workhorse, a smooth, simple lager built for a 95-degree afternoon, and the Italian Pilsner is the one beer geeks point newcomers toward. For hops, the Lord Zanate IPA lands smooth rather than aggressive, and the Pennybacker Hazy carries coconut, pineapple, and mango without tipping into juice. Skip the novelty one-offs on a first visit and stay in the lager and IPA lanes, which is where Untappd reviewers consistently rate the brewery highest. Pours run the standard Austin taproom range, so two beers and a tip lands close to twenty dollars.
Who it is for
A pre-game pint before Austin FC kicks off two blocks away. A Saturday-morning Premier League watch with a clean lager in hand. A dog-friendly afternoon when the patio beats the couch.
Best time to go
Saturday mornings are the signature move. Hopsquad opens at 8:30am on Saturdays for Premier League matches, hours ahead of its usual noon start, which makes it one of the few North Austin taprooms pouring with breakfast. Match days at Q2 Stadium pack the patio, so arrive early or come on a weeknight when the room breathes. Regular hours run Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday from noon to 10pm, and Thursday through Saturday from noon to 11pm, with Monday dark.
The crowd
Weekday afternoons pull remote workers and brewery regulars working through a flight. Weekends bring families, dogs, and the soccer crowd, who treat the place as a clubhouse on match days. The vibe stays laid back across all of it, and nobody dresses up to drink a pilsner here.
Reviewers on Yelp's 99-entry page repeat the same notes: friendly pours, a strong pilsner program, and a patio that earns its keep.
What regulars say
The recurring praise is the lager lineup and the soccer scheduling, the two things that set Hopsquad apart from the dozen other North Austin breweries. The recurring gripe is the warehouse acoustics, which turn loud once a crowd fills the hall. Both are true, and both point you to the same fix: sit on the patio.
Hopsquad earns its spot in our best craft beer bars in Austin ranking. Build a North Austin crawl with Austin Beerworks, St. Elmo Brewing, or Zilker Brewing, see the full Austin bar guide, or use our craft beer near me hub.
