Austin cycling 'beer hop' spotlights local breweries, nonprofits

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new kind of beer crawl is taking to the streets of Austin — and it's all centered around blending the city's cycling and brewery communities.

ATX Beer Party held its inaugural "beer hop" event back in November, in partnership with Breakfast Club, the Austin-based cycling group. This Sunday, new and seasoned bikers alike will hit up a three-taproom route, beginning at noon at Central Machine Works before heading to Draught House Pub & Brewery, Hold Out Brewing and then wrapping up back at Central Machine Works.

All the while, participants will help raise proceeds for the Austin nonprofit Yellow Bike Project. The Yellow Bike Project is a nonprofit community bike shop centered on making cycling more accessible and equitable for everyone while also promoting sustainable, environmentally-friendly practices. In addition to its bike resources, the organization also offers cycling workshops for those new to biking.

For John Gross, one of ATX Beer Party's co-founders, he said the choice to help raise proceeds for the Yellow Bike Project was a no-brainer.

"When thinking about the beer hop, it's beer, it's bicycles, it made a ton of sense to work with a like-minded charity, and Yellow Bike is a really excellent resource for Austin," he said.

Accessibility remains at the core of both ATX Beer Party's fundraising efforts and the event itself. Sunday's roughly 15-mile course features a flatter terrain and no prior experience needed — save for the requirement that participants bring a helmet.

"This is everything from hardcore triathletes to people that bought a bike earlier that week, going out for the first time," Gross said, adding: "It's a very mellow, chill, 15ish-mile ride, going around to some of our favorite different breweries in town to support them."

When reflecting on November's debut event, Gross said he was thrilled by the number of participants who purchased raffle tickets to benefit the Yellow Bike Project and who gave the beer hop a shot. That event attracted between 60 and 80 participants, he said; this go-around, Gross said he hopes to draw in even more cyclists and double the proceeds raised in November — all while sharing a beer and breaking bread with the community.

"We're hoping there'll be this really neat cross-section of beer people that have maybe never been on a bike before, or for a while, and by people that have maybe never been to some of these great Austin businesses," he said.

Those interested in learning more about ATX Beer Party can find details online and on Instagram.