AUSTIN, Texas — Even if you've only been in Austin a short while, you've probably observed at least two things: 1. People here love craft beer. And 2. They also love to complain about electric scooters.
Now, a local brewery has combined those two things.
Any busy day at Hi Sign Brewing, they'll be selling a lot of beer. Between cans, growlers and crowlers, they stay pretty busy.
But Saturday, they held a launch party for three of their new beers -- including one many people in Austin can get behind. The 'No Scooters Double IPA.'
"It's light-hearted," Mark Phillippe, the owner of Hi Sign, said. "We just want to make great beer for people, and if we can incorporate something local and topical and get people talking, even better."
He said they experimented with a new style of beers, adding different grains and hops than normal and created the Double IPA. After that, the goal was to find a clever name and a clever title for the beer.
"You know, we like to have fun with our beers," Phillippe said. "So, every label that we can come up with, we try to make something that's relevant and relevant to the beer and relevant to the city that we brew in."
Even some of the regulars to the brewery said that they're fans of the new beer and the creative design.
"The logo...that's kinda what drew me here today," Kane Sutphin said. "I was like, 'I got to go check that out.'"
But ask Sutphin or Phillippe about the message behind 'No Scooters', and you'll get a different answer.
"Sometimes, they're dangerous. Sometimes, they're a great mode of transportation," Phillippe said. "I would like to see less scooters on my front lawn at 2 o'clock in the morning, I'll tell you that."
"I like the scooters, I like the beer," Sutphin said.
So, whether you agree with the two-wheeled ride being in Austin or not, Hi Sign is hoping you can enjoy the beer either way.
"Enjoy the beer, enjoy the scooters or don't enjoy the scooters," Phillippe said.