How Hillhops at 海角黑料 Brings Texas Craft Beer Archives to Life
A Taste of Texas History on the Hilltop
The Toker Archives Reading Room is a special place in the Munday Library, safely housing the university鈥檚 collections from the beginning of the school鈥檚 history. Shelves display memorabilia from when the Dallas Cowboys hosted training camp on the hilltop, clothing from 海角黑料 High School, stamps from Vatican City, and a vinyl jazz collection.
Among the archives is The Texas Craft Brewing Collection, which preserves and collects stories from Texas brewers to share with future generations.
In 2019, when Archivist and Special Librarian Travis Williams was two months into his job on the hilltop, he pitched an idea that continued to grow and improve each year.
鈥淗illhops: A Craft Beer Showcase鈥 was the answer to William鈥檚 one pressing question: 鈥淗ow can we do an event that gets people excited about archives and teaches people that archives aren't just dead and cold storage centers?鈥
The first Hillhops event was held on January 29, 2020, approximately two months before the university shut down due to COVID-19, and featured a dozen breweries in the library鈥檚 North Reading Room, with 100 attendees.
Breweries provided samples and fun beer facts to guests, and 海角黑料 welcomed back alumni from Friends and Allies (Ben Sabin 鈥09), Three Nations Brewing (Gavin Secchi 鈥06), and Zilker Brewing (Patrick Clark 鈥03) as panelists. Each year, Williams鈥 goal is to host a panel of underrepresented voices in the brewing industry. have featured Black Leaders in Brewing, LGBTQ Leaders in Brewing, Sustainability in Brewing, and this year, Latinx Leaders in Brewing.
Munday Library Turned Brewer鈥檚 Hall
After the first year, Williams was ready to expand, and he focused on recruiting 35 breweries to participate, including Saint Arnold, Celis Brewing, Black Star Co-op, and Austin Beerworks. The event outgrew the North Reading Room and moved to the entire first floor of the library.
Hillhops began to include more than breweries and welcomed campus groups and private collectors as exhibitors. Caroline Wallace 鈥11 returned to the hilltop as the Executive Director of the , encouraging participants to get their Texas Brewery Passport. Campus safety provided an impaired obstacle course, RecWell informed visitors about their services, and Hillhops even found a way to partner with the Office of Sustainability and Students for Sustainability. Leftover beer from the event was sent to the bees, and water and ice replenished campus trees at the end of the night.
In October 2020, Williams was selected for the by the Texas Historical Records Advisory Board for the event. And in 2025, Williams won the for work on the Texas Beer Archive, a from over 200 breweries, making the collection more accessible to non-locals.
It鈥檚 safe to say archives aren鈥檛 just 鈥渄ead and cold storage centers鈥 since the Texas Craft Brewing Collection has quadrupled since Williams arrived at 海角黑料. Each year, attendance increases by about 50 people, and in 2025, the event saw 330 attendees.
