South Austin Brewing Opens

AUSTIN - South Austin Brewing becomes the latest craft brewery to open in Texas with a grand opening celebration planned for next month on February 11th.

Head brewer Jordan Weeks plans to focus on artesianal and Belgian-inspired ales, offered in traditional cork-and-wire-capped 750-ml bottles.

Buffalo Bayou Brewing Opens

HOUSTON - Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company became the fifth craft brewery to open in Houston this week with a kick-off party at the downtown Flying Saucer.

Owner Rassul Zarinfar and brewer Ryan Robertson started off with only one beer named 1836 but plan on brewing more traditional styles with their own unique touches. A grand opening is planned at the brewery in mid-March.

Cedar Creek Brewery Signs Lease

ATHENS - The planned Cedar Creek Brewery has just signed a lease on a location in Athens, with an expected opening date around May of this year.

As reported by Teresa Gubbins of Pegasus News, owner Jim Elliott found a location near the Cedar Creek Reservoir on US Highway 175. Elliott and brewer Damon Lewis plan to build one of the few craft breweries ever located in the East Texas area.

Revolver Brewing Planned

GRANBURY - Another new brewery is planned for the greater North Texas area, Revolver Brewing Company, to be located in Granbury, southwest of Fort Worth.

Owner Rhett Keisler has hired Grant Wood to be his head brewer. Originally from the North Texas area, Wood has spent the past 16 years working as the senior brewing manager for the Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams).

Keisler plans to have the brewery operational by July of this year.

Firewheel Brewing Planned

ROWLETT - Another brewery is planned for the North Texas area, Firewheel Brewing Company of Rowlett, with plans to have beer available by summer.

As reported by Teresa Gubbins of Pegasus News, owner and brewer Brad Perkinson is planning only a "nano-brewery" to start, with little more than 500 kegs his first year, and serving the local eastern cities of the Rowlett and Garland area.

Odell Brewer Coming to Austin

AUSTIN - Joe Mohrfeld, head brewer at Colorado's Odell Brewing Company, is leaving to start his own Austin brewpub, as reported recently on Beernews.org.

Mohrfeld plans to open Pinthouse Pizza with a 7-barrel system sometime in mid-2012.

Fort Bend Brewing Planned

SUGAR LAND - A new brewery is planned for the southwest Houston area, Fort Bend Brewing Company, with an opening expected in spring of 2012.

As reported by Houston Craft Beer Examiner Brian Carey, Fort Bend Brewing is to be a retooled effort of Jeff King, Ray Self and the former Kreuz Creek Brewing, a craft brewery start-up that failed to materialize as planned in 2011 for undisclosed reasons. The new brewery is to be located in the Sugar Land area and should package beer in kegs, bottles and cans as early as April.

Of interest to North Texas consumers is the former owner and brewer of Fort Worth's award-winng The Covey Restaurant & Brewery, Jamie Fulton, will be involved in Fort Bend Brewing as a consulting brewer.

Correction: Fort Bend Brewing is not associated with the former Kreuz Creek Brewing but is a separate effort by Ty Coburn of the same area, bringing King and Self on board as a new venture.

Houston Breweries in Chronicle

HOUSTON - A good summary of the past year's growth of the Houston craft beer scene is found in the Houston Chronicle in a piece by Ronnie Crocker entitled "2011: A year for beer to flow in Houston."

Peticolas Brewing Opens

DALLAS - Peticolas Brewing became the latest operational craft brewery in Texas with their first brew day this last week of 2011.

Located just blocks away from the Meddlesome Moth, Peticolas is the second craft brewery to open in Dallas in the past few months after the city's lack of any production breweries for many years. Beers are expected to show up on local taps soon into the new year.

Shiner Wild Hare Pale Ale

SHINER - Spoetzl Brewery has received label approval for their next new beer called Shiner Wild Hare Pale Ale.

The pale ale style marks another rare departure from traditional German styles for Spoetzl. There are indications this beer may serve as the 103rd installment in their continued line of special anniversary beers.

Jester King Recalls Beer

AUSTIN - Jester King has issued an official recall of their Commercial Suicide dark mild beers due to uncontrolled bottle conditioning.

In a statement, Jester King has admitted that "the fermentation has continued to a point where bottles may now be showing significant signs of leakage and may gush extensively upon opening." The brewery is asking all retailers and consumers to return any unopened bottles for exchange with one of their other products.

Adelbert's Brewery Opens

AUSTIN - Adelbert's Brewery became the latest craft brewery to open in Texas with their first bottled beers made available for sale just before Christmas.

Based in North Austin and named for the brewer's late brother, Adelbert's plans to focus on bottle-conditioned Belgian styles. No news yet on whether beers will be available on local retail taps.

Dallas Brewers in D Magazine

DALLAS - The three new Dallas-area commercial craft breweries will be featured in the January 2012 issue of
D Magazine.

Brief profiles are included of Peticolas Brewing, Lakewood Brewing and the already operating Deep Ellum Brewing as well as the owners and brewers themselves in an article entitled "Dallas Brews" by David Hopkins.

Jester King Wins Judgment Against TABC

AUSTIN - A federal court ruled Monday in Jester King's favor on several key issues in a suit brought against the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC).

Judge Sam Sparks of the US District Court ruled in favor of Jester King, Authentic Beverages Company and Austin's Zax Restaurant & Bar with regard to their First Amendment challenges of restrictive beer labeling laws included in the TABC Code. As a result, breweries will no longer be bound by arbitrary label definitions of "beer," "ale" or "malt liquor," or descriptions of strength or alcohol content that have proved troublesome in the past.

Judge Sparks writes:

Although the Code is free to define "beer" and "ale" as it sees fit, Texas may not compel malt beverage producers to use those terms, and only those terms, in advertising and labeling. Accordingly, all statutes and regulations that compel such speech, including Texas Administrative Code, Title 16, Sections 45.77 and 45.90, are declared unconstitutional. Again, nothing prevents Texas or TABC from passing appropriate regulations requiring producers to include accurate statements about the alcohol content of their products in labeling or advertising; absent a constitutionally sound justification, however, Texas may not dictate the exact words producers must use to do so.

The restriction of brewers advertising or promoting retail locations where their products can be purchased was also lifted, with some Texas breweries already preparing their websites to include commercial listings.

However, Judge Sparks ruled that the plaintiffs failed to produce sufficient evidence for overturning the restriction of direct sales from breweries, citing:

Authentic bears the burden of demonstrating there is no reasonably conceivable basis which might support the classifications in the challenged sections of the Code...

The ruling affirmed Texas has the right to regulate businesses in such a way, with changes in this respect necessarily coming through the legislature.

The TABC responded favorably, releasing a statement that said they have no plans to appeal.

Jester King Thrash Metal

AUSTIN - Jester King is set to release their latest beer this week, the Thrash Metal Farmhouse Strong Ale.

Per their blog, the Thrash Metal ale "is an homage to thrash metal music" and a "sibling" to their Black Metal Imperial Stout. It will be a golden ale made with pilsner, wheat and caramunich malts with a strong dose of American hops, and should finish at 9% ABV.

Thrash Metal will not be part of Jester King's regular lineup but an occasional release, "when the mood happens to strike us."

Pedernales Brewing Opens

FREDERICKSBURG - The Pedernales Brewing Company became the latest craft brewery to open in Texas with a grand opening this weekend.

Located in Fredericksburg, Pedernales Brewing held a small opening celebration last Saturday with a crowd of about 300 people. An official company website is still under development.

Spoetzl Wins European Awards

SHINER - Spoetzl Brewery won a total of three medals at the European Beer Star Awards held this past October at the Doemens Academy in Munich.

The winning beers and respective categories were:

• German-Style Märzen: Silver for Shiner Oktoberfest
• Bohemian-Style Schwarzbier: Bronze for Shiner Bohemian Black Lager
• Düsseldorf-Style Altbier: Bronze for Shiner Old Time Alt

Organized by the Association of Private Breweries in Germany, this is the eighth year for the European Beer Star Awards, which included 1113 entries in 49 categories. This is the second consecutive year for Spoetzl to medal at this international competition.

Freetail Purchases Bottling Line

SAN ANTONIO - Freetail Brewing has purchased a commercial bottling line, making them the first brewpub in Texas to install such equipment.

Although current Texas law prohibits brewpubs from selling their products through commercial distributors and retailers, owner and brewer Scott Metzger believes "[e]ventually, the laws unfairly restricting Texas businesses in favor of out-of-state brewpubs will change,” and that this investment will justify itself in the future.

Meanwhile, the bottling line will be used to bottle Freetail's popular seasonal releases in the larger 22-oz format, all of which sell out almost instantly. Bottles should be available for sale only at the brewpub as early as December.

Peticolas Featured in Texas Lawyer

DALLAS - Michael Peticolas of the new Peticolas Brewing currently under development was featured in a recent edition of Texas Lawyer.

A lawyer by trade, Peticolas was profiled as well as interviewed about the quirks of Texas laws for beer and brewing, in particular about the pending suit filed by Jester King against the TABC. Peticolas is currently building a new brewery in Dallas that should be open later this year.

Sugar Land Flying Saucer Opens

SUGAR LAND - The newest location of the Texas-based Flying Saucer Draught Emporium has opened in Sugar Land, southwest of Houston.

This site becomes the fifteenth national location of the Flying Saucer chain, and the seventh overall to open in Texas.

Jester King Sues TABC

AUSTIN - Jester King has filed a motion in federal court for summary judgment against the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC).

Along with two other co-plaintiffs, Jester King is challenging the TABC Code requirements regarding the content and wording contained on beer labels, such as the arbitrary "ale" or "malt liquor" legal designations and prohibited terms that may reflect alcoholic strength. Such unnecessary requirements have long been problematic for out-of-state breweries seeking label approval for their products to be sold in Texas.

Another change sought is the restriction on brewers in advertising or communicating retail locations where their products may be purchased, a legal holdover from a stricter three-tier interpretation. Jester King is seeking the elimination of both these current restrictions on the basis that they violate the right to free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

Jester King is also challenging the restriction of breweries from selling direct to the public and that of brewpubs selling to retailers or distributors, both changes that were pushed unsuccessfully in the last legislative session. The claim against the TABC Code here is violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

A third challenge involves the requirement of foreign breweries to obtain a separate licence to sell their products in Texas, an additional burden that is not requried of foreign wineries or distilleries.

A ruling on this case is expected sometime later this year.

Shiner Ryes & Shine Rye Lager

SHINER - Spoetzl Brewery plans to release the Shiner Ryes & Shine Rye Lager, a dark brown lager that is their interpretation of the German rye beer style.

This beer will be the second in the Brewer's Pride series from Spoetzl, the first being their Shiner Old-Time Alt. Both are sold bundled in their "Family Reunion" multi-packs, and should be available by December.

Hops & Grains Opens

AUSTIN - Hops & Grain will become Austin's newest commercial brewery when their beers will be available for the first time at area events next week.

Despite the theft of almost 2000 feet of copper wiring from their building last week, Hops & Grain decided to go ahead with plans to debut their beer at several area locations as well as a "Karma Fest" party held at the brewery. The brewery plans to eventually package and sell Hops & Grain beers in aluminum cans instead of bottles.

Deep Ellum Brewing Opens

DALLAS - Deep Ellum Brewing Company has finally cleared all paperwork hurdles and will be brewing its first commercial batch this week.

Deep Ellum Brewing becomes the first commercial package brewery to operate in Dallas since 2006. Bottling operations are planned but will not be operational for at least several months. Beers should be available on local draft accounts within just a few weeks.