Texas Brewers at 2009 GABF

DENVER, CO - Three Texas brewers won medals at this week's 2009 Great American Beer Festival. The winners were announced yesterday at an awards ceremony of the annual event in Denver, Colorado.

Recognized Texas brewers include:

• Saint Arnold: Gold for Summer Pils as a Munich-Style Helles
• Uncle Billy’s Brew & Que: Gold for Hell in Keller as a Kellerbier/Zwickelbier
• The Covey Restaurant & Brewery: Silver for Weizenbock as a German-Style Wheat Ale
• The Covey Restaurant & Brewery: Silver for 100 as a Belgian Style Strong Specialty Ale

Sponsored by the Brewers Association, the craft beer industry's professional organization, the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is the largest professional competition in the United States. This year's competition set records despite a lagging economy, including more than 3308 beers from 495 brewers with an overall attendance of 49,000.

Awards are given in 78 different style categories of beer plus pro-am categories, with the top three beers recognized with gold, silver and bronze medals.

Wimberley Brewing Company Closes

WIMBERLEY - The months-old Wimberley Brewing Company closed this week due to financial and family pressures. Owner and brewer Bruce Collie sold the facilities to the former chef, who intends to reopen as a German restaurant.

Collie still has plans to soon reopen his brewpub nearby as a pizzeria and continue to expand its brewing capacity.

Correction: Wimberley Brewing has not closed permanently but has only shut down temporarily while relocating to new facilities nearby.

Fourth Annual Fall Beer Fest

FORT WORTH - The Fort Worth Flying Saucer has scheduled its fourth annual Fall Beer Fest for Saturday, October 17th, from 2pm to 10.30pm in the Sundance Square parking lot adjacent to their downtown location. Five tents will feature more than 20 specialty beers on draft, usually including a rare surprise or two.

Covey Brewer on GMT

BREWERS IN THE NEWS

DALLAS - The Covey's brewmaster Jamie Fulton appeared again yesterday on the Dallas morning show, WFAA's "Good Morning, Texas." He was featured in a segment called "Learn to make pink beer," introducing his new Prickly Pear Wheat and the upcoming beer pairing dinner.

Divine Reserve No. 9

HOUSTON - Fresh on the heels of a new release, Saint Arnold has announced the next beer in their Divine Reserve series (No. 9) will be available in November or December of this year.

The style for this version is described only as "unlike any other Saint Arnold beer we've ever made," but it is reported to be an Imperial Stout Pumpkin Ale with a strength of around 10% ABV.

Rahr & Sons Fifth Anniversary

FORT WORTH - Rahr & Sons celebrates its fifth anniversary tonight at the location of its first account, the Flying Saucer in downtown Fort Worth, from 6pm to 9pm. Special anniversary glassware will be available with the purchase of Rahr & Sons beer.

Zio Carlo Brewpub Abandoned

FORT WORTH - The proposed Zio Carlo "Italian brewpub" of Fort Worth has been abandoned for now by the owner due to financial concerns.

Divine Reserve No. 8 Released

BREWERS IN THE NEWS

HOUSTON - Saint Arnold released its eighth and latest edition in its Divine Reserve series today amid crowds of eager fans and some significant press coverage. Ronnie Crocker of the Houston Chronicle covered this anticipated event with the piece, "Beer fans poised for Divine release."

This release also garnered television coverage, as KIAH (Channel 39) of Houston ran a short feature entitled "There's a New Brew in Town," which includes interviews with Saint Arnold representatives and local retailers.

Second Annual Fall Beer Fest

AUSTIN - The Austin Flying Saucer has scheduled its second annual Fall Beer Fest for Saturday, October 24th, from noon to 10pm at the Triangle. Some 30 "new and exciting" beers are expected to be available on draft.

Southern Star Expanding

CONROE - Southern Star reports in their latest newsletter that they are adding new equipment, including new fermenters, to better keep up with increasing demand. The new equipment should be installed and operational by Oktoberfest.

Beer Across Texas Published

A new guidebook for Texas craft brewers has been published. Beer Across Texas: A Guide to the Brews and Brewmasters of the Lone Star State, written by Travis Poling and Paul Hightower, is a detailed guide to all the commercial microbreweries and brewpubs of Texas.

The book also includes a history of Texas brewing as well as a short style guide and a few commercial favorites brewed here. Beer Across Texas is published by Maverick Publishing of San Antonio and should be commercially available this week.

Taps House of Beers

A new independent beer bar named Taps House of Beers has opened in the Washington Avenue area of Houston. Taps House of Beers features over 90 taps of domestic and imported beers in a style similar to the Flying Saucer establishments.

Texas Brewpub Report

Unfortunately, the large number of brewpubs around the state and the frequency with which they make changes makes listing and reporting on brewpubs awkward. To make sure that each brewpub receives its share of reference on this site, this annual Texas Brewpub Report will be posted every year on the anniversary of brewpub legalization in Texas (September 1, 1993).

Net: 3 brewpubs added, 1 brewpub closed, 1 name change

Total: 23 independent brewpubs*

Native Brewpubs:

North Texas

Big Buck Brewery & Steakhouse (Grapevine) renamed

The Covey Restaurant & Brewery (Fort Worth)
Firehouse Grill & Brewery (Mansfield) new!
Humperdink's (Arlington)*
Humperdink's (Dallas, Greenville Ave)*
Humperdink's (Dallas, NW Hwy)*

TwoRows Restaurant & Brewery (Addison)

Uncle Buck's Brewery & Steakhouse (Grapevine)

* The North Texas Humperdink's franchises were bought from Big Horn Brewing and now operate independently as Humperdink's of Texas. Only the three locations listed here actually brew on-site, providing beer for the Addison and Richardson restaurants.

Central Texas

Blue Star Brewing Company (San Antonio)

Dodging Duck Brewhaus (Boerne)

The Draught House (Austin)

Faust Brewing Company (New Braunfels)

Fredericksburg Brewing Company (Fredericksburg)

Freetail Brewing Company (San Antonio) new!

Lovejoy's Tap Room & Brewery (Austin)

North by Northwest Restaurant & Brewery (Austin)

Uncle Billy's Brew & Que (Austin)
Wimberley Brewing Company & Brew Pub (Wimberley) new!

West Texas

Edelweiss Brewery & Restaurant (Alpine) closed

Eola School, Restaurant & Brewery (Eola)

Jaxon's Restaurant & Brewing Company (El Paso, 4 locations)

Triple J Chophouse & Brew Company (Lubbock)

East Texas

TwoRows Restaurant & Brewery (Houston)

South Texas

Padre Island Brewing Company (Padre Island)

Port Aransas Brewing Company (Port Aransas)

Out-of-State Franchises:

BJ's Restaurant & Brewery (multiple locations statewide)

Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant (Plano)