Zio Carlo Under New Management

FORT WORTH - Zio Carlo Magnolia Brew Pub is now under new management as owner Carlo Galotto has agreed to new partners to help complete his brewpub south of downtown.

Former Rahr & Sons brewer Austin Jones has been hired to oversee the brewing operations with Adam Gonzales hired as the general manager.


Brewing is expected to start within a month or two after repairs to the existing system, with a possible rebranding of the restaurant and brewpub at some point in the future.

Namaste Brewing Opens

AUSTIN - Namaste Brewing debuted this week with the release of their first beer at Austin's Whip In.

Namaste Brewing is the brewing arm of the Whip In market and café, owned and run by the same Topiwala family. The opening of brewing operations essentially changes the Whip In craft beer bar and bottle shop into Austin's newest small-batch brewpub.

Their first beer is the Brahmale "Post Colonial" IPA brewed with local honey, orange peel and lemongrass.

Cedar Creek Brewery Opens

SEVEN POINTS - Cedar Creek Brewery opened this week with a launch party at The Common Table in Uptown Dallas.

Although located southeast of Dallas near the Cedar Creek Reservoir, Cedar Creek beers will be distributed by Duff with North Texas one of their primary markets after their local area.

Cedar Creek has three beers initially available: Scruffy's Smoked Alt, Elliott's Phoned Home American Pale Ale and the Lawn Ranger Cream Ale.

TABC Amends Labeling Rules

AUSTIN - The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) formally changed their labeling rules on July 24th following a lawsuit challenging the restrictive rules in December of last year.

Austin's Jester King Craft Brewery sued the TABC in 2011 in civil court, claiming the rules infringed on their business' First Amendment rights to represent their products.

The old rules included arbitrary definitions for "beer," "ale" and "malt liquor" based on alcohol content that were required to appear on beer labels to meet agency approval, with many submissions disallowed for no reason other than not including the specified terminology.

The new rules place no restrictions on the commercial naming or description printed on beer labels, as long as the alcohol content is included.

Jester King Bonnie the Rare

AUSTIN - Jester King Craft Brewery has received label approval for their latest limited release beer, the Bonnie the Rare Berliner Weisse.

Bonnie the Rare is a 3.7% ABV unfiltered and unpasteurized Berliner weisse style that has undergone a long maturation in the bottle following a no-boil method of brewing. The first 750-ml bottles soon to be released are from a batch brewed in May of 2011.

Lovejoys Closes

AUSTIN - Long-time brewpub and music venue Lovejoys Tap Room & Brewery closed this week, with a farewell celebration on their last day of operation, August 5th.

After 18 years in their downtown location just off Austin's Sixth Street, owner Eric Wolf cited financial pressures as the reason for the closure in a Facebook message: "After struggling for the last few years with rising costs and decreasing revenues, we can no longer afford to keep the doors open."

Lakewood Brewing Opens

GARLAND - Lakewood Brewing Company opened this week with a launch party on Saturday held at the East Dallas restaurant and craft beer bar, Goodfriend Beer Garden & Burger House.

Two Lakewood beers were initially available, the Rock Ryder American rye/wheat ale and the Hop Trapp Belgian-inspired IPA.

Two New Deep Ellum Beers

DALLAS - Deep Ellum Brewing released two new beers this week at two different venues around Dallas' Uptown area.

The first beer is the summer seasonal Wealth & Taste, a 9.5% ABV Belgian strong golden ale aged in Chardonnay barrels. The second is a new year-round offering named Dallas Blonde, a light blonde or extra pale ale.

Ranger Creek Small Batch Series

SAN ANTONIO - Ranger Creek Brewing has announced its new limited edition line of specialty beers named the Small Batch Series.

The Small Batch Series will be a seasonal release that is intended as "unique, interesting, and often experimental." Each batch will be brewed only once and only in small quantities, and bottled in smaller 375-ml wax-dipped bottles intended for aging.

The beer for Small Batch Series No. 1 will be an Oak-Aged Rye Oatmeal Pale Ale ("OPA"). This 7% ABV beer was first brewed as their one-year anniversary beer in November 2011.

Twisted X Brewing Moving

CEDAR PARK - Twisted X Brewing Company is moving from its present location in Cedar Park to a new site in the nearby town of Dripping Springs.

The new location just southwest of Austin will have three acres and a 7000-square-foot facility for growth.

Jester King Certified Organic

AUSTIN - Jester King Craft Brewery recently became certified organic by the Texas Department of Agriculture under the USDA National Organic Program.

Most of their beers will carry the certified organic symbol on the next label batches except for the Black Metal Farmhouse Imperial Stout, which still uses a small amount of non-organic specialty malt. However, as Black Metal is still brewed with over 70% organic ingredients it will carry "Made with Organic Ingredients" and the Texas Department of Agriculture seal on its label.

Hops are not currently required to be organic in origin to be certified under the National Organic Program but will be so required to carry the label beginning in 2013. Jester King is currently searching for organic versions of hops now used in their beers without compromising the flavor or quality.

Jester King is the first brewery in Texas to achieve certified organic status.

Texas Brewers at 2012 World Beer Cup

More Texas breweries won medals at the 2012 Brewers Association World Beer Cup. The winners were announced May 5th at the conclusion of the annual Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego, California.

Recognized Texas brewers include:

• Düsseldorf-style Altbier: Gold for Alt-eration from Hops & Grain
• Pumpkin Beer: Silver for Pumpkinator from Saint Arnold
• Imperial IPA: Silver for Endeavour from Saint Arnold
• Weizenbock: Silver for Primus from Live Oak
• American-style Dark Lager: Silver for Shiner Bock from Spoetzl
• American-style Dark Lager: Bronze for Santo from Saint Arnold

The World Beer Cup is a judged competition held every two years and sponsored by the Brewers Association, the craft beer industry's professional organization. This year's competition included more than 3900 beers from 799 brewers in 54 countries.

Awards are given in 95 different style categories of beer, with the top three beers recognized with gold, silver and bronze medals.

New Real Ale Packaging

BLANCO - Real Ale Brewing has rebranded its product labels and related packaging materials, including some designs featuring local Austin artists.

The new packaging will also include four-pack carriers for their Sisyphus barleywine, the first time this beer has been available in a multiple packaging format.

Independent Ale Works Signs Lease

KRUM - Independent Ale Works signed a lease this week on a location for the first production brewery in Denton County.

Although the mailing address reflects the city of Krum, owners Stefen Windham and David Miller say the physical location is on county land outside the city limits of both Krum and Denton.

TABC Online Product Database

AUSTIN - The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) has made its full label approval database available online to the public.

The move to make this information public is part of TABC's increasing transparancy effort and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. They state that a "parent or teacher's ability to view a product's label and see the alcohol content can help them play a more educated role in monitoring a young person's activities."

Consumers can search the database by permit number, brand name, manufacturer, type of product, approval date or percent alcohol by volume, with each record including a graphic image of the approved label.

Jester King Beer Geek Rodeo

AUSTIN - Jester King has announced another collaboration with Danish brewer, Mikkeller, to be named Beer Geek Rodeo.

Brewed especially for the Texas market with no plans to distribute out of state, Beer Geek Rodeo will be an "Imperial Oatmeal Stout brewed with smoked malt, chipotle peppers and Vietnamese coffee."

Rogness Brewing Opens

PFLUGERVILLE - Rogness Brewing Company officially opened this weekend with a release party of their first two beers at Austin's Black Star Co-op.

Owners Forrest and Diane Rogness purchased Austin Homebrew Supply in 1999, and decided to move into commercial brewing from there. With head brewer David Ebel, Rogness plans to eventually release beers in 16-oz cans and 22-oz bottles.

Accident at Franconia Brewing

McKINNEY - A fermentor ruptured under pressure and was blown through an interior wall yesterday at Franconia Brewing, injuring several people.

Two visitors were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The incident occurred minutes after the regular Saturday tour concluded, with about 100 visitors still on-site. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Photo: Winston Edwards (Connoissaurus)

Franconia employees were treated for only minor injuries. No word yet on when the brewery will be operational once again.

Lone Pint Brewery Under Development

MAGNOLIA - The Lone Pint Brewery has moved into the construction phase, with production equipment to be delivered this summer.

Owner and brewer Trevor Brown anticipates their first commercial batch to be available in August.

Union Bear Opens

DALLAS - Union Bear opened this week in the West Village area of Dallas, sporting 40 craft beer taps and plans to operate as a nanobrewery.

The latest venture from the owner of Eno's Pizza Tavern in the Bishop Arts district, Union Bear will dedicate at least one tap to beers brewed on-site. Brewing equipment is still being set up but they expect to have their first beer ready within two months.

Darkside Moving to Production Facility

SAN MARCOS - Darkside Fermentation, the in-house brewing operation of the Root Cellar Cafe & Brewery, is leaving to establish its own production brewery.

Darkside Fermentation will end its association with the Root Cellar at a second anniversary block party on February 11th. One of the goals of the celebration is to reduce the present stock as much as possible to make way for the Root Cellar's new brewer and new beers.

Darkside Fermentation plans to have their facilities open in San Marcos before the end of this year.

Original Flying Saucer Moving

FORT WORTH - The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium located in Sundance Square, the first of the multi-state franchise, is moving out of its original location.

Currently located downtown in the historically protected Land Title Block building since 1995, the move is required because of restoration of the 1889 building to its original layout. The Flying Saucer will relocate across Sundance Square to the present site of 8.0 Restaurant & Bar, which will close on February 24.

Developer and restauranteur Shannon Wynne owns both the Flying Saucer and 8.0, and decided to retire the 8.0 concept in favor of a nearby larger, redesigned Flying Saucer location.

The Flying Saucer will continue to operate in its present location through the end of the Main Street Arts Festival, and will reopen at its new location sometime in late April.

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."