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.

Freetail Suspends Location Search

SAN ANTONIO - Freetail Brewing has suspended indefinitely its plans for a second brewpub location, citing "an increasing level of resistance in capital markets."

Owner and brewer Scott Metzger had previously announced plans to expand this past spring, with Houston being the location of choice.

Freetail Looks for Second Location

SAN ANTONIO - On the eve of its second anniversary, Freetail Brewing has begun a search to expand with a second brewpub location. Under consideration are sites in New Braunfels, San Marcos, Houston and another location in San Antonio.

Dubbed "Project: Gemini," an estimated opening date may be as late as 2011 after site selection and fundraising is complete.

Freetail Strong Beer Dinner

Freetail Brewing in San Antonio is planning their first beer pairing event, the Strong Beer Pairing 2009. This event pairs a five-course meal with a different strong beer for each course, some from other Texas brewers and some new in-house brews.

The event is scheduled for Tuesday, February 17th, at 7pm. Tickets are $50 per person and reservations are recommended.

Texas Brewers in the News

Once again, the media ran another story about the rising costs of hops and grain. Not exactly breaking news any more, but at least Dallas-Fort Worth's NBC affiliate Channel 5 gave some brief prime air time to Rahr & Sons with the video, "Beer Prices Rise Over Hops Shortage."

A number of sources have published news or reviews of the new Spoetzl history, Shine On: 100 Years of Shiner Beer by Mike Renfro. These include the Bryan/College Station Eagle with "Book tells story of Shiner Beer's first century."

Not specific to any particular Texas brewer, the National Beer Wholesalers Organization released a story across the news wire celebrating "Texas Beer Distributors Recognize 75th Anniversary of Repeal of Prohibition." Texas became the 32nd state to ratify the 21st Amendment on November 24th, 1933.

Travis Poling's own story about the upcoming Commemorator doppelbock from Spoetzl was picked up by the Dallas Morning News as "Shiner brewery reveals new beer for 100th anniversary." The same story was also echoed on Draft Magazine's website as "Spoetzl Brewery's 100th anniversary beer."

Poling also covered Freetail Brewing's opening the day after Thanksgiving with his piece in the San Antonio Express-News, "Freetail brewing up taste of Texas."

Freetail Opens in San Antonio

Freetail Brewing Company opened yesterday as San Antonio's second local brewpub. Named after the Mexican free-tailed bat indigenous to the area, Freetail Brewing is owned and operated by local businessman Scott Metzger.

The menu includes brick-oven gourmet pizzas and fresh salads and sandwiches. The brewer is Jason Davis, who has experience with Austin's Waterloo Brewing and Celis Brewing, and most recently as assistant brewer at Blue Star Brewing.

Freetail opened having only other Texas commercial craft beers on tap but with plans for 13 different beers rotating throughout the year. House beers should be available by mid-December.

Texas Brewers in the News

A snapshot summary of the 2008 Texas craft brewery scene entitled "Beer mugs runneth over" appeared in Tuesday's edition of the San Antonio Express-News.

Written by Travis Poling, reporter and beer columnist for the Express-News, the article touches on the status of new breweries such as (512) Brewing, Southern Star and Franconia, as well as the upcoming Freetail Brewing brewpub in San Antonio. Also mentioned is the recent Ben E. Keith acquisition as well as a number of out-of-state craft beers likely to appear here soon.

Additionally, a report by Lee Nichols appeared in the Austin Chronicle last Friday entitled "A Disaster Brewing," recounting the origins of the drastic current hop shortages and how local Austin brewers such as Live Oak, Uncle Billy's, North by Northwest and Real Ale have been impacted.