Black Star Co-Op Brewpub

AUSTIN - The world's first cooperatively owned and operated brewpub, Black Star Co-op Pub & Brewery, is hosting an event to unveil their new Austin location with a beer social on November 14th.

Although not yet prepared nor licensed to brew and sell beer commercially, Black Star is offering the event for media and members to introduce the worker-managed brewpub concept, as well as to show off the future home of the co-op.

Saint Arnold's New Brewery

BREWERS IN THE NEWS

HOUSTON - With a small amount of ceremony, Saint Arnold officially opened their new brewing facility north of downtown Houston with a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday. Ronnie Crocker covered the event at the new brewery for the Houston Chronicle with "End of a drought: A brewery is back in city center." Photos of the event are also available from the Chronicle online at "A New Home for Saint Arnold."

Houston Mayor Bill White presented Saint Arnold with an formal proclamation declaring Wednesday, October 28, 2009, Saint Arnold Brewing Company Day in Houston.

Due to occupancy permits, Saturday tours at the new brewery are canceled until the matter can be resolved with city inspectors.

Saint Arnold Move Complete

HOUSTON - Saint Arnold reports that the move to their new downtown facilities are nearly complete, and that the weekly tours will be held at the new location from now on beginning this Saturday, October 31st. The tour price has increased slightly to $7 per person, but due to its popularity they are planning to eventually offer a late afternoon tour as well.

Saint Arnold's new brewery is located at 2000 Lyons Avenue just north of Houston's downtown.

(512) Featured in Rare Magazine

BREWERS IN THE NEWS

AUSTIN - (512) Brewing earned a feature in the October issue of the Austin lifestyle and entertainment magazine Rare. The feature is a profile of Kevin Brand and (512)'s operations and beers entitled, "Brew (512)."

Profile of Rahr, Covey on DFW.com

BREWERS IN THE NEWS

FORT WORTH - Local brewers JB Flowers of Rahr & Sons and Jamie Fulton of The Covey were profiled by Barry Shlachter for the local entertainment and lifestyle website DFW.com in a piece entitled, "2 local brewers have caught lightning in a bottle."

Shlachter also profiled brewer Alan Sparkman of Arlington's brewpub Humperdink's in an accompanying piece entitled, "Humperdink's brewmaster Alan Sparkman started as a banker."

And Shlachter provides a short guide to the local beer scene in Fort Worth in a third piece, "6 burning questions about our beer sphere."

Jester King Tasting in Austin

AUSTIN - The newest brewery currently under development in Austin, the Jester King Craft Brewery, is holding a free tasting of their beers hosted by The Draught House on October 8th at 7pm.

Jester King Craft Brewery is still in the fundraising stage prior to constructing their own microbrewery in Austin. They expect to open their own brewery facilities and begin brewing commercially in 2010.

Update: This event has been canceled.

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)

Ginger Man to Open in Plano

The next new location for the Ginger Man will be in The Shops at Legacy in Plano. A lease and final location are still being negotiated, and no timeline has been announced for opening.

This signals a departure from the traditional Ginger Man pubs in Texas, which tend to favor occupying and renovating local and existing structures rather than pre-planned commercial environments.

Divine Reserve Release Date

Saint Arnold has announced that the latest in the Divine Reserve series, No. 8, will be released for sale on September 10th.

Rahr Begins Wednesday Tours

Fort Worth's Rahr & Sons is beginning Wednesday evening tours this week in addition to their traditional Saturday afternoon tours. The new weekday tour will be each Wednesday from 5pm to 7pm for the same $5 cost (which includes a glass plus samples).

Aside from drawing some of the crowds away from the Saturday tours, the intent of the Wednesday tour is to provide a more personal "happy hour" environment and showcase some small-batch specialty "Brewer's Selection" beers. A new oatmeal stout will be available during the first week's tour.

Texas Beers on Craft Beer Radio

BREWERS IN THE NEWS

A short selection of Texas beers from Southern Star, Saint Arnold and Real Ale were sampled and profiled on a recent podcast of Craft Beer Radio. The podcast is #142 and is entitled, "Only Steers and Beers come from Texas," available for download from their website.

Firehouse Brewpub in Mansfield

The Firehouse Grill & Brewery (not associated with the California chain of the same name) opened in Mansfield on August 1st for full kitchen and bar service. Some minor cosmetic construction is still in progress, and the website is similarly still under development.

A tap wall featuring about 50 local and national craft beers is offered, as well as a full bar and menu. Owners plan for a handful of house beers contracted out to local breweries, hopefully in time for Oktoberfest celebrations or soon thereafter.