Heady Brewing Company

HOUSTON - Another Texas craft brewery has been found in the early stages of development, Heady Brewing Company of Houston. They are currently scouting locations within the 610 loop and expect to be open by mid-2011.

A brewery website is still under development.

Uncle Billy's Oasis Opens

AUSTIN - Uncle Billy's Brew & Que's second Austin location has opened at the new Oasis, Texas retail development on Lake Travis. The new location also includes full brewpub operations as well as dining space for groups overlooking the lake.

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.

Ranger Creek Bottles

SAN ANTONIO - Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling has received label approval for its first commercial beers, to be released to draft accounts next month.

Ranger Creek will begin with a South Texas Lager, an Oatmeal Pale Ale (OPA), a Mesquite Smoked Porter and 750-ml bottles of a Belgian-style strong dark ale named La Bestia Aimable.

Jester King Commercial Suicide

AUSTIN - Jester King has received label approval for its first bottled commercial release, their Commercial Suicide. Commercial Suicide is an oak-aged dark English mild with only 3.3% ABV, and is already available at select draft accounts in the Austin area.

750-ml bottles should be available before the end of the year.

Austin Beerworks

AUSTIN - Another new Texas craft brewer has been discovered named Austin Beerworks, currently under active development and pursuing licensing. They will begin with a full canning operation, forgoing traditional glass bottles entirely.

They expect to be open and brewing by January of 2011.

Divine Reserve as Fall Seasonal

HOUSTON - Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve No. 9, their imperial stout pumpkin ale of last fall, will be the first of this series to become a regular fall seasonal release beginning next year, as reported by Houston's Barley Vine.

Divine Reserve No. 10

HOUSTON - Saint Arnold has announced the next beer in their Divine Reserve series (No. 10) will be released on Tuesday, November 2nd.

This edition of the series is a new English barleywine based on homebrewer Chris Landis' recipe as winner of the Big Batch Brew Bash competition this past spring.

Saint Arnold Expands Again

HOUSTON - Settled in their new downtown location, Saint Arnold is again expanding its capacity with the addition of four new 240-barrel fermentation vessels. The new fermentors should be installed and in normal brewing operations by the end of October.

The addition of this new equipment raises the annual capacity of Saint Arnold from 35,000 to around 50,000 barrels, nearly doubling their total capacity from only a year ago.

Jester King Craft Brewery Opens

AUSTIN - Jester King Craft Brewery has opened in Austin and is brewing their first commercial batch, according to a recent press release.

Owners Michael and Jeffrey Stuffings and brewer Ron Extract have begun brewing in their newly built facility located on 200 acres in rural Austin. They are planning on five different styles initially, including Boxer's Revenge, an oak barrel-aged wild ale, as well as a British-style dark mild, a rye IPA and "Franco-Belgian inspired farmhouse ales."

Jester King has also designed a 8000-square-foot rustic beer hall along with their brewhouse and plan to host tastings, festivals and special events at the brewery site.

Correction: Employee Ron Extract is assisting in brewery sales and distribution, not brewing operations.

The Covey Closes

FORT WORTH - Fresh off a medal at this year's GABF, Fort Worth's The Covey Restaurant & Brewery abruptly closed Friday night with only hours notice.

Owner and brewer Jamie Fulton has accepted an opportunity with a new brewpub project called Farmers & Brewers based in Washington, DC. No news yet on what will become of The Covey's equipment or location.

Update: The Covey's brewhouse equipment has been sold to a start-up brewpub in Bangalore, India, and Fulton will be consulting with them for a few months as they get operations underway.

Black Star Co-op Opens

AUSTIN - Austin's newest brewpub, the Black Star Co-op Pub & Brewery, has opened for business at their Midtown Commons location at the intersection of Lamar and Airport Boulevard, as posted on their Facebook page.

The Black Star Co-op is the world's first cooperatively owned and operated brewpub and restaurant, with a Workers Assembly managing body of more than 2000 members.

Houston's TwoRows Closing

HOUSTON - TwoRows Restaurant & Brewery of Houston has announced it will close on October 2nd, as reported by Ronnie Crocker of the Houston Chronicle on his blog Beer, TX.

The closure is due to rising rent prices for the prime Rice Village site that TwoRows has occupied for the past 14 years, and the owners being unable to sign an acceptable lease agreement. Currently, there are no plans to reopen or attempt to move to a new location.

TwoRows was the last operating independent brewpub in the Houston metro area. Hired just this past April, brewer Ray Mitteldorf has expressed interest in partnering to develop another new brewpub.

Texas Brewers at 2010 GABF

DENVER, CO - Winners were announced over the weekend at the 2010 Great American Beer Festival, and again three familiar Texas brewers brought home medals.

Recognized Texas brewers include:

• Saint Arnold: Gold for Fancy Lawnmower as a German-Style Kölsch
• Real Ale Brewing: Gold for Rio Blanco Pale Ale as an Ordinary or Special Bitter
• Saint Arnold: Silver for Elissa IPA as an Extra Special Bitter
• Saint Arnold: Silver for Oktoberfest as a Scottish-Style Ale
• The Covey Restaurant & Brewery: Bronze for Cowboy Lager as a Munich-Style Helles

The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is an annual event sponsored by the Brewers Association, the professional organization for the craft brewing industry. This year's competition included 3523 entries from 522 brewers with a total festival attendance of more than 49,000.

Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded for beers in 79 different style categories plus a separate pro-am competition.

Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling

SAN ANTONIO - Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling has officially opened and will soon begin supplying beer to local retail locations in San Antonio. Their initial product lineup will include four beers available on draft and in bottles starting in October.

Ranger Creek is owned by partners TJ Miller, Dennis Rylander and Mark McDavid, with head brewer Rob Landerman and assistant brewer Pete Landerman. Their custom-built 6000-square-foot "brewstillery" includes a 30-barrel brewing system and enough room to accommodate tours and tastings.

Ranger Creek will also produce Texas bourbon with much of the same equipment used for brewing, but due to barrel aging it will not be available until 2011.

Gulf Brewing Company

HOUSTON - Another Houston microbrewery has surfaced recently, the Gulf Brewing Company of Houston. Owners Joel Moore and Tip Strickland are looking to follow the historic Gulf Brewing built by Howard Hughes at the repeal of Prohibition.

No word yet on a final location or when they may be operational.

Rahr & Sons Resume Tours

FORT WORTH - Closed to the public since the February 12th snowstorm that collapsed their roof, Rahr & Sons Brewing will resume their public Wednesday evening and Saturday afternoon tours and tastings beginning this Saturday, September 11th.

Tours will be held every Saturday at the brewery from 1pm to 3pm. Admission is $7, which includes a logo glass and free samples.

Kreuz Creek Brewing Company

SUGAR LAND - Another new Texas craft brewer is nearing opening, the Kreuz Creek Brewing Company of the Sugar Land/Stafford area of southwest Houston.


Owner and brewer Jeff King is already pretty far along with development and awaiting TABC certification. He expects to be open and brewing by October.

Republic of Texas Name Change

BUNA - Due to trademark conflicts with their original name, the new Houston-area start-up craft brewery Republic of Texas Brewery has changed their name to Texas Big Beer Brewery.

Thirsty Planet Opens

AUSTIN - Thirsty Planet Brewing becomes the first of the 2010 new brewers in Austin to commercially open. Their beers are now appearing at selected locations in Austin, and they hope to have a bottling line operational before the end of this year.

No word yet on any plans for a grand opening celebration. An on-site tasting room is currently awaiting a certificate of occupancy.

Eola School in Austin Chronicle

BREWERS IN THE NEWS

EOLA - The Eola School, Restaurant & Brewery (also known as the Bright Brewery) was featured recently in a recurring Austin Chronicle column entitled "Day Trips."

Republic of Texas Brewery

BUNA - Another new Texas craft brewery is under development named the Republic of Texas Brewery. With a location north of Beaumont, this brewery will provide the East Texas/Houston area with another local craft brewer.

The brewers John McKissack and his wife Tammy may be better known as "Johnny Max" and "the Queen" for their online podcasts at BrewCrAzY and Beer Talk Radio. A long-time homebrewer and BJCP certified beer judge, McKissack is committed to building his brewery debt-free.

A location is already being prepared in Buna, with a projected opening date of 2011.

Real Ale Hans' Pils

BLANCO - Real Ale Brewing has just released their second lager and new seasonal, the Hans' Pils. Modeled after a Northern German style, this beer is a bit hoppier than traditional pilsners at 52 IBUs.

Hans' Pils will be available on draft only for now, and only as a summer seasonal.

Wicked Beaver Brewing

WOLFORTH - The Texas Panhandle will soon have its first craft brewery in quite a while as Wicked Beaver Brewing is now under development and fundraising.


Brewers Michael Adams and Che Shadle are currently finalizing brewery plans for a site near Clarendon on the Greenbelt Reservoir, about 50 miles southeast of Amarillo. No date has yet been announced for a brewery opening.