Rahr & Sons The Regulator

FORT WORTH - Another beer label was just approved for Rahr & Sons special 22-oz bottled "To Thee" series: The Regulator, a traditional German doppelbock.

Two More from Rahr & Sons

FORT WORTH - Two more beers are planned this year for Rahr & Sons in their special 22-oz bottled "To Thee" series: La Grange, a farmhouse saison, and Angry Goat, a weizen doppelbock.

Rahr & Sons Gravel Road

FORT WORTH - Rahr & Sons will introduce a new fall seasonal this year, the Gravel Road Altbier, to be available on draft and in bottles.

Rahr & Sons Pecker Wrecker

FORT WORTH - Rahr & Sons is bringing their Pecker Wrecker Imperial Pilsner out of retirement as part of their special 22-oz bottled "To Thee" series.

Rahr & Sons in Star-Telegram

FORT WORTH - Rahr & Sons was the subject of a recent feature appearing in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram entitlted "Fort Worth brewery finds silver lining in snowstorm cloud."

Rahr & Sons Snowmageddon

FORT WORTH - To celebrate the anniversary of their roof collapse in 2010, Rahr & Sons is releasing a new limited-edition seasonal beer each February named Snowmageddon.

The style will vary from year to year, with this year's version an Imperial oatmeal stout based on the recipe of a local North Texas homebrewer.

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.

Rahr & Sons Label Redesign

FORT WORTH - Taking advantage of the down-time provided by their roof collapse, Rahr & Sons has updated their logo and beer labels. New graphics by GCG Marketing provided an opportunity to standardize the artwork and layout across all of their products.

Rahr & Sons Resumes Brewing

FORT WORTH - Brought to a halt from a snowy roof collapse months ago, Rahr & Sons Brewing has finally finished repairs and is brewing once again in their newly refurbished site in Fort Worth.

The new facilities include many new amenities and layout improvements that were able to be made during reconstruction. A new bottling line has yet to be installed but kegs should once again be moving out the door soon.

No word yet on resuming their popular Saturday tours and tastings. Construction has left the surrounding industrial area fairly rough, and they are awaiting some remediation before hosting the expected crowds once again.

Rahr & Sons Roof Collapse: Update

FORT WORTH - The damage due to the roof collapse at the Rahr & Sons brewery is more extensive than initially reported.


Estimates place roof repairs at 60 to 90 days for the building structure alone, with evaluation of the brewing and bottling equipment still pending access to the facility. Water damage throughout the brewery was extensive, with as much as a foot of standing water resulting from an open water main.

All bottled stock was taken immediately by Coors Distribution, and the product remaining in the fermentation tanks will have to be evaluated. Rahr is expected to be out of operation for at least three months, with their Saturday and Wednesday brewery tours and tastings cancelled until further notice.

Retail shortages of Rahr & Sons beer may occur in the short term, but the losses and repairs are expected to be covered by insurance.

Roof Collapse at Rahr & Sons

FORT WORTH - Record snowfall in North Texas (officially 12.5 inches) caused a partial roof collapse at the Rahr & Sons brewery overnight.


No one was injured in the collapse but the regular Saturday tour and tasting is canceled for this week. Production is suspended until further assessment.

Photos: Jamie Brunner / Rahr

Rahr & Sons Launches New Website

FORT WORTH - Fort Worth's Rahr & Sons launched a newly redesigned and updated website this week. Improvements include more opportunities for online updates and links to current events and information.

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."

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.

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.

Rahr & Sons in Louisiana News

BREWERS IN THE NEWS

Rahr & Sons received a short review of their Blonde Lager (mistakenly called their "Golden Lager") by The Town Talk, the local news source for central Louisiana, in a piece entitled "Rahr Golden Lager might be worth a trip to Texas."

Rahr & Sons Wins at US Open

Fort Worth's Rahr & Sons have won more medals at the recent 2009 U.S. Open Beer Championship in Atlanta, Georgia.

The winning beers are as follows:

• English Pale Ale: Gold for Blind Salamander Pale Ale
• Muchner Helles: Bronze for Rahr's Blonde Lager
• Schwarzbier: Silver for Ugly Pug Black Lager

The U.S. Open Beer Championship judges commercial beers in 55 different categories and is open to any commercial brewery or brewpub, domestic or international. A full list of winners is available on their website.

Rahr & Sons in Star-Telegram

BREWERS IN THE NEWS

Rahr & Sons was featured in a pair of stories this week in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, both entitled "Rahr & Sons microbrewery boosting production in Fort Worth." The stories detail the installation of two new fermentors and the struggle the brewery has had keeping up with demand for product.

The articles also feature a short profile of the microbrewery and discuss the return this summer of owner Fritz Rahr after an extended absence on a contract job in the Virgin Islands.

Rahr & Sons Expanding

Fort Worth's Rahr & Sons has just purchased two new 120-bbl fermentation tanks from the Old Dominion Brewing Company of Ashburn, Virginia.

These two tanks are twice the size of any of Rahr's present tanks, and are expected to be in place before the end of the summer. With this addition, the capacity of the Rahr & Sons brewery will reach 6000 barrels per year.

Covey, Rahr Win Medals

Both Fort Worth brewers The Covey Restaurant & Brewery and Rahr & Sons won medals at the 2009 Los Angeles International Commercial Beer Competition held last month in Los Angeles, California.

The breakdown of the awards is:

• American-Style Hefeweizen: Bronze for Texas Wheat from The Covey
• Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale: Silver for 100 from The Covey
• Münchner-Style Helles: Bronze for Rahr Blonde from Rahr & Sons
• Smoke-Flavored Beer: Silver for Smokestack Stout from The Covey
• Strong Scotch Ale (Traditional): Gold for Scotch Ale from The Covey
• Vienna-Style Lager: Bronze for Vienna Lager from The Covey

The Los Angeles International Commercial Beer Competition is an annual BJCP-certified competition organized by the Los Angeles County Fair. It is open to any commercially licensed brewpub or brewery, with awards given for 69 different style categories plus a number of substyles.

A full listing of awards is available from the Los Angeles County Fair website.

Update: Rahr & Sons also won a medal at the 2009 North American Beer Awards, an annual competition sponsored by the North American Brewers Association. Rahr & Sons' Ugly Pug won a bronze medal in the Schwarzbier (Black Beer) category.

The North American Beer Awards is held in conjunction with the Mountain Brewers Beer Fest each summer in Idaho Falls, Idaho.