New Winery Bill Introduced to Sell Beer

As reported by Barry Shlachter of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in "Craft brewers want to sell packaged tours along with samples," another new bill has been introduced to allow Texas wineries to sell beer on-premise.

Sponsored by State Senator Jane Nelson of Tarrant County, SB 1333 was filed on March 4th and is currently in committee. This bill does not include allowing the same privilege for Texas breweries.

Rahr & Sons at Rangers Ballpark

BREWERS IN THE NEWS

Rahr & Sons made another media appearance in an online video at Dallas' D Magazine entitled, "Rahr Brewery Makes Special Texas Red Beer For The Rangers." This video features Tony Fornby introducing the Texas Red, a beer brewed especially for the Texas Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Rahr & Sons in FW Weekly

BREWERS IN THE NEWS

Rahr & Sons is featured in this week's Fort Worth Weekly with "A Rahr Breed" by Dan McGraw, including a profile of the brewery and its involvement with the pending state legislation to allow direct sales at breweries.

Texas Brewers in the News

March brought a lot of coverage for Texas brewers, with most focused on the direct sales bills pending before the State legislature:

• "Tiny brewers thinking big: Move would allow them to sell beverages at their plants," Houston Chronicle
• "Microbreweries want consumers to be able to buy beer at breweries" (also appearing as "Heads up: Microbreweries want Legislature to clear the way for sales on site"), Fort Worth Star-Telegram, along with the accompanying video piece, "Brewers want to sell beer at the brewery"
• "Beer drinkers could purchase direct from local breweries under compromise plan," TexasWatchdog.org
• "Regulation, legislation and fun you can't have with Texas beer," Austin American-Statesman
• "Souvenir beer: We'll drink to this bill!" Houston Chronicle editorial
  

In other news, Lee Nichols featured an interview with Mike Renfro and his book, Shine On: 100 Years of Shiner Beer, in the Austin Chronicle piece, "Shiner at 100: Spoetzl Brewery."

Also, Saint Arnold's North Texas sales rep Kendra Harrell was briefly profiled in the Dallas Observer food blog "City of Ate" as "10 Questions: Kendra Harrell."

Texas Homebrew Club Report

Just as we recognize Texas microbreweries and brewpubs, the Texas beer industry also owes a debt to the legions of active homebrewers in this state. To make sure that each club receives its share of recognition on this site, this annual Texas Homebrew Club Report will be posted every year at the time of the largest homebrew competition, the Bluebonnet Brew-Off (March 21st).

Total: 19 local homebrew clubs

North Texas

Cap and Hare Homebrew Club (Fort Worth)
Horsemen of the Hopocalypse (Fort Worth)
Knights of the Brown Bottle (Arlington)
North Texas Homebrewers Association (Dallas)

Central Texas

Austin Zealots (Austin)
Bexar Brewers (San Antonio)
Brewers of Cove and Killeen (BOCK) (Killeen)
Hill Country Homebrew Club (Austin)

West Texas

Ale-ian Society (Lubbock)
Basin Brewers Homebrew Club (Midland)
Big Country Homebrewers Association (Abilene)
Wichita's Only Real Tasty Suds (WORTS) (Wichita)

East Texas

Bay Area Mashtronauts (Houston)

Brew Bayou Homebrewing Club (Clute)
Cane Island Alers (Katy)
East Texas Brewers Guild (White Oak)
Foam Rangers Homebrew Club (Houston)
Kuykendahl Gran Brewers (Houston)

South Texas

Bay Area Society of Homebrewers (BASH) (Corpus Christi)

(512) Brewing Spring Open House

(512) Brewing will hold their Spring Open House on Saturday, March 21st, from 2pm to 5pm at their brewery facilities in Austin. This open house will include a live local band plus the release of their newest beer, the (512) Alt.

Second Yard House to Open in San Antonio

A second Texas location of the California-based beer bar chain Yard House is scheduled to open in San Antonio by October. The new bar will be located on the north loop at The Shops at La Cantera shopping center.

Originally scheduled to open by March, the Houston location of the Yard House at CityCentre has been moved back to December.

Texas Brewers in the News

A busy month for media coverage of Texas brewing. An op-ed piece appeared in UNT's North Texas Daily as a local guide to the best of Denton's liquor stores and other retailers entitled, "Beer Snob's guide to Denton booze shops."

J.R. Labbe of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram mentions Rahr & Sons in an editorial about HB 1062 in another op-ed piece entitled, "Easing restrictions on microbreweries."HB 1062 is current legislation in Austin known as the Texas Brewers Parity Amendment that would allow Texas brewers to sell their product direct to the public.

The Covey's brewmaster Jamie Fulton and Head Chef Sean Merchant again appeared on the cooking portion of the Dallas morning show, WFAA's "Good Morning, Texas." They appeared in a segment called "Valentine's Day Dishes with The Covey," promoting their Valentine's Day specials for both food and beer.

Austin's breweries also received some national media attention with a piece on National Public Radio (NPR) concerning the economic effects within the brewing business entitled, "Brewery Business Hopping Despite Tanking Economy." Featured in this story were Josh Wilson of the Draught House and Kevin Brand of (512) Brewing.

Barry Schlacter of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram posted a review of Spoetzl's Shiner 100 entitled, "Flavorful beer marks Spoetzl's centennial." And Patrick Beach provides a suitable tribute in the Austin American-Statesman to Austin's relocating Ginger Man with his homage, "There's a tear in my beer - the Ginger Man is moving."

Wimberley Brewing Company Open

The Wimberley Brewing Company & Brew Pub opened for business last month in Wimberley. It is part of The Junction, an area of collective restaurants in Wimberley owned and operated by former San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Bruce Collie.

About four of their house beers are currently available at the brewpub and a few of the surrounding restaurants in The Junction, with more planned. Other regional craft beers are also offered.

A separate brewpub website is still under development.

Austin Ginger Man Move Delayed

The relocation of Austin's Ginger Man has been known for some time, but its move date has been pushed back several months due to financial delays in the development of the new property to replace it. No definite date has been announced for the move but it will not happen at least until after the annual SXSW music festival in March.

The Ginger Man's new location is 301 Lavaca St, less than a block south than its current and original location of 15 years.

Iron Thistle Wins USBTC Grand Champion

Rahr & Sons' Iron Thistle Scotch Ale has been named the Grand Champion in the Scottish-Style Ale category at the 15th Annual United States Beer Tasting Championship (USBTC). It shares this status with 12 other beers in the Winter 08/09 tasting session, the only Texas beer to do so.

The USBTC is a national blind-tasting competition for commercial U.S. brewers, and attracts several hundred entries each year for judging in 22 different categories. Rahr & Sons beers have won awards at the USBTC for the past four years for their Blonde Lager, Ugly Pug and Summertime Wheat. This is their first Grand Champion award at the USBTC.

Update: The Rahr & Sons Blind Salamander also won first place in the Brown Ale category in the Rockies/Southwest region.

Direct Sales Bill Introduced

Representative Lon Burnam of Tarrant County has introduced legislation to the Texas House of Representatives that would legalize the sale of beer directly from the brewery. Filed February 4th, the bill known as HB 1062, or the Texas Brewers Parity Amendment, includes the language

The holder of a brewer's permit whose premises is located in an area where the sale of ale and malt liquor is legal and who produces at least 1,000 barrels of ale or malt liquor a year may sell ale and malt liquor manufactured or bottled on the permitted premises to ultimate consumers: (1) in unbroken packages for off-premises consumption in an amount that does not exceed 35,000 gallons annually; and (2) for consumption on the brewery premises if the brewery is located in an area where the sale of ale and malt liquor for on-premises consumption is legal.

An identical bill SB 754 was filed today in the State Senate by Senator Wendy Davis, also of Fort Worth.

Current TABC law requires that brewers sell only to distributors and prohibits any direct sales to the public. The direct sales of wine from Texas vineyards was legalized several years ago with no negative consequences to winemakers, distributors or retailers.

Similar legislation was sponsored by Brock Wagner of Saint Arnold two years ago but was defeated.

Update: A slightly modified competing bill, HB 2094, has also been filed by Representative Jessica Farrar of Houston. Farrar sponsored the previous similar legislation that was defeated two years ago.

Rahr's Irish Red Ale

Rahr & Sons has brewed their next seasonal, a robust Irish red ale. The Rahr's Irish Red Ale should be available on draft only at select locations around St. Patrick's Day.

Southern Star Sponsors Next Seasonal

Southern Star is hosting a public amateur homebrewing competition whose winner will be adopted and brewed as their next commercial fall seasonal. The winner will also be entered in the 2009 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) Pro-Am competition.

The entry deadline is May 2nd, with full rules and details available on their website.

Texas Brewers in the News

The Rare Breed line of beers from Rahr & Sons was featured by the Houston Community Newspapers, appearing in various forms as The Sun. The article entitled "Beer with benefits: Texas brewery’s sales help endangered species" covers Rahr's work with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.

Spoetzl received a mention in a short article by Charlie Papazian about heritage brewers at the online source Examiner entitled, "America’s small heritage breweries making beer for over 100 years."

Patrick Beach's "This on the final: Check out beer classes at NXNW" article at the Austin American-Statesman touched on a number of Austin events, including beer and cheese classes at North by Northwest, beer dinners at the Alamo Drafthouse and Flying Saucer, and the results of Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve charity auction on eBay.

More details about the impending Saint Arnold move to a new location in downtown Houston were covered in the Houston Chronicle with the article, "Heights-based brewery enjoys growing pains."

Saint Arnold Bottle Changes

For the next couple of months, Saint Arnold will be using a slightly different bottle for their next few batches. Saint Arnold's sales outpaced their bottle manufacturer's supply, and so a different model with a more angular shoulder and larger label area will be substituted temporarily.

Traditional bottles should be back in supply by March.

Whip-In Opens as Beer Bar

Long known as one of the best retail beer stores in Austin, Whip-In has added a full draft-service beer bar to their restaurant operations. A total of 17 taps are now pouring 20-oz "post-colonial" servings of local Texas and select U.S. craft and imported beers, as well as bottle sales available from their general stock.

In-house brewing operations are still under development.

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.

Big Buck Brewery Now Uncle Buck's

In a bit of belated news, the Big Buck Brewery & Steakhouse in Grapevine changed its name this past October to Uncle Buck's Brewery & Steakhouse.

A Michigan-based chain, the Big Buck brewpub franchise declared bankruptcy last year, closing several out-of-state locations. The Grapevine location was purchased by the adjacent Bass Pro Shops, who now operate it as an independent brewpub and restaurant, prompting the name change.

"Uncle Buck" was the uncle of Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris. A redesigned website is still pending.

Saint Arnold Releases 2008 Production Data

In a press release, Saint Arnold has reported an annual production of 22,749 barrels for 2008, a 28% increase over 2007. This marks the fifth straight year of at least 20% growth for the brewery.

Year	Production	Growth
2008	22,749 barrels	28%
2007	17,811 barrels	30%
2006	13,638 barrels	25%
2005	10,946 barrels	20%
2004	9,100 barrels	27%

Production at their Houston location is now on a 24-hour schedule. The shift to their new facility north of downtown is slated for June of this year, with further expansion to follow.

(512) Brewing Goes Organic

Austin's (512) Brewing has made the switch to using USDA certified organic malt for their recipe bases. This two-row barley malt comprises about 80-90% of the ingredients in their pale ale, IPA and porter, and about 50% of their witbier.

This change should be reflected in future tap handles and bottle labels. It is unknown at this time whether (512) will seek formal USDA certification for their beers as well.

Poll Results 2008

Poll 1 (June): Best Brewery in Texas?

1. Saint Arnold (41%)
   
2. Live Oak (33%)
   
3. (tie) Rahr & Sons (25%)
   (tie) Real Ale (25%)

Total 12 votes

Poll 2 (July): Best Barleywine in Texas?

1. Saint Arnold Divine Reserve #6 (38%)
   
2. (tie) Live Oak Old Treehugger (15%)
   (tie) Real Ale Sisyphus, before 2005 (15%)
   (tie) Real Ale Sisyphus, after 2005 (15%)

Total 13 votes

Poll 3 (August): Is Spoetzl a Craft Brewer?

1. Yes (47%)
   
2. No (47%)
   
3. Perhaps (5%)

Total 17 votes

Poll 4 (September): Best IPA in Texas?

1. Rahr & Sons Stormcloud (50%)
   
2. Saint Arnold Elissa (21%)
   
3. Real Ale Lost Gold (17%)
   

Total 28 votes

Poll 5 (October): Best Oktoberfest in Texas?

1. Rahr & Sons Oktoberfest (81%)
   
2. Franconia Oktoberfest (9%)
   
3. Other, not specified (6%)
   

Total 33 votes

Poll 6 (November): Best Brewpub in Texas?

1. The Covey (50%)
   
2. Other, not specified (16%)
   
3. (tie) Blue Star (11%)
   (tie) NXNW (11%)
   

Total 18 votes

Poll 7 (December): Best New Brewer of 2008?

1. Southern Star (43%)
   
2. Franconia (31%)
   
3. (512) (25%)
   

Total 16 votes

Texas Brewers in the News

December was a thin month for brewery news, with most devoted to reviews of seasonal holiday beer selections. Only a short piece in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was found that comments on the Rahr & Sons brewery and their planned growth in light of the current financial times. It appeared in a business column entitled "It might end up a Rahr-ing success."

Spoetzl Brings Back Kosmos Reserve

According to sources at the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), Spoetzl Brewery has just acquired label approval for a beer named Kosmos Reserve.

Assuming this is the same beer discontinued several years ago, Kosmos Reserve was a once-popular all-malt lager first introduced in 1994. It was named after and brewed as a tribute to Kosmos Spoetzl, one of the original brewers and later owner of the Spoetzl Brewery.