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.

Two New Beers from Southern Star

Southern Star announced the launch of two new beers to be included as year-round products. One is a blonde lager called the Bombshell Blonde, and the other is the Buried Hatchet Stout, a big American stout.

The Bombshell Blonde has already been available on draft in limited supply. Both products are to be canned and are currently awaiting label design/approval.

Winemaker Shop Changes Hands

Fort Worth's long-time homebrew supply store The Winemaker Shop will be closing its doors for good on December 27th. It will reopen under new ownership as Fort Worth Homebrew at an new and expanded nearby location.

The Winemaker Shop is Fort Worth's oldest home winemaking and brewing supply store. Originally opened in 1971, it was purchased by Emery and Janet Baca in 2005, who expanded its inventory and became involved in many local homebrewing events and competitions.

Fort Worth Homebrew is scheduled to open January 2nd, 2009. The new location will be the same business park as the current location (Suite 2826, SE Loop 820).

Austin Meet Your Local Brewers

Edible Austin is hosting a Meet Your Local Brewers Happy Hour at Austin's Whip-In on Friday, December 12th, from 3pm to 7pm. This event is part of their Edible Austin Eat Local Week 2008 to celebrate local Central Texas restaurants and foods.

Brewers expected to attend this event include representatives from Live Oak, (512), Independence, Uncle Billy's, Real Ale, Saint Arnold and Spoetzl. Discounts on beers and dishes from the Whip-In's Indian menu will be available.

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.

TABC Names New Commissioner

Governor Rick Perry has named Melinda Fredricks of Conroe to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) three-member board. Fredricks is recently of the Texas Medical Board and has worked as a political organizer, political research analyst and chair for various legislative committees.

Fredricks has a Masters of Science degree from the University of North Texas as well as experience as a math teacher in the Lake Dallas area. She will serve a five-year unrepresentative term that expires in 2013.

Live Oak Plans New Facilities

Live Oak announced that it has acquired 20 acres on the Colorado River north of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport with an intent to construct new brewing facilities. Current plans to install a bottling operation were stalled due to lack of space in their current facilities east of I-35. The new location will provide ample room for expanded production and a long-awaited bottling line.

According to owner and brewer Chip McElroy,"Don’t start holding your breath for bottles yet. Keep looking for our beers on tap. It will take us a couple of years to get the new brewery completed.”